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Music, any music, helps keeps my sanity intact. Particularly on Chennai roads, earphones plugged in. Its crazy & dangerous I know, but what to do. Better sanity than road rage. If not, for every MTC bus which literally brushes me aside, every auto who suddenly blocks the way forward, every pedestrian who darts across, I'd make such a fuss feigning outrage that I might be locked up in NIMHANS! I'm grateful for the designers at NOKIA who fused a radio inside a cell-phone.(How many times, just how many times must you mention this around here, eh? Ed!). ;)
And so, it was delightful to hear a lovely song recently - "Nyabagam Varuthey" from the Cheran directed film 'Autograph' and experience a gamut of emotions that is brings on. The line "Mudhal mudhal azhuthe sneghithan maranam" from the song truly hit home, triggering an avalanche of long held memories, threatening to drown me in my tears. Memories that refuse to fade, of schoolmates and friends who has passed away.
Let me take you back a bit, almost Gowri style! :)
In school, I listened dumbfounded to the announcement that P.B had chosen to hang himself, unable to bear the taunts of his father on his chubby looks, laziness and average studies. Later, while in college, I was dumbstruck to read in the newspaper that a schoolmate S.S was shot dead while he resisted a robbery (lately, fashionably termed "dacoity" by the media) attempt in his residence. Around the same time, another schoolmate, K, chose to take his own life...nobody could fathom why. I attended his funeral and came away devastated seeing his family/friends grieve. For the first time in my life, I felt pure, white, blinding anger at him - the selfish bastard - could he not have thought how it would affect his parents?
While on my second job, I was given an office assistant JaiBheem, an 18-19 yr old guy (contracted from an agency) who, in keeping with his name, had built a body that would be the envy of a gym going type. He spoke passionately of his love for football and how poverty prevented him from playing professionally and had dashed his hopes playing for the state and India. Forever smiling and full of mischief, no job was too great for him. For some reason he was replaced and we lost contact. When I enquired about him later with his employer, I was told of his death in a terrible road accident; suffice to say, he was not the only one crushed. The last casualty must surely be when I lost my childhood friend, R. Perennially afraid of joining the rest of us in the water at Ulsoor Lake swimming pool during our childhood years, who would have dreamt that he would drown at Mahabalipuram? The saddest part for me was not knowing his demise until a month later when I caught up with his cousin. Barely able to comprehend the loss, I visited his house to console his parents and was speechless at how his death had affected his parents - they had grown old, twice over!
Of course, my thoughts go to the innumerable family members who have passed away, notably my mom, my 2 grandfathers and my wife's paternal grandfather - people at who's demise, I've repeatedly felt orphaned!
But then Life has to goes on, right? As Mufasa tells Simba ( Lion King ) they will always live inside us; perhaps, only time and Parkinson's will truly eliminate their memory!
If I have appeared too morbid in the above autographs … er, paragraphs, let me cheer you up talking about, what else, births! The greatest being my kids and of course, the first kid that our family truly welcomed - my niece! Oh, what happiness, ecstasy, joy we experienced on her arrival. She's almost a teen now but every time I see her, I cannot help but be reminded of those times when I've carried her - a fully wrapped bundle - outside the house, onto the sun and how she'd screw her eyes shut while the heat would turn her pink face reddish!
Death is merely a comma, life goes on and on......what say you?
:)
Posted at 05:20 pm by Ravi
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Off with their heads or .... ! Every once in a while, I read something that really gets me angry and all worked up. I mean, there's only so much I can take.
I'm finding it difficult to track the news article recently where our P.M, the right honourable Manmohan Singh-ji, has said that rapes constitute a blot on our civil society and has called for all sections of society to deplore this horrendous act etc etc.
Pardon me for saying so but I mean, how impotent a statement can this be? Is the good doctor approaching senility for trying to remain status quo on this issue? Perhaps, its can become too great a price to pay for his party should he take a harsh decision?
Instead of throwing the weight of his authority and power of his position to send a clear, no-nonsense signal that all rape cases could be treated as a "federal crime" (so to speak) and personally come under his office's direct purview with a report to be issued in less than 72 hours and maximum possible punishment (the death penalty, no less) to offenders, the PM has chosen to take a moral stand to the issue i.e appeal to the hearts and minds of us common citizens in condemning this barbarous act, heinous crime, etc. As if we don't have enough on our plate already, as frustrations go.
