Those who live in Glasshouses should not throw stones

The current tour of South Africa by the Indian Cricket Team has brought to fore the abilities (some people would like to say disabilities) of our team. But whats new ? It has always been the case. We have never been able to boast of doing good on tours. (As always there are a few exceptions to every rule.) Its a well known fact that all Indian cricket teams irrespective of whether its the current one led by Dravid or the ones before, are all poor travelers. It does not matter whether its Greg Chappell or John Wright or Kapil Dev or Angshuman Gaekwad, we have never done well abroad. So, why the furore ?

The Indian media which is always short of good news and delves more on sensationalism makes mountains of our mole-hills (read as cricketers). And our fickle public which remembers just these sensations begin to expect more than we can deliver (even at home). Thanks to this approach "one match wonders" are enough to carry our cricketers for long distances in the Indian cricket team.

Lets accept the truth, thats the case in everything that we do. We are never the best. Whether its cricket or any other field. We are far from the best. A small rise in the sensex and there are thousands of people drooling in Dalal Street. We make them much more real than they are. Yes, we may have the ability or the potential to be the best. But we have not been. And I am not talking about potential here, so lets leave that aside. I am talking about what we have achieved. We climb small mountains and rest hoping that the tide of sensationalism will carry us across.

We ourselves live modest lives. Many of us content with small things. But then when it comes to cricket, we definitely expect our cricket team to play better than mediocre. And why ??? Because we pay them so much. And also we see them on so many advertisements. (which our ex-cricketers from the licence raj regime constantly remind us of). Hence we expect them to play and be much more consistent. We want them to be accountable. We demand that their pays should be based on their performance.

Well, there is a particular lot in our country, whose salary has been revised more 30 times in the last 50 years. (Well, thats at least thrice more than any other lot have got.) They are provided the best facilities that our poor country can afford - cars, bungalows in the cities, phone bills that nobody questions, free air and rail travel, a barrage of educated officers (IAS officers) for their beck and call. Yes, no prizes for guessing... its our politicians. They rule our country. How well have they performed ? But who is asking ? We really don't care ... now do we ? Its after all just a small country of billions that they are dealing with. But then we of course should demand that Greg Chapell and Dravid and his men should be accountable. After all they are the only ones who have to take our country forward. We really don't care about where we stand on the International corruption index but we must care about where we stand in the ICC cricket ratings. Or is it that we decided that to make a start we'll start from the ICC cricket ratings.

Here we are after 50 years of independence, paying Rupees Seven Lakh each for almost 5000 victims of a communal riot as compensation, a communal riot that could very well have saved thousands of lives and property worth crores of rupees. But then who cares ? Do we really need to know all this ? All we really need to ask our politicians is what they make of the Indian team's performance in South Africa.

Cricket is a game. Its a game to entertain people. Our poor countrymen have a dearth of good entertainment. Lets just allow cricket to be a game meant for entertainment rather than making it our national anthem.

Sleepless in Flight.

No. No.. this has nothing to do with the Meg Ryan - Tom Hanks starrer "Sleepless in Seattle". Nor is this an advt for some stupid mattress that you keep hearing on the radio. This is just an interesting tip for sleepless travelers on those wretched flying machines. No promises that you will be able to sleep. But at least you have one more chore to do, in your attempt to fall asleep.

http://cyberkraze.blogspot.com/2006/11/travel-tip_20.html

Off on a trek.....

After long, me and a group of friends have decided to go on a trek. We decided to trek the Kumaraparvatha. It is supposed to be the second highest peak in Karnataka. And it being winter its going to be real cold. And we did not realise that the date we chose was a "No moon" day. Great !!! Trekking in the forest in winter in pitch darkness.... thats going to be fun. :)

After a lot of planning we are finally set to leave for trek in a few hours. Well... actually we should have left a few hours ago. But unfortunately the vehicle that we were supposed to catch has not yet arrived and so we are stuck waiting for the bus to arrive. Not a good start to the trip. But well.... these guys are all "like that only".... never on time. Hopefully we should be leaving in at least an hour.

We are scheduled to start the trek tommorrow around 7am. Trek to the top of the hill, pitch our tents there and stay there overnight. And trek back downhill on Sunday. So should be back in Bangalore, Monday morning. This is going to be one helluva trek for me. I am all excited.

Next posting after I get back from my mini vacation. :)

Crazy Law

While having our regular cup of afternoon chai today, my colleague the Bombay Bombshell (when this mumbai-ite gets angry she could be worse than the most powerful bomb) showed me a
news reportfrom the TOI. Amidst sipping my tea, I read the report and was aghast by the contents of the report. I felt that this was definitely one occasion of using the choicest of expletives against the justice system that prevails in India.

