Sometimes i just love being an Indian, this is one of those.India , it seems, is used to screwing up convention, let me explain.India was the nation to rebel against colonialism and was responsible for wiping it out, so that's one.Before the NPT, there was the CTBT, India didn't sign it, and we didn't sign NPT either and still we managed to make them both look ridiculous.
India received sanctions after the 1998 blasts inspite of not being a signatory of the NPT, in one stroke we had made the treaty look meaningless.The biggest hit we took after that was the ban on importing nuclear fuel, we do have nuclear resources but they are enough only for civilian purposes not for making bombs and ,as anyone would guess, its more fun making bombs then energy on slow reactors.
Today we signed a "historic" treaty with the US, again the most important clause is the one which allows us to import nuclear fuel for "perpetuity" till we keep out 14 civilian nuclear reactors under safeguards.But, we haven't signed the NPT so where will the safeguards come from..?
In the NPT there are the nuclear powers and theres everyone else, and now, thanks to Mr Bush, India will form a 3rd category for which the safeguards haven't been worked out, so well there goes the NPT.I understand the concern of the Left/SP etc about the foreign policies of the US, but more than logical its political, the Left have to oppose the US, the SP , which doesn't have any respect of its own has to borrow some from their beloved Left.They argue about the safeguards of not being in our national interest, and of course Mr Singh is the "weakest" PM ever, as per Mr Advani so he usually bends all ways.The point that they have forgotten is that India doesn't have to put its defence reactors under the IAEA scanner, yes by virtue of not being a nuclear nation under the NPT we won't be allowed to shift our reactors from one category to another, but that doesn't take anything away, our defence reactors are covered and we can import fuel to continue our research and make more bombs.The weakest PM ever has just managed to pull out possibly the strongest deal ever.
Lets think that the US Congress doesn't pass the bill, will it be a complete failure, No.This deal is an indication that America wants a stronger India, for whatever purposes that might be.We gatecrashed the Colonialism party and now we are doing the same to proliferation.Forget the sports allocation in the Union Budget 05-06, lets smile, we'r Indian.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Shame, Shame, National Shame
Capt Gopinath calls the condition of our airports a "national shame and an issue of national emergency", Praful Patel agrees to that. I am not against privatization but the neo - jingoistic vibes that these two idiots emanate is a case of "mental shame and mental emergency".
Its estimated that India's total air passenger traffic is around 80 million a year. More people travel by trains, buses and roads everyday. Around 4 years back when the government thought about modernizing the Mumbai and Delhi airports, the estimated cost was 2,400 crores/2,800 crores (both in rupees) and it also decided that it didn't have that kind of money, so it was a case of rationality that they started looking for private investment. Yes, i agree that we are a poor country and of all entities the government shouldn't spend that much money to benefit less than 5 % of our people.
Maybe it was a tad too late for India, most countries had de-regulated the civil aviation sector in the 1980s and some even had gone ahead and privatized the national carriers and airports. In India , besides Mumbai and Delhi, the operation and management of the airports at Chennai and Kolkatta were going to be privatised. Hyderabad and Bangalore were going to get new International airports.
During the entire bidding process, which was brimmed with opacity , no one actively opposed the move, infact it had been so long in coming that even the media interest waned. Lull before the storm, maybe. After the first round of evaluation done by independent regulators (ABN -AMRO Bank) only 2 bidders got 80 % and above saw their bids being evaluated further, then the bids were sent to another committee headed by E.Sreedharan it disqualified one of the bids and sent the report to the EGOM. No fingers were pointed at ABN AMRO or the two other committees and an inter - ministerial group that had verified the bids. We all know what happened next, and who won, and who went on strike et al.
The most predictable outcome, and the most shameful, was the strike by the AAI employees. I believe its democratic to strike, but that doesn't mean you leave your work and go around making a mess. A strike should be a registered protest and the government should listen to the protest and work to solve the problem, issuing statements that the strike is illegal and that there were be consequences don't befit a democracy and so the government usually gets what it deserves. Getting out a bit, the Bhagwad Gita states that God shall fulfill every desire of man to the limit he deserves, not covets. The govt and gopi are getting what they deserve.
Regardless of the fact that more people travel by other methods of public transport than by air every year, i believe its crucial to modernize the airports, but is it enough reason to go around in media calling it a "national shame" and trying to get a sympathy vote. I was traveling by train from Pune to Bombay on Friday and since i hadn't reserved my ticket in advance i had to get a general one, for some reason the train was really crowded and i had to carry my bag around my neck and i actually ended up spraining my neck, and my back still hurts. There will be a lot more people facing a similar problem everyday than air travelers over a year, so what needs to be fixed first. Gopi is a businessman and i understand his concerns in a already threatening industry with low margins and intense competition and that he wants to buy more planes and wants more place to keep them, when they are not flying. Its easy to remember that when fog had enveloped the capital, air deccan promptly closed its counters and left its passengers stranded, no that's not national shame, its easier to blame the airports for that.
The Airport modernization process is the best example of the governments blind, single minded obsession with privatization, for the Govt privatization means complete abdication of its role and easy revenue to come by. Modernization can also mean changing of internal policies and work ethics to provide more efficiency and transparency at all levels, but we as a democracy don't deserve it. We've never learned from past experiences and we've not learnt from the Gita. We never learn.
Its estimated that India's total air passenger traffic is around 80 million a year. More people travel by trains, buses and roads everyday. Around 4 years back when the government thought about modernizing the Mumbai and Delhi airports, the estimated cost was 2,400 crores/2,800 crores (both in rupees) and it also decided that it didn't have that kind of money, so it was a case of rationality that they started looking for private investment. Yes, i agree that we are a poor country and of all entities the government shouldn't spend that much money to benefit less than 5 % of our people.
Maybe it was a tad too late for India, most countries had de-regulated the civil aviation sector in the 1980s and some even had gone ahead and privatized the national carriers and airports. In India , besides Mumbai and Delhi, the operation and management of the airports at Chennai and Kolkatta were going to be privatised. Hyderabad and Bangalore were going to get new International airports.
During the entire bidding process, which was brimmed with opacity , no one actively opposed the move, infact it had been so long in coming that even the media interest waned. Lull before the storm, maybe. After the first round of evaluation done by independent regulators (ABN -AMRO Bank) only 2 bidders got 80 % and above saw their bids being evaluated further, then the bids were sent to another committee headed by E.Sreedharan it disqualified one of the bids and sent the report to the EGOM. No fingers were pointed at ABN AMRO or the two other committees and an inter - ministerial group that had verified the bids. We all know what happened next, and who won, and who went on strike et al.
The most predictable outcome, and the most shameful, was the strike by the AAI employees. I believe its democratic to strike, but that doesn't mean you leave your work and go around making a mess. A strike should be a registered protest and the government should listen to the protest and work to solve the problem, issuing statements that the strike is illegal and that there were be consequences don't befit a democracy and so the government usually gets what it deserves. Getting out a bit, the Bhagwad Gita states that God shall fulfill every desire of man to the limit he deserves, not covets. The govt and gopi are getting what they deserve.
Regardless of the fact that more people travel by other methods of public transport than by air every year, i believe its crucial to modernize the airports, but is it enough reason to go around in media calling it a "national shame" and trying to get a sympathy vote. I was traveling by train from Pune to Bombay on Friday and since i hadn't reserved my ticket in advance i had to get a general one, for some reason the train was really crowded and i had to carry my bag around my neck and i actually ended up spraining my neck, and my back still hurts. There will be a lot more people facing a similar problem everyday than air travelers over a year, so what needs to be fixed first. Gopi is a businessman and i understand his concerns in a already threatening industry with low margins and intense competition and that he wants to buy more planes and wants more place to keep them, when they are not flying. Its easy to remember that when fog had enveloped the capital, air deccan promptly closed its counters and left its passengers stranded, no that's not national shame, its easier to blame the airports for that.
The Airport modernization process is the best example of the governments blind, single minded obsession with privatization, for the Govt privatization means complete abdication of its role and easy revenue to come by. Modernization can also mean changing of internal policies and work ethics to provide more efficiency and transparency at all levels, but we as a democracy don't deserve it. We've never learned from past experiences and we've not learnt from the Gita. We never learn.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Shall we outsource the PM ?
A Terrorist attack on a premier educational institution, now why didn't anyone think of it yet.I did, in fact i vividly remember a conversation i had with a colleague wherein we veered from talking about the middle east, to India - Pak , when i told her about the sense it made to attack places of educational importance in India, the example we took was TIFR (maybe its next).
It just makes super "common sense" to me.Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf about how the first step in unifying Germany would be to destroy the Jewish press, and Jewish schools.(Although he's also written that almost all the newspapers in Austrian Germany belonged to the Jews, and they indulged in a mass brainwashing programme to keep the Germans subdued.I have neither been able to refute his claims nor can i deny them, for the lack of material evidence.Maybe he was right, or maybe not).Sun Tzu has mentioned about how the enemy needs to be weakened first, its supplies hampered, before you go ahead to conquer it.Now if i could get my hands on these texts am sure militant groups too could go ahead and use them for their benefit.
The fact that India is a soft target has been proved over, and over again.I believe i had written somewhere before that Indian Governments lack the balls to take decisive, and strong action against terrorism.The only step ahead in the past few years was the declaration that Indian Governments will not negotiate with terrorists, how good that can be, i do not know.Delhi, Bombay and now Bangalore, wonder who's next.From parliaments to educational institutes, we are vulnerable all the way.
In this period of strong economic growth, we need a strong leader who can channelize the benefits of that growth to the poorest states, and one who can take strong decisions, and implements actions to erase the banner of "soft target" that sits under our national flag.I believe we need a Indira Gandhi.MS was a good bureaucrat and a great FM, but that guy isn't a politician and he displays the tendency of bureaucrats to please everyone but still he's what we have got and i can't think of any other leader who can take his position and manage the country with the intelligence and ruthlessness both in sync.Just like FDI and foreign coaches in sports , we need an expat PM.A Putin would do just fine.
It just makes super "common sense" to me.Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf about how the first step in unifying Germany would be to destroy the Jewish press, and Jewish schools.(Although he's also written that almost all the newspapers in Austrian Germany belonged to the Jews, and they indulged in a mass brainwashing programme to keep the Germans subdued.I have neither been able to refute his claims nor can i deny them, for the lack of material evidence.Maybe he was right, or maybe not).Sun Tzu has mentioned about how the enemy needs to be weakened first, its supplies hampered, before you go ahead to conquer it.Now if i could get my hands on these texts am sure militant groups too could go ahead and use them for their benefit.
The fact that India is a soft target has been proved over, and over again.I believe i had written somewhere before that Indian Governments lack the balls to take decisive, and strong action against terrorism.The only step ahead in the past few years was the declaration that Indian Governments will not negotiate with terrorists, how good that can be, i do not know.Delhi, Bombay and now Bangalore, wonder who's next.From parliaments to educational institutes, we are vulnerable all the way.
In this period of strong economic growth, we need a strong leader who can channelize the benefits of that growth to the poorest states, and one who can take strong decisions, and implements actions to erase the banner of "soft target" that sits under our national flag.I believe we need a Indira Gandhi.MS was a good bureaucrat and a great FM, but that guy isn't a politician and he displays the tendency of bureaucrats to please everyone but still he's what we have got and i can't think of any other leader who can take his position and manage the country with the intelligence and ruthlessness both in sync.Just like FDI and foreign coaches in sports , we need an expat PM.A Putin would do just fine.
Monday, December 26, 2005
2005
2005, its almost over and looking back, clouded by the visions of the future, it wasn't bad at all.Nowhere in the vicinity of bad.The first new formula one champion after a considerably long time, a thrilling Champions league final, Federers supremacy almost being threatened and a lot other "nice" things.
It also saw democratic processes being initiated in two war ravaged countries - Iraq and Afghanistan, which is a fantastic achievement.Amid attacks and threats of violence, people went to polls after decades of nonsecular rule and now there is hope, which is more than what the people in the respective countries ever had just a couple of years ago.Saddam Hussein being captured and brought to trial, now who would have thought of that.
Nature stamped its authority as the supreme giver, with earthquakes and hurricanes closely followed by the year of the Tsunami, Nature gave a wake up call to be respected, maybe its been enough.Terry Schiavo's death doesn't end the Man Vs Nature debate, and in many ways its hardly begun.I still think the removal of her life support system was "inhuman" and against basic human rights, if the creator wanted us to decide on death he might as well have given us a knob.Evolution might have conjured up such a biological sub-system.
One event, that probably gets my vote as the "Event of the year" was the withdrawal of troops from Gaza.Controversial, yes, as i vividly remember a Jewish woman, in tears, saying "For the first time in Jewish history, Jews have driven Jews out of their holy home".Regardless a comprehensive victory for peace efforts in the middle east.Wounded memories can never be the guide to a peaceful future.Terrorists meanwhile took centre stage during the London and Jordan bombings.The end to terrorism is not in sight, and the threat only seems to increase.The threat to terrorism is Globalisation, and the more we are able to subjugate economic borders and barriers between different classes of people, the more we'll feel safer.
Just like a new formula one champ, people also got a brand new, conservative , Pope, Joseph Ratzinger of Germany and a new CM in Bihar.The latter, especially, holds a lot of promise and isn't the usual run of the mill Bihari politician.If Bihar, UP, and MP clock good growth rates, the aim of a 10 % growth rate won't look unrealistic rather unambitious.
