TeaTimeTreats: REVISITING TRAUMA - LACERATIONS & ABRASIONS

 

REVISITING TRAUMA - LACERATIONS & ABRASIONS

LESSONS LEARNT FROM A FIRE THAT RAVAGED MANY

AMIDST PEELED OF WALLS STOOD PIC OF SAI BABA INTACT

#AvinashSingh

For the last 24 hours, I have been kind of afraid, almost frightened, about visiting my balcony. I couldn't muster the courage to see a black spot smeared upon several apartments of my society - the iconic green, yellow, and white - Gaur Green Avenue, that stands out from a distance off NH-9, owing to a raging fire that wrecked many yesterday (Wednesday).

It started from my floor on the ninth floor of D block and engulfed close to a dozen properties, including three in adjacent C block, where journalist Ajit Anjum's efforts prevented its spread. At least five apartments have been completely reduced to rubble, and seven others are affected, suffering mild to extensive damage! Night has been extremely traumatic, with sleep being disturbed by horrific scenes, making you sit in the bed recalling dreadful images.

To ward off the fearful thoughts, three of us, our neighbour Kalyani Kumar, wife Neelu Varinder Kaur, and I decided to revisit what was a beautiful, well-decorated and artistically styled home till yesterday, now matching haunted dwellings strewn with mangled steel, glass pieces, burnt acrylic waste mixed with noxious chemical smell. The lacerations and abrasions were to be believed to be felt.

The most heart-rending and poignant moment was visiting an architect's family that had taken over a year to design their home aesthetically. Members were busy rummaging and scanning the debris to look for valuables, if any, after the devastating fire. This was on the .....th floor. They probably had lost everything! The neighbouring house had a few costly items to salvage!

Surprisingly, the 11th, 12th, and 13th floors were as wrecked and ravaged as the flat D-943, from where the fire is believed to have been triggered. Wish the hailstorm that hit the area today had happened a day earlier. The damage probably would have been less!

The leftovers of the accommodations visited presented an awful, rather horrendous picture, as also two/three balconies of the adjacent C block.

Surprisingly, D-1043, directly over the apartment in question, had suffered less damage compared to others! Unusual as it may seem, in D-942, bang opposite the 'culprit house', where Ruchi (wife of dear friend Anoop) was initially stranded with parents-in-law, had all their ACs, TV, fans, and other equipment melted down in the drawing room, but for a picture of Shirdi Sai Baba, blackened a bit, staying intact. So was the case with Shiv Puraan in the first room.

The last person to be rescued on our floor was Sarika, the wife of Supreme Court senior lawyer Sudhanshu Choudhari. They have temporarily shifted out.

The house in the eye of the storm belonged to Pt. Kamal Paliwal. For years, Paliwal used to feature on a TV channel discussing ‘kundlis’ and the future of people. Ironically, despite indications galore, he couldn't secure his own 'kismet' (and that of many on floors above, the next block, and flats underneath).

Paliwal, one of the progenies of Raja Man Singh's brother, has been investing in this apartment, and outside it, for the last five years, almost without a break, trying to create a mahal (palace) inside a four-bed property with as many balconies. Every inch of the apartment, from floor to walls to roofs, had costly designs, arcs, artefacts, patterns, and motifs that gave the property the look of a museum in the making! All balconies stood covered, and part of the structure was closed from all sides.

There were occasions earlier when he had plans to shift. This was as far back as 2022 and 2023. He stayed with his wife on rent in another block while his daughter married in the UK, and his son stayed somewhere else.

Many reverses apart, Paliwal went on to add antiques and mementos, pumping in big money that he got from land sales, as revealed by him only. I always dreamt of making a short film on the place! Alas! It was not to be.

For Paliwal, there were enough cautions to read as to what God intended him to understand. About three months back, one of the glass floors (all were similar with murals and paintings underneath) cracked, resulting in a big loss.

He was robbed of a really 'heavy' gold chain a fortnight back!

Inordinate delays and reverses, we believe, always conveyed to him the ordeals of his floormates, people staying directly under him on the floor down, and neighbours, whose pathways, approach to their flats were always blocked with building material.

Kamal ji, you have suffered an unbelievable loss, both in terms of money and years put in. It is irreparable, we all agree! What about others? Many have suffered for no fault of their own! Think about those who went through the ordeal, having gone through the non-stop 'thak-thak', even at odd hours for long durations.

