Alvida 2008

It has been a tough year for all of us. I completed my engineering after 4 years of Exams, travel and mindless mugups and surprisingly it was a successful endeavor and yes with the tensions, copy pastes, deadlines, attendance problems etc...

The world economy has been hit badly; a million job cuts; fire-hire dramas; bankruptcy ...
It all started with the Lehman Brothers which saw the full fury of the unforgiving consequences of mismanagement and the year now ends with Satyam and its board in rough seas.

I don't want to talk much of terror. It is only tears and sorrow and I want to be happy while welcoming the first sun rise of 2009. Although, we'll talk about tackling it as the year 2009 begins. Israel's attack on the Gaza strip is a complete no-no but I appreciate their efforts to get rid of the problem of terrorism. Maybe they could've waited for 2009 and celebrated the new years party.
In the spur of the moment we do things that do not always give the best results. When we sit back and look for the best path with a cool mind, we not only reach a solution but we also give it back. (My Guru Gyan...Aha!)

Media has been in a mess, but like a hyperactive child it has delivered something positive on more than one occasion.

Cricket has been good apart from the Srilanka series. Good also includes some voluntary (Sourav dada and Anil Kumble) retirements. (What! Did they actually retire or was it forced? Never mind, such a benign gesture is always welcome)

The year 2008 no doubt goes to ISRO. First they set a record by launching 10 satellites in orbit and then yes the unforgettable Chandrayaan-1.

Tatas had a mixed year. First it was the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover from ford and then the Nano drama. Nano's grand inauguration in January was on a positive note, but soon Mamta ji ki army threw a good project for the citizens of West Bengal into the gutter. All I can say is that it went from Mamta to Modi. Modi ji ki jai!

Assembly elections saw incumbency not necessarily development win in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. But the tide was in favour of Congress. Congress mata ki jai !

The one man who stood apart from the rest was none other than Barack Obama. Yipee! Hurray!

Thats it for this year's posts. Some were lame, others ok-ok and a few were acknowledged as a not such a bad attempt. Thats fine for me. It'll do

In the end what matters is...
people offer more to the gods of peace so that this world becomes a safer, happier and peaceful place.

Happy New year!


PS: No more Guru Gyan like no drinking and driving. Yup! I know you know it, but still, Don't drink and drive.

Israel and India on terror

Israel bombed the Gaza strip for the fourth day today killing over 300 people in Gaza. Hamas had ended the cease-fire with Israel after they fired rockets over Israel. Israel’s general has indicated that they are going for an all out attack to capture the Gaza strip. Hamas (terror threat), the largest party now faces oblivion at the hands of Israel. India faces an Israel like situation today. If Hamas dictates terms LeT and JuD and its leaders do the same in Pakistan.

Pakistan indirectly has kept attacking India, but our reaction has been soft after a certain point. I have no reason to believe that government of Pakistan is actually interested in uprooting terrorism. Their only motive as of now is to gain political advantage. This was very evident from Imran Khan’s reaction on India needing to give substantial proof on Ajmal Kasav. I am not in favour of war, but the way this war hysteria has been created by Pakistan without any provocation (when our defense minister said against it) ; a very smart move to intimidate and delude India. Although the denouement of this Indo-Pak drama cannot be predicted, but the Indian government's ploy has seemingly depredated our morale. Indian government's reaction has been like that of an old woman beating her breasts every time Pak trained terrorists attack India. We need pro-activity, not a passive war of words.

Israel’s reaction to terror from its neighbours seems to harbour only one message; “No Nonsense”.
We too have had this, but it has only been limited to an old man’s war of words. On the contrary there are people who are taking pride in the so-called mature reaction by India. Despite all the claims, I have only one problem. At the end of this mature journey will we uproot terror? Or will this be just another attempt by the incumbent congress aimed at vote bank politics?

Vote Bank Politics

The history of Hindu-Muslim frictions goes way back to the 15th century when the Mughals brought along with them the dominance of Islam in India. Aurangzeb was relatively intolerant towards other religions and emphasized on conversions to Islam. With Aurangzeb, the decline of the Mughal Empire began, which was followed by the British Raj. The Hindu-Muslim divide had its foundations laid 400 years ago but as India became an independent democracy the politics of division based on religion began taking shape. It was Sikhs/Hindus vs Muslim rulers in the 17th century and the recent string of violence in Kandhmal has engulfed the relatively peaceful Christianity in the pool of blood and fire.

The tag of politics of division, which is cleverly stamped on BJP today goes 22 years back to the congress era. Shah Bano, a 62 year old Muslim and mother of 5 children was divorced by her husband in 1968 and was denied alimony. She fought for her right and after 7 years when her case reached Supreme Court, the case was adjudged in her favour. Congress at the helm of their power with 411 seats out of 542 with an absolute majority bypassed the secular Supreme Court Judgment after Muslim outcry over their personal laws. This even denied the poor divorced Muslims the right to alimony. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board threatened to agitate in many cities at the behest of whom the congress used their majority. The wanton bulldozing of the Supreme Court order by the congress (Rajiv Gandhi government) in 1986 was the dawn of contemporary vote bank politics. My aim here is not to be cynical, but to show the other side of the dainty congress. I am not denying the fact that vote bank politics is not played by BJP, but tagging BJP as divisional is throwing dust in the public eye. BJP has had a rather successful polling result in Jammu and Kashmir elections by securing 11 Hindu dominated Jammu seats. They too used the agitation over Amarnath land in their favour. On the flip side, the public whim of divisional BJP after the Mumbai terror attacks caused a lot of damage to the number of BJP votes in the assembly elections held in November.

In the Shah Bano incident, clearly the woman was being bullied by the man; a clever collaboration of a demoniacal government (Bofors Scandal.1987). In 1984, the power lady Indira Gandhi, an unequivocal supporter of women had left this world and 2 years later her son Rajiv had reversed the colour of her sky.

In Indian history, the minorities have often held the country to ransom, be it religion, region or political parties. I am not saying the minorities are always wrong, but the vested interests of its despicable leaders are the culprits, mostly. The nuclear deal was the latest wallpaper on this theme.

Currently the progenitor of divisional politics is defiling the reputation of BJP, which has followed the path of congress in terms of divisional politics and achieved the national level by opting for appeasing a religion in majority. Only the Lok Sabha elections of 2009 will tell which party succeeds with or without vote bank politics.

Jiah Khan leads, Asin trails

This is not my personal opinion, it is the voice of Google sultanate. Jiah Khan, despite being over powered by the strategies of Aamir Khan and Asin's dominance in the promotion of Ghajini, she has come over and above Ghajini and its "Star Power" to win the vote of the internet user.

In my opinion, the vote swung in favour of Jiah, more because of her hot maxim photo shoot (see below) rather than the mound of star power and deliberate drowning. But it could be the other way also. The harder you throw a ball, the more it bounces back, newton's third law. That could be the case also. What matters is popularity. I guess the producers should give a serious thought to these results as they could be useful for casting in future. Another interpretation of these stats can be on a curiosity index. People want to know more about Jiah Khan and her role in Ghajini since she has been kept under the wraps,they simply want to see more of her. It is next to impossible to nail down a specific cause with the Indian janta. Let it be the hung assembly of Jammu and Kashmir or the Delhi elections.


"Hotness: Mild"

Do not confuse this with the hotness of Jiah Khan. Sometimes, few sentences at the wrong places give an entirely different angle to the analysis.