Here was a case where a crime is done against a harmless helpless 8 year old girl and the court was considering that this was not a crime which deserved the punishment reserved for the rarest occasions. How pathetic !!! The worst part was the following statement of one of the bench "The death occurred, therefore, as a consequence of, and not because of, any specific act on the part of the accused," So, does that mean that one can later argue, "Oh!! I just pulled the trigger. How can you blame me if the victim died ?". What crap ???

As we drank tea all of us debated about how the courts seem to work only for the rich and powerful. Every politician or celebrity who is booked in a case, goes public and says that the whole case is fabricated and he has faith in the courts. And yes, magically the court always favors the rich and powerful, take this for instance. A colleague reminded me, that sometime ago I had argued that "people must never take the law into their own hands.". But frankly, after reading the newsreport my blood was boiling. How will the people trust the courts to provide them justice, if the court goes around making such callous statements.

Reminds me of what Robert Kiyosaki had said in his book "Rich Dad Poor Dad". The law is made by "The Rich and Powerful" for the "Rich and Powerful. Why would they make the law pro-poor. Are they crazy ? If the justice system continues as irresponsbile as this and the poor continue to be deprived of their chance to justice, the day is not far when I see the public rising in revolt.

Goof Master

It was another uninteresting day in office. I was busy at work, when my phone rang.It was my friend Ms Pooja. I had hardly known her for a few months now. But what a girl, an excellent conversationalist with a great sense of humor. It was always fun talking to her. We were doing the general chit chat, when she suddenly said, "Hey, I need to catch the 5:15 bus. Let me hurry up. Talk to you later." Before I could even react, she had said "bye!!" and hung up.

A little while later, I noticed that Ms Pooja was online on Google Talk. "Hmmm.. that's surprising. Whats she doing online ? I thought she was heading home...". The curious cat in me said "Meow !!" I decided to ping her. If she did plan to catch the 5:15pm bus what was she doing in office at 5:45pm. May be she forgot to log off. I sent a message "Hi !!!". Not expecting a response, I closed the window and continued with my work. When after some time I got back a one word response "Hello.", I was surprised. The lady of so many words, must be really busy or something, how come she had replied with a monosyllable and that too had taken such a long time. Meow Meow !!! the cat said. I sent another message "How come you are online ? I thought you were supposed to catch the 5:15 bus". I waited for quite sometime. No response. I was getting impatient. I pinged her again, "Helloooooooo". Getting no response, once again I put the cat to sleep and continued with my work, when suddenly I got a response.

"Hello Puchu. This is Pooja's father. Pooja has not yet reached home from office".

What ??? Pooja's father ?? What was he doing, logged in with her id ?? I had not bargained for this. I had bitten on something that I could not chew. I needed to bolt. I needed to bolt like one of those street dogs at whom you have just thrown a stone. I respond... "Oops !!! Sorry !!! Bye !!!" and disappeared into the oblivion.

I panicked. I knew that Ms Pooja was from as conservative a family as mine. If this was my Dad he would have one hazaar questions for me and some severe reprimands. "Guys having girls as friends. No way." Not an accepted thing in my family. I had to inform Pooja. She better be prepared to answer tough questions when she gets to her home. I rang her up and blurted out. "Hey, listen... I am SORRY. I goofed up big time." I told her the whole incident. She laughed like there was no tomorrow. She kept pulling my leg saying, "I cant believe you are trying to hurt me like this." I was thankful she could not see me. I was feeling really sheepish. Finally, taking pity on me, she magnanimously said, "Don't worry, I'll handle it. I must have forgotten to log off Google Talk last night and it must have logged me on when Dad powered-on the comp. Chill. Dont worry too much. I'll handle it".

The next day Pooja told me, how her Mom took the first opportunity that she was alone and asked her about the incident. Pooja told her the truth. Thankfully her mom accepted her explanation and did not grill her any further. I was glad that the incident had not spiraled into a big storm. I made a mental note to remember not to ping her on Google Talk again.

For the next couple of days, I saw her online a couple of times. And every time, just when I was about to click on the "Start Conversation" I recollected how I had goofed up recently. And stopped myself

Pooja has the habit of sending a "Good Morning !!!" mails with an inspirational quote attached, first thing in the morning every day. She usually has a long list of friends to whom she sends these messages religiously. When I saw her mail today, I said, "Let me not goof up once again". So, I wrote a reply to her.

Hello Pooja,

How are you doing ? Have a wonderful day !!

you know what...I think I shall remove your gmail id from my address book. I dont want to accidentally cause any more problems to you

Regards,
Puchu

I sent her the mail and got busy with my work. Sometime later Pooja calls up and is laughing her head off. She is laughing so much that I cant make a thing of what she says. After a while she finally composes herself and says, "What the hell did you do ?". "Now what did I do ??" "You did a reply-all instead of a reply. And now all my friends want to know who Puchu is."

