Vanished into Thin Air!

Journey of existence never pass through a straight path, predicting the upcoming is impossible. However, we spent heaps of time on planning our prospect but a few lucky one survived through to see the full quota of their plan virtually executed.  Predicting the forthcoming is impractical. Some out there must be joking when they believe or predict the future. Some people who became non existence but may exists. Leaving no trail behind but left bags of question mark. Mysterious disappearance is something that left behind a big question mark. If going through such database, amazed to see how thousand of peoples vanished without leaving any trail and hand of law never found them. Some of these peoples were commoner and most probably were slayed or dead without any trail but some are not so. History is peppered with intriguing tales of people who, for all intents and purposes, inexplicably vanish from the face of the earth without a trace.

Harold Holt- Former Australian PM

Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, one Sunday morning in December of 1967 when the Prime Minister went for a swim and was never seen again. Of course, a massive hunt was undertaken, but despite one of the largest search-and-rescue operations ever mounted in Australia, his body was never found. Stories of that he had been kidnapped by a Chinese submarine, or that he had been abducted by a UFO. Most likely, however, the 59-year-old Prime Minister—not in the best of health at the time anyway—was simply swept away at a beach notorious for its strong and dangerous rip currents and the rest is, as they say, history.

Pednekar Family

Thirty four-year-old Jagdish Pednekar belonged to a family of traditional gold jewellers. On 31^st December, 1998, when the city was busy with New Year’s Eve celebrations. However, for Dadar resident Jagdish Pednekar owner of Pednekar Jewellers at Sihvaji Park, it was time to pack his bags and set off on a vacation. His 21 year-old wife Urmila and five-year-old daughter Shweta were looking forward to their holiday in Mahabaleshwar. The Pednekars left for Mahabaleshwar in their Ceilo car on December 31. That was the last time their relatives and friend saw them.

A few days later, the police in Mahad found the car in the ravines near Mahabaleshwar. It had tumbled down a 350-foot slop. Surprisingly, when the police inspected the car from close quarters,  they found no blood stains.  Moreover, the doors of the car were locked. There was no trace of either the occupants or their belongings. Where had the Pednekars disappeared? Had they been kidnapped, or did Jagdish Pednekar pull off a vanishing trick? Because Mr. Pednekar is believed to have paid only two installments for the car. Another theory doing the rounds was that he owed money to the extent of Rs. 20 lakhs to about 150 persons. The questions remain unanswered for years or over decade after the incident took place.

Monsingh or Mohan Singh or Whosoever?

In 1987, among many I also read to the advertisement. It was given by a person named Monsingh and mentioned that he was from CBI.  The advertisement invited applications from youngsters in their early twenties for the post of Intelligence officers. The venue for the interview was a five-star hotel in south Mumbai where he had booked a plush room. From the 100 candidates whom he interviewed through the day, 28 persons were recruited as 'junior CBI officers'.  As part of the training program, the officers were informed, they would have to take part in a 'mock raid'. The new recruits were taken in a luxury bus to Chani Road from to prestigious Tribhuvandas Zaveri showroom is situated. The show- room was equipped with closed- circuit cameras and a video monitor. Claiming to be a CBI officer, Monsingh rushed into the shop around 2.30 p.m. and flashed a partly printed, partly handwritten search warrant. His next step was to ask the shop owner to switch off the TV cameras and the video monitor. The imposter went around picking up gold and diamond ornaments at random and stuffing them into polythene bags, which had small slips containing the government seal on them.

While his 28 junior officers searched for incriminating documents, Monsingh lugged the black bag containing ornaments and cash to the luxury bus, Instructing his subordinates to keep a vigil on the shop's staff and excusing himself "to check another scandal nearby", Monsingh zoomed away in the bus along with the booty.

After four anxious hours, both the shop owners and the junior officers realized that they had been cheated. Policemen found on! That Monsingh had already checked out of the hotel in the morning. The driver of the luxury bus said that the conman was dropped behind the hotel. Eyewitness accounts revealed that Monsingh was in his early forties, dark-complexioned, with a thick moustache. He spoke good English with an unmistakable south Indian accent. Twenty-Five years have passed and he is still at large.

Both incidents happened in Mumbai while I was in Mumbai, decades passed but my curiosity still intact.

!!!Thin or Thick Air, but these people never traced or seen??????????!!!

Coup d’etat!

