Choco Man

The mystery of Arsenal

2011-05-06T00:25:00.000-07:00

Enough has been written, said and researched about Arsenal F.C. But, since i love that club, i am still amused by it all the time. They recently defeated table toppers and probable winners of this season's league, Man Utd last week. But, as it has happened so many times in the past, it was a little too late again.

Arsene Wenger is equally bemusing to me as is Arsenal. Football fans, this includes Arsenal fans as well, have been asking for AW's head after his failure to win a major trophy for 6th consecutive year. But that just sounds ludicrous to me. And i am not just saying this because of what he achieved during his best years at the club, but because of the kind of football Arsenal plays under him. To see to it, what he has achieved with almost zero funds available, i dont think anyone else would have been able to.

Its too difficult to imagine Arsenal without AW. Since the debt laden days, because of Emirates stadium loan, funds were limited to AW. Arsenal were 11th in the table in terms of amounts spent in the first decade of 21st century. Now, even with that kind of spending, and with the kind of youth AW propelled, Arsenal still were one of the most threatening teams in EPL and Europe. This will always remain a feather in the cap for AW.

There have also been claims that AW's project youth (the policy to buy and develop youngsters) has been a failure. These sound totally inexplicable to me again. How can it be a failure, when Arsenal have developed so many world class youngsters in the recent years. Buying players at the young age of 15-18 and to watch them play at the world cup finals, is that a failure? Come on folks, get real. The likes of Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, RvP, Walcott, Wilshere, Diaby, Djouru, Bendtner, Ramsey, Song, etc are all among the best young footballers. Almost each one has played more than 300 matches and apart from RvP, all others are below 25.

Not just this, but the kind of football Arsenal plays under AW is simply mesmerizing at times. Even though they have to suffer goals at times because of that, it still justifies the beautiful tag for football. No other team in England plays this kind of passing, attacking football that Arsenal displays time and again. And yes, at times even they over do the passing, much to the agony of fans.

I believe that to AW deserves a chance to carry forward the legacy created by him. He should be convinced to buy a few experienced players who can lead the team out of crisis when needed. A good center back, a good denfensive midfield player and a world class goalie will do the job for Arsenal.

In Arsene, i still trust!!

A Marwadi Wedding

2011-02-18T07:38:00.000-08:00

I have attended Punjabi weddings (well of course), Marathi wedding, Muslim wedding, Gujarati wedding and now finally i went to one of my very close friends' wedding in Rajasthan - a Marwadi wedding. And i must say it was quite an experience.

To start with - sweets. My goodness, i am very sure that even if there is an acute shortage of water or if there is a famine or even if they are starving or anything such severe happens in Rajasthan, they won’t stop eating sweets. And to eat on one's own is a different issue, but to make others eat forcefully is what was different here. We normally feed others' sweets in humor and mostly only to the close relatives only. But in Rajasthan, we were treated with sweets almost by everyone and multiple times and all these with extremely serious faces and after being told that it was a part of their tradition. It seemed like if we don't eat, we will be beaten. And so even when our bellies were pleading us to stop dumping more sweets into them, we couldn't. We urged and fought and made so many excuses, but they were just not ceasing in their mission and in fact that was motivating them even more to make us suffer. A human tendency - make the sufferers under your authority suffer even more.

The dining place during marriage had more sweet counters than any other ones. The most surprising and inexplicable thing that seemed to me was that people over there used to consider sweet dishes as the main course and then went on to eat chappatis, rice and vegetables and yes believe me, they ended it all with snacks like chat or something else.

Then there are these infinite number of customs, procedures, traditions and superstitions which i believe is what makes Indian culture so unique. There are innumerous little things that the bride and the groom are supposed to do and an equal number of things that they are forbidden to.

One very strange custom was that the grooms' parents cannot be present at the time when the couple are exchanging vows. Why would a custom prevent a couple from attending the wedding of their beloved son? May be there is some reason for that, but i totally don’t understand it. Another intriguing one was that the bride goes back to her home after marriage and next day she does to and fro from the grooms' place at least 4-5 times. And they finally are united in the bond of love (hope you understand how) on the second night. The next day is also kept for the little games aimed at helping the bride to get familiar with the grooms' family and most importantly being a buddy to her life partner.

Overall a great experience. I got to see a totally new kind of wedding, new set of customs, traditions and a new place as well. And to think that India has so many different castes and cultures, which have their own kinds of weddings and traditions and still there are some similarities between all is absolutely amazing. Hope i get to see many more different kinds and hope they are as mysterious as the Big Fat Marwadi wedding.

The Mob Mentality

2011-02-09T09:17:00.000-08:00

I always had this question in my mind. What motivates a mob to perform the actions that it performs. What must be the inspiration to so many people to go about destroying public properties. How exactly do such crowd gather and what keeps them motivated all time along.

Political hooliganism - heard of it, read about it, saw on television, but had never experienced it before my trip to Bengaluru recently.

I was on a weekend trip to Bengaluru to meet one close friend. The trip was supposed to be very hectic as i was going to reach on Saturday morning and had my return bus on Sunday evening. But, as it always happens, Murphy's great law always prevails. With great difficulty, i had managed to convince my managers to let me leave a little early from office on Friday. And there i was - eagerly waiting for my bus to come and take me to the adventurous voyage. It was a semi-sleeper bus(don't know why it is supposed to be called that, either one can sleep in a sleeper bus or go sitting on a seater bus, but in a semi-sleeper, one can neither sleep nor sit properly). And as i had expected i couldn't sleep most of the night.

The best thing about the bus journeys that i like is the little breaks on the highway restaurants. Though, i must admit that the quality of those restaurants has certainly gone upwards in the last few years. I usually wander around on the breaks, checking out the girls getting down from other buses (again thanks to Mr. Murphy, girls in other buses are always prettier than mine). I also do the usual observations job, trying to map the behavior of people with their faces. I believe that the behavior that people showcase, especially when they are alone, says a lot about them.

Next morning, i succeeded eventually in my long quest for sleep and from what i remember, i slept at around 5 in the morning. But, it was going to be short lived. At around 7, i woke up to find many people from my bus getting down with curious looks on their faces. I was totally clueless, but too tired to stand up and find out on my own. So i kept half-sleeping on my seat and after a while was relieved to find that the bus had again started. We reached a certain highway spot again and the driver took a lengthy halt of around half an hour over there.

The bus stopped again at around 9 and this time i was fully awake and curious enough to learn what was happening. I found out from my neighbors and other fellow bus travelers that there was some Karnataka bandh announced and so some mob had stopped the bus. I called up my friend to verify that it was correct. And there it all started. The most agonizing wait of my journey. There was a mob of around 30-40 people that had stopped the traffic on the highway. Our bus was 4th in the queue when it had started and finally when we were allowed to go, according to a rough guess, there would have been some 5000-6000 vehicles in the long long queue that had formed. The mob had placed the front truck horizontally on the highway, preventing anyone to cross the laxman rekha that they had formed. They started burning tires and it was clear to us that it was going to be a big tiresome day.

What would one do when one is stuck in midst of a highway in a totally unknown land, where one doesn't even understand the language people residing over there speak? And when there is a big violent mob, which looks as hungry as a wild cat that was only given cabbage to eat for 3 years. Add to that the afternoon heat, exaggerated because of the air-conditioned pleasures that the body has enjoyed inside the semi-sleeper bus. And above all that, you are carrying this sad feeling of not being able to make it on time to meet your friend.

What did i do? Made new friends, talked to strangers, got to know some really good ones, wandered around aimlessly, ate at a small cafeteria cum home and tried to learn the mentality of the mob. One thing i was totally sure, none of the hooligans knew why there doing what they had been asked to do. But the power that they were able to showcase was unparalleled. To completely bring to a halt a crowd of about 1 lakh or more with no apparent reason known to them is something i had never seen before. They were burning tires endlessly and for continuously 6 hours, they didn't rest or oblige under pressure and didn't let go any brave-hearts who occasionally tried to break the check-post they had made. Hats off to their courage, dedication and above all, their power - even though it was used for a destructive purpose.