I was mortified. I couldn't believe I had done this. I felt like digging a hole and creeping in to it. There was no way I could have done this. But then, I had. I really did not know what to do. All I could do was apologize. I said "I am SORRY. I owe you a big one this time.". She laughed and said, "This is not the first time." I knew it was true, "Just add it to my list."

Scary Connections

(This is a true incident that happened to me a few weeks ago. Shook me up big time. )

This happened a couple of Thursdays ago. I left office early since I had to drop my parents to the railway station. My bro too decided to come early. We dropped off our parents to the railway station and went home to watch the India - West Indies match of the Champions Trophy. Both of us, were not keeping well due to the bad weather prevailing in Bangalore that week. Both of us were dozing off in front off the television watching yet another off-color performance by the Indians.

Around 8:30 pm a couple of friends dropped in to discuss some issues about a house construction with my brother. About ten minutes later, I heard yet another knock at the gate. We stay on the first floor of our two floor house. There is an external staircase which leads to the main entrance gate. Our gate makes this odd sound when you try to open it that we can hear its distinct sound on the first floor. I came out and saw two people trying to open the gate to enter the compound. We usually do not allow strangers to enter the compound. I asked them who they were and got no response. I was getting irritated. They looked up at me and continued to enter the gate. Both men, were around 35 or 40 years old, average build and sport a short military cut hairstyle. The man in front was in a light red shirt, while the other slightly taller man was in a cream colored shirt. I assumed this is one more real estate agent asking if the ground floor house was vacant.

I was getting irritated. I once again asked them, this time a bit roughly.... "yaaru ???". By now they were half way up the staircase. The man in the light red striped shirt, asked "Sudeep iddaara ???" (Is Sudeep there?). I tried to remember if I had given my name to any of those pesky real estate agents. Could not remember any. I said "howdu, naane. Neev yaaru ?" (Yes, I am sudeep. Who are you?). One of the men answered "naavu policeavru. Naav maalur inda barthaidivi". (We are policemen, we are coming from Malur.) I was like... "oh gawd!!... Cops!! What did I do ? Had I spoken to some girl recently ? Did I trouble any girl recently ? Maalur ??? Whom do I know from Malur? I knew this girl some time ago. But I have not troubled her. Unlikely that she would have set the cops on me. Or would she have... I hope its not ??"

As such thoughts kept rushing into my head, the two men were now standing right below my nose and were standing such that they had cornered me. They had positioned themselves standing acting like they were ready to pounce on me if I moved. The one in the red shirt asked "yen maadthira?" (What do you do?). I said "Software Engineer". "Yelli ?" (where?) I said "XYZ". And then the taller man speaking for the first time said, "Electronics City na ?". "Illa, M G Road hathra". (No, near M G Road). Finally realising that I needed to ask them my own questions I asked, "Vishya yenu ?" (Why do you ask ?). "Banni helthini" he said, trying to point towards the door indicating that he would like to sit down and then talk. I knew I had to ask them their ID card, but that only happens in the English movies. You never know how are Indian cops would behave if we asked them for their IDs. So I decided to go back into the house.

Me being from a very decent family, I am not used to having the cops coming knocking at my door looking for me. To the say the least, I was shitting in my pants. I guess it must have shown on my face. On seeing me and having realised that some people were coming inside the house, my bro asked "Who are these people?". I said, "I beleive they are cops and they are looking for me. They are not saying what the issue is." The cop in the red shirt having heard the conversation says "hedirkolleke yenu illa biddi" (nothing to be scared off). The cops went ahead and seated themselves and made themselves comfortable. Thankfully for me, my brother and our two friends were in the house. Its reassuring to know you have people who know you, sitting along with you in the room, when you are sitting down with cops, who want to "ask you a few questions". I dont know about others, to me the whole scene was an intimidating one.

The cop in the red shirt, the one doing all the talking, fishes out a paper from his pocket. On it, I see scribbled my name and address. He verifies once again with us if the name and address are correct. Also, on the paper is a cell phone number. The cop asks me if that was my cell phone number. I looked carefully at the number. This definitely was not my number. I felt releived. Finally something that does not match up to me. I tried to remember if I could recollect if this number belonged to any of my friends. Could not recollect any number. I could bearly recollect my own number with all the thoughts rushing into my head. The cop asked me if this number ever belonged to me or if I had ever lost any cell phone or any sim card. I said "No". Thankfully I have never lost a cell phone. Touch wood.

