Life has been very hectic the last couple of months, especially on the work front! Too many new things to learn along with the old work I had! One fire-fighting effort after another! Was talking to a close friend today morning and then later to the big boss and suddenly feel like doing a whole lot of things (not withstanding that I am still struggling to get into any sort of a rhythm or the exponential increase in work load!)...this is one of my classic rambling post as I have just finished some high priority work I had been at since the last 10 days or so! and it is a nice feeling to have :-)
And guess what, just like that don't feel like continuing anymore :-p
-uv.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Friday, November 02, 2007
The Quake
Well, the other day was home early and was watching TV..surfing thru the channels and ended up watching the Democratic Presidential debate. Poor Ms. Clinton was out-numbered 7 is to 1!! The good part about this country is that you have such debates and people get to know what the candidates are promising to deliver! The part that is similar to India..the candidates were trying to smear each other! But that apart, it was good fun to watch, especially Hillary doing what politicians are best at...not giving an answer to the (awkward) question asked :-D
Anyways, just as it was about to end, Chandu came home and we started discussing politics and the system et al when suddenly the whole house shook. For a second I was like what the heck are people upstairs doing at 8 in the night...when suddenly Chandu screamed.."It's an earthquake..bhaag!! (Run!!)" And we both ran out...barefeet in the cold and saw a lot of other people already standing there...soon our neighbours joined us and the elderly couple were scared that their new home might not be standing any more! As it happens, we started discussing the magnitude..chandu put it at 6...turned out to be a 5.6 (yeah, he does win in Vegas :-D) and past "quake" experiences! This was the third one for me...The first was in Bombay when Bhuj(arnd 2K) was rocked and tremors were felt in Bombay as well...Our entire building shook wildly for a few seconds and then things were back to normal..Luckily for me, though I was in the loo, nothing happened..else....
The next one was in LA in 2K1! That was a minor one and hence don't remember the details...And then experienced a fourth one yesterday...actually was driving so didnt really feel it and came to know only because people from the office were going out! The surprising part was that for at least an hour afterwards, the cell phone network went down! could barely make/receive calls..though the internet seemed to be working fine :-D Chandu was quite shaken up afterwards and hence decided that we should eat outside where we met Chiruda n Chirudi and had the oiliest desi food till date!
Went for a quick dessert and once the nerves were sufficiently calm, returned home!
Net result of this? a slight change in life attitude where by I have decided to stop worrying about the future and live each day as it is the last! Let's see how long can I follow it :-D
- uv.
Anyways, just as it was about to end, Chandu came home and we started discussing politics and the system et al when suddenly the whole house shook. For a second I was like what the heck are people upstairs doing at 8 in the night...when suddenly Chandu screamed.."It's an earthquake..bhaag!! (Run!!)" And we both ran out...barefeet in the cold and saw a lot of other people already standing there...soon our neighbours joined us and the elderly couple were scared that their new home might not be standing any more! As it happens, we started discussing the magnitude..chandu put it at 6...turned out to be a 5.6 (yeah, he does win in Vegas :-D) and past "quake" experiences! This was the third one for me...The first was in Bombay when Bhuj(arnd 2K) was rocked and tremors were felt in Bombay as well...Our entire building shook wildly for a few seconds and then things were back to normal..Luckily for me, though I was in the loo, nothing happened..else....
The next one was in LA in 2K1! That was a minor one and hence don't remember the details...And then experienced a fourth one yesterday...actually was driving so didnt really feel it and came to know only because people from the office were going out! The surprising part was that for at least an hour afterwards, the cell phone network went down! could barely make/receive calls..though the internet seemed to be working fine :-D Chandu was quite shaken up afterwards and hence decided that we should eat outside where we met Chiruda n Chirudi and had the oiliest desi food till date!
Went for a quick dessert and once the nerves were sufficiently calm, returned home!