Sir, we respect you, but need to be accorded privacy and peaceful moments in return! We all must take a cue from signals being sent forth by the Lord Almighty! You are a ‘bhakt’ of Shiva, the Lord of transformation and ultimate compassion! Please understand the divine indications from the all-powerful, do some self- introspection, and let's do something constructive, rethink together rather than pointing fingers at others and cursing them! I'm a friend who wishes you well

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TeaTimeTreats: The Fire Remembers What We Forget

The Fire Remembers What We Forget

Delhi burns in patterns now

Shaheen P Parshad

The sun set on the lives of some people in Delhi even before it could rise on May 3. A spark inside an AC unit in Vivek Vihar became a verdict. By sunrise, nine names were gone. Arvind, Anita, Nishant, Anchal, and eighteen-month-old Akash died on the second floor, a family extinguished in one room.

On the fourth, Nitin, Shailey, and Samyak were found on a locked staircase, their bodies curved toward a terrace they could not reach. The smart lock held. The grill held. The fire did not.

Days earlier, on April 29, Gaur Green Avenue in Indirapuram lit up from the 9th to the 13th floors. Eight homes turned into black skeletons. No bodies this time, only the arithmetic of near-miss: ten rescued, hundreds displaced, and the same PVC sheets on balconies acting as fuses between floors.

The details repeat until they become a doctrine. Single staircases. Terraces padlocked for ‘security’. Exit paths turned to storage. Awnings hung to keep out dust and pigeons, but made of a material that melts at 160 degrees and carries flame like a promise. Ghaziabad’s ladders reach four floors. Noida’s best machine stops at forty-two meters. We build to thirty stories and gamble on luck for the top twenty.

Summer exposes what winter hides. Power loads swell. Wires fray. ACs, the city’s breathing machines, choke and spit fire. And the response arrives late, throttled by cars parked in fire lanes, gardens built over access roads, and systems that were never tested when there was no smoke.

We call them tragedies, as if they fell from the sky. But fire is honest. It follows the path we leave for it. Up the PVC. Through the locked door. Into the room with no second way out.

In Vivek Vihar, a cake waited in Manesar for a boy who would turn five. In Gaur Green, children ask why their books are ash. The city keeps rising, glass by glass, floor by floor. Yet the oldest questions remain on the ground: Where is the second exit? Who holds the key? Why do we seal ourselves in?

The fire remembers our answers. It remembers every bolted terrace, every blocked corridor, every clearance signed and forgotten. It comes back to read them to us, in smoke.

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TeaTimeTreats: Talking Past Peace: West Asia’s Unfinished Reckoning

Talking Past Peace: West Asia’s Unfinished Reckoning

SHAHEEN P PARSHAD

Proposed peace talks in Pakistan were meant to reset the table, yet Iran and the United States arrived late and wary, each carrying conditions longer than the agenda. The empty chairs spoke louder than the opening speeches, and West Asia heard the silence clearly.

West Asia no longer waits for tomorrow’s history books. It writes them in real time, each page scorched by drones, diplomacy, and the stubborn hope of ordinary families. The region has become a mirror held up to the world, and the reflection looks fractured.

The old map lines still hold on paper, but power now flows through newer channels. States test each other with proxies, ports, and pipelines while ordinary markets set the price of bread by the latest border skirmish. The language of deterrence has replaced the language of trust, and every capital speaks it fluently.

Oil once guaranteed attention, but data, shipping lanes, and youth demographics now shape leverage. Governments that built their legitimacy on subsidies and stability find both harder to deliver when inflation rises faster than ideology. The street corner café feels geopolitics before the foreign ministry drafts its statement.

Peace processes do not fail for lack of proposals. They falter under the weight of memory. Each generation inherits not only land but the last war’s ledger of grievances. Without honest accounting, even well-meant ceasefires feel like pauses between rounds rather than roads to resolution.

Outside powers still circle the arena, but their influence no longer decides the match. Washington, Beijing, Moscow, and Brussels can promise weapons, investment, or votes at the UN, yet the decisive moves now come from within the region. Local actors have learned to play patrons against one another, keeping the game alive and costly.

Amid the calculus of missiles and sanctions, the region’s civilians practice a quieter arithmetic. They count school days missed, clinics closed, and relatives abroad who will not return. Their endurance outlasts the news cycle, and their patience rebukes the cynicism that claims nothing ever changes here.

