ironies in the life of a bespectacled man...

of all people wearing specs i believe. apolgies for the sexist 'bespectacled man' but then it is about me, although through me, i am trying to tell the stories of everyone with four eyes...(thats what friends in school used to call me)

anyways, back to the topic. i wear specs, have a high power, and cylindrical, which basically means me grazing on a tonne of carrots is not gonna make any difference, its gonna stay, almost constant, throughout my life. its almost an extended part of my body now...but unlike my body parts, i can change the look of it from time to time. and i did just that today. got myself a new pair of eyes. 

took a friend along, who helped me choose the frame...well chose it for me, because....

irony no 1 - to try out new frames, u have to take of ur existing specs, and judeg urself with the new frame...but ur not wearing ur specs...so u can't see that well...and so how do u choose ur new specs!!! but then we, the bespectacled four eye geeks...we are good at the art of estimation...

but even estimation doesn't help when u go for haircuts...mine are already short, how much can u estimate. so the basic two instructions are...short...in a slope. good enuf, works most of the time, i come out looking the same almost everytime, not many times have had accidents which make people laugh. but irony no 2 happens at the barbers shop...mostly after the barber (sounds weird calling him/her that, but there is no other better word) has done the damage, he and once she, brings out this huge rectangular mirror, and puts it behind ur head, at a 30 deg angle, and then they expect ur weakend eyesight to go from ur eyes to the mirror in front and reflect back to the 30 deg mirror...thats almost 2 feet...u think if i could see that much, i wouldn't be wearing specs...but alas that never strikes. they still hold the mirror, and look at u, expecting a compliment even...after many years of going through the amusing torture...i just nod along, and he holds it on the other side again, 30% from the perpendicular. (which now that i think of it is totally absurd, which dumb ass barber will cut keep ur hair long on one side and short on another, well maybe its their small 'bored with cutting hair all day long, lets play a prank, he is anyways blind without the specs, will even show him with the 30 deg mirror' thing. its like a double joke on poor me).  

the third irony is well something which happens with me every third day, its so basic, and frustrates the most. loosing ur specs...how do u search for ur specs without wearing ur specs!!! its amusing...and slowly very frustrating...i actually have many times gone feeling the entire place like a blind man.  at that point u know the value of another bespectacled roomie...who competely understood the pain and would come running to help u out, wherever he was...ah i miss shinde.

i am sure there are more ironies...more amusements like the realisations when ur specs get wet in the rains...its like looking out of a window during rains...just that the window is about half an inch from ur eyes...and every drop is like a lense in itself. or the major decision u have to take when driving in rains...do i take off my specs and drive by estimation (not very safe) or do it keep them on and still drive by estimation....kua and khai kinds!!!

what ever, i am not going for the laser surgery thingy...even if my corneas are thick enuf.

take care.

 

TRICK-N-TREAT: A researcher asks dogs to perform a trick for a reward. But when one dog gets no reward, and then sees another get a sausage for doing the same trick, it refuses to perform the trick again

a times of india article, something which every dog owner already owners. dogs have the same feelings we do...all animals do. my jeanie, actually waits for jimmy to have his fill of food, and once he has turned away, she polishes the vessel away. we never have to wash it, its so clean. but the point is, she waits patiently sitting right next to jimmy. doesn't fight, but sits there, staring at jimmy and his food. jimmy, after some time, even if he hasn't had his fill, will turn away just out of shame. its happened to us as well right. 

and thats just an example.

just adding some much needed color to the blog...

take care. 

dil se and a dog

so the place i go to drink coffee every morning or afternoon (depends on when i am going to work), well the house next to this coffee place...has two dogs. one a huge and beautiful great dane. pic is in my other blog. huge as in huge...u should see it jump. anyways, its not about him, but more about the other one...who, i don't why, is always kept out of the house. i know dog lovers, and i think this family is one, so don't know why he is kept outside. looks like it has a breed, and is not very dirty. but it still is always kept out of the boundaries of the house. 

so what does he do...well sits all day at the main gate which is one of those scooter can only pass gates, shoulder height, grilled. he sits there all day long, sometime desperately, hopeingly pawing the gate, wanting to go inside. u can see in its eyes, there is this dedication to his cause, to the cause of getting in. nothing else matters to him. its beautiful. and its not like its one day...its every day. 

dil se...well manisha koirala has this one single objective...and she ignores the strongest of feelings, feeling of love, and follows that objective. 

so my point is...there are two kinds of people, one who are like the dog and manisha koirala. they are focussed on that one thing, getting freedom for their country, being with the girl they love, waiting for her...pursuing an idea maybe...they dedicate their life to that one thing. not easy...there are always those strings those relationships which are attached to you, which are so thin and easy to break, that u fear even to stretch them a bit. 

i wonder what kind of life is that...missing out on everything else. and what would happen if at if you come to the end of the road or you are out of time, and haven't reached ur destination. what kind of feeling would be, when on ur deathbed, after a life of waiting for someone, you are still dying alone. would there be a regret of loosing out on life...of an unsuccessful, hardly lived life? would you question 'was it worth it?'

and then there are those who just live life...objective is a good life...which frankly, ask me, is no objective. where everyday is just another day, a struggle, small achievements, never ending pains, and peace, which doens't last till the next moment.

a life where we are not better then animals, where objective is nothing but making more progeny, and then dying. ofcourse there is the usual masala...living a better life, make a lot of money etc etc...but at the very basic level, its just that. living to make more like u. 

but then, its a comfortable life. atleast you have those small joys, and you have some people to share those joys with. its a usual life, at the end of the road, u atleast have reached someplace. u atleast have something to show for. u don't have the disappointment of a wasted life, u don't question you life. 

so thats what it comes down to, is it all or nothing or are you satisfied with something.

and which life do you wanna  live??? 

similar...lives and people!!!

a long time back when i told my parents about this girl and our circumstances...my mom went 'history repeats itself' and i was surprised. slowly came to know about their lives, and found out that it was very similar to what i am going through. not the actual happenings...but yea to a level more then the usual. the circumstances, the behaviors and the outcomes were all very similar. 

today a friend is living through the same things that i did, the same circumstances, and in this case even the particulars are same. hopefully the outcomes will be different. 

he is making the same mistakes i am, and even after knowing the price i had to pay for my mistakes, still keeps on repeating them. guess even if u know about other peoples experiences,  you have to go through them urself to learn from it. they do not make sense till you do.

so two thoughts out of this. one, if all pieces in the two jigsaw are the same, they make the same picture. all ingredients are same, and they simmer for the same time, ofcourse the outcomes gonna taste the same. but a smallest of change can take you in a totally different direction in the long run. watch out for those. and surely if you see them, make sure u know whether to go down those paths.

