New colors and a new hairdo

Yesterday, late night news covered the unveiling of Team India's the new jersey for the tour of NZ.

Team India's new jersey unveiled

. Saw Harsha Bhogle there, was surprised to see him with quality hair in his otherwise barren scalp.

Here's his new look.

End of might, mate???

Is this the end of world supremacy Australia used to have in cricket? Are they only good at "motor-mouthing"?
Looks like they are, according to this article in espn-star site. :)
I feel sooooooo happy!!!!! :)

The Google Chrome - browser with gears

I have this unfulfilled desire, a desire most of the Technology Labors aspire to achieve, and yours only is not an exception. And this desire increased by leaps and bounds when I read Comics adaptation of Google Chrome - The Web Browser with gears, an epitome of how and on what they work on! And their official blog confirms it!
A common product, if you look at it first, but as I went through it, it unveiled a lot of promises(and I'm sure Google keeps it!).
I think I'm dragging this thing too much so let's break the ice, I'm talking about Chrome - the Google browser with gears!
Tabs have revolutionized and eased the way browser's UI is presented. And Chrome will revolutionize the way tabs will work.
With product as such, Google marks yet another presence in the Internet(as if they din't do anything till now! *poor me*). And the reason they have mentioned to make it open-source, competition, is what left me flabbergasted. Kudos to Google for bringing up the Chrome into the scene in an open-sourced version. May god bless IE. :)
And the best thing is, it's getting released today!

Twin treat this year, on the eve of Independence day

Who would have thought somebody from India would do it! Who would have thought, Tajikisthan would lose hands down!
But India shines, despite the serial bomb-blasts, despite political turmoil over nuclear deal and despite the rising inflation. Abhinav Bindra made us proud by winning us the Gold in Beijing, and so did the lads of Indian football team, by drubbing the holders Tajikisthan by a scoreline of 4 - 1. It marks the rise of another star in making; Sunil Chhetri. I ain't sure how far will he go, but what I am sure about is, India has talents, no two thoughts about it. Only if the talent search would have been a li'l more organized, a li'l more unbiased. Hope everything will fall in place, everybody will know the talent's worth.
A proud occasion for India and the Indians on the eve of this year's Independence.
Let's pray a few more medals are on the way to India.
And last but not the least;

Happy Independence Day

Maps : answer to my confusion!

Here's something that may amuse you all. Pretty useful for person like me, who have no sense of direction, whatsoever!
I find remembering the directions utterly uncomfortable. Unless walked for a week regularly, I don't get the idea about how, what, which and where about the place!
But thank god! here's the savior. Dunno about whose is this initiative but it has indeed made my life easier to move around the city! It gives you all the details about routes, place searches, bus routes and even live traffic. What more can I ask?

Here's how it looks like, try it to believe it.

Five Blasts rock Bangalore

Shit! I'm scared man! there have been 5 serial blasts in Bangalore, around the place I work! :(
The situation is like, whether to stay back at office or to go home.
Normally these people target intellectual properties, you know! Intellectual properties... like me, like my office!
Oh my god! How am I going home today? God be with me. Mommy, I want to go home....

Lighter side of the story: I'm not as scared as I've written above, I simply want to go home earlier than usual, so making myself prepared to skip rest of the day's work! :)

Still, you people around Bangalore, be cautious. That's what I can say.

Firefox3, set for a world record

Yes, it is true. Much awaited Firefox 3, the savior of those, haunted by Internet Explorer, is releasing tomorrow!
I had downloaded the beta, rc3 version from their ftp site, but had to downgrade soon as it didn't have the compatible add-ons. And while trying to hack the browser configs to disable compatibility check, I screwed it up bigtime. My browser wouldn't start, and kept on saying, Firefox crashed!
So only respite was to downgrade it to 2.0. And that's what I did.
Few +ves for firefox 3

• less resource hungry, compared to ff2,


• smooth scrolling of the tabs really fascinated me,


• address bar information, ie, when you type a site address, it not only gives you the site-addresses you have visited previously, but also the details about the site(by details I meant, the site title and sub-title). It also does the pattern matching while you are typing. Pattern matching is done with site address and title, unlike ff2 or any other browser, where you only have address address completion/prediction,


• And the information on favicon. Once you click on favicon, a window pops up which give you the brief info about the page, how the data transmission is taking place(encrypted or not), etc.

