You and I in this beautiful world.

Weeks have gone by and we are still talking about Mumbai 26/11, Manglore, Saffron, etc. And our political leaders are back to their old agenda of drawing comunal and religious lines just before the elections.

What saddens me is too see the reactions of people in that Haryana town who praise the policeman who dragged the girl by her hair and God knows what other phisical abuse she was subjected to. What saddens me is to see the lack strong reaction when a girl commits suicide due to harassment from the so called moral police.

But lets face it. And as i mentioned in me previous blog, it is reality.

We have debates on news channels where thinkers have time and again criticised the political parties, the law, the police and any other element in the society that is ideally set up to safeguard the people. But really one has to face it. These are changing times.

We are a nation of a billion plus people with hundreds of groups with their own kind of like minded people.We are after all a democracy. Sometimes i feel we should really change the name of our country to "United states of India". Becuase thats what we aspire to be.

A lot of work needs to be done. If you believe and are scared whenever you hear the cliche "we are aping the west", hear this. Its natural for a species to go after comforts and in these times, the comforts are present in the west. It must'av been the exact oppposite say 2000 years ago?

Ok. So you want all the comforts in life... Work harder and expect less. I agree with some of our top bolloywood actors. Worship your work and work hard. This huge country has to go a long way before getting tagged as a 'developed nation'. But i do say, we have done very good for ourselves.. 50+ years of independence and we have done very well. Want to compare with the US ? They gained their independence what 200 years ago?

These are times that demand hard work and dedication. Dear software colleagues and others in corporate sectors, you can go down in history as the ones who built the modern India.. in a real sense.

The police to common man ration is pathetic. Doctor to people ratio is pathetic. Patients to hospital beds ration is pathetic. I can carry on with more examples.

Technology can be put to use so effectively. Policing such a lot of people is not really an easy task. Network the whole country. Just the way the farmer in the village can check wholesale prices, can he/she not video-conference with the Commissioner of police? What we people in the IT world do is include the manager in the CC when important and debatable things are discussed or decisions are taken. Why can't we have something like that for the police force? Surely you can't believe everyone in power - police, politicians, doctors, you and I are all irresponsible.

Each of us has a role to play. What we need to learn to demand is action from politicians.

It all comes down to personal satisfaction and overall satisfaction of life of a society, a country as a whole. Shed the insecurity that you need to only protect your own identity, family , loved ones. Open your heart and accept differences. You and I are not going to be attacked by the Mughals or the British or barbarians for Timbaktoo. Learn to keep your surronings also clean. Learn to obey rules and challenge them when they really don't make sense.

Make the essential services lucrative. Give more incentives to the NGOs, there is lot more that can be done.

And if you are still stuck up contemplating issues like should we celebrate Valentine's day or not or blame the youth for "degrading" the "Indian" culture. Understand this. Parents play a huge role in educating the young. As parents learn to watch for signs where your childeren are indulging in excesses. Talk to them. Listen to them. If you can do this simple task and take up the responsibility of good, sane parenting, I don't believe you would ever have to worry about our culture getting destroyed.

Learn to appreciate the smaller joys of life. If you can do this, I'm sure we as a nation will figure much higher in the "Happiness index"! You cannot have everything for your self and certainly not in the short span of your life time. Accept that.

Duniya meri jaan, changing times requires, more hard work, responsibility, accountability and more tolerance for just matters.

Blame who?

Over the recent years , names of some small towns have begun to have special meanings . The latest one to the list is Mangalore.

One of the "young" news channels flashed "Pub owners to be blamed - NCW". Ok.. thats news.. Energetic newscasters, self styled opinion formers and what not.

But i ask why are you making such a lot of noise on what the NCW has commented? The NCW is an agency set up to help establish and "protect" the women's rights. Now its actually obvious for them to come out and say "our poor girls needed protection.. the pub owners are should have had security". They have been seeing the women of the country being harassed, opressed and abused! For them, their main objective is to help protect the harassed, opressed, abused women. In a country where male domination is still a fact, their view of the situation is perfectly logical. What the news channels must understand is that the NCW is neither the police nor the law. Did you expect them to come up and say that they are going to arrest the victims? Or did you just want to project them as the cruseders against atrocities? Did you want to hear them come out yelling "burn the attackers, kill them, toture them back...!!"