Net result of this? a slight change in life attitude where by I have decided to stop worrying about the future and live each day as it is the last! Let's see how long can I follow it :-D
- uv.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Navratri
A lot has changed since I last wrote...the GoI has scrapped the nuke deal under pressure from the useless left, I have moved back to the US of A and am swamped with a lot of work (ok this last one has not changed at all :-p )
Went to a dandiya program in Santa Clara today...In typical Indian style, reached 2 hours late...ten spent a good 15-20 mins trying to find my friend in the crowd and noise and then stood one side to watch the fun. I have long back learned not to risk playing with a lot of novices, as you can end up seriously injuring ur fingers!! Yep, watching others play is safer and more fun! Did try playing the garba for a few minutes and quickly realized how hopelessly out of shape I am. Played for barely a minute and was out of breath and pain in the legs! Thankfully, the show ended at that point :-D
Also caught up with quite a few frndz from 'SC...was good meeting them again and to see the surprise on their faces seeing me there :-) And speaking of 'SC, the football team seems to be going back to it's old days and started playing like the Indian cricket team...losing games it should have won comfortably! :-(
(Bleated) Happy Dussera!
-uv.
Went to a dandiya program in Santa Clara today...In typical Indian style, reached 2 hours late...ten spent a good 15-20 mins trying to find my friend in the crowd and noise and then stood one side to watch the fun. I have long back learned not to risk playing with a lot of novices, as you can end up seriously injuring ur fingers!! Yep, watching others play is safer and more fun! Did try playing the garba for a few minutes and quickly realized how hopelessly out of shape I am. Played for barely a minute and was out of breath and pain in the legs! Thankfully, the show ended at that point :-D
Also caught up with quite a few frndz from 'SC...was good meeting them again and to see the surprise on their faces seeing me there :-) And speaking of 'SC, the football team seems to be going back to it's old days and started playing like the Indian cricket team...losing games it should have won comfortably! :-(
(Bleated) Happy Dussera!
-uv.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Stupid Ideas!
Trust our GoI to come out with the hare-brainest of schemes...the latest in the series was charging a license fee from people for owning TV sets! The proposal was to charge Rs. 500 per year for a color tv and Rs 200 for B&W! The reason for this fee? Apparently the govt owned Prasar Bharati is not doing too well and they can't afford to pay the salaries!! Hello?? If it is a sick unit which is not making money, does it mean you are going to charge money from the people of the country? And that too for a unit which dishes out programs which no one watches? And the news it gives is controlled by the govt! If the people were really good and performing their jobs, it would have been one of the richest PSUs in the country considering the vast reach it has. But they don't want to do their job and instead make the poor citizens pay for their incompetence! Of course, there is also the practical difficulty in implementing this idea which I am not going to go into.
Then there was another of those ideas..this time from some minister in the Silicon valley of India who wants to ban horse racing in Karnataka! What good is it going to serve? How is this measure going to help the common man? The avid race goers, if such a ban came, will find a way around it and still go and bet! In fact it will end up giving rise to illegal betting syndicates! And again am not delving too much into the fact that the minister would be taking on the might of a certain Mr. Mallya, who owns race horses, is building apt towers where a flat can set you back by as much as a crore and is also a sitting Rajya Sabha MP! :-D
There are many more ideas like the ones above which I just pray never see the light of the day for the benefit of this country! The way things are going, the day may not be too far when they decide to tax the air we breathe!
-UV.
Then there was another of those ideas..this time from some minister in the Silicon valley of India who wants to ban horse racing in Karnataka! What good is it going to serve? How is this measure going to help the common man? The avid race goers, if such a ban came, will find a way around it and still go and bet! In fact it will end up giving rise to illegal betting syndicates! And again am not delving too much into the fact that the minister would be taking on the might of a certain Mr. Mallya, who owns race horses, is building apt towers where a flat can set you back by as much as a crore and is also a sitting Rajya Sabha MP! :-D
There are many more ideas like the ones above which I just pray never see the light of the day for the benefit of this country! The way things are going, the day may not be too far when they decide to tax the air we breathe!
