Gloom and sadness everywhere apart from the petrol price

More and more evidence is pointing to security lapses and intelligence failure that led to Mumbai terror attack. Now you get one more channel to vent out your anger, not only our politicians, but security forces are also inefficient in planning and looking into the future.

The drama called 'maharastra CM selection'... need I tell you more?

Look at this list of thoughts in an indian's mind:

Our intelligence agency RAW is going through a lot of internal problems and is not able to focus on national security.

Our intenal intelligence agency IB has not been able to provide actionable and specific information about domestic security.

Our police force is ill-equipped.

Our politicians (and you know what and how the most of them are) control how the security resources are deployed inside the country - using their own IQ level.

The only visible thing so far has been done by the government after terror attacks is to change the political kursi-holders, like musical chairs, just rotate your guys and call them 'able leaders' so that public is happy for the time being in anticipation of some responsible action.

USA does not want India to take any military action that might hamper their cause at this time.

Pakistan goverment as usual makes vague and non-actionable statements which means 'we won't do anything', 'this too, shall pass'.

Sad and gloomy I would say, I don't feel any better after knowing about all measures taken by the government. May god save the people of this country!

I am confused with all the different haphazard reports by different media groups.
I don't know still how the investigation is going on and what exactly that captured terrorist has been saying about the source of the terror elements from where he came.

This is what is called a democratic country and free media - keep people confused and distracted so that, the show goes on, no matter how badly and how slowly.

The only thing I feel good at this point is the reduction in petrol price.

A joke called after-events of the terror strike

R. R. Patil is gone.
Some chiefs of securiy agencies are gone.
Shivraj Patil is gone.
Deshmukh will go.

What the heck! Will that improve the situation? What is the hope? Anybody out there who believes that given these leaders are gone and some others will take over, our cities and people will be safer?

Do we have the guts to bombard the training camps in Muzzafarabad or Karachi in Pakistan that are producing these terror elements? NO!

We will keep pressurizing Pakistan to handover the known terrorists, list of 20, you remember? From good old 10 years back list? Huh! Who cares? Have they ever handed over any terrorist so far? Why will they do it now?

I wonder what this is all about, and do our politicians and ministers really have any power to take any strong steps. Military action is out of question, as USA would not want it at such a delicate point of their own fight with Afganistan and Iraq. They need Pakistan army to guard the Afganistan border.

What will happen next?

Our investigation agencies will claim that they have enough proof against terror elements in Pakistan, Pak govt will say they don't agree - there is not much evidence, and then the whole cycle will be paused until next attack.


I am really sick and tired of seeing these things again and again. We citizens are really helpless, we can't defend ourselves, we don't have the flexibility of voting for better men/women as they are simply not into politics, and our security agencies are equally helpless in terms of power and duties to the netas.

God help this country, and for the first time in my life I feel secure about our 100+ crore population, it will take lot more terrorists lot many years to wipe out us all - some will survive and reproduce to keep India afloat - in whatever shape and condition.

Huh, enough consolation to myself.

Prayers and more prayers

The only thing that people like me sitting in their homes can do in these days of despair is to pray to god that things like the terrorist attacks in Mumbai never happen, to anybody, anywhere in the world. So close it is, it could have happened to anybody as the places chosen were indiscriminate to religion, economic situation of people, city or village you came from - ranging from CST station to TajMahal hotel's most luxurious suite. How barbaric and violent a human being can be, can it be any more than what those cowards did?

For the first time in my life, peace-loving I am - to the core, feel like taking up a gun and killing those terrorists with only hatred and disgust for them. How can somebody shoot at children, old, helpless and people offering prayers to god ? And which instructor or mastermind can convince people to perform such dastardly acts? I don't know how to put my disgust into words, such things can' be performed by humans!

I followed those two and half days of continous news about terrorist attacks and commando operations. First thing that came to my mind during the very first scenes of the situation was how come we have NSG stationed only in Delhi? Should not we have NSG commandos or likes in almost every sizeable town? The 8-9 hrs that the commandos took to come and launch a counter attack gave ample time to the terrorists to kill as many people and plan so well to capture hostages, blast rooms, blast floors in hotels. What is our government doing even after so many blasts in this year itself? And after Akshyardham attack? Why are we so reactive always? Why can't we be proactive?

You form an anti-terrorism squad (ATS) and the chief does not even have an AK-47! What do you expect ? That the terrorists will come with pistols and revolvers? 9 Terrorists versus 18 officers. It is too costly for us - and even when you don't count the precious innocent lives.

And by the way, will one Raj Thakre wake up and ask the UP/Bihar commandos not to bother coming to Mumbai to save Mumbaikars? How much will our politicians continue to play the religion/region cards, the narrowminded thoughts to gather votes? And if they are busy doing this, who will take up the charge of ensuring that our intelligence department is functioning properly, our security is adequate and our borders are safe? This attack suggests complete failure of our intelligence agency, the holes in our naval borders and the un-preparedness of our state governments to handle terror attacks.

We lack a backbone to go and bombard the terrorist origins in foreign territory, because we as a government have been too tolerant over years. We always fear about the after effects, but somewhere someday we will have to take such drastic step if we don't want to go on facing such blasts and attacks over and over... where is the end? As long as our neighbour countries are unsettled, jealous of our economic positions or power, we will have to face these kinds of cowardly acts by terrorists. They are clueless, they don't have any other better things to do in life and completely mislead about life and goals. God, I just can't believe there can be a human who thinks that by killing innocents, people you don't even know - you achieve something!

