total timepass...

(I was to write this blogpost 4 months ago, but think it has become more relevant now given the recent ‘floods’ in Gurugram:) ) I don’t think this article is going to come as a surprise to anyone. In fact most reactions would be something like - ‘ yeh to hota hi hai ’ or ‘this is how it happens’. But still given that I have been living out of India for quite some time and before that lived a sheltered live in army cantonments, it is still a surprise to me and I don’t think that’s how it should happen! My parents recently moved to a new place in Gurgaon (as it was called then!) and they realised during monsoons one of the side road gets flooded. It has been happening for years with the other residents, but as usual no one bothered to do anything about it. My father went to the local administration office to complain a couple of times. Accordingly the next year they sanctioned couple of crores to build a rain drain next to the road, and elevate the road so that water does not colle...

There is one aspect of the Indian political and social systems which affects me everytime I read about it. Its how we forget our soldiers all the time. They are just there in the background, we remember them when there is a war, like the Kargil war but then they are forgotten and ignored again till the next time they are needed. Being from the defence background, it pains me more but even otherwise I think as a country its always important to remember those people who were willing to put down their life for as selfless a cause as their motherland... Related to this topic, there are a lot of articles being written currently, remembering the forgotten soldiers of the First World War. The thousands of Indian soldiers who fought miles away in foreign lands for a country which was their ruler. They did not fight for our country, but they fought as our countrymen. And we should remember them for their bravery and selfless acts, shouldn't we? One of the articles on these soldiers ...

In recent time, criticism for Apple has started to dominate the news a lot more than appreciation. And maybe justifiably so, Apple has started to lag Google/Samsung products. But one thing even Apple critics will accept, their products are way way ahead of Microsoft, which is still used by the majority in the world. The fact that it took Bill Gates an entire day to setup his own built software is testimony to that! I wonder if this news article is true or not, but its definitely believable!

I know its not right to compare India with a Scandinavian country, they are way ahead from even the rest of the world, that comparing them with India is just not fair. Still it does increase the irony.. My question is this (la Arnab style), what would India have been if like in Norway, a huge oil reserve had been found in India. Am sure the result would NEVER have been this . In 25 years, the sovereign fund has (notionally) made every Norwegian a millionaire. If this had happened in India, what would have been the result in 25 years? The mind runs wild, The Gandhis could become multi-multi billionaires The Mulayam/Laloo Yadavs could become billionaires Amma, Maya could become billionaires A Raja could be a billionaire ........... The options are infinite, except every Indian becoming a (notional) lakhpati even! That is the one option we all know is not realistically an option. How sad is that?

Who is going to be the next Prime Minister of India is going to be an ongoing debate for the next one year, with continuous comparisons drawn between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi. And it is going to be fun and colourful times; Rahul's inexperience and Modi's nonsecular credentials thrown at all of us throughout this period. With barbs and re-barbs on pages after pages, and supporting fire from all the loyal comrades. As I said, it will be fun. In between this whole process, the fact that the biggest democracy in the world is going through a vote for its next government will be lost. The government is expected to bring about change, reform and development to the country. There are many aspects of this change which need to be talked about, stressed on and promises made for (irrespective of the fact whether those are kept or not). However what will happen is that the personalities of the leaders will be the focus of the campaigns, and with whatever little airtime issues get...

For a sports illiterate like me, my knowledge about players in sports other than cricket is very limited. I know a couple of famous ones; Ussain Bolt, Phelps, Tiger Woods, Messi, Lance Armstrong... The list is not long. And of those, the only one about which I know more than their name and game they play is Lance Armstrong. I read his book, one of the rare biographies I have read and was very impressed and motivated. Maybe because have not read about people coming out of cancer and achieving as much as he did in one of the most physically challenging sports, it felt really unreal and great. His book was inspiring at many levels and I took each of his words to be true. Including his tirade against people who 'wrongfully' accused him of doping. It had to be true, how could a person going through such tough times do something as wrong as that? And then it all came crashing! I don't know why, but I felt personally let down when the truth about him came out. I had read his...

The Iron Lady is no more. And parts of UK are celebrating her death! Other than being a very sad thing to do, it makes you wonder about her, what kind of a person was she; how extraordinary would she be (not necessarily good or bad) that her death brings out such kind of emotions in some people. Hearing about it led me to research her views, her actions and her decisions, to understand how can people either hate her so much or not hate her (I still haven't found people who love her yet, but think its the same as don't hate!). And so I realised how split the country is when it comes to her. On the one side, there will be a ceremonial funeral for her (something rarely accorded to politicians) and on the other side, there are street parties on her death. Just goes to show what an extraordinary woman she was! And as I learnt more about her, I realised what she stands for, is taking decisions, and bold ones at that. They might not necessarily have been all correct (this can ...

This is an old article from last year I think; Karnataka government spending 18 crores to conduct pooja across the state for the rain gods to give rain to the drought hit land . And all I thought after reading this was that either the ministers in the state are stupid or they just needed 15 crores urgently and cooked up this idea! And honestly, both are equally plausible reasons! In this day, who would think that praying in temples across the state would help! I can understand we are a religious country, but this is taking it to a ridiculous level. It doesn't work this way and am sure the ministers of the state know it as well. Anyways, I never read about whether it worked or not, so don't know if the 18 crores worked or not; but am sure 15 crores of it did make some people happy!