Apart from all the above mentioned changes, things were pretty much the same.Tiger woods captured (yet) another Masters and added to his tally with a British Open as well.Cricket saw the Australians tormented by one Freddie Flintoff, and the Ashes shifting continents for the first time in 16 years.Though cynics will argue that it was the absence of Glen Mcgrath that shifted the Balance, the trophy knows where its going to stay for a year.India saw the emergence of a team with actual sporting character and mental toughness and the future only looks bright, except for the unnecessary presence of a former captain.I would do injustice to a certain 19 year old, Aftab Ahmed if i don't mention his heroics when Bangladesh defeated Australia.He scored only 20 odd, but he kept his head to win a match against by and far the best team in the world.Magnificient achievement.
Ah, the champions league final..half time Liverpool 0 - 3 Milan.There was only one place the title was going, and then the struggle of one man,the stirring deeds and indefatigable spirit of one individual inspired the other 10 and in 15 minutes of absolute madness the meanest defence in Europe conceded 3 goals, and suddenly the scousers were chanting "We're gonna win 4-3" and they did.Football never had it so good.I hope i get to see another Final as this one in my lifetime.
In league football is got as boring as it never did, Romans Chelsea ate everything in its way to win last season and look good again.My beloved Manchester United look lost yet again and my brother Galacticos look the same in Spain, so no ones really in sight of bragging rights.Barca look superb but will they be consistent enough to get glory in Europe, or will they fall to the all conquering Bianconeri.Juventus have looked every bit the Italian mafia in their 15 odd wins this season, especially against inter, they defend ruthlessly and more than
attacking the opponent work on creating opportunities for attacking.
Who will rise upto the challenge of stopping Federer on Grass ?Going from this years experiences no one will, hes above the rest by a good couple of notches.He does everything else that anyone else does, only does it better.Lets hope that some star may rise, and there'll actually will be competition at Wimbledon.Raikkonen crashing out while in the lead, and Alonso chasing him down till the end, and taking the chequered flag, that's been the story of F1 this year.Single minded determination and perseverance paying it off for the Spaniard and we saw a new F1 champion.
One country that has had it pretty good this year, apart from England is NZ.The All Blacks, for me the sporting phenomenon of the year, the Bledisloe Cup, the Tri-Nations, the Grand Slam and the mauling of the Lions showed that Graham Henry's side were a class above the rest, and the now legendary tackle on Brian O'Driscoll by Umaga and Keven Mealamu, the new haka and the emergence of Dan Carter as an All Black legend and it is easy to see why 2005 was a year of redemption for the All Blacks.The men from league just pip the men from union as their victory was totally unexpected in the Tri-Nations and that 24-0 mauling of the Aussies, that'll live long, really long.Even bigger was the triumph of Michael Campbell at the US open, forced to qualify for the tournament, Campbell produced a masterful display of composed golf to clinch the trophy and hero-like status both in New Zealand and around the world.And just to prove it wasn't a fluke, he then went off to win the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth and he'll never have to buy a drink in NZ ever again.
And then, the man who's done it year after year, critics, opponents withstanding , the 7th Tour De France title for Lance Armstrong, his domination of perhaps the toughest sporting event is undeniable.There was little doubt that Armstrong was going to retire on a high, fastest in the time trials, strongest in the mountains and the captain of the fastest team, he duly destroyed his rivals on the streets of France.The lingering cloud of doping still hovers above Armstrong but his talent has never been in doubt.
I can almost see it now, 2006, the year of the the FIFA world cup, the biggest gratification of them all and the Winter Olympics at Torino, along with the rest of the usual happenings.Its bound to be a cracker of a game.
It also saw democratic processes being initiated in two war ravaged countries - Iraq and Afghanistan, which is a fantastic achievement.Amid attacks and threats of violence, people went to polls after decades of nonsecular rule and now there is hope, which is more than what the people in the respective countries ever had just a couple of years ago.Saddam Hussein being captured and brought to trial, now who would have thought of that.
Nature stamped its authority as the supreme giver, with earthquakes and hurricanes closely followed by the year of the Tsunami, Nature gave a wake up call to be respected, maybe its been enough.Terry Schiavo's death doesn't end the Man Vs Nature debate, and in many ways its hardly begun.I still think the removal of her life support system was "inhuman" and against basic human rights, if the creator wanted us to decide on death he might as well have given us a knob.Evolution might have conjured up such a biological sub-system.
One event, that probably gets my vote as the "Event of the year" was the withdrawal of troops from Gaza.Controversial, yes, as i vividly remember a Jewish woman, in tears, saying "For the first time in Jewish history, Jews have driven Jews out of their holy home".Regardless a comprehensive victory for peace efforts in the middle east.Wounded memories can never be the guide to a peaceful future.Terrorists meanwhile took centre stage during the London and Jordan bombings.The end to terrorism is not in sight, and the threat only seems to increase.The threat to terrorism is Globalisation, and the more we are able to subjugate economic borders and barriers between different classes of people, the more we'll feel safer.
Just like a new formula one champ, people also got a brand new, conservative , Pope, Joseph Ratzinger of Germany and a new CM in Bihar.The latter, especially, holds a lot of promise and isn't the usual run of the mill Bihari politician.If Bihar, UP, and MP clock good growth rates, the aim of a 10 % growth rate won't look unrealistic rather unambitious.
Apart from all the above mentioned changes, things were pretty much the same.Tiger woods captured (yet) another Masters and added to his tally with a British Open as well.Cricket saw the Australians tormented by one Freddie Flintoff, and the Ashes shifting continents for the first time in 16 years.Though cynics will argue that it was the absence of Glen Mcgrath that shifted the Balance, the trophy knows where its going to stay for a year.India saw the emergence of a team with actual sporting character and mental toughness and the future only looks bright, except for the unnecessary presence of a former captain.I would do injustice to a certain 19 year old, Aftab Ahmed if i don't mention his heroics when Bangladesh defeated Australia.He scored only 20 odd, but he kept his head to win a match against by and far the best team in the world.Magnificient achievement.
Ah, the champions league final..half time Liverpool 0 - 3 Milan.There was only one place the title was going, and then the struggle of one man,the stirring deeds and indefatigable spirit of one individual inspired the other 10 and in 15 minutes of absolute madness the meanest defence in Europe conceded 3 goals, and suddenly the scousers were chanting "We're gonna win 4-3" and they did.Football never had it so good.I hope i get to see another Final as this one in my lifetime.
In league football is got as boring as it never did, Romans Chelsea ate everything in its way to win last season and look good again.My beloved Manchester United look lost yet again and my brother Galacticos look the same in Spain, so no ones really in sight of bragging rights.Barca look superb but will they be consistent enough to get glory in Europe, or will they fall to the all conquering Bianconeri.Juventus have looked every bit the Italian mafia in their 15 odd wins this season, especially against inter, they defend ruthlessly and more than
attacking the opponent work on creating opportunities for attacking.
Who will rise upto the challenge of stopping Federer on Grass ?Going from this years experiences no one will, hes above the rest by a good couple of notches.He does everything else that anyone else does, only does it better.Lets hope that some star may rise, and there'll actually will be competition at Wimbledon.Raikkonen crashing out while in the lead, and Alonso chasing him down till the end, and taking the chequered flag, that's been the story of F1 this year.Single minded determination and perseverance paying it off for the Spaniard and we saw a new F1 champion.
One country that has had it pretty good this year, apart from England is NZ.The All Blacks, for me the sporting phenomenon of the year, the Bledisloe Cup, the Tri-Nations, the Grand Slam and the mauling of the Lions showed that Graham Henry's side were a class above the rest, and the now legendary tackle on Brian O'Driscoll by Umaga and Keven Mealamu, the new haka and the emergence of Dan Carter as an All Black legend and it is easy to see why 2005 was a year of redemption for the All Blacks.The men from league just pip the men from union as their victory was totally unexpected in the Tri-Nations and that 24-0 mauling of the Aussies, that'll live long, really long.Even bigger was the triumph of Michael Campbell at the US open, forced to qualify for the tournament, Campbell produced a masterful display of composed golf to clinch the trophy and hero-like status both in New Zealand and around the world.And just to prove it wasn't a fluke, he then went off to win the World Match Play Championship at Wentworth and he'll never have to buy a drink in NZ ever again.
And then, the man who's done it year after year, critics, opponents withstanding , the 7th Tour De France title for Lance Armstrong, his domination of perhaps the toughest sporting event is undeniable.There was little doubt that Armstrong was going to retire on a high, fastest in the time trials, strongest in the mountains and the captain of the fastest team, he duly destroyed his rivals on the streets of France.The lingering cloud of doping still hovers above Armstrong but his talent has never been in doubt.
I can almost see it now, 2006, the year of the the FIFA world cup, the biggest gratification of them all and the Winter Olympics at Torino, along with the rest of the usual happenings.Its bound to be a cracker of a game.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Have you seen my dream ?
I was feeling too lazy to sleep that night,as i walked upto her i could hear the breathe of her hair, embalmed with the smell of her braids the walls seemed to have cleared the humidity in the air.It looked as if her veins carried a message that words could not, words bowed down having carried the burden of her inner world.So often was i able to read her veins that, i, quite often, thought of the place where they met.
I'm blind now, she said.I heard the sound of the moon which it makes as it passes my window, i could feel the fibre of her body watching me through her naked skin, bone to bone, with her eyes closed.The previous night while the heavens beat upon her mud roof, the hens, poor creatures they, could not warm their eggs as the dark soil of the earth had turned into a brown sticky lifeform and wet their feet, came inside and pecked her eyes.
I went inside to prepare some soup, to escape the convulsive breathe of her hair, and looked around for my dream which i didn't see.I gathered the sound of the wind, the dark wind that never blows and never sits still and asked her if she has seen my dream, the one i didn't see as i was lighting the stove to prepare soup.No.
I must ask the other villages if they saw my dream go by, i told her, while i groped the cold walls that now smelt like cold goats cheese , blind as i was to find the door.No wait, let my face be warmed by the sun.
I'm blind now, she said.I heard the sound of the moon which it makes as it passes my window, i could feel the fibre of her body watching me through her naked skin, bone to bone, with her eyes closed.The previous night while the heavens beat upon her mud roof, the hens, poor creatures they, could not warm their eggs as the dark soil of the earth had turned into a brown sticky lifeform and wet their feet, came inside and pecked her eyes.
I went inside to prepare some soup, to escape the convulsive breathe of her hair, and looked around for my dream which i didn't see.I gathered the sound of the wind, the dark wind that never blows and never sits still and asked her if she has seen my dream, the one i didn't see as i was lighting the stove to prepare soup.No.
I must ask the other villages if they saw my dream go by, i told her, while i groped the cold walls that now smelt like cold goats cheese , blind as i was to find the door.No wait, let my face be warmed by the sun.
Monday, December 19, 2005
(is it) The end of the world
I never thought i would actually say this, but football has become "boring and meaningless".Due to a certain rich oligarch, who happened to buy a football club because he was running out of things to buy.Its horrible when you see a club scoring a goal - sometimes two, and then defending for an entire quarter, and even 2 quarters of an hour.And this has been happening week after week, and doesn't look as if its going to end.
Winning is important, and possibly the only thing that occupies the mind of top rung managers, but are we as fans paying the price to see our clubs win.Football has actally become so monotonous that even watching the english cricket team play sounds interesting, relatively.
I'm not entirely happy with the fact that Alonso will be joining us (McLaren) in 2007.In F1 you can never have two world champions, and with that you can't have two contenders in the same team.For me Kimi is the man, and i believe that it'll be him who will leave come 2007.
It was a delight to hear the Steve Slater say the phrase "The cold blue eyes of Mika Hakkinen", for one of the most wonderfully said statements in sports commentary (Eddy will agree).After Mika left came Kimi, same cold blue eyes, ruthless in approach and brilliant behind the wheel, it was as close to a Mika reincarnate we got, and i was extremely happy with that.
Alonso is a great driver, a superb champion but he doesn't have the raw, ruthless personality that i was used to in Mika, and frankly i'll find it extremely difficult to see him, and not Kimi as the frontline driver for us.Either of Kimi and Alonso won't agree to be wingman and if they do it'll be an insult to a fantastic sport.Football already has become "boring and meaningless" at times, it would be very dissappointing to see the same happening to F1.
Winning is important, and possibly the only thing that occupies the mind of top rung managers, but are we as fans paying the price to see our clubs win.Football has actally become so monotonous that even watching the english cricket team play sounds interesting, relatively.
I'm not entirely happy with the fact that Alonso will be joining us (McLaren) in 2007.In F1 you can never have two world champions, and with that you can't have two contenders in the same team.For me Kimi is the man, and i believe that it'll be him who will leave come 2007.
It was a delight to hear the Steve Slater say the phrase "The cold blue eyes of Mika Hakkinen", for one of the most wonderfully said statements in sports commentary (Eddy will agree).After Mika left came Kimi, same cold blue eyes, ruthless in approach and brilliant behind the wheel, it was as close to a Mika reincarnate we got, and i was extremely happy with that.
Alonso is a great driver, a superb champion but he doesn't have the raw, ruthless personality that i was used to in Mika, and frankly i'll find it extremely difficult to see him, and not Kimi as the frontline driver for us.Either of Kimi and Alonso won't agree to be wingman and if they do it'll be an insult to a fantastic sport.Football already has become "boring and meaningless" at times, it would be very dissappointing to see the same happening to F1.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
War Within The Worlds.