Only thing that another human like me can do is to pray that such torture and unnecessary deaths don't happen to anybody, anywhere.

And what can the law makers do to make sure that more people don't take up such cowardly path? There seems to be one 21 year old terrorist captured alive. After extracting all useful information from that guy, our police should just show him the his own acts of terror, make him hear those screams and helpless people in blood over and over until he goes mad and becomes mentally unstable. Then the police should release him and make him go back to his family and live a life of shame and disgust. I am sure nobody in his family will approve his acts. But will that be enough to deter others from taking that path?

It is said that when there is too much injustice on earth, god will take birth to save the innocents and establish justice. How much is too much?

Secularism

Came across this article on pushing hindus to a corner .

Can't help but have to agree with many points. I don't support radical actions of violence in any form, by anybody. But I really wonder at times that does secularism mean giving undeserved preferences to the minority?

Why is the media so obsessed with highlighting and sensationalizing everything that has to do with minorities? One answer that comes to mind is: to make sure that the minorities are not oppressed. But, then why not give same coverage for issues with the majorities - just to make sure that humans are not oppressed?

And by the way, should not a secular state have common civil code?

Many things, many thoughts and many missed opportunities

My mind is so full of things at this moment, don't know what to write and what to leave. Many things are out of context, but are still very much in context. Take for example a simple visitor visa for a country that survives on tourism. Now would you expect them to keep your passport with them for 5 weeks! Yes, that was no writing mistake, the Bahamas visa application centre kept my passport for almost 5 weeks! And just when I had lost hopes that I would make it to the USA as scheduled, it came. Not because they were concerned about my travel plans, but because there was a lot of persuasion and official requests from many people.

Pune hosted Common Wealth Youth Games 2008 recently. Loads of road work was planned for the CYG. Take for example the Baner Road. Now it was supposed to be concreted before the games. That did happen only in parts, but will have to give credit to the municipality for finishing up the work with tar roads before the games. And hold your breath, they actually managed to beautify most of the roads around university and hinjewadi/balewadi, within 48 hrs! Dividers were put up, reflectors were fixed, huge sign boards were placed, potted plants were put up under fly overs, lush green grass lawns in some dividers were made within no time! Everybody, including the media went crazy in wondering how come Pune municipality, whose trademark is to delay things, and to delay things more - they could pull up such nice work within no time. Sigh - they are not that prompt rest of the time, still ...

Here is a glimpse of the youth 'sobhayatra' just before the games. I watched it on F.C. Road. I am really sorry to have missed out all the action in CYG. Asked a friend to come for the closing ceremony celebrations, she said - come on, who watches CYG ? That to, live? ... well, many people thought otherwise and I guess the CYG was a success in terms of getting some decent audience.



One thing still puzzles me. What are we celebrating through common wealth countries' sports activities? Having an informal organization to gather and do something for democracy, humanity and all is appreciable, but why choose common wealth countries? And why appoint the Queen as the head still? Any mention of common wealth countries invokes the thoughts of BritishRaaj, and does not go well with our celebrations of membership and all ... I continue to be puzzled ...

Well, so many thoughts, so many contexts ... will keep it for some other day. In the mean time, let me not forget to mention the spectacular success of our test team, of the veteran batsmen and the satisfaction of seeing Australian cricket team on their back foot :D Hail the indian cricket team, hail the luck or techniques of Dhoni's captainship (have not yet made up my mind either way).

Hope you all had a great Deepavali...

Retirement for big five ?

Came across this article on cricinfo . Wonderfully written, and close to heart - I too agreed with the writer on almost every account.

It really hurts to see the media bragging and biting - at the same time, the likes of Ganguly, Kumble, Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar. All about the past, and present, and their current ineffectiveness and so on and so on... They have been players of such stature, they deserve being talked about respectfully, all the time, no matter who is the critic or journalist or audience. How can we be so selfish to deny them their such hard earned respect? The truth remains that some day they have to retire, let it be chosen by them, by their performance - the media people speculating all over and discussing only this thing ahead of the Australia series is very disheartening.

I am looking forward to the Australia series, not for Dhoni or Harbhajan or Ishant Sharma - but for the big five. And whether they perform or not is their destiny, but they will surely have audience like me watching and praying for them. May god bless them with the courage to face a selfish nation's unfaithful and misguided cynics.

Is narrow-minded-ness in our blood?

What is the fuss about language, customs, rituals, dresses so much so that we are ready to kill each other ? Are not these things designed to facilitate a human civilization? Why are we using them as weapons to destroy people and their emotions?

Salman Khan and Salim Khan do Ganeshtosav at their home, so, what is the big deal? Don't we have freedom of religious activities permitted in this country - the only truly secular democratic country in the world?

If Jaya Bachhan speaks in Hindi, what is the big deal, come on, it is her personal choice, if the audience does not understand, just ignore her or don't attend functions where she is speaking. Why defame and protest through violence means for this thing?

And when I think about my native land Odisha, it is even more disheartening. People who are involved there are needy, mostly don't have education and are used by some powerful person for personal gains in politics. Now when will our Janta understand that what they seek is not what they get through this?