An interesting thing is that between 12 and 6 PM there was peak and 2 more after 6 PM. What can you infer ? The lazy males have logged on to internet in the evening and are having a visual treat or the curious ones want to know more before they put their drop of money into the ocean of Ghajini's earnings. The related searches show that Asin and Ghajini's cast were searched far less than the queen of Ghajini,Jiah. And what about Aamir? well it seems too many males are dominating. Lets take this a bit further. Most of the searches have come from Bangalore and Chennai. Asin is a popular actress in the south and has won filmfare awards for the best actress in Telugu and Tamil films.So she is already popular there. That gives the curiosity factor more credibility. In the end it is all about moolah and a future for the ones trying to gain foothold. For Jiah Khan, this could be a morale booster.

Ghajini - earns 32 crore on first day

You've heard it right. Ghajini, the copy of a Tamil movie, or a remix of a Tamil movie has been branded and is now selling like hot cakes with free gold biscuits. Ghajini earned Rs 32 crore on the first day at Box Office. Singh is Kinng lost to it by a mile and if you compare the King Shahrukh's movie Rab ne Bana Di Jodi, you'll see an old man running in a 100 meter race who has just managed to run the first 10 meters. Like the USAIN BOLT of Box office collections with Ghajini, Aamir Khan has proved that he is the best atleast for now, whether it is quality cinema (Taare Zameen Par) or Masala Vada type cinema like Ghajini.



The thing, I want to discuss here is that 32 crores were actually spent by the Indian public on one day. Two weeks ago, they spent 10 crores on the first day of Rab ne Bana Di Jodi. That becomes 42 crores in 2 days, which is 21 crores per day. Now if three shows are running per day, this comes out to be 7 crores per show and roughly 2.33 crores per hour for entertainment of the same kind and type. Now who says we are in a recession. Who says we need fiscal stimulus for moving forward. And did I hear job cuts and cost cutting measures. This all sounds too contradictory, but it is true. I don't want to say that in difficult times you should not watch movies, but what I want to say is that if you package your product properly (Like Ghajini), market it well and work hard (Like the 8 packs of Aamir) , you are bound to earn moolah even in recession. That's where Aamir (12th pass) teaches a valuable lesson to our highly qualified (MBA's) failing corporates. Another example of good packaging is Tata Sky Plus. Good branding and a creative ambassador. Thats the way out of recession.

Barack Obama's fitness chapter

Barack Obama is a classic example of a "good" politician and there are many things our Indian counterparts can learn from him. I wouldn't be going into the moral aspects.

I was just surfing the internet when I found out a video of Barack Obama surfing with his family. The man is fit, healthy and has a fab body. He does not look like a muscle machine nor is he an over weight pig. The perfect person for the most stressful job in the world. A healthy mind in a healthy body is an adage our esteemed super heroes of Lok Sabha can learn from.

The day after he won the presidential elections of 2008, he was back at the gym, getting in shape to reshape the world.



Also Try reading

• 10 reasons why Obama is the right man
  

• US Elections: Time magazine covers

The Perfect Christmas gift

In the current night of recession people are only looking for one gift this season. Money. I hope the Santa Claus fulfills all these wishes. Certainly Mayawati’s wishes for more money for herself (oops donations for celebrating her birthday and then she can boast about her advance tax), have been crucified for now. Let’s hope all wishes of the “Good” people are fulfilled this Christmas. Merry Christmas :-).

Didi and Dadagiri

The colours of DIDI (Mayawati) are on full display, as she has not allowed CBI enquiry of the case where her MLA allegedly killed an Engineer. The reason for the extortion of money was masqueraded by funds collection programme for DIDI’s birthday on 15^th January. The result was that DIDI’s MLA resorted to DADAGIRI and ended up killing an innocent engineer who was not ready to part of with his hard earned money (This is the allegation). The story so far was only linked to the harassment of poor citizens of Uttar Pradesh by its MLA’s but has now got the open support of the undeclared ruler of UP.

I am happy Delhiites did not vote for BSP in Delhi, since if she would have won, our state would have gone from Bad to Worse. I am pretty sure of the fact that her party would be annihilated in the next elections but Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh aren’t a good choice either. I hope some miracle happens and congress or BJP manage to stop them from making a government, which is years away.

Nokia Maps, Kashmir and Pakistan

Nokia Maps, a feature of the Nokia GPS phones (Also known as Navigators), have made a blunder by showing Kashmir a part of Pakistan. Nokia is one of the most trusted mobile phone brands of India and has risen in popularity because of its easy interface. I too use a Nokia Navigator phone and it has been essential in navigating me to unknown places in Delhi and Mumbai.

Nokia Maps is a software that uses the GPS receiver of your GPS enabled phone and helps you show directions, and virtually guides you through every lane. The designers of Nokia have done a fabulous job as far as the technology is concerned but they have gone wrong with the facts of Kashmir.

The reactions to this mistake have also been over the top. BJP protesters raided a NOKIA store in jabalpur and set it on fire. I am pro-BJP person, but I think such violent reactions are just not needed. We live in a civilized society and we should behave accordingly and not like hooligans on the street. Destroying hoardings and burning valuable property is not the solution. If major parties resort to such practices, people like Raj Thackeray will get an open invitation to follow the same route for an even more sinister cause. The people responsible for this should be taken to task and officials at Nokia should be informed in a proper manner to get back the sold products and replace them with proper software. This is a democratic society and our system of justice is reformative. A person/organization making a mistake should be given a second chance.Vandalizing property and equipments makes them no better than terrorists. It is a shame to have such people in India.

life expectancy in South Asia

The highest life expectancy amongst all South Asian countries is in Srilanka with 69 years on an average for males and 76 years for females. When I started collecting the stats for life expectancy, I never expected Srilanka to be on top of that list. There are other strange facts in the list. For instance Pakistan's life expectancy for males is 2 years more than Indian males. The lowest life expectancy was no surprise with Afghanistan being light years back at 44 years for both men and women. The Republic of Maldives is at second spot with Pakistan at the third spot followed by Bhutan. India fares low in life expectancy at fifth place among the 8 countries with Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan below it in that list.


Stats

Full name: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Life expectancy: 44 years (men), 44 years (women) (UN)

Full name: People's Republic of Bangladesh
Life expectancy: 63 years (men), 65 years (women) (UN)

Full name: Kingdom of Bhutan
Life expectancy: 64 years (men), 67 years (women) (UN)

Full name: Republic of India
Life expectancy: 63 years (men), 66 years (women) (UN)

Full name: Republic of Maldives
Life expectancy: 68 years (men), 69 years (women) (UN)

Nepal
Life expectancy: 63 years (men), 64 years (women) (UN)

Full name: Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Life expectancy: 65 years (men), 66 years (women) (UN)

Full name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Life expectancy: 69 years (men), 76 years (women) (UN)

Stats collected from BBC

IT Bill : Pros and Cons

The Lok Sabha passed the amended IT bill in the parliament yesterday. Its proposal was pending for two years. This bill was passed in a hurry without debate, while the opposition was demanding the resignation of A R Antulay. This new bill has a dangerous cockroach that could creep in through your drainage and eat your pie. Yup! Thats no joke.

According to the new IT bill, authorities can intercept messages from your mobile phone, computer and other devices in the interest of national security. Moreover these messages could be used against you in trial. The positive side of this bill is that cyber crimes, pornography, voyeurisms and e-commerce can be tackled. The IT companies are smiling too especially with the laws on data protection. NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies) president too welcomed this saying, "We have been working over this for two years".

