Someone Killed Aarushi

By Manuwant Choudhary

Someone killed Aarushi. This is clear from CBIs closure report...its just that the CBI does not think there is enough evidence to find WHO killed Aarushi.

I must also admit, not just the CBI..our hundreds of journalists sitting in New Delhi do a poor job of investigating this case. Even interviews with Dr. Talwar are shoddy and it doesn't help move the case an inch.

I have not visited the Talwar residence so it is difficult to conjecture about circumstantial evidence but just because a father `looks' innocent we should not give him a clean chit. Nor should we absolve him simply because he is a father. Sympathy should be backed by cold facts.

But nor should we hold him guilty without cold facts. The CBI abandoning the case midway is suspicious.

Let us observe some of the facts or fiction in CBIs closure report as written in the Times of India.

1) The Talwars slept through the crime being committed in their home because they could not hear a thing due to the noise of the AC.

2) Usually Hemraj - the servant opens the door for the maid, this morning Mrs. Nupur Talwar threw the keys from the balcony.

3) There was no forced entry into the home.

4) Nupur Talwar was composed that morning and three minutes later both Nupur and Rajesh Talwar start howling in Aarushi's room `Dekh Hemraj ne kya kar diya.,' in front of the maid.

5) the body of Aarushi was found wrapped in a sheet.

6) The crime scene was cleaned up by the Talwars before the UP police could take charge of the spot.

7) The injuries on the body of Aarushi and the servant Hemraj was by blunt weapon and also a sharp scalpel or khukri on neck but the post mortem report says the death occurred by injuries by the blunt weapon .

8) The blunt weapon could be a golf club.

9) The closure report speaks of an attempt to fix the post-mortem report to ensure that there is no mention of rape. It says that Dr Dinesh Talwar, Rajesh's brother, made Dr Sunil Dohre of the Noida Hospital, who was conducting the autopsy, speak with a person he introduced as Dr T D Dogra, head of the department of forensic medicine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The person told Dohre that no mention of rape was needed. CBI, however, found out from Dr Dogra, a renowned authority, that he never spoke with Dohre.

10) A blood sample found on a whisky bottle did not match with that of Aarushi or Hemraj.

Let us take this case one step at a time logically.


1) The door was locked from inside when the murder was committed so it has to be someone within the house or unless the door of the Talwar household can be opened from the outside using a duplicate key. This needs to be seen whether or not the Talwars fasten their door from the inside or just use a lock. No journalist has given a detailed account of the Talwaar's door. This really could be the key to unravelling the mystery.

2) If it was an outside job then it could be done by servants or even criminals. If its an inside job then the suspicion is on the couple (because Hemraj is also killed)

3) While the couple blamed Hemraj, his body was only discovered the next day on their terrace. The UP police did not even search the home properly after the crime.

4) This doctor Dr. Sunil Dohre who conducted the autopsy needs to be probed further because he admits he did not give the rape report because Dr. Talwars brother made him speak to some top doctor (who later denies he spoke to Dr. Dohre). Dr. Dohre should be booked also. Was the UP police also involved in this cover up? Generally autopsies in India are conducted under police monitoring.

5) If Aarushi was killed by a blunt weapon then what was the need for a sharp weapon being used on neck. Was this only an effort to mislead the investigations.

6) the blood on the whiskey bottle is not of Aarushi or Hemraj. Then is it that of the father Dr. Rajesh Talwar? If it is not his then does it belong to the `outsider' who did it. Or is also another attempt by Dr. Talwar to mislead the investigations.

7) Why was the crime scene cleaned up? What do the Talwars have to say on this? I have not heard a word on this from the Talwars.

8) Dr. Rajesh Talwar says the police found nothing in brain mapping and naro-analysis so I am innocent. Such tests help to corroborate. Its not absolute and that is why they are not accepted in courts without other evidence to nail accused.

9) The CBI and the UP police needs to be investigated and individuals held accountable for this mess.

Daughters A `Liability'?

In India, all women must confront the cultural pressure to bear a son. The consequences of this preference is a disregard for the lives of women and girls. From birth until death they face a constant threat of violence. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/publication/undesired

By Manuwant Choudhary

A judge of India's Supreme Court Gyan Sudha Mishra in her declaration mentioned her daughters marriage as a `liability'...so Indian newspapers screamed `Daughter As Liability.'

A closer look and maybe its hard to accept this fact but in India daughters are looked upon as a liability irrespective of the women's reservations in parliament and irrespective of the fact that India's most powerful politicians are women....and they are without reservations. Sonia Gandhi, Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, J. Jayalalitha.....Brinda Karat.

India's leader of opposition is also a woman Sushma Swaraj.

India's speaker in Lok Sabha is Meera Kumar.

India's President is Pratibha Patil.

Yet, since 1980 there are some 40 million women missing in India by way of murders, trafficking or just plain ill-treatment.

So Sudha Mishra's admission is just bringing this very hard reality into the public domain.

What really drives this anti-women cultural phenomenon in India..if you understand Indian society you will see the desire to bear sons is because sons mean more dowry..while a daughter means you pay her dowry..so a son is an `asset' while a daughter a `liability'.

So what do governments do..they ban dowry.

Anyone found giving or taking dowry is put behind bars. But it doesn't stop simply because of greed and also because giving gifts is a human need. Its the demand for it thats really the cancer.

In that case the Supreme Court judge also can be charged under the Dowry Act.

I once visited a prison in Bihar and was shocked to find so many women prisoners. Surely, Bihar could not have so many Phoolan Devi's...so I inquired from them as to what brought them here..and their reply was that they were falsely implicated under the Dowry Act.

I saw women had small babies in prison and the state did not provide them with milk or food or even some recreation simply because there was no allocation.

My story on NDTV compelled the government to provide for children born and living in India's prisons although they had not committed any crime.

I am actually against declarations because they don't mean a thing.

For example Laloo Prasad Yadav would classify his daughters as `assets' because the public love him so much that for his daughters weddings he gets crores of rupees and gifts from the public. And the taxmen accept this view.

Laws cannot stop anything.

Even socialist land ceiling laws do not allow for women to be considered as a unit in the family, so when you have laws that encourage only sons you will get this kind of India - an India of men.

I hate it.

(will Vogue Commission me to do stories on all the beautiful women of the world?)

Let Law Take Its Own Course !

By Manuwant Choudhary

"Let Law Take Its Own Course," when an Indian politician says this on television know for certain that he does not mean the rapists or dacoits will land up behind bars, what he really means is that our system will move so slowly or not move at all and the result will be a dead end - like whats happened in the Aarushi murder case.

When an Indian politician says "I have full faith in the judiciary", what he really means is that the judicial system has become such that I will be let-off.

Every single case the CBI has been given they have messed up. Maybe Aarushi's case was messed up before the CBI got it but I think there should be an inquiry into the CBI to see what our men really do there.

From Bofors to Jain Hawala to you name it..every single case has resulted in a nought. Not just the Aarushi case, should we just close down the CBI?

I am not sure what consolation people get when they demand a CBI inquiry.

As a journalist my experience is that the CBI angle is just good for a debate, nothing else. From Sheila Kini (Ramesh Kini murder allegedly by Raj Thackeray ) in Maharashtra to the murder of Shilpi Jain in Patna the CBI found nothing (Sadhu Yadav the accused is a Congress member now)

But there is no one to question the CBI - afterall India's Prime Minister controls it.

The only achievement of UPA 1 government was to let-off Quattorochi in the Bofors case.

A few days ago I saw a news report saying `Nitish Kumar deeply mourns the death of Yashodanand Singh'.

You may not know Yashodanand Singh but he was a former Bihar MLC. Originally an RSS man and then BJP but in his last few years he quit the BJP and from what I recollect he was among the few Bihar politicians who opposed the bifurcation of Bihar.

I met him quite accidentally. I found a very small news item on him in a Hindi daily on the 7th page. When I followed the story and met him he showed me the documents of a fertiliser scam running into some 40,000 crores of rupees across India. This scam was discovered by an all-party house committee.

I recall Yashodababu telling me when the house committee went to New Delhi to meet the agriculture minister Nitish Kumar, he refused to see them.

At the time Laloo was in Beur jail in the fodder scam and the RJD government hated the word CBI but when I went with this story to Bihar's agriculture minister he recommended a CBI inquiry to the chief minister and Rabri Devi demanded the CBI inquiry.

A worried Nitish Kumar frantically called up journalists close to him to find out my political leanings.