Anyway.
Many of you might consider this suggestion of mine - rape cases under his direct purview - as something preposterous....doesn't the PM have anything better to do?
But consider these blood boiling statistics & facts (culled from the Internet; they may need updation) and the urgent need of the hour to have a single effective and efficient mechanism in place, pronto:
Statistics in the yr 2000 have shown that on an average, a woman is raped every hour in India.
Unfortunately, only one in 69 rape cases gets reported
Only in 20% of those reported cases, does the accused get convicted
Class does not matter...villagers to socialites to nuns can get raped. Even students.
Children are no less safe...75% of those raped in Delhi were minors & 77% of the accused in rape cases in Delhi over the last year have been acquitted.
Indian laws currently provide for capital punishment only in cases of murder and drug trafficking.Section 376 of Indian Penal Code (rape) provides a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine.
Few women in India complain to the police about rape, fearing loss of face in society and lack of confidentiality. Being ostracized by family members is another issue altogether. Once the deed is done, trying a live a normal life without prying eyes and loose tongues can be another tortuous, to say the least.
Why do you think that only one in 69% gets reported? Statistics reveal that in 90% of the cases - the offender is most often known and linked to the family itself; in extreme cases - an uncle, a cousin, a relative. Secondly, even if the rapist were an outsider, the ordeal of going through the police procedures, overcoming them and then going public in a court of law where the victim has to PROVE that she was violated - jeez, how sick can this be? It is also recorded that in other countries, the victim had to prove that she put up a fight to prevent being raped. Why? For fear that the accused would foist a case of consensual sex! Why can't the mere testimony of a victim be enough to mete the worst possible punishment to the offender?
On top of this, there are these 2 disturbing trends:
a) The so called protectors of the law - cops - themselves turning rapists. And to think that the mouthpiece of a major political party in Maharastra said that she must have asked for it - well, this can happen only in namma India!!
b) Rapists are now proposing marriage to their victims. Personally, the pessimist that I am - I don't think this is a noble gesture. I would venture to think this is just a brazen way to overcome the punishment issue by the offender; something which, if turned down by the victim, should entail double the penalty for the culprit. And if one were to propose the harshest of sentences to a one-act offender, what do you have in mind for this culprit?
If cultural practices are in anyway a representation of our society, then we are the worst culprits for double standards. We really ought to sink our heads in shame. On the one hand, we attribute almost everything to feminity and its power - be it in Mother India, Shakthi,Thai manne vannakkam et al while on the other, many do not hesitate to utterly humiliate - nay defile - and commit the gravest of crimes against the ones that we so easily idolise. Are we human or animals? Isn't there any way to curtail the bestial nature of the offenders?
I'll come to this in the coming para but in spite of the recent spurt, all India, in these crimes, one would expect that the government would rally itself around given public outrage and the necessity of the hour to pass strict and unyielding laws. Instead, verbosity and dithering has taken its place and by the time something is done, hundreds of innocent kids/girls/teens/women would have been taken advantage of. I wonder if there is some lobby working against passing such strong detterents, the way this issue goes on and on!!
Though there are many issues to this complex problem in this complex land that is India and which are beyond the scope of this blog, lets cut the bullshit short. The government should give all of us a frigging break from this nauseating crime that is now a regular and daily news item. Haven't they heard the 'ol saying about prevention...nay, deterrence is better than a cure?
So here's my proposal. I say - off with their warped heads! Else, off with their offending organs, like in the following visuals. And unless they are around this [ Readers are advised caution clicking on this link and seeing the images, please! ] hospital and its heroic doctor(s), they will not a chance in the world to commit their crimes again!
Women can then go about in peace and enjoy the freedom and independence they work equally hard for these days!
:)
Posted at 11:57 pm by Ravi
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Re: Indra Nooyi and the 'middle finger' issue appears to have been 'blogged' out of proportion over in the good ol' US of A. A quick search on google reveals hardly any heavy weight reports in the US main stream media. Strangely, more Indian newspapers seem to have covered it!