The cop in the red shirt then asked for my cell phone number. I gave him my number. He said "Nimm phone inda namma Circle jothe maathadi." (Call up and speak to the Circle Inspector from your phone). I went to retreive my cell phone from my room. In the meanwhile my brother checked the ID of the policemen. He mentioned to the policemen, that he used to work with the Lok Ayukta before and dished out names of a few Inspectors. And once again quizzed the policemen as to what the issue was. Why were they here ? They refused to divulge any details. They said its a sensitive issue and could not discuss it with us. I

After my brother had reeled out names of a few senior police officers, the policemen were sure that I was not the person they were looking for. They too relaxed a bit and finally after a lot of coaxing, the cop in the red shirt said, "See sir, we were investigating a case. During investigation we got this cell phone number. As you can see this is an Airtel Connection. When we furnished this number with Airtel, they gave us your name and address. That is why we have been sent to check out this address. But when we came here and saw your house and the locality you live in, we realised that this is not the person we want. But we came in just to check and make sure. We were pretty sure you were not the guys. If you really were the guys, we would not have talked this way. We would have rounded you up and taken you to the Police Station.". My brother then spoke to the Circle Inspector. He too dished out the same story. He asked us to verify with Airtel about the confusion.

As a parting shot the other cop who had been relatively silent the whole time finally spoke. He said, "Nammige gothitu sir neevalla antha. Nammig gothu nimm thai teacheru. Nimm thande HAL alli kelsa maadthidru" (We know sir you were not the person. We know your mom is a retired teacher. Your dad was working in HAL).. Whoa !!!! I was shell shocked. They had done a lot of homework. "Nimmig heg gothu idella ??" (How did he know all these details) "Naav police saar. namig gothirathe idella...". Great !! Does that mean I am in your record books now ?? Saying this, the cops left leaving me half dazed at the turn of events.

Apparently, before turning up at my gate, these cops had enquired with my neighbours about me. And finally my "good boy" image in my neighbourhood came to good use. But I am not sure what image I now have. The police dont come asking questions about "good boys".

After the cops left, I immediately called up the Airtel customer support. I learnt from customer support, that the number was a pre-paid connection. Also, they confirmed that indeed the number was registered in my name and address. I thought long and hard, tried to recollect if I had ever applied for another Airtel connection. I hadn't. I realised that it had to be a case of identity theft. Someone had used my credentials to obtain a pre-paid Airtel connection. Gosh !!! God alone knows what crime these guys were upto. I was very worried. I tried to find out what ID proof they had provided to get the connection. But Airtel was not forthcoming with information. They asked me to go personally to the Airtel office.

The next morning I went to Airtel's office on Nandidurga Road. Let me tell you that going to their offices is not a pleasant experience. Their offices open only at 10 o'clock. And if you assumed that all private offices unlike Government offices opened at 9 o'clock, be ready to entertain yourself outside their office. They would not even bother to give you a seat if you reach their office before 10. Anyway, finally when the office opened at 10 AM I went in, got myself a token and waited for my turn. When it was my turn, I went over to the representative sitting across the counter. He was beaming at me as if to say, "Ah !! Dont worry at all. I will solve your problem." So I told him my problem. He expressed his "deep regret" since he would not be able to help me. Great! Why pretend to be helpful when you dont have any intention of helping me in the first place. He asked me to go their head office on Bannerghatta Road, which is a good 10 kms from my office. Splendid. Here I was, in the midst of a busy week in office and also battling a bad bout of throat infection. And these guys showed no indication of helping me. I felt so helpless. I tried to recollect... "What had I done ??". I had done absolutely nothing. And people wanted me to run from pillar to post. Thats wonderful. I took the Bannerghatta office number from the "so helpful" representative and headed off to office. I was late to office by 2 and 1/2 hours and had not acheived a thing.

Endless attempts to contact Airtel's Bannerghatta office by phone went in vain. Apparently, Airtel's own head office could not transfer my call from their board to any department that could help me. They told me "Please wait while I transfer your call" and then "bing bing bing", my call was disconnected. I realised what my friends meant when they said "Airtel's customer service sucks !!!". I wished I had not argued on Airtel's behalf then.

I spoke to some of my friends. One of them knew someone who worked in Airtel. After a few hours my friend informed me that the only way something could be done was that I go lodge a police complaint. Only then Airtel would be able to take any action. "What the heck ?? I need to lodge a police complaint ?? Gosh !!! Here's another opportunity for some corrupt policeman to try to fleece money out of me." But then, I realised I had no other go, I better go and make the complaint. What if those cheats (the ones who had got the cell phone connection in my name) were upto no good ??? Poor me would unneccessarily get into unwanted trouble. But then, am I over reacting ? Do you need to really worry ??? May be its just a couple of idiots upto some stupid adolscent tricks. So, I decide to take it easy. Let me not get too worried. But then...... what if ????? I kept debating this for quite a while. I finally decided the right person to fill me in on the story would be the Circle Inspector of Malur, the cop that my bro had spoken to, last night over the phone.

