Gujarat riots, Tehelka Expose

I feel so sad, and to a certain extent guilty, about the Gujarat riots. Tehelka has exposed the fact that Mr. Narendra Modi was behind the riots. But didn’t we all know about that? People may have had doubts about the extent of his involvements but rumors never spread out of thin air, and especially rumors this big (not Rani marrying Aditya, for that matter even the initially debunked rumors about aish and abhishek had some base in it). So Narendra Modi is guilty and in this case, less or more doesn’t matter.

People always tend to think the wrong directions or biased opinions in this case. The learned Muslims know the lesser said the better. The illiterate Muslims do what the Qazis tell them to, who in turn are politically inclined. What depresses me is the opinions that the Hindus have. There are fanatic Hindus who went on describing about the barbaric deaths of the people who were burnt in the train. And they tend to justify the riots based on this presumption. There are a bunch of Anti-Hindu hindus (Yes, there are lot of them), who think that the Godhra Train massacre was also self created by the Hindus just as an opportunity to kill the people. In either of these, people are moving from the depth and gravity of the situation to petty finger pointing.

I have simple views. I believe the first reactions of the people are always true. The fast reactions can generally never be painted. So I do believe that something bad happened in the train. But what I DO believe is no matter what happens anywhere, killing people is never a solution. Even though it is in retaliation of something really disgusting. So I condemn the entire Gujarat riots. I know people will agree with me up to this point. Now I will go further and say that though Modi and a few others who may be responsible for the riots, I will, as a human being, consider it as barbaric as the riots if somebody kills these people. Let the justice take its action. (I firmly believe capital punishment should be banished. There are ways to let people live their entire life in repentance and guilt of a terrible crime than just kill them).

I would like to mention the Grahams Staines death. This may be true that the means Graham Staines adopted to spread the word of Christianity were really of the third degree. But that doesn’t qualify somebody to kill him and his children. Again, I tend to believe it’s not Dara Singh who is alone responsible for this. It must be some rich educated hindu fanatic who brainwashed his mind and made hi commit the murder.

The root of all these become very apparent. Lack of good education which should promote clarity of unbiased thoughts. And as my Mom and Dad say, Rabindranath Tagore has written something about every situation, which appears to be true in this case, I end my blog with some lines which I consider very relevant:

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.

A look at Current Affairs

Let's begin with me. I have shifted my base to Natick, a suburb of Boston to be precise. For a living, I work with a software company, but strangely, it's not the typical software company (Oh so Cliché, but it is. ) And I am happy so far and guess that's important.
It's fall and you can see it best here. People go to other states nearby to see the fall colors. This year I am content with whats happening around me . Trees from all shades of green to Red with orange, yellow in the middle stages. Its too good. And what makes it more wonderful is its not same for all trees. So U just see colored trees at random. Its too good.

Next let's go to the Nobel Peace Prize. Well deserved for Al Gore I would say. He did real good work in creating awareness. The movie which I have not seen and the 07-07-07 world wide concert which I have not been to are just a few good moves. It did put the word in everybody's mind, especially in America who just never think of these kind of consequences. In addition, IPCC was the co-winner. IPCC headed by Rajendra K. Pachauri. I don't know to what extent we Indians need to be proud of that fact? Am not very sure! We may congratulate Rajendra K. Pachauri for ths fact, but it can't be a national pride. The worst of this came out in a Hindustan Times disussion panel where Shahrukh was speaking about rising India and what needs to be done for Globalizing Hindi movies. It was quite natural taht he mentions Oscars/Chak De etc. Suddenly this Nalini Singh jumps and asks why didn't you mention Mr. Pachauri. It seems we are ignoring the achievement. Shahrukh Khan was dumbstruck. Apologized and named Pachauri. But I think nalini Singh proved that she is dumb. But I liked her DD shows and thought she wasa good journalist. 1 heartbreak.

Moving on to Harry Potter and Hogwarts Pandal in Salt Lake, Kolkata. Get what happened from the news. I think what happened was good. Indian should know the extent to which copying is OK. I guess JKR would have herself come down and inaugurated the Pandal if she had been asked to. But these people never thought of that. I think lawsuit was an accident, but the court ruling was the best. Go ahead this time, but be cautious from next time. It is very important.
What I didn't like about the whole episode is the reactions of non-potter lover indians. They think JKR is evil. Greatbong is one of them. He has gone way too much with renaming Hogwarts as HagooWarts. I thought he was a good blogger. Another heartbreak.

