Monday, May 29, 2006

My first steps in social activism

I visited Azad Maidan on Sunday to understand this Youth for Equality mass hysteria rally. These guys are basically docs working in the most reputed medical institutes in Mumbai and Maharashtra protesting against this entire reservation hoopla. Here are some snippets:
1. A very strange development seems to be unfolding. I could see that a lot of people from different walks of life have begun to join the agitation. Some 2-3 thousand of them. Their moral stand is not against reservation per se, it is about introducing caste as a means to segregate people. I could see retired denizens, housewives, teachers, corporates, doctors, engineers, businessmen - basically the entire middle class 'intelligentsia', who believe in a new brand India.
2. There were a few seemingly ordinary guys, who took this opportunity to use their oratory skills to get into the limelight. There were some notable speakers too - Ashok Pandit (an activist), Lalmalani (a rich IITian alumni capable of garnering a huge support), Tiku Talsania (movie artist), Shiv Khera (of "You can Win" fame). Well, all these guys flared up the emotions of all those present.
3. Sloganeering was rampant. Not one politician was spared. "Arjun Singh hai hai" is still buzzing in my ears.
4. Earmarked for the occasion was writing letters to the President. Yeah, you read it right. Our honorable President Abdul Kalam was requested to look into the matter and possibly resign, if he didn't agree with this petty votebank politics. I simply hope, he reads my letter.
5. The corporates supporting this agitation met separately and discussed the strategy. I requested everyone to mobilise further support for this agitation and take responsibility for their branches. Ensuing weekend might see us going for day-long hunger strikes and more agitations.
6. Media publicity is essentially needed and the circus of journalists were always mobbed.
7. I am about to write to the PM. You can do the same here.

A final note on what inspires me:
Zindagi jeene ke do tarike hote hain. Ek jo hota hai hone do, sab kuch bardaasht karte jao yaa phir zimedaari uthao use badalne ki. Definitely filmy, but not a tad false.

Back after a long break

Yeah. My net connection provider as always disappeared and it took 3 days to get my subscription back on track. Really looking forward to some corporatisation here.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

My Experiments With Trends

Enter a key search word on Google Trends and get an interesting insight on the cities searching for that item. Here are a few of my India-specific experiments. The top three cities are printed alongside.

1. Shah Rukh (Trivandrum, Calcutta, Delhi)
2. Blog (Delhi, Bangalore, Surat)
3. Vegetarian (Surat, Bangalore, Mumbai)
4. Cricket (Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Indore)
5. Porn (Surat, Delhi, Jaipur)
6. Rang De Basanti (Delhi, Surat, Mumbai)
7. Bush (Indore, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad)
8. Love (Jaipur, Surat, Trivandrum)
9. Jobs (Jaipur, Chennai, Chandigarh)
10. Sex (Trivandrum, Chennai, Surat)

And when you take the world into account:
1. Bill Gates (Seattle, Lima in Peru, Bogota in Colombia)
2. Smoking (Edinburgh in UK, Chicago, St. Louis in USA)
3. Terrorism (Washington DC, Reston in USA, Brisbane in Australia)
4. Sport (Rome in Italy, Milan in Italy, Paris)
5. Fashion (Delhi, Melbourne, San Diego)
6. Alcohol (Perth, Melbourne, Sydney)
7. Pamela Anderson (Lima in Peru, Santiago in Chile, Caracas in Venezuela)
8. Charity (Bletchley in UK, London, Thames Ditton in UK)
9. Murder (Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas)
10. Economy (Delhi, Mumbai, Washington)

Discrepancies:
1. These keywords are specific to Google. Even though Google Search rules the roost, Yahoo and MSN do have a decent share.
2. These are English words and apart from a few Latin American countries, most results narrow down to a English speaking user base. No Chinese city figured in any of the results.
3. Singular and plural forms of a word dumps radically different results.

Never forget...

...that Chacha Chaudhary's mind works faster than a computer. And when Sabu gets angry, a volcano explodes somewhere in Jupiter

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Planet of the Apes

Zoo apes have a taste for red wine. That too godamm 55 litres of it.

Business oportunity, Mr. Vijay Mallya?

Words to die for

Hai liye hathiyaar dushman taak mein baitha udhar
Aur hum taiyyaar hain seena liye apna idhar
Khoon se khelenge holi gar vatan muskhil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Haath jin mein ho junoon katt te nahi talvaar se
Sar jo uth jaate hain voh jhukte nahi lalkaar se
Aur bhadkega jo shola-sa humaare dil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Hum to ghar se nikle hi the baandhkar sar pe qafan
Chaahatein liin bhar liye lo bhar chale hain ye qadam
Zindagi to apni mehmaan maut ki mehfil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Dil mein tuufaanon ki toli aur nason mein inquilaab
Hosh dushman ke udaa denge humein roko na aaj
Duur reh paaye jo humse dam kahaan manzil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai


- Youth of the country

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Riddle

Q. Who created a storm in both India and the US?

A. Katrina (be it a Kaif or a Hurricane)

Heartache...