Technology has shrunk the battlefield and expanded the audience. A rocket launch in the Negev, a protest in Tehran, or a water project on the Tigris reaches a global feed within minutes. The world watches, reacts, and scrolls on, while the people living the story cannot swipe away the consequences.

The path forward will not arrive through grand summits alone. It will begin when leaders value a single child’s classroom over a dozen new launchers, when borders become bridges for trade rather than trenches for pride. Until then, West Asia remains a poem, half-written, its final stanzas waiting on courage instead of conquest.

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TeaTimeTreats: DHARMA IS COMPASSION IN ACTION

DHARMA IS COMPASSION IN ACTION: KAILASH SATYARTHI 

TURN APATHY INTO EMPATHY, LET DIVIDE & HATRED GIVE WAY TO PEACE 

AvinashSingh 

If sharing a virtual stage with Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi was a singular honour his crystal clear perspective on compassion and religion had a spellbinding effect, that took you to a journey in trance!

Last evening was no different! Mr Satyarthi's 40-minute keynote address at the 4th Yuva SustainabBECOME ility Conference, left you numb when he told the nation that "Dharma is compassion in action," and bemoaned that 'divide' and 'hatred' were the new normals and every other leader and country was posing to be superior. 

The event organised by Voices of Bharat: Yuva for Sustainability in celebration of the Earth Day. 

The co-recipient of 2014 Nobel Peace prize with Malala Yusafzai, for his struggle against the atrocities, skavery and trafficking of children, Mr Satyarthi listed that compassion is equality, it is mindful solving of problems, not sitting idle and watching suffering unleashed by power mongers and ensuring your actions were in the right directions like planting of trees, ecology and indulging in rightful studies.

Presented by AIR Podcast editor Naina Gautam and convenor of Voices of Bharat Rajiv Tikoo, Mr Satyarthi implored and urged young minds to spend 40-second extra time every day for cancer patients and have nots to provide them improved healing, solace, joy, happiness and peace.

The acclaimed activist who recently launched his book 'Karuna: The Power of Compassion', as also Satyarthi Movement for Global Compassion sought to clarify "Sustainability is Dharma, the universal righteousness that holds, sustains and keeps you going. Dharma in action is Karma."

He called upon the youth to know that you are 'the today' of the nation, the leaders of tomorrow. He went on to add: "The most ills Mother Planet is facing today are manmade and as 'putras' of 'Mata Prithvi,' you need to warranty that apathy must turn into empathy, carbon emissions are reduced and world divided by hatred, greed, merciless and unkind become a place of peace, mutual progress and peace.

He sometime back had assembly of 15 top judges of the country to convey that justice must reach the last mile, the farthest of India's rural masses. He wanted millions and millions facing displacement worldwide because of differences, discord and disconnect, must end. 

He insisted that every human in the world has right to contamination free water, better ecology, inclusive growth and compassionate education. Education must make everyone aware, more connected physically (not virtually), rightful actions. All these karmas have to be part of our padegogy, he quipped. 

Education, the social activist bemoaned, was pushing us into cut throat competition. The result has been that many a young mind have health and depression issues. He was for compassion circles working with all universities and their affiliated units. A beginning in this direction was made in Bhutan, he informed.

"We all need to be aware of dangers of data being turned into algorithms, fake identities and deep fakes being created and presented. He lamented that fake data was being commonly used in wars. He was for teachers developing compassion quotient alongside IQ and EQ. "The youth, must put off their marriages and other plans for some time and work for climate crisis facing the world because of our lifestyles, polluting the air, water and earth," he emphasised.

Ms Naina Gautam had wonderful Q n A session with the celebrity known for Bachpan Bachao Andolan on behalf of the students. 

The star list for the conference, conducted by Dr Manisha Pandit, included Dr N C Wadhwa, DG, MREI, Prof Nupur Prakash, VC NorthCap University, Mr Raj Bhatia, CMD Bony Polymers, Dr Harpreet Kaur, Principal Mata Sundri College, Prof L Ramesh, Jt Registrar, MGR Educational n Research Institute, Prof Seema Agrawal, Principal, Kanoria Mahila College, Jaipur, Mr Geet Kapur, Founder, QuantumShift, Bengaluru, Dr Vikas Rajput, Director, Parallel Living Research and Consulting, Ghaziabad, Prof Meenakshi Narula, Director, JIMS, Dr Richa Yadav from Haridev Joshi, University of Journalism, and Dr Prithvi. 

