Risin' From The Ashes

49-0: The Myth

2008-12-06T20:53:00.001-08:00

You must have gotten the email about Article 49-0 in the constitution. So did I. I immediately thought of publishing it here but then thought better of it. I know too many email chains which are factually wrong. This was too big to post without verification. However, that work was quickly done by other people and as it turns out, it was a hoax:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-chatteranti/394809/2

However, this does not mean that we cannot possibly introduce such an article into the constitution. The idea is sound and makes eminent sense. Anyone have any ideas if there is even an inkling of a movement to introduce such a measure?

Jaago Re – One Billion Votes Campaign.

2008-11-29T17:48:00.001-08:00

This post was long due. And, the timing could not have been better.

No doubt you have followed the events in Mumbai. No doubt you have felt angry, frustrated and helpless. No doubt you have balked at the sheer incompetence of the incumbent Congress government.

What are you going to do about it? -- This is the question which plagues our minds. "Oh! This is out of my control", "Oh! What can I do?" is the usual refrain from most of us. In the grandest democracy in the world, a system which was designed to give the power to the people, we whine like children about how we can't do anything, how we are powerless. Well, you can! And you are the one who has to do it! The one, who has to influence the change. The one, to become the change you want to see.

What I am asking you to do is simple - be active citizens. Do not let our incompetent politicians get away with burning our beloved country to the ground while we stand by and watch. Stand up and come up to the front - Vote !; Influence people to vote; Make sure people come out in the hordes to vote; Make sure people know the issues at stake while voting. Yes, voice your opinion, even though you might think it is wrong, even if you are wrong; Voice it, for that's what democracy demands. Otherwise it is defunct. Voice it, for that will bring about change, real change.

Please, I beg of you, be an active citizen and Vote !

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Jaago Re – One billion votes campaign, is a joint effort by Janaagraha and Tata Tea to get people out to vote. The aim of this campaign to inform the voters, facilitate voter registration, explode myths and simple get the vote out. The importance of such a campaign is immense and the recent events have only underscored it.

However, such an effort is not done easily. We need volunteers and as many as we can get - People to participate in voter registration drives across colleges and institutions of India – absolutely anywhere possible. Please come forward and volunteer. You can find the details at www.jaagore.com /www.janaagraha.org. I implore you to sign up, no matter what city you are in.

I will admit that I personally have not been committed to this excusing myself with the "busy" signal but I hope to change that now.

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I will not hide my disdain for the current congress government. I just wish they go already. After these attacks, they need to simply resign on moral grounds if not for their cowardice. I personally think, Congress alone has been responsible for bringing the country down to its knees with 61 years of sheer incompetence, needless grandstanding and pandering. They have indulged in one bad decision after another only for the sake of retaining power. The country is paying a huge price for that.

But, that's my personal opinion. I invite you to form an opinion on your own. But, please, form one! And form it based on facts. It will decide the future of the country.

I hope BJP comes to power in the coming elections. But the bigger hope I have is that as active citizens, we keep any and every government on its toes. Give them no reason to become lax once they have been elected to power. The example of this could be the current BJP government in Karnataka. BSY has indulged in big words but in little action since he has come to power. A lot was expected of him. He needs to realize that little things will go a long way in improving this state; big projects alone will achieve little.

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"Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." - George Bernard Shaw (Thanks, Ameya)

We deserve better.

Evolution (Vs) Intelligent Design

2008-11-27T03:42:00.001-08:00

There is a lot of debate on this issue in the western world and of course another hot topic during the elections. The debate seems lop-sided and it is without doubt that human beings have undergone a process of evolution to reach the stage in which we are today. What I want to talk about is how intelligent design is a plausible theory if not to explain the past then atleast to explain the future.

To begin with, what I understand by evolution is simply "natural selection" and "survival of the fittest". And intelligent design is the ability to create something totally new by design only. I will use this as a premise for my arguments.

I work in the flower industry now. In order to gain knowledge in this completely new industry, I obviously attempted to read a few books related to the industry. One of the books read in this process was " Flower Confidential". The book gave a lot of insider details of processes of the flower industry with examples from Colombia, USA, and Holland. What struck me the most in the book was the concept of breeding new varieties of flowers. The breeders strive to create new varieties via cross-pollination and other methods, to achieve strong characteristics of desirable colour, long vase life, and a few other features. However, the quality of scent was missing in the list. I found out there is a trade-off between scent and vase life of a flower and since long vase life is a highly desirable characteristic, breeders have been suppressing the scent in flowers for decades now. As a result, today most professionally grown flowers have lost their scent. Surprised? Why not. It is a reflex action for most people to bury their nose in a bunch of flowers even when there is no scent. Most of us do not even realize the absence of this. And this is the reason you are surprised.

The other extreme in this industry is artificial flowers. I personally have a great dislike for artificial flowers and never want to be around them. But increasingly I have noticed that artificial flowers are beginning to look very natural. There have been times when I have been truly confused whether a flower is artificial or natural. Of course I am a relative novice at this but even speaking from a layman's perspective, the inability to distinguish is unnerving. Then it struck me. Isn't this exactly what breeders are striving for? Artificial flower have an extremely long vase life (almost infinite) and their colour can be of any hue you can imagine. How long will it be before breeders are able to achieve this. And if they do, what difference will remain between artificial flowers and natural ones? This scares me. This seems to me like intelligent design.

Let's take human beings as an example. The past century has seen great advancements in medical science. Virtually every disease has a cure now and we have state of the art research going on to find cures for the remaining ones. New diseases crop up now and then but the lives they claim are fewer. Now, if human beings meddle so much into the process of who survives and who doesn't, where is "natural" selection? We have taken away mother nature's job! I even read a comment recently from scientists that the rate of evolution has slowed down considerably in the past 100 years. !.

Genome mapping is a reality now. I am sure there will quickly come a stage when we will be able to eliminate persons in the womb simply based on their imperfect dna. Or, atleast be able to correct their DNA at a very early stage. To extend this further, we will definitely be able to design the perfect human DNA with all the desired characteristics. Maybe when there is a need to travel in space in search of other planets, we will desire human beings with a long vase life. We will design super humans/alternate beings/species. They will go to another planet and inhabit it and centuries later wonder who made them. Aren't we God then?

It doesn't have to be evolution vs intelligent design, it can also be evolution followed by intelligent design.

About: Abortion

2008-11-15T17:41:00.001-08:00

Most of you must have followed the recently concluded historic elections in the US of A. Congratulations to those who rooted for the big O and for the McCain supporters – too bad folks, Sarah Palin did you in!

Anyway, this is not a post about politics (obvious from the title), but about one of most burning issues of the whole race – Abortion.

