Tag: Hijacking

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-36

About: the world this week, 1 September to 7 September 2024: Dead Hostages; Russia rains missiles; US School shooting; Bangladesh festers; Indian plane hijack story – true and false; Sexual Assault in India-Hema Committee Report; Paralympics 2024 – India sprints

Everywhere

War World

The unhinged brutality unleashed by Hamas goes on. Israel Forces found the bodies of six hostages, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Sergeant Ori Danino, in a tunnel in Gaza. They were all taken hostage on 7 October 2023, and murdered by Hamas terrorists, in captivity: shot in point-blank range in the back of the head, about 48 hours before they were found. Heart-breaking and gut-wrenching agony.

Israelis poured out on the streets demanding their Government do better. And go for a ceasefire to get back the remaining hostages. In this darkest hour, US President Joe Biden rubbed salt into festering wounds, saying Israel’s PM is not doing enough. And Britain ordered certain arms supplies to Israel be stopped. Israel was devastated – punished for no fault of theirs. And what are allies for? Later, the US called on Britain to cancel its decision to freeze 30 arms export licenses to Israel.

In the other war, Russia this week launched one of its deadliest strikes on Ukraine. A Russian missile strike hit a military educational institute and a nearby hospital- killing at least 50 people and injuring more than 200. The attack happened in the city Poltava, about 300 km southeast of Kyiv. Ukraine said the ballistic missiles hit their targets within minutes of each other-giving people little time to find shelter after the sirens were sounded. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed that Russia will be held accountable.

United States School Shooting

This week in the United States, there was yet another school shooting incident-and the first mass campus shooting since the start of the school year. A 14-year old boy, Colt Gray, killed two fellow students, two teachers, and wounded nine others in shooting spree at Georgia’s Apalachee High School, in Winder. Colt Gray was armed with a semi-automatic weapon. After the shooting, he was quickly confronted by school deputies and immediately got on the ground and surrendered. A motive is yet to be established.

Bangladesh: Off a Tangent?

Bangladesh under its interim leader Muhammad Yunus is walking on water. The Nobel Laureate sought to downplay the issue of attacks on minority Hindus in his country calling it ‘exaggerated’ and questioned the manner in which India projected it. He had this to say, “I have said this (to India’s Prime Minister), also that this is exaggerated. This issue has several dimensions. When the country went through an upheaval following the atrocities by (Sheikh) Hasina and the Awami League, those who were with them also faced attacks”. Quick on the heels of ‘this exaggeration’ was shock and outrage in Bangladesh after a 17-year-old Hindu boy was lynched in front of soldiers and police. Utsav Mondal was accused of blasphemy by Islamists following a response to another boy who castigated Hindu practices. He entered a police station for protection, but the mob followed and beat him to death – Law enforcement watched, and did nothing.

Hijacking a True Story

The True Story

On 24th December, Christmas Eve, in the year 1999, Indian Airlines flight IC 814, from Kathmandu to New Delhi with 178 passengers and 11 crew members on board, was hijacked shortly after take-off from Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport, by five armed terrorists, belonging to the Pakistan-based militant group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. The terrorists were, Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, and Shakir.

The hijackers initially demanded the release of 36 militants held in Indian jails, along with USD 200 million in cash and the remains of a deceased militant, Sajjad Afghani – who was arrested in 1994 and killed in July 1999 while trying to escape prison. The hijackers forced the plane to change its course multiple times, initially diverting it to Amritsar, India, then to Lahore, Pakistan, and later to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where 27 passengers were released. Eventually, on the morning of 25th December, the aircraft left Dubai and landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which was then under Taliban control. Kandahar had one serviceable runway, a sort of Air Traffic Control, and a couple of shanties. The rest of the airport was in a shambles, without power and water supply – under Taliban rule.

While in Amritsar, the hijackers, anticipating a commando action, first stabbed a passenger (to death), Rupin Katyal – who was just-married and on his honeymoon with his wife, in Kathmandu- to show that they meant business, and then forced the pilot to take off.

After final negotiations, on 31 December 1999, India agreed to release three high-profile militants: Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Sayeed Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar in exchange for the release of the remaining passengers and crew members. All other demands stayed still-born. The hijackers, however, were allowed to escape to Pakistan, where they remained at large (Later, some of them were knocked-off by ‘unknown men’).