Anyway, it certainly seems to have raised the hackles of a few. Notice the reaction of this commenter to my post on the same issue.
She meant what she said and she will recieve the consequences ( boy, is this supposed to be scary?? Ed!). It wasn't an inadvertent analogy she was explicit in pointing out the offensive character of the middle finger. Don't be stupid. ( Hmmmm... Ed! )
We Americans think our culture is superior because it is. Look at your racial quotas, and caste system. Think about the fact that an Indian woman [ You mean that Indian Women don't raise to that position in India? Buddy...have you heard of Kiran Mazumdar, Priya Paul, Sulajja Firodia, Renuka Ramnath, Lalitha Gupte, Naina Lal Kidwai, Preetha Reddy et al??? No? But I get your point! :) ] could rise to the position she did in the U.S. and you will see the difference between us and you.
..........we've been kicking the rest of the world's collective asses economically, militarily, and morally for our entire history. ( Sure, sure....there has been tonnes of goodwill earned around the world for the military kick-ass attitude, right? )
Envy is your main problem.
I don't know who you are, my friend. You are right on your comment about how ingrained are "racial quotas and caste systems" here but I wish, oh how I wish, envy was our problem!!! If it was, our so called 'leaders' would have bristled at how our S.E neighbours, for instance, have leapfrogged past us. Perhaps that would have spurred them to get onto economic, social and political development at so rapid a pace that would make the world sit up and take notice of us! Let me assure you that we are damn capable of this.
Unfortunately, envy is not our problem...our short sighted politicians and abysmal levels of governance, the sad and sorry state of a somnolent judiciary, the inroads that corruption has made into every activity of public life, a massively bloated bureaucracy, a populace that goes about life taking all this for granted.....these are some of our problems.
Envy, you say? Nothing could be further away from the truth than this.
:(
PS: On a more happier note, ET reports that Time magazine has named Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy, which helped redefine Indian cinema in the 1950’s, Guru Dutt’s classic Pyasa, portraying the disillusionment of a poet with the material world and Mani Ratnam’s Nayakan, based on the life of a Mumbai gangster are among a list of 100 all-time great films. If this cannot make us happy, what else should? Of course, you must read Lazy's take on this news development as well.
Posted at 05:59 pm by Ravi
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Prior to my visiting the Taj last year, Prince Roy had been there and while posting on the same, remarked about how foreigners are literally forced to pay exhorbitant entrance fees. Here's a pic that I took subsequently, when I visited the place. Its good reason to get extremely upset about. Where is Rs 10/- for Indian Citizens and Rs 250/- for foreigners????
The more I think about it, I just cannot reconcile myself what could be the rationale behind the diffrentiation. Could it just be the following?
Is it because they are "foreigners" and by extension, richer than us & therefore, they must pay more? Heck, some of them visit India on shoe-string budgets and are as price conscious as us. Moreover, by coming all the way from their country - wherever - to visit us and our 'monuments', it is they who are doing us a favour. Shouldn't we be the ones who should be welcoming them with customary Indian 'hospitality' - a smile and a garland? Besides, I'd wager many of them are more aware of heritage preservation & conservation management; while an overwhelmingly large population of Indians give two hoots while scratching their declarations of undying love on the walls!
Is it because they are given some special treatment at the monument? Heck, other than the customary stares not even decent toilets are provided to them.
Is it because this price diffrentiation thingy is practiced in their countries too and we are merely aping the practice? At the risk of being found ignorant, I don't think so.
So, what accounts for this short sightedness, a speciality with us?
It was with glee when I read yesterday that our current flame & neighbour - Pakistan - also follows this asinine policy. We do have company, folks, and it makes one wonder who has copied from whom.
Unfortunately, we Indians are clubbed into the 'foreigner' category as Mrs. Sudha Murthy found to her chagrin and carefully couched angry article!
Anyway.
It was so good to read Colin Todhunter's view on the paradox that Chennai..er, India is, in yesterdays Sunday Express! Read all about it here! Its so true - " You can't change India, India changes you! " !!