The issue is hotly debated and there are die-hard fans for both sides of the argument. Either you are "pro-life" or "anti-life". These terms represent the most dangerous pitfalls of partisanship and a proclivity to look at every issue in a black and white manner. If there is one thing I have learnt in my life, it is that there is always a lot of grey in between. There is hardly ever an issue where it is as simple as black and white. We were never meant to have things so easy.

The issue of abortion cannot be resolved in a neat manner, turned into a neat book and tucked away into a corner of a dust-filled cabinet of law books (apologies, computers and the digital age don't lend to imagination-sparking and eloquent descriptions). The whole issue of "Life" has to be understood at a more fundamental level. Is living by itself the end or as a civilized society we think that a life is called a life when the living standards, or quality of life is above a certain threshold. If that is the case, then we have to understand the effects on the quality of life on all the parties involved in the case of an abortion. In the case, of a rape child, the involved parties are the potential child, the mother, and maybe a horrified husband whose wife got raped. Then, it is important to measure the future effects on the quality of life of all the parties involved should the child be allowed to take birth and also, if this was not to be the case. Say the rape child makes the remainder of the life for a mother a living hell where she has to see the evidence of the horrific incidence day in and day out and is not able to bar those emotions; her life is as good as snuffed out. Do we really want that? Of course, not. We would ideally hope that the mother is able to overcome her memories and is able to raise the child in a healthy environment to lead a good life. But being human beings this is just wishful thinking. So if the life of the mother is going to be made a living hell in lieu of a new life, we have to ask ourselves if it is worth it. Wouldn't it be better to let the mother abort and try to lead a good life with atleast a chance of erasing the memories? As a civilized society I think it is vitally important that we give the already living atleast a fighting chance.

Let's say during the pregnancy stage itself, it was known that the child has some rare disease which would render it a cripple for it entire life, the quality of life for such a child would be low but importantly much lower for the parents going into the future. Wouldn't it be better to end the misery of the child and the parents by aborting the child? Here, of course we assume that these are unwilling parents. But let's not judge them too harshly if they decide to abort. It would take a lot of courage on anyone's part to live with such a situation and I greatly admire people who are able to do this.

And on the flip side, aborting for flimsy reasons is also something which is not acceptable. Informed individuals who have engaged in consensual sex have no right to abort the child just because they don't want the child. Even if we take the quality of life as a guiding parameter, the resulting loss of quality of life for these consenting individuals would be much lesser than the life which is not let to be.

Of course, extending this line of thought, I would even say that I support euthanasia, again taking the quality of life as a guiding parameter.

My overarching point here is that there is no such thing as being "pro-life" or "anti-life" just based on whether you a let a child life or not. You are "anti-life" even if you have let the child live but have caused a lifetime of misery for the mother. So based on the above you would think I am "anti-life" but if you have understand the line of my arguments correctly you would know that I am actually "pro-life".

Have a good day.

Delhi Blasts

2008-09-13T12:00:00.001-07:00

"We always have intelligence information about such attacks, but we never know where and at what time the attacks may take place," he added." – Shivraj Patil

"We should not jump to conclusions. Stringent punishment would be given to whoever is responsible for this". – Shivraj Patil

Can someone please ask Hon. Shivraj Patil to step down?

About: Democracy (Part 3) & a bit of religion

2008-08-27T22:09:00.001-07:00

Further to my earlier post, where I argued about how the fate of a country is ultimately decided by a few individuals. And that ultimately it's just luck whether we have someone at the top who has the right ideas or flawed ideas.

As a result of the above realization, I have to conclude and comment that in our lifetimes, it is extremely important and almost imperative that we come to the front of the class and speak up when we oppose existing ideas or have new ones which we believe in with unwavering conviction. This is the bedrock of a democracy and especially that of India. We are fortunate to live in a country and I am fortunate to live in a city where endless debates are encouraged. Where ideas and innovations are aplenty and the good ones get refined through soundboarding and numerous discussions. Therefore if you believe in something, you better come up to the front and speak up.

In the past one year I have become a great believer in Hinduism [let me state here that I have equal respect for all religions] and I really hope that sometime during my life I am able to study it. In my view, Hinduism is a religion which is now so old and has gone through so much churning and revision that as of today, it seems to have the answers to all the human dilemmas, new and old. In the same vein I believe that the model of democracy and governance in India will be constantly renewed and refined and the final product will be something which the world will behold and strive to emulate. The Chinese model is a flash in the pan in comparison. This will happen of course over an extended period of time and we might not live to see it. Hinduism is a religion in which even atheism is acknowledged and given its due place and respect. That itself sold me out. It is perhaps unfortunate that its very flexibility and all encompassing nature threatens to make it irrelevant.

Moving on.

I would again like to clarify that when I do not oppose democracy per se but oppose the process of electing the leaders of it. I do not advocate any other form of governance. The debate about democracy vs autocracy or theocracy is long dead and is very 20^th century. We have to now refine the idea of democracy further to make sense to the modern times and lead humanity to a more peaceful world with capable leaders.

[Standard disclaimers apply]

Calcutta and its love for strikes

2008-08-20T00:39:00.001-07:00

I once commented on how much Calcuttans (no not kolkatans) love to go on strike. This struck me in no less measure than a notice in the Calcutta airport 6 months back over the proposed strike over the Bangalore and Hyderabad airport. I failed to take a snap of that incredulous notice but the undying love for strikes for every cause and everyone's cause was underscored for me.

So why not outsource all strikes to Calcutta? Seriously, they love doing it so much that anyone in the country or the world could just outsource the strike to them. They could go one step further and take footage for the tv and even have them stage the protests in movie sets made to look like the city or country being "protested" for. This would save potential revenue losses for the organization originally planning to go on strike and let calcuttans do what they love the most. Efficient division of labour and everyone is happy!

Olympics, India and Scope for private participation

2008-08-15T02:01:00.001-07:00

Vivek and I were discussing yesterday about the sad state of affairs relating to sports in India.

Bindra's gold medal was due to his own volition and support from his family in the form of finances and moral support. It was no was thanks to the government (although they shamelessly bask in Bindra's glory) or any of the sports bodies sponsored by the government. This is widely known. The sports bodies in India are riddled with politics and cannot rise above the petty self-serving interests of its officials. The government doesn't have the vision to provide our athletes with world class facilities nor does it have the gumption to set right the corrupt sports officials of India.

However, we predicted that a few things might happen in the next 8 years. Since India is now reckoned an economic powerhouse and is constantly compared with China, it is but inevitable that comparisons will start between our medal tallies too. Once a large number of our citizens are able to lead a healthy normal life and can afford to devote their time to other issues, they will start questioning the incompetence of our athletes and therefore of the sports officials. At the international level too we will made "fun" of (Yes, I use the word fun because the situation there is nothing different from that of a 6^th standard classroom – refer my earlier post on this). So ultimately the government will be shamed and pressured into creating world class athletes from hamara bharat.