other thing, well see if you can view this. we are divided into categories, so bengali, hindu, indian are all categories. each category has its own qualities. Till now, these categories did not interbreed, too much atleast. so those qualities became even more entrenched...so u know a bengali is a thinker and so. 

well now that interbreeding is quite common, it will be more difficult to categorize, at least in the traditional categories. now on every individual will be a collection of qualities, but there won't be any collection of individuals, there will be more diversity. imagine a world without any categories, without any tags like hindu, or metrosexual, at least tags based on non-physical characteristics. that would be nice. 

maybe we will come out with new categories, we already have 'IT crowd' as one. although not sure what the exact definition is...i guess there is no perfect definition for any category, there are vague definitions, which define 80% of the qualities, qualiteis which are common, and thats where my problem with tags and categories, they miss out on the 20% of uniqueness.

let the 20% define you...be known by that 20% which makes you unique.

take care

ank

terror marketing

i keep on coming back to the power of marketing...which seems to be the all pervasive driving force behind everything today. right from innovation to terror, everyone wants to be recognized, to be marketed.

and the mumbai blasts stamped that fact. the coverage given was immense, the terrorists caught on tape must have become poster boys for the like minded. their stamina, their motivation talked about, and this would become an inspiration for others.  those videos would be used for ever to motivate those vulnerable, to value death and killing more then life itself. 

so the question is would a blanket freeze over showcasing such videos, photographs help. would it lessen the motivation, would it make those ready to kill and die in the process for a cause which they do not really understand well, but are convinced is their own, question why?, question, what will i get out of it?

in a discussion with someone who has thoughts so of his own, over the motivation for killing, it was pointed out that its not really motivation coming out of a the cause, but more out of the fact that they will be regarded as heroes, as martyrs for a cause. the base why you even think of doing something like this is the absence of the basics in life, absence of food, education, those things which make life worht living, but the thing which second or third level motication, which actually makes you cross that line, which makes u believe that you are getting something in return is the fame which comes along with it. if thats true then, they would want to be known far and wide, and video's and photographs, and lengthy accounts of how they did it, goes a long way. so yes, a blanket ban on showing this to the general public would help. become fame (even through infamy) is, i believe a bigger motivation then money itself, then any religious cause, no one does anything especially if not serving one of your basic needs, if they know it won't be recognized.  its human nature.

and of course, the simple question of returns, ROI, will come into picture. if these things are not publicized the way they are, and as widely, imagine the number of attacks required for the same amount of terror. today after mumbai, the entire country is in fear, but if people in other cities won't have seen the images, it would be difficult to terrorize everyone with one attack. the ROI of that one attack will be very less, more sacrifices would be needed for the same results. and sorry for being cold, but thats how people who make decision would be thinking of it. cold and calculative.

that said, its only because of people watching that 60 hour marathon live coverage, of being glued to their TV sets, and the unending discussions that followed, that the reaction of the nation has been so strong. people are recognizing that the elected are not doing a very good job,  recognizing the fact that we, the general public, are being used like those young kids, who killed and died, for a personal agenda of some.  come to think of it we are not very different. 

all said, the power of media, and frankly, the power of marketing is immense, especially today. and with the immaturity of the majority audience, this power can, very easily be misused. the thoughts which are conveyed, the analysis which is given can change our thinking, because, frankly, very few of us think on our own, we just repeat or adhere to someone else's philosophy. easy to follow then to think on you own, let alone lead or walk alone.

so should media be analyzing at all. isn't the media's job to tell the facts, and if analyzing, have a differentiation between the facts, and their analysis, their comments. i believe news at least, the half an hour devoted every hour, should be devoted only to stating the facts. the analysis, should be preceded by a warning "this is our analysis, these are our thoughts, understand them, don't follow them blindly'"

as for the videos shown, its the same, videos showing actual events are fine, but videos of terrorists or those elected, should not be served to the public as fact. that is just making media a medium for propaganda. if it has to, they should be asked to buy airtime, and preceded by a warning..."this is propaganda, this is what this person or this organization has to say, this is not we are saying"

and i call them 'the elected' because, they are elected by us. they are our representatives. i believe this, those who rule, come out of those being ruled, they are one of us. the questions is are you electing the best of you, or the worst of you.

take care. hope you survive the new reality.

my sunday...

so we wait for the weekends now a days, heard working people value their weekends, and till now...the weekend used to merged in a long long working week, mostly work was on weekends as well, the work life balance thing, well work was in both the pans in the balance.  

and i am not a workaholic, i want to spend my time doing things i want to do, but more and more i see the division of work and life except for work fading, is a thin line today. i am on call all day long, all night long, first thing in the morning i do is check my blackberry, don't have any office hours, am free to go out of office as i wish, to run errands and all, even meet friends. 

i really don't like the division in the first place, i want to have my freedom to do what i want whenever i want, be it work, blogging, meeting people or doing anything else. for mood driven people like me, u might not be in the mood to work at some point, and if the division was there, u'd still be stuck at work, even though u wouldn't want to work, which means u'd just be wasting time.  thankfully with technology becoming so pervasive and advanced, with mobiles and blackberries, with access everywhere, working becomes a reality. 

so why weekends in the first place...guess, its more of a coordination thing, u know everyone's gonna be free on a weekend, also u know that its gonna be two days when u can leave work behind, but does that really happen? i am never able to leave work behind, am always synced in, to work and life both. all that is required is that you need to manage more things at the same time. keep more things in your head. 

so my sunday...got up at 11:30, still not satisfied, and so forced my self to sleep again, but like love, sleep also can't be scheduled. got up, had to run an errand, come home, take a nice long bath, watch the idiot box, rediscover an old movie, and find a new good sitcom after a long time. and see all my plans for the evening go for a toss. the place we were going to eat has closed, and even if open, the guy who was treating us got after effects of two and a half liters of beer, so thats out of the window. suddenly nothing is playing on the idiot box, and its raining heavily, and as much as i like getting wet, don't wanna really get wet today.

amazing how days change.

well shit happens, have stopped thinking of a perfect weekend!!!

take care. 

the one thing u can't do is have good face time, a limitation which technology has still now conquered, but as i see it, with virtual worlds, even that's gonna go away. touch and feel and smell, well that will take time, don't see that happening anytime soon.  

incidents...

some random things...

was at this coffee shop i go to every morning before work. was around 10, mostly am in a trance and so not very observant. went to the shop and saw everyone staring at something, someone. saw this drunk guy kind of pissed, and quite agitated. now drunk guys in bangalore is not new, every third shop is a wine shop, and at any time of the day u'd find people, drunk to death, lying on the footpath. but he seemed different, one he was well dressed, had an office bag in his hand. was in his mid 40's maybe. seemed like something had happened, something major and he just wanted to drown it in alcohol.  but all people saw was a drunk guy, no one thought beyond. no one asked why...everyone just grouped him along with all the other drunk guys.