The Netflix Series: IC 814 – The Kandahar Hijack

Indian Filmmaker, Anubhav Sinha’s IC 814 – The Kandahar Hijack, a six-episode mini-series streaming on Netflix, has been hauled over the coals for not sticking to facts. It is not just about the names of the five IC 814 hijackers, passengers of that flight, others-in-the-know have called out the series for several inconsistencies, including the role of ISI, Indian Intelligence and the portrayal of the hijackers.

At the top of the list is the failure to highlight the real names of the terrorists, which seemed to be a bid to conceal the fact that the hijackers were Islamic terrorists. In the series, the hijackers are referred to as Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar. Many on social media expressed anger and frustration over the names Bhola and Shankar, accusing the filmmaker, of deliberately choosing Hindu names for the hijackers, rather than their actual Muslim names. Reports say that Bhola and Shankar were codenames used by two of the hijackers during the actual hijack.

There was a shrill outburst on social media and other forums, following which Netflix agreed to put a declaimer and mention the actual names. In mounting anger, many deleted their subscription of Netflix for its anti-Hindu bias in a ‘Boycott Netflix’ trend.

Sexual Assault in Kerala: Hema Committee Report

In the year 2017, on 17th February, a popular Malayalam Actress was abducted by five unidentified men, while returning from a film shoot, near Kochi, Kerala State. She was sexually assaulted in a moving car for over two hours, and the men filmed the assault. Later, they dropped off the actress at noted Malayalam Actor-Director Lal’s (M P Michael) residence. Lal insisted that the Actress-the Survivor-inform the Police and file a case. And the Police began investigations.

The actress identified a Pulsar Suni, who worked as a driver for several celebrities, as one of the assaulters. The investigations ran deep and revealed that Malayalam Actor Dileep had orchestrated the attack to ‘teach the Survivor a lesson’.

Dileep was married to Actress Manju Warrier from 1998 to 2015. After the Wedding, Manju quit acting, despite her own flourishing career, while Dileep’s fame reached superstar status. In 2015, Dileep and Manju Warrier divorced, the apparent reason being Dileep’s affair with Actress Kavya Madhavan, which was reportedly broken to Manju by the Survivor. In their messy divorce, the Survivor took Manju’s side, and they have remained close friends. Then in the year 2016, Dileep and Kavya married. The story is that Dileep planned the entire assault in revenge -to settle scores with the Survivor- and filmed the assault so that he could blackmail her.

After the Survivor identified herself on social media, the Film industry witnessed a major upheaval, which led to the formation of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC). The WCC filed a petition to investigate the challenges faced by women in the Malayalam film industry following the heinous sexual assault on the Survivor. Based on their petition and following public outcry, the Government of Kerala established a three-member committee – the Justice Hema Committee – in February 2017. This was headed by retired Justice K Hema – the committee was named after its head. It also had on board former Actress Sharada, and retired IAS officer K B Valsala Kumari.

The Justice Hema Committee submitted its report to the Kerala Government on 31 December 2019. The report, was kept under wraps for five years, and certain sensitive portions were redacted to protect individual privacy. It was argued that publishing the report in totality would harm the industry. Finally, the findings were made public on 19th August 2024. The Report took the country by storm disclosing instances of sexual harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry. The original report had 295 pages, but 63 pages were redacted before its release under the Right to Information Act (RTI), as widespread repercussions were expected.

The Hema Committee Report has revealed horrid tales of sexual abuse, illegal bans, discrimination, drug and alcohol abuse, wage disparity, and inhuman working conditions, especially for women. The Cinema industry is male-dominated and has become an exclusive Boys’ Club. In particular, the Malayalam film industry is under the control of a powerful lobby of male producers, directors, and actors who ‘dominate other persons’ working in cinema. The report describes the situation in cinema as ‘very shocking’.

The Report has identified at least 17 forms of exploitation experienced by women working in 30 different categories within the Industry. It emphasised that women were being asked to make certain ‘adjustments’ and ‘compromises’ – euphemisms for sexual favours – to secure or retain opportunities. It added, that these two words are very familiar among women working in Malayalam cinema, who ‘are asked to make themselves available for sex on demand’. The ‘Casting Couch’ syndrome?

Several Malayalam female actors and junior artists have accused Directors, Actors, and an Actor-turned MLA of sexual harassment, and misconduct.

