I'll make this fast. Not quite twitter quality. But close enough. I am back to Monsoon Mumbai. The ominous high tide that was wreak havoc is upon us even as I key this .... the city is drowning, but so far I haven't heard anything too awful. At least there was a fair warning this year and people were better prepared. But, last night, as the Air India plane crossed the Indo- Pak border and the air controller in Karachi greeted our captain and co-pilot with a polite 'namastey', my thoughts raced to Qasab. Before we get to him, a word about the experienced and erudite pilot of the flight - Capt. Vijay Fernandes . We were at St. Xavier's College at about the same time and I was delighted to discover he possesses over 4 lakh books, some of them first editions. He was gracious enough to invite us to the cockpit and discuss - what else - books!! It was a rare pleasure, and he is a good, kind man. Anybody who knows so much about trees and life, has to be truly wise!
Back to Qasab and his 'confession'. The timing is significant. Did Hillaryben's sortie have anything to do with his sudden and dramatic change of heart?? Why should we oblige this evil man and hang him?? He deserves a worse fate.
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I came home to Shravan. It is an important month for me. And perfectly timed as it turns out. No meat, no wine and a strict fast on mondays. A great way to detox and deal with the excess of the past few weeks. I'm scheduled to leave for Orissa early next week, but am dreading the trek to the airport once again. The only way to 'enjoy' the rains is to stay home and watch from a dry\safe distance. Let me know if you want more Krakow stories... I have several to share!