Podcasts about Indian

A new wave of student riots are bringing France to its knees, as the children of migrants torch their schools. Blake explains how these riots — heavily immigrant, pushed by the far left — represent a huge threat to America, and a warning of our potential future. Jonathan Keeperman then talks about the Indian immigration question and more broadly how to fix the "winning too much" problem on the right. Then there is a great AMA hour with subscribers, with Danny joining to answer questions on data centers, Charlie's favorite places in Arizona, how Charlie organized his day, and more. Watch every episode ad-free on members.charliekirk.com! Get new merch at charliekirkstore.com!Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Indian pilot, Smit Machchhar, says he fought to open the cockpit door of the stricken Flydubai airliner because he was determined to save the lives of his passengers and crew. Also: Washington urges European countries to start using their diesel reserves. We look at the student demonstrations against school conditions in France, where there have been more violent clashes. Kenya is at a crossroads, as its young people challenge the political elites who've governed the country for decades. The English football club, Manchester City, files an appeal against an independent commission's ruling that found it guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules. London's Kew Gardens prepares to undergo a major refurbishment. Starbucks opens two branches in the Chinese region of Xinjiang - but the move is criticised by US congressman, John Moolenaar; and the attempt to free a large shark trapped in a canal in the South Korean city of Busan is halted.The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk Photo: Indian pilot, Smit Machchhar, speaking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his hospital bed Credit: Narendra Modi YouTube Channel

Joe Gorman and Logan Malin join Zac Amico and discuss botched butt injections, Indian vs trains, Does It Live - scooter guy vs car, the cooking amputee, Gypsy Rose having crushes on killers, conspiracies about the Columbine shooting, the man who crashed into a Krogers because he had to pee, not being able to poop or pee in public, showing after gym in school and so much more!Air Date: 09/28/26Support our sponsors!⁠BodyBrainCoffee.com⁠ - Use promo code: ZOO15 to get 15% off!Zac Amico's Morning Zoo plug music can be found here: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMgQJEcVToY&list=PLzjkiYUjXuevVG0fTOX4GCTzbU0ooHQ-O&ab_channel=Bulby⁠To advertise your product or service on GaS Digital podcasts please go to ⁠TheADSide.com⁠ and click on "Advertisers" for more information!Submit your artwork via postal mail to:GaS Digital Networkc/o Zac's Morning Zoo151 1st Ave, #311New York, NY 10003You can sign up at ⁠GaSDigital.com⁠ with promo code: ZOO for a discount of $1.50 on your subscription and access to every Zac Amico's Morning Zoo show ever recorded! On top of that you'll also have the same access to ALL the shows that GaS Digital Network has to offer!Follow the whole show on social media!Joe GormanTwitter: https://twitter.com/joewgormanInstagram: https://instagram.com/joewgormanLogan MalinInstagram: https://instagram.com/Logan_MalinZac AmicoTwitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/ZASpookShow⁠Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/zacisnotfunny⁠Dates: ⁠https://punchup.live/ZacAmicoSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Siege of Ladysmith was a key moment in the Boer War, also known as the South African War. In 1899, British troops and civilians were trapped in the besieged South African town for 118 days. Using a BBC archive recording, James Dalton, a British Army bandsman with the Gordon Highlanders, recalls shelling, hunger, disease and the dramatic relief of Ladysmith. Produced by Helen Ledwick in collaboration with BBC Archives.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.When you subscribe to Witness History, you'll be taken inside turning points in world affairs from West Africa's fight back against Boko Haram in 2015 to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba “thaw” and the surprise announcement of restored relations. You'll discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal's worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. You'll explore culture and ideas too: Sweden's Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles' George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy's show to a sudden end. And if you're curious about inventions, we'll tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.If you're new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history – all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of BBC World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.(Photo: Siege of Ladysmith, South Africa, Boer War. Credit: Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Brazil and India are about to meet for the first time at senior international level. But this is about far more than one football match.Indian football expert Arunava Chaudhuri joins Dotun Adebayo and Tim Vickery to explain why India remains one of football's great untapped stories.Why are Brazil and Argentina so deeply loved across India? What did Pelé's legendary visit to Kolkata change? How significant was India's decision not to travel to the 1950 World Cup? And with a population of more than a billion people, why has India still struggled to establish itself on football's biggest stage?They also discuss India's encouraging draw against Panama, the influence of European football and the Premier League, competition with cricket, South Asian players abroad, India's regional talent hotspots and whether the right generation could finally transform the national team.Brazil arrive in Kolkata after beginning their post-2026 World Cup cycle against Australia, while India prepare for one of the most significant fixtures in their football history.Subscribe to FC Camisa for football's story, told properly.Join the FC Camisa Whatsapp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBNgO58PgsAgQXRP32T

Hellooo lovely people of MOS. We're recording from home again this week, but we promise we'll be back to regular programming next time!This one's a bit of a heavy conversation: we talk about the recent cases of assault against women and the fear, anger and exhaustion they've left us feeling. Once again, we're asking: when will women be able to step out of their homes and feel safe? Will we see that happen in our lifetime? And how do we live with the constant worry that something could happen every time we step out?We also ask whether Mumbai is actually as safe as we keep telling ourselves it is, and talk about the things we do to protect ourselves (even though that responsibility should NOT actually be on us). We'd like to hear how you've been feeling too. Leave your thoughts in the comments, and share this episode with someone you'd want to have this conversation with.See you next week. Take care of yourselves and each other.Chaptering: 00:00 - Introduction 00:32 - Recent vacation deets & how foreigners experience India 02:30 - Why Thailand gets praise for hygiene03:42 - Talking about women's safety 05:33 - Living in Mumbai & mental health 08:03 - Sharing a scary stalking experience 11:51 - The first things we carry for safety 15:29 - How girls are taught to limit themselves for safety 17:00 - Experiences with harassment & knowing when to SOS 21:49 - A hot take & the overthinking that follows 24:25 - Men who show up in support of women 25:50 - A message for parents raising boys 28:11 - Indian reality TV & men interacting with women 31:07 - Thoughts on having male guests on the pod 31:56 - Who writes your content? Men? 36:44 - Navigating friendships with men in your 30s 38:39 - Shoutout to our boxing coach 39:24 - Bollywood & the portrayal of toxic male characters 41:33 - What can we do to create social change? 44:13 - LPU case, traumatic incidents & moral policing 51:43 - Double standards in jokes by male & female comedians 53:24 - A shocking incident in Phuket 56:32 - The struggle of navigating festive season 59:09 - Visiting a dog shelter 01:00:06 - Why we document everything & dealing with catcalling 01:07:00 - Calling out a troll 01:09:35 - Bye, stay safeFollow MoS on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/momentofsilencepod/reels/?hl=enCredits:Naina Bhan - Co-host and certified overthinkerhttps://www.instagram.com/nainabee?ig...Sakshi Shivdasani - Co-host, balancing out Naina's overthinking with a healthy dose of not thinkinghttps://www.instagram.com/sakshishivdasani/?hl=enDirected & Researched by Aashna Sharma https://www.linkedin.com/in/aashna-sharma-913146179Senior Producer- Amruta P. https://www.linkedin.com/in/amruta-bandivdekar-01879925Produced by Angaar Studios- https://www.instagram.com/angaarstudios/?hl=enCreative direction by Tinkre, Keeper of MoS' signature “Pookie” energy Natascha Mehrahttps://www.instagram.com/tinkre.in/?hl=enhttps://www.instagram.com/natascha.zip/?hl=en Editor - Yug Vermahttps://www.instagram.com/bass_abhiyug?igsh=MnlibHdsbG56MjNl&utm_source=qr

New details emerge about the FlyDubai attempted hijacking, and the heroism of the Israeli passengers and Indian pilot who stopped it; we talk about the West's choice between standing up and surrendering to radical Islam; and Pete Davidson is keeping his Hillary Clinton tattoo. Ep. 2517 - - - Today's Sponsor: ZipRecruiter - 4 out of 5 employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Try it for FREE today at https://ZipRecruiter.com/DAILYWIRE - - - DailyWire: Become a Daily Wire Member and watch all of our content ad-free: https://get.dailywire.com/infidels 40% off annual plans with code FIGHT

Bill rambles with Nimesh Patel about his new special 'BUY THE DIP', Asian cities, and Indian food.(00:00) - Thursday Afternoon Podcast(01:04:14) - Thursday Afternoon Throwback 10-1-26 - Bill rambles about the Forum, helicopter stunts, and going with your gut.Thursday Afternoon Interlude: Pearl Jam - Amongst The WavesTruewerk: Get 15% off your first order at http://www.Truewerk.com/BURR with code BURRQuo: Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to http://www.Quo.com/BURR See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1947, a missing goat led to the chance discovery of the first Dead Sea Scrolls. These ancient Jewish manuscripts became one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century. British archaeologist Gerald Lankester Harding was one of the key figures in the early investigation of the scrolls. In a BBC recording made in 1949, he describes how they were found, the painstaking excavation that followed and the search to uncover their origins and significance. This episode was produced by Helen Ledwick in collaboration with the BBC Archives.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.When you subscribe to Witness History, you'll be taken inside turning points in world affairs from West Africa's fight back against Boko Haram in 2015 to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba “thaw” and the surprise announcement of restored relations. You'll discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal's worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. You'll explore culture and ideas too: Sweden's Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles' George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy's show to a sudden end. And if you're curious about inventions, we'll tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.If you're new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history – all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of BBC World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.(Photo: Gerald Lankester Harding, Director of Antiquities of Jordan, pieces together fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Credit: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Listen to premium episodes on our Patreon: patreon.com/postingthroughit~~~What do Christopher Rufo and Jonathan "Lomez" Keeperman have in common? The New York Times has glazed both of them, and they both peddle pseudo-intellectual racist gibberish. On this Creamium episode, Jared and Mike dig into the wave of anti-Indian racism metastasizing across the online right, culminating in a podcast by Rufo and Keeperman titled "The Indian Question."It's gotten ugly out there for Indians in general within MAGA, and the racist obsession coincides with Indian Americans — from JD Vance's family to Harmeet Dhillon to Vivek Ramaswamy — gaining increased visibility in the movement. Nick Fuentes, one of the biggest ringleaders of anti-Indian racism, has also challenged people with Indian families to embrace who they are and stop hiding. It's the kind of situation you only find yourself in when you're trying to sell white nationalism to an electorate that maybe isn't all that white.This episode offers an illuminating lesson on who liberal elites have determined to be interesting voices in a mainstream hate movement. And we learn that Mike, a Resident Evil enjoyer, has issued his first media fatwa. Tune in to find out who it's about.

In this episode, Ryan takes us behind the scenes of his trip to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, with Indian Motorcycle for an unforgettable weekend of MotoAmerica racing. Ryan shares what it was like experiencing the event as a guest of Indian Motorcycle, getting an up-close look at the factory racing operation, spending time around the Indian team, and watching some of the fastest bagger motorcycles in the world attack one of America's premier road-racing circuits. We talk about the overall COTA experience and what motorcycle racing looks and feels like when you're able to get closer to the teams, riders, and machines. SUPPORT US AND SHOP IN THE OFFICIAL LAW ABIDING BIKER STORE Of course, the big story at COTA was the 2026 MotoAmerica Mission King of the Baggers Championship. Indian Motorcycle factory rider Hayden Gillim arrived in Texas with an opportunity to wrap up the title early, and that's exactly what happened. Gillim captured his eighth victory of the season in Race 1 aboard the Vance & Hines-built Indian Challenger, setting a new King of the Baggers single-season win record. A second-place finish in Race 2 was enough to clinch the 2026 championship with one round remaining. Gillim also made history by becoming the first rider to win King of the Baggers championships for two different manufacturers. CHECK OUT OUR HUNDREDS OF FREE HELPFUL VIDEOS ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL AND SUBSCRIBE! From Ryan's firsthand experience with Indian Motorcycle at COTA to the factory rivalry between the Indian Challenger and Harley-Davidson Road Glide, we cover the people, motorcycles, racing, and stories that made the 2026 season one to remember. King of the Baggers continues to transform heavyweight American touring motorcycles into legitimate road-racing machines, and the competition between Indian Motorcycle, Harley-Davidson, Vance & Hines, Dynojet, and some of the world's best motorcycle racers keeps pushing the class forward. If you're a Harley or Indian rider, or simply love high-performance American V-twin motorcycles this episode gives you our perspective on the 2026 MotoAmerica King of the Baggers season and Ryan's inside look at racing at Circuit of the Americas. NEW FREE VIDEO RELEASED: Best Motorcycle Fuel Transfer Pump — Stop Lifting Heavy Fuel Jugs! Sponsor-Ciro 3D CLICK HERE! Innovative products for Harley-Davidson & Goldwing Affordable chrome, lighting, and comfort products Ciro 3D has a passion for design and innovation Sponsor-Butt Buffer CLICK HERE Want to ride longer? Tired of a sore and achy ass? Then fix it with a high-quality Butt Buffer seat cushion? Sponsor-HogWorkz CLICK HERE HogWorkz builds motorcycle parts the way bikers want them. Clean fit, quality finish, and customer service that actually answers. We run their gear on our own Harleys because we trust it. New Patrons: Kerry Sigler of Katy, Texas Robert Padilla-Hall of Brea, California Michael Saldaris of Milford, Connecticut If you appreciate the content we put out and want to make sure it keeps on coming your way then become a Patron too! There are benefits and there is no risk. Thanks to the following bikers for supporting us via a flat donation: Cotton Rhodes of Lexington, Tennessee James Grant Gerald Kroll of Lakeland, Florida ________________________________________________________ FURTHER INFORMATION:   Official Website: http://www.LawAbidingBiker.com   Email & Voicemail: http://www.LawAbidingBiker.com/Contact   Podcast Hotline Phone: 509-731-3548 HELP SUPPORT US! JOIN THE BIKER REVOLUTION! #BikerRevolution #LawAbidingBiker

On this week's episode, Ryan Rubinstein and Andrew Oja from our operations department and Alex Vigderman from our R&D team reviewed last week's college football action, took a broader look at the season as a whole, and previewed the slate of upcoming games.They analyzed both Oregon and Dante Moore and what history shows us about post-concussion performance, dove into Lincoln Riley's job security at USC, and evaluated Indian's running back injuries. They also highlighted Iowa's excellent defensive metrics, pointed out Jaden Ball's statistical improvements, and debated the worst losses of the week.Preview-wise they got into Pittsburgh-Virginia Tech, Alabama-Mississippi State, Kentucky-South Carolina, Michigan-Minnesota, and Ohio State-Iowa.Off The Charts features a blend of statistical insights, tactical analysis, and personal opinions, aimed at providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the week's key matchups and the intricacies of the sport. You can follow our content on Twitter at @Football_SIS, on Bluesky at @sportsinfosis.bsky.social and at sportsinfosolutions.com.

Hello, hello! It's Good Garbage News!

In this game, I use a practical Nimzo-Indian setup that avoids a lot of heavy main-line theory while still giving Black an active position. It's a great option for busy adult club players who want a sound opening without spending hours memorizing variations.

First, we speak with The Indian Express' Raakhi Jagga about the protests that took place at Punjab's Chitkara University and Lovely Professional University. She discusses the reasons behind the protests, the resulting violence, and how social media posts triggered both incidents.Next, we speak with The Indian Express' Amitabh Sinha about the Research Development and Innovation Fund, the government's initiative to provide funds to companies engaged in research in sectors such as space, robotics and artificial intelligence. He shares how the process worked and why the invitation for funding will now close. (13:57)Lastly, we discuss an incident where an Indian pilot was credited with saving all the passengers on a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv that signalled an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. (28:15)Hosted by Niharika NandaProduced by Shashank Bhargava, and Niharika NandaEdited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

Adam Husler sits down with Indian yoga teacher and retreat centre founder Ravi Dixit to explore what yoga actually means beyond postures and flexibility.Ravi shares his unusual upbringing learning mantras from his grandfather, his perspective on how yoga is understood in India and the West, and the devastating road accident that left him in a coma and critically injured. They discuss karma, tradition, “authentic yoga”, the role of asana, and why Ravi believes yoga is ultimately less about what happens in class and more about how we live. @raviyoga_goaJoin Ravi & Adam at the Om Yoga Show at London's iconic Alexandra Palace, taking place 16th - 18th October + use Adam25 for 25% off“Yoga is not something you do once or twice a week. It is a lifestyle.”MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW US@adamhusler - https://tr.ee/b8QKyF@centredstates - https://tr.ee/i1PXpTPERKS FOR YOU10% off Liforme yoga matswith code HUSLER1010% off expert validated wellbeing brand at Healfvia this link10% off Colorful Standard clothingwith code ADAMHUSLERCS1020% offVivobarefoot shoeswith code ADAMHUSLER1515% off premium activewear brand Now You Live with code HUSLER15

The leaders of Israel and India are hailing Indian pilot Smit Machchhar as a hero for saving passengers after he was stabbed by his colleague. Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu says an Israeli passenger, hearing the commotion, rushed from row 16 into the cabin to help. A second pair of flydubai pilots were on board and were able to land the jet in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia after it went plunging nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds after the stabbing. The alleged attacker has been arrested and was being questioned by Saudi authorities. Israeli officials say his motive remains under investigation.At Wednesday's State of the Force address, War Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke to junior officers and enlisted leaders at the Marine Corps Base Quantico. He called for a reduction in the total number of officers, and that colonels who want to be promoted to general will need to pass evaluations showing ability to solve complex military problems on winning on the battlefield. He also said some of the changes he's implementing are twice a year physical fitness tests, and evaluations on competency regardless of gender.California's gubernatorial candidates Javier Becerra and Steve Hilton held a heated debate on Wednesday night. Affordability was the focus, with the state being among the most expensive states to live in. Hilton argued for lowering income taxes and cutting the gas tax, with Becerra arguing that his proposed cuts would hurt the state. Polls currently show Becerra leading with 57% and Hilton at 35%.

