Hello everyone!!! u might be wondering what the hell happened to the Metalhead..
Well!! I have been very busy and there were lots of things happening outside the blogosphere in my life and have been having virtually no time to put up any post..
Two weeks after posting my previous post, I shifted abroad on an assignment to work on my client site. This is my first time away from home. The time here has been a mixture of many emotions, excitement, sorrow, disgust, fun, elation, relief and many more...
I haven't returned back home yet at the time of writing this post. It has been a roller-coaster ride so far and
promises more..
This has made me think a lot about how life is shaped around decisions and how these decisions are made. All in all it is interesting how the mystery a.k.a life unfolds.
One thing for sure, it is not prudent to ponder about decisions that were made, rather live with it...
This hiatus has come to an end. Keep on watching this space for more thoughts in da near future.
P.S : I had started to write this post in november.. am publishing it 2 months later..
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Friday, September 15, 2006
Retribution - A short story
Disclaimer : All characters in this story are fictious and Any resemblance is a coincidence
Present :
I was in a daze, not knowing what had happened. All I can feel is the warmth on my fingers. As I looked down, I could see my trustworthy sidekick, a .44 Magnum dangling on my fingers. As I looked around, the carnage we had created was very much visible. I can see more blood than the water all around me.
Now I know how Retribution feels like. But what drove me here? My life and my memories just flashed across my eyes............
3 years ago :
All along in my life, I wanted to be a cop. I always felt that there was an aura surrounding a cop and wanted to feel that aura and enjoy it. I cleared every test that was thrown at me and was one of the most successful cops in my Precinct. Then came the decision that I had to take. "Pablo"
Pablo was the best hitman available in the World and they wanted someone to take him down. Why they chose me was, is and will be the biggest mystery. Was it my willingness to take chances or my only chance at glory.
I happily accepted this assignment. It involved a lot of real danger and more importantly, the highest glory which a cop could get. I started following the trails and tried to get close to Pablo. But it did not work out as well as I had hoped. He somehow managed to escape every time around. The problem was that we never had any clue on his appearance or a picture of his and we were literally shooting in the dark.
12 months ago :
I was losing my patience . This assignment is killing me. It has been two years. I had given my all, sacrificing everything, yet never came anywhere close to Pablo. But today was unlike every other day, we got a tip-off on Pablo's son's whereabouts. This was my biggest oportunity to nab Pablo using his son as a bait.
We entered La Samba club and started moving around with the crowd. Looking the rampant drug abuse by youth there, I felt sick to my stomach, but carried on to find Pablo's son who was in a corner obiviously on a high. There was froth coming out of his mouth and we realised that he had a drug overdose and hurried him to the hospital. But, he died on the way and so were our hopes of finding Pablo.
I felt bad for what happened to Pablo's son. This was the worst way to waste his life. But I didn't realize that this incident had more to it.
2 Weeks ago:
I got a call on my cell phone and it was my Precinct captain. He asked me to come home immediately. There was a sense of urgency in his call. I didn't understand the reason for this. Fearing the worst, I came back home.
It felt like a nightmare. There was smoke and ash all around and a bunch of debris at a place where my home used to stand. Everything's gone!!! I didn't know what to say or do... I never felt so numb in my life .. All my loved ones were gone... I heard my Captain whisper something into my ears.... Just one word.. Pablo.....
How did he know it was me?? How did he get to my family??.. I could not think at all...
2 Hours ago:
I got the information that Pablo was in the Jus Warehouse today, closing a big deal.. This was the chance I was waiting for... One on One.. Man-o-Man.. I wanted him so badly that I did not even take a police unit with me... None knew that I was going there...
I saw the guard stand outside the Warehouse.. I didn't warn him, no chance in hell .. I took him down with a well-aimed shot.... a hole-in-one in his heart..... Slowly I opened the door and noticed that there were four guys who were chatting.... I took out my other pistol and they were just other corpses in this battle.... This went on and on and on.... I could fathom what hatred and a desire for retribution can do...They can turn a man into a dangerous beast, which I was that moment...
Finally, I saw the man himself, "Pablo" is what they call him... the same "they" who asked me to take him down...
I could not believe my eyes, it was..... BANG!!!! a hole in my arm.... just before I could gather my senses.. WHACK!! my head never hurt like this before... I didn't want to lose my consciousness, but this was a losing battle and the world became a blank...
I don't know how long I was out cold, but woke up looking at Pablo... He was none other than my Captain.. or did I hallucinate so??? No not at all. It was all a bloody setup....They took me for a ride.... They ruined my career, my life, why?? I didn't want any answers to these questions.. All I wanted was retribution....
I don't know what took over my senses, the next thing I remember is firing my guns and everything was over...
Now I sit there, watching the carnage... Is retribution worth all this?? All of a sudden, the door opened and came another guy, whom I could not recognise. His last words were "It's been a pleasure".......
Present :
I was in a daze, not knowing what had happened. All I can feel is the warmth on my fingers. As I looked down, I could see my trustworthy sidekick, a .44 Magnum dangling on my fingers. As I looked around, the carnage we had created was very much visible. I can see more blood than the water all around me.
Now I know how Retribution feels like. But what drove me here? My life and my memories just flashed across my eyes............
3 years ago :
All along in my life, I wanted to be a cop. I always felt that there was an aura surrounding a cop and wanted to feel that aura and enjoy it. I cleared every test that was thrown at me and was one of the most successful cops in my Precinct. Then came the decision that I had to take. "Pablo"
Pablo was the best hitman available in the World and they wanted someone to take him down. Why they chose me was, is and will be the biggest mystery. Was it my willingness to take chances or my only chance at glory.
I happily accepted this assignment. It involved a lot of real danger and more importantly, the highest glory which a cop could get. I started following the trails and tried to get close to Pablo. But it did not work out as well as I had hoped. He somehow managed to escape every time around. The problem was that we never had any clue on his appearance or a picture of his and we were literally shooting in the dark.
12 months ago :
I was losing my patience . This assignment is killing me. It has been two years. I had given my all, sacrificing everything, yet never came anywhere close to Pablo. But today was unlike every other day, we got a tip-off on Pablo's son's whereabouts. This was my biggest oportunity to nab Pablo using his son as a bait.
We entered La Samba club and started moving around with the crowd. Looking the rampant drug abuse by youth there, I felt sick to my stomach, but carried on to find Pablo's son who was in a corner obiviously on a high. There was froth coming out of his mouth and we realised that he had a drug overdose and hurried him to the hospital. But, he died on the way and so were our hopes of finding Pablo.
I felt bad for what happened to Pablo's son. This was the worst way to waste his life. But I didn't realize that this incident had more to it.
2 Weeks ago:
I got a call on my cell phone and it was my Precinct captain. He asked me to come home immediately. There was a sense of urgency in his call. I didn't understand the reason for this. Fearing the worst, I came back home.
It felt like a nightmare. There was smoke and ash all around and a bunch of debris at a place where my home used to stand. Everything's gone!!! I didn't know what to say or do... I never felt so numb in my life .. All my loved ones were gone... I heard my Captain whisper something into my ears.... Just one word.. Pablo.....
How did he know it was me?? How did he get to my family??.. I could not think at all...
2 Hours ago:
I got the information that Pablo was in the Jus Warehouse today, closing a big deal.. This was the chance I was waiting for... One on One.. Man-o-Man.. I wanted him so badly that I did not even take a police unit with me... None knew that I was going there...
I saw the guard stand outside the Warehouse.. I didn't warn him, no chance in hell .. I took him down with a well-aimed shot.... a hole-in-one in his heart..... Slowly I opened the door and noticed that there were four guys who were chatting.... I took out my other pistol and they were just other corpses in this battle.... This went on and on and on.... I could fathom what hatred and a desire for retribution can do...They can turn a man into a dangerous beast, which I was that moment...
Finally, I saw the man himself, "Pablo" is what they call him... the same "they" who asked me to take him down...
I could not believe my eyes, it was..... BANG!!!! a hole in my arm.... just before I could gather my senses.. WHACK!! my head never hurt like this before... I didn't want to lose my consciousness, but this was a losing battle and the world became a blank...
I don't know how long I was out cold, but woke up looking at Pablo... He was none other than my Captain.. or did I hallucinate so??? No not at all. It was all a bloody setup....They took me for a ride.... They ruined my career, my life, why?? I didn't want any answers to these questions.. All I wanted was retribution....
I don't know what took over my senses, the next thing I remember is firing my guns and everything was over...
Now I sit there, watching the carnage... Is retribution worth all this?? All of a sudden, the door opened and came another guy, whom I could not recognise. His last words were "It's been a pleasure".......
