Twenty- five Seven

AMERICANA PERIPLANETA : Newsmaker extraordinaire.

August 1, 2026

There are newsmakers and there are newsmakers. But who would have imagined that the humble, cockroach would have grabbed headlines of our national and city newspapers over the past few weeks!

Photo by Erik Karits on Pexels.com

The student protests in Delhi supported and fuelled by the Cockroach Janata Party dominated the Indian Press in both prnt and television and more insidiously in Social Media powered by Gen Z, masters of the internet and AI. Eventually, their dogeddness proved no match for the stodgy establishment who had to give in to their demands.

The CJP itself was a spontaneous reaction to cock a snook at the archaic system that ran the country, provoked by a casual remark by our Chief Justice that likened unemployed, indolent youth to cockroaches.

And taking advantage of the growing frustration and resentment of the students grappling with paper leaks in the NEET, the CJP stepped in to support and fuel an uprising demanding a foolproof test that could withstand leaks. Slowly, a rumble turned into a full fledged rebellion ending only with the resignation of our Education Minister.

Undoubtedly, our education system needs a major overhaul but it was only this nationwide protest that managed to shake it all up.

But can there ever be a truly watertight, fair system? The NEET itself was designed to offer a level, playing field at a national level enabling students from the entire country to apply to medical colleges in any state.

This led to hundreds of crammer classes mushrooming up and a multi million rupee industry in parallel education. Several families spent a large amount of money sending their children to such institutes in the hope of their children clearing NEET.

However, what really needs to be addressed is accepting that it is ok to fail that becoming a doctor is not the ultimate prize. Year after year, students sit for this examination to repeatedly fail!

Even if the NEET were fair and faultlessly conducted, there will still be many who won’t qualify. Simply because of the disproportionate number of aspirants and seats available. Besides, not everyone has the aptitude to become a healthcare professional.

Scoring a perfect 10 doesn’t automatically make you a good doctor.

WAITER THERE’S A COCKROACH IN MY SOUP! ( well, not exactly)

Just when we thought that we were done with cockroaches, the insect turned up again. This time, it was found in the commercial kitchens of several high profile establishments in Mumbai thereby causing the newly appointed FDA commissioner to shut them down.

Naturally, this created quite a stir because suddenly many people were stranded with their food supply cut off. Many senior citizens found eating at Clubs more convenient than making food at home.

SALUT!

Thus it was that the humble cockroach Americana Periplaneta, the insect that is supposedly unchanged by evolution, made extraordinary news in the last month!

Ciao
SIACHEN – A BATTLE UNKNOWN

July 27, 2026
Image taken from the net.

People know of the Unknown Soldier, generally commemorated in a monument dedicated to all the soldiers who died in a particular conflict. There are several of them all over the world. But how many have heard of an UNKNOWN WAR?

The battles over SIACHEN, a glacier in the northernmost part of India, remain among the little-known battles fought by the brave soldiers of our Indian Army. This was largely because the country was at that time occupied with the Sri Lankan problem.

Like most Indians, I too was unaware of what actually happened in Siachen, around 2000 km away and over 18,000 ft above mean sea level at its highest point, from my safe and secure home in Mumbai

Yesterday, purely by chance I happened to attend an event to commemorate Kargil Day where Lt. General Ramesh Kulkarni who directed the operations at Siachen in 1987 was invited to talk about the book he has written about it.

Why fight over a glacier?

Glaciers are frozen rivers. Barren and desolate, they are of little use to man or beast since living conditions are inhospitable, to say the least. But the Siachen Glacier is of strategic importance to India. Besides, when it melts, the waters feed into the Indus, the largest irrigation system in the region.

what makes this conflict unique
1. Over two major operations Operation Rajiv ( capture of the Pakistani post Quaid) and Operation Vajra Shakti ( thwarting of the Pakistani attempt at capturing Bilafond La), the Indian Army fought its first-ever high-altitude battle where even the guns froze in the cold!
2. With limited resources running short, the soldiers still managed to hold on.
AN EXCITING ADVENTURE

Hearing the general talk about it sent shivers down my spine, and I would recommend this book to all lovers of Military history and stories of courage and adventure. Well written by the General’s daughter, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for him to recall these difficult and challenging days.

I would not like to get into any controversies, hence I request my readers to read the book itself.

Ciao and happy reading,
Hello MIDDLE SCHOOL

July 20, 2026

Photo by Jacob Yavin on Pexels.com

It’s almost 5 year to the day that I was excited to see the Little People go back to school. This time, it will be their first day in Middle School.

Of course, Wow Dinga is already an ‘Old Boy’ at the Middle School, having gone there two years back, but for Ms. Papaya and Little Po, it will be a whole new ball game. Since I am not actively involved in the lives of Little Po and Wow Dinga, I have no idea of how it all was. The fact that Wow Dinga is still happy to go to school means that it couldn’t have been all that hard to navigate.

This last week, Ms. Papaya was busy getting organised for the first day of school. Luckily, the first day, in fact the first week, promises to be fun, an easy transition from the playful Junior school days to the more serious and rigorous academic days in the years ahead. No longer will they be babied and molly-coddled with childish endearments and gentle nudges of encouragement. They will soon see red marks boldy marking out their mistakes and possibly have to face consequences for shabby work.

Middle School will also mean more responsibilities and possibly longer hours with more extracurricular activities thrown in.

SAME BUT DIFFERENT

Even though the school is the same, the campus will be different. The teachers and staff I’ve bumped into the last few years will no longer be there, and it will be a while before I get familiar with them, as there will be fewer occasions to interact with the school, as the children are that much older and more independent. There will be different uniforms on different days. And projects will be more complex. There will be more day trips and the much-anticipated out-station trip!

There will be different problems to navigate and social complexities to deal with, like shifting friendships and imaginary slights as the little ones develop a stronger perception of themselves.

So I don’t know who is more apprehensive about Middle School – the Little People or me?

Ciao