Finally, after some alleged meeting somewhere else and on a phone call from someone somewhere, the mob let us go at around 3.30 pm in the afternoon. I could finally reach Bangalore at 6 pm. And despite another setback of the local transport buses not functioning in the city due to the same bandh, i could not afford to waste any more time and reached my final destination by 7 pm. But, overall it was a good experience and a firsthand classroom to understand the mob mentality.

The Big Fat Punjabi Wedding

2010-12-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

The stage was all set. It was going to be a big occasion in the lives of Chhabdas. They were a renowned and a much respected family in Andanabad. And they had waited for this occasion for long. It was the wedding of the eldest son from the third generation of the Chhabda family, Soham. After months of preparations and arrangements, time had come for the celebrations.

Soham, a highly successful IT engineer was marrying Renuka, an IT engineer from Lambana. The wedding was scheduled to be held in Lambana. And the reception was slated for Andanabad, Soham's home town. The decorations were arranged, the band-wallahs had been called, the transportation arrangements had been done, the menu items for dinners on all days had been decided, invitation cards had been prepared and distributed to as many friends and relatives as they could remember, the so called customary "lena-dena" of gifts and money had also been done and the red carpet was now laid perfectly for the celebrations of the beloved son of Chhabda family.

The entire clan had reached Lambana and now it was the marriage day. After all the regular customary procedures, time had come to take off the marriage procession. Many more relatives had reached Lambana. And there were polite complaints coming since morning, "Where is tea?", "The cushions are not soft enough", "The rooms shouldn't be so clean, it doesn't look like marriage", "Why did my husband's brother's wife's sister's maternal uncle's daughter get 50 bucks more than me?", etc. The complaints were reaching to Mr. and Mrs. Chhabda's ears through very well calculated mediums of transport. People kept passing on the comments and always took care to tell it to only those who they sure shot felt will take those complaints to the person under their microscopic lens. There was always one common statement to follow those comments, "But it is fine, please don't tell them. Such things do happen in marriages. We have not come here for roaming around, we have come to attend the holy occasion of marriage and such things do happen in marriages."

Everyone was getting ready for the big night. Gentlemen were running from one place to other to get their wives' clothes ironed or to get milk for their children or to buy the forgotten sox pairs for themselves. The ladies had gathered in one room and were busy assisting each other in the make-ups and side by side commenting on various issues ranging from some particular neighborhood lady fighting for 50p with vegetable vendor to their son or daughter not eating bitter gourd with curd. Children had no feelings for or against anyone and continued to run and jump around carefree, sliding and skidding on the marble floors, jumping on the mattresses and breaking every breakable thing around. The young guys had their usual never ending chats about girls, gadgets and drinks going in one of the corners.

Soham, his handsome brother Aditya and their family members were getting ready as early as possible so as to avoid any more delays and thereby to avoid bitterer comments from you know who. With the prevalent pressure quite easily visible on their faces, the Chhabdas were making sure everyone looked happy and that no one seemed to have any hidden harsh feelings for them. On the other hand, others made sure that they gave the perfect looks to them whenever their turn came.

The marriage procession was one more occasion when Chhabdas made sure everyone gets involved in shaking their legs with big smiles on their faces. And so did everyone. Dance is an integral part of Punjabi weddings. The groom Soham, a dance lover, also got his chance to shake legs with various people, making them happy at getting an opportunity to dance with "The Groom". At the marriage party, Chhabdas kept running around to make sure all guests looked happy, completely forgetting their own happiness for that sake.

The case was the same at the reception party in Andanabad. Running around to make others happy and hiding the tension and pressure they put on themselves just for the sake of others. Money was also splashed like a free flowing water-fall on dinners, parties, bands, rotating on the heads of important people while dancing, the lena-dena to make the guests happy, etc. But that is how the Big Fat Punjabi weddings are supposed to be. They are meant for others and not for those who are actually getting married or their families. The show-shaw, dance-shance, lena-dena, khana-pina, ho-halla, kudna-shudna, gana-bajana, etc are all integral part of these weddings and so it was in Soham’s wedding. After all, weddings are meant to be made in heaven. And guests will always find one reason or the other to whine about, after all that is how the human race moves ahead. :)

But, most importantly, wishing a happy and successful married life to Soham and Renuka. The fault-finding, whining and crying are never going to halt, we just need to learn to live with it.

P.S. The characters are purely fictional and any resemblance to anyone is purely coincidental and should be ignored with.

Miseries by rain or rain by miseries

2010-10-07T01:55:00.000-07:00

Rain, rain, go away, little Johnny wants to play!
It’s October and it is still raining cats and dogs here. It is like someone playing games with us. As soon as we take out our raincoats and umbrellas, it stops raining and stops to the extent of causing draughts in certain parts. And when we keep our rain shields out in the open, ready in the gladiator like Avatar, it starts again. We are truly caught in a big dilemma.
When will the boat cum bike be launched? Are the German engineers listening? We really need it here. The roads take a temporarily time off during the monsoon season here. One needs a fair bit of luck to travel during such time. You never know where the gutters are and where the road exists, so it is a very tough guessing game. But no, one should not worry of life, after all life itself is a game, ain’t it?
If the guessing game was not tough enough, then you have the driving game. One should never assume how the co-drivers are going to perform and what they are going to do next. They also have equal rights to play games around. But again, this is not a problem. There should actually be some space to take your vehicle to, as when it rains, the spaces vanish away. Well, unless your vehicle is thin enough to make it pass through the narrowest of the spaces between the giant ones. So without space, you will have ample time to think what to do next. I will recommend you to take some newspaper and music players with you. You can easily finish one article or one song, before you get a chance to move 1m ahead. See, slow and steady anyways wins the race. So chill then and enjoy watching the flooded streets.
You don't need to worry about the water being wasted. It is like a reaction to the miseries laden on us by water. How can it cause us so much pain by unfair means of causing drought and famines? We surely need to teach it a lesson and so we do. Let the water go in the drainage, no need to conserve or anything. The authorities relax, so why should we not?
If you are married or have a girl-friend/boy-friend, you have even better news. You will have enough excuses to enjoy your time with him/her. With no electricity at home, you definitely have the pleasure to enjoy the meal in candle light with him/her. Now that is how noble and altruistic the authorities are. I don’t understand, why do we keep blaming them for such trivial issues, especially when they are helping us build better relationship with our spouses. Come on now; be mature enough to understand their real motives.
The game is not over yet though. The real test starts the day after. To find our way around on the little patches of road left amidst the numerous puddles disbursed all around. Its a job that any pirate would love performing. After all, that will be the real test of their navigation skills. I would even recommend all the automobile companies to test their new vehicles on these terrains. After all, the mountains and rocks still have some smooth surfaces left.
But yes, that is how we are - the most adaptive and receptive species of this planet. Give us the worst of the conditions, we still find some or the other Jugaad. And life thus goes on.

CWG - the lost pride

2010-09-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

This is my second post on the Common Wealth Games in 2 months. And i am retracting back from my viewpoint presented in the earlier post. I had requested all to give up the criticism on CWG and instead prepare to make the games a successful event. But now, when the games are just a fortnight away, it seems a far cry. And i am sorry, but i am admitting here that i was wrong to request that.
I still remember the day when India won the bid for CWG in Nov 2003. Though the news channels then were not as much emotional exploiters as they are now, but still there were pride inducing songs (Chak de hadn't come then) running for days. And it was certainly a moment of pride, a moment that all Indians would have loved to cherish for long, an achievement which could have been talked about for long. But alas, there is nothing to say now. It should have been an easy guess. We have never been great organizers, sports or otherwise. And all this could have been speculated earlier too. But yes, as always, we are paying the price to keep expectations and hopes.
What a big mess this CWG has created. What big humiliation and insult we, as a country are facing. What a big corruption saga has been going on with the entire nation busy in other thoughts. With all these, can we still claim to be the future superpowers?
And the worst part of it, there is still no big reaction from PMO, not a single strong statement from PMO. At least take some action on the culprits. At least, ask Kalmadi to step down now and have an inquiry on the entire mess created. At least, do ask various research organizations to come up and analyze what went wrong and what could have been done and what are the lessons to learn for future from all these chaos. The nation is angry and the citizens of this nation are angrier. It is high time now, some action is taken. Go crap with the games. No one cares now if it is a success or a failure as an event, because for us all, it is already the biggest failure.
Already enough has been said around as to what is wrong with the CWG and what all problems exist and what is the reaction coming from the entire world as a feedback to the games preparation. So i won’t ponder upon these thoughts. It just pains to think of these sorts of corruption and mismanagement happening at such a big level.
Hope no big calamity happens during the game. And I hope not for salvaging the pride of the nation or the organizers (that is already in tatters), but because so that nothing bad happens to the international athletes participating in the event. Hope the buildings and stadiums and various tracks and fields remain intact and also no calamity takes place anywhere in Delhi. But then, why am i hoping again? I don’t myself know, but at the end of the day i still love this country and still hope some miracle happens to bring back the lost pride of the nation.