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Why me??? - A short story
Disclaimer : All events and characters in this story are fictional and any resemblance is pure coincidence
I was driving back home after a long day's work. The same old routine everyday. Listening to Metallica's Fade to Black just like I do every other day. But was this just another day? All of a sudden there was a small child on the road just ahead of my car.
The next thing I remember is my aching head, legs and back and some voices asking me whether I was fine. Some people managed to carry me. That is the last thing I remember, before I went onto blissful sleep. I never slept like this in my life so far.
One fine day, I woke up from the sleep. I dunno how long I was asleep. But this awakening was very much different from the usual. I felt very good, brisker than ever, fitter than ever and got up from the bed without much fuss. I have always been a person, who never looked back in my life. Maybe this was the reason why I didn't want to look back at the place from where I got up.
I headed towards home, sweet home. I missed home all this time. I was looking forward to go back home. I got into the bus. It was the quietest and the most peaceful ride I have ever had in a bus. As the bus neared home, I was feeling very happy. But I didn't know that this happiness would be short-lived.
As I entered home, I saw all the people who mattered the most to me. My parents, my brother and sister and of course, my lovely wife. They seemed to be unaware of my presence at the door. Even though the door was open, I thought that I would surprise them with my presence by ringing the door bell. As I was about to ring the bell, I heard my mother's voice asking my brother to shut the door. He came to the door and slammed the door on my face.
I was shocked and terribly sad that my brother shut the door on my face and that too on the behest of my mother. With anger and dejection, I left home and went to my best buddy's place. Maybe he'll understand me. I saw him inside his house and thought that I could blurt out everything that happened. As I entered his house, he was sitting on the couch reading a newspaper. I sat next to him and started talking to him. To my surprise, he completely ignored me. Oh no! not him too!!!!
Are they angry at me? What is the reason for this immense hatred towards me? Now I remember!! What happened to that child that day? Did I kill the child with my car? I shudder at the possibility that I might have killed an innocent child. Why should this happen to me? God, of all people Why Me??? How will I convince them that it was not intentional?? Why me?? Why should I be in this mess??
I didn't know where to go next. I felt that I had to bide some time before convincing my family and friend. I went to the library nearby. I was in no mood to read anything. I took a random newspaper and started flipping through the pages. I stopped at a headline which read "YOUTH KILLED IN A CAR CRASH". I started thinking that the traffic situation has worsened to a point of no return. I didn't want to read further as the news about accidents makes me feel miserable. I just flipped throught the pages and started thinking on how to tackle the current situation.
I stood up and made up my mind that I'm going to get myself out of this situation. I went back home and walked in through the door. I saw a lady and her child talking to my parents. The child's face looked familiar. As I was wondering who the child was, I heard my wife crying in our room. I went into our room and started consoling her. She started crying more than ever and she got up in a jiffy and moved out of the room. I was taken aback by this. I didn't know how to react. I saw the same newspaper with the same headline as I had seen in the library.What a coincidence!! I started to read this news item.
It read " A 28-year old Software Engineer was killed in a car crash when he tried to avoid a child on the road" and the photo of the car was published. I looked at the photo. Something seemed very familiar in this picture. I saw the plate of the car and it struck me like a lightning. It was my car!!!!!
Now I remember, who the child talking to my parents was. It was the same child on the road. As I moved to the living room, I saw a huge photo of mine on the mantle, and my wife standing next to it. As I went closer, I heard the strange lady say amidst sobs "It was my mistake all along. I asked her to stay at the Super Market entrance as I went in to get an extra bag. She wandered onto the road by herself. If it was not for your son, I might have lost her forever. I'm really sorry that your son had to sacrifice himself for my daughter. I would always be grateful to your family".
My family was not disappointed by my actions. In fact, they are and will be proud of my last action for a long time.
All along I was asking the question "Why me", now I know why it was me.
I was driving back home after a long day's work. The same old routine everyday. Listening to Metallica's Fade to Black just like I do every other day. But was this just another day? All of a sudden there was a small child on the road just ahead of my car.
The next thing I remember is my aching head, legs and back and some voices asking me whether I was fine. Some people managed to carry me. That is the last thing I remember, before I went onto blissful sleep. I never slept like this in my life so far.
One fine day, I woke up from the sleep. I dunno how long I was asleep. But this awakening was very much different from the usual. I felt very good, brisker than ever, fitter than ever and got up from the bed without much fuss. I have always been a person, who never looked back in my life. Maybe this was the reason why I didn't want to look back at the place from where I got up.
I headed towards home, sweet home. I missed home all this time. I was looking forward to go back home. I got into the bus. It was the quietest and the most peaceful ride I have ever had in a bus. As the bus neared home, I was feeling very happy. But I didn't know that this happiness would be short-lived.
As I entered home, I saw all the people who mattered the most to me. My parents, my brother and sister and of course, my lovely wife. They seemed to be unaware of my presence at the door. Even though the door was open, I thought that I would surprise them with my presence by ringing the door bell. As I was about to ring the bell, I heard my mother's voice asking my brother to shut the door. He came to the door and slammed the door on my face.
I was shocked and terribly sad that my brother shut the door on my face and that too on the behest of my mother. With anger and dejection, I left home and went to my best buddy's place. Maybe he'll understand me. I saw him inside his house and thought that I could blurt out everything that happened. As I entered his house, he was sitting on the couch reading a newspaper. I sat next to him and started talking to him. To my surprise, he completely ignored me. Oh no! not him too!!!!
Are they angry at me? What is the reason for this immense hatred towards me? Now I remember!! What happened to that child that day? Did I kill the child with my car? I shudder at the possibility that I might have killed an innocent child. Why should this happen to me? God, of all people Why Me??? How will I convince them that it was not intentional?? Why me?? Why should I be in this mess??
I didn't know where to go next. I felt that I had to bide some time before convincing my family and friend. I went to the library nearby. I was in no mood to read anything. I took a random newspaper and started flipping through the pages. I stopped at a headline which read "YOUTH KILLED IN A CAR CRASH". I started thinking that the traffic situation has worsened to a point of no return. I didn't want to read further as the news about accidents makes me feel miserable. I just flipped throught the pages and started thinking on how to tackle the current situation.
I stood up and made up my mind that I'm going to get myself out of this situation. I went back home and walked in through the door. I saw a lady and her child talking to my parents. The child's face looked familiar. As I was wondering who the child was, I heard my wife crying in our room. I went into our room and started consoling her. She started crying more than ever and she got up in a jiffy and moved out of the room. I was taken aback by this. I didn't know how to react. I saw the same newspaper with the same headline as I had seen in the library.What a coincidence!! I started to read this news item.
It read " A 28-year old Software Engineer was killed in a car crash when he tried to avoid a child on the road" and the photo of the car was published. I looked at the photo. Something seemed very familiar in this picture. I saw the plate of the car and it struck me like a lightning. It was my car!!!!!
Now I remember, who the child talking to my parents was. It was the same child on the road. As I moved to the living room, I saw a huge photo of mine on the mantle, and my wife standing next to it. As I went closer, I heard the strange lady say amidst sobs "It was my mistake all along. I asked her to stay at the Super Market entrance as I went in to get an extra bag. She wandered onto the road by herself. If it was not for your son, I might have lost her forever. I'm really sorry that your son had to sacrifice himself for my daughter. I would always be grateful to your family".
My family was not disappointed by my actions. In fact, they are and will be proud of my last action for a long time.
All along I was asking the question "Why me", now I know why it was me.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Multiple Personality .... Disorder????
One of my all time favorite movies is this Tamil movie by name "Anniyan" (a.k.a "Aparichitudu" in Telugu and "Aparichit" in hindi.. In case, u don't know these languages.. Don't worry I'll tell wat's so special abt this movie ;-) )... I dunno how many times I've seen this movie. Everytime I see this movie, it brings on a new dimension......
So what's this movie all about, that makes me blog about??? There's this portrayal of a condition known as Multiple Personality Disorder , a.k.a MPD..... Yes, u are right, the same condition which is mentioned in Sidney Sheldon's "Tell me your dreams" ,which is a brilliant book...
In case u haven't see this movie, here's the brief outline.....
The movie's about a meek person by name "Ambi", who can't stand the carelessness of people and feels bad that he can't make any difference to the society. Without his knowledge, he transforms into "Anniyan", who punishes the people, who are careless... The story is all about the protogoanist's brush with the law machinery and the movie ends brilliantly, one of the best I've seen....
After seeing this movie umpteen times, it just occurred to me, that this condition is prevalent among every person... Interesting .. ain't it?? First thing, people will vehemontly deny this...Let me prove that this exists.... Just read on!!!
There are many personalities within a single person, a humorous personality, an angry soul (something like our very own angry young man ;-) ), a romantic personality and many others... It can be seen that every person has his/her own mood changes... Now isn't that something like a personality change .... People do have fantasies .. isn't that wanting to turn into some other personality, which they are unable to.....
