MAMA MIA 'UN-COLPO DI FULMINE'... A BOLT OF LIGHTNING!

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MAMA MIA ‘UN-COLPO DI FULMINE’… A BOLT OF LIGHTNING!

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when the just-released autobiography of Sonia Gandhi titled “Belonging: A Journey of Love.” For a Saturday following the week on the affair that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had with a senior executive in a Singapore-based company. For a Saturday following the week when Nitesh Tiwari has given Ravana a socialist hero twist. For a Saturday following the week when there was major pollution threat in capital city Panaji and Goa on Diwali day which fell on Sunday, November 8 this year.
AND a few stray thoughts on the just-released autobiography of Sonia Gandhi titled “Belonging: A Journey of Love.” Sonia, an Italian student at Cambridge University in the UK, met the young, handsome Rajiv at the university town restaurants. A mutual friend introduced them and attraction was immediate. She responded to Rajiv’s gentleness, humor and reassuring presence. Both of them were strangers in the United Kingdom. They shared films, music and parties, travelling in his battered Volkswagen. Money was tight since Indira Gandhi did not permit any expensive privileges for her son Rajiv. Rajiv had to supplement the allowance he received.
Rajiv reportedly sold ice-cream, picked strawberry and worked in bakeries. In her book, Sonia Gandhi described her first meeting with Rajiv as “un colpo di fulmine” (a bolt of lightning). Despite objection from his father to her relationship with Rajiv, Sonia travelled to India in January 1968. The couple got married on February 10, 1968. Indira Gandhi did not approve of the marriage either. However, Sonia and Rajiv got married at the Mehrauli farmhouse owned by his father, Feroze Ghandy, near Delhi. Sonia Gandhi talks about her problems coping with her formidable mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, in her book.
Food, language, clothes and customs required major adjustment. Sonia could not bring herself to address Indira Gandhi as mother because of her close relationship with her own mother. Also for the first time, the very private Sonia Gandhi has admitted that she underwent surgery for suspected breast cancer in 2010 with an Italian doctor in Milan. Subsequently, she also developed a growth in her pancreas, which was operated in Rotterdam in Europe.
During one of her election campaigns in August 2016 she collapsed in Varanasi and broke her shoulder, forcing her to undergo another operation. When she was flown back to Delhi, floating in and out of consciousness, she writes, “then I saw him again – Rajiv reaching out for me, smiling at me reassuringly, as if to say everything will be fine.”

HUANG AFFAIR
AND a few stray thoughts on the affair that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has resigned after a second extra-marital affair was revealed. Jensen has resigned as CEO, president and from the Board of Directors. It is being alleged that the woman is actually a Chinese spy who honey-trapped him. Historically, spy agencies all over the world have used sexy female agents to seduce and trap man in high places. Nvidia is a very sensitive company as it manufactures very specialized chips used in AI data centers. These data centers, unlike call centers, are not just human-centric but are huge banks of computers spread over thousands of sq meters. These data banks are a big threat to the environment as the powerful, high-performance computers that manage artificial intelligence networks, require heavy cooling to ensure that they don’t burn.
The Nvidia CEO, who was born in Taiwan, which is part of democratic China, owns the biggest supercomputer chip company in the world. Jensen has admitted to the affair and has apologized to his wife, to whom he has been married for 41 years, and to his children. The FBI has started an investigation into his relationship with the so-called Chinese spy, though Trump is standing by Jensen. The charge is that the girlfriend diverted the AI chips to mainland China. Interestingly, since Jensen lives in California, which is governed by a Uniform Civil Code as in Goa, he will have to part with half his fortune, worth 80 billion US dollars if he divorces his wife.

GRAND MARAN-RAVICHANDER MARRIAGE IN GREECE!
AND a few stray thoughts on the forthcoming marriage of the Sun TV boss Kavya Maran to music composer Anirudh Ravichander. It is not only the Mittals who have fancy weddings in Europe. Kavya owns the IPL team Hyderabad Sun Risers and got married to Ravichander in Greece. Reportedly, it was a little like the fabulous wedding of Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis to Jackie Kennedy, widow of assassinated US president John Kennedy.
In this case the private wedding celebration took place on Wednesday, November 11, at a beach resort on island Santorini in Greece. India’s Tollywood celebrities ranging from Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan to Sita Sai Pallavi, were reportedly present at the wedding. As was former Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, along with present Chief Minister Joseph Vijai. A star-studded reception is planned in Chennai later on November 21, 2026.

DHENLO FESTIVAL
AND a few stray thoughts on the traditional, uniquely Goan festival called Dhenlo. Dhenlo is traditionally celebrated in Goa’s agriculture villages to mark the end of the monsoon. Dhenlo is part of Goa’s love affair with Lord Krishna and it rounds off the Diwali festivities. Villagers carry an idol of Lord Krishna as an infant from house-to-house in a decorative square wooden palki to the singing of religious hymns.
At each doorstep a married woman whose husband is alive welcomes the baby Krishna idol and performs aarti. This is the Hindu version of the historic harvest festival of the Catholics. Since Krishna was very fond of butter, cows are also worshipped as part of Dhenlo.

`RAMAYANA’ GETS SOCIALIST TREATMENT
AND a few stray thoughts on Nitesh Tiwari giving Ravana a socialist hero twist. According to NDTV, Nitesh Tiwari in his film “Ramayana” introduces Ravana as a leader who fought for marginalized asura people of the times. Though Brahmin-dictated versions of the “Ramayana” equate asura people with rakshasa demons, apparently they were the equivalent of tribal and scheduled castes today. According to the just out film “Ravana” after defeating Kubera, demon King Ravana promised the people of Lanka equality of food, wealth, comforts – a case of “Jo main khaaoonga, wohi tum Khaaoge.” King Ravana presents himself as a king who seeks equality for all his people.
Ironically, in the film, Ravana is also projected as a protector or women. When his brother-in-law ill-treats a female servant, Ravana kills him. The motive for Sita’s abduction is reported to be Ravana’s anger over the humiliation of his sister Surpankha. It may be recalled in the story that Laxman had cut off Surpankha’s nose. There are also claims that, though Sita spent a long time in the custody of Ravana in Sri Lanka, he did not molest her.
In one of the scenes of the new “Ramayana” film, Mandodari, the wife of Ravana, insists that Sita was very pure and that Ravana respected her and did not have any sexual relationship with her. Despite this later on Rama, influenced by bazaar gossip, forced Sita to undergo the “agni pariksha” to prove her innocence.

POLLUTION THREAT IN PANJIM
AND a last stray thought on the major pollution threat which occurred in Panaji and Goa this Diwali day. Though there was a ban on amplified sound after 12 midnight, there was no ban on bursting crackers and bombs. Hence, the air quality index reached 133 on November 8, the day when the Narkasur effigies were burnt in the early hours of the morning of Diwali. Early next morning, that is on November 9, the AQI touched 216. Many senior citizens and children were affected. The worst affected were pet dogs which are hyper sensitive to noise.