The virtual dance of democracy

It is said to be the Dance of democracy. There are various superlatives given to our elections. The whole process of election makes the people feel powerful. All the so called powerful leaders will come and ask for the common man’s vote. What they do with the vote is an entirely different question. This time the social media is said to play a major role

 The amount of work these parties put into their online campaigning it would look like the election is going to take place in Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg as the electoral officer or that the election commission will consider the number of retweets and favourites also along with the cast vote.

Yes! XYZ Party gets more likes and hence we have a winner!

My favourite social media of the lot is twitter. I am pretty sure that the creators of twitter would have had one of those friends who just won’t keep quiet. They must have come up with this brilliant idea while talking to her/him.  

Anyways you open twitter now and it is elections all over. Full of trivia which no one really cares about. Major news handles trying to outreach other major news handles by bringing exclusive items about candidates' past and present. When they run out of such highly interesting trivia I am half expecting these people will go to some astrologer to get exclusive breaking news about the candidates’ future also. In fact that is a good idea. Instead of having the experts and political commentators they should have a panel of astrologers, psychics, tarot card readers, Paul the octopus (in spirit of course, which I am sure can be arranged) and have a healthy discussion on the future of the Indian democracy.  

Now things like candidate A wore a t shirt last year in a function which proves him to be an agent of the West or candidate B wore a kurtha pyjama last month which made him regressive and against development are getting momentum in twitter! This will ensure a series of tweets making fun of the said candidates and hordes of people supporting candidates A, B and C, more or less making it a trend. They will have childish twitter fights on how childish it is to fight on twitter. They will profess great ideas about how the country should be run in 140 letters. I mean where did all those ignorant geeks go? What happened to all the good old days when Poonam Pandey could start a trend with a single tweet? (Now even she has to resort to the English premier league) Or how Koffee with karan used to trend with its sheer brilliance! 

 Every day at least two of the top trends now are political in nature. This is setting a bad example to the upcoming generation that wants to join twitter. For them it’ll be a choice between the politically aware pseudo intellectuals of Twitter and the self obsessed ignorant teens and aunties of Facebook. That’s worse than choosing between Modi and Rahul Gandhi. 

I find solace in instagram now. Barring the selfie fever it is a wonderful social network to drool over the food you'll never eat and places you'll never visit. 

The following are some of the statistics I found while researching on this. (By research I meant Google. Isn't that kind of obvious?)

India has

114.8 Million Facebook users  (http://qz.com/150274/india-facebook/ )

33 Million Twitter users (http://www.alltechienews.com/posts/twitter-s-most-active-country-is-china )

A total of 147.8 million users

We have 814 million eligible voters (http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2014/04/03/facts-and-figures-for-the-2014-general-election/)

We also have a population of around 400 million without access to electricity (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTENERGY2/0,,contentMDK:22855502~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:4114200,00.html )

Around 18 % of the voters are in the social media but a staggering 49 % do not have access to electricity.

 This 18% is widely spread all over the country with probably a high density in the urban areas.

Do we have to politicize the social media also for this? Social networks are probably among the few places left where your religion, location, cast, political leanings don’t really matter. Why not keep it that way?

Do dance along for the democracy.

(Do share this with the pseudo intellectuals, ignorant teens and Google employees) 

Touching Lives

X ray was discovered by William Roentgen in 1875 but the first recorded medical use was by John Hall Edwards in 1896 when he recorded a needle stuck in the hand of one his associates.  

The first X ray
(Picture courtesy: Wikipedia)

21 years it took for the scientists to realize the actual potential of the x ray. X ray can be said to be the first modern medical technology where the field of medicine broke the traditional concepts of surgery and medicines. X ray offered an unhindered vision into the human body which was not even dreamed of before.  Ever since then modern healthcare acquired a whole new meaning. The use of machines gave a definite diagnosis where only guesswork and assumptions were available previously.

In the present state, modern healthcare makes treatments easily available for the masses. Many instances can be given on how the lives of people have been touched by the new healthcare system.

‘Prevention is better than cure’

We all have said and heard this a thousand times at least. Vaccinations are probably the perfect examples for this. Vaccines may not be considered ‘modern’ but the advent of vaccines is one of the major reasons for the reduced infant mortality rates all over the world. The disease small pox was eliminated from the face of the earth only by vaccination. Dreadful disease polio is also on its way of extinction. Our country is already said to have eliminated polio. This was also done by the systematic vaccination schemes.

Awareness is an important aspect of the modern healthcare. With rising number of hospitals and clinics people have become aware of the diseases and various treatments. Earlier camps and all have to be conducted for the people. It was like going to the people with the medicine but now the population knows when to go to a doctor. I know this personally because I am a practising dentist. Earlier people come to a dentist when they have an unbearable toothache and they just want to extract the tooth but now they visit a dentist as soon as they suspect caries. Awareness of this level among the population has vastly helped to control many diseases. They have succeeded in assuring the constant rise of life expectancy of people in the country.

More and more people now come to a hospital and make use of the modern healthcare facilities because of the faith in the system. Many years back the majority of the people were sceptical of going to a hospital. They did not trust the medicines that were put into the veins. Now they embrace it. Modern facilities have the faith of the people which itself is a great deal while treating a disease.