The fertiliser scam is..let me explain....the state government gives certificates that so many million tonnes of fertiliser has been distributed amongst farmers. Now private companies take this certificate to the union government and claim matching grants. The finding of the committee was that the Bihar government had issued certificates without actually procuring certificates from the District Agriculture Officers. In fact, no fertliser was distributed. Perhaps, the fertiliser never even came to Bihar.

The CBI did take up the case but we do not hear about it.

So when a person like Yashoda Babu passes away `the law has taken its own course'.

I am not an RSS man yet I can say Yashoda Babu worked in the interests of Bihar when all our politicians followed the mob.

In fact, as a journalist although I do have my own prejudices and leanings I always believe one should listen to what people have to say.

Like Yashoda Babu I have had sources who were Maoist sympathisers yet they gave me one of the best stories I have done..how tribals homes were destroyed by wild elephants because of reducing forest cover and hunger...the elephants came and destroyed tribal homes for grains.

I interviewed a tribal family in Dumka for NDTV, they were scared and literally living on a tree...the wife had just given birth on the tree.

And when the tribals demanded help and protested by blocking a road, the government arrested them and said they were all Maosists.

Take the claims of Nitish susashan (good governance), a local TV channel has come up with kidnapping statistics. It shows during the Rabri Devi government there were around 10,000 kidnapping cases in five years between 2000-2005, while under Nitish Kumar the kidnapping cases were 12,500 between 2005 and 2010.

A BJP minister on the program explained the law and order situation was much better now..its just that the police now register more cases.

Who Killed Nepal's Royal Family?

By Manuwant Choudhary

Nine years after Nepal's royal massacre its still not clear who killed the royal family and everytime a new book arrives on the subject there are new aspects to the story not known before.

At the time of the massacre the story was that crown prince Dipendra killed his entire family because his mother was opposed to his desire to marry Devyani Rani.

Now the Times of India reports a new book "Maile dekheko darbar" (The Palace As I Saw IT) written by a former palace military secretary General Bibek Shah, says it was Dipendra who pulled the trigger on that fateful night but that he could have been incited by foriegn powers.

By foreign powers he means India.

The General writes that King Birendra was in talks with a German arms manufacturer Heckler and Koch to procure their G36 assault rifles and India was opposed to such a move because India wanted Nepal to buy theiir inferior INSAS rifles. King Birendra also wanted to set up an arms unit to assemble the German-make weapon and compete in South Asia.

Off and on - Paras, son of former King Gyanendra, who is also a suspect in the royal massacre and most Nepalese don't like him, has said Dipendra had a dispute with his father and there were `cuts' involved as different arms manufacturers compete for the deal.

Gen Bibek Shah also says that India trained Nepal's military at Chakrauta in Uttaranchal and they also trained the Maoists at Chakrauta.

So was India playing a `double game'?

He claims he was removed by King Gyanendra when he came to know of this fact.

The TOI report doesn't talk about Devyani Rana at all.

A tragic love story, nine years later, does not figure in discourse over the Royal massacre.

Most Nepalese do not believe that Dipendra killed his own parents.

In July 2008 a palace soldier Lal Bahadur Lamteri said that he saw Paras arrive at the palace with a man (wearing a Dipendra mask) and its the masked man who killed the entire royal family before shooting Dipendra (who was in his private quarters in a drunken state). According to Lamteri Dipendra had six bullet wounds in his back and one on head but the doctor who treated Dipendra in the above documentary says Dipendra had only one bullet wound in his head which meant suicice or homicide.

There is no unanimity or certainty on who pulled the trigger. Does one believe the General or does one accept the soldier's eyewitness account?

But as facts tumble out and as Paras yet again opens fire at Tiger Tops nearly hitting Sujata Koirala's son-in-law...its clear that there was a lot at stake in Nepal and all stake-holders tried their best to make the most of it - including India.

But the royalty is history yet Nepal doesn't yet have a proper government or even a constitution.

Its people continue to suffer.

The mystery only deepens.

Nothing on WikiLeaks, yet.

Rajdroh (Sedition)

By Manuwant Choudhary

A sessions judge in India's Chhattisgarh pronounced his judgement in the trial of Dr. Binayak Sen, a paedriatician and national vice-president of the People's Union of Civil Liberties, "You get a Life-term in prison under section 124 A"

Dr. Binayak Sen, the accused asked, "What is Section 124 A?"

The judge replied, "Rajdroh".

Rajdroh means sedition.

I am not a Maoist. Nor am I a Maoist sympathiser yet I feel the sentence is out of proportion to the crime that Dr. Binayak committed `allegedly', he is said to have carried a letter from a Maoist leader and handed it over to another Maoist sympathiser a businessman in Kolkata.

The Indian press do not yet talk about the contents of the letter or how and why it amounts to sedition.

It is true that the Maoists are in armed rebellion against the Indian state.

It is also true that thousands of policemen have been killed over the years by the Maoists.

It is also true that hundreds of Maoists have been killed or arrested in counter operations.

Yet, its still not clear or conclusive that Dr. Binayak Sen is rightly charged with sedition for being merely a `courier'.

There are bigger Maoist leaders who deserve trial under Section 124A.

But why is the Indian state after Dr. Binayak Sen, I wonder.

I have never met him and for all I care he may have been sympathetic to the Maoists.

Even Nehru was a stalinist.

The origins of India's Maoists is from Naxalbari...a sleepy town in West Bengal...and in the sixties and seventies..many were under the spell of socialism and equality and they wore torn jeans and sang Beatles numbers and became Naxalites over coffee and cigarettes.

It was fashionable to be so in Bengal.

Their aim was to forcibly capture the land of the farmers and redistribute.

Many died.

Yet, Mrs. Indira Gandhi was a Naxal sympathiser. The Congress Party has always been a leftist party since independence. That is the reason why they brought in land-ceiling laws, cooperatives and such collectivist ideas.

In that sense the Congress leaders should also be charged with `Rajdroh'.

I really don't like the Maoists.

Yet, at different times the role of Maoists have also changed.

The real issue here is Freedom and Right to Private Property.

Naxals were against private property and attacked farmers.

The Indian State is also against private property and believe in acquiring property and handing it over to Big industry.

The Maoists oppose this not because they believe in private property but because they hate Big industry more and also because the land which is being taken away usually belong to the poorest of the poor.

So the Maoists are today actually for private property.

Singur, Nandigram....they have supported pitched battles on the side of the farmers against the Indian state.

Should all Indian farmers also be charged with Rajdroh simply because they fight to defend their land from a greedy Stalinist State?

As for Binayak Sen its like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer.

Spine Secrets !

By Manuwant Choudhary

I found this amazing Spine Table Lamp at the desk of my friend who is a Congress politician. Lets call him Mr. P. and he tells me this really helps him cure his spinal disorders.

Manuwant (M): Where the hell did you get this from?

P: You know I have this spinal problem so my doctor recommended I keep this always on my table.

M: But how can a table lamp cure your spinal problem. Does it have those infra-red lights that cures pains or what?

P: I don't mean that.

M: Then what? Does your spine have a gap or something. You're not feudal. Only feudals suffer from that problem because they have to protect their land.

P: No, no, mine is more serious. Let me explain.

M: I can't believe it.

P: You see I don't have a pain but my spine is not flexible enough.

M: But why do you need it to be flexible. At this age you're not aiming to be a gymnast!

P: Im just aiming to be a politician. See this lamp. (bending the lamps spine )...this lamp can become like Sitaram Kesri whevever he feels like. He can lie flat-out on the ground and procastinate before the HIGH Command.

M: You mean like Sitaram Kesri did to Narasimha Rao.

P: Yes, yes,

M: But can he be Narasimha Rao as well.

P: Yes, he can...he can bow before kesriji.

M: But why you telling me this.

P: You know my problem is I can't bow like them.

M: So whats the trouble?

P: You saw those Congressmen from Bihar outside Soniaji's residence who shouted slogans against corruption in ticket distribution (Rs.60 lakh for an MLA ticket)..they all suffer from the same ailment and the Congress has thrown them out from the party. I am also scared.

M: But you did not shout slogans.

P: You know just as every Indian political parties has a lawyer , they also have a spine specialist. I went to see ours. He got an X-Ray done and made a chart out of it on his laptop (just as astrologers do on Indian TV) and told me I must be careful.

M: You mean every Congress politcian goes through a spine test.

P: Yes, you are right.