A brilliantly executed stratagem or  a triumph, also described as a highly successful, unexpected stroke, act or move. Also can be defined as a clever action or accomplishment. That was what a coup meant for. However, coups are not so glorifying act, most of the cases it is benefiting a handful power greed men specially those in uniform. The coups, mostly ends with lots of bloodshed. My beloved country, India is the largest democratic country and second largest populated one, no Indian will ever dream of a military coup, specially in this wonderful land. However, from out of blue there was a speculation about it. All speculations are based on the news that, on 16^th  January night without notifying the government the infantry unit of the 33rd Armoured Division based 150 kilometres from Delhi and a unit of the airborne 50 Para brigade based in Agra to the south, reached the outskirts of Delhi before being ordered back. According to the Indian Express newspaper report, this movement raised alarms in the capital. However, Indian defense ministry and the army quickly denied the report. The Indian army and defense ministry said the units were engaged in routine exercises to test mobility in fog and did not need to warn the government in advance. Coup in India? It seems like a third degree joke.

coups are very common in the Muslim countries, countries those practice communism, East African and South American countries.  Bagladesh, Pakistan, Argentina have experienced several such incidents. Look back to a few that taken place since last 50 years.

Bangladesh

There were several coups since hard fought freedom in 1971. On 15 August 1975 a coup was organized by officers of Bangladesh Army. They were led by Major Syed Faruqe Rahman and Major Rashid. The coup resulted in the assassination of the country's president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his entire family (daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana escaped as they were in Germany) and several ministers and leaders of the Awami League. The government set up by Major Faruque, Major Rashid and Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad was overthrown in another coup on 3 November 1975. Ziaur Rahman survived as many as 21 coups during his five years until succumbing to the 22nd one.

Pakistan

Since its independence in 1947, Pakistan  has spent several decades under military rule and there have also been numerous unsuccessful attempts since 1949. Operation Fair Play was the code-name for the coup d'etat conducted at midnight on July 4, 1977 by the Pakistani military led by army chief Gen. Zia-ul-Haq against the government of then-Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In October, 1999 senior officers loyal to army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf arrested prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his ministers after thwarting the Sharif regime's attempt to dismiss Musharraf and prevent his plane from landing in Pakistan as he returned from a visit to Sri Lanka.

Even there was speculation about a attempted coup in Nepal around May, 2009.  Most of the cases the coup leaders ends terms ends with an another coup or same  like Ziaur Rahman, Zia-ul-Haq and don’t forget Saddam Hussein.

Till date, Army, in India is very respected and untouchable but if ever such situation arrived then the handful men uniform have to fight a billion plus people, impossible task.

!!!Lucky, born in a democratic country and will fight against all odds to live as one!!!

Ordinary Life, Extra-Ordinary Tales!

What is an ordinary life? Little hectic, often boring, lots of struggling and mostly moving through a analogous pattern, it is very much like a merry-go-round. However, with conscious effort we can come out from this boring pattern and it is not difficult for us to spice up the life by giving different meaning or venturing to a new world. However, it is indeed a difficult task to upgrade a ordinary life to an extra-ordinary one. The tales of two human, and their extra-ordinary life.

Chirs & Rachel Rohrlach

In the documentary ‘A Good Man’, Indian-Australian filmmaker Safina Uberoi follows the Chris's family and I followed her to bring this incredible tales of an extra-ordinary man.

Fourteen years ago, Rachel suffered a stroke just a day after she and her new boyfriend Chris had told their parents she was having a baby. Rachel was then just 21. Although Rachel was in a coma for many months, the baby survived. Rachel recovered consciousness as a quadriplegic. Her son was born while she was in a coma. Against all medical and family advice, Chris took both the baby and Rachel home. He went on to marry her and has never left her side. Matter of fact apart from the teen aged boy Rachel had then, they gone to have another child.

Chris, an Australian farmer strapped by years of drought and raising their teenage son and the addition of a new baby proved to be a great financial burden, so Chris and two friends came up with the controversial solution to build and manage a brothel. He comes up with a bizarre solution to their financial woes. Rachel approves and together they work towards making it happen. Although brothels are legal in Australia, there is still huge local opposition to their plans. Chris triumphs against all odds and manages to open the brothel.  Chris just worked harder, while managing the farm by day, running the brothel by night, and shuttling his beloved wife between the two locations. Despite Rachel's quadriplegia, the drought they could take such joy in each other and their children.