Fabulous news ! India has been granted a permanent seat in the security council of the league of nations where in summers people die of heatstroke, of cold in winters and also manage to die coz of excessive rains.
Seasonal deaths are not a strange occurance in India, to think of it what is (strange).People here die of various reasons - hunger, poverty and even affluence.But thats not what is leaving me perplexed.
I cannot think of an antonym for the word "developing" and i'd like to believe that i'll be able to come up with a word before desperation directs me to rogets.
We regularly identify ours as a developing nation.The numbers of the poor, illiterate and the homeless have all increased since 1950 and i don't think that qualifies as developing.Infact its quite the opposite.
In our seemingly continual pursuit of vanity these days the government is busy lobbying for a permanent seat of the UN security council, even without the veto.We are still the same country where half of the people don't have direct access to clean drinking water.
There are a whole lot more people in this country who need clean water, basic sanitation and two square meals per day than those who want a UNSC seat and cheaper imported super luxury cars.
In fifty years the number of children who dream of getting a good education is more than those who do and even today we spend more on heavy industries and making guns than n primary education.50 years of poverty has still not managed to change government perspectives and financial outlays.Till about 10 years it wasn't even possible to start a school with a loan based on capital deficit.Of course banks would pour money on you if you wanted to make springs.
We are celebrating the end of the WW2, of the allied landing at Normandie - the single most planned strategic mission to kill people and of the nuclear attacks.Thats when the other war began, we realised our ambitions and dreams as countries and not as the world.De-globalization.
The allies were a sign of Globalization, raw material flew in from all possible countries , India included.Infact Indian beryl was used in the atomic bomb to start the flow of uranium neutrons to produce nuclear fission. The rare earths in the sands of Kerala went into making titanium, used on American navy vessels. By one account, India provided $640 million worth of material (in 1945 prices). The world was fighting against a common enemy.
Nations were classified into the two power blocks and leaders decided that separation was necessary for individual development and world domination.We decided to exist as countries and not as people.
Change is continual and with GATT in 1993 the world was once again opening up to globalisation.Business leaders realised that survival meant expansion.After polluting and exploiting your country you have to go to other countries and do the same.Thats not as bad as i morbidly made is sound.Political leaders were convinced that prosperity meant growing economies and that meant globalization.
Thomas Friedman famously said that no two countries with McDonalds can ever go to war with each other.Afghanistan and Iraq didn't and Iran doesn't have any Mc's.Today along with economic depressions we are also fighting terrorism.Globalization is the answer to terrorism, open up economies , create employment and make sure all the kids play football.The world is fighting a common enemy.
Seasonal deaths are not a strange occurance in India, to think of it what is (strange).People here die of various reasons - hunger, poverty and even affluence.But thats not what is leaving me perplexed.
I cannot think of an antonym for the word "developing" and i'd like to believe that i'll be able to come up with a word before desperation directs me to rogets.
We regularly identify ours as a developing nation.The numbers of the poor, illiterate and the homeless have all increased since 1950 and i don't think that qualifies as developing.Infact its quite the opposite.
In our seemingly continual pursuit of vanity these days the government is busy lobbying for a permanent seat of the UN security council, even without the veto.We are still the same country where half of the people don't have direct access to clean drinking water.
There are a whole lot more people in this country who need clean water, basic sanitation and two square meals per day than those who want a UNSC seat and cheaper imported super luxury cars.
In fifty years the number of children who dream of getting a good education is more than those who do and even today we spend more on heavy industries and making guns than n primary education.50 years of poverty has still not managed to change government perspectives and financial outlays.Till about 10 years it wasn't even possible to start a school with a loan based on capital deficit.Of course banks would pour money on you if you wanted to make springs.
We are celebrating the end of the WW2, of the allied landing at Normandie - the single most planned strategic mission to kill people and of the nuclear attacks.Thats when the other war began, we realised our ambitions and dreams as countries and not as the world.De-globalization.
The allies were a sign of Globalization, raw material flew in from all possible countries , India included.Infact Indian beryl was used in the atomic bomb to start the flow of uranium neutrons to produce nuclear fission. The rare earths in the sands of Kerala went into making titanium, used on American navy vessels. By one account, India provided $640 million worth of material (in 1945 prices). The world was fighting against a common enemy.
Nations were classified into the two power blocks and leaders decided that separation was necessary for individual development and world domination.We decided to exist as countries and not as people.
Change is continual and with GATT in 1993 the world was once again opening up to globalisation.Business leaders realised that survival meant expansion.After polluting and exploiting your country you have to go to other countries and do the same.Thats not as bad as i morbidly made is sound.Political leaders were convinced that prosperity meant growing economies and that meant globalization.
Thomas Friedman famously said that no two countries with McDonalds can ever go to war with each other.Afghanistan and Iraq didn't and Iran doesn't have any Mc's.Today along with economic depressions we are also fighting terrorism.Globalization is the answer to terrorism, open up economies , create employment and make sure all the kids play football.The world is fighting a common enemy.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Lets Rape
Move over cricket, Indian men have a new pastime : Raping.Raping women to be precise.Everyone gets raped, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, friends, grandmothers, babies.Infact rapes of 6 month old babies is routine these days.And we are good at it, moving cars, trucks, trains, no place isn't bad enough.Politicians, cops, teachers, priests, brothers, uncles, friends, soldiers, strangers, everyone rapes.Infact we need to make a constitutional ammendment that “ Every Indian male with enough juice in his balls can rape”.With secularism reaching new hieghts under Mr.Narendra Modi , people of all religions, castes can rape.All you need isn't love but a dick.
We also have manages consistency, we rape everyday, every hour.Soon women will be measured in the census as Raped/ To be Raped.India will soon be the next raping superpower.Who needs a high literacy rate or a growing per capita income, We want more rapes.SRZ's ( Special Raping Zones) should be setup, infact raping should be introduced in schools.Its better to give our bright future a flying start.
Rape is the solution to all our problems, land disputes, family pride, personal arguments.Rape dissolves them all.Infact the Indian army personel who raped girls in Kashmir/Sri Lanka should be sent to resolve the India – Pakistan dispute.
Theres a whole new industry brewing up , Bollywood is already making a movie on a teen raped in broad daylight by a cop.Ironically raping doesn't need a whole lot of exposure, its already widespread.Infact open a daily newspaper and theres a rape on every page.There can infact be a newspaper dedicated completely to rape, The Raping Times sounds enriching,
Rape has always been a part of our (in)human history.All cultures have a history of rape.During all wars the winning army ravaged the women of the losers.In Bosnia women stood is queues as soldiers raped them one by one.We have a history of male superiority and aggressive behaviour.A rapist wasn't even publicly looked down upon.Rape is as common as mythology and invasion are to human culture.Prevalent norms accepted sex, rather forced sex as the inescapable right of the conqueror.
Sad as it might sound but rape has been the norm and not the exception.Genetically we were programmed to and accept rape.That has to stop.Like an epidemic of alarming proportions, it has to be contained and eradicated.
I don't know the exact numbers but some women get raped because some men want to rape.There might be women who want to be raped, Samna – the ( drowning ) Shiv Sena mouthpiece says that women who wear western clothes want to be raped, still without a ready man they would be pretty helpless.
Rape of course is very fundamentally forced intercourse.There are discussions if it is physical/physiological/sociological, i think its a bit of all of that and more.Rape is criminal in its nature and its being.It is a grievous inhuman act against the body of a person and the ethics of humanity.it is violence in its most violent form.A rapist does not deserve a second chance, he doesn't need our sympathy and under no circumstances must be forgiven.Hang him by his hyperactive dick, i'd say.
We also have manages consistency, we rape everyday, every hour.Soon women will be measured in the census as Raped/ To be Raped.India will soon be the next raping superpower.Who needs a high literacy rate or a growing per capita income, We want more rapes.SRZ's ( Special Raping Zones) should be setup, infact raping should be introduced in schools.Its better to give our bright future a flying start.
Rape is the solution to all our problems, land disputes, family pride, personal arguments.Rape dissolves them all.Infact the Indian army personel who raped girls in Kashmir/Sri Lanka should be sent to resolve the India – Pakistan dispute.
Theres a whole new industry brewing up , Bollywood is already making a movie on a teen raped in broad daylight by a cop.Ironically raping doesn't need a whole lot of exposure, its already widespread.Infact open a daily newspaper and theres a rape on every page.There can infact be a newspaper dedicated completely to rape, The Raping Times sounds enriching,
Rape has always been a part of our (in)human history.All cultures have a history of rape.During all wars the winning army ravaged the women of the losers.In Bosnia women stood is queues as soldiers raped them one by one.We have a history of male superiority and aggressive behaviour.A rapist wasn't even publicly looked down upon.Rape is as common as mythology and invasion are to human culture.Prevalent norms accepted sex, rather forced sex as the inescapable right of the conqueror.
Sad as it might sound but rape has been the norm and not the exception.Genetically we were programmed to and accept rape.That has to stop.Like an epidemic of alarming proportions, it has to be contained and eradicated.
I don't know the exact numbers but some women get raped because some men want to rape.There might be women who want to be raped, Samna – the ( drowning ) Shiv Sena mouthpiece says that women who wear western clothes want to be raped, still without a ready man they would be pretty helpless.
Rape of course is very fundamentally forced intercourse.There are discussions if it is physical/physiological/sociological, i think its a bit of all of that and more.Rape is criminal in its nature and its being.It is a grievous inhuman act against the body of a person and the ethics of humanity.it is violence in its most violent form.A rapist does not deserve a second chance, he doesn't need our sympathy and under no circumstances must be forgiven.Hang him by his hyperactive dick, i'd say.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Football - The year that was
Sometimes i think Bill Murray should have been dutch.He actually missed out on Groundhog Day, De Boer actually missed that penalty in 98, get the point.
The dutch have a long tradition of glorius failures.I wanted PSV to win, Milan with all their pedigree and tradition were made to look mediocre over 180 minutes.Ambrosini scored and the rossoneri will visit Istanbul in 2 weeks time.It almost made me cry, PSV were the better team, and played some very good and some not very bad football but they lost to Milan who played badly.Thats how great teams are, even when they play badly they manage to get something out of the game, i'll come back to this later.
The same story with a different cast in the UEFA CUP, after 122 minutes of football filled with promise and hope, a freak goal, another dutch team ousted from a European tournament.
Just when i was about to forget that Barca were a first tier team in Europe, a certain Ronaldinho came along and tommorow will lead Barcelona to their first title of the century.He scores magical goals, sets people up,takes care of the dead ball situations and also scores impossible goals in impossible situations.
Barcelona cannot win at the Mestalla, said Helguera.The ball fell fast from the sky to the edge of the area, Ronaldinho leaned back and brought his right leg over and across the ball with amazing grace, connecting with a volley of outrageous difficulty and sending the ball whooshing past Valencia's right-hand post.
The home supporters, normally a voluble and aggressive lot to visiting teams, simply remained silent. It was a telling moment, a collective acceptance of the fact that they were witnessing greatness. You don't jeer at greatness, because it doesn't come along very often.
He hushed the Mestalla - no easy feat in possibly the noisiest stadium in Spain.Barcelona won by 2 goals.
My brother is a Real fan, if you don't know what Real is you better stop reading this article and continue breathing, if you must.The decline began when they sold makka, Claude Makelele to Chelsea - who by the way prospered since his arrival, ask Terry and Lampard what he means to them - Fiorentino Perez , famously said 'We've just transferred a player who can only pass the ball four yards and bought another [Beckham] who can pass it forty'.Thats when you knew he had lost his way.
Real will go trophyless for the second consecutive season, thats some sort of a record in itself.They have been mediocre all this season, till Gravesen came along.Things have been upward, even Raul started playing better, even scoring but then it was too late.The catalan juggernaut wasn't going to be stopped.
Juventus and Milan have combined to win 11 of the last 13 Scudettos, but this is the first time the two have gone head-to-head; Lazio, Inter, Parma and Roma being either club's competitors on those previous occasions.In fact there is some sort of an alliance between the two, once that will sustain some damage.
Juventus don't have to worry about putting in a great display of football, they rarely are brilliant.Milan have more talent, more firepower and the worlds only one man strike force in Andriy Shevchenko.For my money he has been the best striker for some time, he scores with a mediocre midfield, without one and also marries a playboy playmate.Then theres Gianluigi Buffon, a lot of managers around the world pray to god to find someone half as good as him.
After last weeks defeat by Juve, Milan know that the title race is as good as over.Always a difficult side to break down, their 27th minute lead from a well-taken goal by David Trezeguet, who pounced to head in a Del Piero overhead kick of a cross from the left, meant they could play out the rest of the game in their favourite fashion: closing down spaces, putting at times nine men behind the ball and defending indepth,Commiting nasty little fouls in midfield that have been breaking down opponents' counter-attacking all season - statistics, who mean less in soccer than in other sports anyway, show Juve have committed more fouls than anybody else this season.
Milan will still play and possibly win the Champions League, with Nesta, Stam and Maldini forming the heart of defence its very difficult to see the reds scoring, especially without a good striker.Maldini might win his 4th Champions league winners medal, when you are the best left back of your generation, theres a standard you have to live upto.
