Message of Gandhi in Medellin

Be careful.. Friends advised me when I told them I was going to visit Medellin, notorious for kidnappings, murders and drug trafficking. Another set of friends also gave me the same advice but for a different reason. They were jealous...Medellin women, are reputed to be the most beautiful in Latin America. So you could imagine my accompanied baggage full of fears, expectations and fantasies with which I reached the city on 7 July. But I was in for a totally different surprise. I found a Mahatma Gandhi Foundation there celebrating Festival of Non- Violence, started by a Gujarati... Mr Harivardhan Shah.

So my first visit in the city was to the Gandhi Foundation. Shah described it as ¨an organisation that seeks to reclaim Life and to rebuild Hope in a city that no longer wants to see its children die in the street either by a bullet or at the hands of a murderer¨. The Foundation's objective is ¨to teach everyone that, it is indeed possible to restore the hope that violence has stolen from us. This begins only when each citizen consciously decides: not to contribute any more to the culture of violence that surrounds us and instead to do something to build a peaceful coexistence, not only with others, but also within oneself¨.

The Gandhi Foundation has an auditorium for meetings. There are two full time employees at the office of the Foundation, located on the top floor of the factory of Mr Shah.The local authorities, NGOs and some companies support the foundation and its activities with thirty percent of financing while the remaining seventy percent of the funds are from Mr Shah himself. The local media has given wide publicity praising the work of the Foundation.

The Foundation celebrates Gandhi Jayanti every year with seminars, workshops, candle-light marches and events in schools and colleges. They invite the people ¨to find solutions to the problem of violence in the city - initially in oneself and then to replicate those solutions with the people around them. The Foundation teaches yoga and meditation to help people to achieve inner peace and harmony.

The Foundation does not preach within the safety of four walls. They organise campaigns at the Metro stations and streets and even in dangerous neighbourhoods such as Comun Popular which is rife with crime and narcotrafficking. In Colombia they call the slums as Comuns. The Foundation holds solidarity meetings with the victims of violence. The volunteers of the Foundation work the Metros and streets with banners in spanish which say,

- If you are at peace with yourself, there is atleast one peaceful place in the world.

-There is no way to peace.. peace itself is the way.

-eye for an eye will make the world go blind.

The Foundation distributes Gandhi masks and spectacle frames to the marchers. Some Colombians dress up like Gandhi during the marches, as in the photo below.

Colombians with Gandhi masks, in the picture below.

Shah himself was a victim of the Medellin violence. Once, a gang of armed robbers attacked his factory at gun point and took away everything they could. Second time the robbers threatened to shoot him but he took a risk of diverting their attention and managed to escape. Then a criminal gang put his name among the list of people to be eliminated. At this time he thought of leaving Colombia. But his two daughters, who were born and brought up as Paisas ( inhabitants of Medellin) did not want to leave. They were firm and convinced Shah that they should live and die there itself.

In the picture above- Mr Shah.

The Gandhi Foundation focusses on the youth who are the potential recruits of criminal gangs. The Foundation works with schools and colleges and teach the students tolerance and compassion and the need to respect others with different beliefs. They tell the adolescents that they must change themselves first before expecting the world to change. Their most important programme is to develop, nurture and multiply young leaders. They select leaders from the schools through a series of interviews. The young leaders are given scholarships to pursue their higher education. These leaders carry out the campaign of non-violence and participate actively in all the Gandhi events. When these Medellin young leaders tell the other youth about non-violence it makes a greater impact than if Shah were to give lectures himself. The only condition the Foundation lays down for the leaders is that when they get jobs and settle down in life they must help at least two other deserving candidates and mentor them. One of the interview committee members had a doubt and asked Shah, what if they do not help others? what is the gurantee?. Shah , who is as much a pragmatist as an idealist replied, ¨Do we seek such a guarantee from our own children when we invest in their education that they would help the parents?¨.

Sara (in the picture below) is one of the Gandhi Foundation scholarship holders. She studies business management. To my question as to what kind of company she would like to work, she responded quickly and unhesitatingly, ¨I want to start my own business.¨ I asked her about the public response to the campaign for non-violence in which she takes part. She said that the kids in the slums were initially curious. Later some of them turned positive and wanted to know more about Gandhi. She told me that the non-violence campaign has made some of the young people to think about the situation in Medellin in a new light with a different approach.

Shah has been living in Medellin for the last 36 years. He went to work there as a chemical engineer in a local company after completing six years of University studies in Germany. He fell in love with the beautiful city, pleasant weather ( they call it as eternal spring since the average temperature is 21 degrees). After some years, he started his own factory to produce chemicals.

Shah and his Gujarati wife Hasita as well his two daughters speak to each other in spanish all the time. They have a creatively designed country house where they hold retreats for the Gandhi Foundation scholarship holders.

Shah is also the mentor, guardian and Guru for the 80 Indians most of whom have come to the city for IT projects. He and his wife are avid and competitive bridge players and participate in the national and regional tournaments. Shah dances Salsa and Tango, throws fiestas for the smallest excuse and lives upto the Latino philosophy, ¨We do not stop having fun when we are old. We become old only when we stop having fun¨.

With such a broad bandwidth of Gujrati mind and Latino heart Shah has made Mahatma Gandhi meaningful to Medellin in a practical and pragmatic way.

Here is Mr and Mrs Shah at the their country house..

More info on the Gandhi Foundation at http://www.edugandhi.org

They are in facebook too ...http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=152900591407225

Medellin is not alone in rediscovering Mahatma Gandhi. There is a resurgence of interest in Gandhi's concept and practice of non-violence across Latin America which is facing a growing challenge of urban crime and violence. Policy and opinion makers and intellectuals realise that policing could deal only with the surface part of the problem. They want to go to the roots and cultivate a new culture of non-violence in the hearts and minds of the young people. It is in this task that they find Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration and his ideas relevant to the Latin American situation.

Hastinapur, the city of wisdom, in Argentina

Hastinapur has a total area of twelve acres. Its population consists of a dozen Indian gods and an equal number of Argentine human beings. Some of the Indian gods reside in authentic temples filled with the scent of Indian agarbatties while others stay outdoor enjoying the fragrance of the flowers from the garden. Some are sitting or standing on the pedestals and others hang on the sides of walls and pillars. The gods who have their own temples include Ganesh, Krishna, Surya, Narayana and Siva. Since it is Hastinapur there is a temple for Pandavas too. Hastinapur is clearly a place fit for the gods ...who should be pleased with the cleanliness of the place, the serene surroundings and the green garden with Rosewood trees. The only noise comes from the hundreds of birds nesting in the trees. Then there is the soft music of the devotees who sing Bhajans. It is indeed a divine place which inspires sacred thoughts and holy spirit.

Ganesh is standing out in white against the greenery of the garden in the picture below.

The dozen Argentines who live there look after the gods and the place. During weekend, the human population increases to over one hundred. The Argentines do not go there seeking favours as many Indians do in Tirupathi. They go there for wisdom. This is why Hastinapur is called as the City of Wisdom (ciudad de la sabiduria). Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning blesses the students through the sculptures all around the compound. The Argentines learn philosophy, read in the library, practise yoga and meditation and sing Bhajans.

On the other side of the fence, there are cows grazing and occasionally staring at the Indian gods. The cows are relaxed and free from fear because they know that they will not become food at the dining table in Hastinapur, which is a vegetarian place. The inmates cook vegetarian food and share it with the children from poor families in the neighbourhood.

Hastinapur does not have any godmen seeking fame and fortune and flaunting wealthy followers. It is an instituition to pursue pure wisdom, peace and divinity. Neither in the city nor in the website names of those who run the place are given. The founders and directors of the Hastinapura Foundation do not seek publicity. They are humble but devoted people. They have their professions as company managers, engineers or professors. They volunteer their time and talents for the foundation.

