Why I consider Bhagat Singh above all revolutionaries and why only Bhagat Singh books?

 

    When we talk about ‘Bhagat Singh’ what probably comes in your mind is the Gun that kiiled John Saunders, Bombing at the Central Legislative Assembly etc. Some see him ONLY as a symbol of masculinity. But many do not know Bhagat Singh was always against violence and violence was always his last resort.

1.   1. THE CHARACTER TRAITS: He was a person of moral integrity and practical sagacity. A person of an unblemished unmatched character.

2.   2. THE FIERCE INTELLECTUAL HUNGER: He was a voracious reader and a person having excellent writing skills. Bhagat Singh is said to have read over 300 books alone when he was behind the bars.

3.   3. THE FEARLESS TIGER: Bhagat Singh was a fearless tiger who never bowed before the colonial rule. On the contrary he petitioned before the court that he be shot alive instead of hanging. When he was being hanged he was smiling and this was done to lower the British Imperialism.

4.   4. HIS UNSHAKEABLE FAITH IN HIMSELF AND LISTENING TO INNER SELF: Bhagat Singh respected Gandhiji and his thoughts but disagreed on the point that his ideas cannot bring a social change. He did not blindly follow the crowd like others.

5. 5.  HIS VISIONARY, FARSIGHTEDNESS & ACUITY: Bhagat Singh had all these qualities. While most Freedom fighters aimed only to free India from the clutches of the colonial rule his visionary was far ahead of freeing India and far ahead of time.

6.   6.  PURPOSE OF YOUR LIFE AND FOLLOWING THAT WITH PASSION: While most of today’s youth remain aimless, at such a tender age Bhagat Singh knew what his purpose in life is and he followed it with passion.

7.  7.  SACRIFICE: Nothing can be achieved from the comfort zone. Mental toughness is paramount for achieving any goal. Wealth, family, cosy life nothing could lure him. He sacrificed everything for his goal (country).

Despite I belong to a pure Assamese family  I am a staunch supporter of Bhagat Singh and his ideologies, and for the above reasons I consider Bhagat Singh the tallest and above all Revolutionaries.  

I share my birthday with Sadagopan Ramesh (Cricketer), Hema Malini, Oscar Wilde (Writer) Jeremy Jackson (Actor), Birinchi Kumar Barua (Assamese Scholar) , Justice J. N Bhatt ( Former Patna High Court Judge) and if you want to ask me whom would you like to be re-born as? The answer is obvious : As witty, as Clever , as intellect etc as the Fearless Tiger 🦁:

                                      ‘शहीद भगत सिंह’.

 

The Intriguing Story of the Whisky War

‘The Whisky War’

..By Bidyut Kakati 

Gandhiji once said, “I appeal for cessation of hostilities, not because you are too exhausted, but because war is bad in essence” Rightly observed by Gandhiji that, whenever there is a war there are no real victors as all the parties involved in the war have to suffer numbers of casualties on both sides. War may bring threatening consequences like injury, disability, death, sexual violence, malnutrition, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, civilians are displaced, infrastructure of the countries to the war are destroyed and the resources for subsistence a country requires for its people are shattered as well. There are numerous disputed territories all around the globe today, and countries try to bring an end to such disputes by either resorting to invasion, war and some even resort to terror attacks examples of which are the Russia – Ukranian War which is going on since 24th February, 2022, the 2020 to 2022 China - India Skirmishes, Pakistan’s continued terror attack on India etc and the possibility of peace between these countries does not seems to be close at hand anywhere in the picture immediately. In this context the intriguing story of the ‘Whisky War’ also known as the ‘Liquor War’ today needs a mentioning and there are lessons these aggressor countries needs to learn from the  ‘Whisky War’ as war has devastations in  manifold not only to the engaged countries but also has implications on the rest of the world. 