But despite the rosy picture, all is not so rosy about the bill. The IT bill has been introduced to enable the UAPA ( Unlawful Activities Prevention Amendment) passed the Lok Sabha last week, which makes messages interceptible as evidence under section 46. My concern is that misuse of this could let people snoop the internet and invade your privacy, in the name of national interest. Neither the IT act nor any other law actually specifies the guidelines or safeguards to the extent of privacy invasion. There is a very high possibility that the provisions in this bill be misused as they were in POTA (Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act) and MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act ) (Which the government admits). For example they can block my harmless blog in the name of national interest (If I speak about anything opposing the government). This has happened in USA too. Anybody in USA, especially the popular guys who spoke against government had a FBI file. This included the renowned scientist, Albert Einstein and Beatles rock musician legend John Lennon. Imagine such a file of Amitabh Bachcan or Sachin or A P J Abdul Kalam because they made remarks over some community/government,which is considered a threat to national security.

After Lennon’s death, historian Jon Wiener filed a Freedom of Information request for FBI files on Lennon. The FBI admitted it had 281 pages in its files on Lennon but refused to release most of them, claiming they were national security documents. In 1983, Wiener sued the FBI with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. The case went to the Supreme Court before the FBI settled out of court in 1997; releasing all but 10 of the contested documents.

John Lennon's Wikipedia Entry

We are fine with the use, but the day we become that 1 in a million target of the misuse, you'll curse yourself for being born in this country. There are people living their lives in jail for no reason because of the misuse of the system and god forbid if this happens to you or me, it's going to be long and painful.

Simi Garewal's slip of tongue

There are times when your observation (predication) goes thoroughly wrong and is the cause for a major public embarrassment. I have been through such situations so many times that the word "embarrassment" does not embarrass me any more. But if you multiply an embarrassment by a million, there are chances that your stay at the embarrassment villa might be longer. Simi Garewal is such a lady whose stay at the E-Villa has been long, infact much longer than I expected. I was watching the debate on NDTV hosted by an already unpopular journalist when she uttered her comments about the Pakistani flags, which "She" could see in a slum from a suburban restaurant. In reality those were not flags of Pakistan. Oops! what a Blunder and that too on National TV (When the world is watching you). There was instant reaction on that show too, when a person actually rushed towards her to punch her face. At that point I knew this would be in the news tomorrow. But the story has continued with almost every journalist attacking in some creative way.( These creative insults hurt you the most.)

This was the latest sarcasm thrown in by Priya Ramani in her recent article ( which has nothing to do with Mumbai Terror.)

The terror attacks on Mumbai allowed us to get a previously unseen glimpse of Simi Garewal’s steak’s eye view. Hell, even when she’s dining at the Four Seasons in Mumbai, she looks out of the window and sees “Pakistani flags” everywhere. Now who would have guessed that about a perfectly manicured, perfectly mannered lady who has worked so hard to maintain an all-white veneer of political correctness?

But my favourite one is of-course this

...We were all Bombayites for those three days. But we were not all sipping champagne in Simi Garewal’s suite at the Four Seasons and worrying about the danger posed to our facelifts by the slum-dwellers below our windows.

The rest of India retained its perspective and its rationality even if Page 3 people did not...

The current un-announced war by the media on Simi Garewal can been seen in two ways. People who are actually hurt and trying to rebuff her statements and the second who have been shrewd enough to capitalize on it. With media you never know. If they can go take the interview of a person who has lost a loved one (like in the case of Sabina Saikia) for more TRPs and coverage, this is just too little a moral hurdle. I empathize with Simi and I hope she continues to be the graceful old white DIVA the way she was,but the rainbow of insults she has faced(and is facing) as ramifications for coming on a TV news channel should be a lesson to all those who wish to do the same for being in the news.

Taj reopens after terror attacks

My eyes were numb and my heart was all praise for the brave as the mist of bullets, confusion and horror settled over India’s chilliest winter days in the recent years. As the smoke rose above I could see red in eyes of red in my mirror, my country. I wish I had the sword and courage to go take revenge, but I didn’t, I wish I had the power, luck and determination, I didn’t. All I had was anger, distrust that blinded me in my own room my own land. With me were those who came out on streets and lit the candles of faith, candles of unity, candles of peace, as the truth with its sweaty fabric of red stains showed us the dim light to go ahead. Today those candles still light like the endless sun, burning till we get justice. A step taken forward have healed the wounds but the scars still remain as the royalty and pride stands high asking the world to come, sit, have a cup of coffee and watch the long shadows by the evening sun as the waves caress the shores of a wounded city. Reopening of the Taj Mahal Hotel and the trident is an emotional victory for some, business for some and national pride for many. As the fog settles tomorrow, I wish to see smiles all around and I have faith in god that my wishes will be granted.

Ratan Tata's Message after the reopening of Taj

"Message we want to give is that we can be hurt but not knocked down. The old Taj will stand again for the next 100 years as it has for the past 100 years..."

Aahh... A Dravidian knock

"Rahul Dravid has finally struck form".These were the lines that were flashing on almost every news channel as he scored a fifty after a million ducks. No I don't want to be cynical but he has just gone back to his old formula. Gautam Gambhir, who is considered more aggressive than Virendra Sehwag (By Viru humself, a modest confession) did not do any favours either. A lack luster day on the first day of the second test at Mohali. Although the play stopped short by 18 overs and the winters made the day even longer, the former estranged captain never seemed to get out of sleep. It was when the bowlers dozed off, he decided to go for a few shots(His classic cuts). I know fans of Rahul Dravid reading this would have their canons pointing towards me by now. You can call your shots once I am safe in a bunker (Rahul's way). It's good he has found form, but it is bad that his finding of form is being portrayed as if the world has just jumped back from recession and a billion jobs opportunities have been created. A few days earlier, I had suggested an alternative career for Rahul. Maybe he'll still need one even after a century. Well can't say and all of you with a canon in hand, keep your fingers crossed; he might just score a double ton. I'll be glad to come under fire then.
While the story of Sourav Ganguly's comeback refuses to die down as Dada's mentor is busy scoring brownie points or wash his stains, the story of another contract for retirement may just be brought alive.

Media and Mumbai Terror Attack : In Hindsight

The recent Mumbai Terror attack was like a storm that unsettled all the garbage lying on the road. The instant response was a direct attack on the politicians, then came resignations followed by the flak on the News Media over the 60 hour live coverage. The "live" news coverage was responsible for the leaking of information to the masters of terrorists sitting in Pakistan giving instructions to them through Satellite phones. I would not like to debate on the nationality of terrorists here, since many senior people from Pakistan have agreed that there was a Pak link.
Looking at the 60 hour live coverage of the media in the Mumbai terror attacks, there are many stains that have been left unattended. A few (rather many) hysterical reporters blowing stuff out of proportion, insensitivity to the victims all have come under the scanner. The most important thing meing national security. The live coverage of the commandos being dropped at Nariman House left many dead, who could have been saved, had the terrorists (through their masters watching Indian News) not known about the exact numbers.

Finally the action of self regulation and steps to be taken in case of emergency have been issued by the NBA. The News Broadcasters Association (NBA), an apex body representing many news broadcasters has issued a six-point guideline for the telecast of news relating to emergency situations like hostage situations, communal violence and armed conflict among others. Earlier the Information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry had issued advisories to news channels in response to the 60-hour live coverage of the Mumbai terror attacks. Terming it a ‘coverage against the interest of the nation’, the I&B advisory had said that the news broadcasters did not exercise restraint in airing visuals from the Mumbai attack and other related reports. Although insiders of the News Media say that self regulation is not practiced by TV channels as they are busy promoting their own channel. (You got this news first on @#$%(our) channel)

Vir Sanghvi has very well expressed the current messy situation of the mismanaged media. He says,

...Too many journos failed to realise this, inflicting their own sorrow on us and needlessly emphasising the emotional dimension of the crisis. We didn’t need that...