Nor is Hastinapur the work of some overenthusiastic drum-beating Hare Krishna types or faith-lead Saibaba followers. Hastinapur respects all the religions and beliefs. Their ten temples include one for Buddha, one for Virgin Mary, one for the Greek god Demeter and another one called as the the Temple of All Faiths. Their library has books of all religions and schools of thought. Hastinapur seeks true wisdom, going beyond the boundaries of established religions. The City of Wisdom is not the ultimate destination. It does not prescribe wisdom doses. It simply helps people to seek, find and pursue their own path to wisdom. They give classes in yoga, meditation, philosophy, devotional singing and sacred drama. They organise workshops, seminars and retreats. They also provide community service. They celebrate festivals such as Ganesh Chathurthi and Baishaki. Their next project is to broadcast through radio.

Hastinapur temples do not have priests or other middlemen between the gods and worshippers. There is no money collection, like in Tirupathi. Worshippers pray, recite mantras and sing devotional songs individually or in groups.

Meditation Hall

Hastinapur has a post graduate course in yoga which takes three years to complete. The classes are held in the weekends only. There are 2500 students studying yoga and philosophy in the Hastinapur centres. The students are being taught by 100 teachers on philosophy and 120 teachers on yoga.

Many Argentines go to Hastinapur as a retreat from the hectic city of Buenos Aires which is just fifty kilometres away. They practise meditation in the quiet natural environment. They do yoga, read books from the library, discuss philosophy and join the singing of bhajans. Hastinapur is an authentic Ashram.

Hastinapur Foundation has published a number of books on Indian philosophy and translated Bhagwat Gita, Bhakti Sutras, Upanishads,Srimad Bhagwatam and Yoga Sutras. Their latest publication is Mahabharatha in Spanish. They have so far published three volumes and plan to do a total of twelve volumes in the coming years. Each volume is over 500 pages. The founder Alda Albrecht and other members of the Foundation have also written a number of books.

main entrance to the Hastinapur city

Hastinapura Foundation was established by Ada Albrecht in 1981. She introduced Indian philosophy and became a Guru for the Argentines seeking wisdom. She wrote a number of books such as ¨The Saints and teachings of India¨ and ¨The teachings of the monks from Himalayas¨.

Gustavo Canzobre was one of her students, who is now the Director of the Hastinapur college of professors. He was seventeen years old when he became interested in Indian wisdom. During the Third Festival of India organised by the embassy in Buenos Aires in November 2010, he gave a talk on the temple architecture of South India. He has agreed to give a talk on Indian philosophy in the forthcoming Fourth Festival of India in December 2011. He is a manager in a local company for living and dedicates rest of his time to Hastinapura Foundation. He is knowledgeable about Indian vedas and upanishads and is going to India on his second visit in August this year.

Gustavo Canzobre in the picture below:

The architectural and scuplting work of the Hastinapur complex has been done entirely by Argentines. The architects and sculptors have studied Indian temples and have done their work professionally and aesthetically. Even now they are constructing some more buildings with Indian sculptures and statues.

Pillars of the entrance to Ganesh temple below:

The pond in front of the temple has fresh water and fish:

A small outdoor Ganesh temple in the garden

Hastinapura Foundation has sixteen centres in Buenos Aires and three more in the rest of Argentina. They have also established centres in Uruguay, Bolivia and Colombia. Information on the Foundation and its activities can be seen at their website

http://www.hastinapura.org.ar/

Lord Siva is sitting majestically in the large garden guarded by Ganesh on the four sides:

Latin Americans are, of course, known for fun and fiesta. At the same time, there are thousands of Latin Americans who take Mahabharatha and Meditation more seriously than many Indians....

Indian scientist receives Paraguayan honour

Dr Mohan Kohli, an Indian agricultural scientist received Honorary Doctorate from the San Carlos University of Paraguay on 18 May in Asuncion. This is a recognition of the contribution of Dr Kohli in the last three decades to improvement of wheat cultivation and production. The Paraguayans expressed their gratitude to Dr Kohli who is credited with the transformation of Paraguay from a wheat importer till the eighties into a wheat exporter since 2004. The wheat production of Paraguay has increased from 30,000 tons in 1978 to 1.2 million tons now. In 2010 Paraguay earned 230 million dollars from wheat exports.

Dr Kohli is a wheat specialist and is a senior scientific consultant to the Paraguayan National Wheat Programme. He started off his career with the legendary Norman Borlaug ( Nobel prize winner who contributed to the Green revolution of India) in 1971 and worked with him for six years in Mexico. In 1978 he came to South America as a regional wheat breeder. Since then he has been working in the South American countries of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile. He has worked in collaboration with the governments as well as the private sector agricultural organisations and associations. He has been awarded many honours by the governments and universities of Latin American countries.

Dr Kohli has spent a total of 40 years in Latin America, of which he has lived in South America for 33 years. He is married to a Mexican. Currently he lives in Paraguay and is also working as senior technical consultant to the Argentine wheat project. Dr Kohli who speaks fluent spanish is admired and valued in the agricultural and scientific communities of Latin America. Besides developing new varieties of wheat to suit the different climates and soil conditions of South America, Dr Kohli has trained hundreds of scientists and contributed to human resource development. He has published over 150 papers and articles in USA and Latin America.

Dr Kohli did his B.Sc in agriculture from the Rajasthan Agricultural University and Masters and PhD at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.He had done Post Doctoral work in the University of California and Oregon State University. The American Society of Agronomy honoured him with a ¨International Service Award ¨ in 2010.

Dr Kohli is not just another laboratory scientist confined to the four walls and surrounded by scientific papers. He is a practical scientist with a pragmatic approach. He is passionate about agriculture. He enjoys his research and putting the outcomes of his research into practical action. He spends as much time on the fields as he does in the laboratories. He loves the company of small farmers and shares coffee in their homes. During my tours with him, I have seen myself how he is admired as a hero by the farmers of Paraguay and Argentina. He has earned the respect and admiration of the Latin Americans with his Indian humility, sincerity, brilliance and hard work. He has stimulated interest and respect for India in the rural areas of Latin America. I call him as the Agricultural Ambassador of India. In my speech at the 18 May ceremony, I thanked him for raising the flag of India in places where Indian Ambassadors have never been.

Dr Kohli is not a ivory tower scientist. He has a global vision and is concerned with food security. He has the big picture and ideas for making the world a better place. He has a heart for the poor and hungry and is committed to do his part to solve the global problem of poverty.

Dr Kohli made an inspiring presentation to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar when he was in Buenos Aires in September 2010. He advocated No-Till ( Direct Seeding) Method of cultivation for India and showed how this method has revolutionised the agriculture of South America, which is emerging as a superpower in agriculture. He has given an Action Plan to Minister Pawar for implementation of No-Till cultivation method and other measures to improve productivity and sustainable cultivation in India. He took me to the farms in Paraguay and showed me how the small farmers are successfully practising the No-Till cultivation using bullock carts and small tractors. He believes strongly that India can increase productivity, reduce soil degradation and practise sustainable farming, learning from the South American experience. He is willing to share his expertise and contribute to India.

Latin America has made use of Dr Kohli's expertise for the last 40 years....Will India take advantage of the expertise and willingness of Dr Kohli to contribute to the motherland ???

El olvido que seremos (We wil be…forgotten)- book by Hector Abad

¨Inolvidable¨-unforgettable- is how I would describe this book by the Colombian author Hector Abad Faciolince. It is evident from the 25 editions of this book since its first edition in 2006.