-UV.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Sher o Shayari
gar firdaus bar ruhe zaminast, haminasto haminasto haminast!
translated into English - "if there is heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here!"
Now if you are wondering why I am suddenly jhadofying shayari - is it because I have taken to the bottle big time or something, stop right there! It is nothing of the sort! I heard this one from my friend He-Man! We were having lunch in the office cafeteria (grinmonster and the lala were also present) and I happened to have got lunch from home (yeah, me aunt was here for a few days and had managed to convince her to make lunch for me :-p) She had made theplas (can see neta drooling ;-) )
and on having a few, the above shayari flowed from He-Man's mouth! And no it's not an original nor do I know who actually wrote it. But apparently, Shah-Jahan uttered it on seeing Kashmir!
Why did I put it here? Well simply becuase I liked it :-D And totally agreed with He-Man..when you get awesome home-made food after an eternity, it does feel like you are in Heaven!
And now that normal life has resumed for me, time to go and have the same old boring cafeteria food :-(
-uv.
translated into English - "if there is heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here!"
Now if you are wondering why I am suddenly jhadofying shayari - is it because I have taken to the bottle big time or something, stop right there! It is nothing of the sort! I heard this one from my friend He-Man! We were having lunch in the office cafeteria (grinmonster and the lala were also present) and I happened to have got lunch from home (yeah, me aunt was here for a few days and had managed to convince her to make lunch for me :-p) She had made theplas (can see neta drooling ;-) )
and on having a few, the above shayari flowed from He-Man's mouth! And no it's not an original nor do I know who actually wrote it. But apparently, Shah-Jahan uttered it on seeing Kashmir!
Why did I put it here? Well simply becuase I liked it :-D And totally agreed with He-Man..when you get awesome home-made food after an eternity, it does feel like you are in Heaven!
And now that normal life has resumed for me, time to go and have the same old boring cafeteria food :-(
-uv.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
A Comparison
As expected, a lot of noise has been/is being generated over Team India's early exit from the World Cup. The first casualty has been the coach, who has quit (some say was told to quit rather than be fired!).
This set me thinking on the role of a coach and whether he should be the one to take all the blame (or at least most of it). And for comparison I used, what else but one of my other favorite sport - American football :-D
So I shall attempt to compare the role of coaches in both these games and see if it makes sense in blaming Greg Chappel for our fiasco!
For those unaware, American Football (AF) also has 11 players like cricket...the only difference being, there are special sets of people for different tasks. For e.g. there will be 11 for offense, 11 for defense and 11 for what is called special teams. But the main player is the quarterback who makes all the plays during offense. There are different coaches for each aspect of the game and there is a head coach, who decides the overall strategy. He is the one who tells the QB which play to make for a given down. So the QB informs the other 10 and they try to do what they have decided! In the end though, it is the skill and quick analysis of the situation by the QB which decides what actually happens during that play.
Now coming to cricket, the coach is there mainly to help the players focus, pick out their mistakes and help them rectify those and to formulate a strategy before the game. The captain and other senior players are also involved in all these decisions and hence it can be said that the coach's word is not final. He is there only giving suggestions! In AF, it is the coach who calls each play, decides which 11 are on the field and he even has the option of challenging an official ruling on the field! In cricket, on the other hand, the coach has no such powers! He cannot even tell the captain after each over, which bowler to bowl, where to set the field or what to do next. Basically, it is plain obvious that the role of the AF coach is played by the captain in cricket!