The Big Transition

2010-09-21T00:34:00.000-07:00

How many of you have heard your parents or grandparents say that things used to be way different in their days. And by their days, i mean days when they were young. After all, these are our days now. But yeah, coming back to the topic, i guess most of us would have heard that. And yes those are true claims too. Things were indeed very different just a few decades ago.
Just to ponder a thought on the current generation - the generation that is in its prime youth currently, the 18-30 age groups. We have lived in an era when things were way cheaper than what they are today. When talking to a girl in the class used to raise many mocking gestures from fellow students. When Bajaj scooter or LML-Vespa were seen in every household. When computer was that geeky instrument, the possession of which used to earn one a definitive high status in society as being the new age scientist. When mobile companies used to charge Rs. 6 for incoming calls and Rs. 18 for outgoing calls. When DD1 and DD metro were our prime source of entertainment. And the list can go on and on for an eternity. But, don’t you think we are extremely lucky. We have lived through the big shift. We have lived in the extremely transient phase of this generation game.
Comparing the generations before us and the generation after us, there are clear indications of the vast differences existing in their attitudes, their behavior, etc. The generation before was a far more conservative one, the ones who had seen India progressing through the most difficult times, the ones for whom luxury and pleasure had a different definition, the ones for whom entertainment was radio, the ones for whom internet and even telephones and televisions were non-existent. And even though we didn’t get a chance to see all those, but we got a fair glimpse.
There have been some great revolutions recently, which according to me have induced this big generation shift. The 1991 economic reforms in the country, which opened the doors for the foreign firms to enter the Indian market, making it more open and more competitive, the internet and IT revolution, the telecom revolution and the retail revolution were the biggest game changers, as per me. Who would have imagined a young graduate - a guy or a girl - earning more than 20k bucks just after graduating from college. And now, even that 20k looks so meager. Who would have imagined all the daily workers, the rickshaw-wallahs, the vegetable vendors, etc owning their own mobiles and catering to their customers after taking orders on mobile? AC supermarkets and malls were those little fantasies which people thought existed in Dubai or some far away imaginary land only. And now, the case is that people are bored of too many malls in cities. Internet brought about the biggest turn-around. It is possible to do any task now sitting at home. And with such abundant data available online, and with people connected like never before, world has truly become a village. Now was that possible about two decades ago?
I must say we are extremely lucky to have seen this change happening in front of our eyes, to have witnessed the pros and cons of the widely distinguished generations and to have lived through this change. And it doesn't surprise me to see that it is this generation that is doing wonders and is being hailed to have finally woken up and working towards bringing about the change.

P.S. I have assumed those reading this will be the people who have been through the same change as me. And that is why i have directed them as second person in this post. :)

A tale of Indian cities

2010-08-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

It is always fun visiting new places and meeting new people. And it is always with the human mind that we tend to compare our cities and people residing in those cities. I have stayed in Ahmedabad for most of my life. But things started to change after my college got over.

I stayed in Kanpur for 4 months, when i visited Agra and Lucknow too. Then i went to Chennai and stayed there for 4 months. After that i came down to Pune and now it has been 1 year since i have been staying here. I have been a frequent visitor to Mumbai and Delhi too. I just came back from my Bangalore trip. I have also been to Vadodara & Chandigarh amongst the major cities of the country. So, now i have visited most of the big cities in the country, with the noteworthy exclusions being Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Jaipur, Patna and Surat.

Starting with Ahmedabad, it being my home town i love that city and even with many negative points that city have, i will always love to make that my permanent residence any day. Ahmedabad has the best electricity and water facilities amongst all the cities i have been to. Roads do get a beating during monsoon, but otherwise it has quite wide roads and the public transport has been on a way up since last few years, with the BRTS being the latest icing on the cake. But still there is a huge improvement needed in terms of public transport. Also with IT industry not having a prominent presence there and with most of the Gujju population going the business way, there is not enough diverse population present there. And also being a dry state, the NaMo land lacks in terms of hangout joints like pubs or discs. And greenery is a big negative point about the city. There are not enough places for youngsters to pass their time at, apart from maybe huge number of malls and multiplexes.

Then coming to Pune, where i have stayed for the longest duration after Ahmedabad. The city lacks big time in terms of basic infrastructure like roads, electricity, water supply and public transport. Most of the population here consists of youngsters only because of the big presence of Educational institutions and IT industry, which with it brings a huge chunk of young, money spending crowd. This in turn leads to a diverse climate and that leads to a happening environment in the city with many pubs, good restaurants and discs and all. But, the best thing about the city is its climate and the places to see around. It is located in the middle of the beautiful, lush green Western Ghats. And there are so many options to trek around the city. And the monsoons make the city wear the look of a newly wedded Indian bride (i dont know, but the newly wedded Indian wives look very beautiful. May be for the obvious reason).

Mumbai will always be one of my favorite cities, mainly because of the people residing in the city. It is the only city with the true metropolitan crowd, according to me. The public transport is also the best in the country. The local trains rock, somehow. And can't believe the pace at which this city lives. Life begins at 5 in the morning and it boasts of a brilliant night life also. The beaches are another jewel in the crown of this city. But yeah, being the biggest city of the country and one of the most costliest in terms of land prices, there are many other factors worth consideration for this city.

The best thing about Chennai was its beaches. Watching the sun rise from the endless waters, while relaxing on the beautiful brown sand, is the most amazing feeling one can get anywhere. The public transport is also very good over there. But i dont think any North Indian (which according to people over there is anything above Tamil Nadu), will enjoy staying there. There are some really nice places to visit around as well, with Pondicherry being my favorite.

Bangalore, to me was very similar to Pune. But yeah, almost double the size of Pune, and the population density also quite huge as compared to Pune. The worst part was its traffic. The roads are very narrow, just like Pune and the traffic is a big chaos. But yeah, public transport is definitely better than the one in Pune. And it is ofcourse way more costlier too.

Apart from these, Kanpur was a big chaotic city. Hadn't expected much else from a UP industrial city otherwise also. I have never liked Delhi much. But yes, metro is a very beautiful service there. Lucknow was a good, small, clean city. Vadodara is also a very decent, small city.

So, finally to end it, i would like to appeal to the civic authorities that they should understand that cities are for the public and they should atleast take efforts to keep them clean and green. The other basic facilities like good roads, public transport, electricity, affordable homes, water supply, places to hang out, etc are also very necessary. But ideal cities are a far cry in our country with so many other problems like corruption, poverty, education, etc. Again ending it with a hope, that times will change and change for the good.

And German bakery was no more…

2010-08-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

BANGGG and there was heart breaking silence all around... As if a mouse has been found lurking around in an open ground surrounded by big, fat, hungry cats all around... Or as if 2012 Nostradamus dream has come true all of a sudden 2 years earlier... Or as if a 1 year child has been thrown in a big wild storm and has been asked to come out alive.. He tried to come back to his senses, but everything was black in front of him… Suddenly, the pictures of a few hours ago started coming back to his mind…

"You are not going to find a single girl for tomorrow, shame on you Abhilash. Yet another valentine's day without a girl-friend. Ha Ha Ha.." said Rashmi. And all the friends started to laugh and make a mockery of Abhilash. But Abhilash was in his own dreams. As usual he was dreaming something else. He had a bet with his friends that this year's valentine was not going to be yet another dry-day for him. And expectedly, he had failed yet again. But he had come close this time. He had been talking to a girl, Chopsuey of late. And again she seemed to him as his yet another "true love"...