...The NSG believes that one of its commandos died in the Nariman House assault at least partly because the terrorists knew he was coming...

He also questions the role of government in handling the crisis situation. The ineptness of the government, media and the commandos who gave interviews on TV giving details became a perfect recipie for disaster. He further writes

...But the government is also to be blamed. It’s all very well for the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to issue advisories now and call meetings of TV channels. But where was the ministry when the crisis was raging? What was it doing then?...

Lets hope we all learn from the blunders of the Mumbai Terror attacks and handle future emergencies swiftly.

Aamir Khan's tattoo trouble

It is not the first time this has happened, but Aamir khan has got into a tattoo trouble. There was a tattoo of a phone number on his body and while the promos of Ghajini went on air, the crazy fans of Aamir, noted down the number and started calling it. The result was that Aamir's doctor became the first target of his fans. Now it is film distributor Trilochan Singh. His number too has been flashed and he is getting crazy calls.

It is really surprising to see that when there are crores being spent on the movie and the world goes gaga about his 8 packs, the producers did not buy 2 numbers to flash it. What say! Is this an after effect of recession ?

I hope other filmakers learn a lesson from this. Apparently Trilochan Singh has filed a lawsuit demanding Rs 50 Lakh as damages. Now this will hurt. Recession won't help it either. Looking at it the other way, Trilochan could have done all this as a publicity stunt to get into limelight. You can never say anything about the Indian Film Industry and its people. As for his super eight packs, they are truly great, a feat I thought unachievable for a short guy like Aamir.

Antulay and the dance floor

A R Antulay may have made a fatal remark in the parliament yesterday, but to think that India is united in a time of crisis is still an illusion. He made a comment on the killing of Hemant Karkare, and two other top cops of Mumbai police and suggested that their death could have something (He said that it could be due to his investigation.) more than the terrorists. What is that something more is what only Mr Antulay knows. But his remarks just before the parliament session yesterday made it into a dance floor with BJP MPs demanding an explanation from the PM on whether this is his personal statement or that of the cabinet, since he is the union minister of Minority affairs.His party has also indicated that action might be taken against him and there are clear indications that he might have taken the same route as Vilas Rao Deshmukh. The dance floor was full of people who wanted to score brownie points for their party, and they did not refrain from the usual vote bank politics. Although A R Antulay faces heat, there are people who have come out in open support (and they are not wrong) of the 79 year old MP and former CM of Maharashtra. Shobha De says in her blog

...his political opponents have gone into overdrive, attacking Antulay and accusing him of being a Pakistani sympathiser\apologist\agent. What rubbish!! Antulay has raised pertinent points - others have raised them, too. Jawab do!!...
...To suggest that the 78-year-old Antulay is doing it for political gain sounds like a cheap distractionary tactic from the main issue...
...It just seems like one hell of a coincidence that two Pakistani strangers arrived on an inflatable dinghy and effortlessly shot Mumbai's ace cops like they were sitting ducks with zero experience, when in fact, both were first rate officers and crack shots themselves. Strange.... very strange...

Meanwhile there were MPs who had made a joke of the NIA and UAPA bill and ammendments. One of them being RPI MP Ramdas Athawale, supporting the congress. He said that MPs should be given AK47s to protect themselves and Somnath Chattejee would be made the Lok Sabha speaker after the next elections after the congress wins. On this statement Somnath Chattejee responded and said that then no body would be ready for the post of speaker (Nice one). But it is sad to see that both parties are still busy maligning each others image and L K Advani, Kapil Sibbal and Laloo Prasad Yadav too in that list.

George Bush and Shoe flash games

An unfortunate incident has become a craze on the internet. I was surprised by the quick reaction of the internet community to come up with some many games, animations and videos on the shoe throw incident that happened in Baghdad recently. I really feel sorry for George Bush, but he has provided a lot of fodder for stand up comedians during his 8 year stay at the white house. This sort of a farewell is very sad and not deserving for the person who removed a dictator of Iraq. I have compiled of whatever I could get on the different flash games and animations.

Flash Games

• Bush Boot Camp
• BUSHOES

Animations

• George Bush avoiding shoe in Matrix fashion
• Pokemon being thrown at George Bush
• A big foot being put on George Bush's head
• George Bush as Santa being thrown by a snow ball

Video

Security Advice for all readers

This is a security advice to all the readers of Speak India. If you are browsing the web through your Internet Explorer browser, change your web browser right now. BBC reported that this security flaw could allow criminals to take control of your PC, steal your passwords and damage your system.

The flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of people's computers and steal their passwords, internet experts say.

Microsoft urged people to be vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch to resolve it. BBC

You can switch to a new web browser. You can try switching to Mozilla Firefox or Google's Chrome for a safer web experience. I would suggest you use Mozilla's Firefox, since chrome is new and prone to bugs.

Terror hits Telecom

As our esteemed politicians were busy maligning each other in the parliament today, Naxals attacked and gutted down the office of BSNL and tower of Reliance communications in Kanker,Chhattisgarh. After the attack on Mumbai on 26th November, it seems that the intelligence and policing is still lagging despite all the tragedies that have taken place. According to business standard, the Naxals had held many villagers as hostage and finally burned the building of BSNL and destroyed a tower of Reliance Communication (Rcom). As they were leaving, they cut two trees in such a way that they fell on 33KV lines supplying power to about 300 villages, plunging them into darkness. Destroying communication equipment is a way of crippling a nation as without communication it would impossible to conduct swift action. These strategies were employed effectively during world War II.

But it is still shameful that such acts are taking place with ease in a country that hopes to be all powerful in this world. It is impossible to see development in a nation struck by violence. I was deeply hurt when Kapil Sibbal and L K Advani were debating on the Kandhar hijack issue, when they should have actually tried to eliminate the root. The problem with the latest terror law and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is that it is not focussing on the root cause. Kapil Sibbal syas that terror is like a soccer match. We might save a 100 goals but people will remmeber the one goal that the opposition scored. I totally disagree. Why it be a soccer match in the first place. Why can't we eliminate the team of terror ? Although he made a good point on human rights issue, I'd still say, we need to go to the root.
I think people of India will need to sit back and watch a few more episodes of brutality before radical changes are brought about.

George Bush,Iraq and Shoe

This incident will remain in the memory of George W Bush as the shoe that narrowly missed him and insulted his policies that had donned the fate of Iraq for 7 years.

An Iraqi journalist threw his sweaty shoes at George Bush, the US president, in his last visit to Baghdad, shouting: "This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog."

One of the shoes narrowly missed the president's head and slammed into the wall behind him.Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, tried to block the second with his arm.

Throwing shoes at somebody is a supreme insult in the Middle East and the history of shoes goes down when senior Bush was the president.After Gulf war, Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein had put a mosaic outside Iraq's Al-Rashid hotel. After that incident the battle of shoes was full on.

The US president George W Bush took the revenge of his father's insult and went ahead with the Iraq war to bring an anarchy to the ground. The result was a death of hundreds of innocents. A major incident that marked the end of the war and the beginning of insurgency in Iraq was the fall of the statue of Saddam Hussein.

A US soldier who climbed on top of the statue to anchor a rope made a blunder of putting the US flag on top of it. After the statue of Sadddam fell, locals hit it with shoes, showing disrespect for the dictator. That was the accomplished mission of revenge.