We as a nation seem to be very unhappy about our united-ness. Our politicians are still following the old British policy - divide and rule, to make sure that even in a union territory, we fight with each other on issues of religion, language, dress and what not. As a nation, we seem very narrow minded, and selfish - we don't respect our national language Hindi, we don't care about law and order and convenience of others while celebrating some religious festival. What is this show-off business? Will we ever get a visionary who can drive people out of this narrow-minded-ness and show the true value of being a human?

Protecting one's culture is ok, but not at the cost of somebody's pain. Period.
Because culture does not make us civilized, our 'human'-ness does, we are the only animals with brains, and look how we end up using our biggest asset to our own damage!

I feel so down to see all these things, how much can one blame the media for all this mess ? Is not it time to ban all politicians in power (MLA/MP etc) from making any statements based on religion or language or any such touchy issue? When will they focus their energy in talking about how to eradicate corruption, how to fight population problem, how to fight the murderous diseases etc?

Name of my blog is the biggest irony I think, free world ! Fffuuuhhh ... in this free world and most populous democratic country, you can't even talk in your preferred language, can't even go for your choicest celebrations, and can't even bring the hatredness-dissipating humans to justice. And what justice we are talking about here btw ? Justice is a big joke in this country, always delayed and mostly misplaced. Google for 93 bomb blast case if you disbelieve what I say.

Looks like it is not the British who taught us how to divide and kill ourselves, but that was in our blood, and they just showed us the path.

Will I live to see the justice being done to my country's diversity?

The Strugglers

Reality/talent hunt shows are a rage these days. I am a big fan of 'SaReGaMaPa challenge', follow it pretty closely though not a voter. During its last 'Viswayudhh' season, Aneek Dhar and Raja Hasan were the top two. They got this grand show to perform for the final episode - and with the show having a rating of 1 that time, I am sure crores of people watched them win, and can relate/identify them now.

Now starts the issue, looking at the number of such contestants winning reality shows every week almost, what happens to them afterwards ? Most of them become strugglers - they have tasted the name and fame, can't leave the dream now, but then, it is not easy to pursue it either. This is a country where there are so many such strugglers, even a singer of Sonu Nigam cadre had to wait for a decade to get his due. We hear lot of news about strugglers, their problems (remember the miss india world - her name was Lakshmi I gues - who won the contest and then had to give up the crown later because she was found to be leagally married - for the purpose of getting a rented house! hah! what a waste of efforts!).

I really feel very sad for these budding talents - we salaried people just can't take that much of uncertainity I guess - they have to work so hard, compromise at every step - they are just so vulnerable ! Name and fame comes with a heavy price I think, except for a lucky few, and of course except for those who are born with it - Abhishek Bachhan? I remember reading in some news from an interview with Jaya Bachhan - she said, "it is good that Abhishek's movies are flopping, he will learn what is failure and what it takes to be successful and recognized. How else will Amitabh Bachhan's son know what it takes to be a star'.

When I think about strugglers, I think about those budding cricketers, models, singers etc. But then there are strugglers struggling for salaried jobs also. They have got everything - degree, background, but somehow can't make to a job. I see lot of computer science trained and engineers-aspiring-to-be-in-software folks struggling to the verge of depression for a job.

For somebody who is coming from a very modest background whose parents have already utilized their provident fund money in getting him an engineering degree in some private college - it is really a struggle. To stay in a city like Bangalore or Pune, and then hunt for a job, slowly time will be running away to get another batch into the competition. It is a pain especially for those who come from small towns, not trained so well in english conversation, have to count each rupee spent and have to manage getting a job by mostly fair means. In earlier days, when there were no jobs, nobody would have expected them to get a job soon. But now when the parents and relatives also see so many job holders in the IT industry and earning in lakhs of rupees - the pressure on these strugglers is immense, they have to prove their worth once again.

A struggler's moto - be it the glamour industry or the IT industry - is similar, get to a city where there is scope for work, get together with couple of close friends who are also strugglers, somehow manage meagre amount of money to keep you going in a shared-room-shared-flat, and wait for your that day when you will get your employement.

With Raja Hasan's 'Maari Teethri' song playing in radio stations so frequently now, it feels good to see at least one struggler moving ahead a bit - hopefully he will make it to those elite list of regular playback singers. But then, he is just one winner of one season in one year of one reality show. What about the rest?

What about the folks passing from those newly setup private colleges offering computer science degree - and especially those who pass with average grades?

My heart goes out to all those strugglers, we should encourage them to keep the hope alive, after all, even if some of us managed to get campus placements, we know what it means to be without a job with all the qualification and a rocking job market out there. So, be considerate, give everybody a chance if you are sitting in an interview panel :)

Friends and social life

How active is our social lives as compared to our previous generation - our parents?
Are we more social and friendly? Are we more reserved and formal? Have we lost the charm of dropping in, without making a phone call to check or seek permission, at a friend's place?

During college and hostel days (aah, those good old youthful days), a friend would drop in any time. No sense of timing, no questions asked. And it used to be fun as all of you will agree.

Then came the era of bachelor/spinster hood... when you are sharing a flat with a friend or even staying alone, a friend would drop in any time. Without any prior hints, and then you would figure out what to eat, whether cooking is feasible or should you go out and all ... but then also, there was no sense of timing, and no questions were asked.

