What India is?

Subject: What India is?

 

 An introductory 5 minutes speech given in London at an event, by a young professional of Indian origin. His name Dhritiman  Biswas. He spoke extempore and the points are reproduced here. 

The topic was a round table on : 

" India -  is it a gigantic success or a colossal failure ? "

This is what he said:

"Ladies and Gentleman, I am glad that I am merely introducing the debate and not participating as in my humble opinion the question itself is wrong. 

India, unlike, many western paradigms cannot be analysed in black and white.. 

In linear equations or algorithms such as this.... 

We hate test cricket yet are the No1 test ranked country; 

our ranking in gender diversity is 134, yet the majority of our bank CEOs, the most misogynist yet of the  industries are women; 

our health services creak and crumble, yet 36 % of all NHS consultants are Indians; 

we love Bollywood tamasha, yet New York philharmonic sold out in 5 mnts in Calcutta in 1984; 

we struggle with illiteracy, yet are the largest English speaking country in the world; 

we riot, fight and squabble, yet remain a thriving democracy ,  whilst Russia, Arabia, Brazil, Pakistan fall to authoritarianism...

India is a concept devised by the British and therefore in many ways a contradiction, a process , a work in progress. 

Our poverty index suggests we are a hopeless failure, our mobile usage however may allude to resounding success. 

Our private sector defaults diabolically like Kingfisher but spectacularly turnaround JLR like TATA. 

This question cannot be answered because it is the wrong question to ask. 

The right question is - 

Can India be allowed to fail ?  

JP Morgan elegantly points to the ruins of emerging markets and says India is a nice house in a bad street ! 

I would add further... 

The western world is founded on the principles of liberal, free market, democracy... 

Outside the OECD and the western Anglo Saxon Protestant world, literally in the entire globe there is one other example of this experiment and that is India...

We are the West and England's most natural ally... 

We speak the language, sing Beatles' songs, read Wodehouse and want to grow up to be Sherlock. 

Despite our many failings we are a giant ; 

and a colossus and for the sake of the world let's hope we succeed."

 

 

 

 

Calendar

An Interesting History of the year 1752.
>>
>> Go to Google type "September 1752 calendar" & see for yourself.
>> You will notice, 11 days are simply missing from the month.
>> This was the month during which England shifted  from the Roman Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar.
>> A Julian  year was 11 days longer than a Gregorian year. So, the King of England  ordered 11 days to be wiped off the face of that particular month.
>>
>> So, the workers worked for 11 days less that month, but got paid for  the whole month. That's how the concept of "paid leave" was born. Hail  the King!!!
>>
>> In the Roman Julian Calendar, April used to be the first  month of the year; but the Gregorian Calendar observed January as the  first month. Even after shifting to the Gregorian Calendar, many people  refused to give up old traditions and continued celebrating 1st April as  the New Year's Day.
>> When  simple orders didn't work, the King finally  issued a royal dictum; which stated that those who celebrated 1st April  as the new year's day would be labelled as fools.
>>
>> From then on, 1st April became April Fool's Day. History is really interesting!!
>>

Your New Car

Truly amazing.

https://www.youtube-nocookie. com/embed/D4uSWtazRCM?rel=0 

Traditional Indian Diet Significantly Cuts Alzheimer's Risk: Study

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Amazing Woman who has been Training India’s Special Forces

This Amazing Woman Has Been Training India’s Special Forces for 20 Years without Compensation!

The amazing Seema Rao is one such woman and this is her story.

Photo Source

A 7th-degree black belt holder in military martial arts, Seema Rao is India’s only female commando trainer. A prominent expert in close quarter battle, Seema has been giving commando training to various armed forces in India for 20 years, without taking any monetary compensation in return! Seema is also a combat shooting instructor, a firefighter, a scuba diver, an HMI medalist in rock climbing, and a Mrs India World pageant finalist.

This incredibly multifaceted lady is also one of the only 10 women in the world certified in Jeet Kune Do, a unique martial art form created by Bruce Lee in the 1960s.

Photo Source

Seema Rao is the daughter of freedom fighter Prof. Ramakant Sinari, who helped in the liberation of Goa from the Portuguese. The deeply patriotic Seema grew up listening to stories of India’s struggle for independence and always wanted to serve her country. She finally had the opportunity to convert this desire into reality when she met her future husband, Major Deepak Rao, at the age of 16. Major Rao had been practising martial arts since the age of 12 and it was he who introduced Seema to this empowering field.