Picture the NCW as a beaten and bruised mother trying to shield an abused child in her arms and curse the stronger responsible male for not pretecting her child against evil.. the evil that she has accepted as the sole reason for her own worth as the pacifier of the care giver to the opressed..

The victims have to come up, somehow put faith in the police and the legal system to take up this fight. Remember if there is no complaint, for the police to take action is a tricky and futile situation. Such is the legal system. Kudos to the media on the other hand for really bringing this incident to notice. Thank you in advance for playing the images over and over so that we the you and I do not forget how barbaric and fanatical we can become if motivated in fruitless directions. You have done your bit and keep doing what is sensible.

But dear Madams and Sirs of the NCW, you should understand that you really cannot go after the pub owners. Madam representative, open your eyes.. how can you prepare for a sudden assult of a bunch of hooligans? Will you have some 30 odd bouncers for a pub thats the size of three apartment homes? I guess what they are indeed looking for are bots that emerge out of the ground, appear through the walls and protect peopleanywhere and everywhere? Wait for a couple of decades and your wish might be granted.

Here we are in a country where our "leaders" are stuck up in their own litle shells and never open to other people's point of views. You cannot blame them either. Thats the way they have been brought up and thats the company they have lived with. Their lack of understanding of the current day and their lack of wit will make them give out comments like " women should not go out to pubs and malls.."

Preachy preachy preachy.. .thats what the whole country is. Thats what any country is that's caught in the process of change . The old are afraid of change and the new are high on thier take on reality. We really should be thankful that we have enough diversity to keep opposing each other that we never get the chance to become a fascist state.

Duniya meri jaan, Let change not sacre you, Let fear not cover you down, Breathe in. Look around. You have one life.

Live it resposibly. Live and let live.

Get a life!

When the whole league cricket hype caught up in India, i had a big smile on my face. No.. i am not a typical willow crazy mad citizen of this country.. almost.
The were many reason why i'd be happy. One more jobs for people- at the stadiums, cleaning staff, security, etc.
Two, more content for the media. Something better than the sensationalised private lives of people. Three and most importantly, we as a junta would have something to look forward to, support,cheer.
Been brought up watching soccer club fans and NBA fans cheering for their teams. A place to go to on weekends- the stadium. What i envisoned was something of a sense of pride developing among the junta for their home-teams. Atleast that should dilute the pressure on the national team when they don't preform well. No more dung thrown on their homes, no more stone pelting when the national team loses. I guess i'd be proven wrong.

First the rival league started. And now its been virually buried by the so called official one.
Then, came the glamorous team launches. The media lapped it all up and so did the audience. The sponsorors and the organizers have done a very good job of spreading the word. Expectations high everyone was waiting for the first match. And then it began..

The whole game was always quoted to be a little one-sided, in favour of the batsmen. Oh heck! Look at the entertainment value..People love it. From the cheer-leaders to Bhajji's is mis-deeds. From the pug who is happy to help to brands advertising their changed outlook.

Who cares if the players are playing correctly? Who cares if this is going to help build a future National team? They are being paid a lot of money and they seem to be taking a lot of interest in the game. If at all it could be called that- a game.

Its a circus out there. 'Pyjama cricket'! All the matches seem to be so closely bunched up that i for one have lost track of whos palying who! For me, the organizers have killed the game. Too many matches in too few days. Oh.. the idea is to make maximum profit right? hmmm..

From the news channels that interrupt news about the national army and show the latest on the 'slap-gate' incident, to the babus who have found a new time pass- oogle at the cheerleaders and cry foul.

Get a life people! This is just entertainment! If you are really attached to the game and are passionate about it, go support and cheer for your home team rather than cheering for all the teams and getting over involved with everything! At this rate, if the national team looses badly after this league gets over i know what they are going to be saying.. "IPL payed them too much money.. now they don't want to play at the International level...blah blah.." and so begin the dung hurling and stone pelting!

Its my birthright to cheer,jeer,live,eat,sleep cricket isn't it.. ? Off to mingle with Duniya meri jaan.

BInary logic- a matter of life and death!

Monday morning.. for the first time i did not feel the blues.. i kept wondering why.. but its almost night time.. and I am going to hope for the same mood to continue and not go after the whys and the hows..

But i might just do so for some other topic in this blog..