This faith is mainly because they know there are only a few other fields where so much research takes place. Researches on all aspects of the medical field are taking place all over the world at an astonishing pace. With absolute surety I can tell you the researches taking place in the medical field touch the lives of each and every single person. Years back a block in the heart was a death sentence, now it is just another disease which can be treated surgically. Diabetes was a life shattering disease, now it is a life style changing condition.  Recently a hormone called betatrophin was discovered which could generate beta cells and the daily insulin shots can be stopped.  Dialysis was a rare and risky procedure done on terminal patients, these days many people get it down twice or thrice a week and lead a good life. Cancer was indeed the Emperor of Maladies. With wide spread availability of radiation, chemotherapy and surgical procedures cancer to some extent can be controlled. The results of such meticulous research are that diseases which were considered incurable in the yesteryears are being cured now. AIDS which was deemed as incurable is getting cures from different researches. It was only two months back that an infant was cured of AIDS. The actual drug might take some time to reach the market but it is a start.

 More than the actual procedures it is the latest in diagnostic techniques which can lead to an early detection and hence early treatment.  The different diagnostic techniques are being popularized nowadays for an early detection of the diseases. Oral cancer can be detected from the scrapings from the cheek. The advancements in the chemistry and physics have contributed a lot to the development of various diagnostic techniques.  Diagnostic scans based on nuclear medicine like bone scan and PET scan give a whole new perspective to diagnosis and treatment as they point out problems pertaining to specific locations of our body. These techniques show diseases and conditions of our body like never before. More and more people are opting for a routine health check-up twice a year because they know earlier you start treating better are the results.  

An aspect of modern healthcare which is said to be a downfall is the cost. Some may find the hospital costs exorbitant but in the same page something has to be added. It is that the cost is for the services offered; no other facilities have as much recurring expenses or overheads as healthcare field. The big machines used for diagnosis comes with a price. If a person takes a normal health insurance he or she will find the hospitals very much affordable, with more competitions in the insurance field patient is benefiting  Hospitals only are giving out special schemes for the needy, they just have to utilized.

Modern healthcare as many have perceived is not just the new medicines and big machines.  It is a holistic approach aiming to alleviate the sufferings of the patient and ensure a good standard of living. Modern healthcare uses the best of all proven modalities to treat a patient. It may include music therapy, yoga, meditation etc..  Meditation and yoga has been proven to reduce mental stress and fatigue thereby easing many of the physical problems.  Modern healthcare deviates from the strictly traditional setting and seek new methods to help the patient.  A healthy mind is the key to a healthy body.

Finally the most important of all is that modern healthcare gives hope. It gives hope to the patient and to their loved ones.  It gives hope to the most terminal of all patients that the modern healthcare system is advanced enough to cure them, that there will be some sort of experimental treatment somewhere in the world to cure them. It is all about the faith people have in the healthcare system. So how does modern healthcare touch lives? By giving them hope.

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying
Woody Allen 

This post is written as an entry to the Indiblogger contest 'How does modern healthcare touch lives?' in association with Apolo Hospitals .

God 2.0 : the Facebook avatar!

 I confess I was a facebook addict. I used to keep going to Facebook every 5 minutes. Update my status, likes, comments, birthday wishes and all that jazz. Then people/organizations start using facebook to spread their propaganda.
If it is on facebook then the youth are supporting it ideology has been there for some time now.  X puts something in facebook.  In a few hours there'll be 11234 likes and X is the hero of Facebook and the new face of the youth of the nation.

For illustrative purpose only. The number of likes is not edited.  

Indeed facebook was an instrument in many movements across the globe but you got to agree something is not so right when so many people something like this.
One day I realized there are more ads than funny updates, more share it if you agree philosophy crap than actual funny stuff, utter stupidities supposedly from Nobel prize winning scientists, requests for i-don't-know-what and-all  and finally the posts from God.  (No I did not mean the pony tailed, blue suit wearing smiling guru; Also not Sachin Tendulkar)

What I was talking about is the supreme, the most humorous, the one and only God himself. Well you gotta admit he is funny.  He let Ajay Devgan make Himmatwala, nobody bombed RGV even though his movies bombed and after proclaiming the autonomy of CBI for such a long time the CBI director only told it was not autonomous. You see what I am getting at right?
Ok I have gone way too much from the topic at hand. The topic is the umpteen number of posts/images/miracles shared over facebook.
They are indeed made by God in his leisure time and posted into the thousands of groups he owns under various fake profiles he created. (Think twice before adding that girl from Sweden who asked you about your sins)
So once he posts his followers (true followers) are meant to share/like and comment it is awesome. God keeps a tab on all those who see the post and not share/like. They will suffer for eternity in hell with a laptop and high speed internet with only facebook and no porn sites. (Please, I am not talking about future India; Devils court of law is much faster than the Honorable Supreme Court)
And so the numerous religious posts appear in my timeline.  I consider all the religious fanatics same because usually they are the ones who knows the least about their religion.
These posts usually start with a miracle that happened last week or last century, followed by its implication in the present age, the humble request to share it your friends and family to spread the word and finally the ignore it if you are heartless, ignore this if you don't care for the baby or don't share and you'll be watching Korean serials for eternity without the subtitles warnings.