"So what, there is still one day to go. I will take Chopsuey out tomorrow. She is the girl for me." Abhilash started giving his mysterious, mocking smile to all. At the back of his mind, even he was aware that nothing of that sort was going to happen. But like always, he liked to make fun of himself by boasting of things around him and about him.

"Are Praveen bhai, make me a good salad today. Am too hungry. Had nothing since morning. Are Selvin, look at that gal mate. What a cool dress and what legs... Whoaaa…. Haven't seen a cool girl like this all day. " said Abhilash, staring at a girl standing at the money counter.
"Oh yeah, she is a babe." said Selvin who was wearing a cool beach shirt and was sitting near Abhilash staring all around.
"Here is your salad, Abhilash bhai... It seems like summer has started." said Praveen, the regular waiter in his usual casual attire with a yellow spotted shirt and a cream colored trouser.
"Yeah, especially with such hot girls around, the temperatures seems to rise at a higher rate." They all had a good laugh at that comment.
"By the way, what is the time Abhilash? I have to reach home before 8. " said Rashmi.
"Are baba, you always have some problems. Why do u have to torture yourself so much? Chill and relax. It doesnt matter if you reach some place a little late. Who cares after all. And ya by the way, it is just 6.45 and so u have enough time left."
"We girls have many duties to perform. Life is not as easy and chilling as u guys. "
"Ok ok, but at least you can stop worrying till u are with us all. You can be tension free for the next 1 hour or so."
"Oh yes yes, i am not against that. I am not taking tension also. Relax."

They were sitting in their regular hang-out joint. And being a weekend it was crowded as always. There were regular youngsters who had made that place a second home for them. Everyone had a smile on their face. The young couples holding each other's hands were happy for being in each others company, the small kids who had come with their parents for having come outside their cage like home to breathe a free air, the daily travelers for the prospect of the day coming to an end, even the frustrated IT employees were looking happy as it was a weekend. For the young guys roaming around for no reason at all, there was a reason to celebrate as well, as their eyes were getting free exercise. There were many beautiful girls around in their smart, sexy, exquisite attires to grab the attention of most of the guys around. And which girl won’t be happy with the attention. If there was a measure of gayness in a person, then even the guy with the maximum marks would also have been attracted to the girls around. Then there were the foreign breed roaming around in their long ankle length red gowns. They looked like a banana wrapped in a red covering and roaming around in a wheat field.

It was a moment of joy. It seemed like people were celebrating something. Their freedom, the freedom to be there and enjoy that moment with everyone. The freedom to smoke, to smile, to shout and to scream with joy. The joy that no one can take away their freedom. But everyone had a horrendous feeling deep inside the bottommost corners of their hearts. The feeling that their freedom may not last forever. But no one seemed to care for that feeling. Everyone wanted to have their share in the joyous spirit evolving around.

"It seems such a happy place. I just love this place. Especially with such a great crowd. We should ask our manager to shift our company at this place. We will be able to work for more hours and far more efficiently." said Abhilash.

Rashmi and Selvin smiled to that wild idea, another of those stupid suggestions made by Abhilash. Vikas, who like Abhilash was also in some deep thinking all the time, suddenly rose and replied "What a great idea, Abhilash!! It would really be the nicest thing that can happen to us IT people. After all, who needs to work in those shitty environment with all the shitty people sitting around us, keeping their shitty eyes on us and asking us to work all the time." This was the usual language in which Vikas used to talk. And his friends were used to that.

"Can you please get me a herbal tea Abhilash." said Rashmi with her sweet smile embracing her face.
"Ha, who can say no to that beautiful smiling face."
"Stop flirting and get me the tea please."
"Ok as you say. But i must say i have a strange feeling that you should not have tea at this moment."
"Stop it Abhilash, you and your feelings. Are you getting or shall i get it myself?"
"Ok darling, i will get it." said Abhilash and went to the cash counter nearby.

"Wake up Mr. Abhilash Hooda. Wake up". said a tense looking face staring down. Abhilash opened his eyes suddenly. He was smiling. He didn’t know why. He couldn't remember what had happened. He could see nothing. But suddenly there was a splash of water on his face. He tried to remember what had happened in the last 5 minutes. He had gone to get the herbal tea for Rashmi. As soon as he reached the money counter, he had heard a big bang. And then everything went black in front of his eyes. He looked back and could only see some red patches on the walls and the floors amidst the dark black smoke. People were running all around.

It took around 2 minutes more for him to get his senses back. And he, unwillingly, very sadly and in a panicking state, had to convince himself to see back… And the harsh fact, which he had tried to not to think of, came alive when he saw back - "German bakery was no more."...

P.S. All characters in the story are fictitious and any resemblance to a real life character is merely coincidental and is deeply regretted.

CWG - Time to re-unite and rekindle hope

2010-08-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

We are just 4 days away from celebrating 63 years of independence. And many people believe it is time for India now, that it is time India shows its strength to the world and rises above the pity situation being showed in many movies and books and to finally make it up finally on the world stage. That it is time for India to move on from a developing nation to a developed nation. And yes, people may be right in some of the fronts in praising the country. But on the other hand, there have been instances when we feel India will never be able to rise to a developed state any day.

The latest dark spot on India's pride comes in the form of Commonwealth Games(CWG) organizing. India won the bid to host the 2010 CWG in 2003. And there was a huge hue and cry over the win with the media declaring it as a big success. Though there were a few skeptics who doubted India's capability to host such a big event on an international level, but overall it was a feel good climate amongst the general masses and media.

But as and when the date came nearer, things started to change. And it reached the vantage point, when the corruption charges were reported in the media a few weeks back. Now there are just two months left before the games begin. And still we are lagging too far behind in terms of infrastructure, planning and finances. The corruption charges were of the worst possible order. Some very, very clearly visible charges. The media understandably went berserk in reporting the faults and the misdoings of the CWG organization. But, what was expected was some reaction from the government or PM, but none came. There were just a few statements here and there and a parliament discussion which was again marred by allegations from the opposition and all that usual scenarios. Mani Shankar Aiyer, Congress's senior leader and a Rajya Sabha member went on to say that he will be happy if the CWG turns out to be a disaster as that would turn out to be a lesson for the country and the people involved in the crimes. Also that would prevent India from bidding for a major sporting event in the future and those crores of Rupees could be used for some productive work.

Yes, i agree that what happened was wrong and that strict actions should be taken against those found guilty and a thorough inquiry should be undertaken. But what is more important at this point of time? Why should the misdoings of a very small minority cause shame to other mass population of this country? The event, that should have been a showcase of India's strength, pride and its upcoming, should not turn out to be a showcase of what the foreigners associate most often to India - poverty, corruption, crime. That is not what all India is.

Even South Africa is no better than India as far as economic, social or political conditions are concerned. The problems there are much worse than in our country. The crime rate, racism, aids, poverty, etc are very big problems troubling them. But still there was no voice being raised over there before or after the cup and all that we could hear was invitations to visit their country. And the way the 2010 football world cup was conducted, should have raised hopes for Africa and so many developing nations. The Athens 2004 Olympics was one more noteworthy example. The conditions there were similar to what it is here now. The stadiums were way behind schedule just 2 months before the games. But that was when the people of the nation united and overcame all the difficulties to conduct a reasonably good Olympics.

Why can’t the people of this country unite and bring up a show of solidarity? Why can’t the media have a little more positive environment now and help build a positive atmosphere in the country? It is time when we come forward and show the world that India is not what they perceive it to be. We don’t have just those few corrupt people having their say in all the important matters. It is time now, media stops all that negative marketing and positive steps are taken to see that the games are organized in the best of the spirits. But yes, all this with the promise that those found culprit will be punished and nothing of this sort will be tolerated in future.

I would also like to thanks Mr. Subroto Roy here, whose letter related to this in all news dailies a few days back, changed my point of view in terms of the games and motivated me for this article.