I was a bit upset about the whole issue. But was not too worried. After all I had not done anything. Why the hell should I be worried ? I called up the Circle Inspector, Mr S. After I had introduced myself to him he says, "Let me tell you something very frankly. The case that we are currently investigating is a kidnap case". WHAT ?? Holy shit. I was in deep trouble. He goes on, "We are investigating this kidnap case where the kidnappers have already collected a Rs 30 lakh ransom". Shocked, I repeated "Thirty Lakhs ???". "Yes, thats right, they have already collected Rupees Thirty lakh and are demanding for Ten Lakhs more". Holy crap !! That means the victim has not yet been released. So, its likely this number is still active. Anything could happen. Knowing how our Indian cops work, my head started filling with countless stories of how the police could twist and turn anything to their benefit. If they dont find the actual thief, then they were very much capable of branding the next person they find as the thief. I was lucky, I was sitting on the chair, otherwise my legs would have buckled under the news that I heard. Garnering some courage, I managed to ask, "Sir, what should I do now sir ?". "Banni Maalurigge. maathadanna." (Come over to maalur. We can talk there.) I was not sure why he was calling me over to Malur. Did he want too want to fleece money out of me ? There was no way, I was going over to Maalur. "Banni.. bejaan busugal idde." (Come on over to Maalur. There are plenty of buses to this place)

I was pretty sure, that there was no way I was going to go to Maalur. I told the inspector that I would discuss the issue with my brother and get back to him later and hung up the call. I was shaken by the sudden turn of events, news of the kidnapping, the ransom and the Inspector's attempt to scare me saying "If we go by the proof, you are also one of the accused". Hello ??? (not the right word to say, under the circumstances. )What did I do ??? I stayed at home and did nothing. And here I was being accused of something which I could not even dream of ever being able to do.

May be I should go and register a police complaint. But what do I complain ? Against whom should I complain ? Which police station should I go to ? Isn't this a cyber crime ? Should I be going to the Cyber Crime Police Station ? I was totally confused. So many questions kept popping into my head. I was feeling really worried. The blood had all drained out of my face and I looked pale. My colleagues and friends all suggested I speak to a lawyer and take his advice. All of them told me strictly, "Dont even venture in the direction of Maalur. And if you have to go to the police station, take an advocate along. DONT GO ALONE."

By evening, my throat infection had gone from bad to worse. I hung around for a while, totally confused as to what I should be doing. By the time I reached home, I had high fever. I did not like the idea of going to the police station and registering a complaint. After consulting a lot of people, I finally decided to let it be as it is. I was not going to do anything. After all I had done nothing. So, why should I be the one going to the police station. Why should I go and consult a lawyer? Who was going to bear my legal fees ? After all, I had nothing to do with the case.

I decided that the only thing that I would do was send Airtel a complaint over email. The next day I drafted a letter and sent it to Airtel's customer care. I decided to wait and see how the story would now unfold. Nothing happened for a few days. Though I wanted to know what happened about the case, I knew it would be foolish to call up the Circle Inspector. A few more days passed by with absolutely no news. I spent most of the time on the phone calling up various departments of Airtel trying to see if they could be forced to help me. But nothing happened. They were at their irresponsible callous best. They kept passing the buck, but did nothing.

Finally on Thursday, morning, exactly a week since the whole episode had begun, the newspaper carried a front page news that grabbed my attention. " Kidnap drama ends in shootout." The gist of the story was "The police were investigating a case involving the kidnap of the son-in-law of a stationary wholesale dealer from Bangalore. The victim was released after the payment of a ransom of Rupees Thirty Five Lakh. However the police had managed to arrest one person, by name Tippu. During his interrogation he revealed the name of another accomplice, Ghafoor who was the kingpin in anothe kidnap for ransom case. The police were able to rescue the kidnapped man. They layed a trap to catch the kingpin. But on seeing the police, they opened fire. In the exchange of fire, the police were able to kill the two main accused." The article also mentioned another intresting information. The main accused, Ghafoor had given Tippu a SIM which was registerd in the name of one Ms Nagrathnamma.

Whoa !!! I think I had a close shave. Till date, I am not aware of how my name got linked in this whole case. But the most appalling thing during the whole incident is the callous attitude of the Airtel personnel. They were the ones who issued a SIM card in my name. But they did not bother to help anyway. Airtel sucks big time !!!!

Never Been Kissed

Ought to listen to....