Then one day you get married and have a proper family with spouse, parents/in-laws. Suddenly, the same friends would call up to ask, 'mein sochh raha tha milte hein'... arre yaar ... what has changed? In a family, one has more flexibility of arranging for food of course. There may not be the earlier luxury of weird sense of timings or endless chats for long hours, but still, there is enough time to catch up.

And earlier, when a friend just dropped in, you won't get any stress, instead, it would be fun. And now suddenly when friends start becoming rare and rarer at home, when they do come in, you are stressed - kya khayega, uski spouse ko yeh achha lagega ke nahin...

In this era of MySpace, Orkut and Blogspot, we communicate through writing - in the virtual world. No drop-in to catch up, no random phone calls to ask some useless questions. Meetings only with prior appointment - even if your schedule is not packed.

Don't know what the majority think, but I think it should be the way like hostel days. Just drop in, if there is some awkward situation, we will anyway figure it out how to solve it or take it in our stride. After all, friends don't expect you to treat them as guests, right ?

I still miss those of my friends who used to drop in exactly at the lunch hour :) And then we would end up sharing whatever was cooked for a single person, but it was fun, and you used to feel comfortable enough to ask a friend to join in even if you are in the middle of your meal. But, gone are those days ...

Need to revive the 'casual' social life, call few friends to chat on useless stuff.

Thoda pyar, thoda magic

Don't worry, I won't bore you with the details of the upcoming movie with the same name!

Took a long break from this blog writing, do I have nothing to say ? No, I have a lot to write, share, discuss and just want to go yada yada on anything ... !

Problem is, all germs in Pune have somehow recognized me as their favourite target. First I fell sick with food poisoning, and then with throat infection and then the cold virus is refusing to move over .. ! Hmmm... three courses of anti-biotics (never advisable, I hate those, there is every reason to hate those medicines, they tend to kill your system smoothness from inside) have not really made me way better. Yeah, but I am at least back to 80% of my normal enthusiasm :)

Anti-biotics tend to kill your enthusiasm too ? Never heard about it though, any experiences ?

Anyway, coming back to the 'thoda pyar and thoda magic', to say that it has nothing to do with the movie will be a lie. I definitely got the name from there and I somehow like the concept of pyar and magic - I mean pyar is magic, definitely!

What have I got to do with it ? Nothing much, Kunal Kohli has not yet developed a sudden fondness for IT people like me :) Well, just wanted to tell you that it works ! Pyar is magic and it works wonders ... especially when you are sick, and feeling down and kinda want to give up fighting with germs and popping pills ... but yes, your family and friends pull you up with love and care. So, the pyar and magic parts are definitely related!

Have started reading a book called 'Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul', it is a compilation of little real life stories as written by common people. A friend had gifted it long time back and it was lying in the cupboard waiting to be picked up. I am glad that I picked it up to read at the right time, it has sweet touching stories about love, care, giving, family values and so on. A bit off culture it might seem, but nevertheless, the point is very applicable to us indians as such.

Realized, noted and will keep refering to, is that, 'pyar is magic' and it does wonders!

Without You!

The poet inside me took over today to produce a poem in Oriya, and the translator in me promptly translated it to a composition of some English words ... Here it is!

And of course it is based on my limited vocabulary, you are most welcome to suggest any improvements...

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Without you … (12th May 2008)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

There is no more to see
        Than your glance of brown eyes,
        Than your innocent smiles,
And,
There is no more to see,
        Than your ever changing styles …!

There is no more to hear
        Than your simple momentous experiences,
        Than your happy and sad accounts,
And,
There is no more to hear,
        Than your ever amusing little stories…!

There is no more to understand,
        Than your questions of subconscious,
        Than your signals that are mysterious,
And,
There is no more to understand,
        Than your account of foreseen dreams …!

There is nothing more to feel,
        Than your assuring and reassuring caresses,
        Than your presence filled thrilling moments,
And,
There is nothing more to feel,
        Than those hand-in-hand dreamland strolls…!

Now I think,
There is nothing more in life,
        Than the company of your loving heart,
        Than the comfort of your loving words,
And,
Tthere is nothing more in life,
        Than your assured lovely togetherness…!

Live IPL match - mesmerizing ...

Have been sleeping over it for quite some time.

The moment we stepped into the stadium stands, we got completely swept by the atmosphere. It was like a grand thrill that banged onto our heads and hearts. Lush green ground, all players out on the ground, loud music, cheer leaders dancing, Hrithik's video playing on large screens - it was like a carnival. To add to that, audience - including us - were dancing and shouting and generally having fun.

It was a wonderful experience, the DY Patil Stadium was so nicely decorated - well maintained, with parking and transport arrangement. Everything was just fine. It was a pleasure drive for someone going from Pune. The stadium is within 25-30 kms after you leave the express way in Panvel. We drove back comfortably without any traffic woes after the match got over.

I was supporting Deccan Chargers that day, and Gilchrist lit up the stadium with so many sixes! Have to admit that the audience was quite disappointed for not seeing Sachin in action. Some other day, some other time ... may be ...