Let me take a test subject....
As usual, our friendly neighbourhood Software Engineer... somehow, I just can't do without dragging in Software Engineers :-P.. Before u jump to conclusions, Let me re-iterate that I'm also a Software Engineer :D.....
Early morning, this guy is lazy as a sloth .... During the day, he's a professional, talking and behaving like a well-groomed individual.. Catch him with a close friend, he is as humorous as Drew Carrey.... When he's speaking with his parents or someone from his family, he as quiet as a mouse... When with his girl-friend or wife, he is as romantic as Romeo.. When drunk, he's more unpredictable than a monkey.....
Wow!!! isn't this a multiple personality????
I can quote many examples like this... When friends go out on a road trip, where a lot of booze flows and they do get drunk and go crazy.... When the same people go out with their folks the very same evening,they seem like some body else..... Isn't this strange??? The only difference between MPD and this syndrome is that, people are very much aware of changes in their personality ...... Is this voluntary or involuntary??
So what's your personality today???
So what's this movie all about, that makes me blog about??? There's this portrayal of a condition known as Multiple Personality Disorder , a.k.a MPD..... Yes, u are right, the same condition which is mentioned in Sidney Sheldon's "Tell me your dreams" ,which is a brilliant book...
In case u haven't see this movie, here's the brief outline.....
The movie's about a meek person by name "Ambi", who can't stand the carelessness of people and feels bad that he can't make any difference to the society. Without his knowledge, he transforms into "Anniyan", who punishes the people, who are careless... The story is all about the protogoanist's brush with the law machinery and the movie ends brilliantly, one of the best I've seen....
After seeing this movie umpteen times, it just occurred to me, that this condition is prevalent among every person... Interesting .. ain't it?? First thing, people will vehemontly deny this...Let me prove that this exists.... Just read on!!!
There are many personalities within a single person, a humorous personality, an angry soul (something like our very own angry young man ;-) ), a romantic personality and many others... It can be seen that every person has his/her own mood changes... Now isn't that something like a personality change .... People do have fantasies .. isn't that wanting to turn into some other personality, which they are unable to.....
Let me take a test subject....
As usual, our friendly neighbourhood Software Engineer... somehow, I just can't do without dragging in Software Engineers :-P.. Before u jump to conclusions, Let me re-iterate that I'm also a Software Engineer :D.....
Early morning, this guy is lazy as a sloth .... During the day, he's a professional, talking and behaving like a well-groomed individual.. Catch him with a close friend, he is as humorous as Drew Carrey.... When he's speaking with his parents or someone from his family, he as quiet as a mouse... When with his girl-friend or wife, he is as romantic as Romeo.. When drunk, he's more unpredictable than a monkey.....
Wow!!! isn't this a multiple personality????
I can quote many examples like this... When friends go out on a road trip, where a lot of booze flows and they do get drunk and go crazy.... When the same people go out with their folks the very same evening,they seem like some body else..... Isn't this strange??? The only difference between MPD and this syndrome is that, people are very much aware of changes in their personality ...... Is this voluntary or involuntary??
So what's your personality today???
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Music in Metalhead's eyes.. oops!! ears
Guess who's back in the blogosphere?? Yes, it's the average dude with the mix 'n' match of random thoughts.... If u haven't guessed the person yet, then u need to scoll to the top of this post ;-).... Yep, it's me :-D
What is Music?? How will a person define music??? Some might say soothing sound..... some strange out-of-the-world person would categorise the sound of chainsaw cutting wood as music as well.... Looks like people can debate on this topic forever. It's said that Humans are social animals... I would go further ahead and say that humans are also musical animals.... I don't think there are people who live without listening to music. In fact, it has been proved scientifically that plants also listen to music....
Hey, why am I posting some random information about music? This is just a prelude to my post. It's said in English Grammar that a good passage consists of an Introduction, Body and a conclusion... So here I am, trying my best to follow this... Oops!!! this is another distraction.... Let's come back to the topic....As the title says, I'll talking about my perception on various music genres.
Please note that this is my personal opinion and I'm not trying to impose my views on any of the readers....
Classical Music : A person needs to be classy to understand this type of music. This is the foundation to all the music being created. In fact, when a person learns music, he / she has to learn classical music. There are no 2 ways abt it. In fact, most of the successful Indian singers are accomplished classical musicians.. Now that's food for thought....
Pop : I'm not a huge fan of pop...Let's not talk abt it... I include remixes alongwith this genre... My view is that I'll listen to pop.. in case if it's the only music left in the universe.. I like a few tracks here and there... but those are far and few.....
Hiphop and Rap : I like the videos... Who doesn't like them :-P... But music-wise, some are very good and some are ok-ish... As long as u don't get offended by lyrics of most of the tracks.. I don't think many people will dislike this genre of music...
Rock, Metal, Heavy Metal, Death Metal and any music that's heavy ;-) : I guess my profile name gives away my preference.... :D.... Yes, I love rock music.. Many people perceive it to be only noise.. Believe me, if u haven't listened to rock, u have missed something in life.. So, what are u waiting for??? My all time favorite rock band is METALLICA.
What is Music?? How will a person define music??? Some might say soothing sound..... some strange out-of-the-world person would categorise the sound of chainsaw cutting wood as music as well.... Looks like people can debate on this topic forever. It's said that Humans are social animals... I would go further ahead and say that humans are also musical animals.... I don't think there are people who live without listening to music. In fact, it has been proved scientifically that plants also listen to music....
Hey, why am I posting some random information about music? This is just a prelude to my post. It's said in English Grammar that a good passage consists of an Introduction, Body and a conclusion... So here I am, trying my best to follow this... Oops!!! this is another distraction.... Let's come back to the topic....As the title says, I'll talking about my perception on various music genres.
Please note that this is my personal opinion and I'm not trying to impose my views on any of the readers....
Classical Music : A person needs to be classy to understand this type of music. This is the foundation to all the music being created. In fact, when a person learns music, he / she has to learn classical music. There are no 2 ways abt it. In fact, most of the successful Indian singers are accomplished classical musicians.. Now that's food for thought....
Pop : I'm not a huge fan of pop...Let's not talk abt it... I include remixes alongwith this genre... My view is that I'll listen to pop.. in case if it's the only music left in the universe.. I like a few tracks here and there... but those are far and few.....
Hiphop and Rap : I like the videos... Who doesn't like them :-P... But music-wise, some are very good and some are ok-ish... As long as u don't get offended by lyrics of most of the tracks.. I don't think many people will dislike this genre of music...
Rock, Metal, Heavy Metal, Death Metal and any music that's heavy ;-) : I guess my profile name gives away my preference.... :D.... Yes, I love rock music.. Many people perceive it to be only noise.. Believe me, if u haven't listened to rock, u have missed something in life.. So, what are u waiting for??? My all time favorite rock band is METALLICA.
Indian movies' music scene is sort of a cocktail of different genres of music... It combines every possible genre of music, that too in a single track.... That's what makes this music scene unique... My favorite songs are those which have a touch of classical and Rock music.. which makes the numbers less than others....
There's no rights or wrongs in a person's taste for music... and I believe that no music is bad.. it's only that an individual likes or dislikes a particular type of music..... There are a few things about a person, which should not be criticised and preference for music is one among them....
So, what are u waiting for?? Go grab ur Music Player or something and put on some music.. After all, there is no background score in real life ;-)....
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Black Tuesday :-((
The week gone by was terrible... One of the worst in my life... These kind of times really help us appreciate all the good times we have in our life... Of course, I'm referring to the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, which occurred in the Suburban trains, which is the life-line of the city...
It was a cowardly act, to say the least..I don't want to get into a rheoteric, just like our politicians do... My heartfelt condolences to the blast victims, on the behalf of the whole nation, who took the brunt of this cowardly attack... and I also wish a speedy recovery for those who were injured in this...
My only worry is that all these people's lives should not go in vain.... Just imagine.... the people who got killed were somebody's father, somebody's mother, somebody's child, somebody's sibling,some family's sole bread winner....What did the people who did this heinous act benefit from this??? .. I shudder to think about it...
Will the compensation bring these people back alive?.. No not at all....
The only way these people's life can be accounted for is by bringing those f@#ked up @S$holes who were behind the attack, to justice and provide a deterrent to those people who think they can mess around with Indians like this again... Pardon me for my strong language.. but these perpetrators of terror deserve much more than this.. This is just to bring out mine and many other's frustrations out due to our nation's inability shown at the moment to react....