In short, a browser to own.
Negatives:

• Very less number of compatible add-ons. I hope the developers across the world will come up with the ff3 compatible add-ons soon.

And ff management have come up with a unique idea, to set a Guinness World Record of a top downloaded software. As I found out through the articles, no such record exists till now, so they'll surely achieve this wonderful feat. And here's their page where you can subscribe, so that they can send you a mail, when ff3 becomes available for download!

So please visit DOWNLOAD DAY 2008 and subscribe yourself and help them achieve their record.

Lalu follows the pack

After the film-stars, now it's politicians who have embraced the blogosphere. Once hesitant of technology, now a blogger, that's Sri Lalu Prasad Yadav, our very own railway minister for you.
It's not me but this article in Economic Times says so.
And whatever Lalu does, he does it with elan, like his blog. His blog not only has the posts but the audios to go by. Seems whatever Lalu said was first recorded and then later given the form of a post.
People too are interested in his posts and have responded to him, and huge number of comments show it.
By now, you all must be curious where if could be. So here it is.

The accidental post

Needless to say, I'm short of thoughts these days! :)
It must be because of the lateral pressure I'm facing in my profession, or may be I'm too much into something clandestine... :)
Well, finally Euro '08 has started and after initial matches, it looks like The Neatherlands and Germany are the strong favorites. Portugal holds the edge, but my money's on former two teams. Only problem is, it's ruining my sleep, for I'm awake till 0230 Hrs most of the days, and it's visibly reflecting during my office hours. Power naps they say.. :)
I'm hitting lows these days, and somebody is backing me through and through during these hours of need, I feel so privileged and proud the the way I chose my eternal happiness.
And in between all these chaos last week, Jannat happened. :) By Jannat, I didn't mean the heaven, I mean the Emraan Hashmi starer hindi flick. It's okie. I wonder why people overlook him as an actor! May be because all his movies' songs have done well in the past, and they have so well that they have overshadowed his acting skills. By acting skills I mean they way he does all those useless, leave-your-brain-at-home-to-watch-me-act stuffs.
He acts well, no doubt, but I see something lacking, may be the aura, signature style(barring his kisses, I see no signature style in him) and the star-power. But yet, he's the god's loveliest child.
Long time ago, in one of the stand-up comedy programs, one comedian cracked a joke, here's how it went:

God created the world, and after its completion, he looked over from heaven and thought, wow! what a wonderful thing I've created, now there should be somebody to enjoy this wonder. And then he created Emraan Hashmi, and told him, 'See my child, this is what I've created, now go down there and enjoy its beauty'.

And from that day onwards he wishes he'd never taken that decision, coz Emraan is enjoying more than god himself. :)
Oh yes, we were in Jannat, isn't it? Okie, this movie is good, 2.5 out of 5. Suddenly, Taare Zameen Par's father looks sooo old in this movie. Watch it if you want to see Emraan Hashmi, doing dirty things to this new actress. :)

A moron and his dilemma

Well, here I'm again, at your service, for the second time in a day. You must be wondering whether I'm nuts. My answer is NO, I'm not. But, I'm hurt, by seeing the people, who matter, acting like one mentally off-balanced freak. Yes you read it right, Mentally off-balanced freak!
You must be thinking why I'm fuming, well, see the excerpts of the blog written by a very renound personality, here it goes:

blah blah blah blah

Shahrukh is licking my feet and I am feeding him biscuits every now and then. What more can I ask for?

Now, before you jump to any conclusions let me add that Shahrukh is the name of our dog. And before you jump to any further conclusions let me add that I had nothing to do with naming him. In fact Shahrukh is the dog of the caretakers of our house. When I bought this house it came with the caretakers and their dog! Apparently Shahrukh (the actor) was shooting for a commercial in this house a few years ago, and that very day the caretakers bought a pup…, and named him Shahrukh. What are the chances of me buying a house which comes with a dog called Shahrukh!!!

blah blah blah blah

Well Shahrukh is once again begging for my attention, so let me get back to him. He is smelling too much, I think he needs a bath. “Heel boy, heel.”