Denmark and Canada have initiated a composed way to call a halt to the disputed territory - ‘Hans Island.’ Hans Island is a a Canadian and Greenlandic island that is an uninhabited, barren rock in the Arctic which is of 1.3 Sq. km, located in the centre of the Kennedy channel of Nares Strait with no known reserves of oil or natural gas. But despite being an uninhabited island there was a dispute going on between these two countries claiming this little rock island as their own. Hans Island is the smallest of three islands in Kennedy Channel off the Washington Land coast; the others are Franklin Island and Crozier Island. The island is named after Hans Hendrik (1832 – 1889) a Kalaallit interpreter and an Arctic explorer who worked on the American and British Arctic expeditions from 1853 to 1876. Since 1971, both Denmark and Canada have been on war to reconcile their respective claims over Hans Island. Both Denmark and Canada claims this island as its own by virtue of the International treaty according to which any island which is in 12 miles of mainland comes under the territory of a country than it technically allows a country to make a claim over that island. Successive expeditions from Ottawa and Copenhagen have braved icy conditions to plant bottles of alcohol on the tiny 1.2 sq km rock island.

The war began after the countries convened to settle boundary disputes in the Nares Strait, a channel 35km (22 miles) wide of cold water separating Canada and Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. In 1973 they made a deal to create a border through the strait, but while they negotiated, competing claims emerged over the tiny island. In 1984, Canada when it landed troops on the rock they planted their maple leaf flag and buried a bottle of Canadian whisky making a bold step for ownership over the island which provoked their counter- part. Accordingly, Denmark's minister of Greenland affairs couldn't stand such provocation and weeks later he began a journey for Hans Island, where he replaced the offending Canadian symbolism with a Danish flag and a bottle of Copenhagen's finest schnapps. He went one step further ahead of the Canadians and left a message with a note “Velkommen till den danske’ (Welcome to the Danish Island) along with a bottle of brandy and this is how this war originated and got dubbed as "Whisky War".  Since then, there have been numerous trips to the island from both countries to replace the other side’s offerings. 

During the signing ceremony in Ottawa, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said “We are setting a precedent. We are showing to other countries how territorial disputes can be solved.” It is possible to settle a disagreement, and it’s always the best way to do it through principles and norms that both parties recognize”. On the contrary Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said “It sends a message to the world, including (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, that when there are things you’re disputing over, you have to make the resolution based on international law – not by the law of force, but by the force of law.” Terming the ‘Whiskey War’ as the friendliest of all wars both the foreign ministers exchanged bottles of liquor at the ceremony with a decision that both Denmark and Canada have decided to roughly split the disputed island and with this it brought an end to the friendliest / most passive – aggressive war ever fought to an end that spanned over 50 years over an uninhabited island. Despite this war has serious significance in their history but what a light hearted way to bring an end to a War, ‘The Danish – Canadian Border Conflict’ popularly known as the ‘Whiskey War’!!  Kudos to both the countries. 

5 facts on woman

 

1. Respect: A good relationship starts with a good communication and a good communication means politeness, appropriate behavior etc. 

               Eye to eye contact comforts a woman while interacting and Eye to Eye means only eye,       nowhere else. A woman needs to be addressed with, and the same is redeemable.

2. Phn No. : Begging for phn no is one inappropriate behavior, phn no being a personal thing not all woman like to share. If a woman feels a man is trustworthy she shares willingly in most cases. A little patience is required. 

3. An angry woman: There may be several reasons behind her angry mood like poor health, tensions, fatigueness often due to mood swings. Patience is all that is required at this juncture to pacify things. Woman needs pampering and a little pampering does the job followed by, giving her a break for some time. If still a woman shows no interest like before and not interacting like before, it’s a signal that the relationship has gone beyond repair. 

(In my case I do not make any further attempt beyond this point, showing as a mark of respect towards her unilateral decision.) [Pls note: Respect and not failure to convince)

4. ‘NO’:  If a woman says ‘NO’, it means NO. ‘ NO’ is not synonymous to ‘YES’ / ‘MAY BE’.