So coming back to the question of should Chappel have been blamed for Team India's exit...I would say not really. He never got the team he wanted; even during the WC, the final 11 was decided more by the captain and the chief selector rather than him. His suggestions were apparently ignored by the seniors and also his strategies (assuming he did have some!). Also, there is only so much a coach can do, if his players are not going to implement what he has asked them to do! Of course, same is true of AF, but there if the players do not do as told, the coach can make them warm the benches. Imagine an Indian cricket coach having the same power! I doubt one can make Tendulkar or Ganguly warm the benches for not performing!
Bottom line, we lost because our players didn't play as a team nor was there enough preparation done before the WC. And yeah, we as a nation really need to get a life and stop living our lives based on how 11 people perform on a given day!
-uv.
This set me thinking on the role of a coach and whether he should be the one to take all the blame (or at least most of it). And for comparison I used, what else but one of my other favorite sport - American football :-D
So I shall attempt to compare the role of coaches in both these games and see if it makes sense in blaming Greg Chappel for our fiasco!
For those unaware, American Football (AF) also has 11 players like cricket...the only difference being, there are special sets of people for different tasks. For e.g. there will be 11 for offense, 11 for defense and 11 for what is called special teams. But the main player is the quarterback who makes all the plays during offense. There are different coaches for each aspect of the game and there is a head coach, who decides the overall strategy. He is the one who tells the QB which play to make for a given down. So the QB informs the other 10 and they try to do what they have decided! In the end though, it is the skill and quick analysis of the situation by the QB which decides what actually happens during that play.
Now coming to cricket, the coach is there mainly to help the players focus, pick out their mistakes and help them rectify those and to formulate a strategy before the game. The captain and other senior players are also involved in all these decisions and hence it can be said that the coach's word is not final. He is there only giving suggestions! In AF, it is the coach who calls each play, decides which 11 are on the field and he even has the option of challenging an official ruling on the field! In cricket, on the other hand, the coach has no such powers! He cannot even tell the captain after each over, which bowler to bowl, where to set the field or what to do next. Basically, it is plain obvious that the role of the AF coach is played by the captain in cricket!
So coming back to the question of should Chappel have been blamed for Team India's exit...I would say not really. He never got the team he wanted; even during the WC, the final 11 was decided more by the captain and the chief selector rather than him. His suggestions were apparently ignored by the seniors and also his strategies (assuming he did have some!). Also, there is only so much a coach can do, if his players are not going to implement what he has asked them to do! Of course, same is true of AF, but there if the players do not do as told, the coach can make them warm the benches. Imagine an Indian cricket coach having the same power! I doubt one can make Tendulkar or Ganguly warm the benches for not performing!
Bottom line, we lost because our players didn't play as a team nor was there enough preparation done before the WC. And yeah, we as a nation really need to get a life and stop living our lives based on how 11 people perform on a given day!
-uv.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Inevitable
Yes, the inevitable and expected has happened - the Indian Cricket team failed to make it to the second round of the WC! As expected, there are loud protests, the usual stone throwing, effigy burning and police security outside the cricketers' homes (all this is becoming very repetitive and boring though!) The usual blame games have started, the media doing countless postmortems, and calls to sack everyone from the captain to the coach to the selectors, players - everyone! Thankfully, no one is asking for the masseuse / physio's heads :-)
I read a very good article in the print version of the STOI yesterday, where the author has stated that maybe instead of we losing, the other team won! It was the better team of the 2, better prepared and had the skill + manpower to win! I agree with the dude completely. For all the money that the Indian board has, it has failed to do the basics right and the result is there for all to see! No point in me dwelling on those as everyone in India has an opinion and knows what ails India cricket and what needs to be done (except for the people in power!).
The main point I want to make is - it is about time we as a nation stopped being so obsessed with cricket and according the status of God to our cricketers. We cannot put impossible expectations on 11 men and expect them to go out each time and thrash the opponents. And when they fail to do so, we need to accept that is just a stupid game after all and a loss is not the end of it - at least not for the aam junta! Come on people, get a life, and if you can't stop indulging vicariously through 11 men and then try to slaughter them when they fail to live upto your expectations!