Harpreet Walia is an Indian globetrotter with roots tracing back to undivided Punjab. Having traveled across Pakistan twice—visiting Lahore, Gujranwala, and beyond—he shares raw, eye-opening accounts of ground realities, unexpected encounters with intelligence networks, and what everyday life across the border truly looks like beyond official narratives.

Unlocking India's Civilisational Power: Aligning Spiritual India with Empirical India. A man of high integrity and exceptional competence, Mr Swaminathan Gurumurthy is among India's most respected Chartered Accountants. He is also an acclaimed investigative journalist, social activist, writer, and powerful orator. Mr Gurumurthy has been featured multiple times in India Today magazine's rankings of India's most powerful and influential personalities. His influence stems from a combination of character, intellectual ability, conviction, and courage. A strong proponent of traditional Indian economic thought and civilisational wisdom, Mr Gurumurthy is the co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an organisation that seeks to promote awareness of India's indigenous traditions, philosophy, and values. He is also the editor of the Tamil political weekly Thuglak. Additionally, he serves as a part-time director on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India. In 2014, Mr Gurumurthy was invited as the guest speaker for Aradhana Day at Prasanthi Nilayam. Following his address in Sai Kulwant Hall, he graciously visited the Sri Sathya Sai Media Centre, where he shared profound insights into India's civilisational strength and cultural power. He also reflected on his association with Bhagawan and the enduring impact of His mission and message. We are delighted to bring you this Satsang from our archives. May it deepen our understanding of the India that is rooted in its civilisational heritage, and inspire each of us to share this knowledge and wisdom with fellow Bharatiyas.

How did the passengers of Flydubai's flight FZ1073 prevent a catastrophe after a cockpit attack? And what does this incident mean for Israel at a politically charged moment?On Wednesday, a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia after one pilot allegedly stabbed the other. The aircraft entered a 17,000ft plunge before passengers and crew forced their way into the cockpit, overpowered the alleged attacker and helped bring the plane back under control. The injured pilot, identified as Indian national Capt Smit Machchhar, was taken to hospital after the flight landed and later called a "hero" by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Now, Israeli officials are investigating whether the stabbing was an act of terrorism – and whether any warning signs were missed. On The Global Story, Tristan Redman speaks to BBC Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell, who explains what we know so far about the Flydubai flight and the significance of a suspected security incident so close to pivotal elections in Israel. Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Valerio EspositoExecutive producers: James Shield and Martine PowersSenior news editor: China CollinsPhoto: A plane, carrying passengers who were on the FlyDubai aircraft bound for Israel from the United Arab Emirates, which was diverted to Saudi Arabia following an emergency signal, arrives at the Ben Gurion International Airport. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Engages with the life and ideas of the twelfth-century Shaiva mystic and philosopher-poet Allama Prabhu. In his last, profoundly innovative work Allama Prabhu and the Shaiva Imagination, D. R. Nagaraj (1954-1998) engages with the twelfth-century Shaiva mystic and philosopher-poet Allama Prabhu, whose enigmatic writings have perplexed many and thus resisted analysis. Nagaraj situates Allama in three intellectual contexts: the medieval philosophical world built around the worship of Shiva; the pan-Indian bhakti tradition; and, most broadly, Indian mystical thought. This framework enables a reconstruction of Allama through the poet's engagement with fellow poet-spiritualists (vachanakaras) such as Basava, as well as with the Kashmiri Shaiva philosopher Abhinavagupta and the founder of Hindu monasticism Gorakhnath. Nagaraj's close readings of Allama's vachanas offer a vision of Shaiva bhakti that seems to contradict the erotic and romantic expressive modes of Sringara rasa while tracing the limits of language for an understanding of the divine. Allama, Nagaraj suggests, is an epistemological iconoclast who expands the horizons of language and thought.Through these explorations, Nagaraj decolonizes the standard modes of inquiry and critiques certain settled notions in Indian philosophy, revealing himself as a postcolonial scholar whose "hermeneutics of suspicion" leads to a novel understanding of Indian texts and traditions. Unifying literary criticism with critical theory, philosophical inquiry, and the history of ideas, the book's focus on a specific religious tradition--Virashaivism--is never singular, making it as much a work for scholars of Indian spiritualism and religious thought as for those interested in frameworks that transgress Eurocentricism. Translated into English by Kannada philosopher N. S. Gundur, this is a major contribution to studies of Indian philosophy and literature. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Middle East expert isn't jumping to conclusions, despite Israel's Prime Minister comparing an alleged plane hijack attempt to 9/11. The captain of the Israel-bound flight - Smit Machchhar - was stabbed but opened the cockpit door, letting in others who subdued the pilot accused of the attack, and landed the plane. Machchhar is Indian, but trained in Dunedin in the late 2000s. Gordon Robison says we still don't know a motive. "There are a lot of details about this incident - that at this point, we either don't know at all, or which are essentially hearsay." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Trending Middle East, Indian flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar has been hailed as a hero for helping avert a potential disaster during a security incident on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. In Iraq, the government has approved a controversial bill that could further establish the Popular Mobilisation Forces as a permanent national security institution. It comes as US forces formally have formally ended their military mission in the country. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says there are “strong indications” that Iran was involved in an incident near RAF Fairford over the weekend, but that investigations are ongoing. Syrian security forces say they have arrested three members of a Hezbollah-linked cell and dismantled rocket launchers in the south of the country. And UAE telecom e& has launched a new mobile network that it says will help accelerate the country's transition towards 6G technology. Trending Middle East is AI-assisted, using original reporting published in The National and curated and edited by humans.

1965  IBM  360/85 FORT MEADECONTENTS OF THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 9-29-2026Navigating Artificial Intelligence And ElectionsGUEST: Liz PeekLiz Peek analyzes the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and the emerging debate over its regulation. While tech figures like Sam Altman and Elon Musk advocate for industry guardrails to mitigate risks like rogue AI agents and safety vulnerabilities, President Trump pushes for rapid advancement to maintain a competitive edge over China. Peek differentiates macro AI safety concerns from local opposition to data centers, which centers on utility costs. Turning to politics, she evaluates the Senate midterms, noting Republicans hold an edge in key tossup states like New Hampshire and Maine, while Democrats face steep challenges running the table nationwide. File 1Middle East Escalations And ConflictGUEST: Jonathan Schanzer Jonathan Schanzer evaluates ongoing conflicts across the Middle East, focusing on Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, and Gaza. Iran seeks to prolong military tensions to deplete American munitions, raise oil prices, and avoid facing severe domestic anger over its collapsing economy. In Yemen, the Iranian aligned Houthi militia pushes to unify the country, threatening Saudi Arabia and regional stability. Meanwhile, Hezbollah capability in Lebanon has been reduced by eighty percent, though political paralysis hinders government control. Schanzer notes that ending the Gaza conflict hinges on disarming Hamas, while withdrawing American troops from Iraq opens dangerous avenues for Iranian influence across the region. File 2European Leftist Populism And AIGUEST: Joseph Sternberg2 Joseph Sternberg highlights the rise of far left populism in Europe, exemplified by Die Linke winning local elections in Berlin. The party, rooted in East German communism, combines classic Marxist economic proposals like housing nationalization with troubling anti-Semitic sentiments emerging from an alliance of radical critical theorists and Islamist voters. Sternberg argues this coalition makes hostility an existential issue for the left compared to right wing parties. He also addresses the economic uncertainties of artificial intelligence, warning that massive infrastructure spending on data centers may fail to yield expected financial returns, creating major risks alongside ongoing American and Chinese competition. File 3Michigan Senate Battleground Midterm AnalysisGUEST: Thaddeus McCotter Thaddeus McCotter provides an extensive analysis of the Michigan Senate race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El Sayed. McCotter highlights economic anxieties, inflation, and energy costs driven by Middle East conflict as central voter concerns. While Michigan historically leans Democratic in Senate contests, El Sayed's primary victory over center left Haley Stevens and his association with radical figures like Hassan Piker alienate moderate voters. McCotter observes that while Democrats capitalize on economic frustration, El Sayed's far left platform gives Republicans a viable path. Nationwide, McCotter notes that Democrats face an uphill battle to win the Senate this cycle. File 4Global Security And Strategic GeopoliticsGUEST: Gregory Copley Gregory Copley analyzes global geopolitical shifts, focusing on China, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom. He describes the summit between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump as symbolic stability designed to prop up China's fragile domestic economy and internal Communist Party rivalries amid severe water and demographic crises. In Southeast Asia, Copley examines Indonesia acquiring an aircraft carrier under President Prabowo Subianto, signaling strategic modernization to safeguard vital maritime choke points between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Finally, he dismisses the Cardiff Memorandum, a sovereignty effort by Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish leaders, as grandstanding driven by frustration with Westminster government performance. File 5Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure And RegulationGUEST: Jim McTague Jim McTague explores the political and economic friction surrounding artificial intelligence expansion, particularly the development of massive data centers. Reporting from Pennsylvania, McTague notes how local municipalities are establishing zoning regulations and utility constraints to prevent corporate developers from imposing facilities without community input. Alongside cohost Thaddeus McCotter, McTague discusses White House backing for a golden age of artificial intelligence, comparing proposed regulatory approaches to financial market oversight. While tech leaders call for industry guardrails, McTague emphasizes that light touch, goal oriented regulatory models are superior to heavy handed rules, warning that political backlash over energy grid strain impacts elections. File 6Russian Election Control Hybrid WarfareGUEST: Ivana StradnerIvana Stradner details how Vladimir Putin maintained absolute control over Russia's Duma elections, securing three quarters of the seats for United Russia through autocratic manipulation, barring anti war parties like Yabloko, and staging fabricated electoral unity. Stradner explains that these domestic maneuvers serve Putin's broader ambition of restoring imperial dominance and testing NATO resolve. Through hybrid warfare, encompassing political pressure, sabotage, cyber operations, and psychological tactics, Russia aims to exploit western disunity and risk aversion. Stradner warns that Putin seeks to expose NATO Article Five as ineffective, emphasizing that western allies must show unity and escalate deterrence to counter threats. FILE 7Russian Sanctions Arctic Energy ExpansionGUEST: Max Meizlish Max Meizlish analyzes the enforcement of United States economic sanctions on Russia's Arctic LNG Two energy project and the strategic implications of the Polar Silk Road partnership between Moscow and Beijing. Meizlish notes that while previous enforcement turned back critical Chinese power modules, inconsistent application permitted later deliveries. Chinese state owned enterprises buy sanctioned facilities to shield transactions from Western pressure while purchasing discounted Russian liquefied natural gas. Meizlish stresses that Washington must utilize new legislative mandates like the Graham Sanctions Act to penalize non compliant Chinese entities, warning that weak enforcement enables adversaries to build dual use Arctic infrastructure. File 8

"I have never been able to get rid of the thought that [the 22nd September event] was some sort of joint operation between Israel and South Africa."At 00:53 Coordinated Universal Time on September 22nd, 1979, an aging American satellite called Vela 6911 recorded a double flash of light somewhere over the southern Indian Ocean. That same night, President Jimmy Carter wrote in his diary that there was an indication of a nuclear explosion near South Africa, and that it was either South Africa, Israel using a ship at sea, or nothing.The two leading suspects had every reason to be suspects. South Africa had been caught preparing a nuclear test in the Kalahari Desert two years earlier. Israel had an undeclared arsenal, a long-standing policy of never confirming it, and a secret military relationship with South Africa that, according to South African documents published decades later, had included discussion of nuclear-capable missiles. Yet the search for evidence was coming up empty...Check out the podcast store at unresolved.dashery.comIf you would like to support this podcast, consider heading to https://www.patreon.com/unresolvedpod to become a Patron or ProducerBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved-a-true-crime-mystery-podcast--3266604/support.

In the 1980s, thousands of people followed a controversial Indian spiritual leader to a remote stretch of Oregon desert, hoping to build their version of utopia. What followed was a story involving sex, money, power, politics, thousands of devoted followers and eventually, the largest bioterrorism attack in U.S. history! But before any of that could happen, they had to build their new world. In Part 1 of the Rajneesh Movement, we're going back to where it all began... the man at the center of it, the people who followed him, and how a dream in the Oregon desert became very, very real. ** SHOUT OUT to Myrtle for help with research on this episode it was a doozy!!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After decades of campaigning in Japan, the pill was finally legalised in 1999. In contrast, the male impotency drug Viagra was approved for use in just six months, and legalised before the contraceptive pill for women. Politician Yoriko Madoka pushed hard for the right to take the pill and told Rebecca Kesby that sexism and male dominance in parliament is why it took so long.This programme was first broadcast in 2020.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.When you subscribe to Witness History, you'll be taken inside turning points in world affairs from West Africa's fight back against Boko Haram in 2015 to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba “thaw” and the surprise announcement of restored relations. You'll discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal's worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. You'll explore culture and ideas too: Sweden's Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles' George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy's show to a sudden end. And if you're curious about inventions, we'll tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.If you're new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history – all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of BBC World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.(Picture: Combined oral contraceptive pills. Credit: CharlesMilligan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

//The Wire//2300Z September 30, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: ATTEMPTED HIJACKING OF COMMERCIAL AIRLINER HALTED IN MIDDLE EAST, PILOT SEVERELY WOUNDED DURING ATTACK. SMOKE PLUMES OBSERVED AT MAJOR SAUDI OIL PROCESSING FACILITY. UNITED STATES ANNOUNCES FORMAL WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ. IRANIAN ATTACKS ON SHIPPING CONTINUE IN HORMUZ STRAIT.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----  -International Events-Middle East: Overnight a possible hijacking incident was reported onboard a FlyDubai aircraft. At 0653 local time, Flight FZ1073 departed Dubai International Airport, bound for Tel Aviv. Approximately 136 minutes into the flight, the transponder data indicates the aircraft conducted a very sharp nosedive, losing over 14,000 feet of altitude in 37 seconds. Within the aircraft, reports indicate that the copilot stabbed the pilot multiple times, and attempted to deliberately crash the aircraft. After the initial nosedive, the wounded Captain was able to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and cabin crew to subdue the copilot. Over a period of six seconds, a passenger was able to recover from the dive, banking hard to the north. Two off-duty FlyDubai pilots who were passengers on the flight regained control off the aircraft, and twenty minutes after the incident, the aircraft turned around over Jordanian airspace and diverted to Prince Sultan International Airport in Tabuk. The aircraft landed safely despite the sharp decent causing a significant portion of the rudder to break off.Analyst Comment: If these details are true, this incident was host to multiple aspects which are nothing short of miraculous. Based on the rate of decent, the aircraft was approximately 27 seconds from hitting the ground before a passenger was reportedly able to pull up on the yoke and recover the aircraft from the dive. The presence of two other pilots onboard the aircraft is also itself remarkable, as if the copilot was the terrorist, and the lead pilot was stabbed, there was no one left to fly the aircraft except the passengers in the back. Nearly all details are known via video recordings from passengers onboard the aircraft, but the exact nature of what took place inside the cockpit (and when) is not confirmed yet. Videos from within the cabin indicate both the pilot and copilot were severely wounded during the fight, and the status of both is not known. The nationalities of all involved are also important due to the current tensions around the region. Most of the passengers were Israeli citizens traveling back to Tel Aviv. The pilot (who was stabbed) is Indian, and the alleged terrorist copilot is Omani.Iraq: This morning, the Pentagon announced the completion of the withdrawal of the last troops from Erbil Airbase, marking the official end of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE in Iraq. Officially, the only American military personnel within Iraq are located at the American Embassy in Baghdad, with the diplomatic mission being the only officially recognized deployment location at this time.Analyst Comment: While the ending of a 23 year war is significant and worthy of further reflection, in the more immediate short term, the abandonment of the Erbil Airbase confirms prior reporting that the Patriot battery had been relocated from this facility weeks ago. The withdrawal from this critical air defense sector will probably affect American bases in Jordan, if Iranian missile launches continue.Persian Gulf: This morning the UKMTO released a batch of "time late" reports, confirming that a total of three merchant vessels were struck by Iranian cruise missiles while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz over the past few days. Due to the delay in reporting these strikes, it is not clear when they took place, however several Iranians reported witnessing missile launches from Sirik yesterday.Iran: Civil defense preparations continue to expand in size and scope. The week of October 26 - November 2 has been designated Civil Defense Week nationwide, with various drills and exercises being planned among the civilian populace to prepare for three different scenarios: Normal natural disaster emergencies, a state of ceasefire, or a full-scale war. IRGC-affiliated social media accounts have also claimed that military units in southern Iran have been issued Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) protective equipment, such as gas masks and decontamination kits.Analyst Comment: These reports are sporadic at best, and the photos from one soldier on social media are not exactly indicative of what the entire 600,000-man army is doing. However, the Iranians are not taking any chances an very clearly expect and escalation of attacks, possibly to include the use of more serious weapons.Saudi Arabia: This morning an incident was reported at ARAMCO's North Ghawar processing facility, with locals on the ground observing a large smoke plume emitting from the installation. No official statements have disclosed what happened, but no missile/drone warnings were noted by locals.Analyst Comment: This may or may not be the result of a drone strike; it could be the result of an industrial accident or exceptionally abnormal gas flaring. The Abqaiq processing plant at this facility is a major complex, and critically important as it's the start point for the East-West Pipeline (the other end being the terminals at Yanbu). By now, the pipeline should be functional to some degree, pumping an unknown amount of oil to the terminals on the Red Sea, but if this was an unplanned event of some kind, it might be slow going to get this pipeline fully back online.Syria: This afternoon, a major explosion was reported at a natural gas pipeline near the Tishreen Power Plant in Damascus. The resulting fire burned throughout the evening, and the power plant was shut down. The cause of the blast has not yet been publicly released.Analyst Comment: This follows yesterday's pipeline attack in southern Syria, which was directly confirmed to be sabotage. It's not clear as to if this pipeline explosion was sabotage, but at this point malign action is likely. Various insurgent groups within Syria have been hitting gas pipelines for weeks now, but no one group has claimed responsibility for these strikes yet.India: Overnight a major explosion was reported at the MRPL refinery in Mangaluru. One worker was killed and several others injured after a rupture occurred in a high-pressure tank at the Coker Hydrotreater Unit. At the time of the explosion, this refinery was already operating at peak capacity, to refine and process as much crude as physically possible at the site.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: Within the United Kingdom, more questions than answers remain concerning two incidents which have captured media attention for the past few days. At RAF Fairford, not many details have come to light that can be corroborated with much reliability. The US continues to claim that this was a major terror attack that the US was involved in tracking, while British authorities claim that no explosives were found in the vehicles and the contents turned out to be drums of gasoline. However, this morning British authorities radically shifted their position, with PM Burnham stating that there are "strong indications that Iran played a part" in the incident. Despite these claims, all of the assailants are still free from detention.In Rotherham, almost zero details have been released regarding yesterday's explosive incident. The individual who was killed has not been identified, but authorities have stated that the incident was the result of a "household accident", without providing any further amplifying information. Due to the sheer lack of information, speculation has run rampant, but nothing is verifiable yet. Considering the very odd circumstances of this incident, more scrutiny on this case would be worthwhile, especially considering the heightened terrorism concerns around the continent.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269 Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report. //END REPORT//