And as the echoes of compassion lingered, Prof Avinash Singh too moderated a session—proving that Dharma, when set in motion, turns every voice on the stage into Karma.

TeaTimeTreats: The Raj Lahore and Bhai Ram Singh

New Book ‘The Raj Lahore and Bhai Ram Singh’ Sheds Light on Unparallel Architect Style of Lahore and Amritsar

Amritsar, April 21

With no parallel apparent to his unique architectural style in South Asia, the new re-printed book ‘The Raj Lahore and Bhai Ram Singh’, released today at Khalsa College, sheds light on the exceptional artistic work of Bhai Ram Singh. He, who spent whole life creating the most iconic buildings in Lahore, Amritsar and all across India and even England, was such a pure soul who dedicated whole life to designing the marvel.

The book released by Khalsa University (KU) Pro-Chancellor Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, in the presence of Baba Sukhwinder Singh from Sampraday Kar Sewa Bhuri Wale, KU VC Dr.Mehal Singh, GNDU Registrar Dr. Karamjit Singh Chahal and Khalsa College Principal Dr.Atam Singh Randhawa, is a re-printed copy of Pakistan’s Parvez Wandal and Sajida Wandal. The pictorial book narrates the history of the architecture of India, Punjab and its portrayal of Bhai Ram Singh, the great architect who designed Khalsa College also when he was Vice Principal at the Mayo College of Art in Lahore in 1892.

Chhina said Bhai ram Singh spent a large part of his life designing and creating buildings which speaks about his love for art. Apart from this, the buildings of Lahore city, architecture and their textures are today called the best examples of his art, he said. The book is published by Sachal Publication. VC Dr. Mehal Singh said that Bhai Ram Singh is remembered even today due to the uniqueness of his vision and philosophy and he created the magical work of arts by creating new models of architecture in his 58 years of life.

Speaking about Khalsa College, he said, this building has many aspects of his artistry as the building has its own distinct identity and special significance. “This building, made of a combination of Sikh, Mughal, Hindu and Western art, attracts attention all over the world due to its appearance”, said he adding that the buildings built by Bhai Ram Singh are the central axis of our heritage.

Dr. Chahal said that the publication of this book presenting the life of Bhai Ram Singh in Punjab is an auspicious omen of his return to his home (Khalsa College). Through this book, we will be able to get information about many other things related to the life of Bhai Ram Singh which are still out of reach for many, he said. Talking about the Khalsa College building, he said that the way the College management has maintained its original condition is a commendable step in itself. Bhai Ram Singh is a holder of special recognition not only in Punjab but also in a country like England due to his talent. His portrait made by Queen Victoria bears witness to this.

Dr. Randhawa, while presenting his views on various aspects of the uniqueness of the art of the historic Khalsa College Amritsar building that due to its unique appearance, this building is a cause of attraction not only in the whole of India but also in the whole world. Dedicating the book presenting the life of Bhai Ram Singh to the public, he congratulated its publication and authors. The renowned artist Sandeep Singh thanked the guests.

TeaTimeTreats: Hormuz: Global Pain Point

Hormuz: Global Pain Point

SHAHEEN P PARSHAD

The war in West Asia is eight weeks old. Its front line runs through the Strait of Hormuz, but its fallout runs through your gas tank, your investments, your crypto wallet, and your sleep.

1. The global economy: Held hostage by a waterway

A massive share of the world’s oil is moved through the Strait of Hormuz. Today it can’t. The strait keeps closing and reopening with little warning, and each shift sends oil prices lurching. With ceasefires on a deadline, markets aren’t trading fundamentals. They’re trading headlines and ship movements.

The damage isn’t abstract. Gas prices climb, inflation ticks up, and global stocks rise or fall based on whether tankers can pass. When crews are stranded, and commercial vessels take fire, supply chains don’t “slow.” They seize. Every delayed shipment results in a higher price at the store months later. The Strait is shut, and so is the illusion that “regional” wars stay regional.

2. Cryptocurrency: The safe haven that isn’t

Crypto was supposed to be detached — borderless, apolitical, immune to oil. The West Asia crisis killed that myth. Bitcoin surges when the Strait closes, sold as “digital gold” during wartime. Then it drops hard when the Strait briefly reopens and risk appetite returns. Now it whipsaws on every rumour of calm or conflict.