he wanted to go home, was going from rickshaw to rickshaw, but no one would take him. i was almost praying someone would. 

i did nothing ofcourse. one i was kind of scared to poke my nose into this, not sure of my judgment of the guy, another, i didn't want to get late for my office. for all the high talk, this was what it came down to. anyways was thinking, for someone like this, who do we turn to get help, all i could do was to call police.  anyways that was that.

was on brigade rd today, waiting for someone while she was meeting someone...story of my life. anyways so didn't want to really do anything, so just bought a pirated book, the last lecture, and started searching for somewhere to sit. mostly i sit on some steps and just pass my time, but experience has taught me that people don't like it. especially if ur sitting in front of a shop, in the most unobtrusive of spots, the security always gets bothered. guess people don't like seeing people at peace, doing there own thing. anyways so found this place, and sat there. no security guard around, so was happy. well as luck would have it, he arrived after some time, i saw him, he stared at me, and my head went 'ok here we go' but he didn't say anything, just went past me. well good, a bit surprised but good. back to reading. after about 4 pages, some one nudges me, i kind of ignore, it many times has worked in the past, another nudge, look up ,he had a questioning expression on his face, may be was saying something which i didn't hear, had earphones on, and the security guard ws holding a chair....asks  me to sit on it and read. i smile. :-)

was going from office to meet someone, there is this long winding road, with nothing on both sides.  just fenced grounds, anyways its like a highway, beautiful road, curvy. its fun to bank at top speeds. anyways was going, and ran out of fuel. had to reach where i had to as soon as, but had no choice. started pushing the vehicle. there was no point of getting a rickshaw, didn't have time or patience to go to the petrol pump, get fuel and come back. and didn't expect a rickshaw to stop either, they mostly aren't very helpful in bangalore. so was resigned to my fate, and quite hopeless. and was just mechanically pushing the vehicle. 

suddenly seemed like someone pushed my activa from behind, i got this rush of anger, thought someone actually banged into me. look behind and there is this rickshaw, occupied, the driver is sitting on a side and pushing the activa from behind. he doesn't say anything, and for a second i am confused, didn't expect goodness at the most unlikely of places or circumstances. he just looks at me, and i know what he wants. i sit on the activa, and he pushes it all the way to a petrol pump, ofcourse with my luck that day, it was closed and i had to push it for another 2 km, but thats another story. 

another one...if u go on brigade road, most weekends you can find this girl selling roses. she is cute, about 10-12 years old, speaks fluent school english, has a pleading but hopeful look in her eyes. she tells u that i go to school, pleads and you always feel for her. one of my friends always busy the roses, even though he doesn't have anyone in the city to give it to. i never do, today i did, had a sister to give it to. not digressing from the topic, people do buy from her. she sells it for 20 bucks a rose, but people still do. there are other beggars or people who sell stuff, but not from them. guess the pschycological effect of seeing a 'good family' girl, well dressed and speaking english, pleading for money sells well. plus the girl looks really genuine. and i am not being a cynic, she is genuine and i appreciate the fact that she is selling something, and not just begging. and also her marketing skills at selling roses on brigade road, every second person there is a couple. but i, whenever see a beggar, always end up thinking if he or she is genuine. sometimes even curse them, saying they have able bodies, why don't they work. well just my way of getting over my guilt at not doing anything for them. making them seem undeserving, somehow tells me i am not doing anything wrong. 

so the point of all the stories, well true observations from my life...we see so many nasty things and nasty people, seeing good things, gestures, people helping without asking almost surprises us. its not how it should be, should it. well i guess, there are still far more good things in life, we just don't see them, don't talk about them more. the bad things, crimes, things people do to hurt to others, they get far more mileage, and so are spoken of more. look at the news today, is there any news channel which spends anytime talking about good people, good achievements. one of the major reasons life becomes negative. 

talk about good things, looks at good people, appreciate goodness. why talk about the 20% and ignore the 80%. should be the other way round.

long post...and after a long time, something i liked. 

take care. 

purity...

inpsiration...lets see what comes out.

watching a couple of movies, parrallely, both are quite different, one talks about gandhian values...about goodness, the other about love...or rather fixing love. but both at the basic level talk about purity.
lagge raho munnabhai brought back what gandhi used to preach, and managed to mould it such that i made sense in todays context, understandable to our generation, somehow it managed to bring back values our parents use to live by.
what gandhi preached was quite simple...goodness, being true to urself and the world, trying to make people around you happy. and that stuff truly works. with all the politics we play, all the trivial power plays, they simply make life more complicated. they burden our brains with more crap to think, and more then that, they burden our hearts with a guilt. well why would you feel guilty when ur are playing a well thought out power game, when u knowingly don't wish someone, and that not wishing someone makes u feel superior. well u feel guilty, because deep down, we all are good people. the base over which our brains builds these power play castles, is mostly always goodness. and after playing all those games all day, all week long, when you have a moment to yourself, you always question why. you might say, well i don't, i always feel happy at that small fight, that small tussle you won, but buddy, ur loosing the battle, slowly but surely. many times you don't even get enuf alone time to think, ur so entangled in the power plays.
trying doing something good, say a happy goodmorning, help carry someones bag, hold the door open, something more significant maybe...buying that old guy a coffee...it feels good. and one small thing, wipes away the guilt from a hunderd other big mistakes.
and also how difficult is it to do the right thing, its amazing, we need guts to do the right thing nowadays, well since always, but isin't it funny. u think twice about doing the right thing because of others, who all are doing the wrong things, might judge you. ironic....do the right thing. all it takes to start is some guts, once u get used to it...it becomes a way of life. and its beautiful.
preachy ain't i....well more coming
hitch...date doctor...amazing that all these concepts start our of NY. speed dating too...what ever you say, they have evolved more then us.
anyways, hitch and the entire concept of a love fixer is kinda disgusting right, but some how they manage to put it in a likebaly way, which actually makes sense. hitch says, thats why falling in love is so difficult (although at the end, the funda is kinda turned over by allegra...am watching the movie so remember the names) anyways it is kinda difficult, because we are more judged by our exteriors, it takes time to know the core qualities, and who has time for that. plus the marketing exterior that we put on show are far easier to comprehend, and thats what my hitch does, makes sure that u don't get rejected at the first look, at the first conversation. well he makes sure u get beyond that, so that atleast a part of you core comes out, and love when happens is based on that. its not purity, but it gives purity to come out atlease.
anyways so...take care.

roots...