Lastly, lets discuss the Rizwanur case. As with most of the murders this one too, though a love story murder failed to catch my eyes which generally go to the right side movie section of rediff, first thing in the morning. I read all about it after going through the Jhumur Bose blog on CNN IBN. My views went for one extreme to the other as I first read the blog and then read the comments. What my views stand is this: Whatever happened (murder/suicide) was sad. The guilty should be punished (I am anti capital punishment though). But now let's move on to the Mom-Dad-Daughter and Rizwanur angle. Its perfectly right for the daughter to fall in love with Rizwan and vice versa. They may decide to marry and nobody should stop them. But it's also perfectly valid for Mom and Dad to oppose the marriage. If one can love somebody for no good reason (which is generally true, love looses its meaning if it is with some motive) there is no rule that nobody can hate him. So it's also perfectly alright that they express their displeasure to their daughter. But it should have stopped at that and the parents laying the condition that if you go ahead, we disinherit you. At this point, the girl should decide what to do, to go with heart or brain . In this case because Rizwanur has good earnings as an animation expert, its not a bad idea to go with love and promptly get out of her family. This may be very hard but had to be done. I guess this is what would have happened in the west. But I don't know why we Indians always go for a compromise. The father thought of talking to the police. Who knows if he hired gundas. This is what is going beyond what is needed. On the other hand, the people would have felt bad even if he just disinherited his daughter. This is bullshit because he can do whatever he wants if daughter goes against his wishes and is over 18. he can have cast/money bias. Can't be helped. All in all, the matter should have been left with just the mom,dad daughter and riz.


Anyway enuf of my views. Eid Mubarak. Happy Navaratri and Durga Puja.

The Bunty and Babli age

Rightly depicted in the movie "Bunty aur Babli", this is the age of the small town people as rightly depicted in this article. Dhoni, Pathan, Sreesanth, Amit Paul , Prashant Tamang and most of the Indian Cricket team as well as Indian Idol finalists just strengthen this belief. The IITians are coming from small towns . Mallika Sherawat and Priyanka Chopra are the examples in the tinseltown.

And why am I happy? Because I am a small town guy. And like most of the others I feel a great aversion to the Big City people. The Mumbaikars, the Delhites and the Kolkatans. I do not count Chennai as I haven't seen many Chennites who fall into this hated category. I exclude Bangalore because though there are a lot of people in Bangalore who belong to this category for some particular characteristics of theirs, they are not the "Original Bangalorites", they are migrated.

By the way, what are the characteristics that make me or may be many others averse to these people?

• These people think that that particular City is THE city and life hardly exists beyond that.
• Fashion and looks are foremost in their minds and being non trendy is considered a big sin.
• They expect you to know "Ghatkopar ka CCD", "Sector 18 mall" and "Puja@Maddox Square", but won't even CARE to know any facts about any small town.
• They showoff. They invent their own lingos and expect you to know that.
  
• The girls are most confused. The vague notion that they are being modern by changing a few cosmetic things but in essence they never develop the modern outlook of the west as well as they loose the calm composure nature of the natives.

Ok, enough of this big city bashing. I hate them somehow and I can go on and on about it. But I do see many exceptions. It may also be true that the people on whom I based my opinion does not truely represent the local middleclass/poor population which sadly enough accounts for the major population of any Metro. But then they never make a fuss about Big City/ Small City.

Here are the exceptions. There are ofcourse people in the upper middle class also who behave down to earth/normal according to my yardstick. These exceptions are most welcome when it is this way but I just loose my cool when it is the other way. And this is what happens in Bangalore. The nice, good and simple Kannadigas of Bangalore, they have been in Bangalore all their life beautifying it. And in comes about 1-2 lakh people a year, mostly from small towns but suddenly feeling all high class. These people will tend to act pricey, go for the foreign brands, wear unnecessary sunglass, put all kinds of perfume, deos even if they are just going down Sabji Shopping and then hog around the pubs on weekends.

Frankly speaking even I have been through this mode but soon realized that though i may be a part of it, I do not like it. And now I realize, there is absolutely no harm in staying simple.

