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A Lion’s eye on the Bulls and Bears

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James Bond

Trivia….Connections…Tina Turner & Pierce Brosnan…Vapi & Wimbledon…Singapore & Sanskrit

I Love Connecting…even if it appears as Trivia….over the Years it’s become an inherent and instant reflexive action when I read about or see a Person,Thing or Place

Like….. what’s the Connection between the Crooner and even Actor,Tina Turner…she’ll turn 71 in November this year ( Oh ! I loved her ‘Private Dancer’ and ‘What’s Love got to do with it’) and Pierce Brosnan,the still handsome…he’s 57 years old and he’s trying to protect Whales from being killed… and suave Irish Actor who carved a niche in Hollywood (‘The Thomas Crown Affair’,’Dante’s Peak’,’The Tailor of Panama’,’After the Sunset’ with Salma Hayek.’Mamma Mia’ with Meryl Streep and Four ‘Bond’ Movies) ?….the Bond Movie ‘Goldeneye’……Pierce Brosnan,was the ideal actor to play ‘James Bond’ but was bound in the 1980s by contract to play the lead ‘Remington Steele’ with costar Cybill Shepherd in a popular TV Detective Serial ‘Moonlighting’…I was addicted to this serial…remember being glued to the TV in the Middle East while I was working for one of the Big Four Audit Firms there….. When Brosnan was released from this contract,he was finally signed up for the role of  ‘James Bond’…..’Goldeneye ‘was one of Brosnan’s Four ‘Bond’ films….Saw it a few days ago on a Film Channel….Tina Turner has sung the title song ‘Goldeneye’ for this Pierce Brosnan ‘Bond’ Film

Like….. what’s the Connection between Vapi,the town in Gujarat State in West India and the All England Club Wimbledon Tennis Championship ?….Championship Towels….The All England Club has licensed out the manufacture of Championship Towels to Christy….The Welspun Group of India ( Pipes & Terry Towels) recently bought out Christy…..they shifted the manufacture of the Championship Towels to the Welspun India Plant at Vapi…I’ve been to this Plant,retained by AIMA to train Welspun Employees in Security Analysis & Portfolio Management to prepare them for Professional Examination

Like….what’s the Connection between Singapore & Sanskrit,an ages old Indian language ?….the name Singapore is a combination of two Sanskrit words…’Singa’ meaning Lion and ‘Pura’ meaning City…so how did this name come about ?….Singapore in ancient times was known as ‘Temasek’…it’s a Javanese word for Sea…It was a busy Trading centre,just as it is today….In fact Temasek is the name of one of the Singapore Govt’s Investment arm that has heavily invested in Indian Companies…..Temasek was destroyed at the end of the 4th Century…It is said by the ‘Malay Annals’ that it was rediscovered in the 11th century by Sang Nila Utama, a Prince of the Sri Vijaya Empire…when he landed on it’s shores he saw a strange beast,which he later learnt was a Lion…he named the Land ‘Singapura’….Modern Day Singapore…the Country’s Symbol ‘Merlion’ is a Lion head and a Fish Body read more

Ernest Hemingway was a ‘Dilettante’ KGB Spy !…I could have gone down that route too !

‘Dilettante’…an Interesting NounOxford Dictionary meaning is ‘ a person who dabbles in a subject for enjoyment’ and is pronounced ‘di-li-tan-tay’

A New Book,‘Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America’  by John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr reveals that famous author,Ernest Hemingway was a ‘dilettante spy’ for awhile.This revelation is based on the notes of Alexander Vassiliev,a former KGB Officer

Hemingway was recruited in 1941 by the KGB and even went on the sly to China under the name ‘Argo’

However,Hemingway’s Information was pretty ordinary and KGB stopped contacting him by 1951

Whether Hemingway was genuinely keen on becoming a Spy or whether he was just collecting data for a Book is left to conjecture

Reminds me of the 1990s…A close friend and also client at the time had referred me to a very Senior Russian Diplomat in Mumbai as the latter was keen to meet me…I had wondered why then !…he preferred to meet outside the Office and he chose  the restaurant ‘Caravan’ for lunch.It was housed in the Sterling Cinema Complex in the Business District of Fort in South Mumbai…It no longer exists now…another famous restaurant,Royal China ,is now housed there….I remember that the Russian Diplomat had paid for the Lunch ! After all he had Invited ! That was the only time I have met him…Cannot even remember his name or how he looked !..was nearly 20 years ago !….Well what did he want ! ?….Information on People in High Places in Business and Government….what were they talking about on business,projects etc…was he trying to recruit me !? I don’t know…suppose he really was testing me out whether my network did include People in High Places  !…I remember how I had fenced him off,by commenting how lovely the Lunch was ! and that the client had exaggerated !…It was an amusing incident though ! will remember it always !

Love James Bond and Love Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible Series…so it was an intriguing thought when I read about Ernest Hemingway being a ‘dilettante spy’ ! ,that I too had a chance to go this route !…It would not have been worth it though ! and thank God the Russian Diplomat too must have thought I was not worth pursuing !…he would have saved himself Lunch Money if he had visited my office instead…he would not have missed the deep sense and signs of Patriotism….with the Indian Flag proudly displayed in more than one place and Indian Gods all around keeping a protective eye and showering their Blessings read more

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