Signing off with the hope that we are able to organize the CWG successfully and in the best possible manner. Also that all those found guilty of the charges be punished and steps are taken to ensure that the chaos caused this time doesn’t occur again.

Earth’s plea

2010-07-23T05:03:00.000-07:00

It’s been a long journey around,
going day and night, round and round.
My family members are still as young as ever,
I smile at them and don’t ask for their favor.

I was the most beautiful of them all,
and was proud to always stand tall.
Everything was nice, beautiful and so green,
One needed to pinch oneself to remind it ain't a dream.

I used to be very helpful all the time,
was the best among the powerful Nine.
But one day danger seemed up on the sleeve,
when God sent on me - Adam and Eve.

Everyone warned that I will suffer,
but I ignored, considering them duffer.
I took a road that was less travelled,
with the hope that it will be marveled.

But it all started to change one day,
when man became mighty as they say.
He played mischief with me every now and while,
but I didn’t let go off my smile.

I gave signals and gave enough warnings,
but he was blind, couldn’t see my burnings.
I am still young and don’t want to see cries,
care for me a little, I don’t want to die.

Now they are eyeing my friend Shambhulal, for some place,
They call him Mars and want to see his face.
None of my friends will give any hopes,
they fear they might also get doped.

A day will come, things will change,
Men will relent and feel a little shame.
I will shine again and will shun all the fears
To show the people who think, Apocalypse is near.

The new beginning

2010-07-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

It’s been a long time, since I posted here last. Well, it has been that kind of period. Not that i was extremely busy or something. But that i am the laziest person alive and was just not doing it.

Life somehow changed tracks for me after my last post. Moving from a small company with about 10 employees to a multi-national with almost 80000 employees - it was a big leap forward or maybe backward, but I don’t think on those lines.

I was sent to an alien city, a city where i had never been before. I learnt a lot in this last one and a half year. The life in this new city was great. I was not expecting much of it. And it was living up to my expectations in the beginning. Food was horrible, weather was pathetic and people over there seemed like living generations back to me. Then there was this language barrier. It was very tough to communicate with everyone there. However, with the IT revolution settling down big time in this city, there were many people from other parts of the country. Eventually we settled down and then the fun began. I made so many wonderful friends there. I keep talking to some very frequently till now. I roamed around a lot too, something i love to do. Overall, it was a wonderful experience.

Eventually after spending 4 months in that far off coastal city i was sent to an inland city surrounded by beautiful mountains all around and with some beautiful chicks inside. I have been staying here for 1 year now. And the journey has been great here too. It is so cool to learn new ways of living, to observe different kinds of people, their behaviors, their food, their ways of talking, their thinking pattern, etc. I have roamed around here too. But i have observed that it is nothing as compared to what others do. But yes, there are many places to see yet and maybe some fine day i will visit every place around.

Then about girls over here. Again like my home town, i noticed one thing here too that girls are always wearing those terrorists type cloth covering their faces. Even late at night, i can see them wearing that. God knows what they are hiding from. Some say it is pollution, some say it is the sunlight and then some have this theory that only those girls who aren’t that good looking, wear it. Whatever the reason maybe, but it is very intriguing. The dressing over here is way ahead of what it is like in other places where i have stayed. I have always believed that a person's appeal lays in 25% beauty and 75% his/her attitude, way of dressing and overall style. And that is what is most appealing over here.

I also formed many new habits and hobbies in the last year and a half. Poetry being one of them. And yeah, i will post one or two of them. Also have become a big time soccer buff. Well that i was even earlier too. But now am having a nice football fan group.

Have plenty other things to write. But will write in coming posts. Hopefully i will continue writing this time without break... :)

The Great Indian Political League

2009-03-12T05:58:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time since my last post. Was a bit busy. So now the big IPL is back. I mean the Great Indian Political League with the largest pool of players trying to show their worth in front of the largest panel of judges or selectors.
All the parties and the so called poll stars are gearing up big time for the absolutely unpredictable league. The next two months are going to be the most exciting for everybody here with or without an interest in politics. The kind of drama on display here is even more exciting than any Saas-Bahu soap, a nail biting cricket match or a penalty shoot out between Arsenal and Manchester United. Maybe i exaggerated a little here. But it is really going to be a very exciting summer this one.
And yeah, the drama has already begun. Already some age old alliances have been broken and some new ones have been formed. At some places, two old rivals who might have refused to see each others face earlier are holding hands of each other and at other places two old friends are now not ready to see each others face. With such a huge population and with 543 seats going into voting, the drama had got to be of the highest level. India has so much diversity in everything that such varied things can happen here only.
But mind you, the game has just begun. With the third front getting more and more powerful day by day, we can expect much more action later on and especially after the results are declared. Everybody is keeping hopes alive for becoming the PM of India. But, nobody is with the purpose pf serving the people. And it is here where the danger lies. Parties with even less than 20 seats in the last elections are hoping to see their party candidate on the hot seat. People like Mayawati, Jayalalitha, Chandrababu Naidu, Mulayam Singh, Deve Gowda, Sharad Pawar, Prakash Karat are just a few names who have already expressed their big desires. Now, you can only imagine the change these people can bring about.
The money politics is also running very high. Although the world may be big time in recession, there is no recession in this IPL. Money and other goods are being distributed freely among the junta to win their votes. And as always it may work this time too.
I just hope for a miracle. May any one group win a majority. And please the above mentioned people leave their dreams aside and for once just think of the betterment of the country.

Recession - An opportunity rather than a crisis

2009-02-19T05:26:00.000-08:00

Recession - Well, this is a word that is being used in every household these days. Everybody seem to be in some or the other way to be affected by it. I am writing this in full sympathy with those who have lost their jobs or the freshers who are not able to get jobs or every other person who is affected by it.
Even a small kid will be able to tell you that the entire world economy is in recession, quite deep into recession. So is it not high time that we start trying to come out of it and try and find the solutions for it rather than blaming everybody around for the situation. And the blame from most of the people go to U.S. banks or to be more specific at times, to George Bush for the war on Iraq or even to their own destiny. Is that really going to help now? Why don't we learn from the mistakes and just move ahead and try and not repeat the mistakes again.
Well, there are still a lot of people who don't still realize the situation or rather they have not yet seen the effects of the crisis situation. But to a common man, it is quite simple visible. Where there were new malls and big buildings coming up in the surroundings, there cant be seen any new projects these days and not just the new projects, even the older ones are not getting over. Earlier there used to be a huge crowd in the malls almost everyday and the weekends were like unbearable. But now each day seems same and the crowd is getting thinner day by day. And the effects are seen not just in malls, but everywhere nowadays.
So, the billion dollar question is what should we do? One of the solution can be to cry all day for what has happened. To tell your stories to everybody around and try and prove that your situation is even worse than theirs. But is this really a solution? I don't think so. But still this is what people are doing. When you know that everybody else in your category is also facing the similar situation as you, then why not to raise your level and work hard to be superior in your league. Why not to try at least to learn new things, to obtain new skills or to enhance your skill set, to create new opportunities for yourself. Its just a matter of having a positive mindset.
"If you think you can, you will. " But if you think that opportunity will come knocking at your door step, you might be assessing the situation in a wrong manner. You will have to create opportunities for yourself. It is you who will decide your destiny and not the destiny that will lead you.
I know that all this is easy to say and extremely difficult to implement. But, i bet if we try and implement these things, not only will we be able to overcome these difficult times, but also we will be able to make our future even better and not just in terms of money, but overall also.

P.S. : I am also one of you who is facing the effects of recession. And am myself trying to implement these things that i said.