As i missed the stupid pedestrian who ran onto the road, the damn big four wheelers that remind me of creatures from the some old and dark novel.. swaying and lumbering one behind the other, i thank the disc-brake technology and curse the pot-holes. You either go through them and wear out your suspensions or you risk you life and pull off maneuvers! You either go off road and sneak to your destination or you reach an hr late..The choice is yours.

Only does one realize life's fragility when an accident occurs or news of a known person's death reaches the ears..

This time it was a colleague.. to whom i said a casual "hi" after seeing him twice that day after a gap of a month. Although one can't question the righteousness or lack it.. of a person, it does pop into the mind. A happy face.. a fantastic physique.. and many a female 's secret crush..

One moment you are alive and the next moment you are just a three line statistic in the local newspaper. People say life's not fair.. but so is death.

I remember when my depressed emotions turned to damage control adrenaline mode when i was mugged. Yes.. life does flash by your eyes. All your loved ones come appear suddenly.. and the fear of ending up as a news item really spooked me and made me act sensibly to avoid any stabbing in case the muggers got cold feet and panicked... But i clearly remember that day.. i felt something dark somewhere deep inside me.. sixth sense.. intuition.. call it what ever you want..

Is there something called fate? Is there a devil ? Do the lines on your palm really decide your existence? Is there even an iota of believability in astrology? Or does Karma decide?

Maybe Karma does.. sure its the easiest way.. Don't we always play the blame game? I can't believe in freak accidents (yes.. but there can be no explanations to somethings related to fatalities).. There has to be a defining logic.. some equation... something...!!!!

Its surely not natural selection.. it can be the reverse of it though.. in order to lead humanity to Armageddon.. yeah.. why not! its always the good guys..

At least one can try and minimize chances of freak accidents. Oh sure if you've watched "Final Destination"... you are sure to become paranoid.

Drive safe people... Never forget that the variables are too many on the roads.. especially Indian roads. Cribbing about the "system" is not going to help. What we need is more people to devote time to the infrastructure.

Instead of mulling over compulsory Army service.. it should be made mandatory for people to serve the "infrastructure". Have people do traffic-police duty. Conduct random checks to stem corruption on the roads. Fine people.. carrying out mere "traffic awareness drives"really doesn't help in cities where wheels outnumber feet.

Sensitize people.. instead of fighting on whether to play the National Anthem.. play a video about road safety in the movie halls.

Don't fall prey to TRP and publicity hungry TV shows that profess creating leaders... make your own voice heard. Right now i am wondering how many people actually read my posts..

No i don't want publicity.. i want common sense and sensitivity to touch people's lives.. no even more.. get EMBOSSED in their heads. Yeah.. you might think i have an attitude problem.. but go through the few lines on my profile, duniya meri jaan.. and you will know.

Its a dangerous world out there. But its just binary logic. As simple as that.
Happy-sad
rich-poor
love-hate
kind- cruel
yes-no
.
.
.
Dead- alive!

Mayhem at Mumbai

No No.. iam not talking about the the Iron Maiden concert.. This post has more to do with the political storm that has caught innocent cab-drivers and street hawkers completely unawares.

If you watched the Hindi news channels or atleast been up to date with the news, i think you'd reach the "aha" point regarding this post..

What i felt when i watched those images of carnage, the 'goondas' on the streets of Mumbai weilding iron rods and apparently trying to emulate their martial arts heroes.. was one of total shock and pity for the small minded attitude.

But the eyes of the cab driver who was mercilessly pulled out of his vehicle and trashed about till he resembled the shattered automobile, ignited a different fire inside me..
"who the hell do these mob people think they are.. don't they know that they belong to a 'democratic' nation.."??

Coming from a different part of the country myself, the indignation i felt was really uncontrollable..

Somehow i managed to sleep after picking up an old Tom Clancy novel..
When i reached office in the morning, i overheard a group of people talking about the issue.. Well, it was more of an intense (hopefully friendly) argument..

One of them was really charged up and trying..well.. not outrightly but somehow justifying the ire of the mob, seemed to be a staunch supporter of the political party that created the ill-will in the first place.. What did he say..? "You really have no idea how the jobs are being lost to outsiders from northern states..etc etc.."

Looking at his passionate if not fanatical arguments, i began to think.. isn't this the same feeling that many american's had when the offshoring circus got all the media hype? Yes.