M: You mean to say even respectable Digvijay Singhji has been through this test as well.

P: Yes, yes, if he had not gone through it how would he have been attacking the Hindutva for Karkare's misery before he was killed.

M: But that even Rahulji told to the Americans that Hindutva is a greater threat than Islamic fundamentalist. You don't read WikiLeaks?

P: Digvijay Singhji leaked it before WikiLeaks.

M: But how does that help?

P: It shows his loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family. He took all the blame for what was rightfully Rahuls'...

M: But why would he do that. He was all over the papers.

P: He wanted to blunt the oppositions attacks - he acted like wave-breakers you see on Marine Drive.

M: I don't follow.

P: Digvijay Singhji's spine has been trained to help Rahulji become India's Prime Minister one day.

M: Okay, okay, but tell me why do politicians doze-off at public functions and can be seen snoozing on national TV. Its okay to sleep in parliament but definitely not on Nehru's birth anniversary function in Allahabad. Digvijay Singhji also slept...all the panelists slept and even the audience was sleeping.

P: Its a side-effect of spinal medication. But you see how he awoke just when someone mentioned Soniaji's name.

M: Even trouble-shooter Pranab Da slept when the Russian President was here. And what about the BJP politicians.

P: They too have the same probllem. Arjun Munda sleeps all the time. But BJP spines are treated to bow before their leaders as well as before Ram.

M: You mean all of you attend Baba Ramdev's yoga lessons. I know Baba Ramdev is the most flexible person. See how he moves his stomach

P: Thats only filled with air. No, no, no..if we attend Baba Ram Dev's lessons then we would suffer more because he speaks against corruption. Our party prefers Santa Claus Kalmadi...see how he guffaws even when the CBI enters his home.

M; ya saw that. what did he tell the CBI?

P: He told them that he was only playing Santa Claus when he distributed the crores in the COngresswealth Games.

M: Just one more question...tell me what kind of spine is needed for the top job.

P: You mean Prime Minister.

M; Yes.

P: He must be spineless.

3 Pakistani Onions in Hindustan!

By Manuwant Choudhary

Onion Sharief: Aaah it was my dream to enter India through the Wagah border..did you see how angry those Indian soldiers were at letting us in..I don't know how they raise their legs higher than their heads.

Onion Bhutto: they seemed angrier at us than at kasab! I can't imagine what would happen to us if we fell under their boots?

Onion Parvez: actually it feels better being an onion than having to fight the Taliban.

Onion Bhutto: But why did you chose to become an onion?

Onion Parvez: I wanted to travel around India...the Indian government denied me a visa.

Onion Bhutto: But you've already seen the Taj Mahal..there is nothing else to see in India.

Onion Parvez: Last time I made that blunder by talking to that Prannoy Roy fellow...I had to walk so fast around the Taj Mahal that I did not really savour it fully. I want to sit there on a moon-lit night.

Onion Sharief: Cummon, common..i thought we were all hear to solve our core issue - Kashmir.

Onion Parvez: The K word don't even talk about it. We have enough people in Pakistan who want to be killed in Kashmir, why waste our life.

Onion Bhutto: Then what its better to die in Kashmir than in Gujarat. That Narendra Modi how he kills and gets away with it..even Supreme Court Special Investigation Team gives him a clean chit.

Onion Parvez: I know. In Gujarat even in a Muslim restaurant if you order Murgh do payaza..the waiter will bring you two onions but no chicken. All restaurants are vegetarian.

Onion Sharief: I know its better to be a chicken in Gujarat than being an onion.

Onion Bhutto: I wonder why they opened the Wagah Gates for us.

Onion Sharief: silly, silly you don't know if they did not open the Wagah gates, India's government would fall.

Onion Bhutto: If I only knew the power of the Wagah Gate, I'd not open it.

Onion Parvez: Too late, now. Its not about the gate you fools. I always felt you were both unfit to rule Pakistan. India allowed us onions to enter only because Indian onions became Rs.80 per kilo!

Onion Bhutto: So what?

Onion Parvez: In India every politician has an onion God. Those is power pray that onion prices do not rise, those out of power pray that onions become expensive.

Onion Bhutto: But why are Indian onions so expensive?

Onion Sharief: Didn't you see the BJP leaders wearing onions around their necks. They don't even know onions are to be eaten not worn around like a `maala'. Obviously, prices will go up if people buy onions for making garlands.

Onion Parvez: Don't blame the opposition. Even India's Prime Minister is to blame. See how many dinners he's given these past two months. First Obama, then Sarkozy, then the German Chancellor and then the Russians. And at dinner all the dishes had onions in them..onion soup, onion curry, onion rice, even onion pudding.

Onion Bhutto: But why so many oinion dishes?

Onion Parvez: To show the west that India is a super power.

Onion Sharief: (Looking out through a crack in the truck) Aaah the mustard fields remind me of my own Punjab. But I much prefer our decorated Pakistani trucks than the Tata trucks.

Onion Parvez: There I agree.

Onion Bhutto: I still have doubts as to why India's socialist leaders who believe in protecting small businesses and farmers would allow onions to come in.

Onion Parvez: Actually, I know two Indian politicians who like Pakistani onions. Advaniji and Jaswantji. Advaniji likes us because he was after all born in Pakistan. But Jaswantji likes only Pakistani onions who have a very British accent.

Onion Bhutto: But why would the Indian government want their people to eat more onions. Surely, you won't die if you don't eat onions.

Onion Sharief: I read somewhere that onions are an aphrodisiac....eating more onions means more passion and more sex. India wants to become a 2 billion population by 2018.

Onion Bhutto: But I always thought the BJP was a Hindu party and Hindus don't eat onions.

Onion Parvez: Wrong. Hindu Gods don't eat onions.

Onion Sharief: I think that Baba Ramdev is making something out of oinion juice..thats why he is able to spend 24 hours on TV in amazing postures and speak out against corruption as well.

Onion Bhutto: My nuclear scientist tells me India has a Plan B to meet its energy needs. Onion juice can be fermented and made into methane and it can produce electricity.

Onion Sharief: You know, i feel sad about one thing. I don't care why India has imported us but I do care why Pakistan has thrown us out.

Onion Parvez; Thats because we smell and we can make India cry.

Imagine Live - John Lennon - 72

Remembering Dorothy

By Manuwant Choudhary

I know most will say Dorothy Who? But this post is dedicated to a special person whom I knew very briefly and most of us hostelites knew as Sean Plant's cousin. Dorothy passed away a few days ago.

My aquaintance with Dorothy happened because one day I found a deodrant on my hostel table with a nice label on it..`This is for Manu' From Dorothy.

Dorothy Who?

I was then reminded of her as being Sean Plant's cousin who lives somewhere in England. And in those days before economic liberalisation if anyone got you a deo from abroad or Nepal it meant the world.

Dorothy had got a Deo for all of Sean's friends (we were many btw)

I thanked her.

She used to make annual visits to India and we would hear about her from Anurag Sharma. He would say,"You Know what Dorothy does all day at Churchgate station?"

I asked, what..."She stands and gives Rs.100 to every street child."

Dorothy was to us hostelites a mobile ATM!

Anurag ofcourse was desperate. He dreamt of how many cigarettes he could buy with Dorothy's hundred rupees.

We hostelites from elite St. Xavier's College - Bombay - were beggars and now most have made it in their lives - actors, oil sheikhs, corporate lobbyists you name it...- Anurag and myself I think still won't mind Dorothy's Rs.100!

I think I was only a cub reporter when my freind Rajesh had a dream - a dream to visit England - but his father had no such dream. So his freinds chipped in and somehow he could manage an airline ticket (cheapest fares).

At Heathrow airport Rajesh was struck by the size of the airport and all the glitz around him but then he saw a white man cleaning the floors. He told me, "I just stood and watched the angrez for 20 minutes."

As he stepped out onto the streets he found another saheb playing the guitar, the guitar case lay open on the floor and Rajesh soon realised he was actually what we in India call a beggar. So Rajesh took out his wallet and put in a few pounds into the case.

What Rajesh was not prepared for was that there was no Dorothy to receive him.

Instead he received an envelope with a message ....here is my car keys..the car no. is XXXX ...its at the Heathrow parking lot....now take a left and a right and left and a right....again till you reach the motorway and then you drive straight to Darlington.

Rajesh drove around in circles and only God knows how and when he reached Darlington.

Dorothy was his hostess and her journalist husband Paul.