It is funny that all the reforms in our country are done either when the government has been pressured to the extreme and has its back against the wall or it is plain shamed into doing it. And I think this attitude percolates down to its citizens in general (or perhaps it is because of the same citizens).

Anyway, moving on.

However, the above is not in our control and can only be speculated upon. What about private participation – the seeming panacea* for all the country's ills. We discussed about how the corrupt sports officials could be sidestepped. If corporations would come forward and sponsor select athletes, wouldn't that benefit the whole situation? A company could sponsor and train an athlete and reap all the rewards after a couple of Olympics have passed? But this is not attractive for a private player as the upfront investments are too high, the returns long term and very uncertain. Let's not treat this from a charity point of view (I personally hate charity, I think it ruins people and nations).

What if independent sports bodies run by private players were to come up? These sports bodies would just own facilities for some/various sports and offer these services to the willing athletes. This offering would obviously have to subsidized in the beginning because most athletes would not be able to afford them. In return the private bodies can sign in a substantial portion of the winnings of the athlete and also own the rights to any subsequent sponsorship deals or any other revenue mechanism arising from the victories. After investing in say, 20 athletes even if 1 athlete begins to perform at the world stage, it will pay off for the private body. Such victories will prove to be publicity for the private body and it will be able to attract more quality athletes. In essence the private body can viewed as a VC (venture capitalist) who is undertaking a huge risk by investing in these athletes. He knows most of them won't perform, but even if 1 person clicks, their day is made. And they don't have to wait for 4 years to start seeing returns. There are enough international competitions besides the Olympics and Olympics will be the Big Cahuna.

Assuming several such firms, the firms will actually be competing to sponsor athletes and athletes will have the luxury of choosing a firm which will train them for free! Observing a huge supply of quality training more people will be inspired to come forward and slowly the firms too can be choosy about the athletes they take in for training. It will turn into a virtuous cycle and hopefully generate world class athletes who can bring glory to our nation.

Amen to that. And Jai Hind !

Credit: Vivek for part of the idea process.

About: Democracy (Contd..)

2008-08-12T04:11:00.000-07:00

Further to my post earlier on this topic, some further conclusions I have made:

1. Democracy is not such a bad thing when it comes to not letting things get worse.

Our professor in finance was giving us an example of the wonderfulness (pardon the word) of democracy. He said if there is famine anywhere in the country today, the incumbent party and the opposition party will fight tooth and nail to ensure that that show concern and sympathy for the victims. This will highlight the issue and make sure that the victims are taken care of. And therefore hurray for democracy.

No.

The flaw with this story is that the famine shouldn't have taken place at all. There should have been enough systems in place to ensure that such a situation doesn't arise at all. In fact the politicians probably let the situation worsen so that they could get some photo ops.

Ok, lets assume for time-being that they are "kind hearted". Be sure I am saying that they are kind-hearted only and no other noble attributes.

The above situation is a case where democracy made sure that things didn't get worse off than they already were. But will democracy help to forsee such situations and make sure they never occur?

Vivek and I were having an intense discussion about a similar issue and were astonished at how just single persons who had the vision and the grit to see that vision implemented were the ones who influenced the course of a country, an organization and that of a people. Beware that this "vision" need not be the right one and something which will bring prosperity upon people who have to live through its consequence. A case in example is of course Nehru and to the contrary are the people who founded modern America. Nehru had a vision, a deeply flawed one, of a social country which would survive just on its goodiness. He went about implementing it with zeal and look where we are now because of him. Because of one single person.

The founders of USA too had a vision. Fortunately the right one. A country based on basic fundamentals and rights. And look where they are now.

So ultimately democracy or no democracy, the long-term and even the short term fate of a country/organization/people are determined solely by strong individuals who stand up and dare to say what they believe in, be it wrong or right.

Therefore democracy or a democratic institution can in no way effect the right vision being envisioned by its elected representatives. Nor compulsorily induce actions by its elected representatives which will lead to long term progress and betterment of a people.

So finally it is our luck as a collective people which determines whether the people we have elected will act in the best interest of the nation as a whole, its people current and future.

Funny isn't it. It all comes down to luck. Best of luck then to all of us.

Quotes:

A article in the Aug 2nd issue of The Economist title "Turning Sour" somewhat confirms my thinking.

"But India also benefits from what financial types might call the "democracy put"' its politics forestalls the worst outcomes, even if they squander the best. India's policy makers only seem to be able to reform under duress."

"..as recent events show, the India story often resembles a comedy as much as an epic. Its policymakers run around in circles, swapping partners and scandalising onlookers, but with luck pull it all together in the end."

A Note: I unfortunately post the above based on plain armchair thinking and my current base of knowledge. I have not done any research and therefore there can be a lot of nitty gritties which I might miss out on. But I stand by the core idea and thought which I espouse here unless and otherwise proven reliably wrong.

Bindra and Mint

2008-08-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

"New Delhi/Beijing: Abhinav Bindra won India’s first ever individual Olympic gold medal on Monday with a come-from-behind victory in the men’s 10m air rifle, but sports agents are divided on whether this will translate into lucrative brand endorsements in a country where cricket and movie stars remain favourites with advertisers and audiences."

http://www.livemint.com/2008/08/12011400/Bindra-wins-India8217s-firs.html?h=A1

I love mint as a newspaper. But this article just caught me off guard. Especially after first being bombarded by every little detail of Bindra's life in ToI on every other page with gaudy photos, the concise looking article seemed a bit of a relief. What caught me off guard was that within the first sentence itself they launched into the debate of whether he will make a good "brand endorser". Lol. Is this acute professionalism by mint and a bit over the top? Also, I can just imagine all the agents around India perking up on hearing the gold medal announcement and salivating and debating over the possibilities of commercial exploitation of this event rather than feeling, even for a moment, a bit proud of this achievement.

I personally did not believe this news till I saw it on TV. Perhaps I need to see the medal and bite it to test its gold component to be doubly sure that this is not some cruel joke by China in their usual style.

Congratulations to him nonetheless. May this set off a meaningful debate and progress on this front in the media which has been sadly missing till now contrary to their usual zeal.

My Analogies - A Sticky

2008-08-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have discovered in the past one year that I have somewhat of a talent for analogies. And since I spend a lot of time driving, a lot of analogies I am going to put down here will be related to that. This is going to be a sticky post, because as when these analogies come to my mind, I will put them down in this post. Maybe when I have enough posts, I will make a book out of it and of course it will become a best seller ;).

1. The roads, vehicles and the government. (Draft)
I tend to drive fast. I know this is wrong but something I just have to do. My philosophy in driving greatly reflects my philosophy in life. But that's for another
post.

