Ides of March ! - remembering a great Martyr !! Salutes

 

Ides of March ! - stabbing of Julius Caesar; celebrating Birthdays

and more !!!

 

Imp pre-script:  Often we see posters celebrating Birth anniversary, centenary of people who are no more !!  I am no great fan of this idea as there is no point in celebrating birthday of persons who are no more ! BUT .. ..  this BIRTHDAY IS WORTH CELERBATING 

 

On this day Back in 1877 – started the very first Test Cricket -  Alfred Shaw bowled the first Test delivery to Charles Bannerman, who went on to become the first Test centurion. Hill had both the first Test wicket and the first catch. Midwinter picked up the first 5 wicket haul, and Blackham had the first stumping.  

           Jae-Beom Takata, known professionally as Brian Tee,  a  Japanese-born American actor was born this day in 1977 in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, to a Japanese-American father from Los Angeles and a Korean mother from Seoul. From 2015 to 2022, Tee starred in the first eight seasons of NBC medical drama Chicago Med as Dr. Ethan Choi. 

The title page of the movie showed ‘shadow of a cross’, with "No war is holy" written across the transept. Constantine’s Sword is the story of James P. Carroll's journey to uncover the roots of war. Carroll, a former Catholic priest whose father (Joseph Carroll) was a famous Air Force general, implies that there has been a relationship between religiously inspired violence and war, beginning with the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 312 AD.   Carroll focuses on Catholic and evangelical anti-Judaism, and invokes the cross as a symbol of the long history of Christian xenophobic violence against Jews and non-Christians,  from the Crusades, through the Roman Inquisition and the creation of the Jewish ghetto, to the Holocaust. 

Odoacer also spelled Odovacer  was a barbarian soldier and statesman from the Middle Danube who deposed the Western Roman child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became the ruler of Italy (476–493). Odoacer's overthrow of Romulus Augustulus is traditionally understood as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire.  When Illus, master of soldiers of the Eastern Empire, asked for Odoacer's help in 484 in his struggle to depose Zeno, Odoacer invaded Zeno's westernmost provinces. During the winter of 487–488, Odoacer crossed the Danube and defeated the Rugii in their own territory. Theodoric invaded Italy in 489 and by August 490 had captured almost the entire peninsula, forcing Odoacer to take refuge in Ravenna. The city surrendered on 5 March 493. Theodoric invited Odoacer to a banquet of reconciliation, where instead of forging an alliance, Theodoric killed Odoacer, and replaced him as king. 

In response to Odoacer's dying question, "Where is God?" Theodoric cried, "This is what you did to my friends." Theodoric was said to have stood over the body of his dead rival and exclaimed, "The man has no bones in his body." The killing took place this day in AD 493 !! 

Today is 15th March !!  - History is always interesting ! have you seen Rajnikanth, Sridevi starrer SP Muthuraman directed movie “Priya” shot in Singapore, with soothing music of Isaignani Illayaraja.  It was a story of Sujatha, which was distorted beyond a point !!  Though Sujatha detective novels are all about Ganesh – Vasanth – the character of Vasanth was not featured in the movie and somewhere it was reported that the Director could not finalise the visa for the artiste who was to play Vasanth !!!!     

Today,  15th March is significant – “the Ides of March” ! what ? 

The Ides of March  is the 74^th  day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was a deadline for settling debts in Rome.  In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar, which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history.  

On Ides of March day in 44 BC, Julius  Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar on the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, "Well, the Ides of March are to come", implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied "Aye, they are come, but they are not gone."   This meeting is famously dramatised in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March."  The Roman biographer Suetonius identifies the "seer" as a haruspex named Spurinna.

Those movie buffs would recall Rajnikanth playing Julius Caesar in the movie Priya !!. Caesar's assassination opened the final chapter in the crisis of the Roman Republic.  The worst crime against humanity would be ‘the Holocaust’ – and it is not Hitler or Mussolini alone to blame and that the other Christian world cannot stand exonerated for this chilling crime against fellow humans, in the name of religion.  The Holocaust saw the mass murder of both Greek Jews and ethnic Greeks. Greek Jews died mostly as a result of their deportation to Auschwitz concentration camp, during World War II. By 1945, between 82 and 92 percent of Greek Jews had been murdered, one of the highest proportions in Europe.  In March 1943, just over 4,000 Jews were deported from the Bulgarian occupation zone to Treblinka extermination camp. From 15 March through August, almost all of Salonica's Jews, along with those of neighboring communities in the German occupation zone, were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp.   

On 15 March 1943, thousands of Jews in Salonika, Greece, were deported from ghettos to Auschwitz-Birkenau. A silent march  is held every 15 March from the center of the city of Thessaloniki to the old train station to honour the Jews deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. Speeches are given at the Freedom Plaza where there is a commemorative sculpture of the Holocaust. 

I am not a votary of celebrating Birthdays of people who have died… but today, perhaps we must remember this hero for his  deed and martyrdom -  on what would have been his 48^th  birth day -~ yes he died young at 31  (pictured at the start) ……. He did enough for the country.   Sandeep Unnikrishnan rose to become a Major in the Indian Army serving in the elite Special Action Group of the National Security Guards (NSG).  The wounds of Bombay carnage is slowly dying off for rest of the Nation [would ever remain a scar for the Nationalists and those who have had personal loss] – the valiant Major gave his life fighting  terrorists in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. 

On this day in 1977 was born Sandeep Unnikrishnan who rose to become a Major in the Indian Army serving in the elite Special Action Group of the National Security Guards (NSG).  The wounds of Bombay carnage is slowly dying off for rest of the Nation [would ever remain a scar for the Nationalists and those who have had personal loss] – the valiant Major gave his life fighting  terrorists in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.

His bravery was honoured with the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peace time gallantry award, on 26 January 2009. “Do not come up, I will handle them”, were the last words which Major Unnikrishnan told his men as he was hit by bullets while engaging terrorists inside the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower during Operation Black Tornado, according to NSG officials.

On the occasion of the 48th Birth Anniversary of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Tributes were paid at Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan Road, Yelahanka, Bangalore, by the Parents of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Ashok Chakra.  Remembering the hero of 26.11 attacks with a heavy heart !! 

I am keeping this as my profile pic in FB for the day !! Jai Hind !!

Regards – S Sampathkumar
15.3.2026 (Ides of March)