Mid-noon musings!

Hello!
Its been a really long time since my last post here... i guess you could say i've been suffering from a writer's bloc.... so to speak.

If you've been following my blog, then you'll know that most of my posts are rather emotionally charged. It means that I only write when I have something to say (or something to get out of my system). Today is an exception in that sense because I am writing this blog only out of pure boredom!

Yes, I am bored. I am in my office, I have no work to do since the project i am working on is almost complete and in its wrapping-up stage. My friends, who worked with me in the office, have now resigned for pursuing further studies. So, basically, I am pretty much by myself now, in the office.
While some friends are going away, others have come back! I am very glad that some of my best friends are now back in town. Its so good to see their faces and talk to them after such a long time. Hmmm... now before this post becomes a 'happy' post, I must get back to my element - which is morose and self-indulgent.

I have a book in front of me, screaming for my attention. I am trying my best to ignore it. I need to read that by this weekend, its a part of my assignment. But, for some strange reason, I find that book quite uninteresting. Maybe its because of the fact that it's 765 pages long!!!

Anyway, I used to keep cribbing to anyone who would listen, that I had no ambition and my life had no direction! (Wow! that rhymes... maybe I should be a poet... ;-) )
I am very happy to announce that I have finally found my calling (and dont worry, I am not going to write poems). It could lead to something or to nothing. I guess, we'll just have to wait n' watch! At least, now I won't have any regrets that I didn't try.

That's it for today! I don't know when my next post is gonna come so... see u when i see u!
Take care! Bye!
Live life to the fullest!
And don't drink and drive... :-)

Oh, my God!

I had always thought that, one's religion was a personal matter. It is a light that guides us through our journey in life. I'm quite sure that even though religion may be a way of life, it is certainly not a matter of life and death! But lately, it seems to have become just that!
Actually, maybe that was a bit exaggerated. But, I can't help it! With all this election hoopla going on around me, I can't seem to think straight!

Observing the current political scenario, I can't help but draw some parallels between religion and politics in India today. See for yourself, the similarity is uncanny....

• There are two major political parties in India. Let's keep their names out of this; if you have been living in India, you know which ones I'm talking about.
• There are two major religions in India. Once again, no names!
• People rally to gather support for their parties..... People rally to gather followers for their religion.
• Parties are constantly trying to malign each other by attacking the other's reputation and credibility..... Some misguided 'followers' believe that their religion is superior to all others.
• Defactors are treated with mistrust and disrespect...... People who convert to other religions are treated like outsiders as well (in some rural areas, violence is used to settle such matters).

I think that's enough for now.... Isn't it strange though? I can't figure out whether religion has seeped into politics or is it the other way round? How did these two very different fields, get so intertwined, that it has now become difficult to tell them apart?!!

Religion, tradition and culture have their own place in society. I agree that its what binds us together and also gives us a sense of belonging. But, pitting one religion against another is not only ridiculous but also, futile... Because, this tug of war will never end!

What is wrong with these people??!!!!

Seriously, what is wrong with these people? India is suffering from many illnesses - poverty, starvation, unemployment, illiteracy and more recently, terrorism and recession... to name a few! But the only thing our political leaders are worried about is religion!!!
Frankly, I am more concerned about recession than religion, right now!

Does Varun Gandhi honestly believe that, expressing his (rather bold) opinions in a public forum such as a political rally was a smart thing to do? VG may be a young, misguided loose-cannon, but what about his speech-writers and political backers? Don't they have any sense of moral responsibility? Didn't it occur to them that this kind of action might fuel communal tensions (which is always simmering just underneath the surface)? Are they willing to sacrifice the country's peace and harmony, in their bid to make VG the next poster-boy for Hindutva?

India has enough real problems to deal with, as it is.... we need problem-solvers who can get us out of this mess! We do not need people who create more problems for the common man.

If these so-called leaders can come up with some kind of solutions for our problems, I'm all ears! If not, they might do well to shut up and stop hogging the limelight!!!

The Great Indian Political Circus

That's right! Elections are here... and so, the Great Indian Political Circus has arrived in town.

Once every five years, we behold this spectacle.... alliances being formed.... sworn enemies teaming up against a common foe (dushman ka dushman, dost hota hai... something like that!)... political leaders publicly abusing their counterparts.... and all that jazz!

Its all quite entertaining, you know... but then again, there are things that bother me and compelled me to sit and write this down....