Rajesh spent the next few weeks travelling around the United Kingdom. At Cardiff he entered a bed and breakfast place and asked how much. The Lady said 25 pounds. Rajesh taking out 10 pounds, "But this is all I have."

The lady let him stay for ten pounds, breakfast included.

Rajesh actually did not want to leave the UK so he missed his flight and at Heathrow airport he did not have a single penny.

He called up Dorothy and she took a train from Darlington, gave Rajesh some SOS money, and found a place for him to spend the next few days till the UK government deported him. :)

I was thankful because otheriwse Bihar would not have even a single factory.

I do not know what but when I was studying in the UK I made that train journey to Durham to meet Dorothy. She was doing some research at Durham University.

At Durham train station I took a taxi to the University. As we drove past the amazing town...the taxi driver suddenly pulled out his visiting card and said, "Sir, will you have dinner at my home tonight?"

I asked him, "But why me?"

He replied, "I am a Pakistani and I can see you are from India and it will be my pleasure to invite you for dinner. I hate our two countries making nuclear bombs."

Ofcourse, I could not make it for dinner because I had to return but I still have his card.

Dorothy was happy to see me. Grey hairs and a brown coat if I recall and we went down to a pub for a large lunch.

I think we debated for two hours over lunch and Dorothy said she will never give up her Indian passport even if she has to pay visa fees every time she visits Paris or Europe.

Dorothy suffered a heart stroke and passed away at Auroville (Tamil Nadu) - the ashram built by Mother - a French lady disciple of the great Indian seer revolutionary - Sri Aurobindo.

Aurobindo believed one day India and Pakistan will unite.

Looking back its because of Dorothy I met this Pakistani taxi driver who like Aurobindo also believed in unity and in the greatness of this ancient land.

So this post I dedicate to Dorothy and to all those who help complete strangers and don't care too much about money.

Biggest Leak: In Coversation with Julian Assange & Osama Bin Laden

By Manwant Choudhary

UNDISCLOSED CAVE IN SWEDEN:

knock knock knock knock...

Julian Assange: Who is there?

Stranger: Its me Osama?

Julian: Who Obama..you mean you come with interpol to arrest me?

Stranger: Just open the cave door..its me Osama Bin Laden!

Julian: Ah, its you only..I am not scared of you..come in come in.

Osama: Glad to meet you.

Julian: How come? You've come all the way from your cave in Pakistan just to see me. You've taken such a great risk. President Obama wants you dead.

Osama: Actually I have not taken such a huge risk. I don't live in Pakistan or Afghanistan. I live very much in Sweden...my cave is just next door.

Julian: So what brings you here?

Osama: Actually I am jealous. You know I put in such a huge effort to dash all those planes into the World Trade Centre to become the worlds most wanted man and now you replace me with just a few `leaks'. I really want to understand your trade secret.

Julian: You mean you want me to leak it.

Osama: Yes, yes...

Julian: I only leak things on the WikiLeaks..not in some cave like this...

Osama: I've been trying to get across on WikiLeaks but the site is blocked...like a caves rock door.

Julain: By whom?

Osama: Amazon.

Julian: Really, I did not know.

Osama: Actually, the one thing I love about America is their freedom of speech.

Julian: Me 2.

Osama: You can burn an American flag and they won't send you to jail.

Julian: Thats why I left Australia to settle in the Unites States of America.

Osama: But now you have become the worlds most wanted man..

Julian: Yes, but I don't know why?

Osama: I saw that retired General ..whats his name..the guy who sided with Bush...yes. yes..General Musharraf..he was on TV and he said that even if Osama is killed..Al Qaeda will flourish. I think thats why now the western powers don't want to kill me anymore. They wasted all those bombs in Afghanistan.

Julian: Ok Osama, don't waste my time..I only talk to those who leak. Do you leak?

Osama: yes i do...didn't you see all those unedited videos of me. yes but I leak only on Al Jazeera TV.

Julian: But why?

Osama: I felt the Arabs world must unite to take on the infidels. But how wrong I was. Even I am shocked that Arab countries hate Iran more than they hate America. And after your leaks the Afghans and Pakistanis have become like `Buddies'.

Julian: yes, yes..but i love America and Americans love me....its only their President who hates me.

Osama: But why?

Julian: Obama says I have endangered American lives. Bush and Obama are responsible for more Americans being killed than all other American Presidents.

Osama: Actually, you are right. I haven't hurt a fly!

Julian: And see they have forgotten about you and they calling me a terrorist.

Osama: Who is this? (pointing to me)

Julian: Ahh he's Manuwant Choudhary..my journalist freind from India. He is here because only he knows how to write articles. WikiLeaks reporters only know how to scan and photocopy documents and paste them on the internet.

Osama: I want to ask him something?

Me: Yes, please do.

Osama: My suicide bomber was on that Bandra-Worli Sea-link on the day President Obama was to visit Bombay. Why did he fail in his mission?

Me: Actually, he was caught on CCTV and although the police could not find out who he was, Nandan Nilekani found his number! You know now everyone of Indian 1.1 billion people have a number. For the Prime Minister Prime Minister the number is fixed 420.

Osama: Can you tell me how dangerous this Nilekani is?

Me: He is very dangerous. You can find his name on WikiLeaks also....after India he plans to give a number to all Pakistanis and all Afghans. So the world will know which number was responsible for which terror act. You see had we not been given numbers the French President Nikolas Sarkozy would have never said India's 1.1 billion people deserve to be permanently represented at the United Nations Security Council.

Osama: No, no, no...these french they only know how to uncover the burqa..they are supplying nuclear material to India and then they gang up against Iran. Actually, I support Julian because he believes in Leak. Like the Chinese leaked the nuclear secrets to Pakistan and Pakistan leaked it to Iran..and Iran leaked it to North Korea....and soon the entire world will have nuclear bombs...I am a socialist. Actually, Carla Bruni should have been President of the Congress Party. I want to ask Julian how and where he got this idea about leaks?

Julian: There is this palace in London that has a painting on its ceiling and when you look up you can see a naked child..look closer and you see the child is urinating...a guide will tell you to follow the urine and as your face criscrosses the entire ceiling you see the urine fall in a man's mouth! It was Eureka? I love politicians who leak. Do you have an Indian politician hwo does not leak?

Me: We had a Prime Minister called Morarji Desai..he leaked but he drank his own leak..and the Gorkha's from Darjeeling hated him because he said Never to Gorkhaland...

Julian; I love India. My own Australian Prime Minister has betrayed me....will India give me asylum?

Me: I might think they would...just as they did to the Dalai Lama..India is a free country..even our people love to leak...they leak all over the public walls..they don't care whose photograph they're leaking on - politicians and gods - treat them all the same.

Julian: I may be arrested any moment.

Osama: Actually even I want to be arrested. These caves are getting too cold..Its snowing...I want to live at Guantanamo Bay...aah the sun and sand...

Julian: But the Americans don't want to arrest you.

Obama: But why are they arresting you?

Julian: because they don't know the difference between a leak and sex. I only had consensual sex with two girls and now the interpol is after me...

NIIRA RADIA-MANUWANT CHOUDHARY TAPE 1 PART 1 (TRANSCRIPT)

By Manuwant Choudhary

Trrring....trring....trriiingggg......

Manuwant Choudhary: Hello...

NIIRA RADIA: HELLO, MANUWANT, this is NIIRA here...

MC: Niira Who? You mean the only one...

NR: yes, yes you got that right...

MC: But why have you called me?

NR: Because you are a journalist....

MC: Former journalist. And I was never as BIG as the 30 journalists whom know you. Besides, I am a poor farmer now.

NR: You mean poor like Deve Gowda.

MC: No, no, even poorer than Deve Gowda. I have not been India's Prime Minister. Nor do I have the time to sleep.

NR: Where are you right now?

MC: I am in Bihar driving across the Ganga - the bridge has jaws like a Ganga crocodile - they say its sinking because Indira Gandhi inaugurated it even before it was complete.

NR: Ahh, you should just buy your airplane.

MC: I am not Ratan Tata....and why even Ratan Tata flies to London in a commercial plane.

NR: OK, OK helicopter at least.

MC: I am not a politician. I know in Bihar every politician campaigns in a helicopter but all I have is an old ambassador - 40 years old - even the vehcile papers are weathered...

NR: I know ambassador means power. All our politicians prefer ambassadors. Only the Prime Minister has been forced to take the BMW but he hates the BMW.

MC: Tell me NIIRA how can I help you?