But this brings out another question.... What's the value of an Indian's life?? Why is it that we don't value our own life?? I have come across many examples, where people don't realise their own life's value.. Like the drunk dude who tried to cross a National Highway, where cars were zooming at more than 100 kmph.. Like the cyclist on a national highway, who decides to take a turn in the middle of the road, without worrying about presence of other vehicles, whch are travelling at a much higher speed... and many other examples.....
I was speaking to a colleague of mine after the news about the blasts were out and he had pointed out that there was absolutely no value for an Indian's life due to our population. He had also mentioned that people will enquire about the safety of the people they know and they would carry on with their work..... This really hit me hard... How many of us worry about fellow Indians geting killed in Kashmir everyday?? We brush it as every day news and carry on with our life...
Just look at what happened after 9/11 .. the country was right behind the victims and against the perpetrators of terror and they support their army... Is the value of an Indian's life less than an American's life?? Just look at India now, the government has only condemned the attacks... Comon guys, every person in his / her right mind will condemn these acts.. We need more concrete action...
The million dollar question is whether there will be any action???
Kudos to the Police Department and the Mumbaikars.. I salute their spirit and am proud that I'm a fellow countrymen of heroes like these people... You need not go to the movies to see a hero, these people who helped out others are the real heroes.... But can we pre-empt attacks like this in the future.. Sadly, I don't see this with the overworked and underpaid policemen and the Intelligence agency, which is seemingly used more effectively to snoop on political rivals rather than the terrorists....
I have been concentrating on the problem, rather than the solution... So following are a few suggestions from my side that can be taken to check this growing global menace..
1. Modernise the police.. Pay the policemen better salaries and provide better insurance benefits than the peanuts they are getting now and improve the social status of our cops, and offer them all the modern equipment and support necessary to perform efficiently... After all our cops are our pride.. This would also attract lots of young talent to this profession.... I dunno how feasible this might be.. But I believe that these reforms have to take place.....
2. Eradicate poverty.. This has been the slogan of our Five Year plans decades before I was born and still continues to be.. Sadly, we don't seem to be making any progress on this front.. This is very important as people from the lower strata of our society are more susceptible to brain washing techniques used by our nation's enemies (read the messed up terrorists a.k.a f@#$ing cowards)
3.Target the leaders of these terrorist organizations and eliminate them...I know a bit about these guys, I expect our law-enforcement machinery to know lots mora about these peoplw.... they don't deserve to be treated as humans, as they are targetting humanity....Please don't think that I'm against any religion... I believe that every religion preaches the ways to salvation, violence against innocent people is not one among them.... I know that I'm 200% right and people in their right mind will agree with me...... The violence being perpetrated in the name of religion must stop... Without the leaders, no organization can exist..
4. Remove Coruption... ths again is one among the reasons for the current state of our nation... The only way this can be stopped is by the citizens......
Last but not the least, show those people what we are made of and develop our nation and become the best in the world...
Sadly, the public memory is short and this tragedy might be lost in the time alongwith other tragedies and wounds will heal... I urge all of us to not to let this wound heal, as we wouldn't want the death of our brethren due to a gruesome, psychotic act of some cowards to fizzle out in vain....
It was a cowardly act, to say the least..I don't want to get into a rheoteric, just like our politicians do... My heartfelt condolences to the blast victims, on the behalf of the whole nation, who took the brunt of this cowardly attack... and I also wish a speedy recovery for those who were injured in this...
My only worry is that all these people's lives should not go in vain.... Just imagine.... the people who got killed were somebody's father, somebody's mother, somebody's child, somebody's sibling,some family's sole bread winner....What did the people who did this heinous act benefit from this??? .. I shudder to think about it...
Will the compensation bring these people back alive?.. No not at all....
The only way these people's life can be accounted for is by bringing those f@#ked up @S$holes who were behind the attack, to justice and provide a deterrent to those people who think they can mess around with Indians like this again... Pardon me for my strong language.. but these perpetrators of terror deserve much more than this.. This is just to bring out mine and many other's frustrations out due to our nation's inability shown at the moment to react....
But this brings out another question.... What's the value of an Indian's life?? Why is it that we don't value our own life?? I have come across many examples, where people don't realise their own life's value.. Like the drunk dude who tried to cross a National Highway, where cars were zooming at more than 100 kmph.. Like the cyclist on a national highway, who decides to take a turn in the middle of the road, without worrying about presence of other vehicles, whch are travelling at a much higher speed... and many other examples.....
I was speaking to a colleague of mine after the news about the blasts were out and he had pointed out that there was absolutely no value for an Indian's life due to our population. He had also mentioned that people will enquire about the safety of the people they know and they would carry on with their work..... This really hit me hard... How many of us worry about fellow Indians geting killed in Kashmir everyday?? We brush it as every day news and carry on with our life...
Just look at what happened after 9/11 .. the country was right behind the victims and against the perpetrators of terror and they support their army... Is the value of an Indian's life less than an American's life?? Just look at India now, the government has only condemned the attacks... Comon guys, every person in his / her right mind will condemn these acts.. We need more concrete action...
The million dollar question is whether there will be any action???
Kudos to the Police Department and the Mumbaikars.. I salute their spirit and am proud that I'm a fellow countrymen of heroes like these people... You need not go to the movies to see a hero, these people who helped out others are the real heroes.... But can we pre-empt attacks like this in the future.. Sadly, I don't see this with the overworked and underpaid policemen and the Intelligence agency, which is seemingly used more effectively to snoop on political rivals rather than the terrorists....
I have been concentrating on the problem, rather than the solution... So following are a few suggestions from my side that can be taken to check this growing global menace..
1. Modernise the police.. Pay the policemen better salaries and provide better insurance benefits than the peanuts they are getting now and improve the social status of our cops, and offer them all the modern equipment and support necessary to perform efficiently... After all our cops are our pride.. This would also attract lots of young talent to this profession.... I dunno how feasible this might be.. But I believe that these reforms have to take place.....
2. Eradicate poverty.. This has been the slogan of our Five Year plans decades before I was born and still continues to be.. Sadly, we don't seem to be making any progress on this front.. This is very important as people from the lower strata of our society are more susceptible to brain washing techniques used by our nation's enemies (read the messed up terrorists a.k.a f@#$ing cowards)
3.Target the leaders of these terrorist organizations and eliminate them...I know a bit about these guys, I expect our law-enforcement machinery to know lots mora about these peoplw.... they don't deserve to be treated as humans, as they are targetting humanity....Please don't think that I'm against any religion... I believe that every religion preaches the ways to salvation, violence against innocent people is not one among them.... I know that I'm 200% right and people in their right mind will agree with me...... The violence being perpetrated in the name of religion must stop... Without the leaders, no organization can exist..
4. Remove Coruption... ths again is one among the reasons for the current state of our nation... The only way this can be stopped is by the citizens......
Last but not the least, show those people what we are made of and develop our nation and become the best in the world...
Sadly, the public memory is short and this tragedy might be lost in the time alongwith other tragedies and wounds will heal... I urge all of us to not to let this wound heal, as we wouldn't want the death of our brethren due to a gruesome, psychotic act of some cowards to fizzle out in vain....
This post is dedicated to all the people who were affected directly / indirectly by these attacks.... We are with u and understand ur pain.... This is also to salute the never-say-die spirit of our Indian brethren in Mumbai..... Jai Hind!!!!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Learning from Unusual Sources
The promise in my previous post was that I'll review / try to review every F1 race going forward. After a disastrous sporting weekend, where Brazil lost to France in the World cup quarter final and both the McLaren cars crashed out at the opening lap in the US Grand Prix, the last thing I want to post about is sports.
One of my all time favorite cartoon characters Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is back on Cartoon Network and this series, which is being shown is amazing... Hey, what has this got to do with the topic??
The COO of the organization I work with, emphasise on "Learning from unusual sources" . Taking that into account, I'll be taking some of my favourite comic / animation characters and try to find out some characteristics which can be really useful. This's not a philosophical post by any measure, it's just to show that we can learn from "Unusual" sources, which in this case will be cartoon/Animation characters.
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : They have the most amazing attitude. According to them, being different is no sin and they appreciate that difference.Everyone is different in their own way, we need to appreciate the fact that we are different and others are different from us.
In spite of their regular skirmishes with the Shredder, they still enjoy their life to the fullest. But they beat Shredder virtually everytime. This can be related to the problems we face in everyday life.. We should never get bogged down by it and affect our life , but at the same time, we'll have to face it and triumph over it just like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
Another aspect which impressed me was the amount of respect they have for their Sensei Splinter.. This should prompt us to respect our teachers and mentors
2.Batman : I like Batman more than Superman, just bcoz he's a normal human being and has no special powers. He leads the Justice League ;-), even though people with special powers are present... He shows that a person need not have any special powers to do good.. Only hard work is required.. BTW, it also helps to be a billionaire ;-)... He's also brilliant and a quick thinker.. this shows that only special powers donot serve any purpose, a person needs to always think thru situations and come out trumps...