...within the last one hour! Why?

1. Reservation Law passed: As expected the government didn't budge from its stand. The bill will be passed in the monsoon session and is expected to be implemented in June 2007. What a shame you have bought to the country, Mr. PM. The next 100 generations will remember you for entrenching caste into the minds of our people. You could have atleast initiated a non-partisan probe/survey into the matter of what ails our education system. But you chose to celebrate your two years in office and leave our doctors to die.

2. Indian team crashes: The so-called "world-beaters" are showing signs of strain. Crashing down to Earth with a thud against the West-Indies. From a respectable score of 173-3 in 29 overs, we could barely manage 246-9 in 50 overs.

3. No Fanaa: This eagerly awaited movie will not be seen in multiplexes. Mr. Yash Chopra supposedly became too poor to support himself and wanted to cash in by demanding a greater share in the ticket prices. The multiplexes already beaming at 150 bucks per movie refused to budge. The cinema-goers already reeling with such huge rates are just not ready to pay more. Why Mr. Chopra, do you think that your movies demand a special premium, when Rakesh Mehra of RDB fame could rake in 40 crores, part of it on a tax-free basis?

The only solace on such a day is the rising Sensex.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Musical Horror


Guess who these vermins are? Ahha, these Finnish ogres, Lordi, are Eurovision 2006 winners...something akin to our Indian Idol. With their loathsome Gothic make-ups, they took Europe by storm. Even the erstwhile liberal Finns turned conservative overnight disapproving their Satanic ways. But no one could stop them from winning the coveted crown.

Their final showpiece featured the song "Hard Rock Hallejulah". A paean to God!

And they say "We are meat eaters in a vegetarian cafe"

The Alchemist

1. Shepherd boy from Spain dreams of treasure near the Pyramids (add 50 pages of philosophy)
2. Travels across Sahara to follow his dream (add 100 pages of philosophy)
3. Meets babe (add 25 pages of philosophy)
4. Meets alchemist (add 75 pages of philosophy)
5. Reaches the Pyramids, but finds the treasure in Spain (add 50 pages of philosophy)

I love Coelho.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Cricket's funniest moment

India vs West Indies: 2nd ODI at Sabina Park

Indian bowler bowls to WI batsman, batsman nudges it to short leg, direct throw to the stumps, Indians appeal. BUT where is the umpire?

Somewhere in the cool confines of the loo.
Intelligent humans doing a MBA: Rs 20 lakhs
Intelligent humans buying a new house: Rs 40 lakhs
Intelligent humans setting up a company: Rs 1 crore
Intelligent humans reading this crappy and mindless blog: PRICELESS

Saturday, May 20, 2006

This link suggests that the French are the rudest and the most boring people on Earth. How mean! But not surprising, since it comes from a British poll agency.

I think my Gallic friends are simply misunderstood. Their "amorous" way of life, their stylish attire, their love for the French language plus their caffeine tendencies sets them a class apart from other cultures. I never found them racist. And the clincher, you can never shy away from a pretty French-speaking madamesoille; its just so sweet. J'aime les Francais.
Bangalore varsity decides to segregate boys and gals in classrooms! There will be a separate row for girls and a new dress code is to be imposed on all.

Man, why can't these oldies concentrate on the real issues like teaching and upgrading educational infrastructure. So out-of-sync with the present generation.

Friday, May 19, 2006

Lakshmi Mittal just upped his takeover bid for Arcelor by 7 billion euros. Holy Marwari cow! Does he have an unmarried daughter looking for a soulmate?
On a serious note, this reservation ruckus is threatening to wreak havoc on the social fabric of this country. The present urban middle class doesn't really care about caste, except in matrimonial ads. All they are concerned is an opportunity is to reap rewards of liberalisation - to earn good dough, buy a house, travel and live a life which their parents could never imagine. This controversy has definitely touched a nerve. These very same people have begun to eye their 'reserved' counterparts with contempt. Discrimination which was on the wane is showing its ugly face. I, for one, am a complete proponent of reservation on an economic basis. If the purpose is to spread India's new found wealth to the hinterland, then why pursue it on caste - the bane of Indian society?

I hate to say this, but the two people whom I admired in the present administration - Oxford Manmohan and Harvard Chidambaran - are nothing but lame sycophants speaking out for a retrograde step. The-behind-the-Union-Carbide-disaster-in-Bhopal Mr. Arjun Singh at the fag end of his political career tries to rejuvenate his position as the HRD minister by hinting at reservations just before elections. And this is such a bait, which no political party can oppose. Is this another return to the socialist Nehruvian era spiced with the British ethos: divide and rule?

Sometimes, I am overawed by the Chinese rate of growth. Isn't such a benign form of communism/dictatorship better than democracy solely reliant on votes?

Do we need the Rang De Basanti storm to brew more? I bet, we do!
Here is a gem by yours truly

Where there is a will, there is a way
Where there is no way, there is always a 'quota'

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Hello check...hello check...testing...

Welcome to my blog. Let this journey enthrall you.