A retired life... ...

Australian cricket team

My God what arrogance did the Australian cricket team have all these years!....Next time this team comes to India for a test series, we may do well to request them to play with our Under 19 team first....

'The Historic General Post Office building, Lucknow' by K.J.S.Chatrath

May I invite you to take a look at my latest post: "The historic General Post Office Building, Lucknow" by clicking at the following site:

http://www.fiftyplustravels.com/?p=3820

Le Corbusier's 'Governor's Palace, Chandigarh'

I was amused to read the article "Chandigarh's Unbuilt Monument" in The Tribune, January 10, 2013. The article talks about and provides a photograph of a model of the 'unbuilt' Governor's Palace kept in the City Architecture Museum, Chandigarh.

As a layman, the model looks to be just terrible! The nearest in aesthetics that I can think of is Shri Mukesh Ambani's multi-stored house in Mumbai.

Personally I am so glad that some one put his foot down and tax-payer's money was not wasted and that the 'Palace' was 'unbuilt' before it could be 'built!

This was a casually taken photo in Karnataka in January this year. I am really happy with the shadows that got caught in the frame.

CAG and the powers to adjudicate on basic human rights

The CAG has now observed that in Punjab jails, prisoners are being denied the basic rights to celebrate festivals (Times of India, March 20, 2013).

I do not think that the framers of the Indian Constitution wanted to give such judicial powers to the CAG.

Please, Mr. CAG, Sir, stick to the Constitutional duties of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Let the Executive and Judiciary do their respective jobs.

'Horse meat & cholesterol' by K.J.S.Chatrath

"Horse meat can be best bet in cholesterol fight" says an item* in the Times of India .........Boaaah...

(* http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-18/science/37813382_1_horse-meat-bad-cholesterol-fatty-acid)

Ides of March- March 15

According to Plutarch,a seer had warned that harm would come to Julius Caesar no later than the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, "The ides of March have come," meaning to say that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied "Aye, Caesar; but not gone."[14] This meeting is famously dramatised in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March." (Source: Wikipedia)

"Hand of God"

"Hand of God" brings Argentina pope, Maradona says

Religion & top postions in India

'A tweet from Pakistan: Sikh Army chief, Anglo-Indian Air force Chief, Hindu Navy Chief, Christian Defence Minister, Muslim Foreign Minister, Sikh Prime Minister... ...Maybe, tokenism, but from here it looks and feels great' (Source: Jantar-Mantar by Anita Katyal, The Tribune, Chandigarh, November 5, 2012)

'Ganjing & Kebabing' in Lucknow by K.J.S.Chatrath

I am almost ashamed to admit that I have never been to Lucknow....So to wipe out this embarrassment, I am off to Lucknow - for taking lots of photographs of the city that is synonymous with culture and 'tehzeeb'....and to do a little bit of 'Ganjing' and 'Kebabing'...

Iron Sharmila

Irom Sharmila?.........No, no........She is Iron Sharmila.

Stop deifying Le Corbusier and Jeanneret- please

Now some one has come with a preposterous suggestion that Le Corbusier and Jeanneret should be awarded the 'Bharat Ratna'......Come on, get serious and stop deifying these departed architects who designed a totally unIndian city ....

'Caution! Vandals at work' by B.G.Verghese

Caution! Vandals at work by B.G.Verghese (http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121205/edit.htm#4)

You may or may not agree, but I have never read a more scathing article written by Mr. Verghese. (Mr. B G Verghese is a veteran journalist and a recipient of the Magsaysay Award in 1975)

'A nice meal at Kanyakumari' by K.J.S.Chatrath

Sometimes one comes across a nice meal when one is least expecting it.I loved this 'thali' meal at Tamil Nadu Tourism Dev. Corpn's hotel at Kanyakumari two years back.