-uv.
p.s. looks like playing for the country was after all not enough "inspiration" for Harbhajan Singh and the rest :-D
I read a very good article in the print version of the STOI yesterday, where the author has stated that maybe instead of we losing, the other team won! It was the better team of the 2, better prepared and had the skill + manpower to win! I agree with the dude completely. For all the money that the Indian board has, it has failed to do the basics right and the result is there for all to see! No point in me dwelling on those as everyone in India has an opinion and knows what ails India cricket and what needs to be done (except for the people in power!).
The main point I want to make is - it is about time we as a nation stopped being so obsessed with cricket and according the status of God to our cricketers. We cannot put impossible expectations on 11 men and expect them to go out each time and thrash the opponents. And when they fail to do so, we need to accept that is just a stupid game after all and a loss is not the end of it - at least not for the aam junta! Come on people, get a life, and if you can't stop indulging vicariously through 11 men and then try to slaughter them when they fail to live upto your expectations!
-uv.
p.s. looks like playing for the country was after all not enough "inspiration" for Harbhajan Singh and the rest :-D
Saturday, March 10, 2007
7 years ago!
Just read an article The Bubble Burst! according to which today was the day 7 years ago when the beginning of the end began! Yes folks, this day 7 years back, was the last time the dot-com saw heady highs. After that, it was all downhill which saw many people suffer big losses! Some lucky ones made a fortune and got out unharmed, but those who held on to their stocks dearly are regretting it till this day!
7 years hence, most companies have recovered from the dot-com burst. One of the few remaining companies was Sun Microsystems, and going by recent developments and the rise in stock price (investor confidence?), it also seems to be on the recovery path!!
Of course, today we have Google, which has changed the rules of the game and is considered one of the few serious challenges for M$ !! And there is a lot of stuff open sourced (Sun being at the forefront) and available for free! And Bangalore is now supposed to be the place where the boom is! The question I have pondered over for sometime now is whether we will see another burst - this time in the Silicon Valley of India? Will not dwell much into that one for the time being, since as they say - make hay while the sun shines ;-)
-uv.
7 years hence, most companies have recovered from the dot-com burst. One of the few remaining companies was Sun Microsystems, and going by recent developments and the rise in stock price (investor confidence?), it also seems to be on the recovery path!!
Of course, today we have Google, which has changed the rules of the game and is considered one of the few serious challenges for M$ !! And there is a lot of stuff open sourced (Sun being at the forefront) and available for free! And Bangalore is now supposed to be the place where the boom is! The question I have pondered over for sometime now is whether we will see another burst - this time in the Silicon Valley of India? Will not dwell much into that one for the time being, since as they say - make hay while the sun shines ;-)
-uv.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Inspiration!
With the Cricket WC round the corner, at least one blog on cricket is inevitable! Today morning, on way to work, was switching between radio channels - they also, like tv channels have this uncanny timing of all stations airing ads at approximately the same time! So, I settled on one ad which was about some dude recounting the eng vs ind match where eng needed 200+ runs to win on the last day...and how the crowd started chanting "chak de phatte!" and it "inspired" him and he went on to take 5-31 and help India win (all this while I am wondering who is this dude!!). Turns out to be none other than Harbhajan Singh! Then he says, it's World Cup time and what are you going to do this time to "inspire" him and the team again!
And that is where I have a problem! Is getting payed lakhs of rupees as match fee is not inspiration enough, is making crores through endorsements is not inspiration enough and above all playing for the country is not inspiration enough ??? that the idiot wants us to shout "chak de phatte" to inspire him?? I hope that is not the attitude our team has gone to the WC with! Else, coach Chappel's bold statement that we can reach the semi finals will remain just that!!
Anyways, me being another one of those die-hard patriots when it comes to cricket and esp WC, I am going to support the Indian team as usual (hoping they do not disappoint as always) :-)
As one of the many ads (obviously on cricket) says, "Come on India, deekha do!"