In England for the first time in a decade we saw 3 times with a fighting chance of winning the league.Chelski fuelled by the billions of a certain russian, frustrated, fluttered and destroyed everything in their way to win the league.The fact that United and Arsenal were both out of form, Arse still managing bits and pieces of their form at times, United have been mediocre all season.With the Glazer takeover looming large over Old Trafford, the arrival of the american will mean hit the final nail in the coffin of the United era.One that will live long in the memories of many people.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Be afraid, Be very very afraid.
Be afraid, be very very afraid.Thats how Sachin Tendulkar likes to treat failure, i'm assuming over the years he's built up his courage for his recent form.The defintion of fear which to me makes a lot of sense is, fear is courage that has said its prayers.It does make fear look inevitable, inevitably, that it is.Lets talk about things that really scare me, we are talking about methi pakoda's, watermelon milkshakes and the top of the league stuff.Indian team losing to bangadesh, na not scared of that.Some supergeek trying to take over the world , na not scared of that either.Waking up one day to see am Brad Pitt, that should scare Brad not me.
There are things i'm really afraid of, lets talk about the China - North Korea love affair.China is a scary place, they invest $ 150 billion in infrastructure development every year ( roads, buildings, bridges etc , a lot of them).India has invested $ 200 billion in the same over ten years, at this rate we'll have Indians driving on the same roads as China by the time they give up driving and start flying.
Last weekend Chinese mobs threw stones and even managed to break windows at various Japanese targets, including the embassy in Beijing.Lets rewind to the Japanese attacks on China during the world war, the "Rape Of Nanking" and the obvious Japanese opposition to Chinese ambitions and regular one night stands with America.A Mob in China is very difficult to imagine, if the state decides that nobody downloads porn, nobody actually downloads porn.China has never forgiven Japan for his past and now its sending hints about the price they might have to pay.
North Korea, rather Nuclear powered North Korea is a threat and they have already declared that publicly.They have been courageous to say that , North Korea can attack America not only directly but also indirectly.This is what having balls made of Enriched Uranium can do to you.Terrorists with Nuclear Bombs, imagine homer simpson with an unlimited pass at mac's for life.Chinese remote controls which work best on North Korean Televisions and Governments already says that they can't help it.The question, do they really wanna ?
The declaration of Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, that India and China will the the " two pagoda's of economic might in the coming Asian century" implies that China is willing to go to any lenghts to assure its future.They are ready to reshape the border, and are already rooting for India's permanent security council seat.The deal with China includes "strategic partnership for peace and prosperity ,including expanded trade, border security even joint space exploration."Maybe they should just make Indo - Chinese weddings tax free.
I always thought Anu Malik had the most irritating voice when it comes to people, who sing for a living and actually manage to live by.Just when i thought i had hit rock bottom, the ground dropped down.
Next time you are watching football and the match gets boring, like for 90 minutes when arse and chelski were playing, switch over to a music channel.Chances are you'll see someone black, having fat legged pants, showing off his hilfiger underwear when the large pants is up to his ass.It's not just Black / White people, it's Filipino, Asian, Hispanic, Indian people that are getting into Rap music.Infact sometimes i don't understand what those people talk about, in the ebonic accent.So many brothers and sisters and still they manage to keep a racial crime rate above others.
Imagine a whole generation that likes 50 cents.The fact that 50 cents is actually worth more than 50 cents explains the number of Indian millionaires in America.The sub culture that has creeped into society, the hi/ho click, which includes my younger brother drives me crazy.Defined by the music they listen, enslaved for the rest of their young life till when they get old they realise what a waste its been.Hopefully.
It's like a tribal system in Africa, the person with the bigger drums/dicks get more respect.That's the way black people are, loud and obnoxious. I hate rap culture.When a white American dies its murder, when a black American dies its hate crime and there has to be a song about it.The lyrics of which i don't comprehend, the beat of which i don't catch but i do enjoy the semi naked girls moving their ass, sometimes.Maybe its the tolerance to this music that makes anal sex less painful to the other half of the species.Fine ass fucks.I'm afraid of the implications of this generation.
As the day dawns, and my fears go to sleep i like to think of the future.A future which doesn't neccesarily has to have a lot of resemblance to the past.
There are things i'm really afraid of, lets talk about the China - North Korea love affair.China is a scary place, they invest $ 150 billion in infrastructure development every year ( roads, buildings, bridges etc , a lot of them).India has invested $ 200 billion in the same over ten years, at this rate we'll have Indians driving on the same roads as China by the time they give up driving and start flying.
Last weekend Chinese mobs threw stones and even managed to break windows at various Japanese targets, including the embassy in Beijing.Lets rewind to the Japanese attacks on China during the world war, the "Rape Of Nanking" and the obvious Japanese opposition to Chinese ambitions and regular one night stands with America.A Mob in China is very difficult to imagine, if the state decides that nobody downloads porn, nobody actually downloads porn.China has never forgiven Japan for his past and now its sending hints about the price they might have to pay.
North Korea, rather Nuclear powered North Korea is a threat and they have already declared that publicly.They have been courageous to say that , North Korea can attack America not only directly but also indirectly.This is what having balls made of Enriched Uranium can do to you.Terrorists with Nuclear Bombs, imagine homer simpson with an unlimited pass at mac's for life.Chinese remote controls which work best on North Korean Televisions and Governments already says that they can't help it.The question, do they really wanna ?
The declaration of Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, that India and China will the the " two pagoda's of economic might in the coming Asian century" implies that China is willing to go to any lenghts to assure its future.They are ready to reshape the border, and are already rooting for India's permanent security council seat.The deal with China includes "strategic partnership for peace and prosperity ,including expanded trade, border security even joint space exploration."Maybe they should just make Indo - Chinese weddings tax free.
I always thought Anu Malik had the most irritating voice when it comes to people, who sing for a living and actually manage to live by.Just when i thought i had hit rock bottom, the ground dropped down.
Next time you are watching football and the match gets boring, like for 90 minutes when arse and chelski were playing, switch over to a music channel.Chances are you'll see someone black, having fat legged pants, showing off his hilfiger underwear when the large pants is up to his ass.It's not just Black / White people, it's Filipino, Asian, Hispanic, Indian people that are getting into Rap music.Infact sometimes i don't understand what those people talk about, in the ebonic accent.So many brothers and sisters and still they manage to keep a racial crime rate above others.
Imagine a whole generation that likes 50 cents.The fact that 50 cents is actually worth more than 50 cents explains the number of Indian millionaires in America.The sub culture that has creeped into society, the hi/ho click, which includes my younger brother drives me crazy.Defined by the music they listen, enslaved for the rest of their young life till when they get old they realise what a waste its been.Hopefully.
It's like a tribal system in Africa, the person with the bigger drums/dicks get more respect.That's the way black people are, loud and obnoxious. I hate rap culture.When a white American dies its murder, when a black American dies its hate crime and there has to be a song about it.The lyrics of which i don't comprehend, the beat of which i don't catch but i do enjoy the semi naked girls moving their ass, sometimes.Maybe its the tolerance to this music that makes anal sex less painful to the other half of the species.Fine ass fucks.I'm afraid of the implications of this generation.
As the day dawns, and my fears go to sleep i like to think of the future.A future which doesn't neccesarily has to have a lot of resemblance to the past.
Televisons Top Three Couples
Televison,the discovery that changed civilization like never beforeand prepared us to face the overwhleming force that we call theInternet.Romance has mostly been the ghetto of Classics, even movies (like shrek) but has never been associated a lot with television.Experts say the short duration of a weekly series can'talways make as good as an impact like a 2 hrs movie, i don't subscribeto any such veiws and notions.
How long does it take to create an eternally lasting romantic moment,if life could be planned so well there would be no divorces forone and chinese takeaways would run out of business.Based on my own incomprehensible notions and herculean beliefs i've decided to make my own list of romantic couples on television.
As usual i don't have and fixed parameters,no ideal fundamentals so don't worry about criticising, anything and everything adds up.
1. The Everlasting love of Trudy and Adrian Monk.
Eternity and Forever are two very different terms,forever can only last a life time (as if thats small enough).Trudy is dead,and that adds to this sublime romance.5 years after her death,Adrian can't get over her, he still misses her, still recalls her poems, can never stop talking about her, relates everything to his life as,"if Trudy was here.."perspective.Shes not on his mind, She is his mind.Its taken a toll on his life,hes suffering from OCD (obsessive complusive disorder) but he can't survive the fact that he's not in love with her.This is eternity, Hes separated the need of physical existence in love , a lovethat knows no boundaries.When U2 made the track,i'm not sure if they realised that a defective detective would walk away with top honors.
2. Milk, Toast, and Honey for Wendy and Bob
Can a great romance be detected early, i'd say great romances are always detected early its just the realisation that can even take a lifetime.When i saw Bob the Builder for the first time , i knew this couple was special and i've been hooked ever since. The perfect match we dream of, Shes Bobs Other half, that one person who finishes his sentences, someonewho really 'gets' his inner,(literally) constructive emotions.Smalltalks in between day long schedules of work, effortless sharing ofequipment, no arguments, surprise gifts this couple has it all.A bit ofcaring,sharing and a whole lot of loving,Roxete's lullaby of Milk Toast and Honey For Wendy and Bob.
3.Unchained Melody for the Penguin
What comprises a great Romance,tonnes of affection, unending foreplay, zillions of sweet nothings, Hours of wild love making,a family and a lot more.Penguins have all that and more.Beginning from the attracting game to dating, mating and the family part everything is a story in itself.
How do you keep from looking like just another big, clumsy, dickless, flightless bird in a tux?There are no Brad pitts,and even if one thinks he his, chances are the female kinds won't.Make a complete foolout of yourself to get her attention.
Next how are you going to move in for the kill? Do a droll little widdle waddle while making comical head movements from side to side —females find this irresistibly attractive. Don't be put off if she ignores you and begins grooming herself or observing her surroundings;she's just playing hard-to-get. Sidle up to her and walk around in a circle so she can see your fine black dinner jacket, your starched white shirt, your plump stout body and its comparatively tiny littlehead.
Diamonds are a girls best friend.Gift your prospective female a well-chosen pebble, preferably a shiny, multi-faceted one costing a wing and a flipper. If she accepts this as a token of your affection, the match is on. (If not, you may have picked an unready female o reven another male, a common mistake, lets start all over again.)
After enjoying a brisk cold-water swim or tobogganing together through the snow, it's time to eat. Walk several hundred miles for sushi (rawfish,just in case u didn't get the point) and bring some back for your lover. During dinner, look deeply into her tiny eyes. Notice the curve of her beak, the smell of fish on her breath. If you really want to make her feel like your "baby," try throwing up in her mouth. This foreplay actually lasts more than months.
In the end all the love you take,is equal to the love you make. Nowhead back to the nest for a wild night of hugging and beak-rubbing.Turn on the air conditioner, set the thermostat to 40° below zero and push the button marked "hurricane force winds." Begin by preening around your mate's neck and beak. When the two of you just can't stand how cute you are, break out in a Loud Mutual Display, waving your necks back and forth while cackling affectionately. These bundles of joy can actually keep doing that as if theres no tommorow,Even forget to copulate.
Lets assume that u copulate ,Have eggs ...What next. Stand out in thecold for two months balancing an egg on your feet.
Nothing but the eternal classic for the couples we need to learn a lot from.
Ps:This was written last year,i still find it very funny.
How long does it take to create an eternally lasting romantic moment,if life could be planned so well there would be no divorces forone and chinese takeaways would run out of business.Based on my own incomprehensible notions and herculean beliefs i've decided to make my own list of romantic couples on television.
As usual i don't have and fixed parameters,no ideal fundamentals so don't worry about criticising, anything and everything adds up.
1. The Everlasting love of Trudy and Adrian Monk.
Eternity and Forever are two very different terms,forever can only last a life time (as if thats small enough).Trudy is dead,and that adds to this sublime romance.5 years after her death,Adrian can't get over her, he still misses her, still recalls her poems, can never stop talking about her, relates everything to his life as,"if Trudy was here.."perspective.Shes not on his mind, She is his mind.Its taken a toll on his life,hes suffering from OCD (obsessive complusive disorder) but he can't survive the fact that he's not in love with her.This is eternity, Hes separated the need of physical existence in love , a lovethat knows no boundaries.When U2 made the track,i'm not sure if they realised that a defective detective would walk away with top honors.
2. Milk, Toast, and Honey for Wendy and Bob
Can a great romance be detected early, i'd say great romances are always detected early its just the realisation that can even take a lifetime.When i saw Bob the Builder for the first time , i knew this couple was special and i've been hooked ever since. The perfect match we dream of, Shes Bobs Other half, that one person who finishes his sentences, someonewho really 'gets' his inner,(literally) constructive emotions.Smalltalks in between day long schedules of work, effortless sharing ofequipment, no arguments, surprise gifts this couple has it all.A bit ofcaring,sharing and a whole lot of loving,Roxete's lullaby of Milk Toast and Honey For Wendy and Bob.
3.Unchained Melody for the Penguin
What comprises a great Romance,tonnes of affection, unending foreplay, zillions of sweet nothings, Hours of wild love making,a family and a lot more.Penguins have all that and more.Beginning from the attracting game to dating, mating and the family part everything is a story in itself.
How do you keep from looking like just another big, clumsy, dickless, flightless bird in a tux?There are no Brad pitts,and even if one thinks he his, chances are the female kinds won't.Make a complete foolout of yourself to get her attention.