So, I tend to drive fast. When I am going to office in the morning, my foot will be like rocks on the accelerator and I will be overtaking cars, bikes, trucks, buses by the dozen. I will of course be slowed down by some people who do not have basic driving sense but that does not deter me. After a few minutes, when I look around, I will realize that the same vehicles puttering along at 30 km/hr have caught up with me and in some cases are even ahead of me again. I am bamboozled. What happened? How did they catch up with me? When I reflect I realize that all the slowing down, and waiting at traffic signals gave them a chance to catch up with me without putting in any extra effort. They were able to just amble along and the traffic system ensured that everyone traveled in more or less the same time frame.

Do you see what I am driving (no pun intended) at? Our government (at least till date) has created an environment where speed and efficiency is not rewarded. Where, even the slow are able to catch up simply because the government puts in so many roadblocks and red signals to slow the fast ones down. The government's philosophy of governance is directly reflected in the roads and the traffic. The government does not ensure a level playing field but believes in bringing everyone to the same level. This is done through quotas and reservations and other such instruments.

Imagine if the roads were all converted to expressways with no traffic signals. Just signs and guidelines of how to drive and at what maximum speeds. Who would win? The fast ones will get to their destination the fastest and the slow ones at their own appointed time. The system will be just an observer making sure nobody breaks laws and observes the guidelines. This is of course happening slowly. There are expressways being built in tandem with the economy being deregulated and a leveler playing field being created.

2. 6th Std Classrooms and People (Draft)
I find that a majority of the ways in which corporations, governments and people in general behave can be directly matched to how kids behave in 6th standard classrooms.

Life: Update

2008-08-08T17:31:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

I do not post frequently not because there is nothing to write but because those moments of inspiration which drive me to write come at the very times when it's not possible for me to get to a computer. Other times its sheer laziness.

In any case, a life changing event has forced me to put put to paper (sheesh!) and tell you whats been happening since my last update.

Firstly, the life changing event that I talk about is that I bought a car ! yes yes yes ! I bought a car. It's 1995 Geo Prizm with all the works and I got it only for $1500. Of course it's definitely not a car to boast about but who cares! it's my first car with my own money and surviving without a car in Wilsonville for 3 months, where the public transportation sucks like hell, has been no mean feat. Plus downgrading from the glory days of driving in Bangalore hasn't been easy either. But nonetheless, I have a CAR now ! Feast your eyes :D

Ahhh! Bliss it is I say!

Anyway, on to more trivial things. Since my last post my internship got extended to December. Initially I wasn't too happy about it but now it seems like I did the right thing. Winter semester will be the perfect time to take good courses and be done with my Masters. Plus staying on means I have a bit of wiggle room to take my trips to The Netherlands and India (and with my own money).

[These are posts which I started writing but never could finish and do not have the immediate interest in finishing. I am posting it nonetheless]

India's unending journey - Mark Tully

2008-08-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

I have been reading a lot about India recently. For some yet unknown reason, I have had this strong desire to get to know India better. Maybe, business interests compel me to understand this country at a better level so that I can profit out of it or maybe my brief stint outside India has made me appreciate more, India's infinite beauty and uniqueness.

I was in the midst of reading Richard Dawkins' "God Delusion", when I decided to pick up "India's Unending Journey" - Mark Tully (IUJ). "God Delusion" was very "dry", lacking any human touch, lacking any spirituality. Although his reasoning is impressive, the world cannot be explained through reason alone. If the world ran on reason alone, we would all be ultra-materialistic loners.

Anyway, I don't even feel like discussing that book.

IUJ came to me at the right time. I have been grappling a lot with internal conflicts about

[These are posts which I started writing but never could finish and do not have the immediate interest in finishing. I am posting it nonetheless]

About: Democracy

2008-01-04T20:47:00.000-08:00

Following is recent reply to a series of mails amongst a bunch of us. I used it to voice something which I have been mulling for a while now. The point needs more research and elaboration and perhaps a more tighter line of thinking. Initial comments?

Lodu,

I think you are the only one so worked up about elections in the US. And please don't compare US elections with Indian ones. I think Indian elections are infinitely more interesting and exciting than US elections. Ours is a very boisterous democracy like no other in the world.

I have always believed Modi is the right person. Hell, I would love it if became the prime minister and replicated his model of growth in Gujrat throughout India. The key factor in India's current economic growth is Gujrat's growth.

On a tangential note, Modi's recent win has planted this idea in my head that democracy is a farce. I never had an opinion about this but I am beginning to form one against democracy. Not that I advocate a dictatorship based government, but maybe a democratic institution with more check and balances against corruption, special interest groups controlling the country, and the lobbyists. In democracy, we assume that all the monkeys will get together and write Hamlet (Hamlet only na?). It is a form of institution built to perpetuate the bullshit that everyone is equal. They conveniently contort the original intention that everyone is equal before the law, the government etc. I think successful countries everywhere have become a success only because of the single-minded determination, clarity of vision, and a strong will of a few people. Via election, you can only hope that somebody like that will be elected.

Imagine if all doctors, lawyers, pilots, or any other professionals were "elected" ! Then why "elect" people who run the government ? These guys affect the lives of a lot more people with their whim and fancies than all doctors put together.

Enough said. Maybe I will do a bit more research and elaborate my point later.

Abhishek

Update

Following the discussion over dinner, I have to clarify that I do not oppose democracy as a whole. It is necessary for a free, fair and functioning society that every individual in the country have equal rights to everything and be considered equal before the law and the government. It is the process of electing the representatives that I want to debate tooth and nail.

Yes, Modi has his flaws and he can cause a communal outburst but I really believe that if he can sustain his development efforts, nothing else will matter. Really, do you think when a hindu and muslim are leading a good life, earning good money, and sending their children to good schools, they are really going to bother about participating in communal discord? Once the quality of life is lifted, all other considerations automatically evaporate.

About: Friends

2007-12-18T03:36:00.000-08:00

"I am a great believer in friendship. Friends are my world and my sustenance". This is what I used to say.

I still remember reading in a computer-generated astrology sheet about me at Fun World - "Friends will help you in everything. Don't expect any help from relatives." Oh how happy I was that day. My faith and belief in friendship had got official affirmation. The world was rosy. Unfortunately, I grew up after that.

My dad always tells me that my faith in friendship is unwarranted, over-the-top and that I am an immature fool who does not know anything better. I never listen of course. I don't want to. But I think he is right. There's no such thing as friendship and "best friends". We just fool ourselves everyday. We desperately try to cling on these notions to shield ourselves from the harsh realities of the world, the day to day struggle, the unfairness of it all, and to give meaning to our miserable lives. Hey wait! isn't that what friends are for? Yes, but this does not happen. How long are they going to listen to you going on and on about your life and how you don't have this and how you hate that. They mute you out after a certain point. Fair enough right? You change, they change. You have a different set of priorities than them and you think different. Everything becomes artificial and superficial. Friendship loses its meaning. You have to move on.