"May i go to pub, Sir"

2009-02-05T05:27:00.000-08:00

Girls, what are they for? Well, different people will have different perception to this. No, i am not talking about the naughty minds of the mischievous boys. But i am talking about our great Hindu nationalists or rather our noble politicians or their nobler volunteers who claim to be our moral police and in that name, they don't mind beating young girls. And ya the girls should be punished. They did commit a horrendous crime. They went to pub. And our so called culture says that girls cant do things which boys can do. But mind you, it has been validated by the Gods, that to beat ladies is perfectly alright.
The moral policing has been gaining ground in our country these days. These people are sacrificing their lives to make the people learn about our culture. They go on vandalizing gift shops on valentine's days, they hit out at couples and for that matter even married ones for the big crime of holding hands in public, they dictate, oh oops wrong word, they teach the young girls what to wear and what to not. So what if they sometimes destroy our national properties to put their views forward, so what if they hit girls and other young people, that should be absolutely fine considering their ultimate motives. After all, what is the harm in that. Our teachers also used to hit us to make us learn some new lessons. Though the learning may be different over there but a lesson is a lesson.
And if they don't teach us these valuable lessons then who will explain us what our culture says. They may do anything behind the scenes. So what if they gamble, so what if they go to prostitutes to satisfy their urge, so what if they themselves drink and make "merry" at the public places. At least, they are not violating the laws mentioned in our culture. They have the rights to do so. This is the true meaning of democracy. Complete democracy doesn't imply to the girls by the way. They don't have the absolute freedom so that they can do whatever they want. They have to certify whatever they want to do by our chauvinist heroes.
And the incident that happened recently in a Mangalore pub was a very good lesson for all the young corrupt minds. You should not drink in a pub. There are so many other more social things to do. You can hit other girls in other pubs, you can get drunk somewhere else and disturb the other people, you can destroy the public properties. After all anything you do should be enjoyable. And there is more fun in the latter activities.

Young guns wake up and protest these ugly incidents taking place in the name of God. We should not tolerate such horrifying incidents taking place in our country. It is we who can bring about the much needed change.

Dont pity on poverty!!

2009-01-29T05:14:00.000-08:00

The other day after writing the previous blog, i was wondering why am i always cynical about the conditions in India. There are many good things to write about, so why am i always critical. I then decided that my next blog would be something positive about our country. And i was on the lookout for some such incident.
I watched Slumdog Millionaire and read about the controversy relating to the movie. Amitabh Bachchan wrote in his blog that he was disappointed by the way the foreigners market poverty in India for their advantage. I found the statement to be true upto a certain extent. There are many examples for that. There are many movies and books on this topic which have been highly acclaimed abroad. Arvind Adiga's "The White Tiger", Salman Rushdie's "The Midnight Children", "Salaam Bombay", "Mother India", etc. are some of the examples of this genre of artwork. But isn't this also a reality. Should these kind of movies not motivate us to improve the conditions in our country so that the next time when somebody decides to pity on India, he is not able to find a valid issue. Well, this depends on your perception. This is truly subjective to each person as to how he takes it.
I personally believe that though the poverty here is marketed, we should not keep complaining on that and rather take steps to improve the conditions here. Taking a slightly different view, i have seen and experienced this thing that the people in slums are more happier than the so called civilized people burning midnights oil to achieve success and with the final aim "to be happy". So, why not to show that to the world. Of course, the conditions should be improved and they should be given equal share of rights, but don't pity on them. Compare them on the factor of happiness, and you will find yourself to be as poor as them or rather them to be as rich as you.

The changing face of Education industry

2009-01-17T04:17:00.000-08:00

Education in India has become one of the most profit making venture today. It is very unfortunate that today it is seen as a business opportunity rather than being a noble profession. And this industry is such huge that it will surpass the GDP of most of the developing countries quite easily. Be it schools, colleges or the coaching classes, everybody is seeing this as the best way to earn white money. And this is one industry which will be least affected by recession.
Children as small as 3 year old are being targeted by the coaching classes. According to one survey, only the coaching classes amount to about more than Rs. 400 millions. And this is just the recognized coaching classes. If we take into account the private tuition classes, then this amount will rise 5 times at least. So, why this madness? Does a 3 year old child really need an instructor outside the school to learn things? Didn't our previous generation achieved the successes without these private tutors?
According to me, the teachers in the schools are not as sincere nowadays as they used to be earlier. And they are not alone to blame. The entire scenario is such that in order to survive in this competitive market, they have to resort to other means of earning than just the schools. Almost every teacher in school has some connection with the coaching classes or he/she is taking private tuition. And when they can earn more than 2 times they earn in schools and that too by spending half the time, why wont they be inclined to do that.
This was about the schools. But the case with private Universities is even worse. Most of the private colleges charge huge amounts from the students apart from the enormous aid they receive from the Government and the alumni. But, they are never able to show their respective spending. I would like to quote one personal incident that occurred a few days back.
I appeared for the SNAP test which is one of the few entrance examination for MBA. SNAP is a management entrance test for admissions to Symbiosis group of colleges. The test took place on the 21st Dec 2008. Like previous years, this year too loads of students took this test And as it is the case with all the popular entrance tests, all the management coaching institutions published their answer keys on their respective sites for SNAP too. So after appearing in the exam, like all the students, i also verified my answers with the answer keys of the popular classes like IMS, TIME and Career Launcher. And when i calculated the marks i was getting marks in the range of 83-87. And so i was elated, since that would have cleared my way for admission to the reputed institutes like Symbiosis. I also bought forms of two colleges, which costed me Rs. 2550. But, something very strange occurred when the results were declared on the 10th of Jan. When i checked out the result, i was getting just 66.5...
There are four sections in SNAP - quantitative aptitude and data interpretation, logical reasoning, verbal ability and general awareness. If the classes predict wrong answers for English, then we can understand, because the questions are sometimes ambiguous, but how can anybody predict wrong in maths, logical reasoning and general awareness. How can 1+1 be 2 for somebody and something else for somebody else. And not only me, but there are hundreds of students like me who had lost marks in the range of 5-25 from what they were expecting. Since this was the case, we expected that the cut-offs would go lower this year and so there was a ray of hope. The last date for filling up the forms for the colleges was 9th Jan. But, to our sheer horror, they changed the last date to 15th. Now, this was clearly done to encourage more students to buy the forms. We reported all these to the test takers and requested them to at least publish their answer keys. But there was no response from them, as was expected. Many people told me after that that this has been going on since years with the private colleges. Some also said that they do so to increase their intake of management seats at the cost of more eligible candidates.

There are so many cases to talk about on this topic, which i will write in other posts some other day. Signing off with a hope that things will change and education will remain a noble ethical profession as it should be.

The Fountainhead

2009-01-08T03:19:00.000-08:00

I have just finished reading Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" and believe me it was simply superb. The imagination, the thinking, the imagery stuff, the kind of characters, etc portrayed in the book seem to be simply out of this world. The concepts mentioned in the book are absolutely refreshing and give a completely new view of the world and its people.
It is difficult to imagine how a single person can have such a powerful imagination. Really, hats off to Ayn Rand for such a beautiful creation and as she mentions in the book, the creator, by being an egotist, is always doing service to mankind in the best manner possible.
Among all the books that i have read previously, this one was a completely new and different kind of book. One has to be in that kind of mood to read such a book. The little things mentioned in the book, sometimes even in the casual manner makes us think very deeply about the subject.
I loved all the main characters portrayed in the book. Of course, like everybody else who have read this book, Howard Roark was my favorite too. But when you see in the present world such people are impossible to find anywhere. He represents the kind of people who are completely unaffected by what the other people think about them, the people who don't try and affect anybody, the people who think they can serve mankind by serving themselves, the people who can go to any extent to honor their independent thinking, the people who neither love everybody nor hate everybody, etc are an impossible occurrence in today's wicked world.
Then comes Ellsworth Toohey. Though he has been given a negative image in the end, but his thoughts were the most thought provoking and required a very deep understanding of the facts. The speech in which he confesses his crime in front of Peter Keating was quite superb. The way he uses Peter Keating and other people in various fields was really cool.
Similarly, Dominique's and Wynand's characters have been portrayed very beautifully. Peter Keating's character seems to resemble the normal human beings seen everywhere around us. There seems to be a Peter in everybody of us.
So this was all about the fountainhead. I think it is very necessary to learn a certain things from the book. There are many good things, other than the ones mentioned by me above that can be learnt from this book, but these are all subjective to the readers. Looking forward to having a similar or even better experience in Atlas Shrugged. But i doubt whether i am in that kind of mood, especially after reading Fountainhead for the last one and a half month.