Watch out the attached posters we had made so enthusiastically - to attract the TV camera to us, but was not of much use I guess as nobody back home could spot us during the match. A 55 thousand crowd made sure that we and our posters are lost :)

By the way, it was written on the back of our tickets that mobile phones/cameras are not allowed. we strictly followed the instructions and left all our bags/mobiles/camera in the car and ended up losing the chance of taking any photos during the match. But, there were many people in the stands, who had smartly sneaked in cameras/mobiles and even video cameras and were shooting happily! Sigh ! The lady security guard at the only security check gate asked me, 'do you have mobile' ? I said no, and she let me go, without checking anything... must agree, a very safe way to do the safety checking :)

Indian Premier League - IPL :)

Going for a live viewing tomorrow, in Mumbai - the match is between Mumbai Indians and Deccan Chargers. This will be my very first live cricket match viewing. Wish me luck and wish my team luck as well as they have already lost 3 matches.

Will be back with all the on-field actions very soon :) Preparing some interesting posters to show off during the match, to attract the TV camera of course!

Food grain shortage, climate changes, global warming. God Save the Earth. And Stephen Hawking says ...

"Scientists tell us that we need to cut total emissions at least 15-20 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 in order to prevent the most catastrophic effects of global warming. Merely halting the growth of emissions is grossly insufficient."

If you have come across this quote, you will know how much importance should be given to fighting this cause - by almost every country and every individual!

A report says that USA is doing too less, too late. Agreed, they are the largest percentage consumers of earth's resources, need to correct themselves, via the fastest route. Read about what USA is doing and why it is said to be grossly insufficient: here.

UK's proposed bills and amendments: here .

And if you have not yet read about the food grains crisis that has hit almost every country (India has stopped exporting non-basmati rice), read about it here. I heard that the Rice/Dal prices in USA has gone up significantly in last few weeks.

Don't scare yourself enough to lose sleep over it, yet!

Stephen Hawking has a solution for you :)

Colonize Mars and moon!.

so far, so much

A long discussion on the breakfast table today pushed me to imagine beyond the daily lives and think about how we human beings are degrading the living conditions on earth. While I was trying to argue that my 100+ sqft garden is my farming ground ( huh ? you too are laughing ?), the reality is we are damaging the earth in a pretty irreparable way. Farming land percentage has reduced year over year. To generate the food for the ever growing population, and to earn enough, farmers are pushed to use harmful pesticides, which in turn is having an effect on the health and environmental conditions, and the cycle goes on.

When I visit my village, I can breathe the difference! The air is so oxygen-rich as compared to that of Pune, I usually feel more energized and lively there. Same is true when I visit a place like Mulsi. During my early days in Pune, back in 2000, there used to be soothingly cool breeze every evening. Where has all that gone now?

Point is, what happens after 50/60 years? Will I live to see those days when a large percentage of the kids will start having elderly type diseases, diabetes, lungs congestion, liver failure, lead/arsenic content growth in blood ? Will our own environment un-friendliness end up extincting us ?

Driving down the Baner Road today morning, I realized that over last week, most of the trees along the road side have fallen. Don't know what to complain about. Roads needs to be widened as there is a severe traffic problem and it is going to go out of control, in september - for commonwealth youth games in Balewadi.

But then, we need wide roads to support the vehicle population, which is a by product of the ever growing human population, which needs as many trees as possible to survive! What a paradox ! How to solve it?

The imagination scares me! Though I admit that I was the one who was so courageously arguing about how it is all about 'survival of the fittest' theory, and how human beings will probably mutate to fit into the new environmental condition. And eventually, how, we should not be worried about getting extincted, as that is the law of nature and it does not matter which species rules earth!

However small and insignificant, I am trying to grow some trees to increase the green population on earth. Are you ? Will it stop the environmental disaster that is waiting to happen? The answer is a clear NO!

But, it will make a difference! And I will live with that.

Give me a BREAK ! Please !

I open the hugely popular Indian site rediff.com and find this where a guest author has very intelligently related Aamir and Saif's religion to their qualification to carry the Olympic torch. Never mind the random comments by people who exercise their right of democracy every other moment but conveniently forget the 'duties'. May be what he says is true, but what surprises me is every other person on earth relates any important event to the religion or faiths. We human beings live because of our faiths ? What is it that is so so rooted into us that gives us this attitude ? Do we have to bring in religion into the very basic humanitarian requirements?

I open a highly reputed Indian news house timesofindia.com and find a complete section dedicated to the Olympic torch and Tibet issue. Agreed, they both are happening at the same time and can be related. But do we have to ? When our own minister for external affairs for India has made it indirectly clear that they won't do anything against China for the Tibet issue, what is the point in making 1+1=2 and relating everything related to China to the Tibet issue?

What is happening in Tibet is a shame to human beings, and our so-called-civilization-and-domination-on-earth. We are that one unfortunate species who have got an intelligent brain to make and destroy ourselves. Surely, some day, we will become the only species which kills itself and disappears from earth.

Agreed that it is very unfortunate. Is it justified ? NO WAY ! No torture and killing is justified. There is always a better way to handle a situation. I am too scared to enter into the debate about freedom and oppression - because both are so relative terms. It is such a irony that my blog heading says 'I Live In A Free World', where as it does not apply to so many people on earth. Blessed we are being in a democratic country, and that to a so called secular country, can we do anything to save others ? For example, can India as a country do anything significant to Tibet cause ? I sincerely don't think so. If our own prime minister goes to one of our own states and makes a simple statement about the state being an integral part of our country, and has to listen to complaints from over the border, what kind of stand do we have with China ? Is it worth while even to hope for that we can do something to stop the problems of tibetian people ? Why is the media so crazy and refuses to accept the truth ?