Hector Abad is different from my other two favourite Colombian writers Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Laura Restrepo. While these two are the masters of magical realism, Hector Abad has moved the readers with his simple and plain realism. He does not take you through journeys of incredible imagination, flights of fantasies or magic carpets. He has just described the real life story of his father Hector Abad Gomez in a natural,clear and straightforward way. But the portrayal is poignant and powerful. This is because the fact is more striking than fiction; reality is more overpowering than the imagination.

Hector Abad has woven together three stories within this book: the story of Colombia; the relationship between an adoring and exemplary father and the pampered son ; and the story of the family.

Hector Abad Gomes, father of the author, taught medicine at the University of Antioquia in Medellin. But he went beyond the call of his profession and embarked on public health policy initiatives and campaigns. He established the faculty of public health in the University and connected the high brow medical students to the poor people in the slums. He was obsessed with the need for prevention of diseases through clean water, vaccination and other such measures. He wrote a number of books on public health besides his solid action on the ground. His compassion for the poor was misinterpreted as communism by his university colleagues and rightwing political elements who started persecuting him. He was caught in the ongoing violence unleashed against leftists all over Colombia by the security forces and militias, with the support of the oligarchy. Undaunted, he expanded his activism to defence of human rights and campaigns against violence. He wrote a book ¨Manual de tolerancia¨ and advocated the Gandhian method of non-violence and passive resistance. Many of his collaborators, liberals and leftists were systematically and ruthlessly killed and he was also marked in the death list. Inevitably, his day also came. He was gunned down when he went to pay homage to another colleague who was also assasinated. The son Hector Abad found in the trouser pocket of his dead father the list of people marked for death by the killers. The right wing bishop of Medellin did not allow funeral mass saying that Hector Gomes was a non believer and not a true christian. But lower level clergy defied the bishop and held a church ceremony. While browsing the papers left in his father´s office Hector came across the poem of Luis Borges, which starts with¨Ya somos el olvido que seremos¨. There is some controversy about the authorship of this poem. To me it does not matter. It is a beautiful line and fits in with the book.

The author has given a graphic description of the violence suffered by the Colombian society. The period 1948- 1960 is known as ¨Epoca de Violencia ¨– period of violence. The fight between the liberals and conservatives went beyond elections and power struggles and became bloody, leading to death and destruction. It engulfed the whole country with violence, terrorism and persecution. It drove writers and thinkers into exile. This got worse later with the rise of narcotrafficking and the war waged by left wing guerillas who controlled at one time half the territory of the country. The violence of the leftist guerillas were matched by the merciless killings by the paramilitaries on the other side. The innocent civilians were caught in the war between the two sides and the country paid a heavy price. It is now a great relief to see that Colombia is coming out of this terrible and unforgettable past.

The second thread in the story is about the extraordinary relationship between the father and the son. Hector Gomes showered his son with unconditional love and adoration. He always supported the son positively even when the son behaved in a cowardly way, did not live upto expectations and made mistakes. Hector Gomes let his son to be what he was and did not tell him what he should be. He introduced him to the world of poetry and literature and taught him lot of things through his long conversations and walks and travels together.

The other thread of the story is about the family. Hector Gomes lead a happy and contented middle class family of five daughters and a son with relatives and friends in many fields including in the church. He was an exemplary father, perfect husband and benefactor to others especially to the poor people. He was idealistic in his public life and was not practical in finance and other mundane family matters. This was taken care of by his level-headed and pragmatic wife who earned through her own business of management of buildings and ensured that there was no financial pressure on the idealistic husband. He confessed,¨I am a good father putting seeds of good ideas. But I am a bad mother because I do not have the patience to bear the seeds and nurture their growth¨. Everything went on smoothly and happily till Marta, the youngest, prettiest and the most gifted daughter who sang and played violin got cancer at the age of sixteen. She went through pain and died slowly with the whole family watching her deterioration day by day. The most poignant scene is the one in which she manages to sing and thereafter says that she might not sing again. She loses the voice and dies the next day. This unbearable death made Hector Gomes even more daring in courting his own death. He plunged himself into more activism with greater intensity risking his life willingly. He was not afraid of death after having lived ¨completely, intensly and suffciently¨.

By coincidence I finished this book on 24 March 2011, the Argentine National Day of Remembrance ( Dia Nacional de Memoria). It was on 24 march 1976 that the last time military came to power through a coup and took the country to hell with killings, tortures, disappearances and dropping of prisoners from the planes. Argentines cannot forget the famous reply of a general, ¨ They are not alive… nor dead… simply disappeared¨ when asked about people taken away for interrogation.

¨El Olvido ...no sera¨ is my conclusión. This book will not be forgotten. It will be catharsis for the Colombians for many years to come and also for other Latin Americans who have gone through similiar unforgettable sufferings.

The accidental President of Brazil- a memoir of Fernando Henrique Cardoso

The credit for the transformation and current boom of Brazil goes to Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) who as President in 1995-2002 laid the foundation for the New Brazil of the twentyfirst century. As Finance Minister in 1992-94 he introduced the new currency Real, arrested inflation and put the economy in shape with his Real Plan. This success opened the doors of the presidential palace for him when he stood for elections. In the book, FHC tells his ¨unlikely journey to the top, which was aided by good fortune, good friends, and yes, more than my share of lucky accidents along the way¨.

The title ¨Accidental President ¨ is not entirely correct. FHC came from a family of generals and politicians and claims historical descendancy from the time of independence of Brazil. His great grandfather was a Governor of Goias. His grandfather was a General who had helped found the Republic. His father was also a General. Several of his relatives were Generals, Ministers, Mayors and government officials. Politics and history were topics of conversation over dinners. FHC, unlike Lula, had the best education and spoke English and French. With this background and contacts it was not unimaginable for FHC to aspire to become President, unlike in the case of Lula.

FHC starts off his book with an incident in 1938 when he was six years old. When he was on vacation in the beach with his family, his father received a phone call to join the defence of President Getulio Vargas who was being attacked by rebel troops. He rushed out with a gun and returned the next day after putting down the rebellion and told the family that they could resume their vacation. He calls this incident as his political baptism. His father who was jailed twice for joining doomed rebellions, advised FHC, ¨Always try to make casual conversation with jail guards¨. This advice came in handy for FHC later.

What is remarkable is that despite his military-oligarchic background, FHC was centre-left and fought for democracy and social equity. He was fond of books and wanted to avoid the ¨family business¨ of politics. He deviated from the family tradition by studying sociology and becoming a professor in Sao Paulo University. He flirted with communism for a while. He got to know the favelas, poverty and disparity between rich and poor during his field visits and research. He had an opportunity to interpret in Portuguese the speech of the legendary Jean-Paul Sartre and later Simone de Beauvoir. As a liberal sociologist, he became a natural victim of the oppressive right-wing military dictatorship. He was exiled alongwith many other leftist and liberal academics and activists. He went to Argentina as a political refugee and then lived in Chile for four years. There he came into contact with Neruda and Allende and also his fellow Brazilian exiles. He worked in the ECLAC ( Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean) and published his famous book¨Dependency and Development in Latin America¨. Later he went on a teaching assignment in France. He had the opportunity to witness the 1968 spring revolution in France which added to his sociological education. His exile made him suffer the saudade ( nostalgia) for his home country. After the restoration of democracy in 1985, the new political leaders could not manage the democratic responsibility nor the economy. FHC was the third civilian President after the end of military dictatorship in 1985. One of his predecessors died before inaguration and the other was impeached for corruption. His sociology background, participation in the struggle for restoration of democracy, philosopher-king image, ideals and vision was like a breath of fresh air at that time when most politicians were seen as corrupt and crooked. This was important for the infant democracy which was struggling to take its roots and establish its credibility.