Well, this gentleman is Aamir Khan, the very cute, shy-looking, versatile actor and heart-throb of millions. Now, you must be thinking I'm a ardent SRK fan. No I'm not, don't get surprised, I said I'm not a great fan of SRK the actor, but I love SRK the person, SRK the brand, SRK the entrepreneur. He may be acting(over-acting to be precise) in the movies a tad too much, yet he has his charm, his aura and his brains when it comes to handling the situation. I've never heard SRK trying to hog the limelight, never read/heard making cat-calls to other actors. I've seen him as a thorough gentleman. I simply hate to read/hear such thoughtless crap that Aamir has thrown all over his blog, what a moron he is.
This reflects how much insecure, envious and unpopular Aamir is! I feel he did this just because he wanted public attention. People say, when you don't achieve something by playing within the rules of the game, play dirty. That's what this imbecile, half-witted idiot has done. He says: "Well Shahrukh is once again begging for my attention", I say fuck off, it is showing who's begging for attention, for this is not the first time he has maligned SRK's name. Few months earlier, news channels were flashing news about Aamir saying he's number one and SRK is number two, SRK obliged, rightly so(I too feel Aamir is a better actor). But digging the old shit again, will surely smell foul. I find this whole saga of utterly bad taste and all these utter nonsense simply screams one thing: Aamir Khan is one low-laid, attention seeking moron!
PS: I don't have any personal grudges against Aamir Khan, and his latest Movie, TZP was a treat to watch, that makes him a succeeded-in-the-first-time director. But what's the use, when he doesn't attend award functions to be felicitated. I would have banned him from film fraternity, had I been a power-broker in the industry. ;)

More sports update

Wow! What a night I had! Staying till 0315 Hrs in the morning didn't go in vain. One absolute rocker of the game!
Well, for those morons who don't know what I'm talking about, it's much awaited Champion's League final showdown between the two giants of English Premier League, Manchester United Vs Chelsea. They headed the EPL charts and also the Champion's League table.
It was only few days back, Manchester United became the English Champions with a narrow margin, 2 points to be precise and Chelsea, the second. Similar fate awaited for Chelsea in Moscow. Chelsea is good side but Manchester is superior. Avid Chelsea fans wont like to believe it, but well, that's the truth, otherwise the results wouldn't be lying.
This Champion's League final once again proved why Ronaldo is best player around, for he was the one who started the scoring in mid-first half. Frank Lampard balanced the equation in the dying minutes of first half. One thing I want to mention here, I never rate Frank Lampard as best of the players, he's just been over-hyped!
Second half couldn't break the dead-lock, and the thirty minutes of extra-time too was unfruitful, except Didier Drogba getting a Red card, for slapping Owen Hargreaves(I think, pardon my carelessness, I was feeling very sleepy then! :) ).
And then the penalties happened, Petr Cech saved the third penalty from Ronaldo and John Terry threw away the eufa cup by shooting his chance outside the net. So finally it came to sudden-death, Ryan Giggs converted his chance and Edwin Van Der Sar saved Nicholas Anelka's shot. At the end, it was ManU 6 and Chelsea 5 in penalties.
It's ManU all the way in Europe.

Airtel going Vodafone way

First it was Vodafone and now it's Airtel who has come up with the same promises made by the Vodafone and seems Airtel is quicker to do it.
In my previous post, I had said Vodafone is tying up with Apple to bring i-phone to indian market by the end of 2008, but now Airtel has promised to do the same but the timelines are nearer, that is, around Diwali this year(Check the full article here).
These two biggies are playing each other down for tapping the huge indian customer base. First Airtel dropped the STD tariffs to Rs. 1.50, immediately Vodafone played its cards by announcing the same, but charges lesser than Airtel by Rs. 0.20.
While these two biggies are playing each other down, somebody is smiling.... and that's you, the happy customer.

i-phone coming your way

Finally the news is out. If an article in the Times of India is to be believed, the day isn't far away, when gizmofreaks in India would be using the authentic, unjailbroken version of i-phone in 2009. Vodafone is set to bring it in the indian market.
I was planning to go for the i-pod touch, now I guess it'll be better to wait till 2008-end and go for the i-phone.
Thank god finally something good is happening :).

