Fight or Flight

Sex crimes, roving gangs of foreign criminals, leaky nuclear power plants, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes - there sure seems to be a lot to worry about in the Safety Country these days. But as you might imagine, what could happen is rarely as sexy or sensational as what will probably happen. The fact is that death is usually a pretty mundane affair and ending up at room temperature is more often than not the result of those pesky natural causes, not from being blown out of the sky by a shoe bomber or getting gassed by a religious cult in a subway station. For example, the leading causes of ending up on the wrong side of the dirt in Japan in 2002 were as follows: 1: Cancer 2: Heart Disease 3: Cerebrovascular Disease (strokes) 4: Pneumonia 5: Traffic Accidents 6: Suicide 7: Old Age 8: Renal Failure 9: Liver Diseases 10: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases. Whewc So instead of getting offed while nailing your best friendfs spouse, the statistics say that you are more likely to...

MAJOR GENERAL ASHOK KUMAR MEHTA remembers ‘Sam Bahadur’ as an officer and a gentleman, a gallant showman and a fearless soldier I KNOW NOTHING about war fighting. The only fighting I knew was what I learnt from my wife, Silloo. She died two years ago.” That was in 2004. This is the kind of selfdeprecating stuff India’s most celebrated soldier and first Field Marshal was famous for in the twilight of his life. Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw gave India its first military victory in 1971, in a campaign planned with impeccable politico-military detail. India’s most memorable hour in the 20th century has become synonymous with this man. He acquired his nom de plume thanks to a Gorkha from his regiment, Harka Bahadur. His long nose sticking out way beyond his curled moustache, Manekshaw asked, “What’s my name?” Completely stumped, Harka Bahadur belted out, ‘‘Sam Bahadur”. And so he was christened. ...