Maybe, it all comes down to managing expectations and more importantly, assumptions. You expect too much from them or the wrong things. You measure everything they do with the barometer of your own standards. They assume certain things about you and stuff everything you say down the hole of that assumption.

After the age of 24.42, everyone becomes selfish. Everyone views everything from the lenses of personal gain. Everyone is too busy for their own good. Friendship is flushed down the sparkling toilet bowl with the golden knob and shiny crap. And I think I have already done that. So should you.

Perhaps, that's why I want to open The Chocolate Shop. A dark one at that.

The Chocolate Shop !

2007-12-18T03:28:00.000-08:00

The past week, my mind has been furiously thinking of new ideas for business- some related to my existing business, and some not. The ideas have been just crazy and bizarre. However, in all this thinking I have decided that upon obtaining some change money, I am going to open up a one-off chocolate shop in Bangalore.

The aim is to convert my love for chocolates into a business opportunity. It will be an exclusive chocolate shop showcasing the best chocolate in the world and perhaps some home-grown too. Preceding this will be the start of a chocolate club which I plan to found and nurture. I have already thought the name for these ventures.

Any takers?

P.S.: Lewin is going to be my Guest VIP Taster. You hear me Lewin?

Evil, am I ?

2007-09-03T03:47:00.000-07:00

How do you recognize that point when you have stopped being a caring person and have become an insensitive prick?

When do people start perceiving you as something you are not? And why?

What is right and what is wrong? And do I get to decide it?

In the most recessed part of your soul, there's an asshole residing. Waiting to take over your life at the slightest of slip-ups.

Even if you do realize this, can you do something about it?

When do you start becoming arrogant? Are you?

Where has that innocence gone? Where?

Why have we started caring so much? Like our life depended on it.

Do I hate you? Nah.

Do you hate me? I am sure you have every reason to.

I thought I was good. Now, I am not so sure.

No, I am not looking for pity. No, I am not regretful of who I am. It's about self-discovery. To look at your dark side and not be fettered. No, I am not going to change anything. I can't. Nobody can change oneself. No, you can't. Don't even try.

Am I evil? I think so.

About: Barbecue Nation

2007-09-03T03:07:00.000-07:00

Barbecue Nation is simply an amazing place.

Rownak (My Brother) had been speaking about it for a long time, but never got a chance to go there. Yesterday, after an already fun filled evening of dance classes (ballroom jive this time) and jenga (JENGA!), we decided to head down there fore a "light" dinner (as Shruthi put it). We ended up spending more than 2 hours there! The ambience was great, the service good and the maitre'd suitably impressive (it's amazing they are even there).

We started off with "starters" (I don't know why they serve anything else there at all) which was unlimited, and how! I being a veggie was served up paneer and the usually unsightly combination of carrots, cucumber, and cauliflowers (the originial gobhi, bindi!). But oh was it good. Every piece was delectable and gorgeous. The food looked so great that I even dug into the non-veggie fare of chicken, prawn and fish. All equally delicious. Oh! I can't stop raving about it.

We then proceeded to have the main course. There were a lot of choices but we had already laid our eyes the upon delicious assortment of desserts. We made sure we had a light main course, which also very very good, mind you.

The dessert was heavenly and was the prefect way to finish off a perfect meal. I was very happy. But I don't know what the real reason for my happiness was. Was it the food or perhaps the company of good friends who made the experience worth remembering. Perhaps for the first time after coming back to Bangalore, I felt that I was connecting with them again. Cheers to that! and Cheers to Barbecue Nation!

This evening of "fooding" ranks right alongside the evening at "The Melting Pot", where Bindi, Midhun and I had spent more than 3-4 hours eating to our heart's content and more.

A Business Idea - Social Networking Sites

2007-08-25T06:13:00.000-07:00

It has become a regular feature now.

"Just a friendly reminder that I invited you to Shelfari. Come see the books I love and see if we have any in common. Then pick my next book so I can keep on reading.

Click below to join my group of friends on Shelfari!

http://www.shelfari.com/

someone

Shelfari is a free site that lets you share book ratings and reviews with friends and meet people who have similar tastes in books. It also lets you build an online bookshelf, join book clubs, and get good book recommendations from friends. You should check it out."

Invariably, every month or so, some jobless geek or some clueless organization hits upon this "unique" brilliant idea of starting a social networking site which focuses on one special interest or the other. One seeks to bring together book loving people on a single platform and the other claims to bring all the party-people together. Then, of course, there are the platforms which seek to bring together singles who didn't/couldn't find a life partner.

Barring the last set of websites, I find the others useless and pointless, and a sheer waste of an asset which could translate into a huge commercial success.

Even today, India doesn't have a good, reliable gifting chain (for good measure, let me acknowledge Kinshuk's idea here). If I have to send a gift to someone, I don't know where to look. Do I go look at a website? Do I visit a kirana shop or an archies? But then who will deliver my gift to my friend who lives in another city, another country, another time zone? If I go online, which website do I go to? Even if I do get to a website, locate a chalta hai gift and want to checkout, do you have any idea how painful it is to do so! I have to fill out my credit card details. Worse, I have to fill out her (I wont gift to a guy!) address which I will have to dig out from some dust filled diary, or one of the myriad, address books in my computer.

I digress.

Point number 2 being: Someone please start a good gifting chain which spread nationwide and anyone from any part of India can gift anything to anyone anywhere.

Point number 1 being: Enable me to gift to my friends with a single click through one of the hazaar social networking sites (e.g. orkut, facebook). Imagine - a birthday reminder of your friend's birthday pops up in your inbox. Next to the reminder, there are options for gifting - send flowers, send chocolates, send something! anything!, and all you have to do is click any of these options and voila! you are done!. Your credit card details were already fed in your profile. Her address was already in her profile. You need not know her address at all and yet the gift will reach her and you r card will be charged appropriately. What more could one ask for? I don't have to remember her address, her birthday, her likes/dislikes. Heaven.

Enable me to utilize my network on the platform. Let me do something with it physically rather than just exchange some messages and chit chat. Enable me to do this and the social networking site will rake in huge money. They can tie up with various businesses from who they can take a sign-up check. After sales commission arrangements would mean a perpetual flow of perfectly good money.

I had always found social networking sites frustrating. Now I know why.

Wii Want Cricket !

2007-01-31T09:07:00.001-08:00

Awesome ad !

2006-12-07T15:46:00.000-08:00

Shoot! I better write something soon or my captive eager audience will desert me!

Kiwi!

2006-12-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

Olbermann: The Beginning of the End of America (video)

2006-10-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

Video of Olbermann's special comment on the "Military Commissions Act" and the end of Habeas Corpus. Aired Wednesday, October 18. "And if you think this, hyperbole or hysteria, ask the newspaper editors when John Adams was President, or the pacifists when Woodrow Wilson was President, or the Japanese when Franklin Roosevelt was President."

read more | digg story

Absurd is the word.