Saddam might be happy in the heaven or hell watching his revenge of shoe being taken by the reporter. The US president shrugged it off by saying, "This is what happens in street societies".
I'd agree with that, since such street societies are the breeding grounds of terrorists, and few such street societies being in Pakistan.

Miss Pakistan says to condone mumbai attacks

Ms Pakistan World,Natasha Paracha, a 23 year old dusky beauty got it all wrong in a CNN interview. She said " as Pakistanis we have to stand up and condone what has happened in the country of India "
I hope she knows what condone means.
It means to forgive, or disregard (an offense) without protest or censure. I thought she meant condemn, and looked stressed out in the interview. She was repeatedly checking her make up and the poor girl's ear piece was falling.

For the scared Pakistan, condone could be a balm for their sins, but is surely not what they deserve.
The sadder part is that Natasha Paracha is a graduate of UC Berkeley, and works as the chair of Pakistani affairs with the United Nations International Renewable Energy Organization. Oops! Wrong person.
Parvathy Omanakuttan could learn from this and check her statements on such sensitive issues.

Thank you England

This is a post to thank all the players and the support staff of the English cricket team to come to India to play the test series in the midst of a crisis. The hotel they were staying in, the Taj Mahal hotel was under siege while they were battling it out in Orissa. It is sad that such a tragedy happened but the concerns of the England team are justified. The result was a cricket fortress that had around 5000 commandos and 2 teams. I'd also like to thank the supporters of both Indian team and the English team to come and keep the spirit of the game alive. It is in times of crisis that a persons true character comes out. Although staying and playing in fortress is suffocating, it comes as a strong response to the terrorists who want to create anarchy and disorder in this world.
The English team have been saved of criticism also, as they lost the first test match against India at Bengaluru.

The British press on Tuesday broadly excused England's defeat by India in the first Test in Chennai, saying the importance of their presence far outweighed concerns about their performance.

"Once their disappointment has diminished, England should reflect with satisfaction on the part they played in one of the most politically significant Tests in history."

The Daily Mail's correspondent agreed, saying that through his "utterly brilliant, match-winning and history-making century", Tendulkar had achieved something that was "far, far bigger than cricket".

"It simply does not matter that England had lost a Test they should have won,"

A politically significant test is a phrase I didn't like too much. It's more like a war by sportsmen of the two terror struck nations against terror. Politics is a word, we Indians would love to hate since it has been responsible for the fall of this nation to the hands of terror.

BSP wallpapers

you might just be shocked if you go to the wallpaper section of Bahujan Samjawati Party's website. All political websites are about their propaganda, but this one refreshingly or shockingly is different. I don't really know whether the BSP supremo Mayawati is aware of the wallpaers but if she is, then she surely has some good tastes. Enrique being the latest edition. But you can also find some hot wallpapers of Tanushree Dutta, Kylie Minogue, Alessandra Ambrosio, Ashton Kutcher, Kamal Hassan Ajay Devgan and many more .

Parvathy Omanakuttan

Parvathy Omanakuttan, Miss India 2008, is the First Runner Up of Miss World 2008. She was crowned at the Miss World Grand Finale at Johannesburg, South Africa on 13 December 2008. She was also the second runner up of Miss World Top Model contest held on 3 December 2008. NDTV.com reported that she was not happy with the decision and was quite confident that she would win, considering the fact that she had done exceptionally well in the question and answer round, owing to her literature background.

In the Question and answer (Q&A) round Parvathy was asked

"The rate of divorce in India is on a rise. Is Western influence the cause of this or something else?" Parvathy gave the reply "Divorces are not a result of Western influence. At the end of the day, it is we who decide our worth. Marriage is not when one completes the other but is when both share their completeness."


But, there were a few comments posted on NDTV that were rather surprising.

Patritoic said

Yes, the decision of the world jury was unfair, there were several other girls who were far more beautiful and intelligent than Parvathy in the contest and declaring Parvathy as a runners up was indeed wrong. She didnt deserve to be in the final three at all.Instead of celebrating her victory, her act of ranting on coming second itself proves her mental level and caliber. She must see her face in the mirror again especially her nose! The picture would be pretty clear.

This surely seems to be written by some jealous lady. Anyways, she has a future in the perverted industry and a winning a miss India title would surely help her get out of the way of predators.

Let me play

Saina Nehwal (The Indian teenage Badminton champ) did not get a passport issued in time and her playing finals at World Super badminton series masters final in Malaysia was in jeopardy. She gave the passport officials 8 days for the renewal of her passport. Isn't this too soon for them. I remember, when I had applied for the passport, I was told to forget about it. 3 months later a man came at my house, with a nasty smile, took bakshish (Bribe) and then handed over the passport. WTF!

And she expects that she should get it within 24 hours. Whoops!! To much for them.

While I was reading the article in Times of India, I got the feeling that the passport officials did not treat her properly or give her the respect or attention. Obviously, being a cricketer has its own privileges.
She says

"I play tournaments almost every week and so I can't wait for two weeks, they should issue the passports within a 24 hours. I never speak against any sport but I am deeply hurt by the way I was treated. We are also sportspersons, we are also medal contenders, you just can't neglect us in this way,"

The reason I've highlighted "Indian" in the first line is due to the fact that we Indians actually lack required platform in sports apart form cricket and hence those from the "other" forms of sports suffer, which is further shown in their performance.

Ministry and Love

This is one story that will be a part of a case study in the school of politics. Chander Mohan, the former deputy CM of Haryana, and elder son of Bhajan Lal few months ago just banished. Now he is back with Anuradha Bali.

The couple had converted to Islam to do away with Hindu bigamy laws. Chand Mohammad Aka Chander is still legally married to his wife, Seema, who is acked by Chand's dad Bhajan.

All for love.

This maverick politicians will have to do a lot of reconciliation after he is considered reponsible enough to handle the state. A person who deserted his 13 year old marriage and simply ran away, cannot be trusted for sure.

Desperation speaks

An actress who does not have a god father, is not a beauty contest winner, nor has plum role is a beauty in desperation. And what does she decide to do. Go nude.

I don't know the name of the princess in need, but she was featured on BaKwaas Balwaan TV.

I'm sure BOSS would be more than happy to see her, but I don't really think, the censor board is going to help the producer. When they can chop of the word condom from Hello after going gaga about it on TV, chopping or ripping the scene apart wouldn't be tough. There is no shortage of perverts in the film industry.

As far as the beauty in need is concerned, Desperation has many speakers. From MTV to blogs. Can't really say, whether it's a publicity stunt to call in some directors (predators looking to do a favour).

Goa and terror

Israel and Russia have told their citizens to avoid visiting Goa as there is a possibility of a terror attack during the New Year Celebrations this year. There have been reports of an Al Qaeda threat too.

With Israel's Counter Terrorism Bureau issuing a "concrete" warning asking its tourists to stay away from Goa this season and the subsequent caution to Russian tourists, Goa's tourism party for the year 2008 could just end in a whimper.

This is India, a place where Birds don't fly, a place where people don't party and a place where foreigners are raped. Our streets are forts and our coast is place where police sleeps.

This could be a hard lesson for the politicians, security and Intelligence agencies of India. As for the people, it's a bad time right now.

Mr Popular

I was just checking about a website, Wikimapia, which is a map service of wikipedia based on its concept. I started by searching "Wiki Maps" on Google and successfully found the website, but there were things that surprised me. Along with the search results were the search results of the most popular entries, as is the case with every website.
So got the answer of who is Mr Popular

" Megastar Chiranjeevi's "

There is no Sachin tendulkar, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, George Bush and many others.
It's the megastar.