Next how are you going to move in for the kill? Do a droll little widdle waddle while making comical head movements from side to side —females find this irresistibly attractive. Don't be put off if she ignores you and begins grooming herself or observing her surroundings;she's just playing hard-to-get. Sidle up to her and walk around in a circle so she can see your fine black dinner jacket, your starched white shirt, your plump stout body and its comparatively tiny littlehead.
Diamonds are a girls best friend.Gift your prospective female a well-chosen pebble, preferably a shiny, multi-faceted one costing a wing and a flipper. If she accepts this as a token of your affection, the match is on. (If not, you may have picked an unready female o reven another male, a common mistake, lets start all over again.)
After enjoying a brisk cold-water swim or tobogganing together through the snow, it's time to eat. Walk several hundred miles for sushi (rawfish,just in case u didn't get the point) and bring some back for your lover. During dinner, look deeply into her tiny eyes. Notice the curve of her beak, the smell of fish on her breath. If you really want to make her feel like your "baby," try throwing up in her mouth. This foreplay actually lasts more than months.
In the end all the love you take,is equal to the love you make. Nowhead back to the nest for a wild night of hugging and beak-rubbing.Turn on the air conditioner, set the thermostat to 40° below zero and push the button marked "hurricane force winds." Begin by preening around your mate's neck and beak. When the two of you just can't stand how cute you are, break out in a Loud Mutual Display, waving your necks back and forth while cackling affectionately. These bundles of joy can actually keep doing that as if theres no tommorow,Even forget to copulate.
Lets assume that u copulate ,Have eggs ...What next. Stand out in thecold for two months balancing an egg on your feet.
Nothing but the eternal classic for the couples we need to learn a lot from.
Ps:This was written last year,i still find it very funny.
An Italian in New Delhi
Its been a wonderful year.Not very humane,but then whats humane these
days except southern hemisphere rugby.
What i find very delightful and very pleasing is that what i hoped
(and predicted) by way of an italian defeating the fundamentalists
came true.Sonia , like a true italian believed in defence.She spent
more time building her fort then trying to shit on others and when the
time came, she attacked as well.And as they, things came tumbling after.
She marched into delhi, kicked atal not only out of his office but also
made him an outcast in his party but was not done yet.After that she
came into our very own city and kicked bal's balls (lol, now doesn't
that sound good).
Yes,i'm biased and as incumbent the present government is, i prefer
them instead of the religious fundamentalists.An idealogist without an
ideology is more "humane" then fundamentalists with irrational (read
religious) beliefs.
Looking at the aftermath,Sonia didn't only defeat the BJP but with
some very clever allying has now attacked at the very heart of the
party.The clamhead advani is as good as leader as a cockroach trying
to win a beauty contest,and ther appears to be no
future/backbone/present for the party.Infact the left is acting more
as the opposition then the saffronheads.They've lost more then just
the election.Abput Sankaracharya, yea fuk his case too.
In Maharashtra,the sena has become an embarrassment and apart from the
BMC they don't control anything(of course, we are leaving them for the
streets).In fact even with against a government with a debt of above 1
Lakh crore they cannot hope/expect/dream to throw them out.I'm sure
you remember the meeting Sonia had with Sharad Pawar.
Inspite of all the above,my utter disgust at the mere existence of the
muslim hating saffron heads its not the Congress which has won the
election.Its the allies like the Left which have assumed critical
importance and have been recognized.Like a niche crowd which has
existed from the times of independence and today to the the opposition
that that supports as well.I believe that this is for the good of my
beloved country, and as i always have i will dream of a better future.
days except southern hemisphere rugby.
What i find very delightful and very pleasing is that what i hoped
(and predicted) by way of an italian defeating the fundamentalists
came true.Sonia , like a true italian believed in defence.She spent
more time building her fort then trying to shit on others and when the
time came, she attacked as well.And as they, things came tumbling after.
She marched into delhi, kicked atal not only out of his office but also
made him an outcast in his party but was not done yet.After that she
came into our very own city and kicked bal's balls (lol, now doesn't
that sound good).
Yes,i'm biased and as incumbent the present government is, i prefer
them instead of the religious fundamentalists.An idealogist without an
ideology is more "humane" then fundamentalists with irrational (read
religious) beliefs.
Looking at the aftermath,Sonia didn't only defeat the BJP but with
some very clever allying has now attacked at the very heart of the
party.The clamhead advani is as good as leader as a cockroach trying
to win a beauty contest,and ther appears to be no
future/backbone/present for the party.Infact the left is acting more
as the opposition then the saffronheads.They've lost more then just
the election.Abput Sankaracharya, yea fuk his case too.
In Maharashtra,the sena has become an embarrassment and apart from the
BMC they don't control anything(of course, we are leaving them for the
streets).In fact even with against a government with a debt of above 1
Lakh crore they cannot hope/expect/dream to throw them out.I'm sure
you remember the meeting Sonia had with Sharad Pawar.
Inspite of all the above,my utter disgust at the mere existence of the
muslim hating saffron heads its not the Congress which has won the
election.Its the allies like the Left which have assumed critical
importance and have been recognized.Like a niche crowd which has
existed from the times of independence and today to the the opposition
that that supports as well.I believe that this is for the good of my
beloved country, and as i always have i will dream of a better future.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The Poor, The Black and The Dead.
It official, India has more billionaires than the U.K.We also have more poor than the whole of Europe put together.There are different versions to the story, the World Bank says that about 35 % of Indians live under the poverty line, economists like Surjit Bhalla say that the poor hardly constitute 13 %.I'd like to invite opinion on that, what do you think defines as "being poor".My cousin thinks anyone who doesn't have a cell phone is poor, she's 5 and has recently got one.
This is in response to a colleague, who remarked that Black isn't a colour, its simply nothing.
Shes partially right, Black isn't just a colour.Its a philosophy, a way of life.Close your eyes and what colour do you see, Black.Its the colour of your inner self, your thoughts reflected upon you.Black is the prevailing background for the movie of thoughts playing in your mind.
Black is a colour of acceptance, it accepts all the other colours and still doesn't lose its shade.The night sky is black, its a reflection of our world.Its Black.
Black signifies change, theres a reason you move from darkness to light.To move towards light you need darkness in the first place.Black gives infinity hope about its existence.
Terry Schiavo died a few hours back, biologically dead.They took off the tube and because she couldn't eat on her own, she died.She didn't do a lot when she was "alive", barely nudging survival.Can you call Michael Schiavo’s decision to remove Terri’s feeding tube "murder"?, Yes. It seems selfish to hook her up to a machine in the faint hope that she’ll return to form.This guy has endured fifteen years of endless headaches and lawsuits. That’s love. True, he moved on and started another family. But he also turned down a million-dollar offer to walk away and wash his hands of this. It’s hard to imagine him doing that unless he truly believes this is what Terri would have wanted.
On the other hand, is this what she wanted? Michael Schiavo says yes; Terri’s parents say no. I’m cannot question her husband’s motives, but I understand why her parents are. After all, his decision to remove her feeding tube is based on something she told him over a decade ago. No one will ever be able to prove it.He could've walked away and left her with people ready to feed her, but he did not.He believed that this was what she wanted.I'm not taking sides.
This is in response to a colleague, who remarked that Black isn't a colour, its simply nothing.
Shes partially right, Black isn't just a colour.Its a philosophy, a way of life.Close your eyes and what colour do you see, Black.Its the colour of your inner self, your thoughts reflected upon you.Black is the prevailing background for the movie of thoughts playing in your mind.
Black is a colour of acceptance, it accepts all the other colours and still doesn't lose its shade.The night sky is black, its a reflection of our world.Its Black.
Black signifies change, theres a reason you move from darkness to light.To move towards light you need darkness in the first place.Black gives infinity hope about its existence.
Terry Schiavo died a few hours back, biologically dead.They took off the tube and because she couldn't eat on her own, she died.She didn't do a lot when she was "alive", barely nudging survival.Can you call Michael Schiavo’s decision to remove Terri’s feeding tube "murder"?, Yes. It seems selfish to hook her up to a machine in the faint hope that she’ll return to form.This guy has endured fifteen years of endless headaches and lawsuits. That’s love. True, he moved on and started another family. But he also turned down a million-dollar offer to walk away and wash his hands of this. It’s hard to imagine him doing that unless he truly believes this is what Terri would have wanted.
On the other hand, is this what she wanted? Michael Schiavo says yes; Terri’s parents say no. I’m cannot question her husband’s motives, but I understand why her parents are. After all, his decision to remove her feeding tube is based on something she told him over a decade ago. No one will ever be able to prove it.He could've walked away and left her with people ready to feed her, but he did not.He believed that this was what she wanted.I'm not taking sides.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Immortality
Guys love football and girls can't figure out whats so funny about 22 people trying to put one ball on either sides of a 150 mt field.
I've liked football for a long time now, like most other things, i'm fiercely loyal to my team.Football is a religion in itself, it incapsulates the team you support, the players who after putting week in - week out of effort become gods, immortality is fundamentally meant to be out of reach of mortals.
Football is about a belief, Football doesn't betray you, Football doesn't remind you that you black or white,ugly or beautiful or how much you hate your job.Football doesn't stop when it rains, or snows.You don't need a degree to watch football, nor do you need to wear a tuxedo to enjoy a game.Football does't ignore you, doesn't cheat on you, doesn't crib, nag or make you eat methi.Its always there.
Guys need that kinda stability, something that'll make the mediocrity in their lives dissappear.It can come back on Monday.
I was one of the billions of Indians happy about NM being denied a diplomatic visa.Infact if i could, i would stop air from reaching his lungs, water from reaching this throat and light from reaching his eyes but i'd want him to stay alive.Theres more misery and pain a moment of life, than in the eternity of death.
Yes, its incorrect to deny a democratically elected head of state to be denied a diplomatic visa.But 'incorrect' here adheres to a definition that is manmade.Like everything that is manmade it will be obsolete one day.When someone point out that you have done something wrong, remember what you did might make you immortal one day.You don't have to be right all the time to be happy, being wrong gives you the same feeling.
Wanted to share this.
When they were already quite old, Salvador dali and his wife Gala had a pet rabbit, who lived with them, who lived with them, followed them around everywhere, and of whem they were very find.Once, they were about to embark on a long trip and they debated long into the night what to do with the rabbit.It would have been difficult to take him along and equally difficult to entrust him to somebody else, because the rabbit was uneasy with strangers.The next day Gala prepared lunch and Dali enjoyed the excellent food until he realized he was eating rabbit meat.He got up from the table and ran to the bathroom, where he vomited up his beloved pet, the faithful friend of his waning days.Gala on the other hand, was happy that the one she loved had passed into her guts, caressing them and becoming the body of his mistress.For her there existed no more perfect fulfillment of love than eating the beloved.Compared to this merging of bodies seemed to her no more than ludicrous tickling.
I've liked football for a long time now, like most other things, i'm fiercely loyal to my team.Football is a religion in itself, it incapsulates the team you support, the players who after putting week in - week out of effort become gods, immortality is fundamentally meant to be out of reach of mortals.
Football is about a belief, Football doesn't betray you, Football doesn't remind you that you black or white,ugly or beautiful or how much you hate your job.Football doesn't stop when it rains, or snows.You don't need a degree to watch football, nor do you need to wear a tuxedo to enjoy a game.Football does't ignore you, doesn't cheat on you, doesn't crib, nag or make you eat methi.Its always there.
Guys need that kinda stability, something that'll make the mediocrity in their lives dissappear.It can come back on Monday.
I was one of the billions of Indians happy about NM being denied a diplomatic visa.Infact if i could, i would stop air from reaching his lungs, water from reaching this throat and light from reaching his eyes but i'd want him to stay alive.Theres more misery and pain a moment of life, than in the eternity of death.
Yes, its incorrect to deny a democratically elected head of state to be denied a diplomatic visa.But 'incorrect' here adheres to a definition that is manmade.Like everything that is manmade it will be obsolete one day.When someone point out that you have done something wrong, remember what you did might make you immortal one day.You don't have to be right all the time to be happy, being wrong gives you the same feeling.
Wanted to share this.
When they were already quite old, Salvador dali and his wife Gala had a pet rabbit, who lived with them, who lived with them, followed them around everywhere, and of whem they were very find.Once, they were about to embark on a long trip and they debated long into the night what to do with the rabbit.It would have been difficult to take him along and equally difficult to entrust him to somebody else, because the rabbit was uneasy with strangers.The next day Gala prepared lunch and Dali enjoyed the excellent food until he realized he was eating rabbit meat.He got up from the table and ran to the bathroom, where he vomited up his beloved pet, the faithful friend of his waning days.Gala on the other hand, was happy that the one she loved had passed into her guts, caressing them and becoming the body of his mistress.For her there existed no more perfect fulfillment of love than eating the beloved.Compared to this merging of bodies seemed to her no more than ludicrous tickling.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Icecream cows,beef and free tractors
Icecream cows,beef and free tractors
Its said inhibitions are due to our own apprehensions which often limits our understanding of a particular thing.I'm not sure of what that is but i have never understood the path of privatisation that was taken by the Nda govt.First I'm a fairly orthodox guy so i don't believe in selling of profit making Psu's.