Few subjects are as central to the functioning of government—or as likely to make the average citizen's eyes glaze over—as how governments collect and spend the public's money. But public finance shapes nearly every interaction Indian citizens have with the state. How much tax revenue will my state receive from the Centre? Will my local government have the resources to invest in the urban amenities I value? And how can I distinguish between an expensive freebie and a purposeful, targeted cash transfer?A new book, Fiscal Fables: A Citizen's Guide to Public Finance, demystifies India's public finances for a lay audience—and explains public finance concepts using relatable stories and examples. The book is co-written by two public policy researchers, Sarthak Pradhan and Pranay Kotasthane. They join Milan on the podcast this week to discuss their joint work.Sarthak is a fellow at the Takshashila Institution, an independent centre for research and education in public policy. He also serves as assistant editor of the Indian Public Policy Review. Pranay is deputy director at Takshashila, where he chairs the High-Tech Geopolitics Programme. He also co-writes Anticipating the Unintended, a weekly newsletter on public policy, and co-hosts Puliyabaazi, a Hindi–Urdu podcast on politics, policy and technology.Sarthak, Pranay, and Milan discuss why every active citizen should care about public finance, the competing visions in India of the purpose of government, and the vagaries of the Indian tax system. They also talk about the much-maligned Goods and Services Tax, the tensions in India's fiscal federalism, and the rise of ‘competitive populism.Episode notes:1. “India's Tryst With Policymaking” (with Pranay Kotasthane), Grand Tamasha, January 25, 2023.2. “India and the Emerging Chip Race” (with Pranay Kotasthane), Grand Tamasha, January 30, 2024.3. Khyati Pathak, Anupam Manur, and Pranay Kotasthane, We, The Citizens: Strengthening the Indian Republic (New Delhi: Penguin, 2024).

Matthew Toffolo chats with Sucheta Sunku Gupta about her experimental short film "Tiger," which was played at the Experimental Dance Music Festival. Sucheta described the film as exploring the experience of growing up with "tiger parents," a strict and high-achievement parenting style common in immigrant communities. She discussed the film's themes of balancing discipline with love and the personal connection many viewers from the Indian community felt with the story. Sucheta explained the film's creation as her Capstone Thesis Project at Virginia Commonwealth University, detailing the process of writing the poetic script, using her sister as the actor, and filming in familiar childhood locations. The discussion also touched on the pressures faced by children of immigrant parents, the challenges of competitive sports, and Sucheta's future plans in filmmaking and art direction. —- Subscribe to the podcast: https://twitter.com/wildsoundpod https://www.instagram.com/wildsoundpod https://www.facebook.com/wildsoundpod —— Love for you to try the Indy Film Festival AP. • Daily new film festival of the best new films from around the world. New archived festival to watch anytime. • Library of over 500+ award-winning films to watch anytime. Go to https://www.wildsound.ca and sign up for the free 3-day trial. Check out the daily film festival (and previous ones from last month) at https://www.wildsound.ca/browse Always an amazing lineup of films. Inspiring for storytellers.

I wanna be your end game. Roll the dice, pick your teams, and pull up a chair, because this week is all about games (decidedly not sports). Taylor reaches for game metaphors constantly, and once you start looking, you find chess boards, poker hands, and team rosters all over her catalog. Jenn kicks things off with the big thinkers of play, from Johan Huizinga's magic circle to Roger Caillois's four types of play to game theory, the field that treats every board game as a tiny model of human decision making. Then Jodi takes us inside the chess game of “Dear John,” where somebody else keeps changing the rules. Jenn lays her cards on the table with “Foolish One” and explains why showing your hand first is a classic game theory mistake (hello, sucker's payoff). Maansi closes with “End Game,” tracing “end game,” “first string,” and “A-Team” back to chess, medieval archery, and the US Army, and landing on a very different kind of game where both players finally sit on the same side of the board. Along the way we detour through Jumanji, Lord of the Flies, Alice in Wonderland, The Queen's Gambit, a Garry Kasparov masterclass, and the ancient Indian roots of chess. Grab your game pieces and play along! Episode Highlights [01:27] Jenn sets the stage with games as a core part of being human [09:44] Jodi on “Dear John” [22:46] Jenn on “Foolish One” [37:28] Maansi on “End Game” [52:57] Honorable mentions lightning round Mentioned in This Episode Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga Man, Play and Games by Roger Caillois Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg Lord of the Flies by William Golding Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks The Mahabharata Browse all our picks at bookshop.org/shop/apts Film and TV The Queen's Gambit (Netflix) Jumanji (1995) The A-Team (1983) Follow Along Website aptaylorswift.com Instagram @APTaylorSwift TikTok @APTaylorSwift YouTube @APTaylorSwift Linktree @APTaylorSwift Email aptaylorswift@gmail.com Rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen, and tell us your favorite game reference in the comments! Extra Credit on Substack We barely scratched the surface on games (we didn't even get to video games). Find more extra credit on our Substack at aptaylorswift.substack.com, and join After School, our paid tier, for bonus content from all three of us.   Intro music by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z. AP Taylor Swift is an independent podcast and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Taylor Swift, her team, or her record labels.

Indian women's 4x400m relay team ended the nation's wait, by securing our only athletics gold at the Asian Games. The team comprising of Kiran Pahal, M R Poovamma, Prachi Chaudhary and Vithya Ramraj, also won back India's traditional top spot. They are the latest behind India's spectacular success in women's 4x400m relay, since 1982. Shekhar Gupta traces the story of women's 4x400m relay as an Indian brand, how our nation rose in this particular branch of track & field, and the generations of women's 400m relay quartet who have made the nation proud. #CutTheClutter Episode 1910 also looks at the setbacks and hurdles.----more----Read India Today's article here: https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/special-report/story/19901031-xi-asian-games-indian-athletes-performed-miserably-but-officials-stole-show-813165-1990-10-30

Carmen takes time to apply the mind of Christ to the matters of the day, including the policy agreement brokered by the White House with AI tech companies on how to provide guardrails in its development.  Plus, when does a headline belie the reality of a news story?  Mission Network News' Ruth Kramer updates us on the legal challenges ot an anti-conversion law in an Indian providence, among other areas where God's people are ministering in the brokenness around them.     The Reconnect with Carmen and all Faith Radio are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here!

This is a special reissue from Season 1 of Identified. Hrishikesh Hirway has spent a decade getting artists to take their songs apart. On this episode of Identified with Nabil Ayers, the Song Exploder host takes his own story apart instead. Growing up the child of Indian immigrants in a Massachusetts suburb, a food-scientist father, a mother with a master's in literature working at Sears, in a family he describes as "four fourths equals one." It's a conversation about what happens when the whole fractures. His mother, the family's anchor and storyteller, losing her voice, and the grief he only recognised he'd been accumulating for years; a run of hard autumns since; choosing not to have kids and feeling the numbers dwindle; the guilt of the prodigal son who chose music over medicine; and the first song he'd written in ten years, born from a dream of her. And through it all, the Thanksgiving his family invented, forty people in a small house, two full meals, and his mother's legendary mango pie, which went on to a New York Times tribute and a Salt & Straw ice cream flavour she never got to see. His answer to what family is might be the show's loveliest yet: a sectional couch, a Friday night movie, and everyone squished in. 00:00 "Four fourths equals one"01:04 An immigrant family in the suburbs02:39 Inventing their own Thanksgiving07:12 Exeter at 1309:15 His mother, the anchor13:49 A shrinking family16:08 Choosing not to have kids20:00 Music, guilt & the prodigal son28:12 The first song in ten years30:50 Mango pie & Salt & Straw32:57 What is family? The couch. #HrishikeshHirway #SongExploder #Identified #NabilAyers #Family #Grief #PodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Eavesdroppin' comedy podcast, Geordie & Michelle dive into the mysterious death of Indian music icon Zubeen Garg...When Bollywood star Zubeen died in Singapore in September 2025 after a swim off Lazarus Island, his death kicked off a bunch of questions and conspiracy theories back in Assam about what REALLY went down. Was his death a tragic accident due to booze, no life jacket and maybe a seizure? Or was there more to the story? Geordie looks at the details of his drowning, the theories that spread online and what the Singapore investigation and coroner's inquiry ultimately found. So grab a brown lemonade and settle in as the duo chat Zubeen, flight chaos, the Dixie Chicks and more on Eavesdroppin'. And remember, wherever you are, whatever you do, just keep Eavesdroppin'!*Disclaimer: We don't claim to have any factual info about anything ever and our opinions are just opinions not fact, sooorrrryyy! Don't sue us!Please rate, review, tell your friends and subscribe in all the usual places – it really helps :)Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/eavesdroppinDo write in with your stories at hello@eavesdroppinpodcast.com or send us a Voice Note!Listen: http://www.eavesdroppinpodcast.comorhttps://podfollow.com/eavesdroppinYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqcuzv-EXizUo4emmt9PgfwFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/eavesdroppinpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Indian stock market remained volatile, with investors closely watching global crude prices, the US Dollar, rupee movement and foreign fund flows. The Nifty 50 ended September at 22,620.45, while the Sensex closed at 72,480.29.Despite the broader market pressure, some sectors and stocks managed to show strength during the session. Banking, IT and infrastructure-related stocks were among the areas that provided support, highlighting the selective nature of the market's current moves. A key stock in focus is Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL). The stock saw sharp intraday volatility following reports of an explosion at its Mangaluru refinery, with the incident raising concerns among investors about its potential impact on operations. The USD–INR equation is another major factor for Indian markets. The rupee has remained under pressure from elevated crude prices and higher US Treasury yields, while RBI intervention has helped limit the currency's decline.What are the sectors showing strength despite the market weakness? Why did MRPL come under pressure? How is the US Dollar affecting Indian equities and the rupee?In this episode of IPS Finance, we decode today's market movement, the sectors that showed positivity, the reasons behind MRPL's volatility and the impact of the USD on Indian markets.

The latest poll just blew the election wide open with a massive Green surge, leaving National and Labour tied at 28%. But behind the headline numbers, who actually holds the balance of power? Plus, New Zealand First candidate Bernadette Soares joins us to blow the whistle on dodgy migration deals, worker exploitation, and why she believes current immigration settings are failing everyday Kiwis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this broadcast of The Charlie James Show on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, host Charlie James opens by addressing a dramatic, thwarted hijacking attempt on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. He criticizes mainstream media coverage for downplaying the severe incident, in which a co-pilot allegedly attacked and stabbed the Indian pilot. The wounded pilot managed to unlock the cockpit door, allowing passengers—including a secondary "deadhead" flight crew on board—to storm the cockpit, overpower the attacker, and safely land the plane in Saudi Arabia despite a severed rudder. James argues this was not a simple disturbance, but an Iranian-backed terror attack aimed at killing over 170 Israeli passengers. Shifting focus to international national security, James discusses a recently disrupted terrorist threat near RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom, where police uncovered suspects with containers of petrol near the military base. Expressing frustration over the suspects being released on bail, James links this incident—and the broader threat environment—directly to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He highlights a 25-page propaganda letter recently issued by the IRGC to the American public, framing it as an attempt to divide U.S. voters and influence the upcoming midterm elections. Finally, James turns to economic issues, pointing out positive indicators such as cooling inflation (measured by the core PCE index), robust private job creation numbers from ADP, and upward revisions to GDP. He argues that mainstream media gatekeeping prevents the public from appreciating these economic achievements under President Trump, while callers chime in to debate the persistent impact of gas and food prices on everyday households.

In this edition of The Charlie James Show on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, host Charlie James breaks down major international security developments, national political battles, and local South Carolina electoral politics. The broadcast leads with an extensive analysis of a dramatic attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv. James details how the plane sharply descended 17,000 feet after a co-pilot stabbed the Indian lead pilot, who despite severe injuries unlocked the cockpit door. Passengers and an off-duty crew stepped in to subdue the attacker and safely land the aircraft—without a functional rudder—in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. James ties this event to broader global security concerns, referencing suspected Iranian state-sponsored terrorism and a recent UK counter-terrorism investigation at RAF Fairford. He highlights a 25-page political message directly issued to the American public by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ahead of the midterms. Shifting to the domestic front, James examines political and economic trends. He argues that key economic metrics—such as cooling inflation, strong private job growth (+90,000 in September), and revised GDP figures—are being downplayed by mainstream media outlets. The show includes lively listener call-ins debating gas prices, interest rates, and the Senate filibuster. James also zeroes in on local and national political contests, criticizing Democratic candidates like Annie Andrews in South Carolina and highlighting upcoming campaign events featuring Senator Darling Graham. Throughout the show, James urges conservative voters to remain vigilant, active, and united ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks!Adverbs of frequency are words like “always”, “sometimes”, and “never.” They are usually placed between the subject and verb. For example: He often practices piano in the afternoon.1. He never had problems with math.2. We always ate dinner around 8 o'clock.3. Mary always arrived early for meetings.4. I sometimes forget to eat lunch.5. My parents often speak French at home.6. My brother often gets up early to exercise.7. We usually visit our parents on Saturdays.8. I rarely eat Indian food although I like it.9. She can easily run ten kilometers.10. I usually drink a cup of coffee with breakfast.11. I have never visited China.12. He constantly checks his phone for new messages.13. They frequently eat dinner at a restaurant. 14. We hardly ever sleep past six o'clock.15. My parents rarely argue with each other.Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Support the showEmail me:  swift.water3883@fastmail.comYou can now support my podcasts and classes:Keep the podcasts coming! Thank you!

1901 CLAUDE MONETGlobal Security And Strategic GeopoliticsGUEST: Gregory Copley Gregory Copley analyzes global geopolitical shifts, focusing on China, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom. He describes the summit between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump as symbolic stability designed to prop up China's fragile domestic economy and internal Communist Party rivalries amid severe water and demographic crises. In Southeast Asia, Copley examines Indonesia acquiring an aircraft carrier under President Prabowo Subianto, signaling strategic modernization to safeguard vital maritime choke points between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Finally, he dismisses the Cardiff Memorandum, a sovereignty effort by Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish leaders, as grandstanding driven by frustration with Westminster government performance. File 5

In 2012, the discovery of rock art in caves on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi changed our understanding of early human history. Archaeologist Maxime Aubert tells Leo Dunlop how his team used a new dating technique to reveal that some of the cave paintings were tens of thousands of years older than previously thought.This challenged long-held ideas that art and storytelling originated in Western Europe. Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.When you subscribe to Witness History, you'll be taken inside turning points in world affairs from West Africa's fight back against Boko Haram in 2015 to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba “thaw” and the surprise announcement of restored relations. You'll discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal's worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. You'll explore culture and ideas too: Sweden's Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles' George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy's show to a sudden end. And if you're curious about inventions, we'll tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.If you're new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history – all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of BBC World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.(Photo: Sulawesi's cave art. Credit: Maxime Aubert)

The so-called “Cockroach” protests that erupted in India this past July grew quickly, gathering around them a number of different activist groups and individuals from various walks of life. These protests were met with tremendous state repression and censorship. Today we speak with Raaz and Sarthak, two student activists and organizers from Delhi, about the broad background to the struggles for education and a decent life, and how the fight has grown to encompass broad sectors of Indian society. Despite the attempts of the State and mainstream media to disappear these protests from the global mediascape, we learn how and why the protests and organizing has continued unabated, and what some of the key goals are.  Along with Raaz and Sarthak, we are joined once more by Suchitra Vijayan, director of the Polis Project and seasoned activist and journalist, who was also there as the protests unfolded.Raaz is a writer-researcher and independent journalist, currently pursuing their LL.B. from Delhi University, India. They are curious about different experiments in anti-fascist resistance, with a special interest in stories of criminalisation, gender, and people's movements. They are currently working with a small team to build a youtube studio / production house, @Krantikhana. They enjoy lofi music, indie animations, and Junji Ito novels.Sarthak is a non-binary filmmaker and journalist from Jamshedpur India. They seek experiential storytelling that is influenced by and derived from our zeitgeist. Their debut feature and core body of work lies at the locus of resistance, art, caste and language creation from the margins. Centering people and their politics, they aspire to re-discover fluidity in meaningful storytelling. They are currently working in an independent news organisation while building their own production house, @krantikhana.Suchitra Vijayan is an author, photographer, curator, and barrister. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India and How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? Voices of India's Political Prisoners. A 2023 New York Foundation for the Arts Nonfiction Fellow.  She is the founder and executive director of The Polis Project, a New York-based global magazine of dissent. She is the Chair of the International Human Rights Committee at the New York City Bar and teaches at New York University and Columbia University. She previously worked with the UN War Crimes Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, co-founded the Settlement Legal Aid Project for Iraqi refugees in Cairo.