Then there are these directions to live posts. They usually contain 3 to 3000 points on how to live according to the holy books of the concerned. They usually contain numerous references to the ghastly modern way of life like wearing jeans, watching tv, reading books, driving cars, drinking coffee, wishing others on their festivals etc. Some of these posts rather blatantly put across that not following those rules (some of them so archaic that deleting would require permission from the archaeology dept.) will ensure you in the eternal fire of hell for eternity.  These people (or God?) making those posts or images are really creative, they put realistic images to go with the matter. What surprises me more is the sheer number of people who share such posts.   If one through their timeline I am sure at place or the other one specific community is being targeted and tortured. There will be accompanying photos to prove their point and the innocent facebookers who see this will share it because they/we speak up against injustice and violence (in facebook, obviously).  High chances are those photos are photoshoped or would be of something totally different. Nobody might not even care what the photo shows, but still we share and like. Probably because deep down we are afraid if God is gonna see the posts we shared and liked on judgment day.  Fear is indeed a strong motivator. The way these propaganda people are posting stuff it is like God has asked them specifically to do a PR stunt on facebook to get to the new generation.
If God wanted us to blindly obey some self appointed preachers or godmen or to literally follow the holy texts he simply wouldn't have given us the free will, consciousness and the important ability to think for ourselves. He would have probably made some drones whose sole purpose of their existence is to worship the creator. It is like making a robot solely to promote the creator; doesn't really make any sense.
We shouldn't let anyone else bully us into feeling guilty for not doing something someone told hundreds or thousands of years back. Scriptures of every religion (except for Scientology perhaps) have been written in another era and it should never be literally interpreted in the present time.
Guilt is what we feel when we know we did something wrong and we all have a well developed mind to know the right from wrong, at least most of us. Use your own consciousness to know right from wrong rather than depending on what someone else told somewhere else sometime back.
It is rather an oxymoron that I'll be promoting this post  on Facebook only and request you my reader to share this or a komado dragon is going to snatch away your your lunch!

The Capital Crime

This is an open letter to the self appointed cultural/moral polices of our country.

A five year old girl has been brutally raped and tortured for four days in the capital city. 

Would you say it happened because the girl wore provocative dress??
Would you say it happened because she went out at night??
Would you say it happened because she was drinking??
Would you say it happened because she went out with another boy??

This happened to a five year old girl who went out to play, right outside her apartment. She was held a captive in the same neighborhood for four days and was tortured and the captive tried to kill her also.

 http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/raped-5yearold-girl-critical-in-delhi/article4633409.ece

It is sickening and depressing to read about such things in the newspaper, to watch endless debates on the tv.
Just five years. Age where she should be thinking about cartoons and imaginary friends. Her life will not be the same again.
After the brutal Delhi rape incident I was shocked to see some insensitive comments coming from people of position. The indifference to the plight of women in the society has come down to a new level now. The apathy of the law enforcement, the politicization of any such barbaric actions and the time consuming judicial process.
Is our country a haven for rapists and perverts? According to many the rapists did not do anything wrong, it was the victim who provoked them and the victim is to be blamed. I don't think anywhere else such an opinion even exist. Such idiotic comments and statements will only add on to the crimes against women. Anyone would think they can get away with such heinous activities. 
The so called proponents of the Bharath culture should not project their insecurities and attitude on to the youth. They shouldn't pass their archaic opinions as the opinion of the society they are said to be representing. The great culture they talk had widows burned alive. They are not accepting the change, they don't see the world is changing. Gone were the days when the man hunted and brought food while the women cleaned and cooked.
They should know that rape and other crimes against women are not something that happens only in India. There are deeper issues to be addressed but nothing of that sort happens here as they put the blame on the victim. They should make sure men should see a girl for the person she is and not as an object for their gratification.

The saddest and the most depressing part is not the nonsense comments of a few but the silence of the many.
Our country will continue to be a haven for such criminals till that silence is broken and the deep rot is removed. Only a few incidents in the metros will see the light of the day, the rest remain unsaid and unheard.

This post is dedicated to the unheard victims of various sexual crimes happening all over the country, to their silence. 

Travelling light. .

I went to the Kochi Muziris Biennale yesterday and I did not take a camera with me.

What is the big deal you may ask. Photography is one of my passions and I bought my first camera around a year back. Being photo obsessed I really wanted to take the camera, but due to some inconvenience my camera was not with me and there was no chance I could get another one.  With deep regrets I still went.  The following are the thoughts which arose on travelling light, without the burden of a camera, without the urge to click photos of anything and everything.
 This is not about the Biennale as such; I don’t think I can write about it as it is literally beyond words. This is just a thought I had when I walking through exhibits without the weight of a camera hanging on my neck or mind.
The first stall itself was really captivating and I couldn’t come out of it without taking a photo at least in my phone. People who know my obsession know that I really hate photos taken on a phone. I don’t know why, I just hate it. In spite of that I still took one photo.

