About: A break free commentary on events on our Planet, anchored on the news of the world, garnished with humour. Any comments beyond the story, are entirely mine, without prejudice -take it or leave it. This is a run from 14 March 2025 to 2 April 2025.

Enter the Dragon

It took Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring back stranded Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), who were first deposited in the cold, in Space, by Boeing’s Starliner Spacecraft in June 2024.

Boeing’s Starliner, with stars in its eyes, carried two astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams in its first ever human crew carrying mission. It was intended to be a 8-day-stay and its successful return-with the crew’s hair intact-meant NASA could certify Boeing’s spacecraft to make routine trips to and from the ISS. Elon Musk’s SpaceX had already reached that exalted status and was freaking out making round trips-about 44 trips to the ISS (only Elon’s young son did not make the grade, as yet). The Starliner encountered serious problems with its thrusters, and its propulsion system was leaking helium gas like a sieve. Boeing’s Engineers worked furiously to resolve the issue and succeeded, but NASA decided not to risk lives and ordered the return of Starliner without the crew. And it did return ‘pretty safely’ in September 2024. Meanwhile, Sunita Williams let loose all her hair (and even had Donald Trump counting the strands) and in typical Indian tradition perhaps decided not to tie it until she returns Home. Thank India, it worked.

Now, enter the Dragon.

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth orbit, and beyond. It is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth, and is the first private spacecraft to take humans to the space station.

Sunita’s hair relayed the message, and a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft lifted-off on 14 March 2025 from the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida with a crew of 4, consisting of NASA Astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian Cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. Is this not collaboration among fighting Nations at its best? The inward crew will spend 6 months in Space until another crew replaces them. Sunita Williams, who had been the commander of the Space Station, handed over to the new team, and after ‘taming her hair’ shifted into home gear.

Returning along with Sunitha and Butch-both of them after a nine month stay-will be NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Aleksandr Gorbunov, who have themselves been in Space for 6 months.

The reusable Crew Dragon Freedom Capsule undocked from the ISS and successfully splashed down off the cost of Florida on 18 March 2025 and was well received with a splash of applause by a pod of dolphins swimming in the neighbourhood. The crew were then successfully extracted from the Capsule and planted on Earth. Looking forward to them growing at Home.

Wars

Israel got back to its old ways, collapsing the ceasefire agreement with Hamas as the latter was not keeping its side of Agreements in releasing hostages. There are now 59 hostages still being held in brutal captivity. And Israel started a major ground offensive in Gaza to clear, seize and occupy large swaths of land, in addition to many other plans to kill the devil. I would say that Israel must annex some Gaza territory every day for every hostage not released.

On the sidelines, ‘Negotiation Liking Nations’ Egypt and Qatar are desperately trying to revive the ceasefire and tunnel a deal in the dry desert conditions. And I wonder why the people of Gaza are not rising-up against Hamas for making their lives unalloyed hell. Wait, someone heard, there is indeed some rumblings of an uprising demanding that Hamas release the hostages and get out of their lives. But it begs the question, is this true? The same civilians that cheered the 7 October barbarism have turned a new leaf, unbelievable? It is yet another drama by Hamas?

Meanwhile, Israel announced that it is going to take back full ‘security control’ of Gaza. Enough is enough.

On another War front, on 18 March 2025, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin grabbed the phone and spent over 2 hours talking about ending the Russia-Ukraine War and also about improving frosty relations between them. Love was in the air. The blood and treasure that Ukraine and Russia have been spending in the war would be better spent on the needs of their people-that’s wisdom oozing through every pore. The wily Putin deflected Cupid’s arrows, did not hug an immediate ceasefire, but said he will not police every move and every breath of Ukraine’s electricity grids and gas supplies. The dialogue goes on and a breakthrough ‘may or may-not’ be expected. And Putin is an awfully tough customer. That’s the way it is. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President has put off his plans for shopping for new suits.