NR: I just called because I think you should become a politician.

MC: Me, politician...no...no...I have no such wish...

NR: Like Nitishji.....Vikaste Purush.

MC: No, no. I have no such aim...I don't want anyone's fingers being chopped off.

NR: What do you mean?

MC: Aah, you don't know...there is a person in Bihar's Jehanabad... Anilji... who chops up his finger everytime Nitishji becomes chief minister. Already two fingers are gone.

NR: Really???

MC: Yes, yes, and he promised on TV that he would chop his entire arm if Nitish becomes Prime Minister.

NR: Amazing guy?

MC: And he says this is the least he can do for his Nitishji.....compared to the suicides by YSR followers in Andhra after YSR died in a chopper crash.

NR: I have full faith in India's growth story.

MC: Your mean blind faith.

NR: I have two eyes.

MC: But NIIRA your are so powerful can't you help this guy with two less fingers.

NR: If he wants he can drive my new jaguar.

MC: Really, but I don't know if he knows how to drive a car. I hear he is a rickshawpuller.

NR: He can learn. We all learn. MY PR company had no clients and look now all 90 TATA companies are under my belt. Besides, I believe in `inclusive' growth. Besides, all drivers are Biharis.

MC: Niira, but why do you want me to become a politician. You already know Nanduji so well so im sure you dont need anyone else from Bihar.

NR: My portfolio is grown too large. I can't handle it all by myself and you know these retired bureaucrats in flashy red scarves..they spend more time on getting their pronunciations sound like Jaswant Singh..they are too slow. Ratan Tata and Mukeshji trust me because I `Get Things Done'.

MC: Get what done.

NR: Like the Tata's helped the division of Bihar yet they did not get the renewal for the lease of Jamshedpur...I got it done within a day!!!

MC: I know, I know....but I still think I wont be of any help to you? I don't know Ghulam Nabi Azad even...never worked in Delhi you see...Now I grow (baingan) brinjals and sell them for Re.1 a kilo. Its only people like you who say food prices have gone up.

NR: Ok, ok..I'll buy all your brinjals but can you do this for me...

MC: I know you want me to get in trouble with Income Tax..I know they are listening to us now...but I am a poor farmer completely exempt from taxes. And since the IT is listening I can say they are the most corrupt department.

NR: I dont mean that...lets work together on this...

MC: On what?

NR: On this..on everything..Ok what do you want me to do.

MC: You know liberals cannot even contest elections in India.

NR: So what just say you are a socialist and we all get filthy rich together. I want you to attend a black tie dinner in Bombay. I have a nice black dress ready.

MC: I only attend black tie dinners thrown by relatives of Mahatma Gandhi! Plus, I dont want to be rich.

NR: Ok so tell me what I can do for you?

MC: I just want the Dalai Lama be able to return home.

NR: You mean to Tibet.

MC: Ya, ya.

NR: I have some Chinese clients but I'm not sure how I can `Get Things Done' in China..esp Tibet.

MC: I am actually still not sure why you have called me.

NR Actually I want to leverage this telecom spectrum issue.

MC: But how? I am not Veer Sanghvi and I don't own TV and Radio or newspapers. I don't even have my own column.

NR: I Know, I know...you are more powerful...I know you are a blogger. I don't want to bribe you since you are an honest person but we can give you all the advertisements you want.

MC: But I don't take advertisements on my blog! Not even by Google. See.

Barkha Dutt's `Self' Defence on NDTV

www.outlookindia.com | Niira, Of Two Eyes

www.outlookindia.com | Niira, Of Two Eyes

www.outlookindia.com | Past Isn’t Perfect. But.

www.outlookindia.com | Past Isn’t Perfect. But.

Karan Thapar Discusses The Nira Radia-Barkha Dutt Tapes

Ratan Tata and Nira Radia Conversation - 2G Spectrum - Part 2 of 2

Ratan Tata has gone to the Supreme Court saying his conversations with Nira Radia are `private'....I'd leave to to the listeners to judge whether this conversation is private.

barkha dutt Nira Radia tape Part 1

Subramanian Swamy's Dinner At The Prime Minister's House!

By Manuwant Choudhary

India's Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh plans a special dinner and so tells his wife ...."Jeee Gursharan....dinner pe bulana hai jee mehmanon ko....zara theek se khaana banana....(I am calling some guests for dinner please put in your best effort).

Wife: "I have always put in my best. I am not like you. You have already forgotten the dinner I hosted for Obamaji. Obamaji sent me a post card from the White House complimenting me!"

Prime Minister: "I don't mean that. This dinner is going to be different. Its tougher than inviting Obamaji."

Wife: Okay you can tell me whom you want to invite?

PM: Subramanian Swamy!

Wife: Ohhh him!!!!! Not him???? Isn't he the man who wrote a letter to you eleven months ago and because you did not reply he has dragged you to the Supreme Court....its like inviting trouble for dinner.

PM: Oh no, you don't understand. Have you ever heard of dinner diplomacy?

Wife: No, not him. If there is no salt in the dal this Swamy fellow will drag us to the United Nations.

PM: I want to invite him so that he can eat your delicious food and stop writing letters.

Wife: I really don't understand why this man still writes letters. Nobody writes letters anymore. You should tell the Supreme Court you did not receive an email from this Swamy fellow and I know you personally reply to all your emails.

PM: Yes thats true I reply to more letters than all the chief ministers and bureaucrats have ever written across India.

Wife: Always say Nehruji wrote more letters than anyone else..don't brag... Soniaji may hear it and you may lose your job.

PM: Ok so how do we invite Subramanian Swamy?

Wife: I know this PR woman..whats her name..we can ask her to organise...

PM: Who?

Wife : Nira Radia.

PM: Ohh no...she is the cause of all the problem. You cant ask her...the CBI and Income Tax Department are tapping her phones and soon you will hear your voice all over the world. Don't you watch TV?

Wife: I watch NDTV. There is nothing on it.

PM: Aah thats because they are in trouble because of Nira Radia as well. If Ratan Tata had a news channel it would be as silent as NDTV. Actually, I prefer silent TV. Like the old hindi films before everything became Talkies!

Wife: Now don't get nostalgic. Okay we will find a way but do you think this Subramanian Swamy will come at your invitation.

PM: Oh yes, he will...he will do anything to be in the Prime Minister's House. Didn't you see the confidence with which he told the world that he is not just anyone..he is Subramanian Swamy....the Prime Minister knows him for decades.

Wife: But who is this man? He is not even a Member of Parliament.

PM: He is a President of a political party. Janata Party.

Wife: What errr??? Nobody wins from that party.

PM: Oh darling. Didn't you see Swamy's power on ZEE TV Subramanian Swamy Unplugged.. He said see who has won in Bihar...all are Janata...they all left me but they still win.

Wife: Yes, i hear the Congress lost is deposits in almost all seats in Bihar despite Rahulji and Sadhu Yadav.

PM: Now you are distracting me. Focus on the dinner.

Wife: But is Subramanian Swamy a real saint like Sri Sri Ravishankar or Baba Ram Dev?

PM: No, no ..no...he is no saint..just Swamy in name.
But he is more dangerous than all of Hindutva put together.

Wife: How you know?

PM: I know. You forget his tea party. Single-handedly he organised a tea party for Jayalalitha and Soniaji...and the 13 month Vajpayee's BJP government came down like a pack of cards.

Wife: But isn't he the one who brought down Jayalalitha also..so how is she a freind of Swamy now.

PM: Thats politics. But Swamy's politics no one understands. He says he does not bow before enemies or freinds. He is Jayalalitha's friend but has not dropped a single corruption charge against her.

Wife: I am sure he is a blackmailer.

PM: I thought he was one but who has the guts to tell him. On ZEE TV he menacingly said no Congresswalla has ever called him a blackmailer. If anyone does then I will go after him he said.

Wife: But thats blackmail.

PM: No that Swamy fellow went on to say that he cannot be a blackmailer because wo har cheeze ka khulaasa kar deta hai...he exposes it all.

Wife: Is he like Laloo? Uneducated fool???

PM No, no even Laloo stays away from him. He is Harvard educated and still visits Harvard.

Wife: OK, ok...who should we invite..perhaps the top journalists like Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai....and get our shifty Kamal Nutt to decide which journalist is on our side.

PM No,, no...you dont follow..this Swamy is very clever like Chanakya....if we call him for dinner then it must be just dinner no talk.