A lot of news item that I read in the Indian newspapers make me feel sad and want to write about them. Not all of them are about our major problems: illiteracy, poverty, population, female exploitation, corruption and so on..; but about other facets of our society and nation which though not critical are still important for us as a country. And this falls under the same: 35 protected monuments in India are not traceable anymore!  I know that we have bigger problems to focus on than historical monuments but still how can such things happen? There is an ASI formed for just this purpose, can they not keep track of our historical heritage so that it doesn't get lost? I wonder how tough would it be. As of today, this does not harm us at all. But in the future, we will miss these remnants of our past. Plus, a lot of times when I compare historical monuments in Europe with India, I find that Europeans preserve their heritage so well and earn so much off tourism even though ...

It looks like the Bangalore police is on a roll, taking its role in maintaining law and order seriously! First they come up with the Facebook page where people can put in complaints and the police can take action on and even update their actions. And then they come up with this brilliant idea ! Its a great idea and may actually lead to people following the traffic rules more. But how sad is it, that we don't do the right thing unless there is someone to police us? Is there something inherent lacking in us as a country and as a people that we need to be beaten with a stick to do the right thing? Anyways kudos for the police for taking the initiative and it might just work?

In recent couple of years, I have begun to be more and more disillusioned with India as a country. Am not sure for the reason for it; Is it because I reside out of the country now? Or because the current government has sunk to new lows in corruption and apathy for the public? Or that more and more news comes to light which earlier did not? I don't know but every few days, there are events which make you feel even worse about the current state of affairs. And its about everything about the country, whether social or moral or political , there seems to be decay everywhere. The brutal gangrape in Delhi was the most recent such event which shocked us so more that I still feel unable to even express my emotions and anger and helplessness at the happenings even now. This article is not about any such happening though. Its just about a smaller event, but which just makes me go 'wow! really?'. Italian guards who were released in good faith by Indian jails on the guarantee of t...

The issue of 'Reservation' in India has been debated endlessly for years now: in online forums, in social gatherings, in educational institutes.. everywhere. It's pitfalls have been debated, the advantages have been discussed, changes have been advocated to the system and so on. But it has still not been sorted out, it is still a highly inefficient and misused system which is not serving the purpose it was originally introduced for. There are endless stories coming out regularly on how the system doesn't work properly. The latest I read was this article  which shocks you with the fact that you can get an entrance into an engineering or a medical college by scoring a 0 in the exam!! Does this not make you feel frustrated? And shocked? And angry? Is this correct, is this what we want in our future? Don't countries achieve greatness based on merit alone? And we are creating a generation seeing merit give way to other considerations. The reason given for such a sys...

This post is posted in the category of 'News'. Well, it should be, it has become a matter of such national importance, that it hogs enough limelight in the news regularly anyways. "Why is Aishwarya so fat still ?!!" The first time I saw such a headline, I was almost outraged. How and why would anyone even think about somebody else's weight? But I chose to forget about it, assuming it was just one person's random views.  But soon enough I figured out I was wrong, but so wrong?? I had just not expected that. Aishwarya's weight has become a national obsession. And I just cannot understand it! To be honest, I am not an Aishwarya fan. I think she is beautiful but she is quite a terrible actress and given the big movies she gets, its quite a waste to see what she does to those movies. That being said, I still cannot understand why the media writes about her weight. For one, its none of their business. Its her life, she might chose to be fat or slim, its...

Ramdev's protest broken up by Delhi Police and the protestors beaten up..        Anna Hazare not allowed to hold a fast at Jantar Mantar.. but at JP Park..              .. and that too, for not more than 3 days and with not more than 5,000 people... What is India coming to? The largest democracy in the world but protests being stifled?? And the PM shirks any responsibility,  saying he cannot be involved.. (and turning a blind eye to things happening in his administration yet again!). Can the head of the government say that this does not fall within his purview? Can the government get away with not allowing a peaceful protest just because the protest is against the government? Such headlines coming in the papers regularly do not paint a positive picture of what des is coming to.. and worries a bit.. Lets see what it leads to?

Interesting take  on our prime minister... What all in entailed in a Prime Minister's job? Is being aware (and responsible) of what is happening in his government part of his job? Or not?

The list of how we just ignore our soldiers except during war times goes on and on.. its a never-ending list... Here is another to that list ... Does it not hurt to read this?

A lot of us who were in Mumbai during the 26 November events will never forget what all happened. And the people who actually went through the events of course will be haunted by it all for years to come!! But I did not expect someone to be affected by those events in this way ! This is just ridiculous, for someone to be discriminated against for having been a witness to the Mumbai attacks??!! And that too from a prestigious institution like a school!

There is enough being said and written about all that happened 25 years ago... There is nothing I can write that can express even a percent of the kind of frustration and exasperation we all feel reading about this tragedy! The list of questions are endless.. This was a nice site I read about which was able to put into words what I could only feel... Some excerpts from the article above.. " Why was Warren Anderson, the chief of Union Carbide, given the chief minister's own aircraft to leave India, just four days after the leak and with a charge of 304A against him when he was simply out on bail? On the same day flew out of the country, never to be brought to trial. Also, why did the government accept the Supreme Court settlement with Union Carbide for just 470 million dollars - money not enough to compensate even a fraction of its victims? Why did the Digvijay Singh government allow Carbide to return the land with tonnes of toxic waste sill on it, when the...

With the football World Cup dominating most conversations nowadays, a not so regular football watcher like me also ends up being aware of what's happening and interested in the titbits of what is happening in South Africa... A name which people like me also can recognise is Maradona, what may be the only player whose name people like us knew. Its nice to see him in action now, even if on the sidelines of the field rather than on it!! Here is a nice article on what he is upto in South Africa:)

Here is an interesting take by Rajdeep Sardesai on the new educated politicians we have on their block and how their careers have been/will be!