Monthly Archives: July 2008

Major Bomb Blasts in India

Posted on by
Reply

These are considered as major bomb blasts in India by a news channel called NDTV 24×7. I know few other also where more than 20 people got killed but think about the situation when those bomb blasts are not recognized as major bomb blasts. I mean all the bomb blasts are major, we are going through huge terrorist problems.

  • July 26, 2008: Serial blasts in Ahmedabad killing at least 30 people and injuring more than 100.
  • July 25, 2008: Nine explosions in Bangalore create terror killing two people and injuring twelve.
  • May 2008: Eight serial blasts rock Jaipur in a span of 12 minutes leaving 65 dead and over 150 injured.
  • January 2008: Terrorist attack on CRPF camp in Rampur kills 8.
  • October 2007: 2 killed in a blast inside Ajmer Sharif shrine during Ramadan.
  • August 2007: 30 dead, 60 hurt in Hyderabad ‘terror’ strike.
  • May 2007: A bomb at Mecca mosque in Hyderabad kills 11 people.
  • February 19, 2007: Two bombs explode aboard a train bound from India to Pakistan, burning to death at least 66 passengers, most of them Pakistanis.
  • September 2006: 30 dead and 100 hurt in twin blasts at a mosque in Malegaon.
  • July 2006: Seven bombs on Mumbai’s trains kill over 200 and injure 700 others.
  • March 2006: Twin bombings at a train station and a temple in Varanasi kill 20 people.
  • October 2005: Three bombs placed in busy New Delhi markets a day before Diwali kill 62 people and injure hundreds.
  • August 2003: Two taxis packed with explosives blow up outside a Mumbai tourist attraction and a busy market, killing 52 and wounding more than 100.
  • September 24, 2002: Militants with guns and explosives attack the Akshardham Hindu temple in the western state of Gujarat, 31 killed, More than 80 injured.
  • May 14: Militants attack an army camp near Kashmir’s winter capital, Jammu, killing more than 30, including wives and children of soldiers.
  • December 13, 2001: More than a dozen people, including five gunmen, killed in an attack on parliament in New Delhi.
  • October 1, 2001: Militants storm the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly complex, killing about 35 people.
  • March 1993: Mumbai serial bombings kill 257 people and injure more than 1,100.

    • http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080058674
    Day before yesterday suspect of Jaipur bomb blast was arrested by Jaipur Police in Varanasi. He is a Muslim
    guy who teaches at a Madarsa in Benares. After his arrest all the Muslims came on road and jammed the traffic. They were demanding to release him. Finally the head of the biggest mosque in Benares came in public and promised to get that man out of jail by 10’o clock yesterday and then all the people went back back home. But Police didn’t release him because he is the main guy behind Jaipur bomb blasts. So they came on road again and started protesting. They were in number of more than 1,00,000. Few political leaders were also with them like their candidate in Vidhan Sabha (state assembly). He and other lots of famous Muslims met District Magistrate and finally the suspect was released on bail late night. I don’t know what is going on here, Police cant even punish terrorists.

    Bhang and the train thief

    Posted on by
    1

    It is month of Savan according to Hindi calender now. A lot of people from different states come Varanasi

    Government authorised bhang shop in Varanasi

    Government authorized bhang shop in Varanasi

    to make a pilgrimage during this month. Most of them wear a orange dress and carry a stick that has two pots filled with Ganges water. These people are called Kavariya. I see a lot Kavariyas nowadays and it made me remember about a incident which happened about 7-8 years ago when a 10 years old Kavariya took bhang and started driving a train at Maduadeeh railway station in Benares.

    It was 4’o clock morning time now and he was at railway station. The train was supposed to start at 6’o clock morning time so he had two hours. Train drivers had started the engine but they were taking a chai at railway platform. After a while Kavariya decided that he will not wait any more, he got in the drivers car and started the train in back gear. Nobody understood what was going on. Even the drivers and railway officers were wondering who was this new driver.

    He started running the train in opposite direction, the train was supposed to go to Gorakhpur and but this 10 years old driver was driving it into Allahabad which is just in opposite direction of Gorakhpur. Immediately all the trains were stopped on the Allahabad route and this guy was running the train at its full speed in back gear. There were few places were railway tracks were damaged and drivers don’t exceed the limit of 30 Kms per hour but this train was running at the speed of 120 Kms per hour all the time.

    This news spread like a fire in jungle, all the people and media came near the railway track. I also saw the

    Bhang balls

    Bhang balls

    live show on TV, I remember he was standing near the entrance gate, smiling and telling Hi to everyone watching him near the railway track. It had been more than 30 minutes since he was driving the train but nobody knew how to stop the train. Everybody near the railway track were telling him to stop the train but he was just smiling. Finally Railway decided to make the train fall. They put lots of bag of sand and poured lots of sand near the railway track. And when the train was passing from that place they used track brakes to stop the train.

    The train stopped and fell down but fortunately nothing happened to Kavariya boy. He was arrested and both drivers of train were terminated from their jobs. When police asked him why he decided to drive the train he said he just got into the train and started driving it. He didn’t know what was going on, he was just enjoying his time. When police asked him if he had done some drugs or something he admitted that he had taken some Bhang last night but the feeling was still high when he was driving the train.