Couldn't think of a good title

I've completely lost the track of the time now a days. The change in project, my evil intention, my hard-work to see my evil intention get through, IPL and Champion's League... all sums up to one sentence, I really have lost the track, or rather, I'm running in a different lane!
Different late-night ToI sessions have drained me. Moving and start working immediately into a new project hasn't helped much. Feels like I've become the epitome of a cheap-labor, or you can say a synonym for Big Bazaar(remember their punchline? "Is se sasta aur achcha kaha milega?"). How dearly I wish my evil intentions to be true soon, sadly that hasn't happened till date. So I'm still trying.
And there's Champions' League and IPL. In second semi-final's second leg between, Chelsea and Liverpool, Chelsea got through after a 4 - 3 aggregate. They were deadlocked in the first leg at Anfield(Liverpool's home) 1 - 1, courtesy Jon Arnie Riise's own goal in the dying seconds of the match. It was always goign to be a herculean task for (my favorites) Liverpool to register a win at Stamford Bridge(Chelsea's home ground). And my fear become true as Drogba muscled in, tearing the Liverpool defence to hit nets twice. It was a well fought battle, and scoreline read 3 - 2 after 120 minutes of play, as 90 minutes of play couldn't decide the better team. Babel's goal from near-centre was a treat to watch, but as commentator said, it came a bit late. Finally it'll be Chelsea Vs Manchester United in all English European League final at Moscow.
Enough of Europe, coming back to India, now a days there's a craze called IPL prevalent in Indian heat, spreading like wildfire, catching everybody's attention. The strongest teams, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders have bitten the dust, after successive losses. Team Chennai is clearly showing how Australians had dominated the initial part of this inaugural IPL edision. I guess Dhoni must be finding it hard to pull back his teams act together, but still he has to do it, and do it faster.
Controversy looming around the captain's head, Kolkata Knight Riders too are well below their standards. Frankly, has Sourav Ganguly ever shied away from controversy? I think he isn't an apt leader for T20s, hasn't led from front and this is showing in the group-standings. Now that Shoaib Akthar has been cleared to play, it may boost their morale.
Rajasthan Royals have always brought something new to IPL everytime, latest being Asnodkar, looking him play, one surely agree : Dynamites indeed come in small packages. What a man, I'm impressed, though not very much refined and may fall against quality pace attack, yet a talent worth your money! They are looking very good side, after Smith's arrival, their top-order has gained more ground. And Sohail Tanvir is troubling the batsmen like never before, I'm sure Parthiv Patel, didn't see the ball coming, I can bet on that.
Okie then, Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs King XI Punjab is on the cards today, I seriously want Bangalore to win this one.

Sports Update :)

Hi folks, well I couldn't keep away from writing, especially so much is going around! :P
This IPL has brought a whole new set of subjects for me to write about(I'm salivating! :)!
Let's talk about the Champion's League, 1st semi final, 2nd leg, between Manchester United and Barcelona. My oh my... Paul Scholes, where on earth were you, till you scored that goal? He has always been a power-shooter, yesterday too he proved that he has not faded away. Playing along-side the holy-trinity of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez, it's not always possible to steal the lime-light. But Scholes, you did it, and that too in such a major clash. Kudos to you!
Note: Only Paul Scholes right-footer powerful shot from outside the D-area in fourteenth minute separated the two sides and pushed ManU to finals.
Now let's talk about the IPL:
8 teams, 59 matches, salivating prospects for press, players, viewers and BCCI of course(nearly forgot BCCI! :) )
Great teams, great matches so far... Let's look at the teams..
Delhi Daredevils : My favorite in IPL. This team boosts of quality bowlers, with likes the of McGrath, Asif, Vettori in their ranks. But they lost to KXP.
Chennai Super Kings: Probably the strongest teams so far, four matches without loss proves that they are the Kings till now, but they'll be short of Hayden and Hussy now. It's worth watching how they'll fill the void.
Kolkata Knight Riders: I had thought they'll be a team to watch, but losing two-in-the-trot has somewhat dented their morals(mine as well). Now Brendon McCullum and Ponting is goin back for their national duties. I think KKR will suffer their absence.
Kings XI Punjab: This is the fourth team I had tipped to reach semis. With likes of Yuvi, Sreesanth, Sangakara and Brett Lee, they have the firepower.
Rajasthan Royals: Though they don't have much foreign-imports, the able shoulders of Shane Warne has taken them to the new heights. With Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan contributing big time, they have become a force to fear for.
Bangalore Royal Challengers: An out and out test side, with Jaffar, Dravid and Kallis filling the upper 3 spots. Don't expect a firecracker whilt their inning is in progress. Though they have Boucher and Misba to provide that option. Good bowling side with, Zaheer, Morkel and Praveen Kumar(and Kumble of course).
Deccan Chargers: Most star-studded line-up for T20. So far, they have failed to impress, barring that last match against Mumbai Indians. With Gilchrist, Gibbs, Afridi and Symonds, they can tear anything coming their way(though Symonds will be bcak now).
Mumbai Indians: Most expensive side, but they money spent is not showing up in their performance. Shaun Pollock is my all time favorite. Sachin is every cricket-lover's god. I'm desperately waiting for Sachin's comeback, for only he, can save the Mumbai Indians' sinking ship. Though they have won their last match against KKR, I'm still not convinced.