-uv.
p.s. in case you are wondering which product HS was endorsing, it was Seagrams!
And that is where I have a problem! Is getting payed lakhs of rupees as match fee is not inspiration enough, is making crores through endorsements is not inspiration enough and above all playing for the country is not inspiration enough ??? that the idiot wants us to shout "chak de phatte" to inspire him?? I hope that is not the attitude our team has gone to the WC with! Else, coach Chappel's bold statement that we can reach the semi finals will remain just that!!
Anyways, me being another one of those die-hard patriots when it comes to cricket and esp WC, I am going to support the Indian team as usual (hoping they do not disappoint as always) :-)
As one of the many ads (obviously on cricket) says, "Come on India, deekha do!"
-uv.
p.s. in case you are wondering which product HS was endorsing, it was Seagrams!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Disturbing!
We have this joke alias in our company where some dude keeps sending daily mails called Sip of the Day. I have accumulated over 70 such mails (shows how sincerely I work :-p). But today for a change, I decided to read the latest one and saw a link for the Anatomy of a Suicide Attack Reading the blog and seeing the pictures was very disturbing...scary! The kid shown is smiling after making the bomb, not caring about the fact that soon he himself will be blown to pieces by the bomb he has made! And the fact that there are hundreds of them around is not comforting at all!
After all, in India as well, bomb attacks have become very frequent and easy to execute. The Mumbai local train blasts and the blast on the Samjhauta Express being fresh in memory! Those were planned by terrorists, but now with such videos available on the net, it could be possible for anyone with access to materials (or some ingenuity) to make bombs and kill people! (There was a comment on the above blog that even in the US it's easy to do such things - we all know of instances where kids have managed to procure guns, go berserk and kill innocent kids including themselves!).
Once again, I may sound too pessimistic here, but off late, every time I try to be positive and optimistic about things, some thing like this comes up and the optimism quickly disappears :-(
-uv.
After all, in India as well, bomb attacks have become very frequent and easy to execute. The Mumbai local train blasts and the blast on the Samjhauta Express being fresh in memory! Those were planned by terrorists, but now with such videos available on the net, it could be possible for anyone with access to materials (or some ingenuity) to make bombs and kill people! (There was a comment on the above blog that even in the US it's easy to do such things - we all know of instances where kids have managed to procure guns, go berserk and kill innocent kids including themselves!).
Once again, I may sound too pessimistic here, but off late, every time I try to be positive and optimistic about things, some thing like this comes up and the optimism quickly disappears :-(
-uv.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Laughin all the way to the Bank!
I wish it was me! But I am talking about none other than Ms. Shetty! Meet the bollywood superstar (as per various websites, including the BBC!), who is actually disappearing from the Hindi movie scene...suddenly appears on some random show in the UK....and out of the blues, one day we read that the show is facing allegations of racial discrimination!! and whoz the victim?? u guessed it...our "superstar" of course! the public outcry that followed in the UK and India had to be seen to be believed! every politician tried to use the incidence to his/her advantage...in India, people resorted to their new favorite pastime...burning effigies!
i, in the first place, could not understand, how some idiotic people in some show calling a nobody in India, hurt the pride of a country?? How and why should that affect us in any way? How come we are so intolerant of such a thing? That too, when we come from the land of the Gandhi!! The amount of print and media coverage this event got in India and all over the world was ridiculous! The one person who benefitted the most from all this was Ms. Shetty! She got a lot of sympathy, she became an instant celebrity worldwide...shez got offers from the US, the UK, Singapore (do they make movies there???) and of course our very own bollywood! Plus, she won the show and got a cool 1 lakh pounds prize money plus another 40K appearance fee! translates to over a cool crore odd in hand after taxes (assuming our GoI does not show it's largesse and takes it's "pound" of flesh!)...and on the other hand the poor Goody female lost all her fortune which she had made because of one of the earlier versions of the show!!