On 27 August 2024, following the release of the Hema Committee report, the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) dissolved its entire executive committee for the period 2024–2027 and resigned ‘en masse’. Actor Mohanlal, who had by then secured his second term as President of AMMA, was the head of the executive committee, which decided to step down. Mohanlal was criticised for having ‘lost his ability to respond’.

The Oscar Wilde quote, ‘Life imitates art far more than art imitates life’, finds mention in the Report. How Kerala and its film industry reacted to the shocking actress abduction and assault case in 2017 could also be extrapolated of the dictum.

With much focus on sexual assault and rape in India, in recent times, how are other countries, say France, doing?

Sex & France

In a horrifying story coming out of France, a man, Dominique Pelicot, is on trial, accused of using sleeping pills to drug his wife of 50 years, in order to rape, facilitate, and film her rape by at least 51 other men. The abuse went on for nearly a decade, without the woman’s knowledge.

This awfully disturbing case has igniting scrutiny-peeling off layers-over how France handles and defines sexual assault. Under the country’s laws, rape is officially defined as an ‘act of sexual penetration’ committed through ‘violence, coercion, threat, or surprise.’ Legal experts say the wording should specifically and explicitly name that without consent, sex is rape, and that consent can be withdrawn at any time. They also advocate for laws to clarify that consent isn’t possible if a sexual assault occurs when someone is in a state ‘impairing’ their judgment.

Offenders find enough loopholes to penetrate sexual assault laws, and France isn’t alone. Earlier this year, New York lawmakers attempted to pass a bill that would prohibit those on trial for rape from using a survivor’s voluntary intoxication as part of their legal defense, but it has been held up in the state assembly. Marital rape wasn’t deemed a crime in all 50 states of the United States until 1993. Even post ‘Me Too’ numerous issues remain in the language of sexual assault laws. Many hope that the ongoing trial in France will draw attention to the use of drugs to facilitate abuse and highlight problems around legal language – and that the verdict has outcomes that reverberate internationally.

Paralympics 2024: India’s Medal Sprint

India appears to develop its best fighting spirit when handicapped: excelling in para athletics. What the normal Olympic team could not, it being done by the Paralympic Team, to acclaim. It’s raining medals for India in the Paris Paralympics 2024. That’s a lot of healing.

Previously, India won 31 medals across Paralympic Games with the most successful Paralympics being Tokyo 2020, with a haul of 19 medals – five gold, eight silver and six bronze. This time, India has-up to this Friday-won 27 medals with six gold, nine silver, and twelve bronze medals, which is India’s highest ever medal tally in a single Paralympic Games.

Kumar Nitesh won the country’s second gold medal (the first was by Avani Lekhara, in shooting) in the men’s singles badminton. Sumit Antil became the first Indian male athlete to win back-to-back gold medals in the same event after his victory in the men’s javelin throw. He also set two Paralympic records in the process with throws of 68.55 m in Tokyo and 70.59 m in Paris. Nishad Kumar and Yogesh Kathuniya won silver medals in the men’s high jump and the men’s discus throw respectively, in a repeat of their Tokyo 2020 performance. Thulasimathi Murugesan won the only Indian silver medal in women’s badminton. Suhas Yathiraj won a silver medal for the second consecutive Games in the men’s singles para-badminton event. Ajeet Singh Yadav and Sundar Singh Gurjar won the silver and bronze medals respectively in the men’s javelin throw. This was Gurjar’s second medal after he finished third in the same event in the previous Games. Sharad Kumar won his second Paralympic medal, a silver in the men’s high jump. Sachin Khilari won India’s fifth athletics silver medal, finishing second in the men’s shot-put.

Preethi Pal who won India’s first ever track medal in athletics by winning a bronze medal in the women’s 100 m became the only Indian multi-medalist in the Games after she won her second bronze in the women’s 200 event. Rubina Francis won India’s fourth shooting medal with a bronze in the women’s 10 m Air-pistol event. Sheetal Devi became the youngest Indian Paralympic medalist, at 17 years, after she won a bronze medal in the compound archery event along with Rakesh Kumar. Manisha Ramadass and Nithya Sivan won bronze medals in women’s badminton events to take the Indian medal tally in the badminton events to five. Deepthi Jeevanji won the bronze medal in the women’s 400 m race and became the youngest – at 21 years – Indian track medalist at the Paralympic Games.