William Kamkwamba

The extraordinary true story of a Malawian teenager who transformed his village by building electric windmills out of junk. Self-taught William Kamkwamba has been feted by climate change campaigners like Al Gore and business leaders the world over. His against-all-odds achievements are all the more remarkable considering he was forced to quit school aged 14 because his family could no longer afford the  fees. Mr Kamkwamba, who is now 22 years old, knocked together a turbine from spare bicycle parts, a tractor fan blade and an old shock absorber, and fashioned blades from plastic pipes, flattened by being held over a fire.

The finished product - a 5-m (16-ft) tall blue-gum-tree wood tower, light bulbs and a circuit breaker, made from nails and magnets off an old stereo speaker, and a light switch cobbled together from bicycle spokes and flip-flop rubber. He upgraded his original windmill to 48-volts and anchored it in concrete after its wooden base was chewed away by termites.

Then he built a new windmill, dubbed the Green Machine, which turned a water pump to irrigate his family's field. The home-grown hero aims to finish bringing power, not just to the rest of his village, but to all Malawians, only 2% of whom have electricity.

!!!Nothing is miserable unless we wanted to live in it.!!!

Use & Throw!!

This package certainly comes with lesser responsibility and greater freedom. Sounds better while using an object that never comes with any extra baggage. When first time I started using a piece tissue paper, I was happy that I had done with the age-old hanky. Every time I used to venture out with a hanky I knew that it was for the last time I was seeing it, I lost a dozen every month in those hanky days. I am sorry for starting with a ridiculous example for today’s topic. This use and throw objects are not another tissue paper that cost me a few bucks but it is all about human beings better known as fairer sex. These events were happening since ages and we never aware of it. Sometime the victim who has to bear the social stigma than the culprit, now due to excessive media interpretation, we are getting a little light on these shameful happenings. Talks about women freedom goes to kaput when you look at the current series of events. Everyday and every corner of the world women are abused, raped, sold, killed and treated like an object. The treatments are very much like a use and throw objects. Some of these recent events show that government is either not determine or not capable to solve the problems.

Betul, Madhya Pradesh

A 15 year girl picked from the house by a local goon and then raped her, finally the mother was killed by the same for going to the police. On February 10, Imarti's daughter - a class eight student - was allegedly kidnapped by local gangster Rajesh Harore and raped. She was apparently specifically targeted as she refused to join a prostitution racket. In 2006, Imarti's elder daughter had been kidnapped and sold into prostitution, allegedly by the same gang. The 50-year-old tribal woman Imarti Bai shot dead before her family. A few days before her murder, Imarti approached the district collector with a written plea for protection. This was forwarded to the superintendent of police, but nothing happened as Imarti died unprotected.

Noida (UP)

The 17-year-old girl was raped in a moving car by five men on Friday night on Delhi's outskirts when the victim, a student of Class X, had gone with them to a birthday party of one of the accused.  Not enough, the men in Khaki in UP is famous for its notoriety, they gone ahead with disclosing the identity of the victim in public. 

Kolkata, West Bengal

On the night of February 5, the victim was at a pub at Kolkata's famous Park Street. A man who befriended her at the pub offered her a ride home in his Honda City. When she climbed in, there were two men in the car. But soon, another three entered the vehicle. She was raped at gunpoint. The victim filed her police case a few days later, on February 9. She says she had been traumatised by the event and needed some time to recover before going to the police with her story. The victim, who is 37-years-old, alleges that the police mocked her when she tried to get a case registered. Officers allegedly used the fact that she had been at a pub to judge her character. Above all, Mamta Banerjee done her job too only what she does best, uttering rubbish and blaming the left.

Pune, Maharashtra

An BPO employee raped and murder in 2007. Jyoti Chowdhari, 22, was traveling in her company's pick-up cab on November 1, 2007, when the driver Purushottam Borate and his friend Pradeep Kokate raped and then brutally killed her. Purushottam Borate had reportedly picked Jyoti from her home at 10 pm for her night shift at the call centre, situated at Hinjewadi area in Pune. According to reports, the driver was joined by his friend Pradeep Kokate in the cab. Jyoti's body was found next day in Gahunje a Pune village. They had cut her blood vessels in the right wrist and thereafter they threw a stone on her head, and then strangled her. A few days back, both then man was sentenced to death by a Pune court.

It is shame on civilized world that mostly ruled by the man.  From mother womb to the end there is no respite for women insight.

!!!A Woman is not a tissue paper, used as multi-purpose utility and then thrown!!!

Falak, This Sky has Limits!