:)
Posted at 06:21 pm by Ravi
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Perhaps you've heard or read about the blog-storm recently that Indra Nooyi's ( of the worldwide Pepsi Ungal choice fame! ) speech to the graduating class of Columbia Business School has raised. Its a bit of old hat now but what the hell...its a fine Saturday, this earl grey tea is so good and I'm in a nostalgic mood...
Perhaps Indra Nooyi did not see the effect of her speech...the 'hand'writing on the wall, in a manner of speaking. (BTW, I'm tempted to say Namma Indra, as she IS from Chennai!)
On hindsight ( which she acknowledges in her speech ) she would have found it 'handy' to run her speech past a couple PR guys...they would have told her the potential it hand er, had for damage! But then, she's almost the BIG BOSS ( aka. President & CFO ) boyo, and who said that such speeches have to be checked for damage control?
Now that the damage has been done, the spin doctors are left 'handling' the baby er, speech and boy, did it shriek or what? Not even a public ( if on the internet, does it become worldwide? ) apology from namma amma did the trick.
Perhaps Indra Nooyi got a wee bit carried away, thinking she was part of and among the boys, so to speak. No doubt, she was trying to be truly creative while addressing all these brilliant guys and making sure they remembered all her lines. Too bad for her, they missed the fine details and opted instead, to choose her (not too manicured!) fingers. Ahem, one in particular. If you go through her speech, it starts off very well but somewhere in the middle (!!) it meanders. And badly. So much so that merely reading it, I had to cringe. The fatal mistakes happen when she dwells in depth on the middle finger and its profundity ( "....unfortunately, I think this is how the rest of the world looks at the U.S. right now. Not as a part of the hand --giving strength and purpose to the rest of the fingers-- but, instead, scratching our nose and sending a far different signal.") as well as when she brings in a live example of crassness in the form of her compatriot - another U.S businesswoman!! If you preach cultural sensitivity, lady, make sure you practice it!
The truly unfortunate part is elsewhere. In the reaction of the contributors to the now famous blog and all the media reports, the allegations, the finger-pointing, the....whatever. Personally and very simplisitically, I wonder if all this 'hand-wringing' reflects a larger issue for the U.S. One that has been its bane since and unfortunately, 9/11. One that it is still in growing pains to accept - a sudden insecurity for itself on the grand world stage. ( Not to mention their airports.....did you folks read how they treated 76 year old and 68 year old Mrs & Mr. Venkataratnam? Thanks, Hemanth!) That of not being given their dues for all the good that they do, for this lousy, messy world. Yeah, us ungrateful ingrates. Don't you know they've liberated Afghanistan and Iraq, just to name two. Go figure! Yeah, and here's more:
".............What's missing from this? How about any positive statement about what America does for the world, from liberating Afghanistan and Iraq to billions in tsunami relief? How about pouring AIDs relief into Africa and sending products, services, technology and trade round the globe. How about a full-throated defense of the country that analogizes it not to the middle finger but to the shoulders and spine of the planet, the last best hope of mankind??"
Thats right.....mankind, he said! Anyway, all this has taught me a lesson. I'm going to be very, very careful while attributing any body parts to the U.S. I mean, imagine if I referred to them as the vital nose - for its breathing - function and I promptly got buggered for indirectly meaning 'a bunch of nosepickers'. Or, if I referred to them as that vital, most important organ (the brain, you dummy!) in the body and get myself traumatised for meaning 'brainless' or 'braindead'! Or, or, if I said (after proper evaluation of statistics, what else?) that proctologists are the among the single largest speciality field amongst the medical profession there and someone read between the lines to implicate me for calling them a land of practising 'A$$holes'!
Gosh! These days, subtlety lies is keeping my hand over my mouth to keep it shut!! No less, no more!
:)
Update: Here's another read ( Big thanks to Mani, a commenter on Suman's Yak Pad! ) on this issue by the inimitable Bachi Karkaria, in her 'Erratica' column, TOI.
Posted at 11:31 am by Ravi
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Seems like this is fast becoming a season for dedicating one's posts; at the least, mine!