Then I was literally lost on the works that was displayed, till I reached the food stall. Not having a camera was in fact a releasing feeling.  I did not have to bother waiting for the crowd to move to take the photo. Don’t have to worry about the quality of the photos. I can just walk through the exhibits. The food stall was located behind the venue, right next to the backwaters. The sight was really good and almost all of those people coming there immediately took out their cameras and started clicking photos.  The first thought that came to my head also was that. The location is picture perfect. The backwaters, a small country bout in the vicinity and some other boats a bit out into the waters.

 As I sat down there and observed people, I saw that more of them came there and rather than seeing the scene they immediately turn their backs to the scene and front to the camera, but is it worth it? Sacrificing the the time to stand there and enjoy the scene we immediately look around to find the perfect spot to take a photo.  We might probably upload it in Facebook and get ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ but beyond that what? We’ll keep it in it our computers? I am not sure about others but I have to keep the photos in my system in an organized manner but most of the time it ends there.
 So once I was done with the first location i.e the Aspinwall HouseI moved on to the next location in the map; the Pepper House. There a very good café was arranged. I must have sat there for around 45 minutes and wrote random thoughts about whatever I have seen till then.
Memories need not be always captured with a camera. Memories are those which are etched in our minds. Cameras literally capture everything, just because we have a camera we tend to take photos of our breakfast to the dog we saw on the road. The so called ‘moments’ are sometimes spoiled by our obsession to record and keep it forever. The actual moments or memories are often lost among such hundreds of photos. Real memories are those which are recreated in words with the person whom you share the memory with. It need not be showed off to the world.
 Sitting at the café I could capture the images of the people sitting near me as words, it would look weird if I start taking their photos.
Do try it once in a while, go to some place nice without the heaviness of a camera and keep those moments in your memory.
(Those who can do visit the Kochi Muziris Biennale, it is something I haven’t seen till now, totally worth it!)

God's sense of humour!

Some of my close friends would know that I consider myself as linguistically challenged. At any given point of time I can learn/talk/understand no more than 2 languages.
Well yes as with most of the other stuff I put up  here this is also a mild exaggeration but it is very difficult for me to learn a new language so I accept it and stop trying to make a fool out of myself. More than any other language it is Hindi our official language which has a problem with me. I never could reason with the fact that inanimate objects have gender. Plus there are a lot more stuff in that language which has given me enough nightmares throughout the 6 years I studied it. (Yes! 6 years!!! Yet I cannot speak or understand Hindi properly! Now you all know why I don't like it!)  This particular trait of mine has made me the butt of many a jokes among my friend's group.
So this is just a background to the following incident which happened yesterday.
I was on my way to the railway station to go home with hardly any cash on me. As always I went to the nearby ATM, after entering the PIN the machine's touch screen was stuck on the language selection page. I touched English nothing happened. I touched Malayalam, again nothing happened, skipping the Hindi in the middle I came out and went to the only other ATM  in the locality. The other one was closed for repairs. I stood there at 1:30 pm not really knowing what to do to catch the train at 2:15 pm. Again I went back to first ATM hoping for a miracle to happen. When you are walking in the sun with two moderately large bags trust me you'll become a believer! Then man inside the ATM came out counting money. MIRACLE! I silently proclaimed while entering the small room. But again, the machine was stuck at the language selection. Was God playing a trick with me? Then I understood the grand joke! I touched the middle option - Hindi! It worked. Unbelievable! The ATM did not have a problem till the previous night. First time in my life I am seeing the ATM behaving like this. With familiarity I managed the first Hindi screen without reading but the second was tough. I had to try really hard to decipher those signs. I was sure the person waiting outside would think I was gonna steal money or something. But thankfully he didn't call the police.
Only when I was comfortably sitting in the train I realized the prank God played on me!
He sure does have a good sense of humour, even though many of his followers don't.
I am sure many of us have these kind of tiny incidents.
Do share them here.

Petrol the liquid gold!

Petrol literally on its way to become liquid gold!

The petrol price hike has hit the common man very badly!  That’s how the media puts it at least.  Personally I am not much affected by this hike. Does that mean I am not a common man? Am I above the rest? Or below? The reasons for me not getting affected are simple. Firstly I don’t own a car, secondly and more importantly when I shamelessly ask for a lift I make sure it is a diesel car (in case the owner asks me a share. Surely I will do that!)

 So what to do about the hike?? If you ask the opposition parties in Kerala, they would say call a Hartal and get over with it. That’s one thing I miss about Kerala. The frequent Hartals for no apparent reasons. So  Malayalees get a day off. Common man is not at all affected by it. In fact they enjoy to the extent that they call up each other and wish ‘Happy Hartal’. I am pretty sure the mobile operators will start considering  Hartal to be a public holiday and start charging sms. Common man shouldn’t have the luxury of free sms during Hartals, it totally ruins the purpose.