Have we got our ownership on the north-eastern states by trading the support for Tibet with China?

Really?

And if that is true, is it going to be beneficial to us in the long run?

I mean what is it? It scares me so much to imagine of a war or a major border dispute with China. Yes, we love to wear our pride on our sleeves, but let us be practical. Any major dispute with China will push us to boundaries of desperation. May be our Government has realized it quite well and that is why taking such a detached stand on Tibet? Can they do any better any way?

Keeping all this things in mind, I wonder why our media is so much obsessed with relating religion to everything ? Aamir and Saif (national award winners) are khans, Bhaichung (again a national awardee) is a Buddhist - so what, they have done enough work to deserve carrying the olympic torch - and are not chosen for their religion! Come on, don't disrespect their achievements and ability to maintain such impressive images by saying that they got to carry the torch just because of their religion.

Thinking about all these things pushes me to a corner of depression that this so called religions have been put over and above the humanitarian religion, always, and so many selfish people have used it for personal gains.

Why?

Give me a break please!
Give me a media that is responsible enough not to drag touchy issues for the sake of sensation!
Give me mind share that believes in humanitarian values much more than any religion!
Give me FREEDOM from those narrow-minded-humans hell bent on personal gains!
Give me governments who care for people!
Give me ...
Give me ...
Give me ...

In this context I remember an excellent phrase from a book called 'One' by Richard Bach. He has written very beautifully how a person's simple thoughts for goodness of people gets interpreted into a religion slowly and gets modified in the process, and later people are ready to kill each other for the sake of it by conveniently forgetting that the very existence of that religion came from a good person's caring heart to do good to humans. It is a slightly confusing book to start with, but gets better in terms of philosophical content towards the middle of the story. Worth a read.

Happy Utkal Divas !

Today is a very important day for all of us from Odissa. On this day, in 1935 (if I remember it correctly), Utkal was re-formed as a proper state.

Shubha Utkal Dibasa ebam bahut abhinandan!

Came across this page containing a list of prominent personalities who have contributed tremendously to Odissa .

Cricket match

Most of you already know that in India, a large population could not see the South Africa and India first test match live. What you don't know is that, I am one of them :( unfortunately, we were one of the very early customers of dish TV from Zee telefilms ltd, and so far have stuck to it because of no apparent reason to switch. Now when Tata Sky came in to become a competitor, don't tell me there is no politics involved here, for some strange reason, Neo Sports is only available through them. Dish TV guys have not yet stuck a chord with Neo Sports, and good old DD decided that it was not an event of 'National Importance' - and I agree it was not.

Lot of media reports are floating around emphasizing that there was politics even in this, that BCCI wants to promote IPL a big way and has lost all interest in the on-going test seriese. Is it ? If it is, then that is a very bad day in cricket history. I would hate to see only 20-20s going ahead. I may sound like one of those hat-loaded saggy-skinned old men in UK who still see test cricket, but can't help it.

Can any 20-20 match the magic of a 5th-day-result-oriented test match ? To that effect, let me tell you the truth, initial 3 days of the test match, I hated dish TV. However, I was relieved that I did not end up seeing the match that ended in such a dull show - I mean centuries, triple centuries are all fine, but who cares yaar, if there is no Kumble or Harbhajan magic or a certain Laxman anchoring the second innings ? One way, all this politics of Zee films - ICL - IPL - dish TV - Tata Sky is good to keep me out of some more emotional drain :)

Now don't think that I am that strong a cricket buff, you have to see my nephew glued to those pale looking ICL matches - to understand what I am trying to emphasize. I remain a indian cricket team international match viewer.


Will I see IPL ? Only time will tell ... don't want to commit and go back on my words at this time, but seems like I will only be satisfied with reading about the results the next day - though SetMax will live telecast it.

How about all you folks in foreign countries ? Can you follow the live matches on internet or some tv channels ?

Happy Holi!

It has been a very very hectic week, both from the professional and personal life front. Loads of activities in office, a full house at home with couple of youngsters keeping the energy flowing all the time, playing card sessions - gossiping sessions ...

The kind of energy youths exhibit, is amazing. No qualms in accepting that all those billion dollar markets that exist for entertaintment, profession, accessories - you name it - is worth, as the world definitely seem to revolve around them.

During the BE hostel days, we used to have long long chats deep into the night on almost nothing topics. But somehow, I find it pretty tiring now to speak a lot, even on useful topics. May be the sign of old age ? :)

Gearing up for a COLOURFUL holi, all preparations are done, menu is planned and who will do what is already laid out.

Happy Holi and loads of best wishes to all, enjoy the festival to fullest!

Hopefully will get back in a couple of days. In the mean time, if you have not listened to it already, consider listening to his songs at least once. Raja Hasan from the last session of SareGaMaPa challenge is a gifted singer and when he sings, you can't ignore him for sure. Try this one - Piya Hazi Ali from the movie Fiza.

Railways Budget, Lalu, News channels and attitude of good citizens

To say that I fully understood the budgets will be a big, fat and white lie. I have not managed to make and stick to a budget at my own home as yet, all I can do is imagine about the magnitude of planning and strategy decisions that goes into a country's budget!