Having said that, I would never have come across this site, were it not a link on Shyam's blog. To add to her considerable repetoire of skills, she's started another new blog dedicated to what else - eating....er, food!!! Proof, if any, that she's certainly not b(l)ogged down!
The objective behind the "world's healthiest food" site is all about guiding you to cook food that's quick, easy, good for your health and aiding overall healthy living. Can anybody, I repeat - anybody not want such tips?
Me, certainly. My enthusiasm on discovering this site made me try out their recipe of this week - fresh minted garbanzo(chick peas) salad! Its so easy to make (except for getting that romaine lettuce!), so scrumptious that between me and my better half, we polished it all off! The kiddos never got to taste it, let alone see it! Ignore the chilli...thats only for effect! If you are a foodie, I urge you to check it out!
Hmmmmm...one of the good things about Chennai was the assured power supply here as against the umpteen scheduled and un-scheduled power-cuts in Bangalore - beautifully and descriptively called 'load-shedding'!!!! As of today, Chennai is fast loosing its advantage what with the breakdowns happening, day and night. At this rate, not only are many reporting to work, all bleary eyed and foul temper to match, some I guess will be out of work with their fancy handiwork - the bureau thief!
Ok. Serious now. HackerWatch is a community and collection point for Internet users to report and share information to block and catch 'hackers' and other unwanted traffic such as unwanted spyware, adware and malware. Run this simple, easy test from the good folks at Hackerwatch to determine whether your computer ports are open or closed thereby allowing/preventing these pests from gaining entry, albeit a 'backdoor' one! How beautifully euphemistic can I get too, eh?
;)
Posted at 07:03 pm by Ravi
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I must thank Narayanan for this post. Its genesis is in that one word - corruption - in his comment to my previous post.
Similarly, I must thank Lakshmi - my latest blogrolling friend - for doing a very dispassionate comparision & review on the differences between India and the US. She too talks about corruption as an impeding factor for our progress or rather, lack of it!!
Corruption in India is all pervasive. There is no activity of the nation which is totally free from this malaise. The World Economic Forum ranked India 45th out of 49 countries on the honesty of its officials. These are not my thoughts...it is merely a foreword to an article from here.
Here's my say. ( Ahem...finally! ;) Ed ) I'm a party to this as well since I silently condone corruption; I know and accept it as a systemic problem. One that will take years to remove and since none of us have neither the time or the inclination or the willpower, it will stay and continue to do its job insidiously.
Transparency International is doing its bit promoting coalitions to fight against corruption and for Good Governance but unless citizens accept it wholeheartedly and give it their full fledged support, nothing concrete can really be done! They have ranked India 90th out of 146 countries, clubbing us with - get this - countries like Gambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal, Russia and Tanzania! This should make us cringe with embarassment since we make all those tall claims about being world class in software and bio-tech and comic book design et al but all the while being lumped with countries whose index of development is nowhere near ours! Ha Ha Ha...if it weren't so funny, I'd cry. Have you guys seen grown men cry? Don't !!
Perhaps there is hope. But I'm hungry, this heat is driving me crazy and why do I feel so despondent reading the following comment (to the question : Do you think Indian blogs can change anything anywhere, especially in India?) from the winner of the 2004 Indibloggies Award for the best Indiblog? Ans: " Blogs change India? Are you kidding! Nothing can change India, least of all a bunch of stupid blogs that are written by a bunch of people who need to get themselves a life and read by those who desperately need to get out more often....... "
That does it. I'm off to the RTO office in Jaffarkhanpet for getting my licence. Boy, should anybody ask me for 'pocket money'....they are gonna get a fist from me. Should that happen, hope to see at least one of you bailing me out from jail? Don't forget to take care of Constable Veeraswamy...
;)
Posted at 04:27 pm by Ravi
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The FM ie. namma P. Chidambaram avargal, clearly means business, according to this report.
Ignoring the macro issues, my petty mind can only think of the one issue that rankles every year, come budget time. Services that are brought under the services tax net to collect revenues to meet paying debt that the govt. has so wondrously taken on. As the Indian economy has shifted progressively from a manufacturing to services industry, contributing over 50% of the GDP, his mandarins are licking their chops figuring out more and more services to squeeze citizens out of money.
