tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10518475486676995322024-03-12T21:13:29.134-05:00Thinking Loud....."You can't fix stupid"kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.comBlogger351125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-75828393362417554502011-03-15T21:21:00.001-05:002011-03-15T21:21:50.906-05:00Tweets# what happened in japan and is still happening is beyond <a href="http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2011/03/world/hires.japan.quake/index.html?hpt=T1">heart-wrenching</a> can't do nothing when nature strikes. we humans are so small!<br />
<br />
# got sucked into cricket wc this year thanks to a friend next door who setup nothing short of something awesome in his basement. a full movie screen projector view with super presentation of willow. loving it. although wish india was doing better<br />
<br />
# the everything-is-fixed brigade is growing bigger with each wc game india plays. otherwise reasonable folks are now thinking, bookies are ruling icc and fixing every match. and that is sad.<br />
<br />
# btw, have got completely hooked to facebook. not sure how long this will last. but will continue fbing till i enjoy. i think it's really convenient.<br />
<br />
# am tempted to buy ipad2. still weighing options.<br />
<br />
# haven't read something really compelling in a while. it's like i need to find a new author. internet has become very noisy. although it's a necessary evil.<br />
<br />
# have started watching final season of "24". jack bauer looks jaded. good he decided to make season 8 as last one. anil kapoor is surpringly subdued and not very loud. that is a welcome break.kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-19389868110566056942011-03-08T21:36:00.000-06:002011-03-08T21:36:33.790-06:00Top Donor<blockquote>Over Rs 31,000 crore have been received as donations from abroad by various associations and organisations working in the country during 2006-09 with nearly one-third coming from the United States alone, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. <br />
<br />
The top donor was the United States from where over Rs 9,310 crore were received by NGOs in India during the period, data presented by the home ministry in Lok Sabha revealed. </blockquote><br />
<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/US-tops-Rs-31000cr-donation-list/articleshow/7656789.cms">No comments</a>kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-1280944254273179552011-02-20T11:41:00.000-06:002011-02-20T11:41:27.439-06:00WTFness<blockquote><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">A young man in Egypt decided to name his first born daughter "Facebook" to commemorate the way the social networking site helped protesters get organized to topple Hosni Mubarak, writes <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/19/facebook-egypt-newborn/">TechCrunch</a>, citing a story in <em>Al-Ahram</em>. Alexia Tsotsis writes that while the girl could have been called YouTube or Twitter or Google,<strong> "it seems like Facebook has become the umbrella symbol for how social media can spread the message of freedom."</strong></div></blockquote><br />
I think this is pushing it. Link <a href="http://slatest.slate.com/id/2285896/entry/4/">here</a>kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-11593176832732458282011-02-12T11:26:00.001-06:002011-02-12T11:27:12.949-06:00Deewar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We all have grown up to Movies haven't we? For every phase of life we have one or more Movies associated and tagged. I mentioned about some of them being "reference point movies" in one of my earlier posts.<br />
<br />
Here's another reference point movie for me personally..<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072860/">Deewar :</a></b> I am picking Deewar over Sholay for a reason, which I will get to in a moment. Sholay is <b>the</b> movie for obvious reasons and I don't even want to spend a second, explaining it. Sholay is, what it is. A Classic.<br />
<br />
Personally I am picking Deewar though, because when I saw it for the first time on a VCR - I may be in my high school or college, I don't remember exactly - I felt something 'real'. I felt a connection. The impact Deewar had was probably more due to my age at that time. You are usually at your rebellious best around college time, I would think. And Deewar which romanticised rebellion like never before, just hit the bulls eye.<br />
<br />
The intense dialogs of Salim-Javed, the story about the elder brother who's wronged since his childhood, his confidence at dealing with the Mafia, clash of principles, all hit it home for me. It was surreal at that age. I almost felt the same connection when reading the story of Mahabharat's Karna in Amar Chitra Katha some years before that as a kid ...<br />