Has anything really changed?

2008-12-26T04:03:00.000-08:00

One month has passed since the terrorists struck India, but has anything changed??? To begin analyzing this question, i would first like to clarify on why i used the term terrorists attacked India, rather than Mumbai. I did this deliberately so that the people who think Mumbai is theirs alone and not the part of the bigger sovereign country, can also have the exposure to reality.
Now, coming back to the question, there can be many answers to the question. There are many faces to it and different people will see it in different manners. Some optimists would suggest that it has made India stronger than ever before in uniting the people against the ghastly crime committed by the terrorists. Whereas some pessimists would say that nothing has changed and India is at the same point where it was a month ago. And, it is easy to see that such people would be far greater in number than the ones mentioned earlier.
My stance would be something in between these two. It is nice to have an optimistic approach in such adverse times. But when you are struck with reality, you have to seriously consider the other approach as well.
Things have certainly changed here. It was not seen earlier that so many people were unanimously raising their voices against one common cause. One more thing that was not seen earlier was that so many youngsters came forward, realizing their duties towards their nation. Many youngsters were seen voicing their opinions against the bureaucrats of our country. Many of them could also be seen suggesting that they wanted to enter politics in order to contribute their worth towards the well-being of the nation. So, definitely positive signs for India.
One more positive thing that seems to have occurred is that some of our politicians seem to have gone into exile as they should have probably done. The most prominent among them is obviously our great leader, Raj Thackeray. His followers were wondering why didn't he come out and stop the commandos from the northern states from saving the Marathis. Probably, they have got their lessons. But, the worrying factor is that the lessons are very easily and very soon forgotten over here.
When we talk about how much things have changed, we need to consider both faces of the coin. The war fever is running high these days. But, considering the history and the approach of our "noble" leaders, the run of events suggests that nothing of that sort is going to happen. Pakistan, as always has again proved that it is king in talks and zero in implementation. And after all these it is quite clearly visible that Pakistan army is completely in control of the country. And that is the biggest worrying factor for India. With the Pakistan army in control of the Nuclear armor of the country, India has to take a cautious approach before taking any big decision. So, if we consider the war option to be the last option, then what should be the other approach.
Well, i feel that if war is not an option then India has to be strict in all the other actions that it proposes. We have to put all the possible kind of pressures on them. To start with, we should first of all cut all the ties, be it trades or anything else with them (which i don't understand, why has not been done yet). Another important step that we can take is to try to stop the IMF loan to be granted easily to Pakistan, without any conditions. I believe that we can still make them do many things if we take a more tougher approach, be it diplomatically or through military actions.
So, if we see in this manner, nothing has changed and it seems like nothing much is gonna change. Pakistan is going to involve us in the talks and the diplomatic talks are going to lead us to nowhere if our approach remains the same. Everything will die down soon and neither Pakistan or India will gain anything through all these. But, the real winner will be terrorism, which nobody wants.
Hope, our leaders wake up very soon to make the optimistic vision of the citizens, a reality. Then, India will be the true winner.

The BREAKING NEWS syndrome

2008-12-11T05:18:00.000-08:00

Media is the greatest prize that India could have got in the post-independence era. It is the only thing that seems to be enjoying the full benefits of the democracy. No, I am not joking. I know it is hard to believe after all the fiasco recently. But just have a look at their work. Just look at the kind of news they show and the way they show it, it is absolutely worth lauding them.
The true responsibility of the media is not to just broadcast the news, but to keep giving their own opinions, to show the people what they believe and not just this, to make the people believe what they believe. And this is what the big as well as small media houses of our country have been doing.
Another task is to do some research activity and show the people the results of the research in the most dignified manner. Just surf through any of the channels, and you will get to know the kind of research activity they carry out in order to extract the news from absolutely nowhere. These kind of researches being undertaken at the media houses will put even the NASA and ISRO scientists to shame. The media people have already found out the answers to the most complex mysteries of life. They have with them, the maps showing the ways to heaven as well as hell. They can very easily find out as to what happens after death. They can even talk to spirits. Yes, this is not an exaggeration. Just have a look at some of the channels, especially the Hindi news channels and you will believe each word of mine.
Now, apart from the research activity, the media people are also doing community services. They can be seen solving the household feuds in front of the entire country. They get the news of some mother-in-law beating her daughter-in-law before it reaches the ears of the police. Now, this is what is terrific about them. Sometimes, they also call the "disturbed" people to their studios so that they can tell their stories to the country exclusively on some of the channels.
The media never stands behind when the environment issues comes up. The news reader will shout at his/her highest vocal point whenever some important broadcast is going on, with the noble intention that if one person from one locality hears them, their neighbors need not switch on the television sets.
And look at the powers that they possess, they can turn the fortunes of any ordinary person in a single night and make him a national hero. If they find out a child drown into a pothole, the entire country has got something to pray for, for the next 3 days or so. So, see how they help the Indians in not letting them forget God and to keep their religious hopes alive.
They can also revive the fortunes of any forgotten hero at their wish. To quote an example, try and remember Saurav Ganguly. The media was the front runner in getting him removed from the playing eleven. And then after a year or two, the media came back and put their entire force together in convincing the team selectors to take him back in the team. The way they showed the presentations on Ganguly with the background music running that can bring get any macho-man to cry out loud, was simply superb. The revival of Indian cricket team can truly be credited to the media.
Then there is a peculiar way in which they entertain the general masses. Apart from showing just the news, they have many additional shows running for the public welfare. Most of the channels can be seen showing the laughter shows daily, almost round the clock, thus teaching people to laugh. And some others can be seen doing marketing of the saas-bahu sops on other channels of that particular group. And if some hit reality shows comes by at some time, the viewers will never get bored watching about them and finding the hidden realities about them, which probably they themselves might not know. How noble of them, really!!!
And lastly, they are at their best when some very tragic event occurs. The journalist risk their own lives to provide the live news to the people. And they are not at all biased in helping people. They consider all the people as same, be it general masses or the terrorists. They provide some vital information to these people as well. It could be seen very well during the recent terror attacks in Mumbai. The media provided the live shots from all the terror affected points. They gave a very detailed analysis of the situation from time to time. The details also included the locations of the snipers deployed by Indian Army, the positions taken by the army people, the rooms in which the hostages might be hiding, etc. Seriously, the terrorists are also humans like us only. So, it was really kind of the media to stand up and help them when the entire world was against them.
Oh, how can I forget the favorite phrase of the news channels "BREAKING NEWS". Whatever the news be, however trivial or anything the phrase is supposed to be shown on the screen all the time. This is a very inspiring phrase for the general masses.

Really, hats off to the Indian media. Its high time now that they wake up and stop all the non-sense being shown and truly live up to the expectations of the citizens.

Wake up yourselves, dont blame everyone else

2008-12-01T04:12:00.000-08:00

November 26, 2008 will always be remembered as a black day in the history of India. An event, never thought of and for which India was never prepared, occurred in the most prominent Indian city and that too in the most high profile areas of the city. It was a terrible terrible incident and I, like most other people, have been left stunned by this.