Artist/Band: Austin Sherrie
Lyrics for Song: Never Been Kissed
Lyrics for Album: Love In The Real World

If I show up ten minutes early baby
You can bet that you'll be running behind
But it when it comes to loving me now baby
I have to say you're right on time and

I've never been kissed, never been kissed
Never been kissed like this, no, no, no
I've never been touched, never been touched baby
'Til I felt your touch
Oh your love's going to my head so fast
Just like the bubbles in a champagne glass
Now I know what I've been missing
I've never been kissed, like this
Ooh like this

Well you're a fool for wild-eyed-poetry baby
I only like the kind that rhymes
And your a little rough around the edges now baby
But your kind of edges suit me just fine and

I've never been kissed, never been kissed
Never been kissed like this, no, no, no
I've never been touched, never been touched baby
'Til I felt your touch
Oh your love's going to my head so fast
Just like the bubbles in a champagne glass
Now I know what I've been missing
I've never been kissed
Ooh like this

This is more than temporary madness baby
This is more than hearts just doing time
If love weren't so serious we could laugh about it baby
Yeah we could laugh until we cried and

I've never been kissed, never been kissed
Never been kissed like this, no, no, no
I've never been touched, never been touched baby
'Til I felt your touch
Oh your love's going to my head so fast
Just like the bubbles in a champagne glass
Now I know what I've been missing
I've never been kissed, like this
Ooh like this

Ooh like this
I've never been kissed
No I've never been kissed

A kind of Lozenge

I posted a question a few days earlier on this blog. The question was....

"If you take a rod two inches in diameter and cut it[in half] by drilling a two inch hole through it. what is the shape of the metal that is removed ?"

The answer :
The object has a round profile from the top, a round profile from one side and a square profile from the other.

Dont scare the daylights !!

The festival of Lights has returned again. I along with my bro and parents happened to go around the city quite a lot this diwali. And one thing that we all noticed is the relative decrease in the amount of crackers that were being burst this time around. And thankfully this time more people seem to have realised its a festival of lights and not exactly a festival to scare the daylights.

My memory of Diwali of the yester years is not a pleasant one. I think I was around 10 or 12 years old. It was the morning after Diwali. A house was being built in the neighbouring compound. One of the labourers stayed in this house under construction doubling up as a watchman. He had a huge family consisting of his wife and around 7 or 8 children. The older kids worked as labourers. But there were also these tiny tots, around 4 or 5 years old who played amidst all the construction work. Not the ideal place for kids to grow up but that was the reality of developing India.

The morning after Diwali, these kids went around the neigbouring streets collecting the half burnt, unburnt crackers from the streets. They collected all the chemicals in these crackers into a coconut shell and lit it hoping it would be a nice cracker. Little did these kids realise that their cracker was going to burst immediately and right in their face. The loud burst and the wailing of these kids brought us all outside immediately. We saw these kids running and hugging their mother. The poor mom not realising the gravity of the scene, used her dirt ridden sari to wipe the face of her children. The severely burnt skin on their faces just came off !!!

The scene when we saw it was these two kids who have dark colored skin, now had pink faces. Their faces with no skin and the flesh showing was one of the most gory scenes of my childhood. The very thought brings back images of those wailing kids. A truly horrible scene. Since then, I have never ever wanted to light a cracker.

This year too, the newspaper reports say that close to 100 people have been injured due to crackers. Infact many of the victims these time were innocent bystanders. I did meet a small kid who was walking along with his parents in Commercial Street when some kids burst some crackers on Commercial street and one of the crackers burst and some fragments hit the poor kid burning his shirt, neck and hair. I can only imagine the trauma the kid must have undergone.

I hope and pray not many have to watch such heart rending scenes, and that too on the occasion of a festival.

Happy Diwali !!!!

Rule of Law ? or Whims of a few?

A Delhi court recently pronounced Afsal Guroo, one of the main accused in the attack on the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001 as guilty. And the punishment .... "To be hanged until death".

Some truths....
1. We all love to hate our politicians. Most of us consider them as the bane to this country. And wish .... at almost every traffic signal that somebody should bomb all these politicians out of the country.
2. But, the Indian Parliament however is considered as the home of the Indian Democratic system and a powerful symbol of modern India. An attack on a such an important symbol is unpardonable in the eyes of (almost) all Indians.
3. The lower courts were not very sure of the legitimacy of the case against Afzal Guroo and others and suspected foul play by the investigating agencies.
4. The people arguing on behalf of Afzal Guroo claim that he was not given a chance to prove his innocence, that he has been falsely implicated.
5. The people of Jammu & Kashmir have been having a horrid time for a while now. Life in the valley is under the constant shadow of the Gun. And is struggling to limp back to normalcy.

Clearly, the issues involved are totally different and cannot be mentioned in the same breath. Local politicians however see this as an opportunity to rise in stature in the heady mix of state politics. In the days following the SC verdict, narrow minded (terrorists under the garb of) political leaders mixed the issues involved, raised a hue and cry, whipping public sentiment to a feverish frenzy and caused unrest in the valley. They demanded clemency for Afzal, a failure of which they claimed would lead to Kashmir "burning".