    Government said that he was crazy, mentally retired but I know and everybody else knows that he was not crazy, it was only and only Bhang that made him drive the train. I think it was driver’s fault who were taking chai outside their car after starting the engine.

    India-America nuclear deal

    Posted on by
    Reply

    Its a big news here about India-America nuclear deal. I dont know exactly about this deal but we often hear about it in media. I wanted to learn about how nuclear power works and it was best opportunity for me to learn with Stephan who was a electric engineer from Switzerland and was staying at my guest house. He said that Switzerland has nuclear power stations which produce huge waste but there is no way to get rid of this waste completely. Switzerland either dig the montains and fill it with waste or throw it in the ocean which sounds terrible.

    Indian government is trying hard to get uranium from America to built nuclear power stations in India. Indian government had to face huge problems when they brought this idea of making a deal with America to get uranium. Their supporting parties took support back and the government was about to fall. They had to prove their majority again in parliament. Finally they were able to do it but if this deal is just about polluting our natural resources then we should not think about it. Definately we will have more power which we are in need of but there are other ways also to generate elecricity. We have already destroyed our rivers, jungles, trees, animals and other natural resources and now it sounds like turn of ocean and mountains.

    The supporting parties of congress took their support back because they wanted to know about this deal and congress was not agree to tell them everything about it. So it is very much hided that very few people know about it. I tried to look online about it but there was not enough information. I have heard that this deal is about getting uranium from American and let them interfere in our nuclear programs? I am not sure. I dont know what our government wants.

    Chicago guest learns Hindi

    Posted on by
    Reply

    An anthropology student named Adam Sergant from University of Chicago came to my guest house for a month. He also wanted to learn Hindi with Bhasha Bharti like Lane and Dave. Adam wanted to learn Hindi with Bhasha Bharti for his whole stay, three months, but  Bhasha Bharti didn’t have that much time so he decided to learn in Varanasi for a month then move to Masoori for another two months.

    He had already learned Hindi with Virendra Singh at Wisconsin University so his Hindi was so so.  I asked him about why he was not learning with Virendra Singh in Varanasi so he said that Virendra Singh is in the US every year during summer time to teach students at Wisconsin University. He comes India only in winter with the same students he teaches at University in Madison. Adam used to go Bhasha Bharti for 6 hours a day.

    His classes timings were not convenient for him, 8 to 11 morning and 4 to 7 in the evening. He went there for almost 15 days and decided to leave early because he had to do some research regarding his future work in India. He was doing PhD from University of Chicago and was interested in labors at construction sites.

    Adam had great time in Varanasi learning Hindi with Bhasha Bharti. He said that teachers were not best but not bad either. Adam had few complaints about the dirt in classroom. He said that his chair was right under the fan and the dust would always fall at him from the fan. His overall experience with Bhasha Bharti was good, he was happy with them.

    He left to Delhi to watch construction sites for his future project. He gave contact of my brother in Delhi so that he could hear something from a local person. After spending 2 days and eating Delhi food, Adam got sick. He was admitted in hospital for 3 days and got 4 drips. I dont understand why Delhi’s food is so bad. Even I had some problem when I ate in Delhi last time I was there.

    Some how Adam reached Masoori to learn Hindi with a school. He had arranged his accommodation through his school so he was quiet sure that he will get a place to stay for two months. But when he reached at the place he was supposed to stay, he found that door was locked. He contacted the house owner and owner said that they have shifted to Dehradoon for next one month and would not be able to host him.

    Again Adam contacted me look for housing in Masoori. I had a friend Dehradoon so I contacted him to look for some nice place in Masoori. It took three days to him to find a home but Adam had already found a place to stay. Adam cancelled his Hindi classes and left Masoori early because of some family problem.

    Temporary guide licence finally received

    Posted on by
    1

    Finally I got tour guide license after one year of drama. My advocate was extremely good working on this case. He sued Ministry of Tourism in Delhi High Court and Delhi High Court ordered Ministry of Tourism to issue temporary license to every applicant until they declare result. My advocate called and told me to go to Delhi and collect my license from Tourism Office.

    I reached there and it was the first time when I was not asked for bribe to get some work done in a government office. They have issued me a temporary license for next one month which I have to get renewed every month in the same office in Delhi. This license permits me to work with any foreigner as their tour guide anywhere in North India. They have issued same kind of license to over 200 people which is nothing, we still need at least 2,000 more guides.

    My advocate says that if government doesn’t declare result until next three renewal of my license, he will sue government again for giving permanent license because after working for 90 days as a temporary employee anyone can sue their employer to give them permanent job. I know it will take at lest 30 renewals until they declare result, after all there are already four cases pending in Indian courts.

    Now I can get a job very easily with any travel agency but I will not do it because I am not prepared to work as tour guide, I don’t want to be like other old guides. I think I will study first and then work freelance for a while. A lot of people write me asking about tour of Benares and tour guides and usually I tell them to contact UP tourism to get a guide but now I have a option to work with them.