coming to the point, what did the people gain from this whole episode? NOTHING!! all they ended up doing was to blow a stupid issue out of proportions, waste their hard earned money in sending sms's to ensure ms. S won her fortune and became world famous and more importantly lose a lot of valuable time over a non-issue! But that is how we are! we wont protest bad governance, lawlessness, rising prices, bad infrastructure, ridiculous taxation policies etc...but we have all the time to protest racsim, the death of a dictator 20 days after his death (so what if cost the life of an innocent 11 year old?) or the exclusion/inlcusion of some random cricketer from the Indian cricket team!
As they say, "Mera Bharat Mahaan"!!!
-uv.
i, in the first place, could not understand, how some idiotic people in some show calling a nobody in India, hurt the pride of a country?? How and why should that affect us in any way? How come we are so intolerant of such a thing? That too, when we come from the land of the Gandhi!! The amount of print and media coverage this event got in India and all over the world was ridiculous! The one person who benefitted the most from all this was Ms. Shetty! She got a lot of sympathy, she became an instant celebrity worldwide...shez got offers from the US, the UK, Singapore (do they make movies there???) and of course our very own bollywood! Plus, she won the show and got a cool 1 lakh pounds prize money plus another 40K appearance fee! translates to over a cool crore odd in hand after taxes (assuming our GoI does not show it's largesse and takes it's "pound" of flesh!)...and on the other hand the poor Goody female lost all her fortune which she had made because of one of the earlier versions of the show!!
coming to the point, what did the people gain from this whole episode? NOTHING!! all they ended up doing was to blow a stupid issue out of proportions, waste their hard earned money in sending sms's to ensure ms. S won her fortune and became world famous and more importantly lose a lot of valuable time over a non-issue! But that is how we are! we wont protest bad governance, lawlessness, rising prices, bad infrastructure, ridiculous taxation policies etc...but we have all the time to protest racsim, the death of a dictator 20 days after his death (so what if cost the life of an innocent 11 year old?) or the exclusion/inlcusion of some random cricketer from the Indian cricket team!
As they say, "Mera Bharat Mahaan"!!!
-uv.
Monday, January 08, 2007
A Year of Hope
Happy New Year everyone!! (yeah, i know itz a touch too late, but what the heck!!) Sadly, the old year didn't end on a good note, nor did the new one begin very well...and no, i am not referring to the "brilliant" performance of Team India!!
First we had the shocking discovery of remains of about 30 odd kids in Noida...cannibalism in India! what was shocking was the apathy displayed by the cops and the CM who reacted as if it was a daily affair! Just because they were the kids of the aam junta, the authorities have shown their typical don't care attitude. as someone mentioned, if it was a vip kid who had gone missing, the entire police force would have been swooning over Noida and random people would have been arrested and harassed on the basis of slightest of doubts.
Then we had an equally shocking incidence (and again the helplessness of the authorities) at the Gateway of India on new year's eve in the financial capital and my beloved city - Mumbai. Yes, it was shocking and shameful that a lady was molested by so many people in the heart of the city and the million cops standing guard did not even notice!! Stating that the revellers were drunk and that the girl invited trouble by wearing short clothes and being present at the Gateway is just not acceptable!! India is a free country and you can do as you please, but that does not mean you go and molest/eve tease women! and the excuse that they invite it just does not cut ice with me! oh and yeah, this is the same place where a girl was murdered in broad daylight and no one had tried to save her! (guess hardly any one remembers that incidence...even i had forgotten it until i read about it in the paper yest :-(
on similar lines, we had another incident a few days back, this time in the IT capital - begalooru (when will our politicans do some real work and not rename cities??). a bouncer in a pub in the heart of the city (brigade road for those who know) throws a few drunkards out who were - you guessed it - eve teasin a girl in the bar... the next thing the poor guy knows, those same drunkards are waiting for him with knives and the kill him on brigade road!!! what is this world coming to! first, there is hardly anything to do in this crappy city. you have malls, multiplexes and overcrowded bowling alleys/coffee shops/pubs for leisure/entertainment! on top of that the stupid cops go and close all hotels/cafes/pubs by 1130. and then you have such incidences where you are no longer sure if you are going to return home alive!!