<br />
(On a different note : I hope to write at some point in more details about Mahabharat, which I feel is the best story ever told)<br />
<br />
I read somewhere that Salim-Javed did in fact have the character of Karna in mind when they wrote Deewar. The famous Amitabh Bachchan-Shashi Kapoor clash, is almost parallel to a similar clash b/w Karna and Arjun, figuratively speaking.<br />
<br />
What a moment that is in the movie. Vijay is trying to make a case for himself. He knows he is wrong, but the rage that has built up over all these years within him has taken over all the virtues. He is viewing success materialistically. Now he is a classic anti-Hero, who doesn't care for "right vs wrong". He has shown his middle finger to a system that suffocated him all these years. But at the same time, he needs validation from his younger brother and more importantly his Mother. He seeks from them an approval, even at times using the guilt-trip mechanism by mentioning the sufferings of the past. Their poverty, the people who made them miserable, suggesting that all is justified if you are so wronged.<br />
<br />
I like what Nirupa Roy says to Bachchan."Apne Ma ko Khareedne ki koshish mut kar beta. Abhi tu itna amir nahi hua hai" (Don't try to buy your Mom. You are not as rich, just yet).<br />
<br />
That was stellar. Dialogs of course are Deewar's high points. I mean, come on, do they even come close to what Salim-Javed wrote 35 years back? <br />
<br />
There are some other incidents/scenes from that movie that got my attention, that are not so talked about in general.<br />
<br />
I remember the one where the Mafia leader, played by Iftikar Ahmed (go figure), is slowly following Vijay in his car at the dockyard. Vijay is walking like a King really, in a blue coolie get up, confident from his last night's fight with Peter. Ahmed asks Bachchan to sit in his car. The skeptical Vijay looks around not knowing who this guy is.. but he doesn't fear no one.. The conversation goes something like this..<br />
<br />
"Ghabrao mut. Mujhe apna dost samjho"<br />
And the Mr.Baritone himself goes : <i>Doston kay naam bhi hotein hai</i>.<br />
<br />
No kidding!<br />
<br />
His eyes intense as ever. His voice - <i>mashallah</i>. His walk, his style, his body language, the way he sits and his unassuming demeanor..I think we are talking Awesomness here.. <br />
<br />
The other scene I like is the one where Vijay is sitting across the glass table with rival gangster Samant (Madan Puri). Vijay is waiting for the 'sona' to reach godown and take his cut from the deal (the deal is a trap basically that Samant doesn't know). Vijay is smoking in style as both wait for the phone call. Once they have confirmation, Samant, instead of taking out the cash, takes out a revolver and says - what if he doesn't give Vijay his share. And Vijay dozes of his cigarette and coolly gets up from his chair and tells Samant - "Bachpan mein meiney ek kahani suni thee..." (I had heard a story in childhood) And then he goes on and pitches the "Hen with Golden Eggs" story to Samant, implying if Samant kills Vijay, he looses all the future insider info. <br />
<br />
Impressed by his wit and demeanor, Samant says - "<i>Mein mazak kar raha tha..</i>" And Vijay with a signature half-smile says - "<i>Mein janta hu aap mazak kar rahe thhe</i>".<br />
<br />
There's another scene that stuck with me. Vijay reaches the <i>shamshan ghat</i> to give <i>agnee</i> to his dead father. It's almost evening, and every one's in white. The color contrast in that scene is stark. Shashi Kapoor is hugging the crying Nirupa Roy tightly, when Vijay comes out of his car. He lights the pyre. His white long sleeves shifts behind and you can read - "<i>Mera baap chor hai</i>" on his arms. He reaches out to his mom, but she refuses to hug him and goes closer to Ravi instead.<br />
<br />
I should take a moment to talk about another character of the movie that people seem to not talk much about. That character is of Parveen Babi's. I like the inter-play between Bchchan's and Babi's character. She has a very small part. She was probably not established then. But there are certain scenes I thought she pulled off pretty well. I think Yash Chopra should be credited to make this vampish-but-not-really-vampish role to count for something. In fact all small characters have some relevance in the movie. Even the old muslim co-worker of Vijay in dockyard who gives him the famous badge "<b>billa # 786</b>", which later saves Vijay from few fatal attempts on his life ..(Again very similar to how Karna is saved multiple times because of his <i>Kavach Kundal</i> and finally he dies like Vijay when he looses his protection..[no pun intended]), has a role we can still remember.<br />
