Kargil Vijay Diwas 2018

 Kargil Vijay Diwas programme.

Kargil Vijay Diwas Celebrations in 2018

 Today, 26th July, is celebrated as the Kargil Vijay Diwas, marking the victory of Indian army in Kargil in the Kashmir and Dras region in  1999, through out the country. Among the 527 soldiers that laid their lives during this war was Major Padmapani Acharya, a Maha Vir Chakra recepient. He received the second highest military honour for his bravery in Lone Hill and the capture of Teoling peak in Kargil region. A son of a Wing Commander an airforce officer he  was thirty years of age at that time. Though from Odhisa he was  settled in Hyderabad. Today, a community Hall is constructed in his memory  and a street is named after him. When Major Acharya died his wife was six months pregnant and his daughter was born three months after his martyrdom. His daughter is now a nineteen years old girl studying law at Symbiosis University in Hyderabad. I was invited to speak about the Kargil war in this function. I spoke of the memories of partition and the four  wars that we have had with Pakistan in 1948,1965,1971 and in 1999  besides the various other skirmishes. Finally in a war both sides loose due to the loss of resources and man power. As a teacher of History now for four decades I have been also  talking  about wars both with in the country and outside it for years together in a class room  and we analyse it and speak of causes and results. Today, I saw the war at such close quarters when the war widows were felicitated. There were mothers who had lost a son, parents who had lost a child, wives who had lost their husband's and sisters who had lost a brother. A very solemn reminder that there are families that bear the brunt of this war and suffer the loss of loved ones. There were many Muslim women also who were war widows and were felicitated a  grim reminder that divisions are a creation of a minority of  people who do not think in terms of the country but caste, community, region and religion.  A very touching and poignant moment where we remember the sacrifices made by the soldiers to protect the nation in the rough terrain and high altitude Himalayan region. Thanks Kiran Uniyal for making me a part of this and getting to know so many brave women.  Indeed this was a very different and unique experience.

Morning in Aijawal

 Early morning mist in the mountains at Aijawl. So refreshing and beautiful.

In Aijawl at Mizoram University

 On 8th July, 2018, found myself at Aijawl at Mizoram University. It is always a pleasure to connect to your old students. Hmingthanzuali  is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and she received me.  I am here for a Gender Sensitisation program from MHRD. The 38 kilometres  drive from the airport to the University is beautiful with lush green forests on both sides and a lovely green cover as far as the eyes can see. The rainy season starts here from March and goes on till September.The locals get fed up no doubt with this lengthy rainy season and there is a lot of rain even now. To me this is indeed a very soothing environment and a pleasure to be here, especially since we have not had much rains in Hyderabad this season.

Oak Wood residency

 It was a wonderful evening,on 6th July, 2018, at Oakwood Residency, for their third Annual celebration with  Cocktail and Dinner. The weather was also beautiful with the onset of monsoons and a heavy cyclone alert warning in Coastal districts. As soon as we started to leave it started pouring and it was fun to drive on roads that were filled with water no doubt but relatively empty. The Oakwood Residency was all decked up and looked beautiful. It is always fun to interact with people outside your profession and met many from the glamour world of fashion and design. Could catch up with RaunaqYarKhan and Ruchika Sharma. Also met many food bloggers, It professions, Chartered Accountants, Risk management consultants and people from diverse backgrounds. A beautiful evening with music and lovely variety of different cuisines from different parts of the world. Thanks Sakul  and Subham  for having us there.

Lecture at Symbiosis Law School in Hyderabad

 On 5th July, 2018, delivered two lectures at Symbiosis Law School in Hyderabad, in their Gender Sensitisation and Research Methodology Workshop, as an induction programme for the newly admitted students  in this school. This University is located in Mamadipalle Mandal about an hours drive from the airport. This was my first visit to this campus and really enjoyed interacting with the bright minds who have just now passed intermediate class and now plan a career in law. There were about 150 to 200(though not sure about the exact number) of students admitted to this batch for a five year programme. The team of faculty was a very young team including a student of ours Dr-Pooja Rhine. The Director, Dr. Sukhwinder Singh Dari also looked very young and I was left  wondering, if they all look so young, as  I am getting old. I was informed that they had received 14,000,applications for these 150to 200seats and the students are selected through a three tier examination process comprising of online test, an interview and a essay writing. So obviously the whole lot coming from all parts of the country is a bright lot and I enjoyed interacting with them. The school sends them for internship to different parts of India and abroad. The students published a quarterly Newspaper Awaaj and we released the first Volume and first issue of this. I was taken around the forty five acre campus in a golf cart Buggy and found that they had a state of the art infrastructure. I also saw the hostels and each room with an attached toilet. This is a fully residential University. It has a beautiful auditorium with a capacity to hold 1200.There was a Mook court room and all the class rooms are smart class room. Really enjoyed being here. Unlike our days when we were students many young students are now choosing law as a career. However, one question that kept bothering me and found no answer to was, this is just one law College and we have similar ones in Noida, Poona, NALSAR, Bangalore, Jindal school of law and all the kids must really be a bright lot. Will this, a new lot of young, smart and very savvy lawyers, mean changing the working environments in our Court, right from High Court to District Courts or again many of these students will practice Corporate or International Law and go abroad and our Courts will remain where they are.

Birthday 2018

 I want to thank my family, students,friends,well wishers, colleagues who kept me in their  thoughts and wished me for my birthday. It was wonderful to know that so many people found time to wish me through, Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, messenger, Mails etc.Today technology has really brought the world closer and I could connect to students, friends and Colleagues across continents through their wishes. I had many calls through out the day and due to the time difference between the two zones in the US and India, could not take many of these calls. All of you made my day and kept me in a state of bliss and I felt very lucky and happy. A big thank you to every one. As I grow old and add more years to being  a senior citizen, it was wonderful to celebrate my birthday with my children. Only Tarun, my elder twin could not be there but it was wonderful to have my elder son Sankalp and his lovely wife Nidhi and my younger twin Varun with me and Suresh in Maryland and this was a beautiful celebration. My younger son gifted me my own web site and I want to thank him and his friend Ankit Chouhan for working on this. This is a labour of love and I cannot thank them enough. 

                                 http://rekhapande.indiaseed.in/