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shevlin's world
Sunday, July 14, 2024
When a satirist gets his point across with a smile
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Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Many questions, few answers
Photos: Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the book cover;
Prakash Patra; Rasheed Kidwai
‘The Scam That Shook a Nation — The Nagarwala Scandal’ explores how a Delhi branch of the State Bank of India in the 1970s was defrauded of Rs 60 lakh.
By Shevlin Sebastian
At 11.45 am on May 24, 1971, Ved
Prakash Malhotra, the chief cashier of the Parliament Street branch of the
State Bank of India, got a call. The caller said, “Shri Haksar, secretary to
the Prime Minister of India, wants to talk to you.”
“Put him through,” said
Malhotra.
Haksar said, “The Prime Minister
of India wants Rs 60 lakh (today’s value: Rs 170.62 crore) to be sent for
highly secret work. She will send a person and you can hand over the money to
him.”
Malhotra was not sure. Then
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came on the line and confirmed it, stating this
money had to be sent to Bangladesh on an Air Force plane. This time, Malhotra
became convinced that the order had come from the highest office in the
land.
With the help of his colleagues,
Malhotra collected the money and took it to the Free Church, which was very
near the bank. There he met a tall, fair man wearing an olive hat. After
exchanging the correct code, they drove for a while in Malhotra’s government
vehicle towards Palam airport.
At the taxi stand on Panchsheel
Marg, the man got out of the car and enlisted the help of a coolie to load the
box into the trunk of a Fiat taxi. He thanked Malhotra and asked him to go to
the Prime Minister’s office to get the receipt.
When Malhotra went to the Prime
Minister’s official complex on 1 Akbar Road, he was surprised to discover that
Indira Gandhi had gone to Parliament. It was the first day of the second
session of the seventh Lok Sabha. He told the security that he wanted to meet
Haksar. But they told him Haksar was also in Parliament.
So, Malhotra drove to Gate No 5
of Parliament House and asked to see the PM. He was told both the PM and Haksar
were having lunch. Finally, at 1.30 pm, Malhotra met NK Seshan, the PM’s
private secretary, and told him about what happened. Seshan informed the PM. He
called Haksar, who was in South Block who rushed to Parliament. When Malhotra
told Haksar what had happened, the latter exclaimed, “This is an extraordinary
fraud.” Soon, the police launched an investigation.
All this has been detailed in
the book, ‘The Scam that Shook a Nation — The Nagarwala Scandal’ by senior
journalists Prakash Patra and Rasheed Kidwai.
Thanks to the detailed research
by the authors, we can read the confessional statement by Nagarwala.
Here is an extract: ‘The driver
kept watching the road and saw that I was transferring big bundles of currency
notes into my suitcase and bag. I wanted him to see all this and feel uneasy,
which he did. I abandoned the empty trunk and asked him to take me to Connaught
Place. Along the way, the driver was getting nervous and started asking
questions about the money. I offered him Rs 500 in cash and told him not to
mention it to anybody, only so that in case the police came to him, he could
tell. I was sure at the time that this driver would safely lead the police to
the Parsi Dharamshala. And this is exactly what happened.’
The question that arises is: why
did Nagarwala want to get caught?
KP Khanna, the judicial
magistrate first class in charge of the Chanakyapuri area, tried the case.
Within hours, Nagarwala was sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment
with a fine of Rs 2000. Nagarwala landed up in Tihar Jail as a ‘C’ class
prisoner.
Expectedly, there was a
gathering storm as the Opposition felt that Indira Gandhi was involved. One of
their lawyers filed a revision petition. On June 21, Delhi Sessions Judge RN
Aggarwal set aside the conviction.
This book is riveting, to say
the least. There were so many twists and turns.
On November 20, 1971, six months
after discovering the hoax, Devinder Kumar Kashyap, 31, the chief investigator,
died in a road accident near Mathura. The belief was that Kashyap, a 1967-batch
IPS officer, who had just got married, knew too much and had been gotten rid
of. However, the authors’ research has shown that it could have been an
accident.
Following that tragedy, another
twist takes place. On March 2, 1972, Nagarwala died of a heart attack at the GB
Pant Hospital on his 50th birthday. Again, suspicions were raised, although an
autopsy revealed that no poison was present in the body.
Other subjects which are covered
include an in-depth profile of Nagarwala and Malhotra, which traces their lives
before the hoax, the political landscape during that period (1966-71), and
details of the P Jagmohan Reddy Commission which investigated the hoax. Both
Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai also testified.