3.Superman: He has a lot of Super Powers, but chose to use them for the good. If he had wanted, he could have ruled the world, but he chose to do good.... He shows the importance of choice in life... Our choice should always be such that it doesn't harm let alone help others...
4.Justice League: Individual powers help, but to face bigger obstacles, team work is very much necessary.. This is applicable to everything in life... Problems in family should be face by family members together as a team. Similarly in work environment, especially in software companies, team work is of paramount importance...
This is just the tip of the iceberg.. We can learn much more from every comic / animation character... Who said that comics / cartoons are only for kids?? I think that person has never watched any of them...
One of my all time favorite cartoon characters Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is back on Cartoon Network and this series, which is being shown is amazing... Hey, what has this got to do with the topic??
The COO of the organization I work with, emphasise on "Learning from unusual sources" . Taking that into account, I'll be taking some of my favourite comic / animation characters and try to find out some characteristics which can be really useful. This's not a philosophical post by any measure, it's just to show that we can learn from "Unusual" sources, which in this case will be cartoon/Animation characters.
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : They have the most amazing attitude. According to them, being different is no sin and they appreciate that difference.Everyone is different in their own way, we need to appreciate the fact that we are different and others are different from us.
In spite of their regular skirmishes with the Shredder, they still enjoy their life to the fullest. But they beat Shredder virtually everytime. This can be related to the problems we face in everyday life.. We should never get bogged down by it and affect our life , but at the same time, we'll have to face it and triumph over it just like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
Another aspect which impressed me was the amount of respect they have for their Sensei Splinter.. This should prompt us to respect our teachers and mentors
2.Batman : I like Batman more than Superman, just bcoz he's a normal human being and has no special powers. He leads the Justice League ;-), even though people with special powers are present... He shows that a person need not have any special powers to do good.. Only hard work is required.. BTW, it also helps to be a billionaire ;-)... He's also brilliant and a quick thinker.. this shows that only special powers donot serve any purpose, a person needs to always think thru situations and come out trumps...
3.Superman: He has a lot of Super Powers, but chose to use them for the good. If he had wanted, he could have ruled the world, but he chose to do good.... He shows the importance of choice in life... Our choice should always be such that it doesn't harm let alone help others...
4.Justice League: Individual powers help, but to face bigger obstacles, team work is very much necessary.. This is applicable to everything in life... Problems in family should be face by family members together as a team. Similarly in work environment, especially in software companies, team work is of paramount importance...
This is just the tip of the iceberg.. We can learn much more from every comic / animation character... Who said that comics / cartoons are only for kids?? I think that person has never watched any of them...
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Two botched pitstops and a crucial mistake
It's been sometime since my last post. Been a bit busy these days :-( .. Well here I am with this post.
Here onwards, I'll try to review every Formula 1 race here. Please don't expect this to be objective. Since I'm a hardcore McLaren fan, u'll find the review a bit more McLaren-centric than usual.. If u want objective reviews, this might be the place for u....
So, here we go on with the review of the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix....
This took place at Montreal @ Giles Villeneuve Circuit... One of the most challenging circuits in the Formula 1 and is very well known for the proximity of concrete walls to the track.. and infamous for cars crashing onto the wall...
The qualifying went on smoothly without any untoward incidents and the top 7 were
1. Fernando Alonso
2. Giancarlo Fisichella
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Jarno Trulli
5. Nico Rosberg
6. Michael Schumacher
7. Juan Pablo Montoya
The race started with a mistake by Fisi and Kimi made use of it to jump to second.. Meanwhile Montoya overtook Schumacher and had an amazing on-track duel with Rosberg, which seemed good Television viewing while it lasted... As feared, there was a touch between the duo and Rosberg crashed into the wall , thus bringing the safety car out.... Montoya had to go to the pit lane for a front wing replacement and joined at the tail end of the cars.
As the race restarted, Alonso, Kimi and Fisi pulled away from the others and Schumacher was stuck behind Jarno Trulli for a long time.... Then came the news that Fisi had been awarded a Drive-Thru penalty for a jump-start and after the drive-thru, he joined the race behind Trulli and Schumacher... Meanwhile, difference between Alonso and Kimi was hardly a second for the first stint in the race and the duo had a lead over 20 seconds on Trulli and others.. Alonso came in to the pits and Kimi took over the lead for the first time in the race (WOW!!!!!).... and Alonso rejoined the race at second position just ahead of Trulli... Two laps later, Kimi went for his pits and we were all expecting a brilliant pit stop from McLaren as usual........
Sadly, the pit crew bungled and the right rear tyre wasn't fixed correctly and Kimi lost around 4 seconds and joined the race 5 seconds behind Alonso....
Meanwhile, Montoya was driving aggressively and overtaking people brilliantly and jumped upto 12th place from last.. and then he hit the wall on the last corner and wrecked his car.. Race over for Montoya :-((
As usual, Schumacher overtook Trulli at the end of the first round of pit stops and jumped to third .... Schumacher was also lucky that his car did not suffer any damage, when he hit the wall during one of the laps in this period...
... and the order was Alonso, Kimi and Schumacher.
The race continued and by the end of the second stint, Alonso was ahead of Kimi by around 7 seconds and Kimi was ahead of Schumacher by 20-odd seconds.. Then Alonso went for his second and final pit stop, which was a clean one and joined the track 5 seconds behind Kimi.. and then in the next lap, Kimi went for his second and final pit stop..
Tragedy strck here for the second time and Kimi's engine stalled and had to be re-started, thus ensuring that Alonso will lose only by either crashing into the wall or a mechanical failure , both of which seemed unlikely .... and Kimi joined the track just ahead of Schumacher, who was yet to go for his second pit stop... Thus , ensued a cat and mouse game for 5-odd laps before Schumacher went for his second and final pit stop.. This was again a brilliant one by Ferrari and Schumacher joined the race 20-odd seconds behind Kimi....
After the second round of pit stops, the gaps were
Alonso - Kimi 15-odd seconds
Kimi-Schumacher 20-odd seconds
This went on for some time.. Thus prompting everyone to think that this race would end in a predictable manner.....
But Jacques Villeneuve had other plans... While trying to lap Ralf Schumacher, who was having a miserable day, he lost grip and crashed into the infamous wall.... thus bringing about the safety car... This happened with 10 laps to go.. After the debris were cleared, there were 8 laps of excitement...
There were a few backmarkers between Alonso and Kimi and also between Kimi and Schumacher .. and this made the restart very crucial... Alonso had an amazing restart and opened a 3 second gap between himself and Kimi, whereas Schumacher made up time and reduced his gap to Kimi to 1.5 seconds....
On the penultimate lap, Kimi made a mistake in the U-Turn and Schumacher overtook him to take the second place :-(( ...... and Schumacher reduced his gap to Alonso to a mere 1.5 seconds at the chequered flag.. At the end, Alonso won his fouth straight Grand Prix and seems really baffling why he's making the move to McLaren next year, especially when Renault is performing so brilliantly...
The top five in this race were :
1. Fernando Alonso
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Giancarlo Fisichella
5. Felippe Massa
For McLaren & Kimi, this race was the story of "TWO BOTCHED PITSTOPS AND A CRUCIAL MISTAKE"...
After the excitement of this race, I'm really looking forward to the US Grand Prix @ Indy this weekend... Watch this space for the review ;-)
Here onwards, I'll try to review every Formula 1 race here. Please don't expect this to be objective. Since I'm a hardcore McLaren fan, u'll find the review a bit more McLaren-centric than usual.. If u want objective reviews, this might be the place for u....
So, here we go on with the review of the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix....
This took place at Montreal @ Giles Villeneuve Circuit... One of the most challenging circuits in the Formula 1 and is very well known for the proximity of concrete walls to the track.. and infamous for cars crashing onto the wall...
The qualifying went on smoothly without any untoward incidents and the top 7 were
1. Fernando Alonso
2. Giancarlo Fisichella
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Jarno Trulli
5. Nico Rosberg
6. Michael Schumacher
7. Juan Pablo Montoya
The race started with a mistake by Fisi and Kimi made use of it to jump to second.. Meanwhile Montoya overtook Schumacher and had an amazing on-track duel with Rosberg, which seemed good Television viewing while it lasted... As feared, there was a touch between the duo and Rosberg crashed into the wall , thus bringing the safety car out.... Montoya had to go to the pit lane for a front wing replacement and joined at the tail end of the cars.