For last two months, each day I was following her but not in person only in newspaper and in the virtual world. A piece of positive news about her made me happy and equally negative one was very depressing. Desperately wanted her to survive and hopping she will find a home where she will get all that she was deserted from. However, it never happened, she decided to depart, what TOI termed as for ‘Better World’.

On 18th January 2012, an unconscious baby girl is brought to AIIMS with injury marks all over her body by a 15 year old who claimed to be her mother. However, the girl fled. According to doctors, the baby girl had a fractured skull, broken arm, her chest showed burn marks from a hot clothes iron, blot clot in the brain and bite marks all over her body. The nurses who tended to her at the Intensive Care Unit named her ‘Falak’ meaning "The Sky". Since then, exposing series of shocking pieces of details behind the whole episode will make you sick.

Public outrage at her plight spurred investigations that uncovered a sordid tale of exploitation and callousness, and led to the arrest of 13 people accused of human trafficking. Police finally tracked down her biological mother, Munni, herself a victim of circumstances.

Falak's saga of misfortune began in September last year when her mother, 27-year-old Munni, took the bait of a trafficker and landed in the capital. She had left a daughter behind in Muzzafarpur, Bihar. Laxmi, who had lured Munni to Delhi, allegedly told her to leave Falak with her and got her married to a farmer in Rajasthan, claiming that she was a virgin.

Laxmi later handed over the child to Manoj, her neighbour and relative. Manoj was working with Rajkumar alias Mohammad Dilshad, with whom he entrusted the child. Rajkumar, who owns two taxis, was living in with a 14-year-old but was married to another woman. He left for Mumbai after he heard that his son, who suffers from a rare thyroid disease, had been admitted in hospital.

The 15 year old girl, who has herself had a traumatic past including an alleged brush with prostitution was left to take care of the baby. Apparently, she dropped the baby while bathing her. When the child would not stop crying, the frustrated teenager savagely attacked her but later took her to hospital after Rajkumar instructed her to do so over phone. The teenager later was arrested and will be tried for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Since January 18, doctors conducted five surgeries on her, she had two heart attacks. It was heart-warming news when on March 9, over 50 days after baby Falak was brought to the hospital, doctor's claim she is doing well and could even be discharged in a week. The doctors, though it remains uncertain whether she will remain in a vegetative state or not. Putting all speculation in the rest, on March 15, at 9.40 pm., Baby Falak dies of cardiac arrest.

An innocent life lost without any of her fault and may be there are many more Falaks living around the corner, who cares. Severely embarrassed by the events, what a murky and gory world we are living but still there are some light. The hope garnered by the humanity shown by the  staffs of AIIMS. Kudos to the doctors and nurses who devoted their days and nights to her, the way they treated the baby was heartening feature out of these shameful events. Whatever, Dr. Deepak Agarwal and his team done, termed to be unique and extraordinary. The gesture from the team is rare in a country like India where human lives, specially from poverty-stricken families has no values.

!!!R.I.P Falak, looking forward to meet you over there, what termed as ‘Better World’!!!

The Wall!

A substantial numbers of peoples out there who like to live and die for the sake of their respective religion, the religion preferred to be their main identity. Whenever we have to fill up any official papers, religion is one of the must cite criteria and for ineffective purpose. Hence, the definition of religion stands as, the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods. In India, majority inhabitants are in general marked as or identified as Hindus but almost billion plus population often forget their own religion to unite when our cricketers slug out on the pitch. Last week a cricket legend decided to retire after sixteen glorious years, so, my tribute to one and only ‘The Wall’, Rahul Dravid.

Rahul Dravid

Dravid was born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He belongs to a Maharashtrian family settled in Bangalore, Karnataka. He has a younger brother, Vijay. Dravid's father worked for Kissan, a company known for producing jams and preserves and thus he earned the nickname Jammy from his teammates at St. Joseph's Boys' High School. His mother, Pushpa, was a professor of architecture at Bangalore University. Rahul Dravid has a degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore.

Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented the state at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 level. Rahul's talents were first spotted by former cricketer Keki Tarapore who was coaching at a summer coaching camp at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He went on to score a century on debut for his school team. Along with the batting, he was keeping wickets. However, he later stopped keeping wickets on advice from former Test players Gundappa Vishwanath, Roger Binny, Brijesh Patel and Tarapore.