FHC´s most enduring achievement was in the stabilisation of the economy. When he became Finance Minister, the Inflation was raging at 2500 percent in 1993. There were seven different currencies in the previous eight years. The economy was in shambles undermining the political stability of the young democracy itself. It was at this critical moment that he was made as Finance Minister, a job for which there were not many takers. FHC rose upto the challenge. He introduced a new currency Real as part of his Real Plan. It worked, unexpectedly. This success stimulated his ambition and paved the way for him to become President. FHC carried out more reforms and stablised the politics and economy of the country during his Presidency. He initiated Inclusive Development schemes and at the same time followed pro-business policies opening up the market. He undertook bold land reforms and distributed 44.5 million acres of land to 588,000 landless families. He describes this, ¨I consider this as a testimony to my roots as a sociologist and one of the proudest achivements of my administration.¨ The other revolutionary achievement about which he is proud as a sociologist was his government´s initiative in passing a law to give free access to antiretroviral AIDS drugs. This was the first such move by a developing country which lead to confrontation with the multinational pharma companies and even the government of USA. Brazil managed to overcome the opposition and became a model for other developing countries on the issue of AIDS policies. These new enlightened, mature and pragmatic policies are the foundation of the New Brazil. President Lula, who criticised the policies of FHC and who fought and lost two elections against him, continued the pragmatic policies of FHC administration and added more social inclusion. President Dilma is commited to this policy of consensus, which is the reason for the new optimism about the future of Brazil.

FHC applied his sociology expertise to his work. He was bold enough to recognise and talk openly about the racial inequality of Brazil, although it is a topic of taboo even today. His frankness on this issue earned him the wrath of even fellow Brazilian sociologists. He admitted in his public statements that ¨black in Brazil had equalled poor for too long and that discrimination against blacks, both social and economic, has been one of the biggest problems we face.¨ He lamented that blacks were hardly ever seen among the country´s political, economic and media elite. He pointed out that although blacks constitute 40 percent of the population, there were only 9 black deputies among the 513 congressmen and that there was not a single black career ambassador at that time. FHC had got a survey conducted on the race issue in 1999. He initiated policies for affirmative action against the opposition of many in the Congress and bureaucracy. He succeeded in creating job quotas in some Ministries and awarded scholarships to blacks to train for joining the diplomatic corps.

In the final chapters, FHC talks about his foreign policy achievements. As an internationally recognised intellectual and sociologist combined with his success as a President, FHC certainly made other counries to take Brazil seriously and raised the profile of the country globally. He gave priority to relations with neighbours. In this context, FHC has shared an interesting information. He says that the one who gave a memorable push to this policy was Helmt Kohl, who told him that he hated the French when he was young but realised later that if his hatred continued, his children would go to war as well and the cycle would never end. Kohl told FHC that it was for this reason that he became a passionate proponent of European Union. Giving his example, Kohl had told FHC , ¨you Brazilians have historic responsibility to do the same with Argentina, put your past behind you and make a great Union in South America. ¨

FHC is candid and professional in his analysis of the Brazilian society and the politicians and military dictators who took Brazil up and down. He mentions that sometimes military was used as a tool by the business elite to grab power. He gives his comments on the Presidents and political leaders with whom he had interaction. This includes Lula who supported FHC´s senate campaign in 1978. He found Lula possessing a natural drive and instinctive political intelligence although he was uncomfortable around the academics and artists who collaborated with FHC in the campaign.

Some of the stories described by FHC are funny, as the following would illustrate:
- President Janio Quadros, an acquaintance of his father, banned bikini and miniskirt among his other eccentric policies. Hmmm.. Garotas of Ipanema…without the bikinis…. Impossible to imagine !!
- father of President Fernando Collor, who was a senator, shot dead a fellow legislator on the senate floor. He was acquitted on the ground of self-defence.
- the Brazilian banks profited during the hyperinflation and had a big stake in continuation of high inflation.
-The Brazilian newspapers published fotos of a carnival queen Lilian Ramos without her underwear when she was cozying upto President Itamar Franco at the VVIP balcony in Rio Sambadrome. Financial Times described it as ¨naked ambition¨.

Bill Clinton has written foreword to FHC´s memoirs calling him as ¨my friend¨. Unlike Clinton, FHC was not charismatic. His campaign managers had to work hard on his professorial manners and create a new image in the election campaigns. FHC confesses that his first political speech literally put the audience to sleep because he lectured like a sociology professor. When he used quotations in English and French he was considered as a snob. He confesses, ¨Sometimes I was so eager to see Brazil with a sociologist´s eye that I was shy with the use of power. This was surely one of the biggest flaws of my Presidency. On some occasions,when the country needed a President, I was still too much of a sociologist.¨

FHC ends his memoir with a modest but profound sociological comment, ¨as someone who arrived in the presidency thanks to no small amount of luck and circumstance, it would be arrogant for me to take all the credit. The Brazilian society which had the courage to elect an inexperienced , former university professor as President also deserves credit. In that sense, perhaps, I was not such an accident after all.¨

Tagore honoured with Uruguayan stamp

The Uruguayan postal department has issued a stamp to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. The stamp was released today by Vice President Danilo Astori along with Indian Ambassador R. Viswanathan in the presence of Foreign Minister Luis Almagro at a ceremony in the Foreign Ministry at Montevideo. Uruguay is the first country in Latin America to do so.

From right to left: Ambassador Viswanathan, VP Danilo Astori, FM Almagro, Directors of postal department.

Mr Danilo Astori, the Vice President of Uruguay is visiting India from 21 to 27 February. This is the most important bilateral visit in the last twelve years. He is accompanied by a 50-member delegation which includes 26 businessmen and 24 officials as well as by the Minister of Industries Mr Roberto Kreimerman.

Mr Astori will meet the Vice President of India and the Speaker of Lok Sabha and will have another meeting with Mr Anand Sharma Minister of Commerce and Industry. He will address the business seminars being organised by FICCI on 24 February and another one by CII on 25 February.

An Agreement for the avoidance of Double Taxation and another one for cooperation in New and Renewable Energy will be signed during the visit.

Mr Astori will inagurate the TCS building in Siruseri near Chennai on 23 February. This 250 million dollar building complex which will have 30000 staff working in it, has been designed by the famous Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott.

Mr Astori will have meetings with Indian business groups such as Tata, Essar, Birla as well as with EximBank of India in Mumbai on 21-22 February.

India´s exports to Uruguay in 2010 were 69 million dollars and imports 14 million. There is enormous potential for increasing the trade.

TCS has a Global Delivery Centre in Montevideo which employs 900 Uruguayan staff. This was the first centre of TCS in Latin America established in 2002. Another Indian IT company Geodesic has a software development centre with 40 Uruguayan programmers. More Indian companies have shown interest in investment in Uruguay in sectors such as agribusiness, mining and pharmaceuticals.

The Ministry of Commerce of India is considering a proposal to set up a bonded warehousing facility in Montevideo from where Indian goods such as handicrafts, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and engineering items could be distributed to other countries of South America.

Brazil on the rise – book by Larry Rohter

Brazil on the rise- the story of a country transformed is a book which fills the need and curiosity of the world which has started taking note of the emergence of Brazil in the world stage. It is now Brazil’s turn to attract book writing after the boom in the business of books on the rise of China and India. While being smaller than these two giants, Brazil has its own distinct and enviable advantages in comparison to them. These include manageable population, large size beyond the need of its population, abundant water and natural and mineral resources, large fertile area, energy and food security and surplus for exports, absence of religious fundamentalism, terrorism and internal conflicts based on ethnicity, religion and other divisions in the society and absence of conflicts with neighbours and hostile and unstable neighbourhood.

Larry Rohter, the author of the book has an insider´s view of Brazil since he had lived in Brazil for fourteen years as the Newsweek corespondent in Rio de janeiro and later as bureau chief of New York Times .