some one some time back was asked me...what are your roots. and it left me wondering, are roots so important. she told me its important to be connected to be your roots. well...roots is an apt word for what was being asked. roots keep you rooted. it saves you from becoming a floater, but it also doesn't let you be totally free. the freedom of thought is never there if you are rooted.
roots can be regional, can be caste wise, what she wanted to hear was whether i was a bengali. i am not, and am proud of it. i told i am an Indian, and immediately realised how cheesy and funny that sounded, because we never use that do we. we always say we are bengali, gujrati, from bombay, but hardly anyone of us says i am an Indian. i am.
why...i identify with being an Indian, and don't identify being a bengali, or from ahmedabad, or working in IT. the only tag, atleast for some time that i want attached to myself is Indian, and as said, only for some time, some day wanna be a world citizen.
that gives me the freedom of thought of looking at bengalis as they are...the good , the bad and the ugly and about all other cultures. it also takes away the pride a bengali feels at being a bengali.
roots are not bad, they give you stability, they don't let you float away, if ur rooted, ur know where you home is, where you feel secure, which type of people you feel comfortable with.
roots are given just by staying at some place, between a particular kind of people for a significant amount of time, well actually along time. we don't become bengalis or mallus just because we are born to bengali or mallu parents, its because we stay with bengalis, between bengalis, in kolkatta...but what if ur both parents are not bengalis...you have never been to calcutta and have had minimal contact with bengalis...are you still a bengali. i am not.

i wonder about people who have travelled the world when they were very young, the ideal most case would be someone who has travelled the world, without their parents, guess there would be no place they could call home, there is no place they would feel passionate about, they would look at every place as it is, every culture as it is. they won't really cheer for their team from the heart, because there is not team they can call theirs. seems like a waste of a life...but thats what i want.


next question i am gonna answer, asked yesterday...what makes you experienced. age is surely not the answer, going through a hell lot of stuff....well yes, but really, understanding what you are going through and why. experience doen't really mean that when the same situation comes up again, you will act differently. how many of us have done the same mistakes when in love. but atleast if you understand what you are going through, you know whats going on.

and you can't learn from other peoples experiences, you have to go through you own. people say a lot of stuff...but just listening to them doesn't get that into you psyche. hearing someone elses horrid stories about their accidents, doesn't mean that you will automatically start driving slow...you have to go through you own.

and thats exactly why our evolution has been slow, you do almost everything that the other did, so the results will also be almost the same...and also why we are different from the other by a very small degree. its like genetic algorithms, mutations are very few, far apart, and many times don't survive.

take care.
I should rename the blog...my ramblings. that exactly what they have become, hate the quality of whts coming out of me now a days, thats why am writing less. hope its a phase. need inspiration.

teams...

teams.....so how do you make a team. not groups, those are easy, just put a bunch of people together and you got a group, most probably a good for nothing group. a team is a higher level, a very higher level, they not only work towards achieving the objectives set forth, but act more like a family. they care about each other, they enjoy and cry together, know each other personally...and it goes on. its a family away from family, as time goes by, you don't have any barriers between your self and your team.
but..how do you get there. time and again, i have observed, if you go through a problem, a crisis, an issue together, work thorugh it, go throught he highs and lows, become part of the blame and the cheer,,,you end up developing a relationship which goes beyond work. you develop a connection of sorts. a connection which disagreements over work issues, or issues related to achieving that objective cannot break. you end up being a team. its true for any kind of work, rememeber college days, when you used to work together towards that submission or towards organising that fest, working all nights, till death came. or remember solving that issue, which wouldn't get solved, instead you would discover new things which would frustate you...
coming through a problem together makes a bond, because to solve that problem, you have to get over the small differences you have, you have to understand and laugh at the small quirks of the other and of yourself, else you would never be able to solve the problem. and also because you share memories for long after you have solved the problem. you also get a chance to enter the personal area, remember the late night call you boss got form his wife, and how he explained it. well that made you understand that he also is human. he also goes through the same problems as you do.
getting out of work...doing some physical activity together, a cricket team maybe, going trekking together...jsut having a birthday party bash...drinking together. they all have the same effect. and i guess its because you get to see the other side of a person, the non official side. it helps you trust a person more. i have seen the most diplomatic, guarded of people give up their inhibitions, get excited, blabber our, and when you see the human side of someone, you start trusting them. you start believing they are also like you,
well enough said...so back to the original question how do you make a team...well go for a trek...a real arduous one. you will get yelled at by everyone, but atleast they all will bond. and as a boss, or person responsible for achieving the objective, thats what you want.

random thoughts (in a mildly drunk state)

you are incluenced so much by people ur in love with, people who care about you, not necessarily who you care about, a friend of mine, is freshly in love...and i am priveledged to see him changing, metamorposisd into something no one would have ever imagined him to be...and is just not because that significant other wants him to change, its his will, his want to change for her, why, i wonder, maybe so that he doesn't disappoint her, maybe so that he doesn't disappoint himself by not standing up to the challenge.
its something about love, being in love, being in illusion of being love, it takes you to an energy level which is unattainable otherwise.
on a different note, i am with friends who are all almost all comfortably numb, except for this one guy, well not today, but mostly it happens that that one drunk guy or the presence of any girl (who somehow are always sane even when drunk, they either are sane, or they totally pass out) u feel insecure about putting it all out there, pouring your heart out. its a known fact, in drunk guy parties, mostly one guy always cries, pours his heart out. somehow that intoxicated state helps him overcome his inhibitions, makes him feel more comfortable feeling vulnerable. and they pour their hearts out.
another fact, you getting drunk has no corelation with the amount that you drink, you can drunk in a couple of pegs, or stay sane even after an addha...(funny, keeping track of english grammar rules even when using hindi words). its all on the state of mind you are in, you have been in. if you wanna get drunk, if you have things to pour out, you can create the illusion to urself even with a drink.
by the way, girls can never make out when a guy is drunk, except for girls who them selves have got drunk (and the criteiron for being drunk is that you have puked atleast once). they have these ideas, which mostly have been generated out of watching the drunk people in hindi movies, and they think, that slurred speech, not holding a glass right, is being drunk, well its not. you have no idea what being drunk is, i don't either. its a state of being, a state of being out of control, of feeling free, of forgetting everything, of not worrying about getting up the next day, of not worrying that your girlfriend or parents might call and you might not pick up. its like the supreme yoga state, when u start seeings lights in front of your eyes, and after sometime, even that stops, its that state of relaxation...its beautiful.
what else...cranberries playing...quite loud. last time around cops came to our place, looking to make some money.
i have seen responsible guys loosing control, not because they are drunk enough, but because they want to...guys risking everything...somehow guys want to, once in a while, want to feel that they are above all the risks in live. about all their responsibilites. its exhilirating for them, that bike ride at 90 whne u shouldn't be even driving, it somehow reaffirms their confidence in themselves, helps them believe that they can face anything that comes their way...its pure stupid guy thing, they are pigs, don't have brains, just brawn...and that ways i am a total guy. its difficult to get a guy out of a guy.
everyone is so selfish, everyone, out of everything they do, they want somethign out of it. every smile you give, u expect a smile back, because it feels good. i realised this fact long time back, and it was reaffiremd by phoebe, in friends. there is not unselfish act.
lots for now, take care

primer on getting a comfortable (or comfortablly numb) life!!!

