Ominous signs

By Lalit K. Jha

Suddenly the 16th Century French doomsday prophet Nostradamus seems to have become popular and his books are selling like hot cakes the world over, particularly after the September 11 terrorist strikes in New York and Washington.

People are trying to interpret his predictions in their own way to suit their interests. One such book bought out by a local publication is now being sold briskly in the Walled City of Delhi.

The book in Urdu interprets Nostradamus's predictions in such a way as to glorify Taliban militia and Osama bin Laden who according to the U.S. is the prime suspect in the September 11 attack.

The French prophet had not only predicted the attack, according to this version, but also anticipated the rise of the Taliban and Osama. This is probably for the first time that any one has interpreted Nostradamus as predicting a civil war in Afghanistan and also the public hanging of the country's former President Najibullah.

While interpreting the verse ``Garden of the world near the New City, in the road of the hollow mountains. It will be seized and plunged in the tank, forced to drink water poisoned with sulphur,'' the author says that this refers to Kashmir valley and the tank referred to is the famous Dal Lake. Ominous signs, surely.

* * *

Joy or creation

By K. Kannan

``Rebuilding the world through joking'' is the motto of Systeme Castafiore, a French group based in the South-Eastern part of Grasse which was here in New Delhi with its ``Generator NR-Van'' this past week. The performance was part of Kaleidoscope, a nine- day cultural event organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

Comprising 12 members including dancers, musicians and technicians, Systeme Castafiore has traveled the stages of the entire world with its creation full of poetry and imagery. Bizarre universes with strange creatures gesticulating, fireflies twinkling through the dark, fluroscent mites, gentle monsters frolicking about to collage sound tracks of songs, films, operas -- theirs is indeed a very crazy show as members of the audience found out at Kamani Auditorium this past Friday.

``Even if what we do is crazy, it is much less than the reality that surrounds our world today,'' says a member of the troupe. Their performance was aptly entitled Generator NR-Van, which means enervating and was, in fact, a medley of their previous plays -- ``Opus'' created in 1993, ``Almanach Bruitax'' created in 1996 and ``Very Small Creatures'' created in 1999. Especially created for the Indian tour, the Delhi performance on October 19 was a befitting finale to the ICCR event.

``We recreate a lot of scenery in our performances which is not possible during shows that we do on our tours as we have to travel light,'' says another troupe member, adding: ``The music dance relationship is key to our choreography but we prefer to talk about living performances. Dance is just the catalyst and vector for other art forms.''

* * *

Flouting rule

By Pranab Dhal Samanta

If parking a car is a nightmare in the Capital, then manning them is no less. Anyone with a car is quite aware of the convention of leaving the vehicle in neutral gear at a parking lot. If it were not for this practice, it would be impossible to park a car in a city where overcrowded parking lots are a common sight.

While in some places those manning the parking area ask the car owner to leave their keys behind with them, in many places they just insist on leaving the vehicle in neutral. But what happens when someone forgets to follow this unwritten rule?

Two men manning the parking lot near Federation House on Tansen Marg were faced with such a predicament this past Saturday. Trying to get a car out of the parking, they realised that another parked car coming in the way could not be moved as the owner had conveniently forgotten to leave it in neutral.

After trying various ways for a couple of minutes, the shifting of this particular car became inevitable. At once, one of the men gestured to his mate at a distance in a language not easy to decipher. Soon the accomplice returned with a thin wooden plank.

The man inserted the plank through the side of the car's door and the lock opened. He then entered the car sheepishly, put the gear on neutral, locked the car again, and went about his job as though nothing had happened. When queried by the car owner waiting for his way to be cleared, he replied: ``Kya karein sahab, jab log nahi sunte to aise tarike apnane parte hain? (What can one do sir, when people don't listen one has to adopt such means?)''

* * *

Cyber fixing

By Devesh K. Pandey

Delhi's cyber cafes have become a hub of entertainment for the younger generation where multifarious activities -- from net surfing to betting on cricket matches -- keep them pulsating with the rhythm of life.

This was evident the other day when a cyber cafe in Central Delhi, which remains deserted otherwise, was found teeming with youngsters well past midnight. Since there was practically no one hooked on to the net, it was apparent that their mode of enjoyment was something different.

While enthusiastic cafe visitors were keenly watching the India- Kenya match, a closer look revealed that they were actually indulging in a betting game. ``You can put 2,000 on India's side. They are going to win this match certainly,'' said a young man, who was holding a mobile that rang quite frequently. Another youth who was wearing gold chains was keeping a watch on the match as he had already put Rs. 6,000 on India's side.

Minutes after, another youngster received a call and promptly, he put Rs. 2,000 on India's side. When the match reached its final stages, it became clear that India was going to lose.``I had told you not to bet on the Indian team. I knew that the match was fixed already,'' said a participant, who was sad that he had lost the money.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Other States
Previous : New avatar of Noddy
Next     : From New York with a bang -- and a pang