2006-07-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Is this the best the Indian Government can do ??!!

Wow!

2006-07-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

Wonderful concept alright but is it really desirable?

Zidane !

2006-07-14T17:28:00.000-07:00

What happened to Zidane saddens me. I did not watch the world cup in it's entirety and am definitely not a football fan. But I happened to catch the overtime in the final match of this dull edition of the world cup (before falling back to sleep btw) and what happened was certainly something which is now common in the world of sports.

Yes, he head-butted that "poor" guy and yes it was an unwelcone act from this great hero of this supposedly great game (I am sorry I cannot acknowledge it's greatness simply because the whole world thinks that way. And that's only because I have never followed it. It might be of course.) but give the guy a break for God's sake. You will see what I mean when you read this. I sincerely believe that a method has to be established to trap and punish players who resort to verbal abuse to get their way. Verbal abuse inflicts as much damage as physical abuse, perhaps only more. Verbal abuse distracts players, poisons their mind and renders them unable to perform to their fullest ability. Isn't that what physical abuse does too and hence is considered red-card worthy?. Then why punish only those who resort to physical abuse?.

I applaud France and its Prime Minister for welcoming their hero home with the glory and affection he deserves. You cannot discredit a man of his stature for something which was not his fault.

As for Italy winning, I have my doubts about their worthiness after watching this :)

I am in a violent mood today. Dare you not abuse me verbally !

Mumbai !

2006-07-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

It pisses me off! It pisses me off so bad that I want to hit someone, someone from Mumbai preferably. What illusion are these people living under? Over 150 people were dead and several injured in the latest Mumbai blasts but what is the common refrain! - "Don't worry, Mumbai will be back on its feet tomorrow.", "Mumbai people are resilient! Mumbai rocks!". Oh my god! I can't believe my ears when I hear people say this. It's as if mumbaites and perhaps the whole of India is waiting eagerly for some tragedy to befall on this once great city just so that they can get up, give a standing ovation, pat Mumbai on its back and say "Well done Mumbai! Once more have you survived a terrible tragedy and stumbled back to your feet. Congratulations! keep it up!". Fuck you all ! 150 people are dead! can't you see that? tomorrow it might be you!

It's not the Mumbai spirit, it's apathy is what it is!. Force the government's hand to take more security measures, perhaps educate the people on how to watch out for the perpetrators of these heinous acts, be alert citizens... this is what people should be thinking. But nooo!! Mumbai people think "Oh this is so terrible! but not to worry, this won't happend to me and my family, so let this reside in my memory as a figment of somebody's imagination and let's go on living our life.. and Oh! by the way so that the rest of the world doesn't think we are such cowards that we cannot try for a safer environments for our loved ones, let's give this apathy a glorious term - ah! I know.. the Mumbai Spirit !!". It is nauseating.

When I was googling for some information on Mumbai Blasts, I came across this site which is dedicated to Mumbai Blasts. It's called the Mumbai Blasts Homepage.. wow! Do I hear Mumbai people thinking.. so cool.. we have a site dedicated to our oh so great city! Atleast there's somebody who agrees with me (and lo behold! it's a mumbaite!). He articulated what's boiling inside me well (better than me). I haven't taken his permission yet to quote him but couldn't resist. If he refuses I may take it off.

"No one i know has been physically affected by the blast. But my father was in *** hospital that day - some conference stuff. and he described the grusome scenes: He satyed there till midnight with te resident doctors....X-ray dept. He had never seen anything like
this....In the CT-MRI scans, he saw that someone's kidneys, liver all split....robs punctured the
lungs....he came home at around 2:30 AM....he wasnt able to eat for the whole day.

The next morning i switched on the TV and the fuckers were barking something about the spirit of Mumbai--- i say its already dead. Because we have resigned to the fact that life must go on and there is nothing we can do about it.

Spirit of Mumbai, i believe, is nothing but a concoction of sterile innocence and absurdity, and
false building of hopes....There are reasons why people go to work the next day - they need that salary cheque, or that wad of cash....Its not spirit stupid, its fear of 'no work, no pay.'
What will happen? Considering the 'spirit' of Mumbai, people will go to work the next day, and the days after, and finally within a fw weeks, the dead will become only statistics, and the government will set up committiees and will wait for the reports....In the meanwhile, we will hear the stupidest reasons for the blasts - gujrat riots, general dicontent, poverty among muslims.... and the cycle will repeat...it has repeated 6 times since 1993

Dumb spirit of Mumbai - what could be more convenient for Government? Normalcy resumes Look at what happened in US - 9/11 - in its aftermath, was there normalcy? or was there the talk of spirit of NY? no. instead there was the united blasting of intelligence failures and the impotency of govt...whether they should have attacked afghanistan is a different story...Here, the govt took a long time in trying to blame the terrorists... that soft our
govt is...cant even build a national rhetoric SIMI is banned in India. What the fuck was its chief doing givin press interviews 2 days after the blasts in Mumbai? Spirit of India? no. i think it is this that makes India a soft target...

Lemme know what you guys think

yeah yeah, i know you may call me cynical, but really, i too believed till now in the 'spirit' of mumbai -- but what has that spirit given? not even false hopes that this wont repeat. coming to think of it, the above cycle that i mentioned has repeated 6 times -- so did the 'spirit' give the message to teh terrorists that mumbai will not stop come what may? no. else they
would have chosen some other targets. Infact, it presents India as a soft target...it reduces the pressure on govt to step up the security measures..."

People just never stop amazing me.

And you know what? if and when a mumbaite read this, his/her first reaction won't be "He might have a point" but would rather be "F***in b****rd how dare he abuse Mumbai and its people. Doesn't he know how great we and the city yaar. Where does he live? Iska to patta abheech katna padega"..

God help us all..

Edit: Oh! I almost forgot.. to quote someone I know.. "Why don't they understand that the city will be back to normal tomorrow morning?" .. So what man? so what? It's not about Mumbai and it's "spirit".. It's about the scores of people dead.. nobody outside Mumbai cares about its spirit. We are just happy that we live in relatively safer environs. Thank you, but please keep this "spirit" to yourself.

What my birthdate means !

2006-06-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

Your Birthdate: March 10

Independent and dominant, you tend to be the alpha dog in most situations.
You're very confident, and hardly anything ever shakes you.
Mundane tasks tend to drain you - you prefer to be making great plans.
You are quite original. When people don't "get" you, it bothers you a lot.

Your strength: Your ability to gain respect

Your weakness: Caring too much what others think

Your power color: Orange-red

Your power symbol: Letter X

Your power month: October

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Life: Update

2006-06-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

You would think that one would update his blog when he is relatively free. But no, such things do not happen. Even when the person is absolutely jobless during his weekends and should spend time constructively reading books (which he misses) and writing more, he would rather stare at his computer day and night, downloading stuff from the internet and what not.