CNG tribe

The CNG autos did a lot good for the people of Delhi and this effort by the government has been a commendable one. It did reduce a lot of pollution and the air has become less polluted than it was a few years back. The sight of fumes coming out of an auto is a rarity now.

Although it is common in goods tempos, norms for them too need to be regulated. The mad rush to buy vehicles continued thanks to the new jobs created due to the BPO industry. Salaries increased and so did the standard of living. I have nothing against it but yes as it did deteriorate and we have no right to complaibnt about it since we are partly responsible for it. But looking at the auto rickshaw, the have gone through a lot because of the impositions on them by the government. Yes, the cheap gas also gave them better margins. Long queues at CNG stations and waiting of almost 3 hours at CNG station was there, but the tribe went through all that to make the metropolis better. The yellow and green brand of this tribe still continues to live strong despite the misbehaviour of the people running it.

But over the years the tribe has expanded as a result of more careful intervention. We have CNG buses on roads, that have the main cause for the drastic reduction in pollution, even more than the autos. The common man joined this tribe too. Seeing the reduced costs of running a CNG car, they decided to fit their cars with CNG kits.
But its not been a perfect story. A few people have lost their lives too. CNG being a gaseous and dry fuel, can leak easily and catch fire. There have been cases, when a car fitted with CNG blow up in flames after an accident. But all this has not stopped from CNG tribe from growing in number. Boss too joined the tribe after he brought a Wagon R fitted with CNG kit from the factory (A wise thing to do). Now he boasts about the fuel efficiency of the car and says it costs less than Rs 2 per kilometer. Earlier he used to hestiate in using his car. Now, the old man is ever ready to drop and pick anyone. No wonder his girl friends have increased in the last few months.

Tension free

There have been lay offs , salary cuts and the whole world has been taken by storm. People are running to the east, to the west, north, south everywhere, not to search for god, but a job. Whoa! BOSS would have preferred to die hungry than to do all this. Anyways the hardworking (mehnat pasina) individual is busy to prove himself worthy of his role and salary in his/her cash stripped organization. To add to the tension is inflation. Inflation has acted like a magnifying glass to project the tension on our minds as ten fold. Before I talk more, let me tell you that I am not going to discuss about the fiscal stimulus or economic policies. I'll just be highlighting the ten fold tension to try to show you the preception of an unemployed youth about the current scenario. No it is not skewed, it is just tension free.

The sugar free sweetner that diabetic patients use can be used as an analogy to the current scenario. We need a tension free life. The biggest problem is that people have expectations out of themselves, and others, like their family members, too have some expectations from them. To cut the long story short, there is mental tension due to a virtual load of expectations. Now expectation is a thing that doesn't really exist. It has been created by you and now you have fallen victim to it.

People like me don't expect anything, except yes some comments and feedback from readers. So we don't fall victim to tension(yes we do, after all we too are humans) and as far as family is concerned, we just take it from one ear and pass it through the other.

But what to do when there is a sword called responsibility hanging on your head(Which I don't have) ?

This is tough one to answer. But plainly, just do the best you can and leave the rest to god. Thats my philosophy and yours may differ, but thats all we can do. After all everybody is not equally capable and not equally talented. It's best to be the best at what and who you are and thats the essence of life (The philosopher me. Its the company of BOSS that is affecting me).

As for BOSS, he is enjoying his life these days in a government office and is readily giving tips to every possible living soul about how to work and what to do in crisis. And the best part is after he joined his service, he has actually never taken tension or been in a crisis situation.
His guardian was Job Security !

But we are happy with what we are and the desires of a merc or a BMW or a private island are not really there (They might just prop some day and yes they are not totally off my radar). We just want to be happy and the best way is to exterminate what ? Terrorism ... No It's Tension (Actually both)
But it wouldn't be good to go for a government job for that. And for People like me, we are happy blogging.

We are united

I essentially wasted 2 hours or so today watching LOK SABHA TV listening to the same old stories on the discussion about the Mumbai Parliament, but there was a grace saving act by the right wing people. They stood with the government and the resolution was unanimously passed in the Lok Sabha. It seems BJP and L K Advani have learned (or are still learning) some hard lessons from their recent string of losses in the assembly elections. But at the face of it, there is just one message which comes out : We are united.

But, I don't understand why the congress government is delaying the death sentece of Afzal Guru. Lets be tough to terror. It's time to show the terrorists that we can fight. That is one puzzling peice that does not fit in well with the "CORRECT" image of the congress government. While the attack on Pakistan or the terrorist camps seems unlikely, keeping in mind the resources needed for the commonwealth games, it is a necassary evil that would have to be done to keep terrorism at bay till 2010. We don't want each street of the country to be fortified in the common wealth games. The fortification of the chennai cricket ground today was another reminder of the jailed environment in which cricket was played.

BOSS like any other topic had his views on this too. The fat guy, troubled by his telephone bills said that India needed to attack Pakistan and exterminate the terror threat for ever.He would see and watch the action on TV (Like a reality show), when the jawaans would be risking their lives on border. And as he admits that he doesn't believe in hardwork, I don't know why his image goes well with girls half his age whom he dates. I might consider doing a sting operation on that too, but this is not an India TV sicko blog, so that option is not on the cards. BOSS was upset with the U-turn of the congress on the all party meeting consensus of giving away the terrorists in Kandhar highjacking during BJP's government. BOSS said he would have been happier had they not mentioned that issue now. That is the only one thing I've agreed with BOSS till now.

The good thing for now is that our politicians are united and I hope the on-paper unity is transformed into some concrete action.

Support the Indian Army on Facebook

A cause to support the Indian Army has been started on Facebook. While such causes are genuinely required at the international level, creating awareness among ourselves helps too. There are hate campaigns, Love campaigns and senseless campaigns too. With over 7500 members, when I last checked.The aim of this campaign is two fold.

1. World wide Support for Indian Army
2. Awareness amongst fellow countrymen

There might be overwhelming number of supporters for this cause in future but the exceptions can't be ruled out.I'll be searching for such exceptions on the social networks and if you find some please comment.
But there are few people, one like the BOSS, who have a negative perception about such things. I managed to reconcile with BOSS after the sting operation. All it took were some sweets to satisfy his black hole like stomach. BOSS says that it is impossible to curb corruption and terrorism and says, "Tum Bachchalog itna mat uchlo " (You kinds, Don't jump around).
"It is all to silence this people movement". BOSS adds , "In my government service I too did this. It is a waste of time "
As the sweets were over, BOSS then told me to get out of his house and never repeat the sting operation. (He is unaware of the post I've put).
Anyways, you can go ahead to support the cause. Forget BOSS. He is a crazy old man.

Did you see that ? He just spit!

Hey, I was on a secret sting operation, which I am breaking now on my blog. I've been following BOSS for the last few days and today, I captured the images of his dirty PAAN spit across the newly built subway near my house. These images won't be new to you if you were in India and would be more common in Northern India. People especially from UP and Bihar have a habit of chewing PAAN and they spit it in any corner they find.


But BOSS being an astute, crooked individual, came to know of my sting operation and he came after me. I managed to save myself but he took out his anger on the community rickshaw, breaking its wheel. It seems I'll have to manage my relationship with BOSS to get more of such sting operations to you.

Memory bias and its effect on Delhi elections

Last night I had read an article on memory, which talked about the 7 sins or problems of memory. One of the 7 problems of memory mentioned was the biasing of our minds that is governed by our past experiences and skewed facts. You might think of something as bad or good because it was told to you earlier.