War proves crypto’s paradox: it’s a hedge against institutions, but it trades like the most reactive asset of all. Mining operations go dark when power grids shift to military use. Exchanges freeze withdrawals when bombing starts. And stablecoins pegged to the dollar look shaky when the dollar itself is part of the fight. If your “decentralized” asset needs foreign internet and distant electricity to survive, it isn’t decoupled. It’s just exposed to different risks.

3. Human life: The crisis tax you didn’t vote for

This is where the crisis stops being charts. It’s the sailor stuck at sea for months, texting family when he can. It’s families rationing fuel again because ceasefires collapse overnight. It’s the commuter paying more at the pump because decisions made thousands of miles away ripple into daily life.

It’s also the slow burn: elections are fought on inflation that begins at chokepoints like the Strait. Voters around the world are choosing leaders based on energy costs and the price of basic goods. War abroad rewrites ballots at home.

Even attention is taxed. Doomscrolling ceasefire deadlines, refreshing oil tickers, and watching markets swing isn’t free. It’s a cognitive drain. We’re all part-time geopolitical analysts now, whether we want to be or not. Anxiety is a global export, and West Asia is shipping it by the barrel.

The through line

The West Asia crisis looks like a fight over nuclear timelines and shipping lanes. In practice, it’s a stress test for the idea that globalization can survive without guardrails. The same thin thread links oil, Bitcoin, and your blood pressure: confidence that chokepoints won’t be choked. That thread snapped when the Strait closed.

The next deadline is a test. If the ceasefire expires and conflict resumes, the global economy, crypto, and daily life don’t just ‘feel’ the impact. They absorb it. If talks buy months of calm, we get breathing room — not a solution.

The takeaway is already clear: war doesn’t stay overseas. Close the Strait and the whole world foots the bill — in cash, in crypto, in calm.

#Geopolitics #StraitOfHormuz #OilPrices #GlobalEconomy #WestAsia #Crypto #Inflation #SupplyChain #EnergyCrisis #WorldAffairs #MacroEconomics #Bitcoin #Hormuz #ForeignPolicy #MarketVolatility

TeaTimeTreats: April 22: Deadline or Detonator?

 April 22: Deadline or Detonator?

SHAHEEN P PARSHAD

Wednesday’s deadline is more than a date on a diplomatic calendar. It’s a stress test for Washington, Tehran, and a global economy already rattled by eight weeks of war. When the US-Israeli ceasefire with Iran expires on April 22, we’ll learn whether progress at the negotiating table was real or just political theatre. 

Talk is cheap when oil tankers are stranded

Both sides claim ‘progress’. Iran’s chief negotiator says there’s still ‘a big distance’. President Trump calls the talks “very good” while decrying “blackmail” over the Strait of Hormuz. Yet for the 20,000 seafarers stuck in the Gulf and the two Indian-flagged ships fired on Saturday, progress means nothing until the waterway stays open. Tehran’s decision to re-close the strait after a one-day reopening looks less like retaliation and more like leverage — and it’s working. 

The nuclear math doesn’t add up 

A 20-year suspension versus a 3-to-5-year halt isn’t a gap; it’s a chasm. Iran’s President Pezeshkian is right to ask what “crime” justifies stripping his country of nuclear rights, but he sidesteps the fear that drives Washington’s hard line: a short pause just buys time. Without a verifiable, long-term framework, we’re only scheduling the next crisis. The trouble is, Trump’s threat to “start dropping bombs again” if there’s no deal by Wednesday makes compromise look like surrender. Deadlines concentrate minds, but ultimatums harden them. 

The real cost is already here 

We don’t need to wait until April 22 to see the fallout. Oil prices surged with the Strait’s closure, dipped 10% on Friday’s brief reopening, and now face fresh uncertainty. Global stocks are riding the same wave. With U.S. gas prices high, inflation climbing, and midterms in November, the White House has every incentive to claim a win. But a rushed deal that collapses in six months is worse than no deal at all.

What needs to happen in 72 hours 

First, delink the Strait from the nuclear file. Keeping one-fifth of the world’s oil hostage to nuclear negotiations punishes the wrong people. Second, set an interim extension. If a 20-year pause is off the table, secure six months of monitored calm and let shippers move. Third, drop the all-or-nothing rhetoric. Bombs aren’t a negotiating tactic; they’re a failure of negotiation. April 22 should not be a cliff. It should be a checkpoint. If both sides walk away on Wednesday, the only winners will be uncertainty and oil speculators. The rest of us — from Indian sailors to American commuters — will pay the price.