In the Authors’ note, they said,
‘The commission set up to probe the scam reached its conclusions, but its
assumptions are debatable.’ They also said that while there was an admission of
guilt, the identities of the real culprits remained hazy. The investigation
process, they said, was too speedy to allay doubts.
In short, there were many
questions but few answers.
Both the writers, Prakash Patra
and Rasheed Kidwai, are seasoned journalists with over three decades of
experience. While Patra, a former President of the Press Club of India, does
political reporting, Kidwai covers government, politics, community affairs and
Hindi cinema. Kidwai has also published seven other books, including a
biography of Sonia Gandhi.
(Published in the Sunday Magazine, The Hindustan Times, All Editions)
-----
Book
Details
Title: ‘The
Scam That Shook a Nation – The Nagarwala Scandal’
Authors: Prakash
Patra and Rasheed Kidwai
Publisher:
HarperCollins
Pages: 262
Price: Rs 399
Monday, July 08, 2024
When a roof became an amphitheatre
Photos: Drone view of the Nisarga Art Hub; a
concert taking place; the skylight; Vishnudev KS and Lakshmi V; the cantilever studio; Vinu Daniel and his co-designer Oshin Mariam Varughese
Wednesday, July 03, 2024
Some thoughts about a painting
By Shevlin Sebastian
When my former colleague and friend Jose NV sent me this painting, it made me think. This is the age-old dichotomy for a human being. What should we listen to? The heart or the brain. And now scientists say there is a second brain. And that is the gut.
So, in a crisis or an emergency, you receive inputs from the brain, heart and gut. What do you listen to? All the inputs come to your mind. To that ethereal concept known as the self.
If it is a split-second decision, like playing a point during a tennis match, it is always best to follow your instinct. That means your heart or gut.
In an interview, batting great Sachin Tendulkar said that when he went to the crease, his primary aim was to move the conscious aside and let the unconscious do the batting. There was too little time after the ball left the bowler’s hand to use reason and logic and then respond.
All of us do something similar when we drive a car and have an animated conversation simultaneously. The unconscious drives the car. If the mind does not intervene with its random thoughts, the unconscious can execute the action perfectly.
If it is a decision that you have time to mull over, then the brain does a lot of pros and cons. Most outstanding personalities decide to follow the heart or the gut. These are far more accurate. You get results from this. But is this correct? In her autobiography, ‘My Life’, the former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir said that sometimes her intuition made mistakes too.
Some may ask, why discount the brain? It has the vast powers of the unconscious.
But most of us cannot use these powers. From the time we are born to the age of seven, we have received millions of impressions. These form our mindset. They influence our actions till the day we die.
If the impressions are positive, then there is no problem. Life moves forward smoothly, the conscious and the unconscious gelling perfectly.
But if the experiences in childhood are bad, then you develop a negative mindset. This results in persistent defeats right through life. This happens, despite your conscious mind wanting to achieve things. Can we heal childhood traumas and turn around our lives? It takes years of therapy and being constantly on an inner journey for healing to happen. It is like climbing Mount Everest. Many dream of it but few achieve it.
Ultimately, a decision is a leap into the dark. You might land on your feet or it could be a crash landing with broken bones and dreams.
I trust the heart more than the brain. Somehow, they lead to correct outcomes. The problem with the brain is that the ego is involved. Does the ego live in the brain? What exactly is an ego? And where is its location? It is amorphous. We cannot touch it, but we can feel its presence all the time.
The best way is to use all three. Let the brain decide. Then you should observe how the heart and gut react. If they are fine and there are no tremors or alarms, most probably your decision is right.
One cannot avoid the fact that at every moment you have to make some decision or the other. So, we have to use the full powers at our disposal to make the right choices.
Jose could not identify the painter. Thanks to the work of artists, their works can set us thinking. And we can hope to change for the better.
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Edge-Of-The-Seat Suspense
Sunday, June 16, 2024
‘Spisoh’, a South Indian restaurant in Stavanger, Norway came into the limelight when top Indian chess players became patrons
Captions: (From left) Owner Susheel Hadigal, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Vaishali, Nagalakshmi, and Nitish Kamath; Koneru Humpy (second from right)
When the food reminds one of home
By Shevlin Sebastian
In late
May, there is a top-tier chess championship, which is held in Stavanger,
conducted by Norway Chess. This year, ‘Spisoh’, a South Indian restaurant,
became a sponsor.
“Our
thought process was simple,” said Nitish Kamath, a co-owner. “All the Indian
players who take part are primarily from South India. So we thought we would
become a sponsor and offer our food free for all the players.”