So coming back to the original question, what can be done about the price hike? There were umpteen suggestions from overnight experts in petrol and oil industry! Petrol was trending in twitter for that one night. The next day’s newspaper also had so many suggestions. One suggestion, actually the only one which caught my attention was given by the petrol dealers association. According to them, if the officials in the oil companies cut down their salary, increments, bribes and all, it is possible to sell liter of petrol at Rs.16 apparently. Well 16 might be an exaggeration but 20 per liter would be a good bargain. Not that I am against 16 per liter, but these officers are used to taking bribe and all for a long so why putting a hole in their pocket.

But that suggestion being the ideal one is also hypothetical. Even Anna Hazare I feel is fed up of the system and has given up his struggle against corruption. I think the whole of petrol car owners will stand with him if he starts an agitation against the petrol hike! Seriously there is nothing more motivating than cheap petrol.

 Fight against corruption is a really tasty desert item. You appreciate it, you write pages about it and you can have it once in a while but not more than that. Seriously how many people can eat really sweet stuff for a long time? But we all love it , we keep on talking how good it is.

One suggestion to the problem is to declare bullock cart as the national vehicle. Give subsidies to the companies which make them. Government should promote bullock cart manufacturing units. I would say give three or four such units to West Bengal but then again our Didi is against vehicle factories if I am not mistaken.  She’ll probably say Marx had once owned a bullock cart so its Marxist and hence should be banned from Bengal.

You shouldn’t start it in Kerala because by the time the factories actually start working, the grass for the bullocks would be cost like petrol. Then they’ll have Hartals for the rights of the bullocks as well. A bullocks union is also likely to happen.

The other suggestion is to go for bicycles. Good option but not practical. We are the laziest of the whole lot! Cycling is physical exertion. A big NO to that. I can say that for myself and I am sure the majority is with me. If you have any doubt just check the statistics of Diabetes and Hypertension.

So what now? I’ll give you the most simple, easy, practical and viable solution to this.

IMPORT CHINESE PETROL!

I am sure that will be cheaper!

Have a great weekend!  

Inner Peace

Exactly four years and 24 days after I joined for Bachelor of Dental Surgery my final year results came. And I passed. Am a doctor now. (Technically I have to finish I year internship also before they actually let me pull out someone’s tooth.)

I was totally convinced that it would not come that day but a close friend of mine had an opposing view. She had a gut feeling apparently that it would come on the 24^th of August. I had a rational reasons as to why it won’t come. The site was very fast in opening and was real smooth when I refreshed it again and again. Normally when they upload the results the site would be slow and stuck. The previous day it was so and I was almost sure the results would come. Again my friend had the opposing view. Even though I was convinced it would not come I still kept on refreshing the site and just like that without any slowing down it just appeared. Final year BDS results. The feeling I had that very moment is beyond words. It was something like a mix of tension, hope, fear and all.. Again words fail me. I entered my register number with shaky hands ( I don’t think my hands were shaking but just for the dramatic effect lets say they were shaking). I clicked ‘submit’. Thinking back now I should have probably waited a bit and cherished that moment. But in a matter of seconds my results came. I passed for all the seven papers. I felt happy and content. I’d like to think at that very moment I found my inner peace. ( yes I have watched kung fu panda at least 10 times!)

Though I always dreamed of that moment i didn’t know what to do. I did not feel like screaming even though I wanted to. I wanted to shout to my mother. But I just sat there looking at the result. I could tell my mother but she’ll be in the kitchen. (Ever since I came back she is always busy in the kitchen. Food seems to get over fast.) Finally I got up went to the stairs and I found mom looking at me from down the stairs expectantly and asking if anything has come. Mothers have a sixth sense for sensing these things. You talk to some random girl in your class for hours they don’t have a problem but the moment someone special calls they’ll all over you asking a thousand questions! Anyways I said yeah I passed. As every other she was not convinced and came all the way up to see the results for herself. Then she congratulated me. Another Kodak moment it was! Then I started messaging my friends. Called up the near and dear starting from my father who was my inspiration in fact. Then the people whom I would call as my friends. They had to put up with my entire psychotic and neurotic episodes during the study leave. And they should take me a bit more seriously. I called this friend who was convinced the results would come that day and told her she passed. She also was not convinced and thought I was joking; I then had to read out her marks just to convince her. She then screamed on the phone! The next day we were talking and she pointed out that such happy news shouldn’t be told in a grave voice, I should have screamed it onto the phone it seems.

Even to me its still a mystery as to why I did not jump and scream at that moment. I always wanted to. I always thought of doing so. May be I did find my inner peace.

In which I am Patriotic!!!

My cousin settled in US asked me what I thought of the whole mosque and ground zero issue. I promptly replied its nothing but the usual American stupidity with a spoonful of paranoia of the terrorism thing! Right at that moment I felt really proud to be an Indian! After living in this country for almost 22 years I have never seen anyone actually bothered about such things in India…
No problem is our problem unless it directly affects us. Such as the broken water pipe, fallen tree on the road, fused street lights etc.. In these situations a true Indian calls up the concerned officials and abuse them, go to his neighbor and together they sit and abuse the bureaucracy of the country or in the worst case scenario he goes and gathers some people and try to do something (the last one has least chance of happening)
Of course we have so many other things not to be proud of. Such as
• Population growth
• Having maintained corruption at a steady rate
• Reservations and quotas still a mess
• CWG
• The Leftists (who oppose almost everything)
• The Congress (who thinks its still dynasty rule)
• Almost all other political parties ( who think nothing of progress)
There are more but these are ones on top of my head.. In spite of these matters I still felt proud today morning about being an Indian. Whatever communal problems occur here in our country Indians as in the people of India will not let it come into their lives. There is a minority of extremists in all the religions who wants to make problems or issues. It’s sad that in this age of liberation some still wants to go to the extreme. Osama has succeeded in terrorizing the people of America but I feel he has a long way to go before Indians actually be bothered about terrorism unless a bomb goes off in his own backyard...