Wife: Ok I know this chinese ambassador...who speaks only Chinese ..so Swamy will get good company.

PM: Im glad you are not in my cabinet. You dont even know that this Subramanian Swamy knows Chinese as well !

Wife: What about entertainment?

PM: Ahh we'll play that song...My Name is Sheila..Im soooo sexy..katrina number.

Wife: But our chief minister may get offended again. See how New Zealand had to apologise.

PM: Think about it..

Wife: Okay one last thing if this fellow comes what gift should we give him. I think we should present him a German Shephard dog.

PM: Yah I know he likes dogs. But not pedigree. A stray Indian dog is what he will definitely like - one that bites.

Elections Make An Ass Out of You!

By Manuwant Choudhary

The newly launched Telegraph in Bihar has a banner all over Patna `Elections - Triumph of Truth'....but at one crossroad I met these two asses standing right under the banner so I thought how right - `Elections Make An Ass Out Of You!

The past few days I have been busy with two maternal uncles...one passed away and the other survived.

So we decided to take him home although he wanted to take the next flight to Bombay.

Even he knows that Patna is hell.

And right he was as his ambulance reached his home we found the water pipe had burst and his bylane had become a gutter.

Soon water entered his home.

Two labourers dug the road. I asked them how deep is the water pipeline and they replied 6 feet under. At their speed they would take 7 days. And the water supply pumped water every five hours.

So I asked the contractor if there was a drainage system where the pipeline water could be drained out so that the water doesn't enter the homes of people. And he replied, "Sir, what you have just said is an idea that belongs to the United Kingdom or to the United States of Amrika. In India we have no such system. The pipeline is 50 years old and the pump is new so pipe-bursts are common. Sirr...iss bikaas ke daaur mein bhee yeh jo aap kah rahe hain wo nahin hua..sirrf surfacing hua hai."

(Sir, what you have just said did not happen in the last few years of development also...only roads were surfaced and resurfaced during this period.

I tried meeting the municipal commissioner Manish Kumar (IAS) but he had no time since he was in a meeting.

I called a deputy mayor (who has many criminal cases against him) but even he refused to pick up his phone.

So this morning when I got a call again that more water had entered the home I called up the press and I asked my relatives to call a judge at the Patna High Court.

As photographers, reporters and judges began making the calls..even on a day of Bakrid...pumps were brought in and the water pumped out.

My bhabhi has invited me to her home for dinner - mutton chops!!

But I won't be going...just as I did not go to vote...there is just too much muck in this country.

Respectable Tees Maar Khan's of Indian Politics

By Manuwant Choudhary

Is there anything as a `respectable' scam? In India there is....the Adarsh Scam!

A multi-storeyed building in South Bombay meant for the dependents of soldiers killed at Kargil were taken over by politicians and their family members and even a former Indian army chief Deepak Kapoor.

Ashok Chavan is out...and Prithiviraj Chavan is in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. (Mahascamrashtra)

But god knows who will remain in the Congress Party since Sushil Kumar Shinde and Vilasrao Deshmukh all figure in this scam for moving files and benefitting some of their relatives.

The flats were given to the relatives of the politicians at throwaway prices, building and environment norms overlooked.

Its hard to believe that a hyperactive environment minister Jairam Ramesh who can stop a Vedanta in Orrissa had no clue about this major violation in Navy Nagar.

A Right To Information activist says even a relative of the Information Commissioner has got an apartment in the Adarsh Housing Society and hence the Commissioner refused to give any information.

And then there is `Spectrum Raja' who says he will never resign although the charges against him are that the excehquer lost 1 lakh 80,000 crore rupees by way of revenues in the 2 G auction because he sold them at 2001 rates in 2008!

Has Indian democracy become a Con Job and our politicians are just Tees Maar Khan's?

Catch me if you can. catch me if you can???

A Perfect Heart

By Manuwant Choudhary

Last night at 11 p.m. a perfect heart stopped beating after 90 years.

Dr. Shreenivas - a veteran cardiologist - passed away at a Heart Hospital in Patna after being in a state of coma for the past month.

He was a maternal uncle of mine and an amazing man so I write this tribute to him.

Humble origins and born in a marginal farming family at Garhsisai..he studied medicine at the Darbhanga Medical College and
went to train in Cardiology in Boston (at Massachusetts General Hospital) in the United States in the 1940s in addition to other countries like England.

A brilliant student who did not stop learning even till his end.

On his return he worked in Bihar all his life...being the personal cardiologist to many Governors and chief ministers and even to the late Swatantra Party leader the Raja of Ramgarh Kamakhya Narain Singh.

He had a small clinic where he could be consulted by anyone and usually the poor came to him from all parts of the state.

When he realised that Bihar lacked a proper heart care institute he pleaded with the Bihar chief minister to set up a heart speciality centre in Bihar. He said he did not care what the name of the centre would be..his main aim was that people in Bihar would not need to go to other parts of India for something they could get at a fraction of the price in Bihar itself. This request led to the formation of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology at the Patna Medical College Hospital.

This was in the heydays of the Congress rule when everything was named after Indira.

But Dr. Shreenivas did not stop at that. When he retired and found that socialism had destroyed the quality of health services offered to people he pleaded with a fellow cardiologist DrA.K. Thakur to start a private Heart Hospital in Bihar.

Dr. Thakur considered Dr. Shreenivas as his Guruji. Every new year he would arrive on the lawns of Dr. Shreenivas's home in Patna only to touch his feet and seek his blessings.

Dr. Thakur's Heart Hospital is a dream come true and thousands of people in Bihar benefit.

An allopath by training...Dr. Shreenivas claimed he was the founder of a new system of medicine - Polypathy.

In an age where loyalty to a particular system of medicine was the norm..Dr. Shreenivas chose to take another path. He said medicine is that which cures. Its not important whether it is allopathy, homoeopathy or even ayurveda. He even recommended all three medicines to his patients.

And he wrote books..hundreds of them...and he was a poet.

People considered him mad...he named his sons after Einstein and after some ancient Vedic scientists....I still can't remember my cousins full names.

He did this in a state where caste and surnames matter most.

But he was different - even funny. In his books out of nowhere he would mention the names of all his family members.

I remember when my father would visit him he always had a new book to present my father and it used to contain our names.

My father was a homeopath after his arthritis was cured - not by training - but he read so many books that he could dispose a hundred patients in one hour. Every morning he would give free medicines to the poor for two hours.

So Dr. Shreenivas was always interested in what my father had to say on homoeopathy. They exchanged notes and books often...

This morning when I went to their home a young lady came out to look after my aunt. My cousins pointed out that she is the same girl who had a speech disability. She could not speak at all.

Memories came flooding back. I recall my father taking out his medicine kit and giving some medicine to the girl. After several months of taking the homoepathy pills she suddenly found her voice.

Miracle.

Dr. Shreenivas was not the routine doctor. I recall how when during the Laloo era in Bihar when the law and order situation reached its nadir..even Dr.A.K. Thakur was attacked and robbed. Dr. Shreenivas sat on a fast unto death till Laloo Yadav himself promised him that the dacoits would be dealth with.

But the Indian government did not give him the national award Padmbhushan. Lesser doctors in Patna get that award every year.

Five years ago Dr. Shreenivas suffered a brain haemorrhage and went into a coma. I recall visiting him them and everyone gave up.

But not him.

He recovered after 6 months in hospital. Doctors observing the monitor said that even in that state his heart was perfect like that of a young man.

He had an unfulfilled mission. He felt he had neglected his home in his village so he wanted to build a temple to his family god.
His son did build the temple and Dr. Shreenivas visited his village to pray.

My father would often regale us with stories and one of them was when on an occasion a panditji from my hometown refused to eat dinner. When asked why he was not eating anything the pandit replied angrily, "How can I eat food when a Muslim is seated next to me?"

When my father looked he found the man sitting next to him was wearing a flowing white beard, dark glasses and a smile to pass him off as a Maulana - Dr. Shreenivas.

Was there a method in his madness?

Even as I write, this Maulana is being cremated on the holy banks of the river Ganga at Benares now.

"India Shies Away From Addressing Major Concerns Like Burma"Barack Obama

By Manuwant Choudhary


United States President Barack Obama's speech to the Indian parliament and the people of India took a rather sharp turn when he said the United States backs India's desire for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council in a new world order but this did not come without responsibilities and leadership.