A lot has been said about the dreadful condition of our political system as well as the role of the media in the events, but it can still surely be said that the situation is not going to change drastically here. The tragic incident was compared to 9/11 of the US and most people expect the Indian response to be similar to that of US at that time. But is that going to happen. I don't believe so and I think most of the people here will agree with me. Our great inspiring political class will still look for their votes and would refrain from doing something for the real benefit of the people. People can't even expect these people to provide them their basic right of security.
Whenever such things happen everybody tends to look for people to blame. Everybody seem to be having some or the other thoughts on what went wrong, what should have been done and what should be done. But are these thoughts ever converted into actions. I feel they never are. And that is where the major problem lies in. Everything dies down as soon as the incident goes off air and you start to wonder that something of this magnitude occurred.
I know it is not good to be so cynical, but when such incidents occur and when adequate steps are not taken to stop such events from occurring so frequently, it is difficult to stop yourselves.
While it is not completely wrong to blame the politicians for not providing us our basic rights, it is we who need to stand up for ourselves. It is we who make these politicians for what they are, they are people like us only. We elect them and we ourselves forgive them of their misdoings by not complaining about them. It is high time we stand up for our rights, for the people who have lost their lives for no fault of their own, for the families who have lost their beloved, for the police and commandos who fought without any fears of death, for the hotel staff who lost their own lives in order to save the lives of their guests and last but not the least for our beloved country India.
India has advanced so much in the last few years, to the level that it is now being called a super-power in the global politics. The term is generally associated with the developed countries only. But when you see the conditions here, you start to doubt that whether India is worthy of that position or we still need to improve a lot before being called a developed country. And the reason I feel so is that still most of the people here abstain from their right to vote giving the reason that they don't find any candidate worthy of their votes. But how many of us will even have the audacity of standing in the elections. And so the people left to vote are only the uneducated people who are quite easy to be pleased by our despicable politicians. At many places the votes are won by money. And at the other places it is caste based.
It is our responsibility to first to exercise all our duties well and then ask for the rights. If the politicians are not acting upon the promises made by them before the elections, it is our duty to keep reminding them and also complain about them. If all of us understand our responsibilities and stand up together, we will definitely bring about the change here.

"Be the change that you want to see in the world"
- Mahatma Gandhi

Arsenal - Never count them off

2008-11-12T23:23:00.000-08:00

Arsenal are an amazing side...Though they have been a little inconsistent in the English Premier League this season, but the form that they have shown in some of the matches and in all the matches of other competitions including the UEFA champions league has been truly magnificent...
Last night they were up against Wigan Athletic in the Carling Cup.And as always Wenger fielded his second string side, making 11 changes from the side that played against Manchester United at the weekend...The average age of the side was 19 years.And again as expected, the young guns didn't let him down and won fairly comfortably 3-0... The win even made Wenger say that he is tempted to field some of these players in the EPL...
Arsenal have an amazing style of football, which is very different from what the other teams show in EPL... And the way they attack and counter attack at times, its really remarkable to say the least... One team that comes close to showing their way of playing is Barcelona...
In last Saturday's big match against ManU, all odds were against them...But the way the came back showed that you cant write them off any time... Even when they were 2-0 up, they didn't stop attacking...It was a spectacular display of football...With 5 minutes remaining and the scoreline favouring them, they still had 5 players moving towards the ManU goal line which is a rare sight anywhere.... Though they conceded a goal in playing such superb football, but still it was magnificent to watch them play like that...
I really hope that they don't slump this season like they did last season...And with Rosicky and Eduardo slated to come back soon,hope that they show the same kind of football like they showed last Saturday more consistently...

VIVA ARSENAL

The Democratic CHANGE

2008-11-05T03:07:00.000-08:00

Today, Senator Barack Obama was elected as the president of the United Stated of America. And he has many firsts to his name. He is the first black president and also the first African American president of the most powerful nation of the world. And this speaks for itself...

People around the world have an image set on their minds of America being a racist nation. And the riots that broke out after the assassination of Martin Luther King was a good testimony of this. So the same nation voting for a black president just 40 years after that, looks quite amazing. The elections were very closely followed everywhere around the world. And one thing looks certain "America voted for a change"...

And the change was needed after eight long years of Bush administration. The country's image has derogated ever since. The economic crisis also happened at the worst possible time for the Republican party. Also America's failure in Iraq was due to take its toll.
People always like change....Or to say in other words people don't like the same to go on for longer than necessary. And this is true not just on the political front but also in any other case. If the change looks even slightly better than what is current, people certainly go for the change. And I believe this was a major factor which led Obama to such a landslide victory over McCain.

I just hope that the much needed CHANGE also comes to India sooner than later. Also whatever the change is, be it in America or elsewhere, the change always remain better.

Fashion is not so fashionable

2008-11-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

I saw the movie "Fashion" on the day of its release...And believe me it was a complete waste of money and time...We had great expectations from Madhur Bhandarkar, especially after his two previous films, Page 3 and Corporate got such wide acclaims from the critics as well as the public...

"Fashion" was meant to throw some light on the fashion industry which for most people is a very dangerous industry. Dangerous in the sense that most of the conservative Indian people don't approve of the skin show in the modelling industry and consider it against the morals. Also most people have a thinking that people have to go to any heights in order to establish a name in this field.
The film does go on to show all the harsh realities of the industry...But a movie has to get the audiences grooved to it till the end. Unfortunately, this movie fails to do so...And being a 3hr 15 min long movie, audiences were bound to get bored. And the main point that was missing in this movie as compared to Bhandarkar's earlier movies was that there were absolutely no surprises in this particular flick, no twists and turns as you had expect from an artist of his genre.
The story is about a small town girl coming to Mumbai to live her dreams of becoming a super-model. She does become a super model but in the process of doing so, loses her morality and eventually the friends also leave her...Later, she comes to realize her mistakes and comes back again in the industry and again makes her mark and achieves greater success as a model than earlier... The movie gets very boring at the end...Audiences keep expecting that there would be some twist in the story at some point, but unfortunately they don't get even one....
My personal view on the movie is that it could have been a lot better. There were certain characters included in the film that were absolutely unnecessary which made the film a little longer. So go and watch the film at your own risk. And do stop expecting a lot from Madhur Bhandarkar...

Need is To Change

2008-10-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

Politics or to say using a "good" word, governance was introduced so that the better management of all the resources present in the region, including the human resources, could be done. In other words it was meant to be a respectable duty or service to mankind and was meant to be on the lines of philanthropy. But, has it achieved what it was really meant to achieve. Or has it even gone on the path of achieving its goal. Probably not. And most of my colleagues of this generation will agree to this. And especially if you are from India, you will be more inclined to support me in these thoughts.

Everybody in India will have his or her own thoughts of what is wrong with politics in this country. Most of them will have their own personal experience to share on this matter. But, when you ask why is this problem prevalent here and what should be done to improve the conditions, a majority of the people will not have answers. And even if they have the answers, they dont want to come into open and articulate their ideas. So, then if you dont have the solutions or you dont want to share them, then I believe that it is worthless to complain about the conditions. Perhaps, this is the reason why politicians here are always busy in thinking of the ways to please the voters to gain their votes rather than winning them by the virtue of good governance.
And this is the case wherever you go in the country. And the situation becomes even more grim when the election season is around. So be it Raj Thackeray seeking to make his mark in Maharashtra politics by following on the path of his uncle, Mamata Banerjee trying to help farmers retain their land in singur from the TATAs, Mayawati helping her people by cancelling the rail project in Sonia Gandhi's land, Left parties fighting with Somanath Chatterjee, and many many other cases, everybody has the same ultimate goal.

This situation has to change, for the betterment of the country, for the betterment of its people, for the betterment of mankind...
I would like to end with an appeal to the youth to come forward and take more part in the governance and thereby help the country and its people. It is WE who can bring about the big change.

Introduction

2008-10-22T03:43:00.000-07:00

Dear friends

This is my first post and I have no idea as to what to write here, so probably my first post may bore you. I wonder whether it is a good idea to give my introduction here. Probably I should.

Well then here is a person in front of you who doesn't believe in boasting of himself, so I cant just describe myself...Otherwise, I will have to cross all the limits of modesty :-)

But to tell something of me, I am a sports enthusiast. I love watching Football, Cricket, Tennis and Formula1. I also like reading, be it novels, newspapers or magazines, anything will do. Also, I have an inclination towards social work and have been engaged in some activities in my past... And lastly, I am currently not enjoying the best of my times...Infact, I feel that the past few months have been the worst.But it happens with everybody and it happened with me too...So, no lamenting about the uncertainties of life...
I believe that one should enjoy life to its fullest... But first of all, one has to realize oneself first... One has to realize what the true pleasure is and doing which activity do you feel a true sense of accomplishment... Once you realize this and start working towards it, I believe you will find yourself the most happiest....
Now, enough of lecturing in the first post....

To quote in the end----
"Live life today as if you were to die tomorrow...Learn today as if you were to live forever"
-Mahatma Gandhi

Finally, something from my side- Have a blast and enjoy this wonderful gift given to you called life....