am the last person to give the primer...but well...a comfortable numb life...yea that i can tell ya about.
was talking to this dude yesterday...who right now is entering a difficult and possibly life changing phase of life, he tells me he has only one goal in life...living a comfortable life. thats his only dream. hmm...isn't that everyones dream...most of us atleast. its a big vague dream...in the same league as i want to be famous...i wanna make a difference...all big dreams.
the problem with many in our generation and maybe the ones before us is that we have big abstract vague dreams, which really are the destination. well not even the destination, the environment we want our destination to be in.
whats we don't know is how to get there...as usual we forget the journey. don't think about it. we don't realise to have a comfortable life...there is a struggle which we must go through and not necessarily a struggle, but atleast a journey...which might take time, which might bring surprises on its way, which might want us to go in a totally different direction. but since we are so focused on the end result, which frankly if you ask to explain, you won't be able to, we simply keep on walking towards the destination, missing out the chances we get in life.
the lack of focus on the journey is partly a result of what we see...we see movies in which the protagnist is mostly already well to do, already famous, already there. we see and get impressed by people around us because they are settled in life, have nice cars, wear good clothes, are mature and make sense when they talk...and think...well thats how i want to be. we always miss out on how they actually go there. i haven't seen many movies which explain the journey, books yes...but few. most of these mediums only tell about the destinations...the incidents which portray victory and sometimes desperation, but never tell about the mundane life that is part of every journey, which frankly should be enjoyed.
and yea, the comfortable life. well don't ya think when it comes, you would actually be comfortable numb, especially if u haven't enjoyed the journey. a question spiritual gurus ask is what is you purpose in life...making money what else. but frankly what is our purpose...comfortable life. well then whats different between you and the next guy...and any guy in the world. live the same old circle...of birth and death...and in between...grow up...study...relationship...work...marriage...work....kids...grow old...die off. same concerns..not belittling the small experiences and smallish variations we all have...but then life follows the same script, for most of us, doesn't it. well its not getting towards a comfortable life...but a comfortably numb life.
choose to live more people...be different.
take care.

sliding doors...

learnings from a movie, the movie being sliding doors...

how much difference can a moment make to your life, same goes for a decision but that is something you do, but what about things you don't have any control on, being at the right place at the right time, saying the right thing, getting into the right accident, seeing or hearing the right things, things which happen by change and over which you have no control. life changing things happen, the roads taken is totally different, but the question is do the different roads always converge at some point? as per the movie, and as per my firm belief they do, always, u might be taking a longer route or maybe a shorter one, but you always reach where you want to be, supposed to be, no want to be. don't know, confused.

may be want to be, if the want makes you hungry enough, because then your direct your life, even if you are on the wrong path, you still keep on going in the direction and ultimately you get to the same road that you initially were on, or maybe, if as lucky as i have never been, u reach the destination. 

its basic georgrapy, if you ask me, if i am every lost, which in india is quite often, i just start going in the direction which would lead me to the road that i know, and i do reach there, sometime short of my destination, sometimes further up which means a U turn, and wasted time, but at least i am there. at least i know where i am and can find my way to where i want to be. of course you should know where you want to be and you should also have a keen sense of direction. i thankfully do, the latter part of it really.

hmm...so that was one. 

the other is why in the world don't girls realize they are with the wrong guy, even when it is glaringly evident, even when they know it in the core of their heart. why do they still keep on pretending that everything is rosy, that everything will work out, that the asshole of a guy will change. doesn't happen women...guys don't change, they simply pretend, but they are not intelligent enough to change, they are bulls and will stay so. what will get this into your heads.

stop looking for security and take the decision.

and a third, british comedies are so much better then american, don't know why, but i like british, european in general far more then american, american is more slapstick, hardly intelligent, if intelligent its mostly a gross form of intelligence. the only intelligent american comedy i have seen is frazer, everything else has been crap. not that it doesn't make me laugh, but not something i remember, jokes are not witty, but more of the kind which give birth to phrases and names.  british is heart warming, same with songs really. i when in mood, would always prefer hindi songs to english (read american) songs, they seem to have a soul which the latter lacks. same with adverts. well american adverts are pathetic, the biggest marketing market in the world, and i am surprised at the lack of creativity. not ideas, they know how to market stuff, most of the advert or marketing concepts were born in the americas, but when it comes to actually implementing it from a creative perspective, they totally lack it...

well a whole lot of america bashing, but really i appreciate them for what they do good. 

what else, ah yes, the movie, sliding doors, gywneth paltrow, james hannah, and jeanne triplehorn (all from memory). nice movie, heart warming, creative, very frank, and a different way of telling the same story. watch it. 

tata's

astropandits...sounding boards

astrologers, face readers and such...i have never been actually believe in them. even after hearing from people how their entire past life was laid out before them, as it happened. don't really believe in it because, i don't see any scientific explanation to it, 

went to this astrologer once, with a significant other, to find out about our lives together. and with all the sensible questions being asked by her, all i was interested in knowing is how to find out, what is the process, trying to find some science behind it. 

at that time was too immature to know the psyche reasoning behind it, understand it better today.

there are a couple of things, one is that u mostly hear what u want to hear, if they say something u don't like, u kind of ignore it, try to find reasons to argue with what they say, go to another astropandit who would give a somewhat different opinion and u'd pick on that opinion.

one of my friends who believes in this stuff, once said that unless it is absolutely bad, astrologers never give it to you in absolute terms, they would always put it very diplomatically. which to me is like cheating, u go there to get the truth, not their interpreted mellowed down version of it. 

but imagine astropandits dilemma, they know, and there is a big if before know, but if they do know what all bad is gonna happen to you, how do they break it to you, they also have this big moral responsibility, how much to give to you, and i guess with experience they also learn to know how much a person can take and give them accordingly...

and that leads to the second, there is a face reader, and she is a face reader, because she can make out ur nature from your face, and thats all she does. she takes a look at a pic and lays out, quite accurately what a person is like, which people think is a divine gift to her, but i don't think so. she just is very discerning, even we, not as blessed as she is, can make out natures from faces can't we, but then for us its mostly limited to people we are interested in and have studied...but we can. so nothing special in that, what is special is that she has the empathy to know everyone. 

together with knowing ur nature, if she knows ur past and presents, its not too difficult to predict the future, humans are predictable...