<br />
Coming back to Babi. She plays the love interest of Vijay. In 1975, Chopra shows them having a physical relationship outside marriage, pushing that envelope a wee bit and shows that nice vulnerable moment that Babi has, where she tries to go "mainstream" or of being "accepted" by the society. And then just when she's tragically killed. <br />
<br />
The long white van that Vijay uses probably became iconic after this movie and was used my many 70s and 80s movies later. There's the scene where he is waiting in his van at a distance from the hospital where his ailing mother is being treated. Vijay himself cannot go to meet her as Shashi Kapoor has the police force spread out to have Bachchan. When Anita (Babi's character) tells Vijay there's little hope for his Mom, Vijay takes the van to the temple and then starts the epic scene of him talking to Lord Shiva. That was epic. The always in control, mafia hotboy has a super emotionally soft moment. He just cannot take it anymore and gives in.<br />
<br />
There are couple of good songs in there by RD Burman. Although the movie is really about Salim-Javed's screenplay and dialogues, Amitabh's intensity and Yash Chopra's handling of a subject tied to a very Socialistic India of that era. The era of suffocating and frustrating economic opportunities, where a 10 year old boy could get shot for trying to steal a loaf of bread. (There's a scene where Shashi Kapoor, the police officer, shoots a small boy who is running away with Bread. That's a coming of age moment for him personally in the movie). And where if you had to go up the food chain, the avenues were limited and poverty could easily drive you on the wrong side of the law. ("<i>yeh duniya ek third class ka dibba bun gaye hai. mein bhait jata. tum khade rehe jate</i>")<br />
<br />
I think Deewar is very reflective of it's time. This is not to say that all young men in the country were angry. And were picking guns and smuggling gold from Dubai via Versova beach. But Socialism has it's issues and there was an angry period in the middle class India. In that sense Deewar is a very era-conscious movie for me. <br />
<br />
Deewar is iconic in the realms of Hindi Cinema and I think this is the movie which ultimately sealed the deal for Mr. Bachchan as far as his standing in the Industry is concerned. A phenomenon that India Today magazine would later call - "<b>One Man Industry</b>"<br />
<br />
</div>kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-42370313156496211572011-02-01T11:53:00.000-06:002011-02-01T11:53:50.554-06:00Egypt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Let's face it. There's a ring of romanticism to any kind of revolt. We all like to see an uprising against a corrupt regime that's trying to suffocate people's "right".<br />
<br />
This week, Egypt has been the poster boy of the world news for it's seemingly organic revolution against the 'oppressor' - President Husne Mubarak - who believe it or not, has been ruling Egypt for 30 long years. (Wait. Where have I heard this before? A single man/family ruling a country for decades and decades? Well, never mind)<br />
<br />
I do not know much about the "why" part of the revolt in Egypt currently, and that really is bothering me. Frankly I am little disappointed with all the punditry and analysis overload around this subject. None of the premier news channels have really bothered to detail this 'minor' question of - WHY? All I know is that people of Egypt want Mubarak outa office. Fair enough. And I am with them on it. I still am hungry to know "why". And more importantly "why now".<br />
<br />
What triggered this? And I am unable to get my arms around this question. Quite frankly it's bugging me.. and I am that kind of a person. I really like to understand the "details".. I can actually get a bit neurotic sometimes about information. I really really need a lot of it, before I can join any bandwagon of Mubarak bashing. <br />
<br />
I also keep hearing on NPR et al, that the "youth" of the nation want change.Well of course. The youth somehow seem to be the flavor everywhere. They can do no wrong, can they? But still my question remains, "why do they need him out NOW?".<br />
<br />
Is he too corrupt? Is he a womaniser? Has he not done enough reforms? Is he not handling economics well? Is his government dysfunctional? Is the problem that he is seen as an ally of the 'imperialist' USA and hence not very popular with middle eastern youth? <br />
<br />
I have no clue. I don't know what their beef is.<br />
<br />