5.   Women are beautiful: A lady may be short, fat, slim or dark but every woman is uniquely beautiful in her own way. A little exploration leads to the discovery of her hidden beauty. 

A little lie may make a woman happy but a woman actually needs a unique / genuine compliment.  Compliments like beautiful , charming are more euphoric and appealing to the ears than compliments like ‘Hot’ ‘Moina Tumi jui’ 

(Content has no relevancy with the date instead shared something related to woman on account of 28th May all which are felt , observed and experienced based)

http://epaper.sentinelassam.com/ArticlePage/APpage.php?edn=Guwahati+English&articleid=THESENTI_GUWE_20200704_4_2&artwidth=205.13333333333333px&fbclid=IwAR2iO5lot_H2Fc4Jm27K6HY58GYVFe6u1A5QmEnAPBEauGuAO9TDDjpMyO4 

The Untold Story of the myterious Lady

 

Its a True Story............

    It was a year back when I met this good lady in the Gauhati High Court who caught my attention. She was in search of something, not known to me. I saw her talking to a few and from the nodding of the heads of those few, it was apparent that the good lady was in need of something.

    She was an old lady presumably of 80-85 years of age, shabbily dressed, weak eye sight; wrinkled skin accompanied by frailing health conditions, a lady without means of subsistence probably.

    She stood before a giant staircase of the Gauhati High  Court building, and she was interrupted by several thoughts as her wait before that staircase seemed endless. People around her were so busy in their own affairs that some failed to notice that old lady and the rest deliberately passed by her, trying to escape from getting her attention. I saw her speaking to one of my colleague and the only words which I heard whole throughout the entire conversation were –

“Sorry, Approach someone else for help’ …. and it didn’t take even a fraction of second for me to understand what actually the old lady was looking for. The whole story seemed utterly shocking, disturbing and heartbreaking, as her hope of getting assistance from someone thinned and honestly I as a specatator to this incident was a little embarrassed. She was denied repeatedly for the help she was looking for and those young Advocates kept on denying helping that old lady, as for them the pride of the ‘Black Coat’ which signifies 'authority and power' was much more of value then helping an old lady. A helpless lady finding no solution tried making a few unsuccessful attempts to climb that giant staircase with a bag in her hand.

(A bag made out of bed sheet actually)

    Her act was interrupted by a call of a stranger`- 'Aita (Granny) where do u want to go?'

    With a smile on her face she replied- Thank u son, I can manage. A lady discomforted by the repeated previous refusal, refused seeking any further assistance from anyone.

    The hand of that stranger, took Aitaa's refusal as a challenge and escorted her to the ground floor of the building, carrying that heavy worn out bag not giving a fig to anybody, how people were reacting at the sight of that worn out bag which was being carried. A rickshaw was called for by that stranger so that the lady could go home safe.

    She narrated to that stranger before she departed- Son, when I was rich and I was young I was loved and respected by everyone and people had enough spare time to help me. But, when I grew old and weak, I am being neglected everywhere.

    Nobody bothers to care for me, not even my grandchildren. The bag which u have been carrying for me contains some important land documents which my son and my daughter-in-law wants me to get it transferred in their name.” 

.......She shared her shocking, painful and heart-rending story as one by one she started unfolding many untold stories from the closed chapters of her life.

    She inquired for the name caressing the forehead, thanking and blessing that stranger for that little assistance and the company he provided. Eyes which seemed compassionate & filled with a little moist bade the final adieu to the old lady as the rickshaw gathered momentum, and the stranger who helped the lady was lost in thoughts watching her vanishing in between the crowds, that late evening, leaving the stranger bewildered and a number of questions left unanswered regarding her identity which made that stranger pen down the story today in this blog 🙂.

Written by:

Bidyut Bikash Kakati,

(M.A., LL.B)

Advocate

Gauhati High Court