Mariyappan Thangavelu won the bronze medal in the Men’s High Jump event making it three consecutive medals wins in three editions of the Paralympics: bronze this year 2024, silver in 2020 and gold in 2016. Mariyappan is the son of a daily wage-earner in Tamilnadu At the age of five, he suffered permanent disability when he was run over by a drunk bus driver while walking to school: his right leg was crushed below the knee, causing it to become stunted. Despite this setback, he completed secondary schooling and pursued sports.

Dharambir set an Asian Record of 34.92 m to win the country’s fifth gold in the men’s club throw final, equalling that in Tokyo. In the same event, Pranav Soorma won silver with a throw of 34.59m. Praveen Kumar won India its sixth gold medal in the men’s high jump clearing 2.08m. He won his second consecutive Para Games medal, improving upon a silver in the previous edition in Tokyo. Kapil Parmar won India’s 25th medal – a bronze -in the men’s -60kg Judo, a first for India.

Harvinder Singh became the first Indian archer to win gold beating Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek 6-0 in men’s recurve open final. He had won bronze in the same event in Tokyo 2020. Harvinder, 33, is pursuing a PhD in Economics. When he was about one-and-half years old, he contracted Dengue Fever and due to a medical mishap lost proper movement of both his legs, permanently impairing his mobility.

The Paris Paralympics features 4,400 athletes from around the world competing in 549 medal events across 22 sports, and concludes on 8 September 2024.

More revealing stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Stay covered with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-22

About: the world this week, 23rd May to 30th May 2021, flying and surviving.

Everywhere

‘Plain’ State Hijacking

On 23rd May, Ryanair Flight FR4978, a Boeing-737 with 171 people on board was on a routine flight from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius in Lithuania. While briefly in the airspace of Belarus, and on the verge of beginning its descent into Vilnius, it suddenly changed direction and landed in Minsk, capital of Belarus, escorted by a Belarus military MIG29 jet. This was despite the fact Vilnius was the nearest Airport, for an emergency landing.

The Ryanair crew was brought to speed about a possible security risk-a bomb on the plane, set-off to explode over Vilnius: the tense situation forcing the Captain to declare an emergency and land in Minsk, as directed by the Belarus Air Traffic Controllers.

Turns out that the ‘bomb’ was actually 26 years old Belarusian journalist and Opposition Activist Roman Protasevich who lives in exile in Lithuania. He is on a ‘Wanted List’, on a variety of charges and was conveniently on the plane. As soon as the plane landed he was promptly arrested, along with his Russian girlfriend-who was travelling with him-by the Belarus Interior Ministry. A bomb squad, including dogs, went through the motions of trying to sniff other kinds of bombs on the plane.

The ‘bomb’ order was given by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, a brutal and unpredictable leader who has been fending of Opposition protests, clinging to power, since claiming victory in last year’s hotly-contested election, widely condemned by many countries.

The forced diversion of the Ryanair Plane was quickly branded as a case of ‘State Hijacking’ and called as utterly unacceptable and outrageous, by the European Union, the United States, and other Countries.

Roman and fellow dissident Stepan Putilo co-founded the opposition Nexta Channel on the messaging platform, Telegram, which was used for mobilising street protests against the Lukashenko Regime, in Belarus. Nexta and Nexta-Live have nearly two million subscribers. They manage to get round heavy State censorship and reach out to people.

Roman Protasevich faces serious charges of organising mass riots and group action against the 26-year rule of President Lukashenko, that grossly violate public order, and Rules of the Land. He faces a possible death penalty.

Beginning to smell like Myanmar of a different kind. Terrorists and cold-blooded hijackers are lying and flying low: the State is warming-up, flying high, and filling-in?

Myanmar Paralysis

Every week I struggle to find words to headline what’s happening in Myanmar.

This week more than 125,000 school teachers-that’s about 29% of all school teachers in Myanmar-were suspended for joining the civil disobedience movement opposing the military coup that overthrew the country’s elected government this February.

The suspensions have come days before the start of a new school year, which some teachers and parents are boycotting as part of a campaign that has paralysed the country since the military seized power.

Myanmar’s education system is one of the poorest in the region, and ranked 92nd of 93 countries in a global survey last year. The spending on education is below 2% of GDP.

Many parents are seriously considering not to send their children to a school run by the Military Dictatorship. We need no education: more to learn on the ground?

Samoa: Democracy in a Tent

Samoa is a Polynesain Island country consisting of two main islands and several other smaller islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The capital city is Apia. The nearest countries around are New Zealand, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.