Today's match: Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs Delhi Daredevils.
I'm afraid how big will be the winning margin today, coz you all know the winner, Delhi Daredevils(my favorite team :) ). :)

The Comeback

No no... I wasn't in prison serving the sentence, nor was I in some self-imposed exile... My reason for being away from the blog was well... there are various reasons: but foremost being the preparation for the switch...(those in IT know what is switch! :) )
I sat for one of the best companies... flunked it.... dint expected subjective types questions in written test.... seriously! for this one, all my assumptions went awry. Anyways, I still have a whole lot of options open, so planning to capitalize on them. Hope I'll come out blazing guns... Wish me luck, and till then, there will be a drought of posts here(Most likely :) )
And oh yes! We have IPL going on now and today's the ManU VS Barca, Semifinal, 2nd leg, from 11.30 IST. Dont miss it.
Signing off for the day
D

A spectator's desire

Watched the second leg of the Champions' League Quarter Final between ManU and AS Roma, staying awake till 0230 Hrs. I must say I'm a li'l disappointed as a spectator, for both the teams missed quite a few opportunities, and biggest heartache came when I couldn't see Cristiano Ronaldo even after watching the entire match. I had seen the first leg of this quarter-final till half-time, where ManU had come victorious, kudos to Rooney and Ronaldo, latter scoring a goal out of nowhere! The form Ronaldo is in this season, I don't have to think about who will the recipient of the golden ball this year be, I bet it's his. And yesterday, it's was the same cupidity of watching him in action that stretched my awake-hours. While the match was in progress and was well paced in second half, I thought Sir Alex Ferguson must have plotted against all Ronaldo fans to increase TRP of the CL(Champions' League) :) .
Both the teams were equally inadequate in terms of scoring and defending, the defenders let slip a few of the attacks and those attacks were spoiled by the strikers or the keeper. AS Roma even got a penalty(which I feel wasn't, as far as my football knowledge is concerned!) in the first half, but Daniele De Rossi shot it powerfully over the horizontal bar. Phew! That very time I knew this would be a near-to-boring affair, but still watched thinking that Ronaldo will come and change the course of the match. But that was not to happen.
Tevez scores in 70 something minute
And all of a sudden Carlos Tevez unsettled the parity with a low header to a Owen Hargreaves' cross. Another nail in the coffin of the hopes of Roma going to semis, after ManU had won the first leg with a 2-0 margin. I must say AS Roma missed their striker and captain Francesco Totti in a huge way, for they lacked the poaching instincts up front.
Finally it's ManU going to CL semis to face Barca by virtue of a 3-0 aggregate win. Barca who were superior to Schalke in both the games has reached to semis with an aggregate of 2-0.
Now let's cross out hands, wait and watch, who will lift the cup. This year my favorite is ManU, for their players are fluid, plays in any position and unsettles the opposotion defence quite easily. And yes, J.S. Park is an asset to ManU, and yesterday too he proved why has he been in ManU for so long!
Parting notes: I'm angry with Sir Alex for not letting me see the ever selfish, ever arrogant but the best player around this year, Christiano Ronaldo. With that form and those skills he can afford to be selfish and arrogant. But I am still angry at Sir Alex.