Oh.. but this is different.. we are part of one country.. they are the 'goras' but we belong to one common Nation...? Right? Well.. if you look at the amount of abuse we met out to our fellow countrymen, be it on the roads while driving or passing lewd remarks on the poor and the hapless.. i can only smirk at the irony of the word Nation..

The local people are right in their own way, jobs i guess are being lost to 'outsiders' (as they intened to label anyone who can't speak the local language).. The problem is not of people stealing jobs.. the problem is of skewed development throughout the country.. In the same state where farmers are commiting suicides every year, the 'goondas' who obviously are an offshoot of the city's gangster era really can't be made to understand the intricacies..

Tell you what, i think its not a case of 'earning' a living in Mumbai.. the rate at which the mercury is dipping all around the northern part of the country, our politicians might just make a call one day, to shift the 'capital' of the country on a seasonal basis!

This would really make the people of south happy as they always seem to feel that the capital is too far and does too little..

In the meanwhile, i pray for the poor souls caught in the web of the politicians-media-goondas!
Duniyamerijaan.. at least think of Munnabhai if not the father of the nation!

mediocrity v1.0

I was part of an interesting argument yesterday.. which has really made me shoot an entry here. 'Mediocrity', This word actually popped into my head when the thunderstorm subsided. Yeah, i do pity the neighbours..

I wanted to watch "path to 9/11" and my roomie wanted to watch a cricket match. One thing led to another but fortunately for me, we din end up doing wwf.. coz one, i'd have been beaten and two, it would have been a funny mms-clip. My argument-lets watch something thats groundbreaking stuff.. the picturization of the whole movie was awsome. .the plot (well 98% true in reality) was to gripping to pass up for a game of smash the ball.

Fresh were the images of the WTC collapsing.. 6 years on. Still remember my friend calling me up and saying "there been a bomb blast.. in new york.. wait. ... no.. plane crash.. world trade center.. quick.. turn on CNN.."

All this made me not want to part with the tv remote. Only to be criticised that i promised i would switch channels and be well.. verbally abusesd after a valiant effort to win over the argument by saying " dude.. u said so... man.. don go back on your words now.. blah blah.."

Oh well.. gifted with the power to argue till the sky falls.. i was relentless.. pointing out to me dear friend that there are things in this world apart for news reports of dance-bars, sting operations gone wrong, wife swapping and witch doctors.. mediocrity!

Man.. when will people around me start building good taste of things?? Or why do i end up with people like this? Not that they are bad by character.. not at all

1. Never thought anything apart from money and clothes.
2. Never did anything useful apart from oogling at anything slightly resembling female..
3. Never bothered to find out who was Mohammad Ali or who is Bernie Ecclestone.
4. Know everything about Cricket.
5. Champions at guessing film songs and playing games based on film songs whenever more than five people get on a bus!
6.Always throw garbage where every it is already dirty.. or apparently dirty.
7. Always panic when you see someone else doing somthing vaugely important and presume that he/she will move ahead of you in school/office.
8. Always break the line/queue and smile back at the people behind.
9.Never feel the need to say sorry, thank you, excuseme.
10. Either think of earning money by fooling others or not think of doing anything good in life!

These are the 10 most common things to expect in mediocre folk! They are not hard to miss. They are everywhere. There is a theory that if it weren't for them, things would never move ahead in this planet.. Well, to some extent that may be true.

But mostly, atleast with me, this irks me to the extent that i loose my cool and get down and dirty in an argument that i fight till i win.

When will people learn to co-exist? Birds of a feather flock together.. who makes up these funny quotes??
I hope i don't sound to critical. You may think of me as a person with seroious attitude problem or someone who needs to be taught to behave.. well.. a little mediocre??

Keep outsourcing jobs! Thats the only way to keep that flag flying!

Freedom of expression!

Iam very happy today.. Finally got this site unblocked from office!! Its a victory for freedom of expression.. also it goes to show that there are people who do have the common sense, yet they are lost among the sea of bullshit people who perform mechanical tasks without even wondering why or what exactly they are doing..

Hmm.. let me see how much this channels out my ever pulsating brain waves that off late seem to have got a vice like grip even over the most basic activites of my life, pushing me to think and ponder where exactly all this headed!

Things had become so bad, that people.. who knew me only from sight started pointing out that i seem to have to potential but somehow was not living upto their expectations..

What expectations?? If iam not getting inspired by what i do, why would i even bother to put the extra effort?

Anyway,
This blog will from now on be upto date :)