Yaseen Malik, the leader of the JKLF(on the Indian side) claims that he himself "was one of the products of the last hanging of a Kashmiri". He seems to issue veiled threats of a "burning" Kashmir. Infact even the ex-Cheif Minister of J&K Dr Abdullah seemed to echo his words. Even the Central Government too tried to maintain a sturdy silence rather than supporting the verdict of the court. Is this really a belief that Afzal Guroo is not guilty or just an oppotunity to score the brownie points of Indian politics.

An attack on the heart of the Indian Democratic system is an unpardonable crime. And the people guilty of it must be given the severe most punishment by the law of the land. The Indian Penal code provides the death penalty as a punishment under the rarest of rare cases. And this attack on the Indian Parliament can be considered as a case under the rarest of rare cases. And so the guilty must be "hanged unto death". Yes, there is a demand from a few quarters for abolishing the "death penalty". But once again, that is a different issue and should not be mixed with the main debate of clemency for Afzal Guroo.

When the Supreme Court of India pronounced that Afzal Guroo was guilty and meted out the death penalty, it was fully aware of the element of doubt observed by the lower courts. The SC must then have been fully convinced beyond doubt that indeed Afzal was guilty. And hence must have meted him the harshest of punishments. If however, there still exists sufficient evidence to prove that he is not guilty, or that he was not given a fair hearing, the demand of these leaders must be for a free & fair trial and not clemency on the basis of a "burning" Kashmir.

As Solee Sorabjee, the ex Chief Justice of India rightly pointed out, what if tommorrow, when the verdict of the Gujarat riots case is announced and the guilty is given the death penalty. And if the political leaders of Gujarat seek clemency on the basis of a "burning" Gujarat. Should they too be pardoned ? Will these same leaders then seek clemency once again?

We live in a modern society where we live by the law of the land. Not by the whims of a few who probably have vested intrests in seeking clemency for Afzal. If Afzal Guroo is indeed guilty of the heinous crime of the attack on the Indian Parliament, then he must be meted out the severest punishment by the law of the land. And if the law of the land provides capital punishment as the severest form of punishment. Then so be it.

Imagine.......

Here's a wonderful exercise to stretch your imagination -

If you take a rod two inches in diameter and cut it[in half] by drilling a two inch hole through it. what is the shape of the metal that is removed ?

This was part of a question, once posed by a few engineers in General Electric to Steinmetz, the inventor of electrical generators, transformers. [excerpt from "Sparks of Genius"]

To most people[including me], this would be an extremely difficult exercise. I infact did take some while to be able to imagine the object. Imagination or Imaging is something that I dig a lot. Even an extremely difficult concept can be assimilated and recollected with ease at a later stage, if during assimilation of the concept, we are able to imagine each and every participating charachter/force in the concept to the minutest details.

Thanks to the East India Company.

I was watching "Path to 9/11", a wonderful documentary. The documentary portrayed life in Afghanistan. The Afghans and their cheiftains have no unity and are at constant loggerheads with each other. They have no modern governments. They have no unity, whether it was in fighting the Russians or the Taliban or the Americans.

And thats when my thoughts were drawn to my own homeland. I wondered how life would have been had it not been for the "East India Company". The company that came to trade in India and started a factory in Gujarat, defeated the Nawab of Bengal (thanks to Siraj-ud-daula) and slowly gained power over the whole country. Never in history has it happened that so few have ruled over so many for such a long time(I believe it was a ratio of 1 Britisher for every 4000 Indians.). The East India Company ruled over a country of millions for more than 100 years till its dissolution in 1858.

The East India Company and later the British Monarchy, systematically exploited our country and rendered us utterly helpless and inequipped. But then I think we must also thank them. Thanks to the East India Company and the British rule, the people of numerous different states(kingdoms), religions and ethnicities, united to once again seek control of our motherland. What followed was a long struggle, a never-seen before "satyagraha" a non-violent fight for freedom, division of our land, loss of millions of people (to the struggle and to the division). We paid a hefty price for staying divided.

But here we are just 50 odd years later, forgetting our tumultous past, having a state wide bundh fighting over state borders. Yes, kannada is important and protecting our land is important to us. There is no doubt about that. But what I question is, the means. A state wide bundh hurts nobody else other than the intrests of our own state. For heaven's sake dont turn our beloved state into another Kerala where strikes is the norm of the day and industries fear to tread. The youth of Kerala are forced to seek opportunites in far-off Gulf or other cities of India. We, the people of karnataka dont need to turn our state into a Kerala. We need to seek better ways. We are after all people from the same state as the illustrious Sir M Vishveshwaraiah. We can seek better methods than the age old strikes to demonstrate our feelings.