Sample these facts:
3 services initially brought under the services next in 1994-1995
3 more added in 1996, 9 in 1997/1998, 11 in 1998-1999
14 more in 2001, 10 in 2002-2003, 7 in 2003-2004
The rate of Service Tax has been raised to 8% ( Greedy, greedy! )
10 additional services in 2004-2005
The rate of Service Tax has been raised to 10.2% ( greedy is an understatement here )
9 (or is it 13) more sectors to be included in the service tax net in 2005-2006, which include transport of goods by road (by a goods transport agency). God help me when I shift from Chennai back to Bangalore or wherever!
And what are the revenues we are talking about here? From Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) in 2000 to Rs 8,300 crore (Rs 83 billion) in 2004. Budget estimate for 2005-2006 is Rs 17,500 crores! The target could very well be Rs 50,000 crore in 2 or 3 years time. Get this - at a rate that will go from 10.2% to 16% !!
All the above figures gave me a sleepless night y'day. With all that productive time available, here are my recommendations to the FM about services that he can still tax and get me to pay more to the government.
1.0 For buying provisions from my kirana-wallah
2.0 For getting my clothes ironed
3.0 For getting our bhai to clean our house
4.0 For getting my kids to be dropped to school by the autowallah
5.0 For getting our daily bread / milk, seedais & murukkus delivered home
6.0 For buying water ah, water from private water suppliers
Dont laugh you guys! Things do move from the realm of fantasy to reality, you know. And those of you who might consider running away to the Himalayas to escape this all-consuming tax net, I believe there's a proposal to tax you for that clean, green, life giving air!
:)
Posted at 03:01 pm by Ravi
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Life only seems to get better!
I mean, getting onto the broadband bandwagon ( from dial-up ) was one thing but being upgraded to double the erstwhile bandwidth ( at 60% saving! ) today makes me want to squeal with delight!!
All the sites that I visit appear just like magic including this site and this image which won kudos for my ex-colleague....
Photo courtesy : www.titanworld.com
The reason I'm omitting to give the actual speeds is because all you techies out there will want to give me the thumbs down sign saying 'XXX' kbps is no big deal ;)
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.............
:)
PS: For all their activism, bloggers have yet to go a long way in the US, when it was originally felt/feared that the new-fangled thing will displace mainstream media!
Posted at 02:17 pm by Ravi
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For the love of Coffee.... If Bangaloreans can have a much publicised meet, can't Chennaites do a smaller one, in the nick of time and without much fanfare? ;) Of course we can and my apologies to more friends who could not be called in time.
Venue : Barista, GN Chetty Road, T-Nagar! Saturday, 5 - 7 p.m
From left to right:....
Seated, Ladies & Gentlemen, is Hari. Unanimously voted, yet again, as the most heartfelt blogger in the whole of blogosphere.
Standing behind him is Vikki a.k.a Vikram a.k.a Markiv ...the surprise guest for the meet..coming all the way from Bangalore! Might I say we bonded instantly? What's the mystique about Bangaloreans or even, even Chennaites settled in Bangalore, I wonder...... :) LOL
See the smart guy in the colour co-ordinated attire and mobile? He's as punctual as they come; vending dreams is his speciality but his true forte lies in drumming up surprises. He can do this with a straight face while maha mischief could be lurking large upstairs..
Next is the one who's guaranteed to give you an adrenalin rush - thats Chikuado a.k.a ___ Ha Ha....that would be telling and I'm afraid she'd beat me up. Goes nineteen to the dozen when she talks, the most totally animated expressions line her face and boy, the way her hands fly in sync with her animated way of talking, somebody seated close to her could get hurt! A certified 'dubakoor' to her friends maybe, but someday, she's going to break some guy's heart, this girl! Meanwhile, I've invited myself to her wedding, next April...... :)
To the extreme right is Sophia. A Phd in Chemistry no less but she's keen on biology right now - the 'intimate discovery' type!! If you read her latest post, that is. Hmmph...why do I feel like a whole lorry load of bricks are gonna rain on me anytime now.. Aaarrrggghhh, here it comes *ravi dives for cover*
:)
Posted at 03:41 pm by Ravi
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