He has explained the transformation of Brazil in the last four decades since 1972 and has commented that Brazil has experienced deeper and more profound changes in this period than it did in the previous centuries. But I would say that the paradigm shift took place only after the Real Plan of 1994 when Inflation was reined in irreversibly, economy was stabilised and democracy instituitionalised.

Rohter starts off by referring to a book ¨Brazil: country of the future¨, written seventy years back by Stefan Zweig, an Austrian writer. It was a global best seller at that time. Zweig had praised Brasil for creating a ¨quite a new kind of civilisation¨ and forecast that the country was ¨destined undoubtedly to play one of the most important parts in the future development of our world¨. Eversince, that slogan has been a cliché and the Brazilians, frustrated by their inability to live upto the expectations, considered it as much as a stigma as a prophecy. There was a counter cliché ¨Brazil is the country of the future and always will be.¨ Rohter has commented “ May be, just may be, the future has finally arrived” . I would go further and say a definite “ Yes. The future has arrived” .

I agree with Rohter’s analysis that Brazil’s rise is partly god’s work. Of course, the god’s blessings of resources were always there. Brazilians became too contented with the country´s good fortune and did not bother to work in any sustained or disciplined fashion to achieve greatness. At times the Brazilians succeeded only to fall thereafter. This boom and bust cycles of the past made them suspect their succeess stories as illusion. The country had suffered political instability and economic crises caused by the adventures and mismanagement by its military dictators and corrupt politicians. Military dictatorship continued till 1985. The first elected President after the restoration of democracy was impeached following a massive corruption scandal. Even as late as 1994 Brazil had an inflation of an astonishing 2076 percent. The country had gone through eight different currencies from 1940 to 1994. Brazil has now broken free from its past curses and conquered its demons. Democracy has taken strong roots, the economy is stable and there is a general consensus about the future direction of the country shared by political leaders, businessmen and other stake holders in the society.

Brazilians have clearly awakened from their comfortable slumber and has left the cradle behind as they stride with vigor toward full maturity. They have now come around to believing in the long term and success which comes with discipline. The vast majority of Brazilians have already reaped some of the benefits of the fruits of the discipline and sacrifice they made beginning in the 1990s and they realize that more benefits will be coming into reach in the future if they continue to stay the course.This is the beginning of the New Brazil.

Rohter has given a historical background to the political, economic and social issues of Brazil. He has given details of the boom and bust of Brazilian economy which surfed the waves of brazilwood, sugar, gold, coffee and rubber and crashed after brief prosperity and promise. But now Brazil has become one of the most balanced and diversified economies in the world. It has dramtically reduced its dependence on any single commodity and even on exports which constitute only 10 percent of the GDP. Its growth is driven mainly by domestic demand. Brazil has created world class companies which have become global leaders in the production of regional jets, beer, steel, iron ore,chicken and meat.

Rohter has quoted Colin Powell who described Brazil during his visit in 2004 as an “agricultural super power.” Brazil has diversified and modernised its agriculture increasing yields and introducing new varieties of seeds thanks to the cutting edge research work done by Embrapa the government agroresearch agency. This agricultural strength gives Brazil a clear competitive edge over heavily industrialised countries such as Japan and Germany and vis-a vis the other emerging powers India and China who face challenges of feeding their billion plus populations. Brazil’s resource base is strong and its trading partners diversified. Brazil has more options about which industries to develop, which crops to plant,which minerals and metals to mine and what energy sources to exploit than all but a handful of nations.

Embraer and Embrapa are examples of Brazil’s strategy to climb up the economic and technological ladder in niche areas in this globallised and competitive world.

Brazil has been successful in bringing millions of people out of poverty through innovative schemes like Bolsa familia. Its labour force is young and productive.
Brazil ranks second in the world in terms of spending on eduction as a percentage of GDP. The economy has become more stable,diversified and resilient than at anytime in the country’s history. Much of the hard work of adapting Brazil to a globalised economy has already been done and the political cost already paid.

Brazil is singularly more blessed and have more options than any country in the energy sector. It has discovered huge oil reserves of an estimated 80 billion barrels, besides gas and is becoming an important oil exporter. Petrobras has become the third largest publicly traded company in the western hemisphere and is a global leader in deep sea drilling. Brazil has the second largest deposits of oil shale which are yet to be exploited. Brazil generates 80 percent of power from hydroelectric sources. With its huge rivers, Brazil still has potential to produce more from this sustainable source which makes Brazil with more hydropower capacity than any other country. On top of that, the country has unlimited solar and wind power which is being developed now. It also has significant deposits of uranium for nuclear power. Brazil is a pioneer and global leader in fuel ethanol one of the cheapest and most promising source of renewable energy.

Of course, the Brazilians will continue with their mischievous spirits without which they will not be Brazilians.
- the sexual permissiveness and freeplay despite being the largest catholic country in the world
---beach is not just sand and water but a social laboratory reflecting their tropical body oriented culture.
- carnival, the Festival of Flesh and anything can happen if you come, see, let it happen,kiss…
- the Jeitinho culture according to which Brazilians ¨find a way around¨problems and barriers. Brazilians believe that everything is going to be all right in the end, and if everything is not yet all right, it is only because we have not reached the end¨.

Brazil’s challenges include corruption, bureaucracy, drug trafficking, urban crime and poverty specially among the blacks. The corruption is not just the privilege of politicians. While the Brazilian soccer players are known for their flair and supremacy on the field, there is stinking corruption and rot in the football business run by the clubs and federations of the country. There is uninstituitionalised, unspoken and subtle racial discrimination against the blacks despite the appearance of a rainbow nation. This is not just Rohter’s view but has been acknowledged by the former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso himslef.There is this popular men’s preference for a white woman to marry, a black to cook and a mulatta to screw. In Brazil there is no sharp divide between black and white but it is rather a continuum in which it is difficult to establish where white ends and black begins. The system of political representation has made it difficult for the presidents to get laws and reforms through the legislatures and the consequent practice of horse-trading. Getting any legislation passed requires constant negotiations to achieve the necessary majority, with shifting unstable alliances whose composition changes from one bill to the next.Brazil´s unsual system of proportional representation is flawed and allows defection of candidates from parties. In one notorius case, a congressional deputy changed parties eight times during a single legislative term including three brief returns to the same party.

Rohter places his bet on Aecio Neves, a senator from Minas Gerais state and member of PSDB party, as having a bright future to become President of the country. Aecio was earlier governor of the state and was also President of the chamber of deputies. He is the grandson of former President Tancredo Neves.

Rohter has praised the Brazilian diplomats for their skills and competence. But as an American, Rohter has exihibited predictable prejudices about Brazil´s foreign policy. He is critical of the independent foreign policies - which mean not following the American line- of Brazil. He calls the Brazilian sensitivity on the Amazon forest issue as paranoia. He has termed Brazil´s alignment with India and Japan for permanent membership of UN Security Council, as a mistake.

Rohter says, ¨I write with a deep and abiding affection and sense of admiration for Brazil and its people. Their society is one of the most richly humanized I have ever experienced, both in terms of its many flaws and equally plentiful virtues.¨ I agree with him. The Brazilians make you love them for their flaws as much as for their virtues.

Ricky Martin´s La Vida Loca (crazy life) - transformed by Yoga and Meditation

Ricky Martin released his autobiography in November 2010 with the title ¨Yo ¨in Spanish and ¨Me¨in English. I have read the Spanish version.

I expected the ¨Livin la Vida Loca¨ singer to start his book saying how his life became ¨Loca¨ which in Spanish means crazy. Surprise… He starts with a quotation of Mahatma Gandhi. The superstar who got his fans crazy with his vida loca song talks about how yoga and meditation have helped him to stay apart from his crazy career and look within himself and to stay calm in crazy moments. The Latino singer who rocked the world discloses that India taught him to listen to his own silence. He says his Loca life got completely transformed after his visit to India which helped him to discover the three keys to life: serenity, simplicity and spirituality.