Everybody had thought that the Mumbai Terror Attacks would have led to the loss of congress in the assembly election about to be held a few days after the attacks. Delhi was talking about the changes V K Malhotra (BJP candidate for post of CM) would bring to the city. But, it all reversed. BJP lost and by a huge margin in Delhi. Here is the point when memory bias played a role in its loss. You might say, it would have favoured BJP, but it favoured congress.

People still say that the image and persona of Sheila Dixit is behind this victory, but it is actually the anti-Modi and Advani feeling that caused the loss. This post by Shobha explains this phenomena. There was a widespread rage among the people of India and Modi and Advani managed to get in the line of fire and hence managed to burn BJP. This simply proves the adage of thinking twice before speaking. It is not applicable for my blog, since I am not contesting for an elections, and I know that my readers are patient to tolerate some of my posts.

Alternative career choices for 5 Indian celebrities

Statutory Warning : You might just fall asleep or have a nervous breakdown while reading this post

The one interesting thing that happened today was a comment by possibly a Pakistani, who called me a stupid for calling the Pakistan PM a joker in a previous post and suggested an alternative career for me.

Better you sell sing outside a bus stop or railway stations rather than posting your meaningless scraps here.

I was watching Fantastic 5 on MTV today and Cyrus Sahukar (the anchor), shared 5 alternative careers for 5 "celebs" including Shilpa Shetty, Raja Choudhary, Irfan Pathan,Upen Patel & Subhash Ghai.
I have my own list of five celebrities, who have performed abysmally and I strongly feel that they need to search for an alternative career, for the betterment of everybody.

• 1. Rakhi Sawant : This twat has now become a sore in the eye and a pain in the ear. Its advisable to press the mute button on TV when she is on air, and those implants of her occupying maximum screen space. Enough about Rakhi now. The alternative career she can choose is to be a teacher in the school for deaf and blind. The deaf or blind or both will want to get out of the school to have a better company. seems lame haa... just like Rakhi
  
• 2. Rahul Dravid : I would not like to write him off completely but yes, he needs to start early looking for an alternate option, else he might not even get the goodbye that Ganguly managed. I’d suggest he join as an executive in Kissan or other Jam making company. Brand endorser free with a manager in recession would be good deal.
• 3. Raj Thackeray : After his attention gathering stint he has only become a kid trying to play with fire and caught in a bad situation. The Mumbaikars might just beat him up if they see him on the road. As an alternate career he can become the gardener (His cleaning skills are good) in his own lawn as it is too risky for him to work outside his premises.
• 4. Barkha Dutt : This news anchor has been facing a lot of flak from quite a few people, from all quarters for her insensitivity to the victims and her role in the terror attacks that helped the terrorists kill more hostages(Speculated claim). She has also been condemned as the images of her location, when broadcast on TV, helped the Pakistani forces to destroy an artillery platform and kill three Indian soldiers.She has some supporters like Shobhaa De too. For an alternate career, she can become a teacher at a journalism school and teach the students, what not to do in journalism.
• 5. Subhash Ghai : There is just a one liner for him. “Quit ASAP”. He can join hands with Ekta Kapoor and not necessarily change his field. Times have been hard for Ekta, with her two torturing serials wasting more than an hour of airtime. He can help better that record, or even better, worsen it.

I hope you guys don’t have to go through more of such silly stuff by me in future. This is lame; if I’ve bored you, check out other cooler stuff. Today has been a sleepy day, worsened by the pollution and smog in Delhi. I am planning to take a short sabbatical from blogging to refresh my thoughts and get over with the mist of terrorism and Elections.

Delhi Election Results : Oops!!! I did it again

Shocked! Zor ka jhatka Zor se lagaa.

As if someone came from behind and burned their hopes of a victory in Delhi. Delhi’s election result has shocked me after congress getting a clear majority is all set for a third tenure, with the old lady Sheila Dixit, ready for a hatrick. The mock polls held at my website and my prediction has gone thoroughly wrong.


I feel, for another 5 years, the development in the state is going to be slow and it is a loss of the citizen, the crazy aam addmi who voted for congress in Delhi. It was a surprise for the congress, as they didn’t expect it too.
These state elections are a reminder of the lack of cohesion in BJP, which is preventing them to get the favour of the electorates. Rajasthan has been another such example. The rebel MLA’s showed their disgust openly against the CM Vasundhara Raje, who has lost the elections this time by a whisker. The loss of C P Joshi, the candidate for the post of CM has left the field open for others in the congress.
Now it is a war for the final showdown after March next year. BJP will have to rethink its strategy and they’ll need better man management to actually form a government. The era of single party majority is gone now. It’s the coalition era. You will have to cooperate to rule, else you’ll stay outside in the cold.I hope BJP learns its lessons. The single biggest obstacle in BJP leadership is L K Advani. In the time of 1998 elections, there was a man (Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee) who commanded respect at the top. Now there is a leader, who is weak, confused, and unable to lead a party. He is more a cartoon than a leader and is certainly not an eligible candidate to be the prime minister of India. Apart from L K Advani, there are good leaders in BJP (Arun Jaitely, Narendra Modi, Shivraj Chauhan, Vasundhara Raje), who actually can take this country forward focusing on long term solution, more than the short term solution, as done by congress. I’d like all my readers to take notice. Every time the congress has come to power, you’ll see economic crisis. BJP’s term has always focused on long term growth and the growth that congress is showing as its own is actually a BJP initiative. BJP has everything except a cohesive party and that is letting them down. This also includes inept leaders at the top.

Get me a panic killer

The word panic has donned the headlines of papers like the dust in a house near a busy road. The dust in my house, just takes the life out of me. The word “absolute panic“in the Times of India was referred by a person who had gone there to drop his son. The word playing like déjà vu in the minds of most Indians, atleast the upper classes of the society is PANIC. Like a disease, it has spread swiftly through the air, catapulted by the media, especially television. While some people have started active campaign against some prominent journalists (Barkha Dutt), there still seems to be a slim chance of the media being under control, until another vociferous medium comes in, which is highly unlikely. But there is a need, a strong one to get some panic killers, to relieve the panicky pain, temporarily. I don’t think the crappy stuff of Headlines Today, such as over the top Bigg Boss shit that it continuously keeps airing or the internet videos that keep rolling indicating a dearth of content. My first priority in news TV is Times Now and if some bakwaas, like the foodie is coming, I check out NDTV, then CNN-IBN. But Times of India has been a disappointment in terms of excessive masala in news. Anyways, watching Raju Hazir Ho or some other comedy or reality show, can help us get out of this terror, which has now become too much. I spend my time devoted to idiot box downloading videos from youtube. Asma, a girl from oman, who came to take part in Saregamapa 2009 challenge has been a revelation and I’d suggest you check out her videos, especially this one with salman khan.
It's an overdose of terror, and me being more inclined towards non-violent activities, its become a task digging out non-terror content from the newspaper.

A prank call,a foolish guy

It's rather strange that a country's top minister was made to look like a fool, act like a joker in the international arena. He let down a billion people(of Pakistan), who “elected” him, to head a democracy by the so called “people's” party. A prank caller called him and said, “I’m Pranab, you better act fast, else we’ll attack you”. It took this much for Pakistan to start their act consisting of an elected army of jokers, like a cracker that bursts as it is lighted. Now consider the competence and the intelligence of the person who is known for his playboy reputation and his ability to handle a crisis that has developed with (or without) his involvement. I feel sorry for him and his country of tatterdemalions with their fanatic and irresponsible behavior. They just seem to have gone too far, after they crossed the threshold in 1965. As for poor Pranab, and the other congressmen, they just prayed to their gods, before the media put their guns (their microphone and cameras) to rest (else another resignation would have been on the cards).