Early this week, Samoa’s first female Prime Minister, and a former Deputy Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, was sworn into office in a tent set-up in the Parliament Gardens, after she found herself locked out of Parliament by her opponent. She was administered the oath of office by the country’s Chief Justice.

Her opponent, the China-leaning, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, the incumbent prime minister for 22 years, had ignored a court order to step down and cede power. Instead, he nudged his Party to lock-down Parliament Building, causing the ugly scene. He is the world’s second longest serving prime minister and does not seem to have had enough of it.

The controversy comes a month after the closest run general election in Samoa’s history, which was followed by bitter disputes and legal challenges. Malielegaoi’s Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) was ousted from power after four decades by Mata’afa’s FAST (Faatuataua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi – meaning, Faith in one God of Samoa) Party. Both parties won 25 seats each, but a single independent Member of Parliament (MP) broke the tie in favour of the FAST.

That led to legal manoeuvring by the HRPP, which claimed its opponents had not correctly met the quota of female MPs. Samoa’s Election Commission revoked the results of the April vote and called for a fresh election on 21st May. But five days ahead of the re-run, the Samoa’s Supreme Court ruled against the HRPP, re-endorsing the results of the election and ordered the swearing-in of Mata’afa to go ahead.

After serving as Polynesia’s first female Deputy Prime Minister Mata’afa’s success in the general election makes her only the second woman in the region to head a government. She is the daughter of the country’s first prime minister, and has been in active politics since the mid 1980s. Looks like she brings a lot to the tent.

Manu Siva Tau is a traditional Samoan war dance often performed by Samoan sporting teams before a match. Only this time the theme has been usurped by Political Parties, and they continue to dance even after the match! Meanwhile, the faith in God needs to work.

That poor fellow ‘Democracy’, is being hotly-contested, furiously challenged, kicked-around, rubber-bulleted, tear-gassed, and shot, all around the World. Yet surviving (for want of a better alternative?).

Enter The Devil

This week, ‘Devils’ were born on the Australian mainland for the first time in more than 3000 years, after they died out, to extinction, in the mainland. Seven baby Tasmanian Devils-known as joeys-were born at the 988 acre Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary in New South Wales.

Female Devils give birth to between 20 and 40 joeys at a time, which then race to the mother’s pouch containing only four teats. First come first served! Only those that make it to the pouch and drink the juice of life, survive. After around three months of drinking, they walk out of the pouch, into the world of Angels, and other Devils.

The Tasmanian Devil is the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial (having a baby pouch-like the Kangaroo) reaching about 2.5 feet in length and tipping the scales at over 12 kilograms. They have a coat of coarse brown or black fur and a stocky profile that gives them the appearance of a baby bear. Most have a white stripe or patch on their chest and light spots on their sides or rear. They have long front legs and shorter rear legs, giving them a pig-like gait. Their oversized head has a mouth full of sharp teeth and strong muscular jaws that can deliver one of the most powerful bites for any animal.

They earned the name ‘Devil’ from their hyena-like teeth, and aggressive posturing, releasing spine-chilling guttural growls when threatened, defending a meal, or fighting for a mate.

Once abundant throughout Australia, they are now found only on the Australian owned island of Tasmania with over 25,000 of them in the wild. Their extinction on the mainland could be due to the introduction of Asian Dogs-or Dingoes- into Australia. However, their numbers suffered another knock-out blow from a contagious form of cancer known as Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), which has killed around 90% of the population since it was first discovered in 1996. The rare contagious cancer causes large lumps to form around the animal’s mouth and head making it extremely difficult to eat-the animal eventually starves to death.

The Devils are native apex predators and also scavengers. This means their reintroduction will help control the population of feral cats and foxes that hunt other endangered species, while their scavenging skills will keep the environment clean and free from disease.

Australia needs every kind of animal to do its job. Last week I talked about mice overrunning the mainland. Now they are getting started with the Devils.

A known Devil is better than an unknown Angel? Only time will tell!

India Fights Back

When highly developed countries were battered by waves of the coronavirus and had equal or worse situations, India with its starving healthcare system struggling to breathe, fought the second wave of COVID-19 with awesome gusto. And now, after the nightmare of tails-up, never-ending action, it is heads-up with falling cases of infection and test positivity percentages. A time to cheer.

New daily Infections are at currently about 1.75 Lakh per day, and the lowest in 44 days. The average India daily test positivity rate is at about 9%. And the recovery rate is 90.34%. The total vaccination is India stands at above 20.50 crore.