Let me explain,lets imagine a small village and the village together owns a cow.This cow gives you an amazing quality of milk,icecream types.Why the hell would you wanna sell it?What has happened is some people who hate icecreams got together and sold off the cow,now wheres the money.Isn't the money supposed to be distributed back to the village,you don't need economists to figure that out.
What arun and co did was ,first sell off the cow and then put the money in the govt treasury.Capital is supposed to flow back in the market,lowering interest rates and giving investment another kickstart.That never happened.Privatisation.
Its agonizingly annoying that the Nda is now trying to corner Upa by coming up with a strategy that will see them accusing everyone in the cabinet of being a criminal instead of the Pm.Maybe if the Nda had come to power the congress would have slogged out the same strategy.Indian political think tanks are more like think tinks.
The CMP,that sounds very warm.The new govt is surely encouraging many people to take up farming again.Free electricity,tripling rural credit,easier rates..!How about free tractors and even a mall in every village with good discounts.Where is all the equity going to come from..?Ok,lets cut the last two out still wheres the money coming from.
The presence of the left means that the glory days for the workers will be back soon.Labour reforms will be only in the interest of the workers,how on earth is that going to bring about private participation in sick Psu's i do no know.
Another very heart warming gesture is ,reforms with a human face.I believe if theres anyone who'll be able to do it,its gonna be the Pm.But theres not sufficient fire power in his alliance to make it happen.I hope he works a way out because he has the capability to be one of India's most progress oriented Pm's ever.
Now I'm sure thats screaming out loud that i'm not biased towards anyone,except Manchester United.
I got his joke yesterday.A pessimist is a person who doesn't milk a cow because hes afraid the milks already sour.I'll add the Indian political optimists just go ahead and eat the cow.
Pleasure,Naviin.
"We must all hang together, or, assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Benjamin Franklin
Its said inhibitions are due to our own apprehensions which often limits our understanding of a particular thing.I'm not sure of what that is but i have never understood the path of privatisation that was taken by the Nda govt.First I'm a fairly orthodox guy so i don't believe in selling of profit making Psu's.
Let me explain,lets imagine a small village and the village together owns a cow.This cow gives you an amazing quality of milk,icecream types.Why the hell would you wanna sell it?What has happened is some people who hate icecreams got together and sold off the cow,now wheres the money.Isn't the money supposed to be distributed back to the village,you don't need economists to figure that out.
What arun and co did was ,first sell off the cow and then put the money in the govt treasury.Capital is supposed to flow back in the market,lowering interest rates and giving investment another kickstart.That never happened.Privatisation.
Its agonizingly annoying that the Nda is now trying to corner Upa by coming up with a strategy that will see them accusing everyone in the cabinet of being a criminal instead of the Pm.Maybe if the Nda had come to power the congress would have slogged out the same strategy.Indian political think tanks are more like think tinks.
The CMP,that sounds very warm.The new govt is surely encouraging many people to take up farming again.Free electricity,tripling rural credit,easier rates..!How about free tractors and even a mall in every village with good discounts.Where is all the equity going to come from..?Ok,lets cut the last two out still wheres the money coming from.
The presence of the left means that the glory days for the workers will be back soon.Labour reforms will be only in the interest of the workers,how on earth is that going to bring about private participation in sick Psu's i do no know.
Another very heart warming gesture is ,reforms with a human face.I believe if theres anyone who'll be able to do it,its gonna be the Pm.But theres not sufficient fire power in his alliance to make it happen.I hope he works a way out because he has the capability to be one of India's most progress oriented Pm's ever.
Now I'm sure thats screaming out loud that i'm not biased towards anyone,except Manchester United.
I got his joke yesterday.A pessimist is a person who doesn't milk a cow because hes afraid the milks already sour.I'll add the Indian political optimists just go ahead and eat the cow.
Pleasure,Naviin.
"We must all hang together, or, assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Benjamin Franklin
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Peace On the Borders Of Insanity
Peace On the Borders Of Insanity
Its a historic day,India will play Pakistan in what will hopefully the
first complete tour in 14 years.As i have always said,my generation
has always got the best of sport and it just keeps getting better.
I believe i've watched a bit of sports and the hue and cry about this
series being a peace initiative is generously naive.The Indo-Pak
conflict is primarily about Kashmir which we'll never get back the way
it was,and about cross border terrorism which is now far widespread
then Pakistan to just pull the wires and de-plug it.
Sports is a great ambassador but in this case,lets just focus on
having some great matches.Peace through cricket is just another cheap
BJP trick of garnering votes.I for one believe that India will win a
closely fought series,not as much as because of our cricketing talent
but due to the fact that elections are round the corner and the Indian
government cannot have the dumb India shining perspective lose any sheen.
If you go through the events that have resulted as a consequence of
the Indo-Pak conflict ,it'll hit you that all of it is just cheap
politics.False patriotism just like sex,sells a lot.Not a single
leader has yet been determined to bring peace in the valley and the
lives that have been lost ,have been fueling the dark fires of the
governments formed and vanquished.
A peaceful solution to Kashmir will be divinding it into 2
parts,another partition.Then it'll suddenly hit us that what we were
actually fighting for has been taken for us ,as for them they'll get
what they were playing for.But will it make the separatists happy,my
guess is no.Partitions never make anyone happy is what Humans should
have learned by now.
Lets watch this series as a good dose of cricketing adrenaline and
keep the filth of politics away from the sport which has been in a lot
of turmoil.Theres nothing which captures this country more then the
sound of the willow and lets succumb to the passion of the sport and
not of the underlying themes which have discrept as political ambitions.
Pleasure,Naviin.
Its a historic day,India will play Pakistan in what will hopefully the
first complete tour in 14 years.As i have always said,my generation
has always got the best of sport and it just keeps getting better.
I believe i've watched a bit of sports and the hue and cry about this
series being a peace initiative is generously naive.The Indo-Pak
conflict is primarily about Kashmir which we'll never get back the way
it was,and about cross border terrorism which is now far widespread
then Pakistan to just pull the wires and de-plug it.
Sports is a great ambassador but in this case,lets just focus on
having some great matches.Peace through cricket is just another cheap
BJP trick of garnering votes.I for one believe that India will win a
closely fought series,not as much as because of our cricketing talent
but due to the fact that elections are round the corner and the Indian
government cannot have the dumb India shining perspective lose any sheen.
If you go through the events that have resulted as a consequence of
the Indo-Pak conflict ,it'll hit you that all of it is just cheap
politics.False patriotism just like sex,sells a lot.Not a single
leader has yet been determined to bring peace in the valley and the
lives that have been lost ,have been fueling the dark fires of the
governments formed and vanquished.
A peaceful solution to Kashmir will be divinding it into 2
parts,another partition.Then it'll suddenly hit us that what we were
actually fighting for has been taken for us ,as for them they'll get
what they were playing for.But will it make the separatists happy,my
guess is no.Partitions never make anyone happy is what Humans should
have learned by now.
Lets watch this series as a good dose of cricketing adrenaline and
keep the filth of politics away from the sport which has been in a lot
of turmoil.Theres nothing which captures this country more then the
sound of the willow and lets succumb to the passion of the sport and
not of the underlying themes which have discrept as political ambitions.
Pleasure,Naviin.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Naveen and the Attack of the Cloned Clones
Cloning..well thats one thing i don't talk everyday about.now when i think abt it,i wonder why it was so difficult for me to make a decison about it.Scientific development cannot and should not be abated.The question of how we are going to play god,or even use is for "humanly destuctive" purposes isn't a debate about science.Any decision about human cloning should follow a painstaking and balanced analysis that followed a strict scientific assessment of the genetic and social implications.
Religious leaders have criticised and called on a ban for cloning.they say human cloning is not only unneccesary but also unethical.the word ethical is confusing and not well defined.is making an infertile couple unhappy by helping them have a child,that they can rightfully call their own unethical.Gay's and Lesbians could have children that are biologically related to them .the production of nerve cells which can help treat people with parkinsons disease is just one example where using techniques developed using cloning we are going to treat diseases that were previously un-treatable.the benefits of research on cloning are only going to increase.
As a human society we cannot operate in a controlled vacuum environment.At every step of progress we have think about ethical and moral issues,but can we let our ethics and morals come in the way of scientific development.No,we can't.Religion has always been debated over,the origins of our universe cannot be explained by religion.Neither can it explain why apples don't fly after they ripen,and religion cannot be used to produce electricity and cultivate crops.religious leaders often operate with a miniscule amount of tolerance on controllability and they cannot ask us to stop scientific development.while human dignity and human rights must be protected, it would be a mistake to close the door to future scientific and technological progress which could save lives.
Instead of looking at it at creating and destroying life,religious leaders should have a more tolerable perspective that looks upon it as a way of improving our civilization.potentially destructive scenarious exist but instead of outright banning cloning we should we talking about a code of conduct that should we followed in our path of progress.
New developments in genetic engineering posed some of the greatest challenges that humanity would ever face. Although many applications held promise in preventing and curing disease, others could have consequences beyond the worst nightmares. The technology of most immediate concern was reproductive cloning of human beings.The first step, he said, should be an honest and realistic assessment of the dangers, both scientific and ethical, and the possible benefits of scientific and medical research in the field of reproductive human cloning.it is imperative that international measures be established for reproductive human cloning immediately, before any attempts at that practice were made.the draft convention should also address specific concerns of multi-cultural and multi-religious countries, such as our own, in terms of its acceptance and adaptations to suit local values.the focus should be on what our limits are,and where we stop playing God!
Pleasure,Naviin.
Religious leaders have criticised and called on a ban for cloning.they say human cloning is not only unneccesary but also unethical.the word ethical is confusing and not well defined.is making an infertile couple unhappy by helping them have a child,that they can rightfully call their own unethical.Gay's and Lesbians could have children that are biologically related to them .the production of nerve cells which can help treat people with parkinsons disease is just one example where using techniques developed using cloning we are going to treat diseases that were previously un-treatable.the benefits of research on cloning are only going to increase.
As a human society we cannot operate in a controlled vacuum environment.At every step of progress we have think about ethical and moral issues,but can we let our ethics and morals come in the way of scientific development.No,we can't.Religion has always been debated over,the origins of our universe cannot be explained by religion.Neither can it explain why apples don't fly after they ripen,and religion cannot be used to produce electricity and cultivate crops.religious leaders often operate with a miniscule amount of tolerance on controllability and they cannot ask us to stop scientific development.while human dignity and human rights must be protected, it would be a mistake to close the door to future scientific and technological progress which could save lives.
Instead of looking at it at creating and destroying life,religious leaders should have a more tolerable perspective that looks upon it as a way of improving our civilization.potentially destructive scenarious exist but instead of outright banning cloning we should we talking about a code of conduct that should we followed in our path of progress.
New developments in genetic engineering posed some of the greatest challenges that humanity would ever face. Although many applications held promise in preventing and curing disease, others could have consequences beyond the worst nightmares. The technology of most immediate concern was reproductive cloning of human beings.The first step, he said, should be an honest and realistic assessment of the dangers, both scientific and ethical, and the possible benefits of scientific and medical research in the field of reproductive human cloning.it is imperative that international measures be established for reproductive human cloning immediately, before any attempts at that practice were made.the draft convention should also address specific concerns of multi-cultural and multi-religious countries, such as our own, in terms of its acceptance and adaptations to suit local values.the focus should be on what our limits are,and where we stop playing God!
Pleasure,Naviin.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Reforms,Governments and Dildo's.
Reforms,Governments and Dildo's.
When the 1991 economic reforms were announced, India was the ugly duckling of the world’s economies, with forex reserves less than $1 billion and economic growth close to stagnant.India is now among the top contributors to world Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with a share of 5%, after USA (22%), China (13%) and Japan (7%).
India’s at the top of the heap as far as growth in per capita income is concerned too. For the period 1997-02, India’s national income grew at 19%, second only to China, which grew at 39%. But its growth is double that of the US. Moreover, in terms of acceleration of growth rates, India is second to none. India is the only country in the world that has shown rising growth rates over the 1992-2002 decade. During the current decade 1992-2002, India’s per capita income grew by 46% from the 36.5% growth rate observed during the decade 1982-1992.All other biggies have shown negative growth rates.
India’s services sector, a 51% contribu! tor to India’s GDP, has the fastest growth across 130 countries while the same sector has seen dwindling rates in all other big economies.
In December 2003, India’s foreign exchange reserves crossed the $100 billion mark. With strong economic fundamentals behind it, high inflow of foreign capital both direct and portfolio investments, India is poised for a take off.Maybe our time has come.
The combined effect of the three important components -- agriculture with 4.1 per cent, manufacturing 6.8 per cent and service, led to an overall 7.0 per cent growth in GDP during April-September 2003-04,and a sparkling 8.4 percent growth rate in the second quarter of 2003.
The rupee has gained by over 5% (241 paise) during calendar ’03 – from Rs 48 a dollar on January 1 to Rs 45.59 on Dec 31st .This is the first time it has gained in a year since 1993, when partial convertibility was introduced.
Manufacturing was the big comeback story of 2003, with every other engineerin! g company proving its mettle in the global markets, including China. Costs were reduced, productivity was hiked, quality was improved, operating margins increased and, most important of all, India Inc’s engineers and workers gained the confidence that they could produce goods on par with the best.Investment bankers and CEOs expect cross-border deals to double as more Indian companies venture abroad to acquire customers and markets, as well as gain greater control of the supply chain.