Ricky Martin begins the book with the following quotation from Gandhi:
¨Help me to say the truth while facing the strong and not say lies to gain the applause of the week. If you give me fortune, don’t take away my reason. If you give me success, don’t take away my humility. If you give me humility, do not take away my dignity…… Do not let me fall in vanity if I succeed or in desperation if I fail. …If you take away victory, give me the strength to learn from the failure¨.

The first subtitle of the book is ¨The words of Gandhi touched my heart¨. He begins by saying that all of us reach a point in our life looking back at how we have lived. He says he has reached this point and is ready to stand before others as he is with his heart open and with no more fears. He says he has gained the strength to live a life of love, peace and truth as advised by the master, Gandhi.

He was passionate about singing even as a child, holding a spoon in the hand pretending it to be a microfone. He said to himself that he would become an artiste. He was selected for TV advertisements at the age of nine and got inducted into the Latin American boy band ¨Menudo ¨ at the age of twelve. His life got dizzy as a star with fans and fame. After some years with them, he broke up and started on his own as a singer and actor. He got opportunities to sing and act in soap operas in Mexico where her fell in love with a woman and thereafter another one. He came back to USA and acted in Broadway including in Les Miserables. He returned to singing and got a big break after the ¨Livin la vida loca¨ which made him famous around the world. This was his pinnacle of fame, fortune and fulfillment.

Despite his achievement of all that he wanted, Ricky was troubled in his heart. He had not been able to come to terms with his homosexualiy. He was afraid that if he had admitted it might jeopardise his musical carreer since he was considered as a sex symbol and Latin lover. So he tried to hide, deny and lie. But he could not sustain this double life. Finally he decided in 2010 to announce the truth to the world. He is now at peace with himself.

He attributes his courage to face and admit the truth after what India and Gandhi taught him. He travelled to India and went to an Ashram in Puri which was run by Yogeshwarananda Giri. He studied Kriya yoga for four days and this had completely changed his life. The yoga helped him not only to discover his own inner self but also connected him to the universal energy. After his return to New York, he continued the practise of yoga and meditation and this became his sacred moment every day and helped him to stay calm in the middle of crazy moments. He says that India has taught him that the real fortune is not outside but is within oneself. He does not need to hide himself any longer with the things which caused him pain in the past. He is now able to face the world without any fear.

What is his position about homosexuality now? He says love has no sex and soul has no sex either. He was able to love a woman even when he was in love with a man. But his basic animal instinct in his moments of fantasies is to be with a man. He has accepted his homsexuality as life´s gift and says ¨I am feeling proud of who I am ¨.

Deepak Chopra’s commentary on the cover of the book says, ¨Ricky Martin´s story is the history of a tortured soul which has returned to innocence and authenticity. It is in a way a reflection of the history of humanity itself; caught between the profound and the profane, forbidden luxury and unconditional love¨

Mario Vargas Llosa - the Peruvian writer in the Language of Passion

Great novels never actually seem to tell us anything; rather, they make us live it and share in it by virtue of their persuasive powers. This is what Mario Vargas Llosa advises to aspiring writers in his book ¨Letters to a young novelist¨. He has lived upto his advice in his novels. The proof is me. His novels, among other factors, have persuaded me to become ¨Passionate about Latin America¨. I have read most of his novels, essays and his autobiography. I have lived the lives of his characters and loved the virtual world created in his books. They have made a profound impact on me alongwith the works of other Latin American writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Amado, Carlos Fuentes, Octavio Paz, Julia Alvarez, Alvaro Mutis and Isabel Allende. These authors have put their spell of magical realism on me and I am happy to continue as a willing victim of the charms of Latin America.

I had been telling friends that Llosa is my favourite Latin American author and advising them to read his novels. I had gifted his books to some friends including one to Jayakandan my favourite Tamil writer. I had used the stories of Llosa in my speeches to describe the fascinating Latin American culture and society. The latest use was in my speech at Noida on 30 August and in my speech ( http://www.youtube.com/IndembassyAR#p/u/8/aFZVu-J5hQo) on 17 August at the University Women´s Club in Buenos Aires. When I was in Delhi as Head of Latin America division in the Ministry of External Affairs, I had arranged an invitation for Llosa to visit India as the guest of Indian Council for Cultural Relations in 2006. He had accepted the invitation but could not give date since he was busy for the next several months.
Here are some of the blogs I had written on the novels of Llosa in my Latinamericanaffairs blog.
Captain Pantoja and the special service
http://latinamericanaffairs.blogspot.com/2009/11/captain-pantoja-and-special-service.html#links
Bad girl – novel by Mario Vargas Llosa
http://latinamericanaffairs.blogspot.com/2009/01/bad-girl-novel-by-mario-vargas-llosa.html#links
Conversation in the Cathedral
http://latinamericanaffairs.blogspot.com/2006/06/conversation-in-cathedral.html#links

"The way to Paradise" http://latinamericanaffairs.blogspot.com/2006/04/books-of-laura-restrepo-and-mario.html#links

In my January 2009 blog on ¨The Bad girl ¨, I wrote ¨It is a pity that Llosa has not yet been considered for Nobel prize¨. He was said to be not sufficiently leftist or liberal to qualify for the Nobel prize. Politically, Llosa is centre right and I differ with him on many Latin American political issues. His son Alvaro Vargas Llosa is even more right. He cowrote a book ¨Guide for a perfect Latin American idiot ¨ a satirical work on the Latin American left.

It is said that Borges of Argentina ( another great writer of Latin America and one of the best in the world ) has not got the Nobel prize because of his closeness to the rightist military dictatorship. But Poor Borges was driven to the right by the intolerant leftist Peronist authoritarinism.

My favourite novel of Llosa is ¨Aunt Julia and the script writer¨. In this novel, an adolescent boy falls in love with his middle-aged aunt. She tries to dissuade him saying that his infatuation would disappear later when he discovered young girls. But he persists with his declaration of true love and even proposes marriage. She again discourages him saying that such a marriage would not last given the prejudice against their age combination. When he insists, she asks him, ¨suppose we get married.. how long do you think that we would live happily?¨. The adoloscent boy replies without giving it any thought, ¨two years¨. She jumps up in excitement, ¨two years… 720 days.. great .. it is worthwhile to marry for two years of happiness¨ They get married and live together for over two years. Later I found out that this was the real life story of Llosa himself.

¨The storyteller¨ is another amazing novel which impacted me profundly. The story is about a university student who goes to the Amazon jungle and becomes head of a tribe and takes up the tradition of telling stories.

Llosa´s novels bring out the essence of Latin American way of life, love, sex, relationship and marriage realistically and magically. I say magically because he makes us love the Latino excesses and vices. Of course some of his themes are shocking to the conservative Indians. For example in the Diary of Don Rigoberto the husband lets his wife go on a trip with her boy friend and then discusses the trip with her. In the Bad Girl, the heroine lets herself go with all kinds of adventures crossing many boundaries. At the end, I found her adorable and could not contain my tears when she died….

Most of his novels are about his native country describing the life and society of Peruvians. A few of his novels have covered other countries. In ¨The war of the end of the world¨ the story takes place in Brazil. Llosa says that this was the best among all his novels, the most ambitious project he had ever undertaken and the book on which he worked the longest and with the most difficulty. He was inspired to write this after reading the book¨Os Sertaoes¨by the Brazilian writer Euclides da Cunha. Another of his novels ¨Feast of the goats¨ is about the Trujillo dictatorship in Dominican Republic.