Pranab Mukherjee, the overworked congress person, acted sensibly and said that such stories were to only confuse the public and divert the attention from the core issue.

Such a plot could make a blockbuster story. A war broke out between two nations, an unknown phone call that triggered, and a foreign minister behind it, all to save an election. Doesn’t seem all that fake, considering the actions of Indira Gandhi after she lost the case in Allahabad high court for misusing the government machinery for the election campaign, and finally her seat declared as null and void. Congress could have used such a ploy, had the anger and protests of the civilians gone out of hand and ultimately the dictatorship, supported by the upper middle class be used (misused).

Currently, the situation is more in favour of India, except the fact that they have the nuclear weapon (Brahmastra) too, which is the only hurdle in a full fledged war. Even I am not in favour of war. Just destroy them(Pakistani terrorists) economically and that’s their end. They’ll end up killing themselves like Zimbabwe and one day, they might cease to exist, crushed under their own sins. As far as the deserving and moderates are concerned, Pakistan was always be our part and we’ll help them too as art and cultures know no boundaries and their free flow should be allowed.

Misleading Headlines

Misleading headlines often make it difficult for a reader to actually sort out the relevant information from the rest from an ocean of information on the web. I recently was reading stuff about finance in my google reader when suddenly, I came across this headliner :
A software to estimate the time of death?
Now firstly, the wrong headline in a wrong category, but an info hungry web surfer will not think twice before clicking on it. Thanks to the money hungry internet service operators, the slow speed of the internet gives you the time to think about the stuff that you are just about to encounter. And yes, I;m talking to you. What do you think is going to be there?
A software with some arcane statistics that can precisely tell when you going to say goodbye to your family, friends and the evil terrorists of Pakistan. Well if not you are some strange exception, but atleast that’s what I thought. And what did it turn out to be ? Any guess ?
It turned out to be Software that, using some information about the concentration of some chemicals in your body to tell the time gap between your death and the post-mortem.
It seems to be a difference in perception, but it surely disappoints you. These are sometimes like marketing gimmicks used to catch attention and actually end up as negative publicity.

Nuclear power with private players a safe option ?

Indian nuclear power is soon going to be opened up for private players and it does not seem like good news for India. A sensitive technology in the hands of private players could have disastrous consequences. The minister of science and technology, Kapil Sibal said that once India completes bilateral talks of civil nuclear cooperation with countries, the government will consider nuclear sector to be opened up for private sector as well. The security of nuclear power plants could be a matter of serious concern, considering the pathetic state of affairs and the callousness on the part of the government. The Bhopal Gas tragedy is another such example, where a company, insensitive to a foreign country and more interested in its profits resulted in the death of thousands of individuals. We don't want another chernobyl in a billion plus country as the scale of the disaster could be much worse than Bhopal tragedy.

The counterview could be that such a strategy could bring in a more professional and accountable approach. A joint venture between the government and a private player could be useful and might not compromise on the safety of the reactor premises. Again the current state of affairs (as seen in the Mumbai terror attack) highlight the need for a more professional approach in government run institutions. Clearly the pathetic government of India run by incompetent people does not give us a choice.
I'd like to have your views on this issue.

Masquerading silence

Hidden behind those fenced cages, lies a dragon of truth,
That weeps fire for me to drown,
Lay those in its belly that fed the behemoth,
When the men in green, hung on to the bells of a forgotten temple.

With a piece of metal, used by a butcher,
I knew behind the lighted screen, was a dragon,
Far ferocious than the dwarfed horror shown in my room,
The world sat, and watched in a truth that was doomed.

Like the pin drop, it blew again, in those agonizing hours,
To say, I was lost, I would not lie, to say, I was afraid, I would not lie,
Righteous were those men hanging on in green,
As were those behind the scene.

Like the allies of 1939, like the Jew in a Nazi camp,
Came back the time, when I wanted them to be stamped,
With the blood of those, who had nothing to do,
With the bodies of those, that lay silent...

With the tears of those whom the dragon had gulped,
The blood and tears would still be a less to heal,
Of what I have lost, in the mangled steel,
But I know, your god and my god.

Because he will come tomorrow with me,
In time, to unlock the misery that awaits your dragon.
And my silence is just another indicator,
Of the storm that will saber your dreams of an evil time...

Sushant Kumar

Time for ACTION

Another day of terror gloomed on the front pages of Times of India, HT Mint and all other leading dailies as the saga of horror, tragedy, mystery and ignorance refuses to die down. The impact has been global and the reactions of condemnation in plenty, but India’s actions have still been in the closet. The resignation of three ministers was a consequence, a reaction to the ripples, like high tides, that sunk the islands of luxury, corruption where our ministers (those 3 and many more) were enjoying a perfect tropical holiday, while the country was being attacked.

The so called phase of a knee-jerk reaction is over. Now it is time for action, not exactly combat, but a firmer stance, backed by some thought and possible future consequences. It is true that we will not get any military backing from USA and Israel as there was a significant change in colours of the statements of condoleezza Rice after she went to Pakistan. The truth is that we are self sufficient nuclear power (the truth that restraints us too) and we should act (not react) with firmness. The diplomatic denial of Hafiz Saeed, the man behind the sinister plans of terror, has made the situation complicated and made it even more tough for us to act tough. But it depends on our soft leaders, whether or not they take military actions based on the intelligence inputs.

The words, intelligence and security, seem like a joke now, and Sureesh Mehta’s reaction on not been given not specific intelligence inputs seems rather strange, after all the evidence of definite inputs shown on television. The one good thing that has come out is the emergence or rather the separation of the down trodden ministers from the better ones to represent a state. V S Achutanandan (The DOGGY ), Vilas Rao Deshmukh (The disaster tourism agent), R R Patil (The psychotic) and Shivraj Patil (Who sleeps or eats, when India weeps) all have shown their back when we needed people to lead from the front. It wouldn’t be wrong, if people demand a more professional, accountable and a corporate like behavior, or even a more mature behavior from these politicians. For me as a citizen, it is wait and watch for now, to see the “action” our leaders take in near future.

Youtube gets stricter on sex

Youtube’s content policing norms are getting stricter. Youtube, since it gained popularity has been subject to pornographic material from various sources with commercial interests. It has been long used as a promoter for certain adult websites and blogs. With its efficient flagging system, the viewers used to flag videos, which were then reviewed by the youtube staff. With $15 million expenditure in bandwidth, this stricter policy of nudity, which generates a lot of hits, will be reduced.

Youtube team had recently mentioned a certain points on its blog on 2nd December.

When are videos considered ‘sexually suggestive’?
Videos featuring sexually explicit content like real sex acts are not allowed. Other content like nudity and dramatized or implied sexual conduct may be considered sexually suggestive depending on whether or not it is intended or designed to arouse viewers.
Nudity includes exposed or partially covered genitalia, buttocks, or breasts, as well as sheer clothing. Videos featuring individuals in minimal or revealing clothing may also be age-restricted if they're intended to elicit a sexual response.

Along with stricter standard for mature content, demotion of sexually suggestive content, improved thumbnails and more accurate video information were also mentioned. It is still unclear whether it is a move to cut costs at a time when the markets are gloomy as it was reported that Google had started tightening its belt in the wake of recession.