From Chennai with love

He was 'Nawab of Najafgarh' in the beginning, he hit the Ranji circuit and became 'Delhi Dasher'. The 309 in Multan made him 'Sultan of Multan' and today, on 28th of March 08, he became 'Chennai's Champ' with another milestone in his kitty, the fastest triple century in the history of test cricket. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you all, the ever unpredictable, maverick indian batsman Virender Sehwag, whose charismatic, unorthodox hard-hitting showed him the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Today, I followed him ball by ball (not exactly, might have missed a lot in between) and his majestic, supremely sublime touch saw him through 200 first and then 300 with quite an ease and in process, made statisticians and cricket historians busy, breaking several of records, viz, highest individual score by an indian, highest individual score by an indian in India, fastest triple ton, two 200+ consecutive partnerships, only person after legendary Sir Donald Bradman and Brian Charles Lara to go past 300 twice. The list goes on. At the end of the day's play, he was unbeaten on 309, with 41 fours and 5 sixes, that too with an strike-rate of more than 100. Wow! that's quite a record ! I can't say he looks as fluent as a Sachin Tendulkar on song, or as classy as Brian Lara, and today too he played some risky shots by the test cricket's standards, but then again, it's Virender Sehwag we are talking about, who attacks from the word go. Out of all the attacking batsmen I've watched playing, I regard him only behind Gilly (Adam Gilchrist), and that's not because Sehwag lacks on hard-hitting, it's because the way Gilly plays his shots, with an elan, with a majestic authority and quite frankly I never saw Gilly out of form. What a pity, now I wont be able to see him in international arena.
Anyways, Sehwag's still there to provide the firecracking effects. After today's play, what I desperately wanted to see was the reaction in AajTak. One thing about AajTak I like is the way they project the news to the viewers. Well, you need to see it to believe it.(Headlines Today too is not far behind these days. May be that's called competition.)
So I came back home, tuned in Aajtak(that's what I do most of the days), as expected, the host was present with a panel of experts talking about Viru's innings. Same Breaking News was flashing at the bottom of the TV screen, 'Viru's 309*, will it be a 400 tomorrow?'. I specially liked the way that host put it, here is how: Sehwag ne aaj naabaad tin sau nau run banaaye, jisme ekchaalis karaare chauke aur paanch gaganbhedi chhakke shaamil thhe'(Sehwag today made unbeaten 309 runs which included, 41 cracking fours and five sky-piercing? sixes) The discussion went on and on. They discussed about absolutely everything that had Sehwag to relate with, from his family to he getting dropped in the past to will he score a 400 tomorrow and break the record. But I thought of only one thing, paanch gaganbhedi chhakke.

PS: I sincerely wish that he scores that 400 and goes past to post even higher score.And I also wish to come up with an exclusive blog on Aajtak, so watch out for this column, and dont forget to tune in to Aajtak.

Rise and fall of Big Brother

He came, he saw but he failed to conquer, that's how one would say after the recent debacle, crisis he's going through. And why not, it was in making, his eccentric thoughts and imagination paved the way for his collapse. Now he rests, with future full of uncertainty, near from home yet so away, amidst his people but as a stranger, lost, cast off. The future of the one who unified the Gorkhas now rests in the hands of the very people who he first brought together, then led them and took them nowhere, with a result worse than he himself had imagined.
The fall was indeed in making. An article, found talking about the same.