what i do appreciate about her, and most astrologers is that they have a heart, they become ur support system, we mostly want to know the future when we want the illusion of a good future to give us hope to get past our present, and they, whether they see the future or not, give that. they counsel, and give some placebo (thanks JS) like a puja or something, they generate hope. the same can be done by someone else, because everyone who is not affected by the problem ur going through always see whats right, whats logical, but then the astropandit is more listened to, they have the advantage of divine gifts u see.

what ever be the case...they help, not by giving u ur future, but giving u an listening ear...

take it with a pinch of salt, ultimately i believe, just hear and follow what ur heart says, even if wrong, u'd never feel wrong...

take care

PS...is this too opinionated, well rather is this opinionated, just from my heart, and its not meant to be, am not someone who has opinions...judgements, not till i know everything, which i never will.

ephemerals...

good advertising only kills a bad product faster

was walking down the road,
this girl passed,
smelled her perfume,
smelled nice,
thought, wow...
and then
i sneezed,

:-)

mumbai files

was going through some of my unpublished blogs and came across this one, one of my first, July 24, 06...

it talks about people becoming immune to death and circumstances, especially in india. i have seen three riots, terrorism in punjab and as u will read, missed the mahim blast by one train.  and seen people dying in front of me, handled a dead body (if this sounds like bragging, try touching a body which has turned cold, rigor mortis has set in, it will freak u out) so have i become numb, yes i have, and u will too. should i, no, but as much as you try not to change, ur experiences touch and scar ur soul, it takes ages to get to that level of consciousness where u can control ur unconscious, and i just hope i get there. 

so here goes...

amazing that the first post in bombay files is being written towards the end of my stay here. its been a long stay, and the 'maximum city' has lived up. floods, riots, bomb blasts and all this in a couple of months. 
was telling someone, life is cheap in india, a billion people, who cares if one departs. heard this guy hanging on the edge, holding the middle polev(travel in a local to know) for life in a local shout out to the crowd inside, 'arrey andar jaao nahi to ek kam ho jayega'. no one budged, don't think anyone heard it either. 
but the reaction this time has been different. after the two days of the same old 'we will fight back', 'undying spirit of mumbai' etc etc, started the editorials about how this is more of an escapist excuse we are giving to cover up. this urge to find some positive in all the ruins, to some how still brag about something after failing miserably, to say that 'no, not all is bad' so that our pain lessens. so that we donot have to face the harsh truths.
there was this article today about memorial being laid at mahim station, i was there the day abdul kalam was here, saw the huge crowds. heard the people shouting vande mataram at the top of their voice. the article says that atleast now we are recognising that lives were lost, they were valuable and should be remembered. i agree. the author ask why was this not done before. if all the western countries have being doing it for ages, why not us. well for them a madrid blast happen once every 15 years, for us a bombay blast or a tsunami happens thrice a year. the entire country will be full of memorials!!!

BUT original thought is this, why now?? why are we waking up to the fact that sab chalta nahi hai, making life normal as fast as possible is not that important, sometimes its important to go through the pain, let it seep in, to realise what has happened, to reflect and to make some changes, why now??
my guess is india is becoming more mature. its been 50 years since our independence, about 15 since we became econmically independent, and today we are in a far better economic position then ever before. today the issues are not as basic as unavailability of food n water, today its not necessary for every one to be back on their feet the next day and go for work, else they will not earn enough to feed their family. today we are better off.
we know that the country is doing well, and not only do we know this, but we are also assured that it will keep on progressing, and so the issues which were less important yesterday, all the social issues, are taking prominence today.
so is this a natural progression for any country, if so then what differentiates countries. by this pattern, we can expect africa to go through the same in the next 10 - 20 - 40 years. the thing which differentiates is how fast we get to this stage. US took almost 150years, we are there in 50.
hmm... thats all for now!!!

possessions...

at the bangalore airport, the tree near CCD. it was raining that day, overcast, beautiful weather, and this guy was enjoying his possession...
we all have possessions, we are all possesive of something, we all want something to belong to us, and only us, where we have full control. it can be a cycle, a diary, a space or a human, but we all are possesive. so is he...
mirrors...they are things we take for granted, like everything else we have...but imagine living without any mirrors, a place where u can't see your reflectiong, will you still put that lipstick, will you still use that comb, will you still shave...
what does that mean, if we were not judged by anyone, even by ourselves, would we still be want to be what we strive to be today??

basic builds of the sexes...!

there are some basic natures, basic instincts, its in our DNA and cannot be changed, at least not in this iteration...maybe in the next 100 generations it might, and even today it is changing, becoming less evident then it used to be but is still there.

and at the gender level, its the most evident.

both sexes have a very basic nature, if u peel away the layers, right down to the core, the basic requirements and offerings are the same.

females require security, not only for them but also for their children from a male, and they would sacrifice and compromise on everything else, career, ambitions, dreams about almost everything, to get that.

Males require support for what they do, backing and reinforcement in form of appreciation, for all they do.

i have seen girls who are damn ambitious, would fight for every mark in college, would dream about getting the most salaries, and study, and use all methods possible to get it, would be really diplomatic and hardworking, to make sure they progress and reach their goals, and girls as capable as they are and as good at they are at handling the other sex, they always progress faster then guys do. but the same girls once they get married, which by the way is one of the basic dreams, once that dream is fulfilled are happy to compromise, actually they don't even compromise, because that's something u do consciously, they are happy to live the less ambitious life, be a home maker (n in today's world it means taking care of the home, hubby and also doing a job which i don't think any of guys would ever be able to manage). but they don't stay as ambitious, as focused on personal progress, many let go of their bodies, which they were obsessed with earlier, many live a life of gossip, which they wouldn't earlier. its a basic instinct.

a guy, looks for backing. i have seen and been a guy, who would be the happiest when doing things for his better half, for his love, his wife. and if it is appreciated, if he see it making a difference to better half's live, nothing would make him happier. its a basic and very core build in him. even for his ambitions, he wants enforcements, he wants to be pushed by his love to even achieve the dreams and ideas which are as such his. the girl, gives that push, because at a very sub conscious level, she knows, achieving those dreams will give her more security.

these are basic animal natures, and as much as we progress, try to change it, at some corner these natures always rule us. how ever parochial this sounds, how ever mcp'ish this sounds, its true.

its also a reason of many conflicts, because we are trying to change our basic architecture. there is nothing wrong with it, it should be done. but the problem is that the female sex is moving faster in this direction then their counter parts. girls are chaining their cores, they want everything, they was a good married life and also are ambitious about their careers now, they are moving slow, and many instances of the female sex give up because of the beatings of life, but some do go ahead. the problem is that guys are not moving forwards, they still think that they are the providers and still have this basic need for appreciation.