The Government has promised to get India full vaccinated by December 2021. That’s ambitious and I hope it gets done so that we can open ourselves into a less virus dominated year in 2022. Oh, the years are flying!

The newly elected Government in my State of Tamilnadu (TN) promised to make it the top State in all aspects. It did just that. And right now, TN is at the head of the daily positive cases, while almost at the bottom of the table on the number of vaccinations done as a percentage of the population.

Maybe someone heard me and I learnt of a special Vaccination Camp for the 18 to 45 year olds happening this Thursday onwards in the Government Municipality School, next-door to my business place. I herded my employees-locked down in their homes-to make the best use of the opportunity and I’m glad they all listened. And got their first shots. My Business is now Vaccinated: all with at least one shot and the oldest person fully-with a double jab.

I would say we should not throw caution to the winds and prepare for worser things to come. ‘Once bitten, twice shy’ is a timeless saying. Mask-up, wash hands often, and keep the distance.

Please Yourself

Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest results were out this Sunday and Italy’s Maneskin won the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with their entry, ‘Zitti e Buoni’ (Shut Up and Behave) performed live by the Group. The song was written by the Band’s members, Damiano David (Lead Singer), Ethan Torchio (Drums), Thomas Raggi (Guitar), and Victoria De Angelis(Bass). They scored 524 points to win.

Maneskin are a heavy-metal Band from Rome. This is a first win in the contest for Rome and the third for Italy, which has been in the competition since inauguration of the Eurovision Contest in 1956. It was bare-chested, eye-lined, punk-funk rock performance with the Band singing in their native language.

There were some splitting moments during the contest when lead singer Damiano accidentally split his pants-in the front and sides. Later he had to deny taking cocaine, live on TV after appearing to do a kind of snorting action during the performance. However an investigation conducted into the charges, unambiguously cleared Damiano.

Runners-up was the French singer, Barbara Pravi, in the second place and Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears, in the third.

The contest was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands which was due to host the event in 2020, but was cancelled due to the pandemic and held, as we ‘heard’ this year. The winning country hosts the Contest, next year. Over to Italy.

Designated Survivor

Lockdowns are useful for discovering new ways of surviving this phase of intense virus blasts. I was nudged by one of my best Engineering College friends to watch the Netflix political, thriller, drama, Designated Survivor, with a warning ‘you may end-up binge watching’.

I told myself, here I am, a ‘Designated Sage’ reading the Baghavad Gita, as often as possible, finding hidden meanings, expanding known beliefs, and meditating regularly to rein my mind to peacefully pursue my written-down goals. Surely nothing can get me astray. I even cleverly had Darius Foroux’s, Thinking Straight, by my side, which I have been reading and re-reading.

After watching the first Episode, Season-1, then the second, then the third, and the fourth…and all my mind (and time) control went for a thrilling toss. I decided to pack my bags, catch a plane and settle down in one of the 132 rooms in the White House, Washington DC, to watch the drama unfold in close quarters. Well, literally.

A ‘designated survivor’ is a person who is chosen to stay at an undisclosed secret location, under the guard of the Secret Service, away from major events such as the State of Union Address or Presidential inaugurations when the entire Government is assembled in one place. The thinking is that there is someone ‘left behind’ to take charge of the Government in the event of a terror attack when the entire Government may be killed, wiped-out.

‘Designated’ becomes real, when a US Secretary of Housing & Urban Development suddenly ascends, to unexpectedly become the President of the United States after a horrific explosion in Capitol Hill Building during the State of the Union Address kills the President and everyone ahead of him in the presidential line of succession.

Kiefer Sutherland stars as Thomas Kirkman, the Designated Survivor, who becomes the President and smartly navigates himself from one tense nerve-wracking situation to another, to pull the country out of a headless crisis and put in place a Government. He plays the role of lifetime in a scorching performance. Others characters, I was forced to fall in love are, Emily Rhodes- Special Advisor/Chief Of Staff, Hannah Wells – FBI Special Agent, Chuck Russink – FBI Analyst, and Seth Wright – Press Secretary.

Watch it for the thrilling turn-of events, the investigative sequences, in every episode, which keeps you on the edge of your seat, the curt dialogues, the acting, and shooting…and prepare for the binge!

More music-in life-and survival stories coming up in the weeks ahead.