So you think you can….

Its been nearly 40 days since the terror attacks in Mumbai. 10 heavily armed, trained and highly motivated terrorists stormed multiple targets and indiscriminately killed more than 100 innocent civilians. Was this new to this country?. NO, we have seen such incidents, of relatively smaller magnitudes,  happen often in the last 25 years. As a matter of fact, there hasn’t been one month in which i have not read about a terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir or the Indian Army interdicting terrorists at the Indo-Pak border in Jammu & Kashmir.

So, how has the political class reacted to this latest attack?. Gung-ho speeches of revenge and justice, new anti-terror laws (after discarding better ones which existed earlier!) and creating a new anti-terror agency – a “Federal” agency (Whats wrong with the one’s we already have? – other than innefficiency?)

Oh well, those guys are so predictable, people have simply lost interest in what they say!. But what is more interesting is the role of the “Independant” media – specifically the TV channels in the entire episode.

I was sitting 4-5 timezones away in Australia and watching the entire drama live on CNN-IBN’s website, i mean, how many people get to see commando’s slithering down ropes from a helicopter or a soldier firing a high calibre rifle (looked more like an anti-aircraft weapon!) at one of the attackers – LIVE!!!.

How many people?… maybe the whole world – including former terrorists, future terrorists, one being trained to be a terrorist and all their “handlers”. The most funniest bit was when the reporters would point the camera at the building and say “The NSG is launching its next phase of operations and is about to storm the Taj Hotel, We however cannot show it because we have been instructed by the security officials not to broadcast it live”. She just told the whole world that the commando’s werer going to storm the building!… if i was a terrorist, don’t you think i would scramble to setup defensive positions around the building?????….  In the end, the reporters making this a really dumb and justifying-my-stupidity kinda statement about how brave reporters like them bring us live coverage of this terror attack!

I really hope the reporters, editors and presenters act a bit more mature and understand that they simply don’t represent the interest of their company, but also are responsible indirectly for the welfare of a large number of people.

Flourish Bhagat Singh, in the land of Mahatma Gandhi

May 13, 2008: A series of six explosions tore through Jaipur, a popular tourist destination in the Rajasthan state in western India, killing 63 people and injuring more than 150.

July 25, 2008: Seven blasts in quick succession across the south Indian tech city of Bangalore killed one and injured more than 150 people.

July 26, 2008: Serial blasts in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad killed 45 people and injured more than 150. A group calling itself Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility.

Sept. 13, 2008: Five bomb blasts in New Delhi’s popular shopping centers left 21 people dead and more than 100 injured. The Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility.

Sept. 27, 2008: A blast in a New Delhi flower market left one dead.

Oct. 30, 2008: Thirteen bomb blasts in India’s northeastern state of Assam and three other towns left at least 61 people dead more than 300 injured.

Nov. 26, 2008: Terrorists attack the financial hub of the country, Mumbai. This was a co-ordinated strike by terrorists that were carried out at multiple locations to create maximum impact. 125 killed, more than 350 injured.

(Source: Wall Street journal)

 

Seven attacks across the length and breath of the country in the last 11 months. That averages to nearly one attack every 45 days.

This country does not have a Taliban that runs amock with assault rifles and RPG’s. This is not Iraq where fundamentalist forces place road-side bombs for fun…. what is going on with this country?.

What a wonderful Prime Minister we have?. He comes on national TV to condemn the bombings?. Who cares for your condemnation when it took you two hours to convene an emergency meeting?. What was he doing for this 2 hours?… waiting for hot water to take bath?

Nearly three hours for the NSG commando’s to be deployed, only for them to find that they don’t have any building plans of the 2 Hotels or any person on ground for a briefing. The same mistake was commited during the Kandahar Hijacking, yet we seem to have not learnt anything from that.

What the !@#$ is the Home Minister for?… He claims that there was no credible intelligence. These terrorist were not using AK-47’s, they were running on around with HK MP5 variants. You don’t simply go to a market and buy an MP5 rifle!. Some guy spends 50,00 bucks buying provisions and no body raises any eyebrow?. Does seriously expect me to believe that some bloke spending 50,000 rupees buying provisions at your “friendly” local supermarket is normal in this country? What is the excuse?… that he thought this bloke was buying stuff for a whole bloody apartment complex?