Below you will find a post which this person had started almost 3 months ago in the heat of frustration and anger over the university. You will find that its incomplete and this is only because 3 months have been enough to change the author's viewpoints and he cannot recall the emotions of that time required to complete the post.

Speaking of downloads, this person found a new thread of timepass called "Scrubs". Its a TV series featuring a hospital and the quirky doctors and staff in it. Scrubs-ER duo is analogous to the AllyMcBeal-ThePractice. Its a really funny and touching TV series and I would recommend it to anyone who has the time for such worthless pursuits.

Speaking of pursuits, this person has started his internship in Mentor Graphics Corporation and has already completed two weeks of it. He is posted in Wilsonville, Oregon which is on the west coast below Washington and above California. The place is scenic and breathtaking. He is enjoying it a lot and can't believe his good luck in landing such a great job with a superb group. The people in the group are brilliant and make their interns very comfortable. The company knows how to take care of their employees and this person already has several testimonials to that effect. In short this person is having a great time.

Speaking of having a great time, this person rented a car last weekend (for which his company paid even when not asked for!) and decided to explore the place. He went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum and the next day, Multnomah Falls. It was amazing to see the SpruceGoose and the B2 Bomber side by side. It was an overwhelming experience. Check out the photos here. The person you will see in front of the falls is Willy Joseph who is his current roommate.

This person will not be able to visit India this summer because of his internship commitments (in other words: greed). He will be in India in december most probably.

This was meant to be an update of his life. He should be posting more. Pray for him.

Piled Higher and Deeper

2006-06-04T07:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.phdcomics.com

Never thought sad truth could be told in such a poignant manner. I guess I feel the same way when I read phdcomics as a new office-goer would feel reading Dilbert and actually relating to it for the first time.

I started reading this comic 2 days back and boy is it addictive. I have already finished 703 strips and the number 703 only because Jorge Cham is on his PhD Winter 2006 Tour and doesnt contribute to his strip on a regular basis. Most of you reading this who are not pursuing graduate studies will not relate to the comic just as I can't still relate to Dilbert. But if you wanna know what kind of life grad students lead, then there cannot be a better indicator than this strip.

Its true to the dot. The sustenance on Ramen noodles, there being no life outside the lab, professors treating you like dirt and making you feel miserable and a low life.

Procrastination - now that's a word which has become an integral part of my vocabulary after coming here. Is it grad school which does this to you or is it a phase which everyone goes through? If the answer is yes to the former alone, then why? My reasoning would be that somehow grad school doesn't enthuse and doesn't drive a person enough to overcome the constant tempatation to slack off, to not do anything and leave everything for tomorrow.

"I think I will start my own company. Anyways I don't get to implement my ideas here!", said I, to which a to-be-PhD friend of mine replied, " Then do a PhD ! You can most definitely excercise your ideas there." Can I? After encountering professors and their sick attitudes here I am least inclined to believe that.

I came in with a passion for technology, a passion to learn, and to implement my ideas. The University of Michigan has very effectively nipped any ideas/passion I may have had in its very bud. I have become this person who now detests any mention of the word tech, who will do anything to get away from it asap.

(Started writing this long back.. will finish sometime..)

An apple a day keeps the love doctor away?

2006-04-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

I know this is going to invite very sidey comments, but still.. had to put it up.. found it in one of the apples I have at home.

Guess who got a foosball table baby !!

2006-04-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

Yipppeee !!!

Yesterday, we actually got a foosball table home ! Can you believe that ?! an actual foosball table ! Our dear roommate Siddharth "Fundingwalla" Athreya gave us a pleasant surprise and bought this amazing table for $60 only. Its a steal for 60 bucks.

Anyway, we have been at it since yesterday. Hours and hours of backbreaking foosball play. The point of this post of course is to make all of you extremely jealous ! heeheehaahaahooo (evil laugh). I hope I achieved that purpose.

In any case, if any of you stay in Ann Arbor and wanna play a game or two, you are always welcome to 11B1. Yes Arnab, that means you ! :).

(Aside: notice the really cool effect when u scroll up and down and look at the bottom pic)

My blog goes public.. well.. almost..

2006-03-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

Dear All,

For some insane reason, i have decided to make a part of my blog public. I have removed the personal stuff and retained stuff which might interest general junta. Actually, i was never confident of my writing and therefore didnt want to make it public. But recently i showed it to a certain someone and she said that it was pretty decent. So, i thought - "Why not!". In any case, i felt like writing again and write stuff which public needs to know. Hence the IPO :).

Keen eyes will notice that all my posts have been put up at approximately the same time but on different dates. I wonder why... hmm.. :)

So there it is.. shekisms.blogspot.com .. yet-another-blog.. do leave comments - good or bad.. i welcome criticism and would like you to point out things which would improve my writing.. or in general if u just want to give me gaalis, thats also ok..

I want to be God...

2005-10-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

I want to be God.

Yes, thats what i said..

I want to be God.

No, thats not what i mean..

I said, "I want to be God."

Right?

Wrong.

I want to be God, not "God" !

--

I don't want to be omnipotent. That would corrupt me.

I don't want to be omniscient, for theres more joy in pursual of knowledge than in the possession of knowledge itself. I want every day, every moment to be a learning experience. I don't want to be complete.. If i was, then i would be God.

I want to be God.

I want to be all-forgiving. Coz the power to forgive Is God.

I want Joy. Joy is God.

I want to find true love. Coz then i would have found God.

Music is God. Coz it uplifts you.

Children are God. Coz they are so pure.

You are God. Coz you have so many things to teach me.

---

"Do you think you are God?"

I don't think so. But i would sure i want to be. I don't understand what's wrong with wanting to be God. God is not all about absolute power (but it may be about absolute uncorrupted power). God is about so much more. God is at peace with himself. He is one with the universe and there is nothing in this world which irks him. He is in a state of nirvana. Why wouldnt you want to be in that state?

I don't think its not possible to be God. He is not something which you cannot be. It is tough yes, (very tough i should say) but not impossible for sure. There is so much we can learn from him. Theres so much he can do. Oh what fun it must to be God!.

You may smirk. But..

I want to be God.

Leisure

2005-09-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

WH Davies

-- One of my all time fave poems

Is Music God ?

2005-09-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

I went to a ganesh pooja today. Me being me, i wasnt really interested in the pooja as such. Just wanted a break. But i guess subconsciously i was looking for peace of mind which has been robbed of me in the past few days/weeks.