Llosa is not just a writer. He is a writer´s writer. In his book ¨letters to a young novelist¨ he gives advice to aspiring writers how to write novels. A writer, in his view, is a being seized by an insatiable appetite for creation, a rebel and a dreamer. Questioning of real life is the secret raison détre of literature, according to Llosa. He gives a Latino definition of writing novels saying that it is the equivalent of reverse striptease.
In another book, A writer´s reality he explains what provoked or motivated him to write some of his novels. He describes in detail the process of his writing the novels and the influences and inspiration behind them.

In his autobiography A fish in the water written in 1993 he has given a glimpse of his evolution as a writer and an insight to the Peruvian society and politics.

Here I am with my collection of books of Mario Vargas Llosa....

Recently someone gave me a birthday gift. It was Llosa´s book ¨The language of passion ¨ .
Could there be any better gift for someone ¨Passionate about Latin America¨?

Indian TV film shooting in Rio de Janeiro

An Indian TV production company is shooting Khatron ke Khiladi season 3 ( fear factor) in Rio from 17 August to 7 September. The hostess of this show is Priyanka Chopra.
Copacabana seems to have captured the imagination of Bollywood. Earlier in 2006 the Bollywood film Dhoom II was shot in Rio.
According to this Times of India report, Priyanka loves to break rules...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6274587.cms?frm=mailtofriend
ha..ha.. she has so much to learn from the Brasilians who have made an art out of breaking rules called as Jeitinho...
And of course, she will be floored by the jeitinho and jokes of Lakhi, my friend from Sao Paulo. His restaurant Tandoor is going to do the catering for the Indian crew in Rio. Lakhi..the Lucky Guy is to going to camp in Rio during the shooting !
His contact lakhi daswani
lakhidaswani@hotmail.com
I am sure Lakhi´s Latino jokes will inspire the crew to come again and send more Bollywood producers to Latin America.

Argentine Musician, Gustavo Santaolalla to compose music for Bollywood film

Argentine musician, Gustavo Santaolalla is going to direct music for the new Indian film ¨Dhobi Ghat¨. Aamir Khan has contracted Gustavo for the film being directed by his wife Kiran Rao. Gustavo was in Mumbai for this recently.

The Golden Globe Award winner Gustavo is well known for scoring music for the films Brokeback Mountain, Babel and The Motorcycle Diaries. He had won Academy Awards in 2005 and 2006 for ‘Best Original Score’ in Brokeback Mountain and Babel respectively. His music also earned him the Grammy and BAFTA awards.

In the film Dhobi Ghat, Gustavo has tried to give the Indian feel by using instruments like sarangi, veena and the Carnatic flute. After watching the film, he said, “This movie is a reflection of the identity of Mumbai. I liked the way the characters are presented by Kiran in the film, I liked the story.”

Santaolalla was born in El Palomar in Argentina. His professional music career began in 1967, when he co-founded the group Arco Iris, an Argentine band that pioneered the fusion of rock and Latin American folk. Later, he assembled Soluna, in which he played alongside teenage pianist and singer Alejandro Lerner and his then-girlfriend Monica Campins. As a solo artist, he has recorded three albums. His first self-titled album, Santaolalla (1981), broke new ground by incorporating the "eighties" sound into rock in Argentina for the first time.

Santaolalla is based in California since 1978.

Magic has dropped from the Magical Realism of South America

The South Americans were living in the world of magical realism for the last one year, dreaming and preparing for the world cup. In the last one month, they were talking and breathing football. They postponed meetings and projects to dates after the world cup. When all the four countries of Mercosur reached quarterfinals, there was euphoria. It was a Mercosur moment... of football power and pride. It was expected that 11 July would be a Intra-Mercosur affair.

The South Americans shopped on thursday and stocked their fridge with beer and barbecue meat. They took off from work on friday and prepared for a long weekend of football fiesta with friends and family.

On Friday morning, the Brasilians started in form with 1-0 over Holland. But after the Dutch equalised and made one more goal, the overconfident Brasilian players, who underestimated the Dutch, became nervous and lost out. The Brasilians who were watching in the big screen TV in the Copacabana beach were stunned and shocked.

This morning , the Argentines were humiliated by the Germans with a 4-0 . The Germans outsmarted and overpowered the Argentines who were running around like headless chicken. It seemed to be an unequal battle. The Argentine infantry against the supersonic Luftwaffe bombers. The Germans bombed at will and destroyed the impotent Argentine infantry.

In the afternoon, the Paraguayans fought a valiant battle against the odds and had a honourable and expected defeat. Now the Uruguyans, who won yesterday against Ghana with luck and the Hand of Suarez, are the only ones left to hold the flag in the semifinals. But their chance against Holland is not very bright. It appears that South America is out and Germany is unstoppable to win the 2010 cup.

The days of magical realism are over in South America. Today it is the day of realism without the magic. It is the realism of disbelief and disillusion... grief and gloom....anguish and agony... dejection and despair.

The Argentines have suffered the worst. They are perplexed and depressed. Even the normally talkative Maradona was lost for words and did not even attempt to give any explanation or excuse. The masses who watched in the big screens in public squares left in silence and sadness.

For Maradona, who was shouting all these days ¨ Vamos Argentina ¨ ( Argentina..Ahead ) the only option now is to sing ¨Dont cry for me Argentina ¨ as Madonna did in the movie Evita.

What is incredible is that the Argentine team had more star players than the Germans. The Argentine players are the pride of the European teams and their star performers. How could the star team let themselves be decimated so pathetically and inexplicably.

The other realism sans magic is the zero goal of Messi in the entire world cup.The best player of the world, the top scorer in Europe and the one who commanded the highest price did not get a single goal. The Argentines are at a complete loss to explain or understand this mysterious fate.

The Argentines have realised their mistaken belief in Messi as the Messiah. For those who worshipped in the Church of Maradona, today is the day of crucification.

The Argentine football stars failed to shine today. It is a dark sky over Argentina tonight. The Argentines are not going to dance Tango tonight. Instead, they will sing the sad Tango song of Carlos Gardel,

sola y triste en esta noche,
noche negra y sin estrellas.

Alone and sad this night
Dark night without stars.

Maradona… oh… Maradona

¨Maradona…oh…Maradona… with the fire in your belly and strength in your nerves .. you will come back to succeed¨. This was the Bengali song of Mokam band with which Maradona was welcomed in Kolkata in December 2008. The god-denying ideologues and men of dialectical materialism of Kolkatta made exception and worshipped and treated him as a god. Overwhelmed by the ovation, Maradona said, ¨ I thought there were no more surprises left in my life but my visit to Kolkata has changed that".

Maradona is, of course, god to some diehard Argentine fans who have set up a Church of Maradona, with its own Ten Commandments and tens of thousands of international followers. He is worshipped as D10S, which combines his shirt number ten and Dios, which means God in Spanish. The autobiography of Maradona is the Bible. Those who helped him are apostles and his adversaries are heretics. Having gone through glorification, crucification and resurrection, Maradona´s story fits the legendary requirements for a new religion!

The Argentine team is packed with more stars than any other team. But it is a Maradona team. He is not just yet another coach. El Diego is the man in the spotlight. His leaps of joy and slumps of sadness like a Tango dancer outside the touch-line is as much watched as the game of the players.

While Maradona has the feet of magic and the ¨Hand of God¨, his mouth is known for verbal shots and colourful vocabulary. He said,¨ Only Dalma and Gianina are my legitimate children. The others are children born out of money or mistake¨. About the strikers who get the ball near the goal area but fail to put it in, he says it is like dancing with a sister.

His autobiography (published in 2004) is like a canvass of his emotion and passion. The book is like the history of Argentina itself. Both the man and the country had seen memorable days of glory and forgettable times of infamy. Boom and bust… ups and downs..

His story of rise from poverty to fame is like that of Evita, the goddess of Argentine masses. At the age of ten, he was spotted by a talent scout who got him into the junior team of Argentinos Juniors. As a twelve year old ball boy, he amused spectators by showing his wizardry with the ball during the halftime intermissions of first division games. From there he rose to become one of the greatest footballers.