He was selected to make his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991 against Maharashtra in Pune alongside future Indian teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath. His first full season was in 1991–92, when he scored two centuries to finish with 380 runs at an average of 63.3, and was selected for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

Dravid had a disappointing start to his career making his debut in one-dayers against Sri Lankan cricket team in the Singer Cup in Singapore immediately after World Cup in March 1996, replacing Vinod Kambli. Subsequently, he was dropped from the team, until he was picked again for the tour of England. He then made his debut in the Second Test against England along with Sourav Ganguly, when Sanjay Manjrekar got injured after the first Test match on that tour. Dravid scored 95 and held his position on Manjrekar's return for the Third Test and scored 84.

On 4 May 2003, he married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur. They have two children, Samit  and Anvay.

Rahul Dravid announced his retirement from test and domestic cricket on 9 March 2012, although he will be leading Rajasthan Royals in the 2012 Indian Premier League. Dravid was the second highest run scorer and player with the highest number of catches in test cricket at the time of his retirement.

Career statistics

Competition	Test	ODI	FC
Matches	164	344	298
Runs scored	13,288	10,889	23,794
Batting average	52.31	39.16	55.33
100s/50s	36/63	12/83	68/117
Top score	270	153	270
Balls bowled	120	186	617
Wickets	1	4	5
Bowling average	39.00	42.50	54.60
Catches/Stumpings	210/0	196/14	353/1

!!!The journey was tough but he made like as smooth as Jammy!!!

Encountered?

One of the hardest jobs is to come up with an appropriate name for a thing. When I decided to start a blog for my mediocre photography I decided to name it ‘Shot At Sights’ but my blog for today had no link to it, it is stands for what actually is meant for. However it is not ‘Shot At Sight’ but ‘Shoot at sights’. Often it is the motto for the men in Khaki. I knew a very nice South Indian family from Mumbai, the daughter was  a dear friend of mine but the son was real pain for the couple. Once he was arrested for his association with the underworld. Before I returned to Kolkata I tried to give him some advice and requested him to mend his way for his parents. During that time he narrated how police often threatened and made them to believe that they would be taken to a  dark alley and then to a cold storage. So, the word ‘Encounter’,  mostly the truth and reality lies with the men who have the loaded gun. It is unfair to say that all encounters are fabricated but some .. may be…. god knows.

Encounter

An encounter  is a euphemism  used in South Asia especially in India to describe extrajudicial killings in which police or armed forces shoot down suspected gangsters  and terrorists in gun battles.

Fake Encounter

A fake encounter or a "staged encounter" happens when the police or armed forces kill the suspects in custody or when the suspects are unarmed, and then claim that the victims were killed in a encounter when the police had to shoot in self-defence. In such cases, the weapons may be planted on or near the dead body to provide a justification for killing the individual.

Daya Nayak

There are famed police officials who became famous only being an encounter specialist, Daya Nayak is one of such. He rose to fame for having eliminated more than eighty gangsters of the Mumbai underworld as a member of the Mumbai Encounter Squad, which was created by the Maharashtra Government for tackling the increasing problems of underworld extortion, gangwars, and a terrible law and order situation. Before suspended from his duty, during his tenure, he amassed huge of property. Being an ordinary sub Inspector with Mumbai Police and an encounter specialist, such prosperity is impossible unless the fund came through the other world rather underworld.

Bumping in Cold Blood

In 2006,  Pintu Mishra, described by the police as a small-time criminal, was “bumped” off  in Allahabad because of his terrorists’ links.

In 2007 an 18-year old boy, Abdul Rehman, was killed in Srinagar by the security forces for being hand in glove with the Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh

In the wee hours of 26 November 2005, Sohrabuddin Sheikh was gunned down by the police on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The Gujarat Government claimed that he was a member of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and was on a mission to kill Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Batla House Encounter

Batla House encounter is still haunting the government is officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on 19 September 2008, against suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi, in which two suspected terrorist, Atif Amin and Mohamed Sajid were killed while two other suspects Mohd Saif and Zeeshan were arrested, while one accused Ariz Khan managed to escape. Encounter specialist and Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the police action was also killed during the incident.

Ishrat Jahan

The Ishrat Jahan encounter case refers to the encounter killing of four people claimed to be Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives by the Ahmedabad Police Crime Branch in 2004. The victims included Ishrat Jahan Raza, a 19-year old college girl from Mumbai, and three men: Pranesh Pillai , Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar. Multiple judicial inquiries by Indian authorities, in 2009 and 2011, concluded that the encounter was fake, and the victims were killed in police custody.

!!!Encounter of the Bloodiest kind!!!