Though not very relevant, but I have seen this trend here in US. Guys drink only beer rather prefer beer. I don't understand though I sometimes do the same myself just trying not to different, what is so great about a drink which 1) Doesn't taste good. 2) Doesn't get you high easily. 3)Stinks more than any other and 4) Makes you feel so pissy. :D

Ragging

The recent reports of how a student from Lucknow was ragged and was in hospital compels me to get started on the topic.

Being a hostelite, and surely like every other hostelite I do feel that “Those were the best days of my life…blah blah blah” but I don’t agree with most of them on another cliché statement “Ragging as long as it is not physical, is good for personality development.” I am also surprised that many of the fraternity people here in US where ragging is called hazing also defend the culture.

Though most of my friends laugh back at those first year days, and I can also laugh aloud if I really want to, but I am still not able to forget those days. Just the fear of going to college from high school was so prominent that I failed to recognize the biggest change in my life – leaving parents. There, my mom stood in the balcony suppressing her tears, my friends encircling me waiting for me to break down, and me like an idiot, more afraid of the future, just couldn’t feel the gravity of the situation, I didn't shed a single drop of tear and neither was i sad. Though I think my dad and to some extent my bro are of the braver kind, still I don’t understand how the fear got into me.

On landing in Surathkal, the fear was gone as I realized that any form of physical abuse was not going to happen, but soon the feeling of disgust. This was even worse. I had to go to the ground everyday, just sit or play, but for a person, who doesn’t like to play it was a burden. There were also many restrictions. Don’t go to the beach; don’t go to Surathkal/Mangalore alone etc. etc. It was all done for good so that people don’t get carried away and for their own safety. But I feel, for a person of 17, he better be the master of his own will or of his parents who can contact through phone. We are a democratic country and to curb ones independence is a violation of Fundamental Rights.

The officials think they do a good job. Nothing really drastic happens in our college anymore. But instead, the first years are never allowed out of their hostels at any time. They have to keep a log of their times. All this, for their safety. But what about the independence?With all this though I got the security, there was still the mental fear that I went through, I will never forget though I may forgive. Though I began to like all my seniors, the TRUST never came and neither did any respect for the wardens.

When I came to second year, it became our responsibility. I wanted to make sure that atleast my juniors can trust me and then I can show them the path to freedom. I could show them the towns, the good food places, the most beautiful beaches. But that was not to be. Taking a junior outside was considered a big violation of rules.

Anyway, on the whole, I feel any form of restrictions either imposed by the university or the seniors of the college is a violation of fundamental rights. Instead, people should work on to maintain the independence of freshers and help them in a SMOOTH transition.

Absolutely Random

Call it joblessness or urge to increase post count. I just want to write something. But didn't get many ideas and the ones which I got are too colored or too regional. So i stop it that. Let's see, even at this point of time, I don't know what I will write. It's just that I will ask myself 10 questions which will be like Top 3. ie. Top 3 places etc etc. and they will be my own views of course coz its my own blog. I will try to keep the questions as distinct as possible. Also the best one will have a picture.
Ok Start:



1) Top 3 women Authors:
Jane Austen, Enid Blyton, J.K. Rowling










2) Top 3 places I would love to work:
UNICEF, Infosys Facilities Department,
Keep it simple: Mathworks :)











3) Top 3 beaches I have seen (Haven't seen Many):
Beach next to Cabo De Rama, Palolem, Puri










4) Top 3 songs that come to my mind:
Shanti Ashantagi, Banke Tera Jogi,
Aamaar shokol Niye boshe aachi









5) Top 3 Smells:
Earth after first rain, Nail Polish, Cigarette







6) Top 3 states of India (Based on people):
Karnataka, Kerala, Goa







7) Top 3 places at Texas A&M:
MSC, Bonfire Memorial, Sterling C Evans Library











8) Top 3 topics I like to talk:
NITK life, Harry Potter, Indian films







9) Top 3 things about India's Struggle for freedom:
Quit India Movement, 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, Formation of Indian National Congress








10) Top 3 sportsmen I like:
Christiano Ronaldo, Pete Samprass, Kapil Dev

Tapur Tupur Brishti

It can surely be called one of the bold and selfish decisions I took in past few months and I have done many big things. I got a job, defended my thesis, got a degree completion etc. But it was more like I had to get a job and I had to finish my studies. One thing followed another and it was all done.