Can someone please explain to me the connection between religion and politics? I mean, why do some politicians claim that being born into a particular religion makes them eligible to govern this country? Lets face it.... the Government is basically a company... a huge, multi-national company. And like every other company, it needs a Chairman, Board of Directors, CEOs, Executive Officers, etc.
When a company recruites a manager or even a CEO, they are basically looking for some basic qualities like qualification, experience, past records, recommendations, etc... I dont think the candidate's religion is of any consequence to them.

Why cant we do the same for people elected to the Government? I think its only fair! I really dont care about the candidate's religion or family background. At the end of the day, what really matters is whether they can do the job or not. Why cant we treat the government like a corporate industry instead of royalty? I think this approach would put more focus on actual performance rather than public perception....

Does any of this make sense to you?

Tribute to "The Joker"

I saw "The Dark Knight" last night (again).... and I was mesmerised by Heath Ledger's spell-binding portrayal of "The Joker" (again). I cannot analyze or describe his performance... all i can say is that he truly deserves the Golden Globe Award he got and Oscar award which he is definitely going to get. I have seen Jack Nicholson's 'Joker' and I can honestly say that it was nothing compared to Heath Ledger's Joker.
Also, I think the dialogue-writers of that movie deserve a big round of applause for giving The Joker, the best dialogues in the movie and for giving us, some of the best quotable quotes of the year! Here are some of my favourite quotes from the movie, courtesy of Imdb.... (these are all Joker's quotes, by the way)

*Why so serious?
*I've learned that if you're good at something... never do it for free!
*Wanna know how i got these scars?
*I believe whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you.... stranger!
*Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen! We are tonight's entertainment!
*Ha Ha He He Hu Hu..... and I thought my jokes were bad!
*This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object!
*(to Batman) I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever!
*You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!
*Do you want to know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the... little emotions. In... you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards?
*See, I'm a man of simple tastes. I like dynamite, and gunpowder... and gasoline!
*I'm a man of my word!
*Tonight you're all gonna be part of a social experiment.
*See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.
*Never start with the head, the victim gets all.... fuzzy.
*How about a magic trick? I'm gonna make this pencil disappear....... TA-DA!!!
*You know the thing about chaos? It's fair.
*I know why you choose to have your little... "Group therapy sessions" in broad daylight. I know why you're afraid to go out at night. The Batman!
*You and your kind, all you care about is money. This city deserves a better class of criminal. And I'm gonna give it to them!
*Now, our operation is small, but there's a lot of potential for "aggressive" expansion.
*You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it. You know, I just... do things.
*Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos.
*Let's put a smile on that face!

i'm sure there are more.... Looks like I'm gonna have to watch the movie again.... :-)

2009 is here... so what?

After an eternity, i am writing a post that was not borne out of anger or frustration, but merely out of boredom.... and some self-introspection!

I've heard of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, and lately, i have been witness to it too. It's weird how sometimes life seems to zoom past you and everything around you is nothing more than a blur... and then there are times when, everything slows down so much so that it feels like time itself is standing still and waiting with baited breath for what comes next... I see my friends, all excited about their future and making plans to secure it and sometimes it scares me. Sometimes, it feels like there is a big secret somewhere that everybody knows, except me.... like everybody else was taught some secret formula for success and somehow, i seemed to have missed that class. As a result, here I am, with no plans, no goals whatsoever, just sitting and watching everyone else zoom past me. I do not crave success, I'm just afraid of being left behind.

Its not as if i dont have any other options. Life has been generous to me in that respect. But my problem is that I dont really know which way to go. Something deep inside me, tells me that my future lies off the beaten track. But then comes the issue of plucking up the courage to take the path less travelled. I'm not really sure about anything and frankly, its quite frustrating! There i go again!! No matter how hard I try, a little bit of angst seems to creep into every one of my posts!
Anyway, enough rambling about the future.
Right now, I'm quite content with the present. Is it bad to like the way things are? Is something wrong with me, just b'coz I dont want to fly high or achieve big things? Sometimes, I feels like it is a crime to be ambitionless.

So many questions, and no answers.... such is Life!!!

Goondas don't get jobs!

The recent trend in employment-politics has completely stumped me!

First of all, if you want to protest about something and you are absolutely sure that you are right, it is possible to protest peacefully as well. Have the MNS and Shiv Sainiks never heard of something called a non-violent protest?

The main difference between a violent and non-violent protest is obvious. But there are some advantages to non-violence that i would like to point out for the benefit of my fellow Indians working in political groups.
In a non-violent protest, there is no damage to property (public or private)... and most importantly, no loss of life. It does not create resentment among any of the parties concerned. Also, it gets you the attention you need, but the focus here is on the cause for protest and not on the protest itself. Only by focusing on the problem, can you find a solution. Blame games will not get you any results. Violent protests only create more problems, instead of solving them.