Ghisingh's pride, hunger for power did him in
13 Mar 2008, 0424 hrs IST,Anand Soondas,TNN

If one looked at Subash Ghisingh closely, gaunt, bare-boned, unsmiling and perpetually wrapped in the sartorially killing feather-jacket and tie combination, nobody could remotely imagine he was capable of such atrocious lies or flabbergasting flights of fancy.
A sample: Gautam Buddha was 18 feet tall and each of his ears weighed 10 kg.
Another sparkling gem: Earthquakes occur when gods angrily stomp in the heavens and so it’s essential to periodically get Ganesha drunk on tongba, the local beer.
Ghisingh, who’s just stepped down as the strongest, often meanest, power centre in the Darjeeling hills, lording over 20 lakh people for 20 miserable years, could well have been India’s own version of Papa ‘Doc’ Duvalier, the Haitian dictator of the 1950s who believed more in voodoo than vox pop and once got all black dogs killed in his country because someone told him Clement Barbot, his rival, had turned into one to avoid prosecution.
In the years since Ghisingh marched for Gorkhaland and got Bengal to submit to a settlement that was half way between independent state and autonomy, the Gorkha Hill Council, no dogs were killed in Darjeeling. Darjeeling went to the dogs instead.
"There was nothing to look forward to except Ghisingh’s bizarre take on life, history and religion," says Deepak Pradhan, a businessman in Darjeeling. "People initially didn’t complain because they were too busy putting together pieces of their shattered lives after the violence of the 1980s. Later, when they did, GNLF (Gorkha National Liberation Front) goons physically throttled protest voices."
By the time Ghisingh finally relinquished power, all that the former soldier of the elite 8th Gorkha Regiment was left with was a legacy of eccentricities, a long list of corruption charges, horrifying tales of excesses and, as his cohorts say, a severe bout of diarrhoea.
The man who once unified the more than one crore Nepalese in India and had grand, if suspicious, visions of Greater Gorkhaland, a warriors’ swathe that would straddle Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Darjeeling, had by the end of his eventful but abject rule become a caricature of himself. He was his own mascot. The Ghisingh mystique had morphed into burlesque.
"Who said Durga has 10 hands," he would thunder during Darjeeling’s famous Dussehra festivities. "She has 18." The goddess metamorphosed, too, as artisans implanted extra limbs, the new ones clutching frightful weapons.
At other times he harangued about evolution as hapless audiences feigned interest.
"The earth was formed on June 20," he said, without either care or concern for Darwin. "And in 15 years there won’t be any mosquitoes in the world."
Not that he spared anthropology, theology, medicine and quantum physics. "Some of us," he announced earnestly, "have come from Ukraine." In more adventurous moods he would insist global warming happened because Shani had made the sun its home. The solution: Rubber plantation.
When he got tired with flying rocks that became nations, he would take on medicine and ask people to clap their hands if they wanted to beat tuberculosis. But one of his most bizarre and fantastic notions revolved around a folk singer from Nepal called Ani Tshering Doma. "Three lakh restless spirits have found peace after hearing her spiritual songs," he told a gathering once.
"That’s what it became finally," says Roshan Giri, general secretary of the rival Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. "Our hills became a fool’s paradise. There was no talk of poverty alleviation, unemployment, corruption and the dying economy." Another GJM leader, H B Chettri, sees this as the beginning of the end of Ghisingh and his GNLF.
"There’s finally light in the dark mountains," he says. A GNLF man, who changed sides timing it with the changing mood, said it was Ghisingh’s pride that did him in. "Just like the foolish emperor and his new clothes, our leader was blinded by power. And he had no one with courage to advise him better."
It’s almost certain Ghisingh’s maddening run of the hills is over. The 72-year-old, who’s still not dared to return to his land, may have given the Nepalese identity, unity and dreams of Gorkhaland, but there’s little hope for himself. He could get back to writing—he’s written 21 novels, many distinctly titillating and, pen an autobiography that could be called Nothing Hill.
Unless, of course, Durga with her 18 hands comes to his rescue or a flying stone miraculously turns into a kingdom he can rule, naming it ‘Ghisinghland’.