It was a simple thing. I got wet in rain. And it was a fully conscious decision. I was in Zachry (My department) and was feeling very sleepy. So I decided to go back home. As soon as I was nearing the exit, I saw it was all dark outside and raining too. But I had made up my mind. I will go in the rain. I did have a 900$ laptop in my backpack but still didn’t feel like waiting. The backpack claimed to be waterproof.

I started cycling. Rain drops falling on my face and everywhere. It was so much fun. Thanks to my mom, I have gone out in rain very less. She just won’t let me. Anyway when you go from home to somewhere, you always have access to umbrellas. The problem is only when u forget to bring umbrella and u have to go back home. So this was the same case.

The rain was very pleasant. It was neither too heavy nor just drizzle, just the right kind. I felt so independent and so happy doing this lil act of bravery.

Lots of songs and jingles came to my mind:

Peter Pater rain drops, go away, go away

Barson re megha megha

Pehli barish bheege honth , nagare nagare nagira oooo

Dekho baarsish ho rahi hai, its raining its raining its raining.

Chai Chappa Chai, Chapak chai, paniyon ke cheente udati hui ladki

Tip Tip Barsa paani.

Me 60 years back

Well, the thought came to me as I read Advay’s blog. He said he would have been a “Garampanthi” freedom fighter if he would have been born in pre independence era. Made me think what I would have been. First thought was: Might be one of the followers of Gandhiji, not that I agree with all his views but I think the path he showed is much better than any of the other leaders. The feeling of national unity which I think was more important than even national independence could not have come out of these garampanthi people.

But when I analyzed a bit more, with more brains than heart, I guessed if I just go by what I have done so far, I would have gone to the queen’s land to get a law degree and came back and appeared for ICS as it was called that time. I know I am not ICS/IAS material but then who says I am engineering material now. But as that would have been the most lucrative profession that time, I would have definitely attempted for that. After that, I would be happily serving the British Indian government. Don’t get me wrong here, I would not have been one of the “Ingrej er paa chata kukur” (Meaning the dog who licks Englishmen’s feet, used in these typical freedom based serials like yug), but would have been a typical serviceman. Let’s say I was a district collector of some suburb of Calcutta. Don’t even know what that means but from what I hear from people, he is the government’s representative for the district and the welfare of the district is in hands. With this in mind, let’s see what I could have done.

I would have been extremely helpful to the poor people, listening to their woes and establishing free schools for poor children. I would have made sure that none in my district are dying of hunger. I would put my best efforts in bringing industries to my district and for that I would have done my bit of “Maska” to the angrez. I would have been a regular to their parties, drinking socially as I do now and as I am near Calcutta, I would have been pretty much in the center of politics. I would have supported Gandhiji’s ideologies as would have been the fashion by then but not sporting a Gandhi Topi. Pretty much westernized in terms of clothes. Overall, I would be a serviceman to the nation as a representative of the government and would have done my part in development of the people of the country. Independence at the cost of anything could never have been my priority. On the day of Independence I would have been extremely happy, would have hoisted a flag in my office building but never failing to give a sendoff party to the Angrez who were my bosses or colleagues.

Does it sound bad? Does it sound like a traitor? Most importantly, what do you think you would have been say in 1946? And if our paths crossed how would have reacted to me? I do need some comments on this one unlike the previous one.

New Fav: Katrina Kaif

A quickie here! Will do proper research later and come up with something better. But I saw this Episode of Koffee with Karan (as usual at its best), and it had Lara and Katrina. Whoooooo, both looked stunning and though Lara does looks a bit better than the horseface, Katrina just makes up for all with her accent. A mixture of my two favourites, Emma Watson and Kiera, its just so british. She has Kieras looks and hermione's brains. Simply awesome. Just a small hitch though. she is not in good terms with Bips :(
Sounds strange, and that too just 3 days before the 60th year of Indias independence form the british, I am just in awe with everything british. Don't know when it started. I just like som many british things. Harry Potter, Kiera Knightley, ManU, Hamilton, James Bond, and everything British. am just dying to see "Beoming Jane", the only reason:its based on my fav writer:Jane Austen and the movie is so english!

Random views, II3, KWK

I don’t know what should be the title of this post. Just finished seeing the results of Indian Idol 3, Gala 5 results. I don’t know what impressed me. But I was. Whether all the reality shows are like this, I know not. I have been out of touch with TV for a long long time, ever since I left home in 2000. It’s only coming back here that I have started watching TV shows on the internet.