I feel frustrated and helpless at what is happening. It is sad that in the land of Mahatma Gandhi, one is looking towards Bhagat Singh for inspiration in such times of distress.

Do Grown Up Men Cry?

Some people might disagree with the title, atleast give me benefit of the doubt cos i do “look” grown up!. Don’t i?

I’ve never been the emotional guy… i wouldn’t care a damn about what happens around me!. But there are days when even the “i don’t care” guy has to sit and take notice of what is happening around him.

7 years ago, i moved out of my house into the student hostel. That was the first time i was staying in a place i din’t know, sharing a room with someone i met 4 hours ago!. There was nobody to talk to and i wasn’t so well off to afford a mobile phone to call my parents every so often. I cried that night… cried so much that i ran out of tears (blame it on the hot summer!). 

17 days ago, i saw my sweetheart walk into immigration check (with a broker hand & struggling with her backpack!) and i felt this really empty feeling in my stomach. A restlessness that i later found out was because i was going to miss her company for a longtime, knowing that i can’t meet her for lunch or dinner whenever we wanted to, couldn’t rent a car and drive down to wherever we wanted to (save the jokes about my driving skills for later!) or just look at her face and tell myself.. damn how did i end up with such a beautiful girl!.

But yes, i do look forward to going home… family is the only thing one has at birth and death!. So make sure you keep it safe…. till you die.

The Seatbelt – Use it!

Dear Inventor of the Seatbelt,

I owe you my life. Your obscure invention saved my life and the love of my life.

I wish you are alive, i would definitely like to thank you in person.

Regards,

A fortunate accident victim

Now, thats an open letter to the inventor of the seat belt. Thanks to him, i survived this crash!.

Figure-an a paaatha friend a cut pannuvanga!

“Figure a paatha friend a cut pannuvanga”

Heard this before?. People from chennai or fans of Vivek or madhavan would have definitely heard this. For those completely unaware of what i am talking, the literal translation of what i quoted is “When you see a figure (babe, bombshell, gilma, gilfans, girl, beauty…etc), you cut your friends”

Guys often use this phrase when one of their friends has found a girlfriend and stops coming out with his old friends. This has always been associated with guys, not sure why though!. But i would like to modify this and make it more gender neutral!.. I prefer to call it

“Figure-an a paaatha friend a cut pannuvanga”, where figure-an refers to a male character rather than the sterotyped female character!

Candle in the winds

Religion and Science – Where Is The Thin Line?

Recently i got 2 free tickets for a performance by an Indian Band. Turned out to be a religious seminary of some sort and funded by the Catholic Church. The music was good and some of the performers were amazing, there can be no question about their talents as musicians.

But i will question their attitude towards science and their respect for the opinions of others. During the course of the event, there was a small mono-act. The theme of this act was “Abortion”. There was this lady acting out out how a unborn child feels in its mothers womb and how it get s hurt when it hears the it will be aborted- for reasons unknown to it, us or the actor!. The play was good, the actor was excellent in portraying the situation and am sure it was choreographed to create maximum impact on the emotionally weak and the religiously high amongst the audience.

After this skit was completed, one of the members of the troupe stood up and this is what he said – “The child was god’s gift and we have no right take its life away. For all those who have, in the past and present, committed this CRIME; for all those medical practitioners who have been a part of this – let us pray for forgiveness”

BEEEEEP!!!!…. What the !!!. God’s gift??… CRIME??… Am surprised!. Here you have a learned man who can’t differentiate between religion and science!. Birthing a child is not God’s gift and neither is it a miracle of science (Science does not have any miracles!!). Its plain old common sense!. He really needs to read “Child Birth – 101″ or “Dummies guide to getting pregnant”.

It’s an insult for a Doctor or a Surgeon to seek forgiveness. What if a mother is in a serious condition and is incapable of giving birth to the child?. Should the Doctor seek forgiveness to abort the child or should he let the the mother die and ask for forgiveness later on?