Major Deepak Rao is Seema’s co-pioneer in the field of close quarter battle training. In 2011, he received the President of India’s honorary rank award of [Major] for his 20 years of contribution to the Indian Army. Others who have been honoured with the same award are Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Abhinav Bindra.

Photo Source

After marriage, the couple continued to learn and excel in martial arts, shooting, and weapon defence while they simultaneously pursued an education in medicine. After becoming certified doctors, Deepak equipped himself with the prestigious CLET Law Enforcement certification, while Seema did her MBA in crisis management. The formidable couple then started thinking about how they could channelise their desire to do something constructive for the country. After much thought, they decided to train the soldiers of the Indian armed forces without accepting any compensation in return.

There were two factors that inspired them to take up this Herculean challenge. One was the desire to serve the personnel who guard India and the other was their instinctive need to remain engaged in combat and martial arts. So, in 1996, they approached the Service Chiefs of Army, Navy, BSF & NSG. The chiefs were impressed with the couple’s dedication and decided to try out their training programme. There was no looking back after that.

Seema has since spent 20 years as a full-time guest trainer of the Indian armed forces.

Photo Source

The journey wasn’t easy. The couple had to face several financial hardships in the initial years of their marriage but they stuck to their decision of not charging a single rupee for their work. Also, since Seema was constantly travelling to hostile locations, through harsh weather and inhospitable terrain, she could not even attend her father’s funeral. Realising that it would be impossible to carry a pregnancy through, given her rigorous training schedule, Seema consciously decided not to have her own child and instead adopted a girl. In the course of work, Seema also suffered multiple injuries that included a vertebral fracture and a severe head injury that made her lose her memory for months (she could not recognise anyone but her husband). She was also shot at by insurgents but her determination to serve her nation never wavered. 

Along with her husband, Seema has provided training to almost every elite unit of the Indian Forces, including the NSG Black Cats, MARCOS, GARUD, Paracommandos, BSF, the Army Corps Battle Schools and its Commando Wing. She has also trained officers of the National Police Academy, the Army Officers Training Academy and the Police Quick Response Teams of almost every major city  in India.

Though Seema has repeatedly proven herself in the male-dominated field of commando training, she still meets trainees in every course who are reluctant to learn from a woman. In an interview with Naaree, Seema saine them, but I also had to gain their confidence in my ability to teach. However, eventually, I have always managed to earn the respect of commandos that I have trained.”

In 2009, after training the GARUD commandos, Seema was invited by the Air Force Chief for the official IAF Para Jump course. Here, she earned her IAF Para Wings, another rare achievement.

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Seema is also the only external combat training resource appointed by the Indian government to date and, with her husband, she has received 4 Army Chief citations, a record unparalleled by anyone.

Photo Source

Seema’s strength lies in her skill in Close Quarter Battle (CQB) – the art of proximity combat that focuses on physical prowess, skill, and protocol. It involves techniques like reflex shooting with rifles, quick shooting with pistols, and bare-handed combat. It also entails the precise use of knives, bayonets, and other appropriate combat weapons. Room combat and confined space combat such as anti- hijack operations also come under the purview of CQB.

In her interview, Seema laughingly said:

“I can shoot an apple off a person’s head from 50 yards without giving him a scratch and I can evade a speeding bullet aimed at my head with ease.”

Seema and her husband have also developed a unique and modern method of CQB exclusively for the use of Indian forces. The Advanced Commando Combat System, or Bison System as it is called, is different from the conventional CQB.

Photo Source

In this system, the reflex shooting method is unique and the unarmed methods can quickly handicap or cripple the enemy with the least effort. The team tactics in Bison System differ from conventional western CQBs and are unique too.

The Raos have also developed an indigenous method of reflex shooting, which is known as the Rao System of Reflexter to this need in modern warfare, we devised the Rao System of Reflex Fire. The Indian forces have found this very beneficial.”

The Rao couple has also established the Unarmed Commando Combat Academy (UCCA), an elite military martial arts academy, to help train the Indian forces and also to publish training books for the Forces. The Academy also offers training in Jeet Kune Do and a variety of other exotic martial arts to civilians. There is also an Unarmed Combat Blackbelt program for civilians. Says Seema:

“With UCCA, we have published seven books till date and three of these are limited editions for the exclusive use of the Indian forces. Our book Encyclopedia of Close Combat Ops is the world’s first encyclopedia on CQB training and it has found a proud place in the FBI library and the INTERPOL library.

Unusual Facts, Photos

Unusual Facts, Photos...

 

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I think if I saw this  I would turn around and go the other way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

360Degree photo from Eiffel Tower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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