"India shies away from addressing major concerns like Burma. The sham elections taking place in Burma today are there for the world to see but you say you do not want to interfere in another countries internal affairs. This is not interfering in another countries internal affairs but being true to your own values."

Indiavikalp has in the past years shown the true nature of India's political parties, politicians and governments who have not only kept quiet on Burma but have even helped the military junta by way of trade and aid.

Senior ministers visit Burma often and never say a word against the generals or even demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Forget patriotism, is India morally ready to lead the world or will it be as bankrupt as the other powers who have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council?

And yes, President Obama spoke eloquently about India being the worlds largest democracy.

But he is not aware that India is a democracy where liberals are by law not allowed to form a political party.

Sonia Gandhi wore a new gold earring for Obama and even Dr. Manmohan Singh took out his newest blue turban but India is no more a land of values..just opportunism like the rest of em.

A woman Aung Saan Suu Kyi is still imprisoned in Burma while we become a Superpower.

A Silent Superpower!

Gifted Hands The Ben Carson Story

By Manuwant Choudhary

Is it just plain coincidence that while US President Barack Obama spends his hectic hours in New Delhi HBO telecast a great film `Gifted Hands The Ben Carson Story'? I watched Carson till the end.

I can say its better..much better ...than the Obama story.

Based on the real life of neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson at Johns Hopkins the film is inspirational on several counts.

So later i checked the wikipedia for some background and here it is:

Benjamin Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan. His mother, Sonya, had dropped out of school in the third grade and married at the age of 13. Carson's father abandoned the family after Sonya discovered he had another wife and kids, leaving his mother to fend for he and his brother. However, his mother insisted that he and his brother (who is now an engineer) read at least two books a week then proceed to write reports on these books for her. This early education and encouragement shaped Carson's future.

In September 1987 Carson performed at DSA a procedure to separate a pair of seven-month-old German conjoined twins, who were joined at the head. Carson was the lead surgeon on the team which performed the complex procedure. - - In 1997 Carson and his team went to South Africa to separate Joseph and Luka Banda, infant boys from Zambia. Both boys survived, and neither one suffered severe brain damage. The Bandas were the first set of twins joined at the tops of their heads to be successfully surgically separated. The operation lasted 28 hours, from 10:15 to 4:46)

In 2003, Carson was a member of the surgical team that worked to separate conjoined adult siblings Ladan and Laleh Bijani. Neither survived the surgery. When asked why he had performed such a risky surgery, Carson stated that they conveyed to him they would rather die than stay conjoined.

Dr. Carson also pioneered the hemispherectomy (the surgical removal of the affected half of the brain) in cases of Rasmussen's encephalitis or syndrome in children.

In 2008 he won the Presidential medal for Freedom.

Carson is not a symbol of social justice. He embodies everything of what a human mind can achieve and what it still has to discover.

A part in the film where Carson loses his twin sons is most compelling he says "I could do nothing."

Later he cries "Oh Lord help me please."

Gayane Chichakyan - Russia's New Face

By Manuwant Choudhary

The girl in the photo isn't my new girlfriend, she is Gayane Chichakyan - Russia's new face.

Forget Putin and the Russian politicians if you want to understand the changes in Russia and how it views the world you have to watch RT or Russia Today.

Gayane is a reporter with RT based in Moscow and she represents a new Russia - young, glamorous and sensitive.

RT in its slick presentation is a challenge to BBC and CNN...many of their reporters are US educated and their interviews out of Washington are indepth and reflect `the other side' something western media dont want the world to know about.

The Ayalona Show is a huge success, although Ayalona has a socialist slant its well presented with an intelligent humour.

The RT website is also viewer friendly with a live feed. Where else can u get a story on how America's FBI manufactures terrorists, or how Singapore's land mass has grown by 20 pre cent in 50 years by sandfilling, or how spam has been reduced by 50 billion spams after the arrest of a single spammer!

CNN has also become a spam...with Sarah Snider insisting India's growth rate is amazing at 9 per cent....like Viagra!

And with the BBC budget being cut wonder whats going to happen to news.

Forget Indian journalism, we are just crude immitations of the western media.

Do we make people think?

George Watts is RTs interpretor and translator - a Canadian - he lives in Moscow for many years. Once when he drove around Moscow many years ago a policeman stopped his car and asked him where he was from. When he replied he was from Canada the policeman questioned "What a Canadian spy?"

George replied yes he was a spy.

The policeman waived a hand "Go away, go away."

George says he is still trying to figure out why the cop let him go!

Ofcourse, RT does have old Soviet hands whose On Air Talent is only to ridicule America but its fun to watch.

Coming back to Gayane Chichakyan...she says her life as a reporter has been a rollercoster ride..seeing places she would never see..meeting people she would otherwise never meet...comparing reporters to doctors who generally get called in when something terrible happens. But she adds, "We also get called when something good happens."

The Crocodile & The Dragon!

By Manuwant Choudhary

The Bhutanese king Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck's visit to Ranthambore isn't news...whats making news on Indian television is that soon after the monarch emerges from his helicopter in his traditional Kho at the Shergarh helipad at Sawaimadhopur...an Indian ghariyaal (crocodile) slips under the monarch's helicopter and it took the security personnel some shooing away to get the crocodile back into the nearby pond.

Just wonder why the crocodile chose to take shelter under the helicopter?

Indian reporters were worried as to what would happen if the King stepped onto the crocodile.

I had no such worry since I know he is a brave young monarch from the land of the Dragon!

Yet, I would be worried if the young monarch came in close proximity with our Indian politicians. Thankfully, all our Rahuls are busing campaigning in Bihar.

Yet, this got me thinking whether our Indian crocodile a distant cousin of the Dragon?

Did the crocodile want to enter the Kings helicopter and fly to Bhutan?

Or was it just trying to get some idea about Bhutan's Gross National Happiness.

Indian reporters who generally shout and scream at every little episode have no clue.

No Barkha Dutt around for this story.

My guess is simple the crocodile wanted some of the royal cuisine of red rice, red chilli and red meat..kept in the helicopter.

Any guesses?

Electing Scums Is Too Expensive!

By Manuwant Choudhary

I am not one of them who celebrate the largeness of Indian democracy I'd vote for quality anyday but it is shocking enough to see so many scums get elected in our democracy that we overlook the monetary costs involved in the exercise.

For the past two weeks all economic activity has come to a halt in Bihar - the reason being the government seizes any transport vehicle that ply on our roads. Vehicles are seized even when not needed.

I am not getting into the costs involved in the shutdown of a state for the sake of elections and the human costs involved.

Just take the basic costs involved in the actual conduct of the polls and you will see that this democracy is too expensive and just as our Netas neglected roads and bridges in the country they have in their 60 years not been able to come up with fresh ideas on how to vote with the minimum costs.

At a single booth there is one polling officer who is paid Rs.2500, plus three polling agents each of whom get Rs.1500. This totals to Rs.7,000/- If you include the costs of policemen then you could add another 23000 rupees per booth. So roughly Rs.30,000 per booth is a conservative estimate. If there are more than a 1000 voters in a booth then the number of officers increase.

With 200 booths in every assembly constituency this cost goes upto 6000000/- rupees.

Each political party is required to have a polling representative at every booth. If they are paid as low as Rs.3000 then each party spends Rs.600000 for 200 booths per constituency. If there are ten parties they together spend 6000000/- rupees in each constituency.

So, the government and the political parties spend 1,20,00,000 in each constituency.

Bihar has 243 assembly constituencies so this figure goes up to 2916000000/- rupees.

Thats the simple arithmetic just for polling day.

This does not include the cost of vehicles and the fuel they burn, the cost of Observers (who spend more than they observe), the 13 helicopters of the political leaders parked in the Patna hangar, the cost of campaigning for a month by political parties, the bribes paid to officials and the police and the agents and the voters.

And to top it all the Indian government offers a food subsidy of 80,000 crore rupees to woo Bihar voters.

The Election Commission sits in New Delhi but does not say this violates the Code of Conduct. Couldn't the announcements wait till Bihar elections were over?

For the Congress they had to offer cheap food if they are to beat Nitish Kumar's free bicycles !

All news channels have announced their exit polls despite the Code of Conduct.

So who is the Code of Conduct really for? One voter called me up the other day and said, "The only people who lose due to the Code of Conduct are the poor rikshaw-wallahs and the thelawallahs and the bannerwallahs....just the poor who suffer because of the control on campiagning.

The money which would go to the poorest in past elections has simply stopped going to them and then Rahul Gandhi flies in by a chopper and says Bihar's poor remain poor.