The day when Indian Railways Minister was supposed to present the budget, since morning 7 AM, most news channels were showing things like how Lalu was brushing his teeth, serving himself brakfast, walking up to his car and so on. How disgusting !

News channels urgently need to re-invent themselves.

Coming to the budget, the one thing I liked the most was the newly introduced on-board cleaning system. Indian railways sucks in that aspect and it was long due. But can the railways maintain cleanliness single-handedly ? NO! Cleanliness is an attitude and needs nurturing by every individual. In a country where people live in filthy conditions in acute poverty, does that come naturally for everybody? NO! So in my opinion, at least the people who can make it an attitude easily, let them maintain cleanliness of railways as much as possible, and rest of the work can be done by the authorities. What I have seen is that, people normally feel that anyway it is so filthy, what more damage I will do if I throw my dirt then and there itself ! Basically, itna kachda hai, thoda aur dalo, kya farak padta hai ! The same guys when they go to USA or some other country that values cleanliness, suddenly they are the most well-behaved citizens! Come on yaar, if you are not a hipocrite, behave the same way in your motherland ? I mean what stops you from maintaining the same attitude? Same thing they do with driving, but that will require another topic and another day ...

Now coming back to cleanliness, Lalu's railways staff can clean up the mess created by people who are unknowingly creating the filth, others should behave themselves.

And I sincerely think that the railways budget had good planning for the future, in terms of re-designing coachs, reducing ticket price, taking baby-steps towards more electronic-based access and so on. Now it will boil down to the execution, but whatever the minister could do, he seems to have done it well... good show, and with the amount of profit the railways has started showing after Lalu becoming the minister (assuming that they are audited, blah blah and are real and there is no major scam involved in it), I only have praises for the minister.

Back with backlogs

For sometime I completely disappeared from earth, so to say, from my connected world. What an irony you would think, just in the previous post I emphasized the wonderful mediums of communication human kind has developed, and in this one I am talking about the lack of it! Folks, have patience and let me clarify my stand...

While changing a handset, I lost all my mobile entries - so so stupid of me, can't forgive myself for committing such a silly mistake, how could I ? I mean, who loses phone book entries, definitely not a computer engineer, right ? ... sigh, hopefully some day I will be able to get over my guilty feeling. For the time being, help me my friends, please send your contact numbers to your oh-so-stupid friend!

The second thing is, I was deeply into handling home and family for sometime, which kept me out of touch from a computer for 5 whole days! With laptops and broadband at home, that is quite an achievement I would take pride for, though a bit dramatic of me to do that !

Now that I am back with a lot of backlogs, let me get going ... so many things in mind ... cricket matches and wins, two populist-please-all budgets, a brief MNS(Maharastra NavaNirmana Sena) turn around, a film fare award ceremony with loads of pretence and last but not the least, the talk of the town - Sachin Tendulkar back as the No 1 ODI batsman in ICC cricket ratings!

Hoping to get back soon with all my typical thoughts, will sign off now for sometime ...

movies, love stories and a magic called 'communication'

Many of you might not have committed the bravado as yet, but I did, and watched the movie 'Jodhaa Akbar' - a really long movie in terms of running hours, but not that long in terms of boring content. I liked it in parts - some of the songs, Hrithik, Ash, war scenes and the love story weaved underneath.

To tell you the truth, I realized that those days communication was a challenging problem, to the extent of ruining people's lives with the lack of it. Add to that, it seemed like people either did not know how to clearly express or did not care to express and relied heavily on unsaid impressions/emotions. Hmm... a pretty dangerous situation I must say! And one thing I could not understand was that, why did Jodhaa not send a messenger to clarify her stand with her brother? She was a princess, a queen, and could have definitely arranged for one who would search for and deliver the message to her brother. Anyway, the writer had other things in mind ...

In today's world, for example, Jodhaa would have SMS'ed her brother about her uneasiness over the marriage and would have got an instant reply from his brother Sujamal on where he is, how he is doing and what he can do to stop the marriage. It is just amazing to imagine the different modes of communication we have got in today's era, to clarify, to speak out, to reach out and to stay connected all the time! Just like the way I am doing right now, attending my mom-in-law in the hospital, and still able to write few things here and there expressing my thoughts ... imagine the world without reliable letters, radio/cell messages, telephones and above all, the internet. We have made good progress from the sixteenth century, definitely :)

But anyway, coming back to the movie, it was good, my husband and in-laws liked it, so as the e-square screen-5 audience on friday evening who cheered every hindu-muslim saas-bahu confrontations and results, the war scenes were particularly captivating, and being a girl, I liked the way Jodhaa and Akbar's marriage is shown slowly developing into a loving relationship. Good show, and worth the patience for once at least. If you want to read a review and qualified opinion on the movie, you can do so here, it is written by a friend, who incidentally happened to be in the same show as mine.

Enjoy the show, the weekend and the fantastic onset of "Vasant" (spring) season...

The cricket match and Aapki Asha

Wonderful... that is what I would call the show 'Aapki Asha' programme, and surprisingly not for Ashaji, but for KishoreDa' !