As the race restarted, Alonso, Kimi and Fisi pulled away from the others and Schumacher was stuck behind Jarno Trulli for a long time.... Then came the news that Fisi had been awarded a Drive-Thru penalty for a jump-start and after the drive-thru, he joined the race behind Trulli and Schumacher... Meanwhile, difference between Alonso and Kimi was hardly a second for the first stint in the race and the duo had a lead over 20 seconds on Trulli and others.. Alonso came in to the pits and Kimi took over the lead for the first time in the race (WOW!!!!!).... and Alonso rejoined the race at second position just ahead of Trulli... Two laps later, Kimi went for his pits and we were all expecting a brilliant pit stop from McLaren as usual........
Sadly, the pit crew bungled and the right rear tyre wasn't fixed correctly and Kimi lost around 4 seconds and joined the race 5 seconds behind Alonso....
Meanwhile, Montoya was driving aggressively and overtaking people brilliantly and jumped upto 12th place from last.. and then he hit the wall on the last corner and wrecked his car.. Race over for Montoya :-((
As usual, Schumacher overtook Trulli at the end of the first round of pit stops and jumped to third .... Schumacher was also lucky that his car did not suffer any damage, when he hit the wall during one of the laps in this period...
... and the order was Alonso, Kimi and Schumacher.
The race continued and by the end of the second stint, Alonso was ahead of Kimi by around 7 seconds and Kimi was ahead of Schumacher by 20-odd seconds.. Then Alonso went for his second and final pit stop, which was a clean one and joined the track 5 seconds behind Kimi.. and then in the next lap, Kimi went for his second and final pit stop..
Tragedy strck here for the second time and Kimi's engine stalled and had to be re-started, thus ensuring that Alonso will lose only by either crashing into the wall or a mechanical failure , both of which seemed unlikely .... and Kimi joined the track just ahead of Schumacher, who was yet to go for his second pit stop... Thus , ensued a cat and mouse game for 5-odd laps before Schumacher went for his second and final pit stop.. This was again a brilliant one by Ferrari and Schumacher joined the race 20-odd seconds behind Kimi....
After the second round of pit stops, the gaps were
Alonso - Kimi 15-odd seconds
Kimi-Schumacher 20-odd seconds
This went on for some time.. Thus prompting everyone to think that this race would end in a predictable manner.....
But Jacques Villeneuve had other plans... While trying to lap Ralf Schumacher, who was having a miserable day, he lost grip and crashed into the infamous wall.... thus bringing about the safety car... This happened with 10 laps to go.. After the debris were cleared, there were 8 laps of excitement...
There were a few backmarkers between Alonso and Kimi and also between Kimi and Schumacher .. and this made the restart very crucial... Alonso had an amazing restart and opened a 3 second gap between himself and Kimi, whereas Schumacher made up time and reduced his gap to Kimi to 1.5 seconds....
On the penultimate lap, Kimi made a mistake in the U-Turn and Schumacher overtook him to take the second place :-(( ...... and Schumacher reduced his gap to Alonso to a mere 1.5 seconds at the chequered flag.. At the end, Alonso won his fouth straight Grand Prix and seems really baffling why he's making the move to McLaren next year, especially when Renault is performing so brilliantly...
The top five in this race were :
1. Fernando Alonso
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Giancarlo Fisichella
5. Felippe Massa
For McLaren & Kimi, this race was the story of "TWO BOTCHED PITSTOPS AND A CRUCIAL MISTAKE"...
After the excitement of this race, I'm really looking forward to the US Grand Prix @ Indy this weekend... Watch this space for the review ;-)
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Hatred
Most of u might have heard abt Orkut(TM). I'm also an active member of Orkut(TM) and love to explore orkut(TM) whenever i'm free. Now what has Orkut(TM) got to do with the topic? No, this is not an ad for orkut(TM), but something which i have noticed and feel is prevalent in the real world.
I have seen many communities on Orkut(TM), which was very disturbing. Why was it so disturbing? Because, here follows the names of some of them
F##k India
Shitt on India
Anti- Pakistan
Pakistan sucks
Chennai sucks
Bangalore sucks
and many others
Why do we have so much hatred among us??
If this is the case in the virtual world of Orkut(TM), where we find most of the educated and cultured people, just imagine what it might be in the real world.
What exactly is "Hatred" ?
It's a negative emotion. It's an extreme emotion of dislike. I'm no psychiatrist, but would like to dwelve a bit on emotions.
There a few thing people want to do and love to participate or watch, etc..... This is known as "Like". The opposite of above is "Dislike". If a person starts "disliking" something a bit too much, this turns into "HATRED".
More than the cause, I'm very much concerned about the effect, this in turn increases the violence, lot of negative emotions and in short turns life into hell and the place into a hell-hole.
Life is short, why waste it on hating something / someone. What will a person gain by hating something / someone?? Beats me!!!!
I think there are lot of things in life which necessarily doesn't make sense to me.Looks like I keep on discovering these things day in and day out. I think this will join the list alongwith the beards (Please read my earlier post to know more about this ;-) )
I have seen many communities on Orkut(TM), which was very disturbing. Why was it so disturbing? Because, here follows the names of some of them
F##k India
Shitt on India
Anti- Pakistan
Pakistan sucks
Chennai sucks
Bangalore sucks
and many others
Why do we have so much hatred among us??
If this is the case in the virtual world of Orkut(TM), where we find most of the educated and cultured people, just imagine what it might be in the real world.
What exactly is "Hatred" ?
It's a negative emotion. It's an extreme emotion of dislike. I'm no psychiatrist, but would like to dwelve a bit on emotions.
There a few thing people want to do and love to participate or watch, etc..... This is known as "Like". The opposite of above is "Dislike". If a person starts "disliking" something a bit too much, this turns into "HATRED".
More than the cause, I'm very much concerned about the effect, this in turn increases the violence, lot of negative emotions and in short turns life into hell and the place into a hell-hole.
Life is short, why waste it on hating something / someone. What will a person gain by hating something / someone?? Beats me!!!!
I think there are lot of things in life which necessarily doesn't make sense to me.Looks like I keep on discovering these things day in and day out. I think this will join the list alongwith the beards (Please read my earlier post to know more about this ;-) )
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
The R-Word
We have been seeing the R-word everyday on most of the news channels and newspapers. It doesn't require a Sherlock Holmes to figure out what I'm posting about.
Yes, you are absolutely right.
Disclaimer : The below post is my individual opinion, where I have tried to be as objective as possible. In case, I offend some one or community unkowingly, please pardon me.
The root cause for this started centuries back, in the name of "Varnashrama", which was totally misinterpreted by a generation or two in the middle and voila! here we are.
Instead of dwelling in the past, let us look at the present and more importantly the future.
What is development? Development is one which affects the whole nation as a whole and not only a section of its populace. Well, has India developed? Yes and No ...
We still have the social divide and the Urban - Rural divide. We are seeing a section of the society prospering and reaping the fruits of most of the development.
This was precisely the reason why the "R-word" was brought into our country... So that development reaches all the sections of the society. This was supposed to be a short term measure.
Has the R-Word worked in our society?
The answer is a feeble "yes" during the first few years and an emphatic "No" these days.
The main reason it has failed in recent times, is due to it missing the intended audience.
The general perception among people is that this facility is being used by generations belonging to the same family, just like ancestral property.
Is it reaching the person in the village, who prepared for the exams studying in the street light?
The perception is NO.
If this person belongs to that section of society, which does not have this facility, what will be his chances?? hmmm ... this is food for thought as well.....
As all of us know, that there's a move to extend this facility in higher education , especially in premier institutions of Excellence and there are a lot of protests against this move.
Are these protests justified?? Maybe. Apparently this move seems to have been done with an ulterior motive, other than "Social Justice" and also perceived to be done to satisfy one man's ego. But the manner in which the protestors have been mocking other professions, which is against the "Dignity of Labour" doesn't help a bit. It makes us think that "Social Equality" is still a dream.
Does any political party have any guts to review this policy and study its impact? I don't think so. If I'm running a political party, why would I do something which will impact my electoral chances. Seems very logical .....
The point that half of the facilities provided are not being used indicates that something's not happening at a fundamental level. Primary and Secondary schools have the largest number of drop-outs belonging to these parts of the society. Is this facility working at all??
My personal opinion to strengthen our society is :
1. Provide extra care to people belonging to these parts of the society and ensure that they have sufficient perks and interest to complete primary and secondary education.
2. This facility should be there till the graduation level, while ensuring that only deserving people from these parts of the society avail this facility.
3. Extend this facility to those people from the other parts of the Society, who are economically weak and deserving
4. This facility should not exist in post-graduation and above. Deserving candidates from these parts of the society should be awarded scholarships and provided the best possible coaching so that they can compete with the best and showcase their talents.
5. In case some part of these facilities are not used by the intended audience, allow other people to use them.
But why might be the reasons for this honorable intention to not succeed as expected?