India: Traitors, Poop, and Loose Cash

Freedom of Speech needs freedom to be more freely defined in India. Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, called Maharashtra’s State’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde a Traitor (gaddaar) in a show titled ‘New India’. Kamra referred to Shinde’s 2022 defection from the Shiv Sena, which triggered a major political crisis leading to a vertical split in the Shiv Sena and subsequently Shinde’s Group being ‘legally’ recognised as the real Shiv Sena – with the Bow & Arrow. In the Show, Kamra sang a parody of a Bollywood song alluding to Shinde as a traitor, outraging his supporters who called it derogatory. The studio in Habitiat, Mumbai where the Show was shot, was attacked by Shiv Sena supporters who ransacked the place and made meat of the furniture.

Freedom of speech works on a knife-edge. Shinde is surely not a traitor as the Law of the Land-the Courts-has said that he leads the ‘real’ Shiv Sena, and further he has won the people’s trust by winning the Elections. The traitor is now on the other shoe? Surely comedy is great fun with the laughs it generates, but where is the fine control and ‘honouring facts? Looking back, the undivided Shiv Sena was the original traitor after winning the Elections jointly with the Bharathiya Janata party (BJP) and then dumping them. The Shiv Sena supporters are surely outside the law – taking law into their own hands in going physically after the Physical Studio. And they should be dealt with as per the law. Surely they have no right to react in the manner they did. Unless you want to make a comedy of ‘self defence’? Finally, why cannot our Politicians and famous people just laugh it off with a shrug, take things in their stride?

In another stinking story in the Southern State of Tamil Nadu, Health Department sanitary workers – about 20 of them in uniform – invaded the house of Savukku Shankar, a You-Tube and Political Activist, and dumped sewage waste and human faeces in his house in Chennai. And hurled the choicest expletives, and used abusive language on his Mom who was alone at home. This is supposed to be in the wake of some comments and allegations made by Savukku Shankar about sanitary workers, Greater Chennai Police, and the Commissioner of Police. Since when did Sanitary Workers not get dirty? And again, taking law into their dirty hands? The poop deserves to be its rightful place- underground. Surely, this is a smelly new trend in India.

Swinging over to India’s Capital New Delhi, for Justice Yashwant Varma, a judge of the Delhi High Court, the Festival of Holi turned unholy when a fire broke out in his official Bungalow, on the night of 14 March 2025. Actually, it was in an outhouse on the grounds and the fire burnt through bundles of cash stashed in the store room. About four-five bags of partially charred Indian currency notes – estimated to about INR 150 million – were discovered by firefighters who doused the flames and captured digital evidence. Of course, Justice Varma categorically denied the ‘money hoarding’ labelling it-you guessed it-a larger conspiracy to tarnish his (great?) reputation. There was an attempt to quickly transfer the Judge to another Court, which was protested by the lawyers of the receiving Court. Why should we handle such dirt? And don’t we have to guard our reputation, as well?

The discovery of the cash-stash was a thunderbolt strike on the reputation of the Indian Judiciary. Are they a law unto themselves, answerable to none? The method of selection of Judges to such Posts was naturally called into question. And there is a colourful fire burning right now in the house of the Judiciary! Urgent reforms needed here-before the next fire!

Earth Shakes

Earthquakes are back with a Big Bang. Since when did they leave? Myanmar, already reeling with internal insurgency and a footloose Army was struck by a 7.7 magnitude Earthquake on 28 March 2025. It killed over 2700 people, injured over 3900 people and caused the collapse of numerous man-made structures.

In faraway Bangkok, Thailand, about 1000 km from the epicentre, a lone unfinished under-construction high-rise building fell unbelievably, like the proverbial pack of cards, into a pile of dust. Experts reasoned that it was because a ‘flat slab’ construction process was adopted, where floors are made to rest directly on columns, without using beams. And Thailand wasn’t thinking Earthquake resistant construction at all?

The Earth’s upper layer is split into different sections called tectonic plates. These plates are moving constantly, which causes earthquakes and volcanoes. And Myanmar sits uneasy atop the convergence of four of these tectonic plates-the Eurasian, the Indian, the Sunda, and the Burma plates. Like it or not Myanmar is considered to be one of the most geologically active areas in the World.

More earth shaking stories ahead. Ride with ‘Freewheeling’.