The one's who make money are helicopter owners, the political touts, the government officials, the paramilitary (who should be in Kashmir not Bihar), the police, the District Magistrate.

And the candidates are simply scums.

Like one independent candidate campaign on a rikshaw said, "Are jo chatai par nahin bol sakta, jo chauki par khara hokar nahin bol sakta woh assembly mein kya bolega...issliye aap mombattee chaap par vote den."

(If they cannot speak on a straw mat, and they cannot speak from a cot..then how can you expect them to speak in the assembly...Vote for the Candle!"

In this age of innvovations and technology I wonder why our software engineers only cater for solutions to US corporates. Or why a Nandan Nilekani is wasting India's precious resources for a Unique Number.

Our scientists only want to become rocket scientists so they can occupy the big bhawan of Kalam...they have no solutions for our democracy or the right to recall.

Not Ram, My Janmabhoomi (Place of Birth)

By Manuwant Choudhary

Forget Ram Janmabhoomi - a few days ago I visited my Janmabhoomi after many years - Laherisarai in Darbhanga.

Its even mentioned on my passport.

My mothers father Sheetal Prasad Sinha was a doctor and he studied medicine in England in British times, returned to India in a ship during the Second World War and on a hissy radio relatives heard his ship being bombed by the Germans. Everyone considered him dead.

But suddenly to everyone's joy he returned to Bihar.

He was originally from Bhagalpur and his grandfather was a rebel in the 1857 War of Independence.

The British would often adopt and isolate the rebels family members to quell dissent but they did not send them to prison or torture them, instead they educated them.

So his father learnt English and went on to become a police officer (in those days this was rare) and Sheetal Prasad Sinha became a brilliant student earning scholarships to go to England.

He moved to Darbhanga and joined the Darbhanga Medical College Hospital. He was the personal physician to the Maharaja of Darbhanga and the royals of Nepal.

I never saw my Nanaji. He died young at 55.

But he was a genuis and I meet people..even the poor even now who remember him. They have named a road after him.

My maternal uncles younger brother Baikunth Mishra - a pathologist - is our only link to Darbhanga now.

The Maharaja is gone - his palaces siezed by the Indian government - a few converted to poorly maintained universities and left to decay.

Darbhanga is perhaps the worst victim of socialism. The Maharaja of Darbhanga was a great capitalist with businesses across India - jute, sugar, paper, a newspaper, homes in New Delhi, Bombay, Kolkata, London. But he was not a real Maharaja - just a zamindar but he got the title since he was richer than most of India's kings.

Darbhanga during the Raj era was the Golden period - viceroys dined and danced in his palaces. He had his own aiplane, a fleet of cars, his own special train - the train would pull up at his portico in his palace. Incredible!

The King of Nepal borrowed his Calcutta home often.

But what was the greatest was his philanthropy. Many universities in eastern India were actually his palaces.

Its all gone. Destroyed by the socialist leaders of India.

Maharajadhiraja Sir Kameshawar Singh actually foresaw what would happen to Bihar and India.

In the Constituent Assembly of India on the Abolition of Zamindari he opposed the nature of Article 24. This was proposed by Jawaharlal Nehru - India's Prime Minister - himself.

The Maharajah told the assembly "It gave me a rude shock when I read the ammendment proposed by no less a person than our Prime Minister..."

"By excluding two classes of legislations from law courts, is it not admitted by the authors of this ammendment that the provisions of these legislations are so unjust and improper that they cannot stand the scrutiny of the Law courts."

"I would humbly entreat the supporters of the ammendments not to introduce the vicious principles in the Constitution. If they do so, what at present is misfortune for some of us, may be a misfortune for the country as a whole."

When we see farmers lands being taken over by governments in Uttar Pradesh, Singur and Nandigram...one cannot help see the Maharajah's prophecy come true.

Today Indian politics is based on caste, crime , criminals and corruption....this formula is become the new religion.

Not Ram.

But my birthplace is today a modern hospital where hunderds of poor people coming everyday to recover. As I saw the glass building and my uncle's large house with a large lawn I jokingly told him I had won an important case. He asked which one.

I replied, "Allahabad High Court - the one on Ram Janmabhoomi. This is my Janmabhommi."

We both laughed.

Somehow visiting my janmabhoomi reminded me of one of India's best mystic poets - Kabir.

India's politicians do not talk about him.

Kabir was born at Benares to Muslim parents six hundred years ago in 1398 AD. He lived for 120 years and is said to have relinquished his body in 1518.

Legend has it that Kabir wanted to become a follower of a great Hindu saint Ramananda...who accepted disciples other than Hindus only once in a year. Kabir took his chance and fell at his feet. The Guru Ramanand saw Kabir wrtitten on his hands in Persian..picked up the boy and took him to his ashram. Many hindu students left his ashram but Ramanand did not throw out Kabir. Its said that when Kabir got enlightenment it was only then that his teacher too got enlightened.

Kabir never gave up his daily life or lived like an ascetic - he was a weaver by profession, married, had children and lived in the market.

Yet, his dohas (two liners) are better than any tweets you see on the net.

The ancient tweets are his dohas and in its two lines he tells you more than entire ancient epics.

He is revered by Hindus. Muslims and Sikhs (who regard his as important as their own ten Gurus).

The most famous strory is how Kabir was banished by the then Muslim rulers after complaints by conservative religious men...and as Kabir travelled around the country with his band of followers - he died near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. And his follwers started fighting.

His Hindu followers wanted to cremate his body while the Muslims wanted to bury.

Just then Kabir appeared to them and asked them to lift the veil that covered the dead body.

When they lifted the cloth - they found flowers instead.

Hindus took half the flowers and cremated it..while the Muslims took the other half and buried it.

A sample doha of Kabir When You Were Born...

"Jab tu aaye jagat mein sab hanse tu roye,
aisee karnee na kar ki jab jaye tab sab hanse."

(Translation)

When you were born in this world everyone laughed while you cried
Do not conduct yourself in such a manner that everyone laughs when when you are gone......

Kaun Banega Arabpati?

By Manuwant Choudhary

In Bihar no one is interested in Amitabh Bachchan's Kaun Banega Crorepati....with state elections around the corner they are more interested in Kaun Banega Arabpati.

Yesterday, Congresss workers attacked the Bihar State Congress President Nawab Mehboob Alii Qaiser as he returned from New Delhi...they manhandled him and even attacked his vehicle...Qaiser just managed to get away.

Congress workers are angry because they paid Rs.50 lakhs for a Congress ticket and yet their bids were unsuccessful!

Today they have locked up the main gate of Sadaqat Ashram - the Congress Party headquarters.

In the BJP - the party with a difference- workers ransacked the state office in broad daylight..breaking chairs and tables..assaulting office bearers of the Parrrrrrrrty.

Patna's streets are dangerous these days - the party goons are roaming all over.

By comparison Laloo's RJD seems quiet..except for RJD politicians deserting the ship.

Somehow RJD is becoming a goonless party as former chief minister Rabri Devi's goon brothers have quit the RJD. Sadhu Yadav has joined the Congress and Subhash is still trying. No one is willing to even take him despite Laloo wishing his salaas well, "Abhee unka phoolne phalne ka samai hai."

Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) is anything but united. Every public meeting of Nitish Kumar becomes a free for all, just like the free for all in the Bihar assembly.

So I would like to inform Mr. Amitabh Bachan that at least from Bihar no one is interested in Kaun Banega Crorepati! (Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?

Instead I invite him to have his show outside the Bihar assembly for Bihar's politicians only.

The questions will be?


1) Which state is Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan from?

2) Who is the chief minister of Bihar?

3) Dr. Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister of which country.

And all winners would get their crores here with a rider that they will not attempt at getting themselves elected and a promise that they will spare the country.

This is a story about the great Indian loot.

But what is the corruption rate in Bihar? Something you will not get under the Right To Information.

Just yesterday a clerk of the Superintendant of police at Muzaffarpur was caught with Rs.3 crore in his home.

Nitish Kumar's government has spent some 13,000 crore rupees without a bill to back them!

To transfer a jail superintendant the going rate is Rs.12 lakh...(it may have increased even as I write)

To transfer an IAS it is a crore!

Three years ago Bihar did not have a single expensive car on its roads ..now Pajero's are common..except their occupants are special - bearded goons!

Sushashan or Shoe-shashan - you decide.

DO NOT VOTE IF YOU LOVE INDIA.