Tuesday, May 26, 2026

In praise of Venezuelan beauties ................by K J S Chatrath

I avoid writing about religion and politics because of my self imposed red line. No, I am not going to talk about abduction, crude  etc..etc.with reference to Venezuela. I am going to talk about female beauty of Venezuela.

The trigger was the photo on the internet of a pretty lady from that country who is a film and tv star. Her name is Gaby Espino and she is 48 years old.

 OK...OK..here is her photo: 

 

             But don't think that she is a lone beauty from Venezuela. Take a look at the following:

                  No, no. That is not all. Here is a list of the Miss World winners from Venezuela: 

And now coming to the 'why' and 'how' of these wins. Venezuela dominates the global beauty pageant scene—winning seven Miss Universe and six Miss World titles—because pageantry functions as a revered national sport and highly structured industry.  This massive success is driven by intense cultural obsession, rigorous factory-style training, and the use of specialized cosmetic enhancements.

Miss Venezuela title holders are seen as seen as a symbol of national pride. This has promoted attention on beauty products and cosmetic procedures for women. Venezuela has one of the largest rates of cosmetic procedures per capita in the world.

 Pretty María Chiquinquirá Delgado Díaz is a Venezuelan TV host, model, an actress.

 

                                                                        A pretty Venezuelan young lady.

Before closing let me share that a good 45 years back I was at the International Institute of Public Administration, Paris attending a one year training programme on International Economic Relations. We were 25 participants- chosen from various continents/countries.  And yes, the prettiest and always the best turned out lady in the group was from Venezuela. I think her name was Pilar........

Respectful salute to the ladies of Venezuela ....................

 

Monday, May 25, 2026

Come on 'The Tribune' - broaden your horizon please..............pleads K J S Chatrath

 

                                                        The Tribune, Chandigarh, May 20, 2026

I do not know how my friends reacted to this front page main news in the The Tribune.  My reaction was one of disbelief coupled with sadness. We all know the difficult times that the whole world and India are passing through these days. In that background choice of the main news on 'dogs' by the Tribune shows very poor editorial judgement.

Come on The Tribune, we have been your loyal readers for ages, please do not let us down. Broaden your horizon - please....... 

Friday, April 3, 2026

What a coincidence........exclaims KJS Chatrath

Last evening I was struggling to organise my recently clicked photographs of my visit to Bundi, Rajasthan. I had taken quite a few photos of the Bundi Chitarashala.  While seeing those, I stopped on seeing this photo of a painting . It showed Lord Krishna as a child and his mother who is shown as milking a cow. And then after looking at it for a while I moved over to the next photo. Soon it was 9 pm and I switched off the computer and got busy in preparing to go to sleep.

As a general rule, I get bad dreams but last night was the sleep was peaceful. 

When I got up this morning and started looking at todays' newspapers and internet news, I was surprised to see the news item about the famous painting of Raja Ravi Varma, below, having been sold for Rs. 167 crores. What a strange coincidence. 

And soon my mischivious mind wandered to speculation that the gentleman who has bought this painting would have to show this purchase under the head corporate expenses for enabling his workmen to admire this painting and increase the productivity of the firm. So, it would be legitimate corporate expense, no? 
 

Friday, December 12, 2025

Chandigarh's 'Heritage' and all that rummy.............................by K J S Chatrath


Chandigarh's 'Heritage' and all that rummy.............................by K J S Chatrath 

I read with interest a news item in today's The Tribune that "The government has approved the change in nomenclature of the flagship employment scheme MNREGA to Pujya Bapu Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Yojna (PBGRGY). It reminded me of the famous quote of the Bard in his 'Romeo and Juliet' - a rose may by any other name smell as sweet. 

While on nomenclatures, I read another very interesting news in the same newspaper. It reports "Mayor (of Chandigarh)orders fast-track clearance of legacy waste. Being innocent of what 'legacy waste' means I did a bit of research (what a wast of my dwindling time on planet earth). And I found this illuminating explanation from the internet "Chandigarh's legacy waste refers to the massive, aged garbage dumps, primarily at the Dadu Majra Landfil Site (DMDG) consisting of millions of tonnes of unsegregated, decomposing waste piled over years, polluting land, air, and groundwater, and posing health risks to residents, with ongoing projects like bioremediation and land reclamation actively clearing these mountains as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission to transform the city into a landfill-free model.

So coining and use of the nomenclature 'legacy waste' really means putting the blame of the current mess on one's predecessors in office.  

Those having some idea of Chandigarh would know that the esteemed residents of this "City Beautiful" are very enamoured of the word 'heritage'. 
 
My Take: Since Chandigarh has failed to to clear garbage for decades, why not re-christen this 'legacy waste'  as "Heritage Waste'? 
 
I do not know if permission of Le Courbusier and his nephew (or was it cousin?) Jeanneret would have to be taken before this name change.  

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Invitation to follow me on 'X' and on 'Instagram'.........................K J S Chatrah


                                        May I invite you to follow me on 'X' and on 'Instagram'?
You would be surprised at the wide spectrum of subjects covered.

Thursday, October 23, 2025

UNO is 80 now - Time to wind it up. ..............K J S Chatrath

 


UNO is 80 now....This white horse has never been so ineffective and useless as it is now. Time to wind it up.