Now don't think I have gone mad or something, Amit Kumar (KishoreDa's eldest son, I don't need to say this, I am sure everybody has heard his immortal song - Yaad Aaa Rahee Hai from Love Story) sang few songs of his father. He might have sung it for an hour, or for an eternity... like 'Roop Tera Mastana', 'Yeh jo mohhabbat hai, yeh unka hai kaam' etc.

Oh boy, he looked like KishoreDa', moved like KishoreDa', and sang a notch better than KishoreDa' :) He narrated some nostalgic stories about SD Burmanji, KishoreDa', PanchamDa' and all ... He is a singer to reckon and his voice is not as if in the 'Bade achhhe lagte hein...' but it is very close to his father these days. I loved it, and everybody around me loved it too as I could figure out from the dances and shouts going on.

He rocks, and how ! To end his 1-hour continuous show, he sang 'Dekhaa jo tujhe yaar, dilmein baji Sitar', and he rocked again in such a different era song! And so far I have not even mentioned his entertaining abilities!

Ashaji sang beautifully, as usual, in few initial songs she started with, and later, I am afraid, she sounded quite tired to make the melody heartfelt, though it was pleasant enough, but a little less than my expectations. Sorry to say this, but you can hardly complain, about a person who has remained beyond comparison all her life.


Wonderful, wonderful show Ashaji, and thank you so much for bringing on Amit Kumar!

If you have noticed the difference between Ashaji, Burmanji, Panchamda, KishoreDa' and Amit kumar, that is because his voice is still very close to heart to insert a barrier 'ji', music directors, please, make him sing more songs, and the type that suits his divine voice.


Cricket match with Australia

Do I need to remind anybody in the country about this? It was thrilling, depressing, entertaining, unbearable, confusing .. all at the same time! I went through all kinds of emotions during those few hours, and when Yuvraj fell because of a shoddy looking shot, I could hardly latch onto my sit. Heartbeats made noise and the fish fry went for a toss as I nervously kept on hopping between the kitchen and the living room... and finally, after long looking hours of soundless batting, Dhoni and Rohit pulled it through, and saved my sunday from being miserable :)

Good show, at the end, and let me mention, I liked every uppish shot of Tendulkar!

So much for today folks, let me get back to Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix showing behind my back, rest of the family is glued to it.

Not a bad sunday evening at all, after those uplifting 3 hours of melody yesterday night, and the exciting win against the arrogant Australian cricket team!

Good bye for now ... wish you all a happy valentine's day!

Politics, Business: It is all about money honey !

Two widely different things kept me awake till late last night.

Microsoft has bid to buy the internet giant Yahoo ...

...Yes, if you have not read about it yet, check out these links.

* A detailed analysis form zdnet perspective.
* A news on yahoo biz.
* Another news piece from news.com .

Now come to think of it, Google has been trying very hard to be the numero uno company in everything it touches (wait for the gPhone with Linux OS to come out, to understand fully the impact of what I am trying to say). And rightly so, it is one of the companies I admire and adore as well...just like numerous techies all around the world.

But why does it find it hard to digest the Microsoft fight back ? I mean, Microsoft wants to retain its number one position, and it has every right to do so. I don't think how google can stop this deal by throwing in the 'here comes microsoft to monopolize', ages old trick used many times against Microsoft.

IMO (In my opinion - of course everything in this blog is my opinion and has nothing to do with any companies or people), it should be a very good deal for yahoo, and will work out best against google to stop it from taking over the internet single handedly (now who is trying to monopolize the online advertising market).

Google, from an admirer's point of view, looks all set to tackle the competition and might as well emerge as the toughest competitor to microsoft yet, ever! And Google, of all, should not worried about it at all...

Let the show begin ! :)

Raj Thackeray tries to re-ignite the same boring (yawn yawn ...) topic

Now coming to the second topic of this morning, it concerns me as somebody staying in Pune. I have no grudge against or anything to do with Maharashtra NavaNirman Sena, and I understand little of the politics going on in this state.

But it is simply disheartening to imagine that he seems to be using some shoddy gimmicks to gain popularity. Come on Raj, you are a dashing young politician, you have better things to do in life like think about the next generation of India, think about our growing importance in the international arena and how you could take it forward ... why do you have to resort to these , or even these kind of things ?

If you don't dare to take the new approach to politics, who will ?
Why can't you focus on progress, work, economy or national security ?
Why do you have to resort to the type of the methods adopted when you were a kid?

Move ahead, look ahead should be the mantra of today's young politicians... we want to take the country forward, and not backwards.

What should youths like us expect from a supposedly-capable-of-great-things-leader like you?

Welcome to the 'I Live in a Free World' blog

We are human beings, and we are free from the fear of any other species on earth!

Still, what is it that holds us back, whenever we want to pour our mind, our heart ? What is the fear of expression ? Is it the expected norms of society ? Or of the law ? Or is it we, ourselves, to blame for all the loneliness in this world?

humane and humans everywhere, not a single one to care!

Or do we ?

Let me ask, Are we really free ?

Here is an excerpt from the Saint Poet - Nobel prize winner - Rabindranath Tagore's poem on freedom:


Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

-- Rabindranath Tagore

With that theme, let me set tone for this blog, I am planning to pour my mind into this, to share with you how and what I think, and to answer your concerns or queries based on my knowledge of the world and its function.

Feel free to ask any random question on this blog, and hopefully I will have some answer for you, although limited by mind ...

Cheers!