the idle situation will be when there is not difference between a girl and a guy, in a relationship, when one needs support the other provides it and is appreciated, when both can be vulnerable at one point, and provide strength at the other. the problem with this idle situation is what when both require support, or when both are successful and require to be appreciated. in the past, it always used to be the guy who was successful, and who would provide the support, that's why guys were told 'never to cry'. and so it worked well, i am not saying that's how it should be, that's not how it should be, but at least the roles were defined. now in the new idle situation, the roles will not be defined, and so their will be conflicts,

as for me, i'd rather be in the roles not defined world with conflicts, rather the being the provider at all times. i want to be the 'weaker sex' at some things, and want to be with some one who can be the 'weaker sex' at other times.

lets see...

take care

PS...this is a blog which has come, after a long time, has come out of my heart, have been thinking about this for long, and the idle situation is close to replacing the male instincts as a basic core build, but don't think will every be 100%...it all comes down to what u can make ur peace with, what kind of life u can live with. it u don't live that life, and don't make peace with the life ur living, it will simply suffocate you.

ankur

cystal clear moments...!

ever been at those forks where u can clearly see both paths and where they lead. where the clarity of the results of the decision u take scares you. where what is going to happen is so certain, u wonder whether to take the decision at all.
evern done the mistake of ur lifetime, knowing that its gonna be a mistake, knowing that its gonna change life for the worse and its never gonna be the same again. and still taken the wrong road...the down hill no halts till destruction kinda road.
ever knew something was so right that it was just unbelievable. where u knew there are no other options, no other choices, no where else to go.
well... if u do, ur lucky. i am...
take care

the two 'ts

habits and guilts ie, one leave u stationary and the other makes u move faster then you would like to, and in a direction you won't want to go.

habits are formed over time, and they might simply come out of doing something repeatedly, even if you don't like it. but you still keep on doing it, inertia, spoke about it in one of my previous blogs. anyways habits can be about anything, smoking is a habit and so are people u don't really love but are still with. both are as injurious to health.

habits make u dependant, even if u wanna get out of it, just the fear of leaving the known and going towards something unknown would not let you break out of it.

do all habits harm, well they do, they don't let you move forward, or sideways, or even backwards. ur stuck in the same old life. they do give u stability, but well, too much of stability makes a person unstable, so...

break out of habits, its not that difficult, just getting out of the intertia is and then keeping on that path for sometime. after some time you don't even miss the habit, and frankly, if ur a true person, every time u think of the habit, and if it was not a good one at heart, like the 'love' ur with who u really don't love which makes it cheating, well u feel guilt...

and well guilt, ah they rule don't they, everything and anything you do is out of guilt. its either guilt of not being/doing what is expected, of hurting people, of just not doing what we are supposed / expected to do and all other such crappy reasons. the problem with doing things out of guilt is that we never do it out of our own hearts, and anything which is done without putting ur heart in, or which comes out of any place except for the heart, is never fully successful, never perfect. it can never cause bliss, or as put in marketing terms, consumer delight.

so don't do things out of guilt, how to handle the guilt, well be truthful, own up to it and you should be fine. never carry guilt in your heart, it eats you up from inside. even more then cigs do, believe me.

so that was that, now what???

back to work now!!!

chalo take care.

fear...

i mostly am not a scared person, i take risks, have risked my life quite a few times, and although have always been lucky, never close to dying. and i always believed that there is not much which i fear.

i had an accident sometime back, which, if all the stars were right, would have killed me. and killed me on spot, which is how i and most others want to die, in a jiffy, no time to think. anyways happened late at night, while driving my activa, on not so lonely a road. i was on a high, and driving quite rash, but the accident happened because someone else took offence on me overtaking him, and in a very manly second of road rage hit me from behind. he didnot have the upbringing to stop and see what happened, but am sure must be checking the newspapers next morning to see if there was a story about a 25 year old killed on the airport road.

anyways i fell, guess was unconscious for an unknown number of what seemed to me milliseonds but looking at peoples reactions must surely be more, and then got up and walked on. few people helped, we even had a small laugh, i checked my self, and well walked on. a broken arm, bruises on all the points which usually get bruied, but otherwise fine. took my activa and drove home. has happened before, and hopefully will happen again, so no worries.

and then the fear hit me. i was actually scared. couldn't sleep all night, not because my body was paining, but because i was scared, and if u have felt this kind of fear, u can actually feel it in ur heart, it doesn't quicken your pulse, or make you anxious, nope, its just hovers over your head like a cloud... well that night friends (the sitcom, not the living thingies who should be there for u when you need them and all that bull) saved me. saw a marathon run of about 6 episodes, and finally went to sleep.

couldn't drive for a month, and people said that u anyays won't drive fast now, u'll be too damn scared. i, with the minimscule amonut of maleness that i have, brushed if off, well has happened to me before, will happen again, doesn't really affect me. but it did...

i have stopped being an instintive driver now, now, i look, question and reconfirm my instincts, which by the way has made me a worse driver. and i was wondering why,,, so here comes the funda, no clarity here though.

when i happened before, i guess, i knew there was someone to take care of me. went a full day with a fractured, swollen ankle, and didnot pay much heed, because i knew dad will take care of me. there would be someone to take me to a doctor, to support me and all. but this time was alone, i dressed myself, cleaning my wounds (and btw Savlon stings...stings bad), holding my left wrist in my right hand, all the time checking to see if there was swelling. and was wondering, if i died on the road, who'd know. this time around there was no hand on my head. one of managers father passed away, and i asked how does it feel, and he says, well, there is no hand over my head now, and if u haven't realised it till now, you soon will what that means. anyways thats one.

secondly, and this actually is quite contradictory, i today don't have anything to loose. except for my parents there is really no one in whose heart my death will create a vacumm, people will remember, but nope, life will go on for them as usual. last time around there was atleast one more person. but the point is, i am not attached to anyone, still had this fear crop up, i don't know how to explain that. maybe my core is still very selfish.

also this time around someone actually did something knowingly, it didnot happen naturally, but was forced by someone, and i guess till now i have not ever encounter human wrath, natures wrath is fine, because u don't understand the reason behind it, its out of you control, it something more, infinitely more powerful then you, and also because you believe that its not unfair, but a human taking out his/her wrath hurts, makes me fearful.

anyways sorry for the really long and descriptive blog, surely doesn't follow the rules of a good blog, u had to scroll down right!!!

well till the next accident (and i truly believe everyone should have one, its the best time to know a lot of things, who ur real friends are, how much pain can you take, how you react...et al)

take care

PS, two fundas i forgot to mention - a risk is a risk only if you know the consequences, if you don't its just your folly. and also for an accident to happen, both parties must be at fault, its quite impossilbe for one party to cause an accident on its own, its like anything else in life, everyone involved is responsible for it happening, to a varying degree maybe, but everyone is.