(you may think i am over reacting, but i dont think so considerin the rate at which techies are being targetted and the dislike the locals have for techies!)
and the last piece of bad news - 2 rounds of inhuman killing of 60 odd people in Assam. the second one being carried out after assurances from some minister that the ULFA is a dying movement in Assam! I know now that our government has been largely neglecting this part of the country (North East) and that the army has been time and again indulging in behaviour that goes against human rights (most of this does not get reported!), but there was a peace dialogue going on and as usual our govt seems to have screwed up! And if it cannot protect it's own citizens, then what is the use? Similar things are happening in the valley as well and we are alienating all these people...
well, i know i have, as has been my attitude of late, very pessimistic about the future of India, but i dont see any signs yet of things improving any time soon! Anyways, herez still hoping that I am wrong and the country and it's people have a gr8 year ahead!
-uv.
First we had the shocking discovery of remains of about 30 odd kids in Noida...cannibalism in India! what was shocking was the apathy displayed by the cops and the CM who reacted as if it was a daily affair! Just because they were the kids of the aam junta, the authorities have shown their typical don't care attitude. as someone mentioned, if it was a vip kid who had gone missing, the entire police force would have been swooning over Noida and random people would have been arrested and harassed on the basis of slightest of doubts.
Then we had an equally shocking incidence (and again the helplessness of the authorities) at the Gateway of India on new year's eve in the financial capital and my beloved city - Mumbai. Yes, it was shocking and shameful that a lady was molested by so many people in the heart of the city and the million cops standing guard did not even notice!! Stating that the revellers were drunk and that the girl invited trouble by wearing short clothes and being present at the Gateway is just not acceptable!! India is a free country and you can do as you please, but that does not mean you go and molest/eve tease women! and the excuse that they invite it just does not cut ice with me! oh and yeah, this is the same place where a girl was murdered in broad daylight and no one had tried to save her! (guess hardly any one remembers that incidence...even i had forgotten it until i read about it in the paper yest :-(
on similar lines, we had another incident a few days back, this time in the IT capital - begalooru (when will our politicans do some real work and not rename cities??). a bouncer in a pub in the heart of the city (brigade road for those who know) throws a few drunkards out who were - you guessed it - eve teasin a girl in the bar... the next thing the poor guy knows, those same drunkards are waiting for him with knives and the kill him on brigade road!!! what is this world coming to! first, there is hardly anything to do in this crappy city. you have malls, multiplexes and overcrowded bowling alleys/coffee shops/pubs for leisure/entertainment! on top of that the stupid cops go and close all hotels/cafes/pubs by 1130. and then you have such incidences where you are no longer sure if you are going to return home alive!!
(you may think i am over reacting, but i dont think so considerin the rate at which techies are being targetted and the dislike the locals have for techies!)
and the last piece of bad news - 2 rounds of inhuman killing of 60 odd people in Assam. the second one being carried out after assurances from some minister that the ULFA is a dying movement in Assam! I know now that our government has been largely neglecting this part of the country (North East) and that the army has been time and again indulging in behaviour that goes against human rights (most of this does not get reported!), but there was a peace dialogue going on and as usual our govt seems to have screwed up! And if it cannot protect it's own citizens, then what is the use? Similar things are happening in the valley as well and we are alienating all these people...
well, i know i have, as has been my attitude of late, very pessimistic about the future of India, but i dont see any signs yet of things improving any time soon! Anyways, herez still hoping that I am wrong and the country and it's people have a gr8 year ahead!
-uv.
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