Normally, if you want to be hired by a company, you have to prove your capabilities to your prospective employers. Vandalising office properties, (literally) beating up the competition and dragging your prospective employers into a controversy is not going to get you a job!
If i were the owner of a company, i would never employ people who have a history of violence. Even if I did hire one of them, what if one day he had an argument about something with the management. He will go straight to his friends in that political party, gather a crowd and storm into my office, destroy my property and basically, ruin my company's reputation! Do i want that? NO! Then why should i hire such people who can go against my company at the drop of a hat?

Behaving like a goonda will not get you a job!!!!
If you want to work with a good organisation, you have to prove yourself... just like everyone else! There are no shortcuts to success, no backdoor entries! The first step to getting a job is to behave like a civilised individual.

Hey Ram!

Republic Day has come and gone, but it has left a deep sense of unease in my mind. I am referring to the incident in Mangalore. I am sure you guys must have read about it or seen the pathetic videos on news channels…. I cant figure out what exactly troubles me most about this ‘murder of humanity’ as I would like to put it. A few things I would like to point out….

What exactly were the boys and girls doing in the pub? (I am only addressing them as ‘boys and girls’ because that is how everyone else in the media is addressing them. Honestly, they looked like adults to me. Therefore, I’m sure they were legally allowed to be in that pub.). My point is that, in all the hue and cry that has been raised by those ‘Sena’ people, nobody happened to mention exactly what ‘despicable’ act were those kids doing which warranted such a reaction from them.

Previously, I referred to the ‘Sri Rama Sena’ people as ‘Sena’ people because I don’t think even Lord Rama himself would want his name to be associated with these disgusting people. I would like to ask these ‘custodians of Indian culture’, what exactly do they know about Indian culture. Have they even read Ramayan? I haven’t read it either but at least I know what ‘Lord Rama’ stood for. He was called ‘Maryada Purushottam’ for a reason, you know. I would advise the so-called ‘Sri Rama Sena’ to first read ‘Ramayan’ and learn something from it.

I think the thing that appalls me the most in this tragic episode, is the role of the media. The media was there, with cameras and all, shooting the entire episode from start to end.
Q: How was the media present at the scene even before anything happened?
A: The answer is quite obvious. Someone, most probably from the ‘Sena’ itself, had informed them when and where to come. ‘Sena’ desperately needed publicity; and the media is always desperate for a scoop. A simple matter of give and take!
Q: Why did the media not inform the police about this, before things got out of hand?
A: The police, if they even cared to come, would have stopped this from happening. The boys would not have been beaten up; the girls would not have been assaulted. The media would have lost out on a very juicy story (as sick as that sounds, it is true, isn’t it?) Besides, it would have served as an example to all the other ‘Sena’s looking out for similar cheap publicity. They wouldn’t call the media henceforth, and the channels would lose out on many more ‘juicy stories’ in the long run. Now, they don’t want their channels to suffer, do they? So, they gave the ‘Sena’ exactly what they wanted… cheap publicity.

When the leader of the ‘Sena’ was asked for his reaction, he was unapologetic. He tried to justify their actions by blaming the younger generation for being ‘too’ liberal. Frankly, I don’t even know what to say to that. If he actually believes in what he said, I feel very, very sorry for him.
I don’t know who is responsible for this insanity… but it makes me wonder, how people can be so narrow-minded and insensitive. I don’t even have words to describe my disgust!
This issue is so multi-dimensional that it is difficult to cover all of it….. especially since, I myself don’t understand most of these aspects. But I assure you, as soon as I find out, I will write about it.

Well, since these ‘custodians of culture’ are trying to set an example here, why don’t we follow their example? Maybe we should gather a sizeable crowd, barge into their offices, drag them out by their hair and beat them up… after all, according to them, this is the only way to teach a lesson, right? Then, we’ll see what they have to say when they have had a taste of their own medicine. But unfortunately, I condemn violence and would never stoop to such levels. And who am I kidding? I am just an ordinary citizen of India. No matter how strongly I feel about these issues, there is nothing I can really do about it. (Except write these blogs, of course.)

I strongly recommend that the ‘Sri Rama Sena’ (and other organizations who like to play ‘God’) be disbanded and banned forever. That is the only way to set an example. We need to show them that India will not tolerate such hooliganism anymore!