In outsourcing, estimates are that tens of thousands of more jobs will move from the US and other western countries to India, from plain vanilla call centres to much higher forms of work such as equity research, medical diagnosis and chip design. It’s already reached a stage where angel investors in Silicon Valley won’t touch a proposal unless there is an India back-end to it.
It would be foolish, and irresponsible, to try and predict where the market’s going. But if the buzz i! s to be given some credence and the number of IPOs in the pipeline are to be taken cognisance of, the bulls far, far outnumber the pessimists. The sensex has gone from 3377 to almost 6000 in 2003, while the broadbased BSE 500 index has doubled between Jan 1 and Dec 31. A 73 percent rise,thats twice or more than every possible market in the world except Thailand.The Nikkei,Strait times,Hang Seng the erstwhile stock market superpowers have grown by 22-34 percent only.The NASDAQ and other exchanges need not be mentioned.Thailand has grown by 116 percent but we need to take in account a Prime Minister who loves to splurge money to the poor,lower interest rates and an economy that still isn't among the worlds elite.
All that took some time to be compiled,but that isn't what i wanna talk about.Is our government in any way responsible for the growth that has taken place.Of course in the coming polls the huge election battlecry is going to be how the government supposedly turned around the economy.
Some observers say fragile coalition governments are incapable of purposive reform. Yet the Gowda Gujral and now the NDA governments have given us liberalisation, at a faster pace than the Rao government. Once Information minister Jaipal Reddy declared that minority governments are better reformers than majority ones because they are anxious to perform in the limited time-span a vailable to them.Most businessmen now say economic policy has been delinked from politics, so political instability affects them little. India has typically been driven by crisis rather than ideology.Someone might sneer at this. 'You really think you can fire more accurately with an unsteady hand ! than a steady one?' they ask. No, I am saying something different: that the man with a steady hand often believes he need not fire at all.
Digging in the past,figures have always suggested that India was always on the brink of a breakthrough.Reform is more than a change in policy, it is a change in mind-set. A successful country needs a large and vigorous number of economists, bureaucrats, journalists, technicians and businessmen who believe in change and can help transform the mind-set of a country. India had all these for decades, even if they represented a minority view. Come 1991, they became the new intellectual elite. Their coming to the fore represented an internal change with strong indigenous roots, not one foisted from without.That represents the triumph of the new Indian thinkers.
India has been lucky to get two finance ministers like Man Mohan Singh and Chidambaram who understood the need for reforms and fiscal prudence.Yashwant Sinha doesn't fall in that gro! up.The efficiency of the economy has improved. This is why, with very little increase in our investment rate, we have increased our GDP growth rate from 5.5 per cent in the 1980s to 7 per cent in the 1990s.Now the investment rates too are booming.The government can't possibly take all the credit for all the homework that was done by the earlier finance ministries.Its immmaterial that the Vajpayee government is leaving no stone unturned to to project the country and especially its economy as modern and progressive.The election commisson soon saw the gimmicks and made the govt stop those " commercials of development".
Business reforms have been taking place in India irrespective of political stability or rather the lack of it.The interference by the red tape,bureaucrats,babugiri is all that connects the reforms and the governments.The connections obviously differ from party to party.That to me just means that the government cannot claim to have a huge slice in the reform revo! lution.The way when you deal with a dildo,u can't say its my dildo just because you own it.(fight club!!!).It just remains a dildo.
Where do governments figure in the development than?Accountability,and at all levels.That is what a good government do for a economically prosperous India.
We need accountability not only once in five years at election time but in all the months in between. This has to be achieved by the rule of law, not be even more elections. Those who break the law must suffer swift penalties. If instead they become king-makers and chief ministers, then accountability, the true purpose of democracy, tends to disappear. Election' cease to represent the will of the people and instead become a sort of beauty con test for the mafia. Now, competition between bandits is unquestionably better than rule by a single bandit, so Indian democracy is not a total sham. Yet it falls well short of what a democracy is supposed to deliver.We urgently need judicial and administrative reform to produce a system that speedily puts crooks in jail. Unfortunately, bandit-legislators are unlikely to give any priority to reforms that will put them in jail.What happens when a democracy gets sabotaged in this manner? Typically, there is internal revolt s! omewhere. In India, we are seeing a revolt of some institutions like the judiciary, which are no longer prepared to acknowledge the moral authority of elected politicians. This explains why the Supreme Court has held that the Central Bureau of Investigation should report to an independent Chief Vigilance Commissioner rather than the Prime Minister or Home Minister.
Maintaining public order is clearly a political matter, and so police dealing with public order must be under the home minister. But why should criminal investigation be under the Home Ministry, or under any political control at all? It should be an independent operation, which politicians are helpless to affect. The police should be divided into two streams, one to deal with public order and another to deal with crimes.
How will this change politics? A great deal. The attempts of a Laloo Yadav or Jayalalitha to subvert prosecution will no longer threaten the life of governments. The political process will gradually be purged of criminal elements. A better class of individuals will find it worthwhile to enter politics. Governance and accountability will at last improve.
Stability without accountability represents a kernel of autocracy, covered by the husk of elections.
Pleasure,Naviin.
"When a woman becomes a scholar there is usually something wrong with her sexual organs."
Friedrich Nietzsche
When the 1991 economic reforms were announced, India was the ugly duckling of the world’s economies, with forex reserves less than $1 billion and economic growth close to stagnant.India is now among the top contributors to world Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with a share of 5%, after USA (22%), China (13%) and Japan (7%).
India’s at the top of the heap as far as growth in per capita income is concerned too. For the period 1997-02, India’s national income grew at 19%, second only to China, which grew at 39%. But its growth is double that of the US. Moreover, in terms of acceleration of growth rates, India is second to none. India is the only country in the world that has shown rising growth rates over the 1992-2002 decade. During the current decade 1992-2002, India’s per capita income grew by 46% from the 36.5% growth rate observed during the decade 1982-1992.All other biggies have shown negative growth rates.
India’s services sector, a 51% contribu! tor to India’s GDP, has the fastest growth across 130 countries while the same sector has seen dwindling rates in all other big economies.
In December 2003, India’s foreign exchange reserves crossed the $100 billion mark. With strong economic fundamentals behind it, high inflow of foreign capital both direct and portfolio investments, India is poised for a take off.Maybe our time has come.
The combined effect of the three important components -- agriculture with 4.1 per cent, manufacturing 6.8 per cent and service, led to an overall 7.0 per cent growth in GDP during April-September 2003-04,and a sparkling 8.4 percent growth rate in the second quarter of 2003.
The rupee has gained by over 5% (241 paise) during calendar ’03 – from Rs 48 a dollar on January 1 to Rs 45.59 on Dec 31st .This is the first time it has gained in a year since 1993, when partial convertibility was introduced.
Manufacturing was the big comeback story of 2003, with every other engineerin! g company proving its mettle in the global markets, including China. Costs were reduced, productivity was hiked, quality was improved, operating margins increased and, most important of all, India Inc’s engineers and workers gained the confidence that they could produce goods on par with the best.Investment bankers and CEOs expect cross-border deals to double as more Indian companies venture abroad to acquire customers and markets, as well as gain greater control of the supply chain.
In outsourcing, estimates are that tens of thousands of more jobs will move from the US and other western countries to India, from plain vanilla call centres to much higher forms of work such as equity research, medical diagnosis and chip design. It’s already reached a stage where angel investors in Silicon Valley won’t touch a proposal unless there is an India back-end to it.
It would be foolish, and irresponsible, to try and predict where the market’s going. But if the buzz i! s to be given some credence and the number of IPOs in the pipeline are to be taken cognisance of, the bulls far, far outnumber the pessimists. The sensex has gone from 3377 to almost 6000 in 2003, while the broadbased BSE 500 index has doubled between Jan 1 and Dec 31. A 73 percent rise,thats twice or more than every possible market in the world except Thailand.The Nikkei,Strait times,Hang Seng the erstwhile stock market superpowers have grown by 22-34 percent only.The NASDAQ and other exchanges need not be mentioned.Thailand has grown by 116 percent but we need to take in account a Prime Minister who loves to splurge money to the poor,lower interest rates and an economy that still isn't among the worlds elite.
All that took some time to be compiled,but that isn't what i wanna talk about.Is our government in any way responsible for the growth that has taken place.Of course in the coming polls the huge election battlecry is going to be how the government supposedly turned around the economy.
Some observers say fragile coalition governments are incapable of purposive reform. Yet the Gowda Gujral and now the NDA governments have given us liberalisation, at a faster pace than the Rao government. Once Information minister Jaipal Reddy declared that minority governments are better reformers than majority ones because they are anxious to perform in the limited time-span a vailable to them.Most businessmen now say economic policy has been delinked from politics, so political instability affects them little. India has typically been driven by crisis rather than ideology.Someone might sneer at this. 'You really think you can fire more accurately with an unsteady hand ! than a steady one?' they ask. No, I am saying something different: that the man with a steady hand often believes he need not fire at all.
Digging in the past,figures have always suggested that India was always on the brink of a breakthrough.Reform is more than a change in policy, it is a change in mind-set. A successful country needs a large and vigorous number of economists, bureaucrats, journalists, technicians and businessmen who believe in change and can help transform the mind-set of a country. India had all these for decades, even if they represented a minority view. Come 1991, they became the new intellectual elite. Their coming to the fore represented an internal change with strong indigenous roots, not one foisted from without.That represents the triumph of the new Indian thinkers.
India has been lucky to get two finance ministers like Man Mohan Singh and Chidambaram who understood the need for reforms and fiscal prudence.Yashwant Sinha doesn't fall in that gro! up.The efficiency of the economy has improved. This is why, with very little increase in our investment rate, we have increased our GDP growth rate from 5.5 per cent in the 1980s to 7 per cent in the 1990s.Now the investment rates too are booming.The government can't possibly take all the credit for all the homework that was done by the earlier finance ministries.Its immmaterial that the Vajpayee government is leaving no stone unturned to to project the country and especially its economy as modern and progressive.The election commisson soon saw the gimmicks and made the govt stop those " commercials of development".
Business reforms have been taking place in India irrespective of political stability or rather the lack of it.The interference by the red tape,bureaucrats,babugiri is all that connects the reforms and the governments.The connections obviously differ from party to party.That to me just means that the government cannot claim to have a huge slice in the reform revo! lution.The way when you deal with a dildo,u can't say its my dildo just because you own it.(fight club!!!).It just remains a dildo.
Where do governments figure in the development than?Accountability,and at all levels.That is what a good government do for a economically prosperous India.
We need accountability not only once in five years at election time but in all the months in between. This has to be achieved by the rule of law, not be even more elections. Those who break the law must suffer swift penalties. If instead they become king-makers and chief ministers, then accountability, the true purpose of democracy, tends to disappear. Election' cease to represent the will of the people and instead become a sort of beauty con test for the mafia. Now, competition between bandits is unquestionably better than rule by a single bandit, so Indian democracy is not a total sham. Yet it falls well short of what a democracy is supposed to deliver.We urgently need judicial and administrative reform to produce a system that speedily puts crooks in jail. Unfortunately, bandit-legislators are unlikely to give any priority to reforms that will put them in jail.What happens when a democracy gets sabotaged in this manner? Typically, there is internal revolt s! omewhere. In India, we are seeing a revolt of some institutions like the judiciary, which are no longer prepared to acknowledge the moral authority of elected politicians. This explains why the Supreme Court has held that the Central Bureau of Investigation should report to an independent Chief Vigilance Commissioner rather than the Prime Minister or Home Minister.
Maintaining public order is clearly a political matter, and so police dealing with public order must be under the home minister. But why should criminal investigation be under the Home Ministry, or under any political control at all? It should be an independent operation, which politicians are helpless to affect. The police should be divided into two streams, one to deal with public order and another to deal with crimes.
How will this change politics? A great deal. The attempts of a Laloo Yadav or Jayalalitha to subvert prosecution will no longer threaten the life of governments. The political process will gradually be purged of criminal elements. A better class of individuals will find it worthwhile to enter politics. Governance and accountability will at last improve.
Stability without accountability represents a kernel of autocracy, covered by the husk of elections.
Pleasure,Naviin.
"When a woman becomes a scholar there is usually something wrong with her sexual organs."
Friedrich Nietzsche
Aug 19th
For three years now my mum has screamed at me for making harshad wake
me up early mornings ,if we have to get up that is.i always tell
her,the big ben can miss,not this guy.she does what she always
does,listens.it was abt 545 i guess,its his rule to wake an hr before
the scheduled meeting time.i slept a bit after that,and was brushing
when eddy called to find out how am doin.with a brush in my mouth i
speak just a little more than vowels and noises,but than we've talked
long enuff to know our vowels only too well.the finer points of the
day were discussed,including whacking shreyas in case the "picnic"
bus wasn't the way a normal human being wud want it to be.(i have a
thing against the word picnic,or even a trip ,doesn't a trek sound
much better).lets not forget more than a couple of us were barging i
newer territory,sounds as exotic as faraway lands but dombivili shud
just be faraway land.a glance in the morning newspaper told me i was
gonna miss the drew carey show,hopefully get one half of the match
between India and the aussies,and get to see the finale of conair
which i like watching over and over again.when i was leaving the
house,cnn was showing the ongoing battle in liberia,espn had the indy
car racing,star sports as usual had golf.i've waited for him 3 yrs
now and i know he'll be late,or if i come late he'll only come
later.he had the usual excuse of not finding a rick so early,it was 7
than.hes eddy,i believe u wud have guessed.we reached dombivli,not as
exotic as i imagined it to be,at 725.not late enuff for everyone to
start swearing at us.we checked if we had enuff water,and enuff
everything else before we left ,that should be around 8some of us
hate travelling by bus get various kinda of sickness.like sujit who
gets motion sickness ,the kind which starts when the bus is
moving.Vicky has his version ,it starts if the bus doesn't get in
motion soon enough.each as unique as a snowflake.the usual
blabbering,banter,teasing,swearing,singing,annoying and more followed
in the bus.i was horribly,horribly,very horribly drunk and except
knowing that there was a lot of smoke,and a lot of noise i didn't
realise much that was going on in the bus .