After the pooja there was a performance by some guys on the flute, tabla et al. I stood there listening, half expecting to get bored to death by the bhajan music. But i guess again my subconscious knew better. I stood there listening to the music, absolutely transfixed. It wasnt like i had never heard the kind of music before... it was just that standing there, something struck me. That music is god. why? u ask. Well music gives u the kind of peace of mind which nothing else can. It uplifts your soul and makes the world rosier for that fleeting instant of time. You just lose yourself in the music and suddenly there is nothing more pure than your soul at that time. And you feel like you have discovered another world... as if God is suddenly close to you, stroking your hair and telling you - "everything will be alright my son. may the strength be yours". Now what more could one want out of life?!. Music gives you joy and being truly joyous is perhaps paying the biggest tribute to God you can. For me thats attaining nirvana.

No wonder i feel so jealous of these music guys! :)

Ta da dee..

Vrroomm.....

2005-07-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

Driving is perhaps one of the predominant vicarious pleasures a man indulges in.

And it is! (for me atleast).

When i am driving, i forget about the whole world, my worries, my everything. Its like i am the king of the world for that small amount of time, when i have control over everything and anything. Of course it helps that i have a 1.6 Litre superfast fast machine at my disposal which leaves most of the cars on road biting dust :). I guess thats what gives men the thrills with the wheels - the fact that they are in total control of a beast which is as capable of giving you thrills as it is of spreading destruction. You can use the thing like a toy and make it do whatever you wish it to do.

They say that the real character of a man comes out when he is behind the wheels. I have observed myself when i am driving and find that this theory could well have some substance. I tend to overtake and outspeed vehicles when the roads are busy and especially when it seems to be a challenge to do so, but when the roads are empty i prefer travelling at very normal speeds. Also, when i am driving a socially concerned, well mannered person steps in who gives way to people, respects all traffic laws (except the speed limits of course), drives carefully and is a model of a citizen :D. I guess i love Bangalore too much and when everybody is breaking all the laws without any concern for the city or its citizens, then i feel i have some responsibility to see that atleast i don't contribute to its woes.

But night driving is not my thing certainly. Especially when driving back to the house in the night at high speeds, when the street lights are dim and near-absent. Its almost as if i am driving blind. People crossing the roads are nothing but fleeting shadows in those zero-light conditions. Oncoming vehicles are identified only by their high-beamed head lamps and if one of them doesnt have them on, then god bless them! Its a miracle actually that i reach home everyday without any near-shaves or nerve-shattering experiences.

Driving is certainly not a pleasurable experience in the current Bangalore infrastructural conditions but its thrills are way too much to even consider giving it up.

So you are going to Amrika?!

2005-07-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

Yes i am going to "AMRIKA" ! and for the umpteenth time, on the 16th of August.

Ever since i got an admit into an "AMRIKAN" university a few months ago, i have been inundated with advice from all round the globe, especially from the whos-"who?!"s - of my family and "friends".

First it was regarding my visa appointment date, where many friends adviced me to not take it on a friday especially in chennai coz it was supposedly an "open day" when most visas got rejected and in chennai there was this feared muslim lady (in a burqa for added effect) who hardly ever issued any visas!

Of course during those times of turmoil and confusion i gobbled up all the advice i got and actually took it seriously. So when the usual twist of fate landed me with an appointment on a friday in chennai, my anxiousness knew no bounds!. As the visa date approached, my anxiousness gave way to indifference-what with all the paperwork, forms and documents!. At the visa counter, i could hardly stop myself from yawning in front of the visa officer! But as fate would have it, i landed with a visa after the easiest and shortest interviews of all times.

I should have been happy.... but......

- "So when are u leaving?" - Yes i know its a perfectly normal question to ask but not when it is asked for the 5th or the 6th time (literally) by the same person!. Its as if the guy has goes into an automaton mode upon seeing me and this is the only seemingly intelligent question he can conjure up! My response to this has of course become similarly automated now and its just "mid august" even though i now know its 16th August.

- "So have you got any scholarship?" - Now how do i respond to this question, tell the truth, be brief and save my face at the same time?! So its just - "I havent yet!" and leave the rest to their imagination.

- "Be verryy careful over there.. Amrikan women just love indian boys coz they spend a lot of money running behind white skin!" - Arre yaar after paying for my fees and the rest, i wont have enough money to even spend on my own brown skin, let alone somebody else's white skin, so i think u can safely stop worrying abt that now.

- "Ah, cho chad, Amrikan women run from indian boys there coz they become very serious after a one-night stand! What will you do ?!" - Come my dear.. have you met my "above" friend? i have a feeling you two have lots to share with each other.

As if all this unsolicited advice was not enough, loads of people have told me how i should go there, make a handsome living and never come back to India. Unfortunately, an equal number or more have told me to not even think abt staying back in the US, but pack my bags at the earliest, upon completion of my education, and come to India.

Now how do you expect a guy to go to the states with an unbiased and open mind amidst all this nonsense of advices? The killjoys take away the very basic joy of discovering things on your own.

But this constant deja vu of a conversation takes the cake:

U: "So which university have u got admission into?"
Me: "University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, uncle."
U: "Michigan.. hmm.. yes yes, thats a verrry reputed university"
[A moment of silence and deep thought]
U: "Uh... is it in Amrika ?"
Me: " !! ..........................."

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Everybody seems to be so excited about me going abroad. Why amn't i ?

Pining for Bangalore

2005-07-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

Yes i stay in Bangalore and No i dont stay in Bangalore anymore. There are 2 ways of looking at this-factual and emotional.

Factual - I now stay in a place called Sahakaranagar which is at the border of Bangalore! In fact theres a sign on the road 3 km from my house towards city which says "Bangalore City Limits!". It takes me an hour to get to anywhere in the central city and once i am out, i prefer to come back only in the night... rather-just one trip a day to the city. When i leave home its invariably - "I am going to Bangalore!". Life is at a standstill right now especially after staying in a place for 8 years from where Brigade Road was a stone's throw away!My friends are all in that area and its a pain now to travel all the way and meet them, (even though i have a car) given the Bangalore traffic. So basically it no longer feels like i am living in Bangalore.

Emotional - Bangalore is no longer what it used to be! It used to be such a lovely place with lovely weather, lovely people et al. But it has changed drastically over the past 2-3 years. I put the blame squarely on the software companies which continue to pour thousands of people (literally) into Bangalore every single year! Yes i know u must be saying - This guy doesnt care abt developement and growth. Of course i do, but not at the cost of the ruin it is causing to Bangalore!. I mean its just not the traffic which has gotten worse but everything. People have lost their manners. People coming in here from all over India refuse to imbibe the true Bangalore culture but only attempt to inculcate the pseudo-western attitudes that Bangalore is famous for....and man do they fail miserably!. Bad roads, loads of people, loads of vehicles, zero road sense, government apathy.. all these combined have made Bangalore a place where people like me no longer want to live in! I would rather move and settle down in some remote place with some peace and quiet. Not for me the Bangalore of today and the Bangalore of the yore can neve come back. So...basically it no longer feels like i am living in Bangalore...........

Sigh!