Disclaimer: I am neither an Anti-Chirst, Atheist, Left wing fundamentalist or linked to the Taliban in anyway. All views expressed here are my own and do not reflect the thoughts of my family, friends, relatives, boss, school or university. This post is not an excuse to attack the catholic church in anyway but it is meant to defend the right of an individual to take his own stand on such issues without being unduly influenced by advice emanating from a religious institution with no scientific basis what so ever.

ISKCON – Stick to Krishna please!

Tram 112 from West Preston to St.Kilda is generally overrun by Indians on weekends!. Why?. They all (including me ) go to the ISKCON temple.

You might wonder “bloody hell, where did all this spirituality come from??”. What you fail to understand are two things; One, that ISKCON has a time tested tradition of serving food to its devotees and Two, Indian’s away from India will fall for anything that looks, tastes, feels and even smells like indian food!.

Coming to what i was about to “blogger” (a mix of blog and blabber!). Here i was, waiting for them to start serving. It was pretty cold outside so i thought why not sit inside the prayer room – feel warm and listen to some spiritually uplifting speeches by the priests. So i went in and sat close to the door, so that i can run and stand in the queue when they start dinner..LOL!. This young priest (part time techie i think!, din’t look like a full-time pujari) was talking about stress and worries, etc. I just sat there listening to this guy reeling out advice from the bhagavathgita and other puranas, and out of the blue i could hear him talk about OIL. Not the hair oil or kerosene oil!, he was talking about the OIL we pump out of those tubes in Saudi Arabia, the very same black puke which turned I-raaack (Iraq spelt the george bush way!) into a bloody battleground of the Infidels, Shia’s and Sunni’s.

Ok, so hear he was telling us that Oil is one of those newer sources of worry. Rightly said, it is in a limited quantity and hence it is worrisome that it may disappear someday. But my objection was not that. He went on talking about how the price of Oil has increased, and blamed it squarely on the poor supply and the demand from China and India. He then said “China and India have increased their demand by many-many times”.. what!.. How many times??… ” If you look closely, you can see that the increased demand has restricted the supply of oil and so the prices have gone up”!…

Whoa!, thats a gross generalization!. If one does not know how the Futures market, especially when it comes to Oil, works then they shouldn’t dare put such comments in front of a public audience!

That’s it, I’ve had enough!.. I walked out.. just in time for dinner . I really wanted to stand up and tell that guy to stop blabbering.. but hey!.. the food was more important. Besides, what if they had thrown me out for objecting!… would have lost the chance to have dinner there!!.. LOL!!

Silence – Fashionable ?

Lets list out all those fashionable, must-have things in life;

1. Sports car or SUV
2. Latest mobile phone, preferable the 7.1th version of the Iphone
3. Gucci shoes and Versace wallets (if they ever make one!)

last but not the least, put your mobile on silent mode!.

You might be wondering, what the ****!!. People are known to show-off with loud and weird ringtones and talk in obscenely high pitch!… but since when did putting the most goddamn annoying invention in silent mode become a fashion!?

Don’t ask me!… Ask the people who think not attending a call is fashionable. It goes like this, you are sitting on the bus/train/tram and your phone vibrates (remember its in silent mode!), you look at the number being displayed and look at the passenger sitting across you and give the sigh of weariness – as if you are the only person who gets a call on the god damned mobile phone. Silently (this is different from the mobile being silent!) you put it back in in your bag and give that sly smile to the person sitting next to you. And that passenger actually thinks you did the right thing!.

Only god knows that it was someone trying to reach you desperately to see where you are!, honestly worried about you!. Damn, if only i had such friends!…

And all this while you were listening to “Who let the dogs out…. whoo..oooh..oooh?” in high volume!!!!

Funeral Insurance!

What is this world getting to!?. First we had accident insurance, life insurance, car insurance, home insurance, baby insurance, unborn baby insurance, marriage insurance…. and now its Funeral Insurance!.

I am not trying to compare the efficacy of different cultures, but isn’t the Parent-Child relationship universally considered as sacred?. I find it revolting to see ad’s on TV asking people to purchase private funeral insurance so that they can have a peaceful burial when they die.

Where are the kids?. Why can’t they do atleast this for their parents?. These kids here leave home in their late teens to meet their parents during christmas and easter breaks. Am sure they would have saved enough in their life to give their parents a decent burial.

This is such a pathetic system… vile and disgusting to even spare a thought.