The following is a letter from Dr.A.P.J Abdul Kalam (authenticity can’t be confirmed but its very inspiring)


“Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements?
We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit.. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T.Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.
Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is.. She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her, you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.
..
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke. The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say.. What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - 'YOURS'. Give him a face - 'YOURS'. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are.. You pay $5 (approx. Rs.. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity… In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai.. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.
YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs..650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.
'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand ..
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India ?
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan ..
Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.
We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.
We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.
This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public.
When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?
What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too….. I am echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians…..
'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'
Lets do what India needs from us.

A Dream Fulfilled!!!

If I ever had a list of what all should I do before going up, watching a live show of Motherjane would be in the top 5!!! If any of you don't know about motherjane yet, please visit the link!! It is a carnatic rock band started in 1996 in Kochi.. It has won so many awards in India and abroad.... Their rock is unlike any other rock has a classic touch.. The music has peculiar flow which you can recognise anywhere you hear it!!

Now coming to the fulfilment of my dream. When I was walking around Kottayam my home town, suddenly I saw a Motherjane poster!! It seems they are coming to Kottayam and when I checked its only for a private club... And there appeared no way in which I could go to it.. But after trying really hard I got into some private arrangements which are kept confidential on request!!! Still there was an uncertainty till the moment that phone call came, asking me to come to the entrance!!! It was happening at last!!
Then the essential wait... I sitting in front of a coffee counter alone ( Apparently the private club members are all too private!!) and Baiju who is the lead guitarist walked out of the stage and came right up there!! I shook hands with him and he was so down to earth!!!! It really amazed me!
Then there was Deepu walking around but somehow I couldn't talk to him!! After that I went to main stage and I was again amazed to see Abhijith the band's manager with Suraj standing in a corner talking casually to some other guys... I could just go upto them and talk.. They were totally cool!!


Again after some more wait the show actually started!!! They started off with Disillusion then Mindstreet and after that Blood in the Apple.. By that time I was getting frequent calls from home asking me to come back.. Finally when I decided to go back home, Abijith told the next one is 'Chasing the sun' which is one of my favourites!! So I stayed back!! But then again the song after that was Tribes of Babel, it was the one I always wanted to hear!!They composed it for the Amnesty International!!! So I stood for that also!! And then my phone vibrated for the 3rd time, I knew it was either 'home-way' or the highway!!!
Even though the crowd was a bit dull in the first song, gradually the energy of the band struck a cord with the crowd and many guys started singing along!! But I came out and headed home when the collective energy of crowd was at its peak!!!
The best moments in life always remain the shortest!!!

(This post is dedicated to the two people who helped to meake this dream come true!!)
Kudos to them!! And Motherjane, Keep rocking!!!!

The Lesser known Heroes!!

Anybody knows what happened to Messi, Kaka, Dunga or Maradona??? They were the stars before the FIFA world cup started!!
Well now we all know where Paul is... He is at the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany presumably guarded by the Spaniards!! And apparently threatened by the Argentinians!!
Actually I was wondering if he could predict other things as well.. Like for instance the cricket or my exam results!!

I think its rather unfair that all the spot light be focused on Paul alone.. I mean our dear old 'parrot tarot' thing was there since ages and who knows if given a chance they might also predict the results!!
These are some other psych animals I came across which could use some of the spotlight..

1) Harry the crocodile

Harry, an Australian crocodile predicts the winner by eating a chicken coming out of a box which is obviously marked with the flags of the countries playing and it seems Harry agrees with Paul about the final..
We'll have to wait and see if they are correct..

2) Frocky the hen

Frocky is the hen used by some famous Hollywood astrologists to help with the problems of celebrities.. The celebrity is to sit near the hen and tell her the problems. Frocky replies by laying eggs the next morning. Experienced egg-readers are then summoned and they read the inscriptions on the egg and happy celeb goes back home!! Frocky is apparently not a big football fan and hence was not available to predict the WC finals and she also said she is not into these publicity stunts to get attention.. Her clients do that all the time and she is tired of it!!

3) Mani the Parrot

That's one parrot who got the guts to stand up against Paul. May its because Mani won't go to water and Paul can't come out of water!! She is the modern day idol of the tarot parrots!! Anyway the parrot predicted Spain loosing the game... We'll know who was correct in a day..

