Valleys and Valour

  REFLECTIONS 2025 & NEW YEAR GREETINGS 2026 ( VIKRAM SAMVAT 2083 ) “ As the ‘ bhu: ’ (earth) energies commence their rise to be the dominant ‘ tattva ’ (element), the ‘ Vikram Samvat 2083 ’ is slated to release pent up energies across tectonic, ethnic, and national boundaries, activating long dormant geological, prejudicial, and geopolitical hotspots. However, the silver lining is ‘ greater the disruptions in 2026 lesser the eruptions in 2027 !’. More the release of destructive energies in 2026, lesser shall be the outburst of ‘Global Chaos’ around 2027! ” – Col RS Sidhu     Dear Readers, 2025 lived up to its promise of being the ‘ Year of the Omen ’. With the ‘ apas ’ (water) energies as the dominant ‘ panchbhut ’ (five elements), it wreaked predicted natural devastations across the globe, and yet blazed down geopolitical fires somewhat. While in 2024 the US was at the receiving end of the ‘ Chinese Chakravyuh ’, in 2025 it rose to the fore uniquely or...

  Velapanti Diaries 9 CURRENT GEOPOLITICAL HAPPENINGS THROUGH THE PRISM OF ‘ NERVE OF LEADERSHIP ’ “ To a true Leader the word ‘ nerve ’ offers a wide gamut of inflection, ranging from knowing the nerve, have the nerve, holding the nerve, pressing the nerve, losing the nerve, to bundle of nerves, and even battle of nerves; showcasing courage, spirit, audacity, guts, insolence, sarcasm, humour, and so on with equal ease! ” – Col RS Sidhu   Nerves of Steel What differentiates a true ‘ Leader ’ from a ‘ bureaucratic head ’, in any domain, is a deep understanding of the term ‘ nerve ’ in relation to leadership. Here, identifying own and the adversary’s ‘ nerves of vulnerability ’ is as critical as is the ‘ inflexion point of the nerve ’; the point, quantum, and time frame, of the pressure to be applied to make it collapse. A lot has been articulated over centuries on leadership; is a leader required…are leaders born or made…ideal traits of a leader…and even on the...

  Velapanti Diaries – 8 EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE & 3I/ATLAS “ There is no force more * powerful or obstinate* than human conviction, that may willingly believe in an omnipresent extraterrestrial entity, God; and yet term as rationale, its dogged refusal to countenance the presence of intelligent life form other than terrestrial .” – Col RS Sidhu   The Nomenclature Anything organic or inorganic, animate or inanimate, matter or energy, form or formless, which is not of earth origin maybe termed as * extraterrestrial *. Any object that orbits the sun and is bound by its gravitational pull, maybe termed as * solar system body *. Any location, event, or movement amongst the stars maybe termed as * interstellar *. Any location, event, or movement between two or more galaxies, maybe termed as * intergalactic *. A * comet * maybe defined as a small celestial object that has a nucleus of ice and dust , that produces a ‘tail’ of gas and dust that points away fr...

  DECODING PAKISTAN’S PASNI PORT OFFER TO THE US “ Leveraging foreign presence on its soil to enhance own security, is an old ploy of Pakistan, as discernible from ceding the Trans-Karakoram Tract comprising the Shaksgam Valley to China in 1963, followed by formalising Chinese control over Gwadar port operations in 2013, and now proposing operational control and development of Pasni port by the US .” – Col RS Sidhu Backdrop The May 2025 Indarmy launched Operation ‘Sindoor’ against Operation ‘Bunyan ul Marsoos’ of Pakistan military has turned out to be a watershed event in the series of military confrontations between the two warring adversaries. Its impact goes beyond that of the 1971 war, that led to carving out Bangla Desh by severing the spatially separated eastern half from Pakistan. Operation ‘Sindoor’/’Bunyan ul Marsoos’ lasted for 90 hrs, but its geopolitical reverberations are transforming the strategic landscape in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The deep precision ...

                                        VELAPANTI DIARIES 6 THE MOJO OF THE WHIMSICALS “ Mojo is an essential ingredient for being Whimsical !” – Col RS Sidhu   Backdrop The Whimsicals were last engaged in major action as a team, while undertaking the 19 days motorcycle odyssey to Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in May of 2024. Health issues of family elders, and the drudgery of monotonous familial duties precluded the Whimsicals from engaging in group Velapanti . It is ironical, indeed, that the very Velapanti articulations employed by the Whimsicals to escape the grind of dull domestic chores, was also the cause that precluded them from indulging their favourite Velapanti moments! It led to serious soul searching whether we had lost our mojo , the very raison d’ etre of the claim to being Whimsical. A couple of in-person sessions and group chats on closed SM platforms conv...