Off late, my favorite has been KWK (Koffee wit Karan). He makes stupid movies but his show is really great. I like the way he is not ashamed of his antiques and style. That day I was telling somebody that Rituparno Ghosh is another Karan Johar. Well, it’s a great thing to be the definition of some characteristics. Anyway, what I like most about the show is seeing the interviewing skills of the various people. While even new ones like Lara, Bipasha and John are such smart in their replies, Hema Malini and Madhuri Dixit, being so much better and famous actors than these people, are so artificial in their interviews. Infact, I ardently follow all Hema malini interviews just for seeing that how such a beautiful and talented actress acts so comically before the camera.

Uff, somebody should stop me now. When I get started about KWK, I can’t stop. This post started with Indian Idol results episode. I know these people try to get too much real at times that it looks bad. For example, I forgot which, but one contestant has birth parents and growing up parents. So they made up a show out of it. But 2 things that happened today really moved me. One was Ankita’s legs were shaking uncontrollably. When it didn’t stop, Hussain suddenly said, Ankita, tum theek ho na, nahi tho tum andar ja sakti ho. It was quite personal. I liked it a lot. The other one was in the end when Parleen was leaving. It was natural that Puja cries, some other contestants cry, even the judges make sad faces. What surprised me the most was Mini Mathur crying uncontrollably. Whatever might be the reason, an anchor of a show crying for some contestant is unheard of. Whether this is good or bad I don’t know but I would say Mini just started a welcome trend.

Coming to Mini, a little has to be said about her too. I have been following her for a long time. It was around 96-97 I think when she started coming in Namaste India. Travel shows then were quite rare and she was just exceptional. Despite being so famous, she started from scratch and won the MTV VJ Hunt contest and undoubtedly was one of the best VJs for that too. And now she is into Indian Idol. And what she did yesterday was simply superb.

Expelliarmus

I have so many things to write about. My trip to NYC, Bipasha-Ronaldo kiss or the comparison between a celebrity show like Koffee with Karan and one involving Congress patented Aam aadmi types Indian Idol. (My friends say its better to watch a show involving common people than watching the Kareenas bitching about others and the Hemas talking about good upbringing of Eshas but I beg to differ).But everything takes a backseat. And the reason is obvious. Deathly Hallows.
As I have it in another Deathly hallows post of mine, I am expecting Rowling to do something surprising which none of us would ever have guessed and from all the snapshots of the book leaking through the internet one shocked me. I can't find the link now.
Spoiler Warning (may or may not be):
That particular link had out of the many deaths, death of Fred and Hedwig. Now that seems Rowlingish. Is it not? We all are expecting it to be Harry or Hagrid, Ron or Hermione but if it is tears that Rowling wants from us, I think this is her best. Hedwig, the innocent owl is the only character who has never disagreed with Harry ever. We can say that after the death (was it?) of Sirius, the closest to Potter is Hedwig.
Next is Fred. Can we ever imagine George without Fred? It would have been one thing to let both die. But just the thought of George staying alive to suffer the agony makes me sad already.
Also we all somehow love the people of 'The Burrows'. But Ron and Ginny somehow have much more than just being the people of Burrows. One is the love and one is the best friend. Just imagine what Mrs Weasley will think when she has to scold only George instead of both.
Spoiler Warning Ends

By the way, let's play this game. Which character do you want to be in Harry Potter. Somehow i don't want to be Harry. Its Ron I like the most. Suits me. Imagine you really don't have to do anything on your own. There is constantly a Hermione who will do your homework, friends like Harry and Hermione who will tell you what to do and never really think anything innovative (except playing good chess). A nice mom cooking wonderful food. A brother who works with dragons. A Fleur as Bhabhi. All he does is being loyal to Harry which is very very important but guess I can do it :). And he gets a Hermione. If I were Ron, All I will do is say thank you to hermy all day so that she says that mesmerizing "Pleasure" in the all british accent.



Oops forgot to write why expelliarmus. I don't want the things that happen as per the spoiler i said. Hope i am hidden in a corner to say "expelliarmus" if anybody tries to attack these people. Join me if you can. Wiki says, its more powerful if multiple people do it.