4) Ray the stray dog

Ray is an extraordinary and rare species of dog.. Other than having psychic powers to predict the future by rhythmic tail wagging, they never age. In history the first reference to the Ray was noted in the Mayan civilization. Archeologists have found a drawing showing a dog predicting the end of the world in 2012!! Researchers are pretty sure that this particular dog is the Ray only!
Nostradamus was the next person who was fortunate enough to have a Ray...As we know he wrote an entire book on those predictions..
Later on there is no definite proof for the existence of Ray but people are pretty sure that Hitler had one which was later kidnapped by a highly trained Russian commando and then followed the obvious fall of Hitler!!
Reports suggest that the Portuguese water dog Bo in the White house is also a Ray dog and there has been rumors that Bo also thinks its gonna be Spain only this time..

And finally,
5)Nandini the cow

Nandini the famous wish granting cow in the mythology!! Her lesser known powers include the ability to predict cricket matches accurately!! Bookies who know about her keep quite and bet high and those who don't know her just looses the bet!! Stories say if you provide her with nutritious grass everyday for 121 days without a break she'll gift you with the inside info of IPL and the ways to control it!! Being an Indian she is not that into football!!!


Paul the octopus was again right about Germany winning the loser's final. But it got wrong for the UEFA finals and lets see if it gets it right this time!!
Apparently just two animals in the above list actually exist!!

Feel free to add your own list of psych animals!!! The best one will be replacing Paul for the next FIFA world cup!!!

Exams again!!

The yearly event to make sure you live for a month entirely on coffee and chocolates!

The yearly event to make sure you don't use pillows to sleep!

The yearly event to make sure you regret every time you bunked and went for a movie!

The yearly event where your imagination reaches new heights!!

The ultimate suspense thriller!! Exams!!

I have not been putting up any posts recently as my imagination and creativity was drained by cracking stupid PJs to the serious studious students (read girls!!)
As my university exam is supposed to be in June 3rd week, they have started preparing for the battle! These are some random thoughts about exams..

Apparently there are three attitudes seen among the exam going students.

1)"OH MY GOD!!! Hardly a month!!! What to do with that??"

2)"One month is there!! Have to plan a timetable and start from 'tomorrow'!"

3)"When is Iron Man 2 releasing??" ( Actually when is it getting released??)

The advent of exam season is marked by a sudden increase in attendance and frequent visits to library.
Or it is when I see a couple sitting separately and studying during free time!(Couples doing combined 'study' is a common sight actually!!)
During exam I always felt there is spurt of creativity in everyone. After sitting with the book for sometime you get up bored, go to the other room, start talking about something and the ideas coming are totally mind blowing!! The 'night outs' are yet another phenomenon seen during the season! Last time I did a night out I kept my laptop on thinking I'll watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S or House MD while taking breaks.. And it ended up watching books while taking a break from the laptop!!
The most depressing part in the season is that there is no one to talk to properly!! Either most of them are busy studying or all they want to talk to about is studies! Its really depressing!!
I really hope to concentrate and get through somehow!!

"Damn true: Just when we sit down to study, Everything else on earth gets so interesting!!
Even just staring at the wall!!" - Another forwarded sms..

The Divine Answer and Fight Club!!

When some things happen in your life, have you ever wondered if that's how you get answers to your questions... Questions you ask yourself...

For the last two weeks every single time i ask myself what more can go wrong something worst happens..
When i finally thought nothing worse can happen, again something went wrong... Then I started believing.. It is The Answer!!! You ask a question to the Universe and it answers
All these are in reference to the upcoming intra college student cultural event Renaissance 2010 and our ongoing exams!!! I wanted to concentrate on both but I am not!!
Out of the frustration yesterday night instead of studying I ended up watching 'Fight Club' the 1999 Eng movie!!! Awesome!! It gave me so much hopes!! Wish i actually had the multiple personality disorder at times... Every time I go to sleep, I wake up as different person who finishes off every work I had to do... So when the real me wakes up everything is done! How cool is that!
Sadly I am not suffering from multiple personality disorder neither do I have a cool alter ego when I sleep like Brad Pitt... All I have is just a sleeping personality who likes to sleep a lot!!!

Will update soon on Renaissance 2010!!

And another V-Day!!!

Happy Valentines Day wishes to all!!!

Those who are having girl friend(s)/boy friend(s) do have a great time getting married!! (If you are in Mangalore!!)

Those who are not having boy friend/ girl friend feel free to express anger, distress, grief etc etc against the frank westernization of Indian heritage!!! I am with you!!

Don’t forget to thank the self appointed moral polices of India who are taking so much pain to check the downfall of the Indian Culture.. Guys you are doing a great job to protect the values and traditions of the Indian society!!! Instead of all the bad publicity you ought to get some appreciation.. But I am confused about lot of things. May be its just my ignorance about the Indian culture. After all I have been here only for about 21 years. How can I absorb the Values accumulated for over a thousand years?

You guys beat up teenagers but worship Krishna. I am not sure but I have heard he used to run around with chicks. But he eventually got married to all of them. So that’s ok I guess. My suggestion is that there should be a Krishnasena to protect and promote Krishna culture in India. It should be ok with the other Senas as we are just following the traditions!! May not be Ramayana ones but definitely Mahabharatham… Partying, gambling, running around with chicks should all come in that..