Maradona´s moment of glory was the 1986 world cup and his Goal of the Century. From that peak, he plunged into ignominious bottom with drugs and scandals. He was banned from playing for fifteen months. He came back and joined the world cup team in 1994 and scored a great goal against Greece. But thereafter he was sent back in disgrace after failing the dope test. Then he got into serious problems of drug addiction, became massively overweight and suffered serious health problems. After near death scare, he was admitted to a rehabilitation centre in Cuba where he recovered. He came back and reinvented himself as a TV host and in 2008 became the coach of the Argentine team.

Will this man of miraculous resurrection inspire their team to overcome the supersonic Luftwaffe of the Germans on saturday and to win the world cup on 11 July? Asking such a question is heresy in the Church of Maradona.

Two wishes..only two wishes.. for the world cup

My first wish has come true...
All the four countries of Mercosur (Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay ) are now in the quarter finals. This is the first time ever, all the four have reached quarter finals together.

Mercosur is Mercado Comun de Sur which means Southern Common Market. It appears that the World cup is looking to the Sur, as a famous Tango song says,
El Corazon mirando al Sur ….. means …the heart is looking south.

All these days, I had been cheering and shouting,
¨Vamos Brasil, vamos Argentina, Vamos Uruguay and Vamos Paraguay¨
Now I say …
Parabens…Felicitaciones… Felicitaciones… Felicitaciones.
These mean congrats in Portuguese and Spanish.

Mercosur has now become a formidable football powerhouse….
Brazil has won the world cup five times..Argentina and Uruguay have won twice each.. Paraguay has reached Quarter finals for the first time.

My next wish.. … it should be a Mercosur final on 11 july…

I have only two wishes….only two...

Football fidelity: An Indian diplomat’s dilemma

This article has been distributed by IANS newsservice and published in Indian media today.

Here it is

Football fidelity: An Indian diplomat’s dilemma (Special)
By R. Viswanathan, IANS
June 9th, 2010
I applauded and cheered when Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, the three countries of my accreditation as India’s ambassador, qualified for the World Cup in South Africa. But this diplomatic honour has now come under challenge from the football rivalry of the three countries.
The Argentines say that since I am resident in Buenos Aires I have no option but to cheer for the blue and white stripes. The Uruguayans tell me not to forget their country which won the first World Cup in 1930 beating Argentina. They went on to win a second cup in Rio de Janeiro in 1950, defeating the Brazilian team and shocking the 52 million noisy Brazilians into silence.
The Paraguayans say as an Indian diplomat I should show more solidarity with the underdog and should not be on the side of superpowers. Paraguay had beaten Brazil 2-0 and Argentina 1-0 in this World Cup qualifiers. While I face these three corner shots, there comes another one. ¨Don’t be a traitor,¨ shout my amigos from Brazil where I had spent four memorable years.

In this supercharged atmosphere of no-holds barred rivalry, I found the only way to survive is to practise the old-world diplomacy. In the olden days, much before people got into Twitter troubles, there was a saying, “a diplomat is someone who thinks twice before saying nothing”.
In the first few months of my arrival in Buenos Aires, the most important question I faced was not on the nuclear or climate change issue but, “Are you going to be a Boca or River?” The rivalry between Boca Juniors and Riverplate teams is one of the most intense in the world. Even marriages and friendships are built or broken on the issue of loyalty to the team which passes from generation to generation.

The match between the two teams in the Boca stadium La Bombonera is an unforgettable Argentine experience. I kept my neutrality until I fell into the trap of Francisco, the vice president of the Indo-Argentine chamber of commerce and a Boca fan. He offered to take me to La Bombonera and arranged the best seat. But when I was about to sit, he said very loudly, “This seat is only for the Boca fans who are ready to live and die for the team. Are you ready to take the oath of loyalty to Boca and be a fan through victories and defeats?” With hundreds of excited and fierce fans staring at me, I had no choice but to say “I do”. Then the ritual started.
I was made to jump up and down with Boca songs. I was indoctrinated with stories of the illegitimate ancestry of Riverplate players and the most appropriate words to describe them. They put a Boca shirt on me and said, “You can change wives but not this shirt!” In South America, marital infidelity is forgiven but not football disloyalty. So I am now stuck with the Boca shirt. My friends from River have vowed never to forgive me and are planning to petition the government of India to send a River fan as the next ambassador.

World Cup time in South America is low season for work and business. My Argentine colleagues in the embassy are converting the office into a sports bar stocking it with the essential liquid and solid necessities to last for a month. Conveniently for them, the game timings will be 8.30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. Argentine time. The game watching will be preceded by an hour of preparations and followed by two hours of analysis, celebration or singing of sad Tangos. The Argentines advise the Indian staff “In Argentina , do as the Argentines do.”

This is the time of “sonrisa de esperanza y sollozo de pasion” (smile of hope and cry of passion), as the Tango of Carlos Gardel says. It is an exciting and unique experience to be in this part of the world during the world cup. There is just no escape from the media frenzy and public fever with non-stop debates and analysis. The 40 million Argentines become judges, prosecutors, critics and umpires at the same time. The current topic of debate is on the freedom given to the Argentine team members to have sex during the World Cup, the only one among the 32 teams which has got this unique privilege.

One cannot talk about football without a reference to Maradona, who scored with the “Hand of God” and is now the irrepressible coach. Sociologists say the best way to understand Argentina is through an understanding of Maradona, who has gone through ups and downs like the country itself. When asked by the media, “what will you do if Argentina wins the World Cup?”, he said, “I will run naked around the Obelisk monument”.

It is not only the footballers who use provocative vocabulary. Even Argentine diplomacy sometimes adds colour to the drab world of the excellencies. In 1990, Guido di Tella, the Argentine foreign minister, said Argentina had “carnal relations” with the US…and the American diplomats did not know what to make of it!

(R. Viswanathan is Indian ambassador in Buenos Aires. The views expressed in this article, special to IANS, are personal. He can be contacted at ambassador@indembarg.org.ar)

Kerala soccer fan paints Argentine colours on his auto rickshaw

Amigos Argentinos.... A fan from the backwaters of Kerala is cheering for Argentina in his humble but colourful way by painting his autorickshaw in Argentine colours.
Buena Suerte...

Here is the news published in India:
MALAPPURAM - A soccer fan from Kerala has painted his three-wheeled auto rickshaw in the blue and white stripes of the Argentina flag and offers free ride to those, who support the Latin American team. Parakan Nazeer supports Argentina because he believes its soccer stars are among the favourites to lift this year’s world cup that kicks off in South Africa next week. Nazeer, an auto rickshaw driver by profession, drives around in his colourful auto trying to garner support for his favourite team in the coconut-laden backwaters of Kerala. “Right now, I am quite anxious, there are many teams with a chance, who will be the lucky one, we don’t know. Argentina has a chance and I am supporting Argentina,” said Nazeer. He has spent around 5,000 rupees to convert the auto into the Argentinian flag colours. Nazeer travels to the nearby villages in a bid to increase the number of supporters and also explains about each players, their style and strong point of defense. “The Brazilian supporters have been telling me to convert my auto into the yellow colours of Brazil, but I am an Argentine supporter and sticking with my team,” Nazeer added. He plans to continue driving his vehicle in its current avatar until the world cup ends and Argentina lifts the trophy. Nazeer has also placed some heavy bets on Argentina and hopes that his team will repay his faith in them with a victory.

Kerala, one of the three three states in India where football is more popular, is preparing for the world cup with posters, debates and bettings. Below are two posters in a village, saying in Malayalam ¨Varunnu Argentina¨which means ¨vamos Argentina¨.