Who are you really?

R Arumugam @ Spiderman in action

I remember a time in primary school when Malaysia was playing hockey in the World Cup, and we were hosting them. One of my friends, ignorant that he was, predicted that Malaysia would lose, not because India is a good team but because Malaysia had too many players of Indian ethnicity. The Malaysians would not play with as much zest due to allegiance to their ancestral roots. Of course not, I told him. It was like the national goalie Spidey R Arumugam letting in a few goals during Merdeka tournament to India for old times’ sake. No way that was going to happen.

In the same way, I fail to see why many individuals of the Indian diaspora are getting all excited, ad nauseam, after the announcement of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate. For the record, Kamala is half Indian on the maternal side and Jamaican on the other.

Kamala @ Momala with hubby and stepkids.

Kamala Harris is an American true and true. She was born in America, read in the American education system and lived the American Dream. True, the motivating factor in her life was her learned Tamil mother who migrated to the US for greener pastures. That is where it ends.

Beyond that, it is all politics. Ms Harris was initially riding on the African American ticket, but now that the Indian Americans are a force to be reckoned with and are mostly aligned to Trump and the Republican Party, there is a pressing need to woo the American Indians back to the Democratic Party.  

Charles Sobhraj

Whatever way the US election results swings out, it is not going in any way going to affect the day to day of an average person in the Indian diaspora. The leaders of any country have the best interest of the nation that elected to heart, not allegiance to the land that once bred their ethnicity but not kind enough to nurture them to full fruition that their ancestors had to fleet.

Funny nobody staked claim to proclaim Charles Sobhraj @ The Bikini Killer as an Indian when he hit the headlines four decades ago!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Evil is good?

Main aur Charles (Me and Charles, Hindi; 2015)


Earlier in life, I took a keen interest in the intriguing case of the suave serial killer of Indo-Vietnamese descent who used to grace the tabloids in the 70s. He is alleged to be a master manipulator, a psychopath, a successful impersonator who speak many languages and could make members of the fairer sex weak in the knees!

Hence, it is only logical that I should give a go at this mini-biography of the man himself. Unfortunately, the film seems like a bit haphazard initially, moving to and back between timelines as the story moves between three lifelines in three decades. The second half of the film starts to grasp the essence of the story by impressing upon us the conniving nature of the man. The choice of actor picked to depict Charles Sobhraj is excellent. His external appearance, barrette and large framed square spectacles caught the uncanny likeness of the serial killer himself. In the building of character and gaining empathy for the social outcast, the filmmakers did not manage a good job.

The movie concentrates mainly on Sobhraj’s escape from a Delhi jail, his apprehension and subsequent trial by the ‘Me’ character, i.e. And Kanth, a senior Indian cop.

Memorable quote:
Good always wins but evil never dies!

Bikini killer

Back in 1976, I remember reading about a serial killer in a Sunday newspaper. Somehow, the story got stuck with me. Over the years, I have been periodically coming across this person's escapades (misadventures) in the dailies. I think it felt exciting and got stuck on to most people's grey matter because of the inclusion of the prefix 'bikini'! Now, with Google, every piece of information on this notorious psychopath is just at the tip of everyone's fingertip.

A few years ago, I visited one of the friends I know (not too many friends I have, anyway), whose wife had just delivered a baby boy a few days before that. I almost choked on the cordial drink that he cordially offered to me when he said, “We named him Sabhraj. What do you think?” I answered, “Fine! Nice name.” not wanting to be a wet blanket. I was just chuckled to myself and hoped that he never found out that he named his son after a serial killer! (A little bit too late to change as the child’s name had already been registered with the National Registration Department). Now, you know why I do not have many friends!

For the sane people who have no clue or fetish interest in serial killers and their fixations, here is a little introduction to this literally high flying bourgeois lady killer who moves amongst the high society. 

Hatchand Bhaonani Gurumukh Charles Sobhraj was born on April 6, 1944, to an unwed Vietnamese mother and a Sindhi (Indian) father who absconded. His mother befriended a French Lieutenant, and Charles became a Frenchman. He grew up in Paris, being involved in petty crimes and imprisoned many times. He escaped incarceration from France with a fake passport and a pregnant Parisian maiden to Bombay. His curriculum vitae expanded to gambling, smuggling and heist. He dodged imprisonment in India by faking illness and landed in Afghanistan with another fake passport. He was caught here for robbing tourists but got away by drugging hospital guards. And his adventure brought him to Iran and many Eastern European countries with many stolen passports. His spate of murders started in Thailand to sustain his lavish lifestyle and his clan of followers. He is sometimes known as 'The Serpent'.His trusted lieutenant, Ajay Chowdhury, was also sent to Malaysia on a gem-stealing mission.

After being arrested a couple of times and escaping police custody, he was sentenced to 20 years jail sentence by a Nepalese court on 31st July 2010. He is a celebrity of sorts - TV shows and books have been penned on his antics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sobhraj

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/22sld1.htm
If you want to read the whole book on the life and times of Charles Sobhraj, look no further... (Be warned that it is 382 pages long!
http://www.scribd.com/doc/94694/Life-And-Crimes-Of-Charles-Sobhraj
http://blog.ekendraonline.com/1788/sobhraj-finally-convicted-life-sentenced.html