Koneru
Humpy, India’s No 1 and world No 4, was an early customer. “Koneru ordered
earlier in the day. When her match concluded at 9 p.m., she came to the
restaurant and collected it,” said Nitish. “She has been ordering every day.”
Her favourite is Hyderabadi biryani, Kodi Vepudu (Andhra-style chilly chicken)
and tomato rasam.
On May 31,
during the rest day, rising star, grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, came
for dinner. He was accompanied by his sister Vaishali, a grandmaster herself,
and mother Nagalakshmi.
Praggnanandhaa
asked Nitish, “What do you recommend?”
Nitish
said, “Since you are from Tamil Nadu, why don’t you have Kozhi (Chicken) Milagu
curry?”
He said,
“Okay, fine.”
Praggnanandhaa
opted to have it with Kerala parotta.
Vaishali
and Nagalakshmi ordered ghee dosa.
A smiling
Nitish told Nagalakshmi, “Praggnanandhaa always looks very serious.”
Nagalakshmi
replied, “I always tell him to smile, but he is in a different world during a
tournament.”
They
laughed.
Last year,
D. Gukesh, another leading Indian grandmaster, came to the restaurant along
with his father Dr. Rajnikanth, an ENT surgeon. While Gukesh came sporadically
during the two-week tournament, his father came daily. He ordered the same
dish: lamb masala.
Because of
their sponsorship, the co-owners could make the ceremonial first move in most
matches. After it is done, the player brings the pawn back to the first row and
the play starts. American player Hikaru Nakamura, of Japanese origin, told
co-owner Raghu Bala, “You can make any move. I will continue from there.”
So Raghu
played the Sicilian Gambit. Nakamura, as promised, carried on, and ended up
winning the match against Praggnanandhaa. “Raghu got very excited,” said
Nitish.
The story
of Spisoh
The idea of
a restaurant came casually. A few Indians worked in the IT and oil and gas
industry in Stavanger (550 kms from Oslo). They had been living in this city of
1.4 lakh people for over 15 years. Rohini Sasidharan, the wife of one Indian
immigrant, Rathish Kunnath, found it difficult to get a job. So, she suggested
the idea of opening a restaurant with her husband and his friends.
“We were
cautious, as none of us have any experience in the food industry,” said Nitish.
They discovered there were eight Indian restaurants in Stavanger. They were run
by Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. All of them provided similar fare like
butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, paneer and nan. So, the group thought they
should stick to their South Indian roots, as most of them were from Kerala. And
hence they decided to start a South Indian restaurant.
“We wanted
to cultivate a new taste in this region,” said Nitish. The name, Spis-oh,
is a combination of Spiser (Eating in Norsk) and Khaoh (Eating in
Hindi)
In July
2021, during Covid, they rented a small kitchen in a remote area in Stavanger
and began as a takeaway outlet. “The idea was to test out whether this type of
food would have takers,” said Nitish.
At this time,
Raghu met a chef, Aswin Sreekanthan, who had lost his job during Covid. He had
been working in an Italian restaurant in Oslo and previously headed a chain of
hotels in Portugal. Aswin told Raghu he was from Chennai and was keen to remain
in Norway. So, they hired him. Soon, the takeaway became popular.
On March 4,
2023, they started the 30-seater Spisoh, in Løkkeveien, which is the city
centre. There are five major hotels in the area.
Asked about
their clientele, Nitish said, “From Tuesday to Thursday, Norwegians and
Europeans who are travelling to Stavanger for business meetings come to have a
bite.”
From
Thursday to Saturday, it is local Norwegians and Indians. The population of
Indians is around 3500.
The local
Pakistanis, Sri Lankan, and Bangladeshis are also customers. “Many Pakistanis
have only partaken of North Indian food,” said Nitish. “So having South Indian
food is a novelty for them, especially idli and dosa.”
As for
their future plans, Nitish said, “There is a social element behind continuing.
We saved our chef, Aswin, from returning to India and got him a job contract.
Now he has brought his family to Stavanger. Aswin’s son is studying in a
Norwegian school, while his wife works in a hotel. Aswin has bought a car.”
A few
married women, who have come on a dependent visa, work at Spisoh as kitchen
assistants, front-office and cleaning staff. The owners are enabling them to
earn an extra income.
Nitish
said, “It is a bit of a struggle for immigrants in the initial years to settle
down. Spisoh is about food, but it is also about giving opportunities to the
Indian diaspora.”
And
providing food and bonhomie to chess stars, too.
(Published in Sunday Magazine, The New Indian Express, South India and Delhi)