I am really happy you are totally against the modern outfits!! It demeans our culture. You have a problem with girls showing cleavage but no problem with the heritage sites having naked statues!! You have issues with kissing, hugging and all but have never bothered about the Kamasutra.. You should seriously consider editing the ancient text to make it adapted to the ‘new age’ heritage of our country.. You can take tips from the Great Castration of 1857 in which many manly figures in Vatican were ‘unmanned’ by Pope Pius!!(Ref: Angels and Demons) Or the destruction of the Buddha statues in Afghanistan..

What is so Un-Indian about celebrating your love?? After all it’s the work of Kamadevan right?? Why not go and hunt him down? Can the humble humans be blamed because of somebody else’s doing??

I really can’t understand why people are doing this. And if they are so concerned about the situation why not do it on the other 364 days also? Is it that you think you are showing patriotism by doing anti social acts? If you are patriotic join the army and fight for the country and don’t fight in the country..

I feel the real patriotism is shown in Mumbai by going for MNIK in spite of all the troubles promised by the old man. Things went on smoothly also. What can a handful of lunatics possibly do when masses come out? They can sit back and accept the defeat. Or they can make press statements telling they didn’t actually mean to stop the screening or they were misinterpreted or anything to save their faces. I really hope the josh continues throughout the country. At least in Mangalore I hope they’ll release it.

Apparently the Valentines Day is pretty much commercialized these days. Actually it was the commercialization which bought the Valentines Day, Father’s day, Mother’s day, Brother’s Day, Sister’s day and all other ‘Days’ into the picture. 10 years ago as far as I know there was no Valentine’s Day. Neither was there any other so called days. It seems V-day celebrations are not affected by the recession either. Business is blooming!! Not only the cards, flowers or gifts but also the hotels giving special dinners, jewelers making special items, even flights offering romantic seats and so many others taking a piece from the pie.. The best one I heard is the lunar embassy. With $20 you can buy property in Moon in the name of your dear ones. But I don’t think people should wait for any day to show your affection.

And as on every other Valentines Day this year also I am gonna spent it with myself!!!

Anyone interested in giving me a company are most welcome!!!

an Easy Escape and HS!!!

Once in every 2 or 3 months I go on an 11hr train journey to my home.. Consider the following situations you might encounter in a train journey.. When you are alone and hoping for a peaceful journey…

Situation #1

You are in a train. Its an overnight journey.. And your co-passenger really likes to talk!!(And it’s not a cute girl!! Mind it!! Not even a girl!!) But you are not at all interested in sharing his views on the Iraq invasion and the ‘latest tower’ in Dubai!! Apparently he thinks it’s a watch tower built by the Americans to watch over the Middle East!!! I’d rather listen to him telling about his grand uncle who had a killed 3 tigers, 1 elephant, 8 wild boars and countless rats when he open fired in the jungle!! Unfortunately he died of rabies because he told everyone that was a lion bite!!!( sorry!! That was the other guy..!) Well that’s also not very interesting as I usually kill tigers by cracking PJs…!!

Situation #2

Actually this guy is better than the next guy who insists on knowing everything from the place of your birth to the place you are planning to die!! After which he proceeds to enquire about your father, mother and every relative alive or dead… And the worst part is that he supposedly knows at least 3 of them also… Many a times I wish I could tell him “dude I am not sure about mine but yours is gonna be this train!!!”

Situation #3

Now imagine you are sitting next to a cute girl who is reading a book you haven’t even heard off… Still wanting to impress her you start off by telling how good the book is and how you liked his previous books also… Apparently it turns out to be the author’s first book!!

Situation #4

Three doctors working together in the same hospital going to the same place without their wives..!!! That is a literal torture!! Please don’t be under the impression that the talk is of the medical mysteries they solved.. Its plain bitching about the fellow doctors!! How under-trained they are and how superior they are… And they do try to show off how cool they are by taking out their over priced ‘smart’ phones and trying to do stuff with it which even a 5^th standard kid can do.. Then the essential comparison follows.. “My phone has a horn!!” “Mine has a head and a tail!!” Apparently what they actually know is just to make calls and text…! What else is a phone for??!!!

God save their patients!!!

Situations where you just want to vanish!!! Well there is an easy way!! Get yourself a descent phone with HEADPHONES or a music player with HEADPHONES!!!!

Plug it in and go to your happy place!!!

HS and HA

Has anybody heard of a syndrome called HS (House Syndrome)??? Which results from HA(House Addiction) If not I am planning to be the 1^st patient suffering from these rare syndromes!!!! As I am addicted to House MD I started to feel that I am suffering from serious illness which I can’t figure out because I am not House and I am not a post graduate in Medicine ( an UG in dentistry) and most importantly the small sensible part of me is telling there is nothing wrong with me.. I was told that this is just another side effect of the House addiction disease and will soon wear off as it gets over.. But seriously how can I relax when I feel something is not correct..

Not only that, I am now trying to find out things about people just by ‘observing’ them… Sincerely hope none of my cute ‘subjects’ would notice me observing them!!!! :D

(p.s those who are unaware of the series House MD please refer to the previous post or just Google it!!!)