How do we break the silence around youth mental health in South Asian and Indian American communities? Why do so many high-achieving youth suffer from internal burnout, and how can parents identify subtle warning signs before a situation becomes a crisis?In this vital episode of TRUST ME I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING, host Dr. Abhay Dandekar sits down with Dr. Apurva Bhatt, a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist at Stanford Medicine. Dr. Bhatt specializes in early identification of psychosis, suicide prevention strategies, school mental health integration, and culturally responsive care for South Asian diaspora families.Dr. Bhatt breaks down the "model minority myth," unpacks the intergenerational trauma and communication gaps between immigrant parents and second/third-generation youth, challenges the pervasive fear of "what will people say?" (Log Kya Kahenge), and shares practical tools for families—including digital media wellness plans, gamifying mental hygiene, and building community-based support systems.If this conversation helps you or someone you love, please LIKE, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE to support mental health awareness across our global community!--------------------------CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Welcome & Introducing Dr. Apurva Bhatt (Stanford Medicine)03:21 - Growing Up Indian-American: Navigating Identity & Complexity06:19 - Subtle Red Flags vs. Labeling Kids "Lazy" or "Spoiled"09:11 - Why Families Wait Until Crisis & Intergenerational Trauma11:24 - High-Achieving Youth, Bay Area Pressure & Internal Burnout14:43 - Actionable Steps for Parents: Modeling Breaks & Checking In17:55 - Sponsor Break: Travelopod  & Lotus Lane Coffee18:20 - Immigrant Parents & Diaspora Youth: Bridging the Cultural Gap25:24 - Deconstructing the Model Minority Myth & Digital Isolation28:16 - Digital Wellness Plans, Sports,  & Gamifying Mental Hygiene31:36 - Sponsor Break: Timberdog Ruffrest32:06 - Overcoming Stigma & "What Will People Say?"35:20 - Community Action, Storytelling (RCOZ) & Culturally Responsive Care39:50 - Key Takeaways: "Mental Health IS Health" & Hope for Recovery42:50 - Building Trust with Families & Empowering Youth Advocacy46:58 - Outro, Crisis Resources (988) & Community Shoutouts--------------------------EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS & KEY TAKEAWAYS:• Mental Health IS Health: Why shifting our foundational belief from viewing mental illness as a flaw to treating it like physical health changes everything.• Recognizing Early Red Flags: Moving beyond labels like "lazy" or "burnt out" to spot subtle behavioral, mood, and sleep changes early.• Deconstructing the Model Minority Myth: Why high achievement does not protect youth from internal anxiety, depression, or loneliness.• Actionable Prevention: Utilizing the AAP Family Digital Plan, encouraging real-world movement (sports, Garba, Bhangra, dance), and creating open check-in routines at home.CRISIS & MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES:If you or someone you know is in distress or experiencing a mental health crisis, please reach out for immediate support:

Crying After Stroke: What Bobby Chaggar’s Recovery Taught Him About Grief and Strength The night his stroke happened, Ramandeep “Bobby” Chaggar didn’t feel what he expected to feel. No pins and needles. No dramatic collapse. Just a left arm that wouldn’t answer him anymore.  He limped to the kitchen anyway, poured a glass of water, and brought one back for his wife because that’s what you do, even when your body has just stopped taking instructions from half of itself. It wasn’t until the ambulance service ran him through the BFAST test over the phone that the word “stroke” entered the room. A right ischaemic pontine stroke, in December 2023. He was, by his own account, in the best health of his life at the time: no blood pressure issues, no diabetes, cycling a hundred kilometres most weekends. Growing Up Believing a Stroke Meant You Were Gone Bobby grew up in an era and a family where a stroke wasn’t something you researched; it was something you heard about secondhand. “That particular cousin’s father’s grandfather had a stroke, and he’s gone,” is how the news used to travel. Nobody around him distinguished a stroke in the brain from a stroke in the heart. There was no internet to check, only the flat, final verdict that passed between relatives: he’s done for.  It’s a belief he carried into his own stroke, even as his medical training Bobby spent years as a veterinary surgeon in India before qualifying in Australia told him something else was happening. That veterinary background is exactly why he recognised what was going on in his own body faster than most people would. It didn’t make the belief disappear. It just meant he was fighting it from the inside while everyone around him was still catching up. Why His Arm Seemed to Move Then Stopped In those first disorienting hours, Bobby was convinced his arm had started moving again. He filmed it and sent the video to his sister as proof, he thought, that he was already turning a corner. By morning, the movement was gone. “It was like a bad dream,” he says. “I was like, what was that?”  What he was seeing wasn’t recovery. Doctors later explained that in the earliest hours after a stroke, the body can still fire off remnant spinal reflexes old movement patterns held in the spinal cord that can briefly activate on their own, independent of the brain damage that’s actually occurred. It’s a strange, almost cruel mechanism: the body offering a flicker of hope before the real work of recovery has even started. The Physio Who Promised Him He’d Walk Again Bobby spent 45 days in rehabilitation at Parkville, six months in a wheelchair overall, and credits one moment above almost everything else: his first physiotherapist he calls her Hannah sitting on the floor, moving his foot, and telling him he would walk again. It mattered enough that his book was originally going to be titled Walking with Hannah, before privacy considerations changed the plan. His son, who narrates the audiobook, still opens the acknowledgements by thanking her directly. Learning to Cry Again This is the part of Bobby’s story that speaks most directly to what so many stroke survivors go through and rarely say out loud. In his culture, and in his family, showing emotion, especially for the men expected to be providers and caretakers, wasn’t really an option. When his father died in 1997, he was told to be strong for his mother and sister. When his mother died in 2013, he was told the same thing again. “I’ve been told that stroke is a part of grief, and you should not suppress your feelings.” It took his brother-in-law showing up every day to help him with basic care showering, dressing, the things that felt hardest to accept before something shifted. His own psychologist eventually gave him the instruction that reframed everything: put on your own life jacket first, before you try to save anyone else. It’s advice Bobby now extends to every caregiver he talks to: the person supporting a stroke survivor needs their own support too, or they burn out trying to hold everything together. He isn’t alone in this. Bill has spoken openly on the podcast about his own experience with unexpected, involuntary crying after a neurological injury, and how much energy goes into reassuring the people around you that the tears don’t mean something is wrong. For Bobby, permission to cry didn’t erase the culture he was raised in. It just meant he stopped fighting it. A New Normal, On His Own Terms Bobby’s recovery is full of small, deliberate acts of reclaiming identity. He got his first tattoo not long after his stroke, partly, he says, because people notice ink before they notice a limp. He’s spent years slowly making peace with not tying a turban the way he used to, calling himself, with real affection, a recovering “turbanator.” He built his own incline-and-decline walking circuit near his home and quietly upped the difficulty every fortnight, the same instinct that now has him choosing stairs over the lift at the allied health course he’s completing. Running, he says flatly, is overrated. He can’t do it anymore, and he’s decided that’s fine. It’s the same acceptance that let him and his family move to Perth just one month after his stroke, and then move back again when isolation made the recovery harder than the geography ever was.  None of it looks like the version of recovery he grew up believing in, the one where a stroke simply meant a story was over. Bobby’s version has a motorbike with a sidecar he now rides himself, a book he wrote one voice note at a time because typing with one hand wasn’t fast enough, and a fairly simple message for anyone who asked him to just think positively: some things are still hard, and that’s allowed to be true at the same time as everything else.  If you’re navigating your own recovery or supporting someone who is, Bill’s book, The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened (recoveryafterstroke.com/book), walks through ten practical tools for rebuilding after a stroke. And if trauma has made your world feel smaller than it used to be, Bill’s newest book, Your World Doesn’t Have to Stay This Small, is written for exactly that.  If this episode helped you, you can support the show directly at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. Bobby Chaggar: Learning to Cry After Stroke (Interview) He was taught a stroke meant you were gone. Bobby Chaggar’s story proves otherwise and shows why crying after a stroke is nothing to hide. Highlights: 00:00 Introduction 02:00 Life Before the Stroke 09:28 Rehabilitation Journey 12:00 Crying After Stroke 14:52 Reflections on Recovery and Growth 26:33 The Promise of Recovery and Writing a Book 29:37 Cultural Identity and Personal Beliefs 37:28 Relocation and Its Challenges 41:44 The Importance of Caregiver Self-Care 44:10 Adjusting to a New Normal 51:09 The Journey of Riding Again 57:09 Bobby’s Journey of Unlearning and Grief Transcript: Introduction – Crying after stroke Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (00:00) I realized that I was having a stroke. because it was not their usual pins and needles and there was no sensation. I couldn’t move my arm. I managed to limp. I went all the way to the kitchen. I trudged a little to the kitchen. I had a glass of water, brought a glass for my wife. in the hospital, I thought my arm started moving. And the doctors, and when I got up in the morning, it was like a bad dream. No, it was not moving again. So I was like, what was that? Bill Gasiamis (00:19) Welcome back to Recovery After Stroke. I’m Bill Gasiamis and today I’m talking with Bobby Chaggar, a veterinary surgeon originally from India, now living in Melbourne, who survived a right ischemic pontain stroke in December 2023. Bobby’s story covers a lot of ground, the cultural belief he grew up with, that a stroke simply meant you were gone. The strange confusion of a spinal reflex that made his arm move before it didn’t. Physiotherapist whose promise changed the course of recovery and what it actually took for him as a man raised to be the strong one to let himself cry. Before we get into it, if trauma has made your world feel smaller than it used to be, my new book, Your World Doesn’t Have to Stay This Small, is exactly what it’s about. Search for it on Amazon or tap the link in the show notes to grab your copy today. And one more thing, this show exists because listeners decide it’s worth keeping going. There’s no other funding behind it. If an episode like this one has ever helped you or helped someone you love, even a few dollars a month on Patreon is what keeps these conversations free for the next person who finds themselves Googling this stuff alone at two in the morning, scared, looking for someone who’s actually been through it. That’s all. patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke.. A small amount every month makes a massive difference. But now let’s get into it. Here’s my conversation with Bobby. Bill Gasiamis (01:56) Bobby Chaggar. Welcome to the podcast. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (01:58) Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Bill. Life Before the Stroke Bill Gasiamis (02:00) So you grew up in a house with 22 dogs, three cats and a trilingual parrot as well, right? So what’s the situation there? You’re living with pets. Were you important in your family or Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (02:10) Ha ha. Bill Gasiamis (02:11) did the animals come first? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (02:14) the animals definitely did come first. my mother was also a teacher, but she decided to stay at home and be a stay you know, stay a worker from home mom for for the for the kids. And my parents never used to say no to any patient. So they used to admit everything and anything. And in India also it’s quite common to rehome pets and a lot of times they don’t get proper homes. So we used to say yes to everything. So I I specifically remember this number because my mom had fallen and broken her shoulder once while walking in Labrador. So that day we counted the animals and we said, okay, no, after this, no more. That’s it. And the parrot was trilingual because the kids would play with him, so he wouldn’t know nursery rhymes, he would know the whistles, and then my grandmom’s dialect was Punjabi, so he could he could swear in Punjabi, and he could swear in Hindi because my mom was Hindi. So that’s why trilingual. Bill Gasiamis (03:08) I love that. That’s an awesome way to grow up. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (03:09) Yep. Yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (03:12) Tell me about this bike though. So this Royal Enfield motorbike, what was the deal with that? Why was it coming to Australia? Why was it a big deal on that day? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (03:22) it was gifted to me by it was restored and gifted to me by my wife on my fortieth. And this time on my fiftieth, the guy who had restored it, he’s a friend of mine, he decided to build this sidecar and ship it to me. And it’s a vintage, it’s a nineteen seventy three. So I’ve literally grown up on motorcycles, drive riding them, and I was quite excited about the whole thing. And I was so excited because my son’s school was only five minutes away. So I was always looking forward that I’m gonna drop him off in school in the sidecar. It’s gonna be such a big thing for him. So it was quite cool. So that’s the reason we were expecting it. It took almost two months for it to come via ship. And you know, once a ship leaves the country, there’s no way of live tracking it. There they must must be ways for the guys who are doing it, but for the clients, they have no way. They have no clue. They just talk to the customer care. And you have no idea what’s happening. And suddenly one day it just pops up and they say, Yeah, it’s in customs. Here you go and you have to do this, this and this and come and pick it up. So that’s the excitement. Bill Gasiamis (04:23) So you get that phone call and that’s it. You’re on the bikes here. We’re going to go and get it. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (04:26) Yep, yep, yep. We were just looking forward for the bike. Yep. Bill Gasiamis (04:29) I love it. In your book, you wrote about your culture that when somebody Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (04:34) Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (04:35) has a stroke, most people believe that you’re gone, right? And it seems like you also believe that where does a belief like that come from? And what did you do in the first few hours? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (04:47) You know the first because it’s it’s it’s not I mean in the era I’ve grown up there was not a lot of internet. They were only encyclopedias. So getting information was a little challenge. So as as kids when we were growing up, we were just here that that particular cousin’s father’s grandfather had a stroke and he’s gone. That particular person’s family member has has had a stroke and he’s done for. So you know a few things like that. But there are families who’ve been through stroke. Now I’ve realized and also met them. So they know stroke one could recover from the stroke and one also forgets about it over time. I’ve heard that. But mostly the thought process was because it was not too kind of a disease. And we also did not know what is a stroke in the heart. Some would someone would say he had a stroke in the heart, someone would say he had a stroke in the brain. So we had no idea what that meant. We could just as kids, as growing up people, we just knew that he had a stroke and he’s done for, he’s gone. That’s one. And because of my medical background, my veterinary background, I realized that I was having a stroke. because it was not their usual pins and needles and there was no sensation. I couldn’t move my arm. I managed to limp. I went all the way to the kitchen. I trudged a little to the kitchen. I had a glass of water, brought a glass for my wife. And I’ve also realized, learnt from doctors here that there are remnant spinal reflexes which work for some time. So those reflexes help you I think, navigate the initial few hours. It’s just that’s how we are made. Because I, you know, in the hospital, I thought my arm started moving. And the doctors, and when I got up in the morning, it was like a bad dream. No, it was not moving again. So I was like, what was that? And I have a video of that. I was sending it to my sister. Look, my arm is started to move. Wow, I’m so happy. So they told me that was just a part of the spinal reflex. So maybe that’s what made me go to the kitchen and back. So we called the Ambos and they did the BFAST test. It was FAST initially, but now the acronym has changed to BFAST. so they did that over the phone and they confirmed it was a stroke. And they were they said they’ll be at my place in two minutes. And then we made the second phone call to my brother in law who works with neurointerventional surgeons all over Australia. He’s also vet by education. So I thought he might be the best person to give me advice. And he always used to share his stories of patients, aneurysms, brain things, strokes. So I thought that, you know, he he will fix me, man. So we called Bill Gasiamis (07:10) Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (07:11) him and he said, Come straight to Royal Melbourne and th that’s where I was. And and the Amus asked me, he they said, Your catchment is northern, but where do you want to go? I said, Please take me to Northern because my brother’s gonna be there. So they drove me to Royal Melbourne and that’s where my journey started. Yep. Bill Gasiamis (07:27) Yeah. My journey started at the Austin hospital, ended up at the Royal Melbourne as well. And I had my surgery there and I learned to walk again at the Royal Melbourne hospital and at their Parkville facility where the rehab was done. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (07:42) Yeah, that’s where I was. Yep. Bill Gasiamis (07:43) Yeah, good experience. Really helpful. So you are also a vet. Okay. A surgeon as well. Are all Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (07:52) Yes. Bill Gasiamis (07:53) vets surgeons? Do they all operate on animals? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (07:56) So in primitive times, the veterin surgery education is made around five types of animals, which is a canine, which is dogs, that that species, filine, which is cats, equines, which is horses, bovines, which is cattle, and one animal from wildlife, and one random fish, including birds. So we have to compare them in all aspects. So when we technically pass out, or rather I would say, When we used to technically pass out in those years, we were supposed to take take care of everything surgeries, medicine, prevention for all these species throughout. And obviously it was a it was a big experience learning practically as we went. Because when my father became a vet, my my grandparents were like, I don’t know whether anybody’s gonna get married to him or not. They they got worried. It was looked so down upon though that profession, you know. So he bought clamor to it. He showed everybody that passion. Can happen. It can happen in bed science also. In India. It must be good in other countries, but that’s all I know about India. Only the rich class had the dogs. The Britishers, they’re the people who were connected to the Britishers when they had gone, when they had left the country. Only that rich class was able to afford dogs because you know it was a poor country. So that’s where he started. Yep, yep. Yep. And now you have specializations Bill Gasiamis (09:05) Yeah, understood. Understood. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (09:08) on around everything. Now you can be a surgeon, you can be a bone surgeon. There’s a friend of mine, he’s a he’s a animal onko oncologist. So things like that. Yep. Bill Gasiamis (09:17) amazing how far things have come. So Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (09:19) yes, definitely. Yeah. Rehabilitation Journey Bill Gasiamis (09:20) the fact that you were kind of a surgeon, even if it was in veterinary surgery, Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (09:28) Yep, yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (09:30) does that kind of medical knowledge that you have make it harder to face what you’re going through? Do you apply those kind of medical skills onto your own condition? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (09:42) I would say it definitely helps in doing research and digging out evidence based study because that’s how we’ve been trained, right? So we have to we have been trained to look for specific information in a specific way. So I thought I think that is what probably helps a little bit extra when someone is from that background. So most of the medical jargon we understand because it’s same. Every all animals are same, mostly, except the ruminants which have four stomachs. So Bill Gasiamis (10:06) Mm-hmm. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (10:07) so So the single stomach animals are mostly similar, and how the physiology of the body works, how the brain works, how the conduction works, all the diseases, they have things like MS, they have things like diabetes. We used to treat them all the time. So yeah, yes, it helps. It does. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (10:22) Yeah, that’s fascinating. I love it. so give me a little bit of an idea of you’ve gone to hospital. you realize that your arm is moving and now it’s no longer moving. And then how long were you in hospital for? And what was that, experience like what, what was your hospital stay like? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (10:43) I remember I was very emotional. Even now I’m very emotional. If I talk about nice things, I end up crying sometimes. Or I laugh more, I cry more. But I was really worried at that point. I didn’t know what’s gonna happen. My cousins used to call me, my friends used to call me, doctors used to go past and they would tell me that you’ll be fine, man. And you know, that was you’ll be fine was was kind of unbelievable because nothing’s moving. I mean I I don’t know how that’s gonna happen. Bill Gasiamis (11:09) your left side your whole left side was gone. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (11:11) Yeah, I was on the wheelchair for about six months and I was in the same rehab as you just mentioned at Parkwell for 45 days. Bill Gasiamis (11:18) Hmm. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (11:18) And if we must have been to the chapel, which is just behind the Parkville camp campus. So I used to go there every day. My son used to wheel me there. Yeah. So it was it was quite overwhelming for me because I didn’t know what was going on. I had heard that there are these injections which which are given within the golden period. Crying After Stroke And they can just reverse the stroke instantly. But I did not know the concept. So those injections basically work and dissolve the clot which is in the brain. But if if if the stroke is of a bleeder’s type, it can also kill the person. So we were waiting for the MRI. We are waiting for the MRI when’s that gonna happen. And it was unfortunately a Saturday night, Sunday morning. So everything were lined up. You know how the systems are in Melbourne. So all the emergency patients who are dying are first, people who are not dying are second, people who just Got normal things, they’re third. So things like that. So probably that took a little while. So I had my MRI on Monday. So I was in the hospital till Monday. I just had nurses coming in assessing me if I could stand, if I could step forward, step backwards. I mean, obviously they were doing my cognition tests and everything. I got tested for a drug which was is which is called clopedrogel, I think. that is the one which dissolves clots. So they give that as an oral thing to you and they test the blood in the body that whether it responds to that or not. So they are ready for it. As soon as they have the result, they just shoot you with injections. But it was unfortunate that I got diagnosed only in about twenty four hours. And then they moved me to the rehab. I was lucky to get a room and this amazing partner in my room, and that’s that’s when my rehab started. Bill Gasiamis (12:47) What was the cause of the stroke? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (12:48) Nobody knows. I was pr absolutely healthy. I don’t have blood pressure. I don’t have diabetes. I don’t have anything with I was cycling hundred kilometers on the weekend. I was walking my dog twice a day. I was very, very active. Even now I’m very active. I was I was when I was in rehab, obviously I started eating I was eating the same and I was obviously not exercising. So my weight went up to 120 kilos, for example, because my activity was so high. People were literally telling me that you’re eating like a Labrador, man. What happened? What’s happening? I was just like this. And the food in Royal Melbourne rehab is really good. They come to you with a menu and they ask you what you want. And so I was ordering everything I loved. So and I was hearing in one of your podcasts before, it it was literally like that. I had the I’ve had the best time of life in the last two years. Different realization, it’s changed me, and I’ve just had the best time. I always liked exercising. I’ve exercised Bill Gasiamis (13:39) Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (13:42) exercised so much at the last two years, it’s not even funny. I think he must be listening that I want to exercise. He said, Okay, go for it, man. Bill Gasiamis (13:51) You got to, you, you sounds like you were given, this like massive learning opportunity, but also a scary learning opportunity. Things were really difficult. at one point, but things have kind of progressed. Well, things are going well and that’s awesome. you’ve taken it, you’ve taken it away where this is an opportunity to grow, to learn, to try new things. but what was it like on your on the day that you noticed some movement, like in rehab, I think was that on day 28 or something like that, there was a little bit of, first Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (14:26) I think it was twenty five it was I think. Bill Gasiamis (14:28) voluntary voluntary movement first, first, yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (14:30) Yeah, correct, correct. I still have that video. I remember there was this friend of mine who used to come to the hospital and she used to massage my arm. So that is also called I think it’s called passive passive stretching. And she would really press my arm and she will caught cause me pain. And I’ve been told that I’ve got a good pain threshold. Maybe that’s because of my martial arts training when I was younger. Reflections on Recovery and Growth Bill Gasiamis (14:52) Okay. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (14:53) So she used to press my arm and it was really painful. And I remember my roommate, he he had a problem with his arm, and they had to give him Botox injections to paralyze those muscles. So he could move and the muscles could be pain free. So that’s a that’s a routine thing which they do. So Botox is basically bottleneum toxin, which causes paralysis. and they give it in the muscle which is spas spas which is spasming for the person and it it releases the muscle and they feel better. So I was fortunate that she was there and I remember after her Three, four weeks of massaging my hand, and my wife used to be sitting beside my bed and she used to be pressing on my left leg, I remember. So that particular day I could see my foot move a little like this, b which I could. So that was that was a big one for me. I just cried and I didn’t know what to what to expect. my God. Yep. Bill Gasiamis (15:41) tears of relief. Yeah. that is all often a very good sign. And then, a lot of people kind of built from that. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (15:52) Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (15:53) but were you, were you near the diabetic ward as well? Were you watching people, have amputations walking out after a few days and getting down about that, that they, why are they getting out so quick? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (16:06) So, you know, the the building which is opposite to the rehab facility on Parkville Road on the other side is the diabetic ward. Bill Gasiamis (16:11) Yep. Right. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (16:13) So those patients after their surgeries, after their treatments are shifted into rehab. And I could see that these guys are coming in and because initially I was a little curious that what’s happening here. This guy, you know, he’s he’s got an amputation and he’s just gone. After three days, four days, they would go away. So then they would new new patients come in, they would learn how to walk, then three, four, five days they’ll go away again. So I had no clue what was going on. But then over time I realized there was a diabetic ward. So those were guys was ob obviously coming in because of their neuropathies. They’ve lost some limbs. Some people were lucky, they only lost fingers, some people unlucky, they lost legs, arms sometimes. But it can be it can be quite challenging for them also, you know, certainly because it’s too quick. I I think stroke is still slow. It gets you ready, it gets you going, but it’s it’s slow paced. And now I’m an expert, I know what is gonna work. So I’m still completing three years in December. So With an exercise, I I know the stress and I know the difficulty and and and I can feel it. I can feel it that this will work. So in their in their case they don’t have time. They just lose a limb and they just have to learn in three, four days. Fortunately their brain is okay, so they are more you know, neuroplastic, I would say, but as compared to us. Bill Gasiamis (17:17) So was playing on your mind a little bit, seeing this difference in the way people were rehabilitating after an amputation compared to a stroke survivor. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (17:26) Yes, hundred percent. And considering that one of my family people, my uncles, cousins, far cousin, he had passed on because of this particular problem. And it because of the way the medicines and the medical system is in India, so I saw that he ha also had to be his one of his toes had to be amputated. and he had a neuropathy and then he lost his foot and he eventually died because of kidney problems. So this does happen in diabetic patients, very common. So it I kept thinking of those those days, you know, when I would I would hear of him, we would go and visit him in hospital. So it’s very different. They are Bill Gasiamis (18:02) Hmm. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (18:03) more conservative, they try to save the limb. Here they are more aggressive. They say that we if there’s a the there’s gangrene here, we want to cut from here and we want to make sure that you’re safe. Your life is safe. So they they are more aggressive here. Over there, they say, We’ll try to save this, we’ll try to save this, we’ll try to save this. So it’s it’s different. We have Bill Gasiamis (18:18) Yeah. So I’m to make a few huge assumptions. You’re a male, you’re Indian and your culture probably makes it difficult to accept care, especially when it comes to physical care. you know, being treated as stroke survivor in a rehabilitation hospital, when your left side’s not working means that people have to shower you and, help you at the bathroom and all that kind of stuff. What was that like for you? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (18:47) It was hard. Then that was another time when I was really crying. Maybe it happens to everyone, you know. I’m not special. But I I was I was quite emotional and it took me a couple of days to get used to my brother in law coming in, and he said, I’ll do it for you, man. And he’s he’s a champ. And he would come every day. So it’s in our culture, it’s it’s I think it’s maybe egoistic or maybe it’s how we are. That the elder people or the boys are more looked from a perspective of as providers and caretakers. So I remember when my father passed on in 97, I was told that be strong for your mom, be strong for your sister. And then when my mom passed on in 2013, I was told the same thing: be strong for your sister. But there was one of my friends, one of my uncles, who told me that, you know, you need to do something, you need to have a couple of drinks, go to a corner and just cry it out, man. It’s important. So now I know that grief is important. and I was I’ve been told that stroke is a part of a grief and you should not suppress your feelings. Like I can do with that box of tissues right now. I can go all out. No problem. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (19:50) Yeah, man. I’m the same. was just talking about my situation a few days ago. This happened to me in 2013. Brain surgery was in 2014 and I cry all the time. It’s not really like it’s strange. Have you heard of the super pseudo bulb affect? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (20:06) Which one is that? No, so no, I’ve Bill Gasiamis (20:07) It’s a condition. It’s a condition where people who with neurological injuries tend to cry, or laugh Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (20:14) More. Bill Gasiamis (20:15) more and out of the blue suddenly. And often at the beginning, it’s a very difficult to control. And then later it gets better. But then for me, I, you know, a couple of years ago, I was told to go and do a presentation for the Royal Melbourne hospital neurosciences, gala ball to, to tell them what stroke, sorry, what neurosurgery meant to me, you know, like, I’m only standing there because of neurosurgery without it, I wouldn’t be standing there. My surgeon was in the room. It was 400 people in the room. And I got up and I didn’t make it to the front lectern before I started crying. And then when I got up to say the speech, I was holding on to the lectern, just waiting for the crying to stop just so that I can start the speech. And then through the speech, I had to stop a couple of times. Now I wasn’t upset. I wasn’t sad. was, I was excited, but the 400 people and the, situation talking about me, my family, et cetera, and having to describe what neurosurgery meant to me made it impossible to get through that speech. I got through it, but it was, Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (21:16) Yep, yep, yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (21:20) but it was interesting to go through that, you know, 13 years, you know, 12, 13 years later, like it was, yeah, crazy. So, Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (21:25) Two thirty news, huh? So Bill Gasiamis (21:28) It’s not uncommon, very, very common. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (21:30) So tell me something, is it easy for you to have a poker face? Bill Gasiamis (21:34) If the, not in a, not in a situation where I have to talk about something that’s emotional, that’s about me, my experience. And if my family involved, forget about it. can’t stay out kind of the poker face. No way. Yeah. But I can in a poker game when we’re trying to take somebody else’s money. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (21:52) I think same, same. So it’s similar. I can I can cry on animations also. And my son says that he’s crying, you it’s on animation also. It’s a good movie. Good movie story. And that’s you’re done. Bill Gasiamis (21:59) Yeah. Yeah, I used to cry with the cat tripping over or something Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (22:05) Ha ha ha. Bill Gasiamis (22:06) silly, know, crazy stuff. And my wife would be going, what are you crying about now? I don’t know. I’m just crying. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (22:12) Short short. Bill Gasiamis (22:15) And the difficult part is not me. It’s the people around me thinking that I’m sad or thinking that there’s something wrong. And that’s reeducating them so that they know that’s not what’s happening. what’s today today we’re recording on Saturday on Thursday night. I was in Melbourne at Marvel stadium. there was an electronic dance music festival, 60,000 people in a stadium for a DJ. It Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (22:39) wow. Bill Gasiamis (22:39) was a most amazing electronic dance laser show. It was sensational. Now my wife didn’t see because it was too dark and she was focusing on the show, but you know, I had about three or four moments where I cried. But it wasn’t big cries, it was just tears and excitement and something else happening that made me cry. And I was moved by the fact that I was A, at the event, B, it was such an amazing event that all the people there were having a great time. Like, it was moving rather than sad or upsetting or, Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (23:14) I understand. Bill Gasiamis (23:16) and telling, kind of trying to bring people into understanding that that’s what’s happening. That was the hard part because you know, we’re from a Greek family. They see you cry. Everything’s terrible. Everything’s bad. You know, they don’t know. They don’t know how to deal with it. You know, so you’ve got to reeducate people. That was the hardest part of that experience for me. That’s all it was. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (23:37) No, because I keep thinking that since I was always in sales and I enjoyed my sales, I don’t know if that’s gonna settle down ever with me, my emotions. Bill Gasiamis (23:47) will, it will settle down and then sometimes it will just come out of nowhere and you won’t, you wouldn’t have expected it. Yeah. It changes for a lot of people. remember interviewing one gentleman. can’t remember his name now. And on the, on his wedding day, he told me that he was almost dehydrated from crying so much, you know, and he needed to continue, continue his fluids so that he doesn’t dehydrate. It was. We laughed about it like you and I are laughing. Cause that’s he’s got to that stage where it’s like, wow, you know, it is what it is. Like no big deal. He was totally moved by the fact that he was a alive, able to be at the wedding, get married to the person that he loved. and then, and then later on they had a kid and it was down all downhill again from there, you know, more tears, more crazy stuff. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (24:33) Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (24:34) It’s, it’s, it’s involuntary. And I think it’s actually very helpful for me. It’s helpful to just get it out. Like what your mate said, you know, just go into the corner and have a cry, get it out, and this whole thing, you know, our culture is the same and many cultures are the same. It’s like, you know, the men are not supposed to show emotion. You’re supposed to toughen up, you know, be stronger for everybody else. And nobody checks in with you to say, you know, okay, how are you doing now? That’s That’s just how it is. Many cultures are like that. So who’s Hannah? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (25:05) So Hannah was my first physio who was, you know, it’s it was quite moving for me from that perspective as well. Because I I always thank and thank my stars that I got unwell in Australia. Because there are so many systems here which help younger people like NDIS and got all kinds of help. And and the medical is top-notch. The medicine is top-notch. The first day that I remember they took me to the physio room. I had this pretty girl. I c we couldn’t see them because you know it was post COVID so everybody was still using masks. But I could just see the eyes. And she was so beautiful. So she sat on the floor and she was moving my foot. So it was quite moving for me, even now. Sorry for that. Bill Gasiamis (25:41) Yeah. Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (25:42) So that was Hannah. Initially, my book was supposed to be called Walking with Hannah. So, but one of my advisors told me that look, if the book becomes really popular, then she is gonna benefit more. Change the name, man. Change it. And there are different privacy laws in Australia. So just to make sure that you are around the privacy laws, don’t put anybody’s name on it. Bill Gasiamis (26:03) Like you’re on the ground. She’s moving your leg or your foot and she makes you a promise that you would walk again. Now that’s a pretty big deal to hear that from somebody who’s in the rehabilitation space trying to help you to recover. And I think at the same time, that’s kind of when you had the realization that you should write a book. how did that come about? What was the, why did that carry so much weight that situation? The Promise of Recovery and Writing a Book Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (26:33) Should I be ready with our tissues? Have you had people who really, really break down badly on a show? Is it okay? Bill Gasiamis (26:39) Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah, it’s okay. And yes, they have. Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (26:43) So I think in that situation For me, only that one promise coming from a physio was a big deal. I wanted to share with my friends, I wanted to share with my clients. I’ve got a lot of good people in my book, and vice versa. So I I wanted to share with all of them what I’m going through. So I was constantly taking pictures, recording voice notes. I was not so good at typing because you know I just had gone from two hands to one hand. So I just couldn’t type. So I was I was doing a lot of voice to text notes, I was writing notes, I was taking pictures, I was taking videos. We are very audiovisual. I am very audiovisual rather. So I was really doing a lot. And then I also have a habit of listening to audiobooks. And I was doing prayers and I was listening to audiobooks. I don’t even remember what book I was listening to. maybe I think it was Andrea Gossi the one. I was listening to that one. Moving story. Good story. So I thought, hey, why why don’t why can’t I convert all this what I’m writing into a book? So and I had ample time. So I thought Bill Gasiamis (27:41) Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (27:42) I was like, yeah, let’s do it. It was not it was not a business model. It was not Bill Gasiamis (27:45) Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (27:45) something which will actually make money. There was no thought around it. I just Bill Gasiamis (27:48) Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (27:48) wanted to write a book. I was just emotionally wanted to write a book. I was just compulsive. I wanted to write a book. That’s it. Done. Yep, yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (27:55) I love it. I know that I know that feeling like same same here when I wrote the first book, Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (28:01) Yes go. Bill Gasiamis (28:01) the unexpected way this joke became the best thing that happened. It was like, I’ve learned all of this stuff. And I kind of don’t want to forget it. I want to have it in one space. I want to capture the moment as well. Like it’s like a time in history, a snapshot Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (28:14) Yeah, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (28:14) of history, you know, that book. And if I can just put everything in a book, then I could well, I could have a book, but then if people want to buy it and it helps them. then that would be a bonus. So it was the idea was about that. And then, of course, when you have a book, you may as well have the best book, and you may as well sell as many copies as possible. Well, what’s the point of having a book otherwise, you know, you want to make sure that it gets sold. So I really relate to what you’re saying about that. My book idea came in hospital as well. So no, the podcast came in hospital as well. I was getting wheeled transferred from the Royal Melbourne. to Parkville and I was waiting in the transit lounge and that is when I had the idea to start the podcast, but I was never going to do it. I don’t think I was going to do it. A friend of mine put the idea in my head later on again. And because of that, the podcast emerged. I had the idea, he reinforced it. And then I went ahead and did it. And the book again was an idea from another friend. You’ve learned all this stuff, know, you know, how, are you going to do with it? You how are you going to… tell other people about it. The podcast was one way and then the book was another way. And of course, then it’s not just about me, it’s about other people as well. Now, if I understood correctly, are you from the religion, the Sikh religion? Did you seek right? Cultural Identity and Personal Beliefs Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (29:37) Yes, I’ve yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (29:40) And in the religion turban is quite important. How was that? How is dealing with that situation where your left side doesn’t work and the use or the need to have a turban on your head, do you kind of deal with that? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (29:57) So I’ve been through times in my life when I was without a turban for a couple of months because I had a ac I had a small unfortunate accident with my Jeep. So I had to cut off a little bit of hair, so I just didn’t bother p going back to the turban initially. So and and I was I’m not very religious, religious. So And I was very proud of my turban because people used to tell me that your turban looks fantastic, man. You’re the best looking Sikh we’ve we’ve seen around, you know. So I was quite proud of it. And I was I used to feel on top of the world with my turban. So every every trip of mine, every travel of mine, I had to pack a couple of turbans and and I’m I think I am O C D. So I used to match it with my shirt. Sometimes I used to match it with my ties. It should should be the same color. Sometimes I’ll match it with my jeans. So you know it was it was quite a task. Every time I’m traveling. But I loved it. Having said that, I decided that my son is not gonna be a turbanator. I called myself a turbanator because of the same reason. I said that’s one thing less to take care of. It’s not that I don’t w want him to be a Sikh. He he realizes he’s a Sikh. He’s a good Sikh. He does what I do in the Sikh Sikh temple as well, which is serve. But from a religious perspective, he’s okay. He you don’t have to have a turban on your head to be that religion. You know, you can be a good person from that religion perspective also. So I was very proud of it and not being able to do it initially was a big blow to my ego or my you know image in my own brain. I lost I lost my identity, I I thought, and and my my prayer consisted of that that you know I hope I can go back to tying a turban. Even you can see I still don’t dye a turban. A lot of my friends tell me that I look good like this. The man bun suits me. But you know, I’m like, okay, go with the flow. Well, let’s see, let’s see. Bill Gasiamis (31:37) Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (31:38) Yep, yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (31:39) so it’s challenging for people, right? Like if somebody is wearing a turban for their entire lives, then they have a stroke and then they can wear a turban because they can’t tie a turban. Then you can understand why that would be impactful in another way, you know, to their identity, to, their beliefs, to all the things that are associated to a turban. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (32:00) You know, it was it was more like a shame. It was more like Bill Gasiamis (32:03) Uh-huh. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (32:03) a shame of an uncovered head, nothing on the Bill Gasiamis (32:06) Uh-huh. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (32:06) head. Because whenever my father would get up in the morning, he’ll make sure that he just wraps around a cloth around his head. When I would whenever I would get up in the morning, I’ll put something on my head, then I’ll go out. So, you know, we had a smaller version, we had a bigger version, which was a formal more formal thing. So we were always used to having something on the head. So it’s what which was more shame shameful, you know? Yep, yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (32:25) Yeah. Is it personal shame or is it or back in the day was a shame within the community from other people? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (32:33) I think we were we were brought up both ways. So personal shame number one, and a lot of times when we had gone to temples with a cap on my head, for example, some elder would come up to me and they were this is a very conservative community also in those times. You know, they would tell Why you wearing a cap? Just take it off. If you like wearing a cap, you can just cut your hair. Or if you know, Sikhs and smoking don’t go together. So it’s not that the religion says that you can’t smoke. Since they are warriors, they’re supposed to be a warrior race. It was just said that you don’t do any kind of bad thing to your body, just take care of yourself, be healthy. So if if if someone saw a Sikh smoking in public, they will definitely go up to them and tell them that if you are a Sikh, why you smoking, man? You should cut your hair. Just take it easy. So things like Bill Gasiamis (33:10) Uh-huh. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (33:10) that. It was a very conservative society and it was a taboo. Smoking was a taboo, for example. So that’s how we grew up. So that’s the turban part. But I was I was more more spiritual and I was just more Personally ashamed of not being able to do it. Bill Gasiamis (33:23) Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (33:24) But I think it’s it’s it’s worked well. So I’m I’m kind of in a in a gray area now. You know, I’ve come back to hair. So I I will I will I’m open to tying it again. I want to do it, but I’m not rushing it. I know it’ll Bill Gasiamis (33:34) Yeah. Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (33:36) happen. It’ll happen one day, 100%. But I’m not Bill Gasiamis (33:38) Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (33:39) too eager. Yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (33:40) a lot of stroke survivors get tattoos. Did you get a few? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (33:43) yes. This one for example And it’s got my son’s name here. is it? It’s here. That’s Raj, Raj, yeah, that’s his name. So Bill Gasiamis (33:55) Uh-huh. Is that the impact that arm that, the arm that was impacted by the stroke? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (34:00) It’s it’s very funny you asked that because you know we were not very pro tattoo. I mean, to to risk due respect to everybody who’s got a tattoo. It’s not it’s nothing negative. But we we were not very inclined to color our bodies in any r any way, right? When we grew up. So, but but there’s a friend of mine who was visiting me in hospital. He had a few, and he was in New Zealand for a long time. So he was he had that Kiwi influence, he had a Kiwi wife. my first nurse who sat with me and she told me that, you know, you’ll be fine. And she held my hand. So she had a few. So maybe that had my had an effect. And then my brother in law said, he said, just don’t worry, man. When he’s when he saw me upset, he just told me, he You don’t have to be upset, you’re alive. Just just get okay, get a few tattoos, just travel around the world, do that. So, you know, that was that’s just got stuck in me. That okay, I want to do this. So I did it. Got it done. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (34:52) Was it like also, I Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (34:54) Mm. Bill Gasiamis (34:54) think you mentioned in your book, it was like a bit of a protection. Is this some, is was a way to change the conversation? what other role did it serve? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (35:03) So, you know, at that point I got it done specifically at that point because of the same reason. So I wanted to get it done, but I didn’t know when. So I just thought of it. I remember one day I was walking past someone and he was coming to that table and he sat down and people asked him about his tattoo, which is that which he had on his leg. So I was like, hey. So people are just noticing that. He’s such a gorgeous looking guy, man. He’s well dressed and look at his specks, what he’s wearing. Look at the car, he’s come in. So he was quite polished. So and still he had tattoos. So the it broke the s the usual stereotype, you know? Everything that’s stereotypical. So I thought, yeah, I think this is the right time for me if I want to do it, because people will not notice my little limp. Because I was still limping and I was in a bad way for for at least a year. I was quite negative in my mind. I mean, and especially when I was 120 kilos, I don’t know what to do about do about it because I could not exercise, I could not cycle. Just didn’t know what to do about it. And I could not fast at that time because I I was having so many medicines morning and evening. So it it would call a cause acidity. So I was quite negative end of the spectrum. But that’s the time when I realized when I then I thought that I don’t care about anybody else. I am just doing this, man. So I looked up a few people and this lovely girl who used to come to drive for me, she took me around we were in Perth at that time. So she took me around my house and we went we visited a few places and then there was this lovely gentleman who was coming to Perth and he was apparently from Melbourne. So that was my turning point. So this happened in December. I booked him for for my appointment for for my tattoo in Perth. But then he told me that he he said, look, if you want to move back, if you are moving back eventually, because I had that in my mind. I wanted to move back. So he said if you’re moving back, I’m based out of Melbourne, just come to me there. So that’s when it happened. That was my new year gift to myself. And everybody was so, you know, amazed with my the the thing which I had done on one leg. And they were like, Wow, that’s a good one. Man, where do you do it? I was like, there’s a special guy who does this. So I was just end up talking of that and not of anything else. I was so happy. I think, Bill Gasiamis (37:00) I love it. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (37:00) yeah, that helped that helped in my recovery for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Relocation and Its Challenges Bill Gasiamis (37:02) Great distraction, great distraction. Yeah. That’s a great idea. So one of the things my wife says to me every so often, she says, we should go live in a different location for a little bit, know, try the beach or whatever. And I’m thinking, well, you know, that sounds like a great idea. But in my immediately in my mind and in my body, I tense up and I just find that thinking about moving. emptying a house, filling another house, doing all that stuff just fills me with like dread. And I don’t know why it’s her idea is a great idea, but I just feel kind of comfortable or whatever. But I wouldn’t think of moving. You moved your family back to Perth. And what was that like? Because. I can’t imagine leaving Melbourne and going to Perth and packing up the whole family, the whole house and all that kind of stuff and doing that. Not because I can’t do them. I can’t live in another location because I can’t do all the work that comes with that before and all the work after. It feels like it’s going to take up way too much of my attention, time, energy. What was the move like for you? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (38:10) So imagine if you can say that ten, fifteen years into your stroke after recovering so much. So for for even that far recovery is difficult for them. So doing it one year into the stroke, or I would say one month into the stroke and moving everybody lock, stock, and barrel. I think that was the silliest idea I had. But my family supported me and we did it together and we did it. But it was pretty lonely for me. I was pretty lonely. We had no friends, we had no support system there. Although we were in a very good place, we were very central as compared to the country here. Because we were st always struggling to get physios in, OTs in. So it was, you know, a constant struggle. So over there we were central, so everything was okay, we’ll do this. It was just bang on. And I spent a good time just learning I mean, getting myself stronger, walking every day in the morning. So that was the positive. But I was quite negative, in here. Physically I was positive, but mentally I was quite I was a goner. Bill Gasiamis (39:03) Isolated, Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (39:03) But Bill Gasiamis (39:04) you isolated yourself Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (39:06) Yep, yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (39:07) unwittingly. Like you didn’t expect that that would happen. Is it just something that happened later? You, realized later. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (39:14) And plus, you know, I my my job, I my job questioned me that why should we not terminate your thing? Because we don’t have much in Perth. So if even if you become okay, why should we not Not let you come back. I mean, so we had the discussion and they almost fired me, but they were happy to take me back when I was back in Melbourne, but they still let go of me. So I don’t know where what happened. I don’t have a job. Bill Gasiamis (39:36) Yeah. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (39:36) So yep. So I think that was a very silly decision. But that whole year I spent like that in December, I moved for my son’s holidays to my sister’s house in Melbourne. She’s also in Melbourne, and we were there for about two months. she’s in the Bay side. So after spending that quality time with family and people who were familiar, I had friends visiting me, I had people visiting me, I had so many doctors, I had these doctors’ support system from RMH. supportive stride strides workshop, which was happening, things like that. So it was it just helped me recover. And I thought that this is it, man, that this is what I should do. And and then I was, you know, I was still talking to my psychologist over the phone, and she in the book by mistake, I I just wrote a he. I think I missed the S because of this bloody autocorrect. She told me that look, you need to wear your seat your life jacket first. You know, that was one statement. Ha ha. made me calculate and rethink. So that’s when we decided, okay, let’s come back. So twice, twice in here. Yep, Bill Gasiamis (40:38) Well then. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (40:39) yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (40:40) You need to wear your life jacket first. That’s Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (40:42) Yep, yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (40:44) such an amazing statement. And also, it’s really important for caregivers to remember that that they need to wear their own life jacket first. Because caregivers go through this with their loved ones, whoever they’re caring for that had a stroke, and they put themselves second. And then they suffer, they suffer because they haven’t got time to themselves because they get on well. And often with people who are very kind of motivated to help their loved one. Often they end up becoming sick and passing away before the stroke survivor. So everyone needs to put on their life raft, their own life jacket first. Once they’re stable and everything is okay, then they need to assess what they can do for the other person. I love that. Such a profound statement. I can see why it moved you so much. Often stroke survivors also complain, not complain, but they mention when somebody says, just think positively. what was it like for you to hear that? Just think positively Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (41:43) Okay. The Importance of Caregiver Self-Care Bill Gasiamis (41:44) statement. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (41:44) I think my an analyzing people was out of the window. I was not analyz analysing anyone. I’m I’m not even judgmental as a person. So I don’t easily judge. I trust people at the first instance. Sorry. So it was quite common to hear that all the time. And I wouldn’t even tell anybody that I’ve had a stroke. I wouldn’t tell them. I will just talk to them. I will try to hide my walk. I don’t know, I was a little shameful. I don’t know why. For example, I’m reskilling to be an allied health assistant at the moment in Boxhill Institute. So it took me about six months before I disclosed to my class that, you know, I walk funny sometimes because of my stroke. Because I just didn’t want to tell anybody. I was a little apprehensive. And when I warmed up when everybody got to know me and I was I’m like probably the friendliest in the class. So everybody likes me. So then I told everybody, they’re friends. I said this is this is what has happened, that’s my book. Please read it. See if it helps someone. And I don’t know if this book is gonna actually help someone or not. I don’t know if there’s no scientific information in that. There’s no medical information. But what is gonna help in that book, I’m not sure. But the idea was just if even it can help one person. Bill Gasiamis (42:46) Yeah, that’s the thing. That’s interesting. I put podcast episodes out all the time. I I’ve got no idea which part will help, but somebody will reach out and they’ll pick an obscure part of the podcast episode. I’ll say that really helped me hearing that really helped me. And I was like, okay. Cool. We’ve, we’ve, we’ve achieved our outcome. It helped you. I’m happy that it helped you. And because everyone is in a different position and they’re looking for different types of information and you know, what’s, the timeline that they’re in in their recovery, whether it’s emotional, mental or physical is unique to them. So that one word might be overlooked by you and me, but then somebody else goes, that’s just the word I needed to hear. And that’s why 400 episodes of the podcast are really good because there’s something in at least one of those episodes for everybody, you know, so it will, it will help. It will make it so that people maybe even if they just realized that they can write a book, maybe if they realize that they could just share their story, that’s all, that’s good enough. Adjusting to a New Normal So, how about this whole new normal statement? Now some people are told that they have to adjust to their new normal. And I kind of, I see why people say that it helps with acceptance in some situations when you have to let go of how you went about the past, how you did your life previously. when you were more physically able-bodied or more cognitively able. So how did you handle the new normal comment statement? Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (44:20) I obviously didn’t like it initially. But then, you know, the whole religious part and how we’ve been brought up, it’s with a lot of acceptance. So which is, I think, important for a child sitting next to someone who’s a nobody, or for a child who’s sitting next to someone who’s super duper rich. Maybe he’s a prime minister of the country, but they are sitting on the same level and having food, for example, on the floor. Someone who’s sitting next to you who’s who cleans houses on the floor. They’re humans. So I think that probably got me ready for the acceptance. I mean, that that primed me for the level of expect acceptance we had. I had to work less towards accepting things. and yeah, for example, I can’t run at the moment. But then what I say to people about that, that it’s overrated, I don’t care. You know, for example, so that’s it. That’s my acceptance. That’s what I do. Make a joke of it, man. That’s it. You can’t do it, you can’t do it. What do you do? Bill Gasiamis (45:11) Dude, it is overrated. That’s the I’m going to use that now as well. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (45:16) Yep, yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (45:18) In a couple of weeks, I’m going to go and spend some time away with a friend of mine. I’ve got a really amazing friend. We grew up together. He used to work at the Royal Melbourne hospital when I was there. He was a radiographer and he would come and see me when I was admitted. He would do my scans. Amazing. Like I’ve known this guy my entire life since I was about four years old. And we’re going to go and spend eight days just away from the whole family, the wives, everybody. We’re just going to go to Hawaii for a little bit. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (45:46) Are you going running? Bill Gasiamis (45:46) He said to me, I wake up in the morning and I go for a run. I said, fantastic. I’m going to wake up in the morning and go for a walk. You go for a run. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (45:52) Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (45:53) I’m not running. I can’t run. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (45:55) You can run either, huh? Yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (45:56) Not anymore. No. My left leg, my left leg goes down a little bit differently from my right leg. And because I have proprioception issues and the feeling is not correct, I never know when it’s exactly in the right position. And I risk injuring my knee because sometimes I can overextend, hyper extend. And, and Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (46:15) Yep, yep, yep, yep. I know exactly what he’s saying, yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (46:17) I’m really concerned. And also my ankle, I’m not comfortable with my the foot going down and my ankle being solid. So I don’t want to run. I can run across the road to make sure that I’m safe and there’s no car coming too fast or injuring me, but I’m not running two kilometers or a marathon or anything like that. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar (46:37) I think walking is better. Yep, yep, yep. Bill Gasiamis (46:38) Yeah, I have to think about it too much as well. And it makes it more fatiguing, more exhausting. Ramandeep (bobby) chaggar