The first stop
i was the last to get out of the bus,with bhairav i guess.sitting on
the last row isn't a habit its more like principle.the first thing
that struck me was that the water was obscenely cold,add the rain in
forest gumps words"rain comin from down below,up above,sideways rain
and more",which made it even more heavenly.i was still drunk and was
having difficulty climbing and so i didn't venture too far.we sat
under the water,gods own children,realxing under the piercing cold
water that was hell bent on breaking our backs.nature can never be
put down to words,and if it could be ,lonely planet would sell lots
of copies more.i'll just say the place was of almost cataclysmic
natural beauty.i was getting a hang of the place when everyone
started walking towards the bus,i didn't know why .i got to know we
were to see another fall before we'd have lunch.i was more focussed
on the lunch part.the second fall was twice as high,and it was like
crushed ice falling on u,the first contact would send a shrill shiver
through u realising how good it is to be under a warm quilt reading
grisham and listening to u2,and how this was still way better than
that.we couldn't stand there for long,as everyone was hungry and
noone was ambitious enough to freeze to death under a waterfall .
The second stop
Flamengo,till yesterday that was either a bird or a football club in
brazil but it turns out its also the only resort anywhere near
malshej.we had to walk a further 15 mins towards the place,visiblity
was good enough for robert kennedy to crash once again.we were
walking shuddering in the cold winds with the only warmth of the
jokes we hate to listen too.i was starting to make sense,not the
common one though and the topics of discussion now were the usual guy
topics,and its very easy to miss things u wish u had but u don't.the
food was good,i can't really tell u about the herbivores but the
chicken was hot n spicy enough to let us know we were still human.we
ate all we could and were ready for another dose of anything that
could come our way.we didn't go to the bus directly but hung around
near the place where i realised we were on a cliff.than we talked
and argued about the elevation,existence of wild animals,survival
rates,went as close to the edge as my caretaking friends would allow
me after which we were in the bus once again.
The third stop
The third stop came faster than what i thght was going to be a siesta-
in-motion.this time it was near a lake,it was actually on the path
that would go on ahead to the shivneri fort.not many actually came to
the lake,which was a bit far and the road there had a squeamingly
soggy marsh,some rock piles and mudwater the equivalent of half a
football field.the water wasn't very clear either.on our way back we
encountered a snake,albeit a dead one.from what i know about snakes
it was a non-poisonous viper,and a very common one.it was funny to
see guys afraid of a dead snake,i mean c'mon they can't even play
football.some of us had tea,the rain was yet to subside and the
weather was fantastic.
Near life experiences
Death is for the ordinary,life defines the immortals.Quite a few
people do believe this.we were back at the first stop yet
again.drinking and driving kills,rockclimbing can kill u either
ways.the water was colder now,the rains are taxfree in that area i
suppose.i wanted a trek and i was gonna have one,and also had some
company.we decided to venture a little higher to see how it was
like,there were 6 people in total ,half carnivores and the rest u
know what.a statistic i didn't find appealing,being a proud carnivore
i believe we are better climbers and inclined towards adventure.but
than this wasn't a competion among us.in rockclimbing the competition
is against nature,gravity and rain does add in a few surprises.the
initial few metres was easy enough after which it got very tricky and
it wudn't even need a mistake to end up with a broken leg or
worse.it was getting steeper and the fun was beginning.the first
breakpoint we came across was another fall that was formed in between
various clusters of rocks.it was getting better.getting above that
one wasn't a easy thing to do,but we did it anyways.the best part was
when we had to cross the falls,using a rock platform of about 4
inches or less meaning u could not put more than one foot at a
time,facing the rocks at an hieght of over 15 metres,the warm quilt
again came to my mind.there were no firm grips and the rain made
visibility farces.in our own silence we could hear nature daring us
to go ahead and 4 steps,and that was all it required to separate the
alive from the dead.pankaj mahajan and boricha,vicky,sharad,eddy ,and
me ,we had a moment that is going to live beyond our memories and our
life.we were sitting in a very small pond,about 2 m deep in front of
a water fall,hidden from humanity with rocks all around.above the
fall,there was a plain about 20 sq metres and it was easier to walk
there,water flowed endlessly from creches in the rocks.what we felt
cannot be put in words,nor should it be out in words.near life
experiences,thats what we call it.jubilation,exstacy,delirious might
come close,but not close enough.we had to descend now,which was far
more easier,lot more dangerous.easy because we knew the way,dangerous
because nothings easier than helping someone to pull u down.it took
half as long as climbing,and we certainly weren't tired.we came down
screaming till our lungs would allow us too and joined the others
giving the details of whats up above and relaxing in the water
slapping our backs.we were getting ready to head back home when a bus
with very interesting tourists delayed things.most of us got in the
bus changed into dry stuff,and it did feel good to be dry again.
The return journey
Everyone was tired enough to make the return journey a peacefully
uneventful one.the discussions took swings like astrology ,sports,a
certain gay chap and other things.the day had been vastly enjoyable
and we reached dombivili at 9 which wasn't any more exotic.before
reaching home,me,harshad and eddy washed down the sins of the day
with lots of icecream,the warm quilt was now closer.i reached home at
10,mum greeted me with a smile and her friendly voice sayin"don't
walk in if u have a broken foot","look honey,am i not running",i said.
postnotes:thankfully i didn't see India lose 4-1 to the aussies,got
to watch the cute kiddo in conair with her toy ,drew carey can come
again next week.
me up early mornings ,if we have to get up that is.i always tell
her,the big ben can miss,not this guy.she does what she always
does,listens.it was abt 545 i guess,its his rule to wake an hr before
the scheduled meeting time.i slept a bit after that,and was brushing
when eddy called to find out how am doin.with a brush in my mouth i
speak just a little more than vowels and noises,but than we've talked
long enuff to know our vowels only too well.the finer points of the
day were discussed,including whacking shreyas in case the "picnic"
bus wasn't the way a normal human being wud want it to be.(i have a
thing against the word picnic,or even a trip ,doesn't a trek sound
much better).lets not forget more than a couple of us were barging i
newer territory,sounds as exotic as faraway lands but dombivili shud
just be faraway land.a glance in the morning newspaper told me i was
gonna miss the drew carey show,hopefully get one half of the match
between India and the aussies,and get to see the finale of conair
which i like watching over and over again.when i was leaving the
house,cnn was showing the ongoing battle in liberia,espn had the indy
car racing,star sports as usual had golf.i've waited for him 3 yrs
now and i know he'll be late,or if i come late he'll only come
later.he had the usual excuse of not finding a rick so early,it was 7
than.hes eddy,i believe u wud have guessed.we reached dombivli,not as
exotic as i imagined it to be,at 725.not late enuff for everyone to
start swearing at us.we checked if we had enuff water,and enuff
everything else before we left ,that should be around 8some of us
hate travelling by bus get various kinda of sickness.like sujit who
gets motion sickness ,the kind which starts when the bus is
moving.Vicky has his version ,it starts if the bus doesn't get in
motion soon enough.each as unique as a snowflake.the usual
blabbering,banter,teasing,swearing,singing,annoying and more followed
in the bus.i was horribly,horribly,very horribly drunk and except
knowing that there was a lot of smoke,and a lot of noise i didn't
realise much that was going on in the bus .
The first stop
i was the last to get out of the bus,with bhairav i guess.sitting on
the last row isn't a habit its more like principle.the first thing
that struck me was that the water was obscenely cold,add the rain in
forest gumps words"rain comin from down below,up above,sideways rain
and more",which made it even more heavenly.i was still drunk and was
having difficulty climbing and so i didn't venture too far.we sat
under the water,gods own children,realxing under the piercing cold
water that was hell bent on breaking our backs.nature can never be
put down to words,and if it could be ,lonely planet would sell lots
of copies more.i'll just say the place was of almost cataclysmic
natural beauty.i was getting a hang of the place when everyone
started walking towards the bus,i didn't know why .i got to know we
were to see another fall before we'd have lunch.i was more focussed
on the lunch part.the second fall was twice as high,and it was like
crushed ice falling on u,the first contact would send a shrill shiver
through u realising how good it is to be under a warm quilt reading
grisham and listening to u2,and how this was still way better than
that.we couldn't stand there for long,as everyone was hungry and
noone was ambitious enough to freeze to death under a waterfall .
The second stop
Flamengo,till yesterday that was either a bird or a football club in
brazil but it turns out its also the only resort anywhere near
malshej.we had to walk a further 15 mins towards the place,visiblity
was good enough for robert kennedy to crash once again.we were
walking shuddering in the cold winds with the only warmth of the
jokes we hate to listen too.i was starting to make sense,not the
common one though and the topics of discussion now were the usual guy
topics,and its very easy to miss things u wish u had but u don't.the
food was good,i can't really tell u about the herbivores but the
chicken was hot n spicy enough to let us know we were still human.we
ate all we could and were ready for another dose of anything that
could come our way.we didn't go to the bus directly but hung around
near the place where i realised we were on a cliff.than we talked
and argued about the elevation,existence of wild animals,survival
rates,went as close to the edge as my caretaking friends would allow
me after which we were in the bus once again.
The third stop
The third stop came faster than what i thght was going to be a siesta-
in-motion.this time it was near a lake,it was actually on the path
that would go on ahead to the shivneri fort.not many actually came to
the lake,which was a bit far and the road there had a squeamingly
soggy marsh,some rock piles and mudwater the equivalent of half a
football field.the water wasn't very clear either.on our way back we
encountered a snake,albeit a dead one.from what i know about snakes
it was a non-poisonous viper,and a very common one.it was funny to
see guys afraid of a dead snake,i mean c'mon they can't even play
football.some of us had tea,the rain was yet to subside and the
weather was fantastic.
Near life experiences
Death is for the ordinary,life defines the immortals.Quite a few
people do believe this.we were back at the first stop yet
again.drinking and driving kills,rockclimbing can kill u either
ways.the water was colder now,the rains are taxfree in that area i
suppose.i wanted a trek and i was gonna have one,and also had some
company.we decided to venture a little higher to see how it was
like,there were 6 people in total ,half carnivores and the rest u
know what.a statistic i didn't find appealing,being a proud carnivore
i believe we are better climbers and inclined towards adventure.but
than this wasn't a competion among us.in rockclimbing the competition
is against nature,gravity and rain does add in a few surprises.the
initial few metres was easy enough after which it got very tricky and
it wudn't even need a mistake to end up with a broken leg or
worse.it was getting steeper and the fun was beginning.the first
breakpoint we came across was another fall that was formed in between
various clusters of rocks.it was getting better.getting above that
one wasn't a easy thing to do,but we did it anyways.the best part was
when we had to cross the falls,using a rock platform of about 4
inches or less meaning u could not put more than one foot at a
time,facing the rocks at an hieght of over 15 metres,the warm quilt
again came to my mind.there were no firm grips and the rain made
visibility farces.in our own silence we could hear nature daring us
to go ahead and 4 steps,and that was all it required to separate the
alive from the dead.pankaj mahajan and boricha,vicky,sharad,eddy ,and
me ,we had a moment that is going to live beyond our memories and our
life.we were sitting in a very small pond,about 2 m deep in front of
a water fall,hidden from humanity with rocks all around.above the
fall,there was a plain about 20 sq metres and it was easier to walk
there,water flowed endlessly from creches in the rocks.what we felt
cannot be put in words,nor should it be out in words.near life
experiences,thats what we call it.jubilation,exstacy,delirious might
come close,but not close enough.we had to descend now,which was far
more easier,lot more dangerous.easy because we knew the way,dangerous
because nothings easier than helping someone to pull u down.it took
half as long as climbing,and we certainly weren't tired.we came down
screaming till our lungs would allow us too and joined the others
giving the details of whats up above and relaxing in the water
slapping our backs.we were getting ready to head back home when a bus
with very interesting tourists delayed things.most of us got in the
bus changed into dry stuff,and it did feel good to be dry again.
The return journey
Everyone was tired enough to make the return journey a peacefully
uneventful one.the discussions took swings like astrology ,sports,a
certain gay chap and other things.the day had been vastly enjoyable
and we reached dombivili at 9 which wasn't any more exotic.before
reaching home,me,harshad and eddy washed down the sins of the day
with lots of icecream,the warm quilt was now closer.i reached home at
10,mum greeted me with a smile and her friendly voice sayin"don't
walk in if u have a broken foot","look honey,am i not running",i said.
postnotes:thankfully i didn't see India lose 4-1 to the aussies,got
to watch the cute kiddo in conair with her toy ,drew carey can come
again next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)