Courtesy : The Times of India

Ghisingh resigns, a new era begins in hills

Ghisingh quits, split in party

March 10: GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh today resigned as caretaker administrator of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC), ending a 20-year rule that had swiftly lost popular support in the last few months because of its failure to push the statehood demand.
In the Assembly, three GNLF legislators raised the demand for Gorkhaland during mention hour and staged a walkout. Later, two of them — Pranay Rai and Gaulan Lepcha — told reporters that they had resigned from their party and formed a group called GNLF (Rebels). The third MLA, Shanta Chhetri, said she would remain with the GNLF.
Ghisingh, down with a flu, signed and handed over the resignation letter addressed to Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to Darjeeling district magistrate and DGHC principal secretary Rajesh Pandey at the WBSEDCL Inspection Bungalow at Second Mile off Sevoke Road in Siliguri around 11.10am.
“I cannot speak on the content of the letter. I will forward it to the state government”, Pandey said after coming out of the bungalow where the GNLF chief has been staying since March 6.
In Calcutta later in the day, the chief minister said he had received Ghisingh’s resignation letter and accepted it. He added that Jalpaiguri divisional commissioner B.L. Meena would take over as the DGHC caretaker administrator tomorrow.
A source revealed that the 10-line resignation letter, drafted by Pandey upon Ghisingh’s instruction, mentioned that the GNLF chief was eligible to continue in the post till March 24. “He has said in the letter that considering the current state of affairs in the hills and a request from the chief minister, he preferred to step down,” the source said.
The district magistrate said the GNLF leader would continue to get Z-category security cover from the state.
The septuagenarian leader stayed away from reporters. “He is likely to leave for Darjeeling on Thursday and is expected to talk to the media before that,” the source said.
This is the first time since the formation of the DGHC in 1988 that Ghisingh is not in any administrative post of the council. “All these years, he was very busy with administrative duties,” said Dawa Pakhrin, the president of the Kalimpong branch of the GNLF. “From today, he is free and can devote more time to the party. We expect a meeting soon where our future course of action to fight for a separate state will be planned.”
However, leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, currently spearheading the movement for Gorkhaland, said Ghisingh would find it difficult to garner support in the hills.

Courtesy : The telegraph, Calcutta


Ghisingh's 22-yr rule ends

KOLKATA/DARJEELING: Virtually hounded out of the Hills by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), Subash Ghisingh on Monday stepped down as caretaker administrator of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.
The Gorkha leader left Darjeeling in the first week of February and since then, he could not go back to the Hills due to GJM's agitation. Even on Monday, when he tendered his resignation, he was in Siliguri. A senior official said he was not likely to go to Darjeeling in a day or two as he was indisposed and would take rest in Siliguri for some time.
Darjeeling district magistrate Rajesh Pandey went to Siliguri to receive Ghisingh's resignation. "Yesterday, Ghisingh complained of health problems. So, I decided to come to Siliguri and take the resignation letter. We will provide security to him as soon as he is well enough to travel," he said. Later, in the Assembly, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee announced that he has accepted Ghisingh's resignation.
Jalpaiguri divisional commissioner B L Meena was appointed DGHC administrator in the evening. He is likely to take charge on Tuesday.
There was jubilation in the Hills as soon as news reached there that Ghisingh's rule as DGHC chief had ended. "People have given their verdict and it is only right that they celebrate their ‘mukti' today," GJM president Bimal Gurung said. "We will not stop Ghisingh from coming to Darjeeling now that he has resigned. We can concentrate on our future agitation programme for Gorkhaland," he said.
People from all sections of society came out in droves after the news of Ghisingh's resignation reached Darjeeling. Their faces smeared with abir, the locals chanted: "Jai Gorkha Jai Gorkhali, hamro maang Gorkhaland." Firecrackers were burst throughout the Hill town.
There were celebrations in the other subdivisions of Darjeeling, too. All India Gorkha League and Communist Party Revolutionary Marxist also welcomed Ghisingh's resignation.
Events in the Assembly during the day, however, indicated that Ghisingh's resignation would not end the problems in Darjeeling. For, after many years, the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state was voiced on the floor of the House by three legislators from Darjeeling.
The demand was raised separately by GNLF MLA Shanta Chhetri from Kurseong and two others, Pranay Rai and Gaulan Lepcha from Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Rai and Lepcha announced that they had already resigned from GNLF and joined GJM. They also submitted a memorandum to the chief minister, detailing the demand for Gorkhaland.
As opposed to the Gorkhaland demand voiced by GNLF in the 1980s, the new demand for a separate Gorkhaland state included not only the hills of Darjeeling but also large areas of Dooars.

Courtesy: Times Of India