Indian Noir is an Indian horror podcast featuring original Indian horror stories, Indian creepypastas, paranormal tales, supernatural fiction, dark fiction, and immersive audio storytelling. Each episode is written, narrated, and produced by Nikesh Murali, Commonwealth Short Story Prize-winning writer, bestselling horror author, and professional narrator. - Buy my collection of horror novellas TALES OF HORROR at https://amzn.to/42XxAu5 - Donate via https://ko-fi.com/U7U03JREM to cover the web hosting and sfx costs. - Follow me on Instagram instagram.com/indiannoir This podcast is rated R 18+. It may contain classifiable elements such as violence, sex scenes and drug use that are high in impact. This podcast may also contain information which may be triggering to survivors of sexual assault, violence, drug abuse or mental health issues. Listener discretion is advised. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ryan Johnson, CAA is BACK on the Podcast for his second appearance - this time with a TECH TUESDAY segment! Ryan is the AD at Indian Rocks Christian School here in Florida and he does a great job for his kids and his program! THIS is The Educational AD Podcast!

The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have asked the UAE leader to deny reports by Haaretz newspaper that he had been warned about an imminent Hamas attack just days before October 7th. With elections now just a month away, Mr Netanyahu's rivals have seized on the report as just the latest example of warnings that he ignored. Also: we hear how unproven rape claims led to violent demonstrations erupting at an Indian university this weekend; we have the latest on protests in Spain sparked by the forced eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her flat; how scientists came up with a solution to help bananas stay yellow even when they're old or damaged; and the South Korean boy band, Big Bang, returns to London 20 years after they burst onto the music scene and helped turn KPop into a global phenomenon. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk Photo: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 24, 2026. Credit: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