1. Non-participation of educated masses in electoral process . I have seen people in my native village getting excited about voting in elections and they do it in huge numbers. What about my fellow urban-dwellers ?? Most of the educated people prefer to doze off in the afternoon, rather vote. Thankfully, this trend is changing these days.
2. Illiteracy and ignorance prevalent in our society. People in some villages still believe that people who passed away 2 decades back, are still alive as they appear on TV.
3. Rampant corruption . I'm not blaming the officials, but us the citizens, who started this trend as we were lazy to stand in queues and started this.
4. One thing I'm certain about, is that we have inherited the "Divide and Rule" concept from the British. The perception is that this is being practised very effectively, thus dividing us Indians on many fronts. "Unity in Diversity" in some occassions seems to be an illusion :-( ...
I know that these issues will not get solved by just posting a blog. But, these can be solved if we the Youth of India stand up and get counted.
In terms of a software project, this project's objective is "Development", the client is our Country and the team's strength is "One billion" and our Prez is the Delivery Manager. Let's deliver this project without any slippages and ensure that the finished product is of a very high quality.
We are the people who'll be bureaucrats, politicians, ministers and Presidents in the future and I believe that it's only us who can ensure development to all parts of the society albeit the R-Word.
Jai Hind !!!!
May all our dreams come true and this great country become the greatest in this Universe.
Yes, you are absolutely right.
Disclaimer : The below post is my individual opinion, where I have tried to be as objective as possible. In case, I offend some one or community unkowingly, please pardon me.
The root cause for this started centuries back, in the name of "Varnashrama", which was totally misinterpreted by a generation or two in the middle and voila! here we are.
Instead of dwelling in the past, let us look at the present and more importantly the future.
What is development? Development is one which affects the whole nation as a whole and not only a section of its populace. Well, has India developed? Yes and No ...
We still have the social divide and the Urban - Rural divide. We are seeing a section of the society prospering and reaping the fruits of most of the development.
This was precisely the reason why the "R-word" was brought into our country... So that development reaches all the sections of the society. This was supposed to be a short term measure.
Has the R-Word worked in our society?
The answer is a feeble "yes" during the first few years and an emphatic "No" these days.
The main reason it has failed in recent times, is due to it missing the intended audience.
The general perception among people is that this facility is being used by generations belonging to the same family, just like ancestral property.
Is it reaching the person in the village, who prepared for the exams studying in the street light?
The perception is NO.
If this person belongs to that section of society, which does not have this facility, what will be his chances?? hmmm ... this is food for thought as well.....
As all of us know, that there's a move to extend this facility in higher education , especially in premier institutions of Excellence and there are a lot of protests against this move.
Are these protests justified?? Maybe. Apparently this move seems to have been done with an ulterior motive, other than "Social Justice" and also perceived to be done to satisfy one man's ego. But the manner in which the protestors have been mocking other professions, which is against the "Dignity of Labour" doesn't help a bit. It makes us think that "Social Equality" is still a dream.
Does any political party have any guts to review this policy and study its impact? I don't think so. If I'm running a political party, why would I do something which will impact my electoral chances. Seems very logical .....
The point that half of the facilities provided are not being used indicates that something's not happening at a fundamental level. Primary and Secondary schools have the largest number of drop-outs belonging to these parts of the society. Is this facility working at all??
My personal opinion to strengthen our society is :
1. Provide extra care to people belonging to these parts of the society and ensure that they have sufficient perks and interest to complete primary and secondary education.
2. This facility should be there till the graduation level, while ensuring that only deserving people from these parts of the society avail this facility.
3. Extend this facility to those people from the other parts of the Society, who are economically weak and deserving
4. This facility should not exist in post-graduation and above. Deserving candidates from these parts of the society should be awarded scholarships and provided the best possible coaching so that they can compete with the best and showcase their talents.
5. In case some part of these facilities are not used by the intended audience, allow other people to use them.
But why might be the reasons for this honorable intention to not succeed as expected?
1. Non-participation of educated masses in electoral process . I have seen people in my native village getting excited about voting in elections and they do it in huge numbers. What about my fellow urban-dwellers ?? Most of the educated people prefer to doze off in the afternoon, rather vote. Thankfully, this trend is changing these days.
2. Illiteracy and ignorance prevalent in our society. People in some villages still believe that people who passed away 2 decades back, are still alive as they appear on TV.
3. Rampant corruption . I'm not blaming the officials, but us the citizens, who started this trend as we were lazy to stand in queues and started this.
4. One thing I'm certain about, is that we have inherited the "Divide and Rule" concept from the British. The perception is that this is being practised very effectively, thus dividing us Indians on many fronts. "Unity in Diversity" in some occassions seems to be an illusion :-( ...
I know that these issues will not get solved by just posting a blog. But, these can be solved if we the Youth of India stand up and get counted.
In terms of a software project, this project's objective is "Development", the client is our Country and the team's strength is "One billion" and our Prez is the Delivery Manager. Let's deliver this project without any slippages and ensure that the finished product is of a very high quality.
We are the people who'll be bureaucrats, politicians, ministers and Presidents in the future and I believe that it's only us who can ensure development to all parts of the society albeit the R-Word.
Jai Hind !!!!
May all our dreams come true and this great country become the greatest in this Universe.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Just another day in the life of another software Engineer
Bangalore, the city of Gardens, lakes,opportunities and empowerment....
This was the hoarding put up by BMP (Bangalore Mahanagara Palike), on a flyover, which I come across everyday while driving to office. The penultiate point hit me hard. As usual, if something hits me hard (other than stones, sticks, and other physical stuff :-P ) I blog about it. So here comes another one.
What are all the opportunities present here?? The answer is one everyone knows. The software industry has boomed big time out here and this is the Silicon valley of India. So what does all these info lead to? How's this related to the topic in question? Well, this was a not-so short intro for this topic.
I am J.A.S.E (Just Another Software Engineer) frm namma Bengalooru. After a sample size of 10-15 fellow J.A.S.E's cutting across namma bengalooru, this is how a typical day with J.A.S.E will look like :
Disclaimer : The situations explained here occur very regularly and any resemblance with non-J.A.S.E(s) is a pure coincidence ( I mean it)
1) Time of the day : 7 - 8 AM or sometimes even 9 AM -----
After pressing the "Snooze" button on his Nokia nobile phone umpteen times, the subject realises that he has missed the ideal time to wake up in the morning and knows that he will be late to office. Rush to office as soon as possible. He also realises that his boss had scheduled a client call @ 9.30 AM.... Run J.A.S.E Run
2) Time of the day: 11 AM to 12 PM -----
After reaching the office, subject finally turns on his workstation. The J.A.S.E opens all the required files for the work planned (?) for the day. Then, he realises that it's time for Coffee / Tea / Boost / Bournvita / Horlicks/ whatever ... RUN J.A.S.E RUN again
This was the hoarding put up by BMP (Bangalore Mahanagara Palike), on a flyover, which I come across everyday while driving to office. The penultiate point hit me hard. As usual, if something hits me hard (other than stones, sticks, and other physical stuff :-P ) I blog about it. So here comes another one.
What are all the opportunities present here?? The answer is one everyone knows. The software industry has boomed big time out here and this is the Silicon valley of India. So what does all these info lead to? How's this related to the topic in question? Well, this was a not-so short intro for this topic.
I am J.A.S.E (Just Another Software Engineer) frm namma Bengalooru. After a sample size of 10-15 fellow J.A.S.E's cutting across namma bengalooru, this is how a typical day with J.A.S.E will look like :
Disclaimer : The situations explained here occur very regularly and any resemblance with non-J.A.S.E(s) is a pure coincidence ( I mean it)
1) Time of the day : 7 - 8 AM or sometimes even 9 AM -----
After pressing the "Snooze" button on his Nokia nobile phone umpteen times, the subject realises that he has missed the ideal time to wake up in the morning and knows that he will be late to office. Rush to office as soon as possible. He also realises that his boss had scheduled a client call @ 9.30 AM.... Run J.A.S.E Run
2) Time of the day: 11 AM to 12 PM -----
After reaching the office, subject finally turns on his workstation. The J.A.S.E opens all the required files for the work planned (?) for the day. Then, he realises that it's time for Coffee / Tea / Boost / Bournvita / Horlicks/ whatever ... RUN J.A.S.E RUN again
3) Time of the day: 1PM to 2 PM ------
Time for lunch... The less spoken about the taste of the food (if the subject is eating food from the cafeteria), the better. Our subject also spends his time gossipping with other J.A.S.E's.... Talk J.A.S.E Talk
4) Time of the day:2 PM to 4 PM ------
Finally, involved with work... The subject receives a few calls from a bank / insurance company for credit card / debit card / visiting card (oops! pls ignore this)... Our subject is disturbed and he's also feeling very sleepy (after-effects of the cafeteria food)... So back to Coffee / Tea / Boost / Bournvita / Horlicks/ whatever .... Walk J.A.S.E Walk
5) Time of the day: 5 PM to 9PM ------
Finally, the work is done and gotta go home.. Our subject prays that he doesn't have to re-do the same piece of code tomorrow...Crawl J.A.S.E Crawl
6) Time of the day: 10PM to midnight and beyond
Our subject has multiple options
a) Night show movie
b) Pubs / Disco (only till 11.30 PM)
c) Yahoo! messenger @ home
d) Orkut
and so on............ Sleep (?) J.A.S.E Sleep(???)