......

almost a year down...and i have started driving as fast as i used. well but yea...have that instictive fear in me now. guess once it goes into your core...difficult to kick it out. the only way out is to get used to the habit, its just a thought, a fleeting feeling, leaves you soon. just have to control ur head and let it pass.

freakonomics...?

Jug Suraiya, a very accomplised writer is a regular columnist for the Sunday Times, mostly writing on the small weirdieties/incidents of life which mostly everyone misses, but requires a very strong power of discerning observation. heres an article by him, which explains the coming back of the retro, and i believe explains a phenomenan which would be very difficult to even notice. its in the same general area as the new freakonomics, but states only the thesis and not the proof...
this new freakonomics phenomenan, which explains the smaller things in life by using maths and science, seems far more useful then the science and maths that we learn. it explains life and can go a long way in changing it, a long way in we able to understand and control it. its supposedly a new phenomenan but what was explained by John Nash (a beautiful mind fame), wasn't it in the same lines. Explaining game theory, which is a very natural phenomenan using mathematics. it was something which was already happening, but was made understandable and thus usable.
come to think of it many of these freakonomis era phenomenan, after they are brought to notice seem so natural and logical that they donot require any proof, but because of its simplicity and also because of our general attitude to miss out on the small things, are never discovered.

here is the article, can't put in the link but can be found at epaper.timesofindia.com, published on Jan 19th.

Take care.

SECOND OPINION
Not elitists but neo-casteists hate Nano
Jug Suraiya
Ratan Tata’s Nano has, predictably, hit a caste barrier. While being enthusiastically, indeed euphorically, welcomed by its target audience — archetypically characterised as a middle-class family of husband, wife and two children, perched on a two-wheeler, exposed to the vagaries of sun and rain, from which Tata heroically wishes to rescue them by providing the comfort and safety of an affordable four-wheeler — the ‘people’s car’ is reportedly inducing ‘nightmares’ in environmentalists and urbanologists, allegedly because of the exponential rise in pollution and road congestion the Everyman auto will cause. This reaction has been deemed as ‘elitist’; it could more appropriately be described as ‘casteist’. Elitism, as a concept (you are as good as you can make yourself), is based on meritocracy and as such its proper place is in a dynamic, or would-be dynamic, society. Casteism (you will always be what you are born into no matter what you try to make of yourself) finds its entrenched place in a static, or would-be static, society. For example, IITs, or IIMs, are meant to be elitist; dynamic meritocracies. Caste-based reservations will turn them into static statusbestowers, and nothing more. True elitists should welcome the Nano, for it suggests that — finally — the country might be getting into top gear and that all, and not just a privileged few, of us could one day be elite. Most importantly, a true elitist believes that the problems of social change — including those of pollution and congestion — are amenable to solutions, be it in the form of hybrid cars, better road use, or other products of ‘elitist’ thinking. The negative response to the Nano springs from neo-casteism. Those who oppose the Nano not only have their own non-people’s (often chauffeur-driven) limousines, but these limousines frequently ferry them to and from international airports which they whizz through to attend seminars on global warming, carbon emissions and sustainable development (we’ll do the developing; you can do the sustaining). In fact, the other great bete noire of technological casteists apart from the Everyman car are Everyman cheap air fares. If the Rs 1 lakh car debases the car-owner caste, cheap air fares debase the coterminous caste of frequent flyers. Since both the Nano and cheap air fares are here to stay, what will technological casteists do to preserve their caste purity? One answer could be that they’ll go retro. Years ago, Nancy Mitford writing about England — a society perhaps more casteist than India, at least where language and pronunciation are concerned — showed how the ‘U’ (upper castes) responded when the ‘non-U’ (non-upper castes) encroached upon the ‘U’s’ traditional linguistic prerogatives. When the non-U began to ape the U usage of French-based words like ‘perfume’, ‘toilet’, and ‘serviette’, the U promptly went back to the hitherto non-U counterparts: ‘scent’, ‘lavatory’ (or ‘loo’), and ‘napkin’. When the non-U presume to become U, it’s time for the U to become non-U, at least selectively. To an extent this has already happened in India. Though a diamond-drenched Mayawati eating Black Forest pudding on her birthday has yet to prompt the Indian U from dropping De Beers and European confectionery in favour of mangalsutras and desi mithai, various forms of ‘ethnic chic’ have made inroads into Indian citadels of neo-casteism. Polyester (in the 1950s the preferred fabric of the haute monde, today the wash-’n’-wear choice of the aam janta) is out; handloom cotton, preferably organically grown, is in. Fizzy colas are out; ‘vernacular’ alternatives like chhachh and aampanna (even Coke is planning to make it) are in. Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse are out; Little Hanuman is in. Ratan Tata should do a favour for those who’ve turned their thumbs down for his Nano: make for their exclusive use an authentically ethnic, authentically retro and environmentally upper caste designer bullock cart called Indigobar. It might be a bit slow. But heck, what with all those Nanos choking the roads, who’s going anywhere fast, anyway.

Global leaders, India???

So was reading this article by some prof of socio politico economics in some firang uni. Was pushing India to take a leadership role in world politics, specifically spreading democracy around the world, we being one of the largest n relatively successful democracies in the world n all.

so two thoughts here...

are we really successful in being a democracy??? Cynics n the more practical in the world who donot always see everything as rosy as it seems like to call us a functioning democracy. N its so true. We have all the freedom here but are we using it the way we should? We have free 'fair' elections but hardly any worthwhile candidates to vote for. We have given a lot of freedom to people who do not have the maturtiy n sense to choose...in that way i believe regulation in all aspects is good. Like in film industry, u can't let everyone watch porn although there is this theory that if u do distribute porn freely and widely, it reduces the number of rapes but that aside, reglation in a very ignorant and selfish society is a must. and also the point whether we should give the right to choose a leader to those who can be easily swayed by materialistic means. and does or can democracy actually work for a county as big as ours, i belive democracy is ideal for medium countires, because here, an individuals voice doesn't count, its gets lost, even if its the making most sense. think of it, the 20-80 rule works here as well, 20% have the most valid thoughs but 80% are the loudest, and in a democracy, loudest get heard, always.

N second point, rather though, we need to take a leadership position, agreed, but then its not in indie blood to take initiatives. we are a suppressed society n more in our heads then others suppressing us. we always question our selves, are we right, do we have a right to speak, n will anyone hear us. We have not confident enough. We look for outsiders to give us work, n then follow. Unless ofcourse its our interest then we fight, recent Bali debates are an example. But we donot take initiative for unselfish reasons, atleast those which seem to do us no good in the shorter distance, (and we as a country can't see long term, we lack the foresight required). But thats the only way to get global leadership. Meddle in other peoples problems. Find solutions for problems if none exist or solutions are not required. its like Microsoft, make a product which has not demand, and then sell it...

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On the iphone