On an English field in 1957, the final touches were made to what was then the largest radio telescope in the world. But designing and building the Jodrell Bank Observatory hadn't been easy.Sir Bernard Lovell, the mastermind behind the 76m wide dish, had to overcome money shortages, engineering difficulties and media scepticism. But as the space race took off in the 1960s, Jodrell Bank proved its worth, tracking American and Soviet missions.Jane Wilkinson has been through the BBC archives to find out more.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.When you subscribe to Witness History, you'll be taken inside turning points in world affairs from West Africa's fight back against Boko Haram in 2015 to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba “thaw” and the surprise announcement of restored relations. You'll discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal's worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. You'll explore culture and ideas too: Sweden's Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles' George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy's show to a sudden end. And if you're curious about inventions, we'll tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.If you're new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history – all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of BBC World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.(Photo: Lovell Telescope, Jodrell Bank Observatory, 1961. Credit: Touring Club Italiano/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Last time we spoke about the collapse of Johore. Trapped at Parit Sulong with 150 severely wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Anderson's Australians fought through Japanese roadblocks in a desperate bayonet charge singing "Waltzing Matilda." Unable to breach the bridge, Anderson was forced to abandon the injured, believing they'd receive decent treatment. Instead, they faced the Parit Sulong Massacre—tortured, executed, and incinerated by Nishimura's Imperial Guards. Few survived. Simultaneously, Endau fell after a costly RAF daylight raid. Brigadier Challen's brigade at Batu Pahat retreated through chaos, eventually evacuating by sampan. Most devastatingly, Brigadier Painter's 22nd Indian Brigade vanished into the jungle—a severed telephone line between brigades allowed Japanese infiltration, cutting them off completely. General Barstow died attempting to warn Painter. Only 63 of Painter's 2,000 men reached Singapore. The collapse of Johore was complete. The fortress awaited.   #221 The Malayan Campaign Part 3: The Fall of Singapore Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. On January 31st, the last defenders—the 2nd Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders—crossed the Causeway bridge into Singapore. The island was now under siege, though the military spokesman forbade use of the word "siege" to avoid demoralizing the population. Newspapers were permitted only "besieged," though the true situation was unmistakable to Winston Churchill, who had sent Wavell an unequivocal message two weeks prior: "I want to make it absolutely clear that I expect every inch of ground to be defended, every scrap of material or defenses to be blown to pieces to prevent capture by the enemy and no question of surrender to be entertained until after protracted fighting in the ruins of singapore city." This was Götterdämmerung in miniature—a fight to the bitter end. Wavell relayed Churchill's orders to Percival, who now faced two massive challenges: repelling a Japanese invasion of Singapore's northern coast while protecting the central island with its population and infrastructure. Following Churchill's directives, Percival ordered the destruction of the naval base in utmost secrecy. In a speech to his troops, Percival declared: "Our task has been both to impose losses on the enemy and to gain time to enable the forces of the Allies to be concentrated for this struggle in the Far East. Today we stand beleaguered in our island fortress. Our task is to hold this fortress until help can come – as assuredly it will come. This we are determined to do." Yamashita feared the British might use oil tanks in the naval base to ignite the Straits of Johore, creating a fiery barrier against his amphibious assault. He ordered his artillery and air force to bombard and bomb the tanks, creating a massive cloud of black smoke that enveloped the entire island. While Yamashita prevented the catastrophe he dreaded, the burning oil proved a double-edged sword—the smog made it extremely difficult for Japanese aircraft to locate targets and for artillery to maintain accuracy, wasting significant ammunition. Yamashita had positioned 200 artillery pieces and mortars within range, while Percival commanded 226 guns, including 29 large garrison guns and three massive 15-inch naval guns capable of rotating 360 degrees. However, the ammunition was armor-piercing, designed for ships rather than land targets. To conserve shells, Percival limited harassing fire to 20 rounds per gun daily. Yamashita envisioned firing 1,000 rounds from each gun to soften defenses. His heaviest artillery comprised 105mm guns firing 68-pound shells, but most were Krupp 1890 model 75mm guns firing lighter 11-pound shells compared to British 25-pounders. Yamashita faced an artillery shortfall. More critical was troop disparity: Yamashita had approximately 30,000 men for the assault, while Percival commanded nearly 90,000—though Percival believed the Japanese force was far larger. Singapore's 72-mile coastline meant defending everywhere simultaneously. Though the main thrust would obviously target the northern shore, Percival stationed units like the Manchesters—a regular machine gun battalion from Palestine—in southern pillboxes, never having fired in anger. Having been repeatedly outflanked during the Malayan campaign, Percival feared Yamashita might combine a northern attack with simultaneous southern amphibious landings or airborne drops. He preferred thin coverage across the entire coastline, drawing reserves only to address the most apparent threat. The logical invasion point was west of the Causeway, where the Straits narrowed to 600-2,000 yards and the Skudai River estuary provided concealment for small boats. Wavell believed this and recommended positioning the 18th Division—the freshest troops—there. But deployment decisions belonged to field commanders. Percival established two defensive lines: the Jurong Line, running from the Kranji River south to the Jurong River along the western side, and the Serangoon Line, extending from the Serangoon River southward on the eastern side. Both were mapped but entirely unprepared. The northern shore was similarly unfortified. Four defensive areas were designated: the Southern Area (from the Jurong River around to Changi) under Major-General Keith Simmons; the Northern Area (from Changi to Woodlands) defended by the 18th Division under Merton Beckwith Smith and the 11th Indian Division under Lewis Heath; the Western Area (from Woodlands westward) defended by the 8th Australian Division under Bennett and the semi-trained 44th Indian Brigade; and a Reserve Area centered on Bukit Timah and Paya Lebar, commanded by Brigadier Paris with the undermanned 12th and 15th Indian Brigades. Believing the western Causeway crossing too obvious, Percival decided the main landings would occur to the east. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Percival relied on secret sampan patrols to gather intelligence. Patrols east of the Causeway discovered Japanese equipment on Ubin Island in the strait, and artillery fire on the eastern sector seemed to confirm his suspicion of a northeastern invasion. However, two Australian patrols also reported significant Japanese troop concentrations in the western sector with large concentrations of enemy forces—but found very few landing craft on the Malaya River. Percival dismissed this intelligence as inconsequential, convinced the main attack would come northeast rather than northwest. The patrols had failed to locate where Yamashita had hidden his boats. Anyone understanding Japan should have anticipated that Yamashita would assault Singapore by February 11th—Kigensetsu, Shinto's most significant holiday celebrating Emperor Jimmu Tenno's birth. Yamashita was convinced Singapore lay within his grasp and knew how pleased his superiors would be with a conquest by that date. He had conquered all Malaya in just 55 days, suffering fewer than 2,000 deaths and under 3,000 wounded. His forces had advanced 700 miles, repaired over 250 bridges, killed an estimated 5,000 defenders, and captured 8,000, including senior officers like Painter and Challen. Soon Singapore would become a vast prison camp as the Imperial Japanese Navy tightened its blockade. Yet speed was essential; Yamashita's forces were needed for operations against Sumatra, Java, New Guinea, and many Pacific locations. The longer he delayed, the better prepared the 90,000-strong British force would become. Delay risked allowing the defenders to engage him decisively in the Straits of Johore. Yamashita promised Tokyo an attack within a week. Zero hour was set shortly after sunset on February 7th. Two divisional commanders requested an additional 24 hours to prepare, and Yamashita granted it without hesitation. He understood that if they needed more time, they needed it. Throughout February 7th, 52 guns supporting Nishimura's Imperial Guards Division bombarded the East Anglians near Changi, positioned where massive 15-inch guns stood. Under darkness, an Imperial Guards battalion boarded noisy-engined boats heading for Ubin Island. To their astonishment, the noise didn't alert defenders—the island lay undefended. Percival had decided against stationing troops there due to insufficient manpower, allowing only twice-daily patrols by the 4th Norfolks, who accidentally shot one another in the dark during one patrol. The unopposed capture raised Yamashita's concerns; this feint was designed to divert attention from the western sector, where he planned his full-scale assault. Had his deception failed? Were Percival's main forces hiding in the west? Yet there was consolation: British artillery was targeting the eastern side, not the western sector where Yamashita had positioned significant artillery. The concentrated eastern bombardment reinforced Percival's conviction that the Japanese would invade the northeast. Yamashita had successfully deceived his opponent. The trap was set. On February 8th at 10 a.m., the Japanese bombardment unleashed chaos along the entire northern coast. Over 88,000 shells rained down in 15 hours, destroying telephone lines and isolating forward units. By 7 p.m., the assault focused almost exclusively on the western shore. At 8:30, as the bombardment diminished, the men of D Company, 20th Battalion heard boat engines previously drowned out by the barrage. Yamashita's fleet—50 steel-hulled landing crafts and up to 300 collapsible assault boats—surged from the Skudai River, fanning across the straits as approximately 4,000 of his best troops made their first wave. Colonel Nicol of the 20th Battalion fired the first shots at roughly 300 yards. The forward defenders—about 3,000 Australian infantry exhausted from 15 hours of bombardment—faced Brigadier Harold Taylor's 22nd Brigade positioned across approximately 14.6 km of shoreline. Taylor's force was critically undermanned, with communication failures and minimal water obstacles leaving them devastatingly vulnerable. Yamashita had targeted Taylor's line at its weakest point—what the Germans called Schwerpunkt. Two critical failures compounded the disaster. Major Peacock's searchlight crews, meant to illuminate the landing craft, never received orders to activate. Commander Taylor mistakenly believed the generator was damaged; in reality, the lights simply never came on. Without illumination, artillery couldn't engage effectively. The forward infantry used 3-inch mortars and Vickers guns as landing craft made landfall on small islands like Sarimbun, 400 yards offshore, where Japanese troops established mortars and machine guns to return fire. Among the first ashore was Private Kiyoichi Yamamoto, who suffered severe shrapnel wounds to his stomach, chest, and right hand from a mortar explosion. Despite his injuries, he pressed through the darkness to the beach, reportedly collapsing and dying after helping comrades ashore while shouting "Tenno heika Banzai!" When retrieved, his right lung protruded through his shattered rib cage, his uniform nearly entirely drenched in blood. Taylor's Australians inflicted considerable casualties on the first waves. When Sergeant Arai Mitsuo of the 18th Division jumped from his boat at about 1 a.m. with the second wave, "a cold hand stroked his ankle." He found nine corpses floating in a line, heads upward. "A chill ran down Arai's spine. Were they shot while crossing, and then washed up, or after they had landed? But reflections be hanged! Quick! Cut off a wrist or a finger of each dead man. Chop, chop, chop. Into a box, there's no time to bury them. Just a quick prayer. Rest in peace. Then forward! He must fire the green 'success' rocket: Regimental Command has landed—the sign for 18th Division General Mutaguchi Renya to embark on the third wave across the straits." After four hours, Taylor's 22nd Brigade was overwhelmed. Though artillery eventually provided defensive fire, only 8 of 30 25-pounders were operational. Gun crews remained unaware of the situation until dispatch riders arrived with vague orders to "bring down fire everywhere." The absence of searchlights rendered fire inaccurate and chaotic. Yamashita's Schwerpunkt had worked perfectly. Machine gunner Ochi Harumi of the 5th noted, "For the defending Australians, it was kill or retreat; for the Japanese, it was kill or be killed." He observed that a rearguard armed with Thompsons attempted to slow them, but they moved like "rapid dogs" pursuing the Australians into the bush. Japanese officers carried compasses and instructions to disperse upon landing, heading south or southeast to regroup at the damaged Tengah airfield, situated between the coast and swamps. Both Taylor's forces and the Japanese converged there. Corporal Clarence Spackman and his men, armed with bayonets, encountered a Japanese group including an officer wielding a katana. Spackman charged, seized the sword, and engaged in brutal melee combat, killing several Japanese soldiers. Like many units, his company attempted to establish defensive positions, slowing the Japanese throughout the night. By February 9th, Taylor's brigade had descended into chaos. Men were caked in mud from swamp crossings, many having lost weapons while attempting to reform defensive lines north of Tengah. Bennett sent reinforcements, but the situation deteriorated. Some units reached the village of Bukit Timah on Singapore's outskirts. Duncan, commanding the 27th Infantry Brigade, made unusual personnel changes within hours: Lt Colonel Albert Boyes was succeeded by Lt Colonel Richard Oakes, and Black Jack Galleghan was replaced by Major Ramsay—Duncan disliked Galleghan, who had partially lost his hearing from a near-miss bomb blast. Duncan's forward units covered two miles between the causeway and Kranji River. With the Japanese bridgehead entirely west of the Kranji, Duncan repositioned away from the shoreline toward the river to confront invaders. He then defied Bennett's orders, instructing his men to destroy 2 million gallons of motor fuel at the Woodlands depot before withdrawing. This maneuver shifted his forces from a west-east axis to north-south, ensuring control over the Bukit Timah road for potential retreat into Singapore proper if the enemy gained the upper hand. Nishimura's Imperial Guards Division seethed after their diversionary role on Ubin Island. The humiliation proved unbearable, and his complaints convinced Yamashita to authorize an assault on the causeway itself. Given its narrow width, Nishimura committed only one battalion for the first wave. At 8:30 PM, boats ferried the 4th Guards Regiment across, but they faced identical obstacles to the Western landings—failed field telephones and inoperative searchlights. Around the Kranji River, Oakes' men mounted determined resistance, holding back the Guards. By morning, once communications resumed, Duncan learned his forces risked encirclement from Japanese crossings further south. He ordered immediate withdrawal after destroying the fuel tanks. At 4 AM, they ignited the depot. The Mandai Kechil blazed as the British successfully set portions of the sea ablaze. Corporal Tsuchikane Tominosuke, caught in the conflagration, recounted the nightmare: "Fire lashed out over the mangrove and set it ablaze. It spread quickly, feeding on oil poured into the straits. Mother! Mother! A voice could be heard moaning. It was a picture of hell—'Abiyokan,' Buddhism's worst of all hells. I stumbled along the edge of the beach, my gun felt slippery in my hands. Fire in all directions threatened to engulf me. Where to go? It seemed impossible to advance or retreat! Then I stumbled across Corporal Nemeto who said, 'We'll burn to death just standing here—let's attack!' Shouting out to the battalion and platoons, we advanced. One, then two comrades joined; soon we were five black figures looking all alike, with only the whites of our eyes glinting in the darkness. We were covered in heavy black oil." Nishimura learned that the Kobayashi regiment had last been seen swimming through flames. Many soldiers, covered in oil, returned to Johore. Convinced his division had been wronged, Nishimura raged that Yamashita had "recklessly forced a passage without adequate preparation, resulting in unnecessary casualties." Why did his guards face the toughest beach while the 5th and 18th divisions enjoyed relative ease? He suspected deliberate mockery of his "chocolate soldier" force. When he confronted Yamashita at his Johore headquarters, he discovered the commander had already crossed to his new HQ at north Tengah with Tsuji. Yamashita and Tsuji were having breakfast with dry bread when Nishimura's aide reported. Yamashita dismissed the account as panic from a few fleeing men. The guards division, he declared, could "do as it pleases in this battle," leaving victory to the 5th and 18th divisions alone. Despite this rebuff, the Imperial Guards pressed through the Abiyokan—the burning hell—seeking revenge. Tsuchikane engaged in grenade duels and led bayonet charges. After bayoneting an opponent, he observed defenders "having lost their nerve, with some soldiers cowering in terror, squatting down and avoiding hand-to-hand combat in a wait-and-see position. They, too, were bayoneted or shot without mercy." While the Guards fought, Wavell completed his final flight back to Singapore from Java HQ, arriving as the RAF evacuated. He went directly to Bennett's headquarters with Percival, the three generals barely escaping a Japanese air raid. Bennett revealed that Duncan had disobeyed orders and withdrawn, opening the floodgates for Yamashita to advance on Bukit Timah and the city. Bennett pledged to mount a counterattack within hours and seal the gaps. Before Wavell's early morning departure, he dined with Percival and Air Vice Marshal Pulford. Just as the meal began, a telegram from Churchill arrived: "There must at this stage be no thought of saving the troops or sparing the population. The battle must be fought to the bitter end at all costs. The 18th Division has its chance to make its name in history. Commanders and senior officers should die with their troops. The honour of the British Empire and of the British Army is at stake. I rely on you to show no weakness or mercy in any form. With the Russians fighting as they are and the Americans so stubborn at Luzon, the whole reputation of our country and our race is involved." Wavell added his own message for the troops: "The Chinese, with an almost complete lack of modern equipment, have held the greater part of their country against the full strength of the Japanese… It will be disgraceful if we yield our boasted Fortress of Singapore to inferior enemy forces… I look to you and to your men to fight to the end and to prove that the fighting spirit that won our Empire still exists to enable us to defend it." Percival issued his own directive: "It will be a lasting disgrace if we are defeated by an army of clever gangsters many times inferior in numbers… The spirit of aggression and determination to stick it out must be inculcated in all ranks. There must be no further withdrawals without orders. There are too many fighting men in the back areas. Every available man who is not doing essential work must be used to stop the invader." By 9 PM, Bennett's formations were positioned for a major counterattack at dawn. At Bukit Panjang, Brigadier Paris was settling in for dinner when a Japanese tankette appeared at his gates. Defenders mistook it for a Bren gun carrier; sentries grabbed revolvers and fired. The vehicle retreated. It was later discovered that Yamashita had transported armor across the straits using makeshift pontoons—three rafts lashed together. Over thirty T-95s had landed in the area Duncan vacated, now positioned three miles down the road in Bukit Timah. Alarmed, Paris sent Brigadier Major Angus MacDonald to establish a blockade, anticipating another night assault like Slim River. With no time for proper fortifications, the battalion—oriented westward toward friendly territory—could only park vehicles across the road. As men placed anti-tank mines, a T-95 silhouette appeared. The Japanese took twenty minutes to breach the obstacles, losing one tank to a mine. Boys anti-tank rifles blazed; two tanks exploded. The remaining armor halted. It was February 10th, the eve of Kigensetsu, the 2602nd anniversary of the Japanese Empire. On Kigensetsu morning, around 9 AM, Japanese aircraft dropped something unprecedented: eighteen-inch tubes adorned with colored ribbons containing Yamashita's surrender ultimatum to Percival, written in English: "Your Excellency, I, the High Command of the Nippon Army based on the spirit of Japanese chivalry, have the honour of presenting this note to Your Excellency advising you to surrender the whole force in Malaya… Many fierce fights have been fought by your gallant men and officers to the honour of British warriorship. But the development of the general war situation has already sealed the fate of Singapore… I expect that Your Excellency accepting my advice will give up this meaningless and desperate resistance and promptly order the entire front to cease hostilities… If on the contrary Your Excellency should neglect my advice and the present resistance be continued, I shall be obliged, though reluctantly from humanitarian considerations, to order my army to make annihilating attacks on Singapore… (signed) Tomoyuki Yamashita" By February 13th, Bennett's counterattack to reclaim the Kranji-Jurong line had largely failed. Australian, British, and Indian forces were retreating across the island, some in full rout. Bennett told Captain Frank Gaven of the 20th Battalion, "I don't think the men want to fight," to which Gaven replied: "The men are very tired; their rations have been irregular and insufficient. They have been in constant contact with the enemy and feel they have been let down. I feel that way too." When Wavell reported to Churchill on the situation, he admitted: "The Japanese, using their usual infiltration tactics, are advancing more swiftly than they should in the west of the island… The morale of some troops is low, and none is as high as I would like… Everything possible is being done to foster a more offensive spirit and an optimistic outlook." Percival, hampered by poor intelligence that grossly overestimated Japanese strength, attempted to reorganize his defenses. He created the Tom Force under Lionel Thomas to recapture Bukit Timah village and hill, which the Japanese had occupied that morning. Though composed largely of inexperienced soldiers, Tom Force made progress where most other disorganized units failed. However, they were halted at Bukit Timah by heavy bombardment from Japanese bombers that had shifted focus from Keppel Harbor. The 15-inch Johore batteries were firing on the invaders in the Bukit Timah area, but nearly all 250 rounds were armor-piercing shells—devastating to ships but ineffective against ground targets. Had they been high-explosive rounds, they might have decimated the enemy. Tsuji, driving through Bukit Panjang crossroads, experienced the terror firsthand: "…the blast jarred our spines. The flash seared my eyes, and I was thrown into the roadside ditch… one discharge – two discharges… I had no experience of such heavy projectiles, which tore holes in the ground 15 or 16 metres in diameter and 4 or 5 metres deep… Crouching like a crab inside the earthen pipe I imagined what would happen if a shell fell on me… I had landed on the island with the intention of dying but unconsciously I drew myself further into the pipe." With Tom Force's attack repelled, Percival consolidated his forces into a 28-square-mile perimeter stretching from Keppel Harbor to Kallang Airfield—an area containing approximately 1 million civilians and up to 90,000 military personnel. The loss of Bukit Timah made it impossible to include the island's two reservoirs. He retained only control of MacRitchie's southeastern shore and its underground pipes. By dawn on February 13th, morale was collapsing. Desertions were widespread, and soldiers had lost the will to fight. On February 14th, at 1 PM, the Changi Fire Command was ordered to prepare three 15-inch guns for demolition by 6:30 PM. The guns fired around 194 shells, using 80% of their ammunition before detonation charges destroyed them at 6:45 PM. All remaining ships began final evacuation. Out of approximately 5,000 people boarding 44 ships, around 40 vessels were sunk. Only 1,250 reached India or Australia. Many ships were targeted by Japanese aircraft and heavy shellfire in the Bangka Straits, though some fortunate survivors were rescued by select IJN vessels that permitted surrender. The worst horror came at Alexandra Hospital on Saturday, February 14th. Gunner Anckorn, severely injured and amputated, had received significant morphine. When Japanese soldiers entered, he spoke to the patient beside him: "aren't they Japanese soldiers?" When told yes, he asked what they were doing. "He said they're taking people on the front lawn and killing them… The next time I woke up the Japanese were back in the ward, going from bed to bed with fixed bayonets. As they came up my line of beds, I thought to myself I'm going to be dead in thirty seconds… I said out loud to myself two things: 'I'll never be twenty-four'. The other one was, 'Poor Mum'. They got close to my bed for my turn of bayoneting… I put my head under the pillow and when I came up for air they'd gone and there were four people left alive in the ward." Some theorize the Japanese mistook his blood-soaked hand and empty pillow for a corpse already bayoneted. The atrocity claimed 320 men and 1 woman, with 90 members of the Royal Australian Medical Corps killed while protecting their 800 patients. Meanwhile, Bennett gathered remaining Australian troops into a comprehensive defensive position, while many lingered around the docks seeking escape. Recognizing the dire situation, Bennett messaged Army HQ in Melbourne: "If the enemy enters the city behind us, we will take appropriate action to prevent unnecessary sacrifices." To the north, the 18th Division under Major General Beckwith-Smith fought intense house-to-house combat. The 1st Cambridgeshires identified a Japanese encampment on Peirce Reservoir's northwestern shore where enemy soldiers were swimming and performing calisthenics. They deployed a dozen Bren guns and 2-inch mortars, opening fire from 400 yards away with devastating effect. On February 15th, Percival received Wavell's telegram granting him discretion to surrender: "Time gained and damage to the enemy are of vital importance… When you are fully satisfied that this is no longer possible I give you discretion to cease resistance… Whatever happens I thank you and all your troops for your gallant efforts of last few days." Percival convened a commanders' conference at 9:30 AM. Only Beckwith-Smith was absent, reporting significant enemy infiltration along his 17,000-yard front. The 4th Suffolks and Foresters had been overwhelmed by Japanese tanks. Chief Engineer Brigadier Simson warned that Singapore City would run out of water within a day. Bennett and Heath had been advocating surrender for days. Suddenly, Bennett suggested a joint attack to reclaim Bukit Timah, but his proposal met with silence. A Japanese flag was raised from the Cathay Building for ten minutes—signaling Percival's agreement. He would meet Yamashita at the Ford Factory. Yamashita's forces were critically depleted: only 18 tanks remained, infantry were limited to 100 rounds each, and fuel supplies had run dry. Men survived on two bowls of rice daily. Percival arrived at 4:30 PM carrying a white flag himself. Inside the factory, photographers and reporters clamored. Yamashita appeared and declared: "The Japanese Army will consider nothing but surrender." Yamashita knew the British outnumbered him 3-to-1 and feared the British would discover this numerical inferiority, forcing disastrous street fighting. Percival stalled: "I fear we shall be unable to submit our final reply before 10:30 PM." Yamashita erupted: "Reply to us only whether our terms are acceptable or not, things must be settled swiftly. We are prepared to resume firing." When Percival continued stalling, Yamashita exploded: "Unless you do surrender, we will have to carry out our night attack as scheduled!" Percival requested: "Cannot the Japanese army remain in its present position? We can resume negotiations tomorrow at 5:30 AM?" "Nani!" Yamashita burst. "I want the hostilities to cease tonight and I want to remind you there can be no arguments." Percival stammered: "We shall discontinue firing by 8:30 PM. Had we better remain in our present positions tonight?" Yamashita grew suspicious of Percival's vagueness: "You have agreed to the terms but you have not yet made yourself clear as to whether you agree to surrender or not." Percival could not speak—facing history's worst moment for Britain. He cleared his throat and nodded. Yamashita shook his finger: "There's no need for all this talk. It is a simple question and I want a simple answer—yes or no! Surrender or fight!" "Yes," Percival said. "I have a request to make. Will the Imperial Army protect the women and children and British civilians?" "We shall see to it. Please sign this truce agreement." It was the greatest land victory in Japanese history. Yamashita took Malaya and Singapore for 3,506 killed and 6,150 wounded. Percival's casualties were approximately 7,500 killed and 10,000 wounded. About 120,000 prisoners were taken. During the Singapore Island campaign alone, Yamashita lost 1,713 killed and 2,772 wounded—nearly as many as the entire Malayan campaign. Yamashita later boasted about his greatest deception: "My attack on Singapore was a bluff—a bluff that worked. I had 30,000 men and was outnumbered more than three to one. I knew that if I had to fight for long for Singapore, I would be beaten. That is why the surrender had to be at once. I was very frightened all the time that the British would discover our numerical weakness and lack of supplies and force me into disastrous street fighting." On paper he was outnumbered 3-to-1, but his three first-class homogeneous divisions possessed air and naval superiority—advantages incomparable to Percival's heterogeneous, disorganized force. Had the British continued resisting, Yamashita would merely have waited for reinforcements and supplies. Winston Churchill called Singapore's fall "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history." His personal physician, Lord Moran, wrote: "The fall of Singapore on February 15 stupefied the Prime Minister. How came 100,000 men (half of them of our own race) to hold up their hands to inferior numbers of Japanese?… The surrender of the fortress stunned him. He felt it was a disgrace. It left a scar on his mind. One evening, months later, when he was sitting in his bathroom enveloped in a towel, he stopped drying himself and gloomily surveyed the floor: 'I cannot get over Singapore,' he said sadly."   But Singapore's fall meant far more to the Chinese population than simple military defeat. For them, the island's capture represented not just the loss of a fortress, but the arrival of an occupying force whose intentions toward the Chinese had already been made brutally clear across Malaya. Dalforce, the Chinese volunteer force hastily formed weeks earlier, had fought fiercely across the island during the campaign, sustaining heavy casualties in a desperate struggle alongside British and Commonwealth forces. Some members had managed to escape into the jungle; others would face a far darker fate than conventional prisoner-of-war detention. The Japanese military leadership had long regarded the Chinese population as potentially the greatest source of resistance to their territorial expansion throughout Asia-Pacific. The Second Sino-Japanese War, raging since 1937, had created deep mutual antagonism—Chinese communities across Southeast Asia had raised funds for Chinese nationalist forces and demonstrated unmistakable anti-Japanese sentiment. What awaited the Chinese of Singapore after the British surrender was not occupation in the conventional sense, but systematic persecution rooted in ideological vendetta. On February 18, 1942—just three days after the British surrender—the occupying Japanese military initiated an operation that would become one of World War II's lesser-known but devastating atrocities. The Kempeitai, the Imperial Japanese Army's secret police, began mass arrests and executions of Singapore's Chinese population. The operation was code-named "Sook Ching," a Chinese term meaning "purge through cleansing." The Japanese themselves referred to it as Kakyo Shukusei—"purging of Overseas Chinese." The massacre was systematic and premeditated. Japanese military planners had decided well before the invasion that the Chinese population of Singapore and Malaya required elimination or severe subjugation. According to captured Japanese records and postwar testimony, an order had been issued by senior staff officers on Yamashita's operations staff to kill 50,000 Chinese—approximately 20 percent of the total population. The purge was officially planned to last only two days, but it would be extended repeatedly until early March, consuming thousands of lives. The mechanism of the massacre was coldly bureaucratic. The Japanese established "screening centres" throughout Singapore where Chinese males aged 18 to 50 were required to report for "inspection." The Kempeitai, commanded by Major Masayuki Oishi from headquarters at the YMCA Building on Stamford Road, divided Singapore into sectors and administered the process with 200 regular Kempeitai officers and approximately 1,000 auxiliaries—many of them young conscripts from rural areas with no interrogation training or judicial framework to guide their decisions. In theory, the screening was meant to identify "anti-Japanese elements"—communists, volunteers who had fought with Allied forces, businessmen who had financed resistance to Japan's invasion of China, and organized crime members. The reality was far more brutal and arbitrary. At some screening centers, interrogators singled out men with glasses, assuming educated men posed a threat. Others were selected based on tattoos, considered a sign of triad membership. Hooded informants—often questionable in their knowledge—pointed fingers at supposed troublemakers. At one notorious center, all Chinese males who happened to walk through a particular entrance were simply loaded into trucks to be shot, while those who used another pathway were released. The system was designed less to identify genuine resistance threats and more to terrorize the Chinese community through indiscriminate slaughter. Those who "passed" the screening received a stamp or certificate marked "examined," allowing them to leave. Those who "failed" were separated, marked with triangular stamps indicating their death sentence, and packed into trucks. They were transported to remote killing sites around the island: Changi Beach, Punggol Point, Katong, Tanah Merah, Sentosa (then called Pulau Belakang Mati), and numerous other coastal areas. At these beaches and isolated locations, the condemned were executed by firing squads, bayoneted by soldiers, or simply shot and left to be washed into the sea. The scale was staggering. On February 20, 1942, 66 Chinese males were lined up at Changi Beach and shot. On February 28, approximately 300 to 400 Chinese were executed at Punggol Point by Kempeitai firing squads. At Tanah Merah Beach, 242 victims from the Jalan Besar screening center were massacred. At Katong, 20 trenches were dug to bury bodies. Some victims were transported from the docks at Tanjong Pagar and executed at sea, their bullet-riddled bodies later washing ashore on Sentosa, where surrendered British gunners awaiting internment were forced to bury them. The massacre extended throughout the island and into Malaya. At Kota Tinggi in Johor, 2,000 were killed on February 28. At Joo Loong Loong in Negeri Sembilan, an entire village of 1,474 Chinese was systematically exterminated by Major Yokokoji Kyomi and his troops on March 18. Across the southern states of Malaya, estimated to be as many as 25,000 Chinese were killed through similar indiscriminate mass executions. The bodies piled into mass graves, often remaining hidden until decades later when construction or farming uncovered them. In the immediate aftermath, families of victims had no opportunity to recover remains or conduct proper funerary rites according to Chinese tradition. The death toll remains contested. Japan's postwar government claimed no more than 6,000 had been killed. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first Prime Minister, who himself narrowly escaped selection for execution during the screening process, stated the verifiable death toll was approximately 70,000, including Malaya. Historians examining mass grave discoveries and survivor testimony estimate the true figure at 25,000 to 50,000 in Singapore itself, with another 20,000 across Malaya. The variety of estimates stems partly from the Japanese destruction of all documentation related to the screening process and the indiscriminate nature of the killings—many victims were never recorded, their disappearances simply adding to the chaos of the occupation's early days. The psychological impact on Singapore's Chinese community was devastating. Survivors emerged from the screening process traumatized, many bearing visible marks of their passage through the system. Women and children, though theoretically not targeted, were sometimes sent for inspection as well, and some were victimized during the process. Entire families were separated, with some members executed while others survived by chance. The massacre destroyed the illusion that Singapore's position as a British fortress had provided security or protection. The rapid fall of Singapore and the subsequent slaughter of the Chinese population crystallized a profound realization among the local population: the colonial masters could not protect them, and their status as second-class inhabitants of their own territory had become abundantly clear. In the years after the war, perpetrators of the Sook Ching were identified and tried. Seven Japanese officers—Takuma Nishimura, Saburo Kawamura, Masayuki Oishi, Yoshitaka Yokata, Tomotatsu Jo, Satoru Onishi, and Haruji Hisamatsu—were charged in 1947. Kawamura and Oishi received death sentences and were hanged on June 26, 1947. However, the mastermind behind the operation—Major Masanobu Tsuji, Yamashita's Chief of Planning and Operations who personally planned and coordinated the massacre—escaped after the war, fled to China, and later became a politician in Japan before disappearing in Laos in 1961, presumably killed. The massacre's legacy became a catalyst for political awakening in Singapore. The British failure to demand reparations specifically for the Chinese, Malay, and Indian communities killed during the occupation (only securing compensation for European victims) became a point of bitter contention. It demonstrated to Singaporean Chinese that the colonial government did not truly represent their interests. When Singapore gained self-governance in 1959, waves of anti-Japanese sentiment emerged, with the Chinese community demanding official apologies and reparations. Not until 1966, after independence, did Japan agree to provide S$50 million in compensation—though notably refusing to make an official apology or accept legal responsibility for the massacre. The Japanese government classified the payment as a "gesture of atonement" rather than formal reparations, a linguistic evasion that did little to ease the lingering trauma. Mass graves were accidentally discovered in 1962 at Siglap, an area locals had called the "Valley of Tears." Exhumation work continued through the 1960s, with nearly 100 graves uncovered. In 1963, Singapore erected the Civilian War Memorial at Beach Road—a 67.4-meter monument consisting of four pillars symbolizing Singapore's four major ethnic groups. Beneath it lies a tomb containing remains of Sook Ching victims recovered from 1962 to 1966. The massacre sites at Changi Beach, Katong, Punggol Point, Tanah Merah, and Sentosa were designated as heritage sites in 1992 with commemorative plaques. Yet the numerical vagueness surrounding the death toll—a direct consequence of Japan's refusal to acknowledge full responsibility or conduct a proper investigation—remains a source of historical frustration and continuing emotional weight for the descendants of victims. The Sook Ching Massacre had an immediate and profound effect on organized Chinese resistance. Many Dalforce members who had escaped into the jungle were now hunted relentlessly by occupying forces. Some retreated further inland, eventually linking with the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), the communist guerrilla force that had been organizing in Malaya. The massacre transformed what might have been localized resistance into a unified determination to survive and eventually drive out the occupiers. The brutality inflicted upon the Chinese population—ostensibly targeted at "anti-Japanese elements" but indiscriminate in practice—radicalized entire communities and gave the nascent guerrilla movements both moral justification and a steady stream of desperate recruits willing to fight. The very mechanism designed to crush Chinese resistance had, ironically, forged the conditions for sustained and effective guerrilla warfare throughout the occupation's three-and-a-half years.  I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.   Singapore fell on February 15, 1942, when Percival surrendered to Yamashita—who had bluffed with inferior numbers and dwindling supplies. Three days later, the Sook Ching Massacre began: the Kempeitai systematically slaughtered 25,000 to 50,000 Chinese civilians across Singapore and Malaya through "screening centers" and mass executions at beaches, eliminating perceived anti-Japanese resistance.