This vicious cycle continues on and on and on and on...................................
This is the life of an average J.A.S.E ......
This blog is dedicated to all the budding and wanna-be J.A.S.E's ;-)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Difficulties in finding a topic
Well, looks like it's been a long time since I blogged. I was in search for a good topic to blog on.
It was very difficult to pick one. After some days and a lot of thought, I realised that I had one amazing topic to write about and this topic materialized.
Very often, people think a lot about something a lot and miss the very obvious. This happens a lot when I used to crack PJs( Poor Jokes - I will need a separate blog to explain why this sentence is in past tense. Will post that sometime in the future).
The punchlines involved in the PJs will usually state the very obvious. Looks like I have deviated a lot from the topic ;-).
Coming back to the topic in hand. Some of my attempts to find a topic included :
1) Looking for an inspiration, just like my previous topic. Unfortunately, could not find one
2) Haven't seen any movie recently worth mentioning. This was one of the reasons which led to my first topic
3) Tried to learn from life. I feel that there is a lot to learn from life and every leason cannot be blogged. Especially some of the really private ones :-) ....
4) Out of desparation, asked a few people around for some good topic. I got some really good suggestions and some not-so good suggestions.
Neither of this worked out and here I'm finally writing about the difficulties associated with finding a good topic to write about.
What are the characteristics of a good topic?
From what I realized during my short span of blogging, topics have to be either
1. Entertaining
2. Thought-provoking
3. Different
4. Non-controversial
So the most difficult part in selecting a topic that meets at least most of the above criteria..
Finally, I'm stuck and am not getting a good topic to blog about :-( .......
The saying "There is always a light at the end of a long dark tunnel" holds good here. My only hope is that the light does not turn out to be that of a speeding train...
Good day everyone... Thanks a lot for reading my blogs... Will blog on some interesting topic very soon .... after all life gets very interesting as days pass by...
It was very difficult to pick one. After some days and a lot of thought, I realised that I had one amazing topic to write about and this topic materialized.
Very often, people think a lot about something a lot and miss the very obvious. This happens a lot when I used to crack PJs( Poor Jokes - I will need a separate blog to explain why this sentence is in past tense. Will post that sometime in the future).
The punchlines involved in the PJs will usually state the very obvious. Looks like I have deviated a lot from the topic ;-).
Coming back to the topic in hand. Some of my attempts to find a topic included :
1) Looking for an inspiration, just like my previous topic. Unfortunately, could not find one
2) Haven't seen any movie recently worth mentioning. This was one of the reasons which led to my first topic
3) Tried to learn from life. I feel that there is a lot to learn from life and every leason cannot be blogged. Especially some of the really private ones :-) ....
4) Out of desparation, asked a few people around for some good topic. I got some really good suggestions and some not-so good suggestions.
Neither of this worked out and here I'm finally writing about the difficulties associated with finding a good topic to write about.
What are the characteristics of a good topic?
From what I realized during my short span of blogging, topics have to be either
1. Entertaining
2. Thought-provoking
3. Different
4. Non-controversial
So the most difficult part in selecting a topic that meets at least most of the above criteria..
Finally, I'm stuck and am not getting a good topic to blog about :-( .......
The saying "There is always a light at the end of a long dark tunnel" holds good here. My only hope is that the light does not turn out to be that of a speeding train...
Good day everyone... Thanks a lot for reading my blogs... Will blog on some interesting topic very soon .... after all life gets very interesting as days pass by...
Friday, March 10, 2006
Love Failure and obsession with beards
Whenever I had decided to grow a beard, I came across many ridiculous comments from different people.
Some of the really good ones are :
1. Are you going to Sabarimalai (especially in the month of May?? I don't think the temple is open during May)??
2. Don't you have enough money to go for a shave??
3. Are the shops which sell shaving razors closed??
4. Did you have a love failure??
The fourth question usually strikes me. Why should guys grow a beard if they had a love failure?? What will girls do if they had a love failure (as they can't grow beards, maybe they might grow their hair)???
What's this "LOVE FAILURE" concept??
This has been really troubling me for a long time (ever since my facial hair started growing).
As far as I can understand, a guy and a girl start liking / loving each other and long to spend time together. One fine day, they split due to some reason or the other. They feel sad about it. I think this is what is called or termed as "Love Failure". This will bring in a lot of bitterness and sadness to the individuals concerned.
Still my question lingers on and on... How can you associate beards with love failure.
Many great people had beards, but does that mean they had "love failure" during their lifetime.
Looks like this will still remain an unsolved mystery for times to come. Hopefully someone can come up with an answer.
Meanwhile, watch this place, I might finally solve this.
Some of the really good ones are :
1. Are you going to Sabarimalai (especially in the month of May?? I don't think the temple is open during May)??
2. Don't you have enough money to go for a shave??
3. Are the shops which sell shaving razors closed??
4. Did you have a love failure??
The fourth question usually strikes me. Why should guys grow a beard if they had a love failure?? What will girls do if they had a love failure (as they can't grow beards, maybe they might grow their hair)???
What's this "LOVE FAILURE" concept??
This has been really troubling me for a long time (ever since my facial hair started growing).
As far as I can understand, a guy and a girl start liking / loving each other and long to spend time together. One fine day, they split due to some reason or the other. They feel sad about it. I think this is what is called or termed as "Love Failure". This will bring in a lot of bitterness and sadness to the individuals concerned.
Still my question lingers on and on... How can you associate beards with love failure.
Many great people had beards, but does that mean they had "love failure" during their lifetime.
Looks like this will still remain an unsolved mystery for times to come. Hopefully someone can come up with an answer.
Meanwhile, watch this place, I might finally solve this.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Rang De Basanti
"Rang De Basanti" is one movie which stands out in recent times. It leaves an impact on the audience as they are leaving the movie hall.
What is it all about? It's about our country and the youth, the so-called "Generation Y".
How relevant it is to our present times?
It is very relevant. We, Indians by nature are very easy-going kind of people. That's one of the reasons the world loves Indians very much. The problem is when we start taking everything easy. A typical Indian's attitude is "It hasn't happened to me, so why should I give a damn".
"Rang De Basanti" captures this attitude and shows it on the screen. Everyone of us can identify ourselves with the protogoanists in the first half and some part of the second half. It reminds me a lot about my college days, where we had a group of friends and used to have fun and not worried about anything.
We do read a lot about various incidents on the newspaper everyday. We just forget that as we carry on with our lives.It strikes us only when we are affected directly.
This is portrayed brilliantly in the movie, where the protogoanists are hit hard, when their friend dies and is labelled as an incompetent pilot.
The movie certainly does plant a lot of thoughts into our minds. It also underlines the futility of violence and ends on an optimistic note.
In fact, this is one brilliant movie and leaves us with a lots of sensible thoughts ringing in our minds, unlike some other movies of recent times.
I would recommend this movie to everyone, especially the youth.
What is it all about? It's about our country and the youth, the so-called "Generation Y".
How relevant it is to our present times?
It is very relevant. We, Indians by nature are very easy-going kind of people. That's one of the reasons the world loves Indians very much. The problem is when we start taking everything easy. A typical Indian's attitude is "It hasn't happened to me, so why should I give a damn".
"Rang De Basanti" captures this attitude and shows it on the screen. Everyone of us can identify ourselves with the protogoanists in the first half and some part of the second half. It reminds me a lot about my college days, where we had a group of friends and used to have fun and not worried about anything.
We do read a lot about various incidents on the newspaper everyday. We just forget that as we carry on with our lives.It strikes us only when we are affected directly.
This is portrayed brilliantly in the movie, where the protogoanists are hit hard, when their friend dies and is labelled as an incompetent pilot.
The movie certainly does plant a lot of thoughts into our minds. It also underlines the futility of violence and ends on an optimistic note.
In fact, this is one brilliant movie and leaves us with a lots of sensible thoughts ringing in our minds, unlike some other movies of recent times.
I would recommend this movie to everyone, especially the youth.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)