Operation Entebbe: A Saga Of Courage

If you know about Operation Entebbe, then there is nothing mind blowing for you here, so I will suggest to end your reading here (with a usual visit again smile). But in case you don’t know anything about this, here is a story:

My job asks me to interact with more number of Israelis and past one year have given me all the possible opportunities to understand why they are called the most intelligent brains in the world. Their views, imaginatively, perception and quest to know are the things that for which this breed is known for. But what I didn’t know of them till last Wednesday was of their good sense of humor and sheer courage and bravery.

Well it all started with a normal conversation that day, and here are the extracts:

I [3:37 pm]: 

Well for that you need to walk down a 1000 mile to India and find me in a population of 1.2 Billion.

He [3:37 pm]: 

Well, You don’t worry of this. I will do an Operation Entebbe and will find you.

And by 3:38 pm I was all in Google looking what on earth is this Operation Entebbe. And as started knowing more on this, the more I started looking into it. Anyway, after a good 10 min I replied back stupidly with “HAHAHAHAHA”. Saale in isrealion ke joke samajne ke liye bhi google karna padta hai :)

For those who are still reading this and want me to pour the details of this here, I would rather provide a brief of the things and links to all I have read on it.

Operation Entebbe was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by the Special Forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976. A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France plane with 248 passengers was hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists and flown to Entebbe, near Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

Here is the link to wiki, a series of documentary on YouTube, and a beautiful movie on the theme. Go and have a look on them.

Welcome Back. No ‘m not going to say a word over the political correctness of the proceeding nor will I try to draw any parallel between “The Kandhar Episode” of India. I don’t want to jump into the mess, but to simply celebrate the courage and determination of a small nation like Israel. All I want to appreciate is level of perfection of Intelligence (Mossad, it is known as), dare-devil act from commandos 14000 mile away from their place and a near zero causality successful rescue operation.

Before I drop my pen, I leave you with the most influential lines I read in the course. These were said by the Ambassador of Israel in Security Council post to the operation:

We come with a simple message to the Council: we are proud of what we have done because we have demonstrated to the world that a small country, in Israel's circumstances, with which the members of this Council are by now all too familiar, the dignity of man, human life and human freedom constitute the highest values. We are proud not only because we have saved the lives of over a hundred innocent people—men, women and children—but because of the significance of our act for the cause of human freedom.

- Chaim Herzog

Thank God They Are Not CREATIVE

My day starts early by cosmos standard and the first know-by-face person I meet is a lady that sweeps the pedestrian way through which I jog. She does her job in the most un-creative way one can. Starts from same end and ending at same, piles up the kuda at the same place and guess what dump it in the same very dust-bin. So very repetitive, no fun. And on the same pathway, I try to jog by million a way. Sometime sprint, sometime side-hop other time back-side, because ‘m creative you see.

Off to the park for some perspiring. And I meet the gardener doing his job the same way for ages. He always rolls the garden from left to right, never try the other way. The Serbs remains in the same shape all their lifetime courtesy to him. He plants the same type of sapling every rains, never try to be differentt. On the other side, since last 4-5 years everyday, at least I spend my two minutes of my day thinking had this bench been there it would had been better. Or had this tree not been here it would had made the perfect view. Again imaginativity, you see.

Few hours late in office, I meet the Housekeeping Lady. She spent all her day in the pantry, same as ever, probably from the times of Napoleons. She does the same job (cleaning slab, washing cup, dumping waste) same way everyday. No change in the routine. Not at All. But I, yes you guessed it right, being innovative do the same thing in hundred uncertified way. Someday washing cups for myself, other day sliding from one end to other of the slab (whenever ‘m in rolling mood) ultimately to land it in sink. And when time permits, putting all my knowledge of projection physics and dynamics to make the paper-plate- turned-ball into the bin.  Needless to say, I want it different everyday.

I case you have been more than confused by now, all I wanted to say to all those who believe that had not the man been creative (I also part of this mass) man would have remained apes. Pal, you are wrong, you can stand and proudly boast of being innovative is because of millions of people like them who have chosen to be uncreative only to hold your base tight. Had they been there to hold the ground intact, your glasshouse of innovatively had never been here. It’s only because these happy-doing-same-things people, you get space to try new. Had all apes gone out to do thing their way, leaving of making up to manship, I doubt if we could have managed to remain ape itself.      

Had not people like them confined themselves to being repetitive, probably you would have never got a ground to sketch your creative world (imagine the world where everyone tried to do everything differently everyday). So next time you conclude being creative, spare a second to thanks all those who chose not to be as creative as you.