Strikes in the days of the british meant hurting the coffers of the British Empire. But does hurting the coffers of the Karnatataka State help us ?I may not know the intricacies of the problem, but I realise that this "strike" is only hurting my state and its denizens. Yes, we may have an issue at hand, that a part of our state is being questioned, but in order to save that part, dont seek a solution that though has sought so many sacrifices will not provide a solution. Yes, we are united against the problem. Let us seek a solution that gets rid of the problem. Not one which will only incite sentiments, raise a rheoteric, and not get rid of our problem.

What hurt me most this day, was a local leader proclaiming on TV that if the intrests of kannada are not looked after, that we would seek a new country called "Karnataka". Have we forgotten our history ? Is this all leading to another opportunity for yet another company .... may be a Pepsi or Coke... to one day rule our country ? Can we risk it ? I wonder what would have been, had the East India Company not come to India. Another Afghanistan ?

PS: I may be getting paranoid but I fear the path we take.

One, Two, I Love You (3:07)
- Clay Walker

Kindergarten, five years old
You and me and mother goose
Learning lines to nursery rhymes
Thats when I feel in love with you

Back when it was
One, two buckle my shoe
Three four shut the door
Five six pick up sticks
Even then my heart was yours

College days miles apart
So afraid youd forgot
Writing letters every day
And ending every one like this

One two I miss you
Three four I walk the floor
Five six come back quick
I dont wanna miss you no more

A little girl and little boy
Playing on a swing in the yard
As we watch I hold your hand
And youre still holding onto my heart

And now its
One two I love you
Three four lets have one more
Five six I wouldnt miss
A day of this for all the treasure on the ocean floor

One two I love you
Three four lets shut the door
Five six, kiss after kiss
I cant wait to hold you once more

Boring Boring Boring ....... Ramblings ....

Its a long weekend, thanks to Ayudha Pooja and Gandhiji. Its been the long weekend that I have been always waiting for. Time to just relax and recharge my batteries. Its been a while since I got a weekend to myself. Now that it has arrived.... I am lost... what do I do..... ??? What exactly do I do ? The thought of just sitting around, watching the idiot box, sleeping the whole day, gorging on all the sweets of the festival is not somehow inviting this time around. This was that weekend I was waiting for all the time. And now that it is here, I find myself inequipped to handle the spare time. I dont know what to do.

I always thought I had a lot of friends. I wonder why I am feeling this lonely suddenly. Guess its the time. The festive season being around, all the ones married, are at home completing their formalities. And the ones who have found someone, did not want to be disturbed. So... where all the singles ??? hmmm... come to think of it... there are just a few of us left, holding on to the bastion called bachelor.

Well... thanks to the blog sites, for helping me kill time reading all the time pass stuff that all the really creative people churn out. I wish I was like these amazing people who churn out sentences making amazing use of words still managing to convey what they mean in such simple ways that I keep thinking ... "Its so bloody simple.... why could I not think of it earlier" Hmm... well ... for one .... I guess you need to be smart.. Secondly... confidence and finally the perseverance to continue writing and develop a skill. These are the times when I curse myself for not listening to my dad and writing anything worthwhile in my younger days.

Well... I hope I make writing a habit atleast now. Need a plan !!! :) (here comes the software designer) I guess I should allot a few minutes to pen down a few things everyday. I am sure I can spare atleast sometime everyday to improve a skill that I really wish I have.

Wish me luck. And if you have any tips... i am all ears....

First Post

Geeez..... I dont know what to write..... this is my first attempt to maintain a Blog... maybe as days go by I will learn.... If anyone gets to read this.... wish me luck....

For starters.....

The whole of this evening was spent in front of the idiot box trying to see if "Prince" the 5 yr old who fell into a 60 ft deep pit would survive. The poor kid had a horrible time. He was stuck in a pit a couple of feet wide for nearly 50 hrs and all due to the negligence of some stupid guy who had left an unused borewell open.

But the worst for the kid... I think will start now.... those claustrophobic feelings, the fear.... gosh... cannot even imagine it and would not wish it for the worst of my enemies... But I think even worse would be the callous media... which will hound him for interviews asking him absolutely stupid questions. Talking about claustrophobic feelings... I am reminded of how Saddam was supposed to have put dozens of people into wells... where people had barely any place to stand.... where people rested on the floor in turns.. where all of them urinated on the same floor.... excreted on the same floor... slept on the same floor.... god... death at that point would be a definitely easy thing...... compared to the hell below...

I did go to the temple today morning. I prayed to the Lord asking for a lot of things. But probably I am already blessed. I probably have everything..... unlike many who dont have something as basic as freedom......