In an era of 24X7 news where twitter and blog and Facebook and Google news, not to mention CNNs and NBCs of the world, are constantly in your face with information, I still have no idea why all of a sudden, we are seeing a revolt of this kind in Cleopatra country.<br />
<br />
And in next few days, I'd really like to know. Till then my sincere sympathies with people out there.. (especially the ones who did not see this coming and are stranded)<br />
<br />
</div>kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-50297591510435915642011-01-23T09:34:00.000-06:002011-01-23T09:34:18.946-06:00Awarding Mediocrity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote><b><i>That’s really the great mystery about bureaucracies. Why is it so often that the best people are stuck in the middle and the people who are running things—the leaders—are the mediocrities?</i></b></blockquote>I found this very relevant collection of words on this <a href="http://www.theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/">blog</a>.<br />
</div><br />
I am guessing if it's true for bureaucracies its true for every organization big and small. Why do we end up having mediocre leaders?<br />
<br />
A perfect example will be Rahul Gandhi, IMO. He is very likely to become the Prime Minister of India in next few years. India, a country full of complex issues, enormous diversity where a very large section of society is still playing an intense cat and mouse game in the very long food chain.<br />
<br />
Some of my "educated and informed" friends support Junior Gandhi, because he is quote/unquote YOUNG. And if the 'educated friend' happens to be a female, add the word Charming, to the list of his talents as well! Sometimes I'd like to tell these shallow folks that "charming" is good for date-nights and not for ruling the country as complex as India. So close your 'mills and boons' or put off that Karan Johar movie and go to sleep.<br />
<br />
To rule India, we need a leader with a, what's the word i am looking for here... mmm.. yeah <b>Spine!</b> Something that 4 generations of Gandhis could not develop.<br />
<br />
So, here's a country on a brink of reinventing itself, getting a handle at reducing poverty (if not removing it) finally, targeted to substantially increase it's %age of GDP in world economies (some reports suggest as much as 34% of world GDP by 2050); and looking for a super mediocre politician like Gandhi to take the reigns?<br />
<br />
phrrrrr.... I don't like the idea of this. That's where the 'young' India beats me. I mean with all it's confidence and new world view, the youngistan is really lacking in some ways exactly that. Yes, a genuine World View. <br />
<br />
Now if I am sounding like a middle-aged loser passing judgment on the youngistan, well to an extent it's true. I *am* passing a judgment. But on one aspect of this India that I am witnessing. No doubt the current generation is doing good - professionally. They are confident go-getters who are very clear about what they want. But when it comes to geo politics, we still have to witness that big narrative, that can see India through the complex road map that lies ahead. Sadly, all I see around me is a cookie-cutter, template "view point" which is mostly media driven.kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-82309764723318509022011-01-12T23:50:00.000-06:002011-01-12T23:50:44.461-06:00Visit to India 2010<ul><li>As far as my memory serves India was always a corrupt nation. What is different about corruption in 2010 is the scale. The scandals are no more in few crores. Each scandal is worth the GDP of a few nations. The Bofors scandal that happened around 1985 and the first my generation got exposed to, was worth only Rs.64 Crore; Today with 64 crore you probably can buy a 2BHK apartment in Peddar Road in Mumbai or may be give that sum to NDTV's, Padmashree winner Barkha Dutt to whore for a minister to save his seat in UPA government. It's value is *that* cheap. </li>
<li>Scandals are not news anymore. There are so many scandals happening in tandem, that to keep a tab on one of them is like watching one TV channel when 232 are available. You got to push that remote button to surf. Following one Scandal at a time is boring.</li>
<li>Everything has multiplied, except people's attention span. That has infact been divided. You cannot hold anyone's attention for more than a few seconds unless you are talking money.</li>
<li>Why did we end up absorbing only the negatives of Capitalism? And please don't tell me it only has negatives.</li>
<li>For what it's worth, "common man" can now fly easily in India. Air Ticket fares are within reasonable range and Airports are as crowded as Bus Stands use to be in 1980s, when I used to travel in State Transport buses to Wani and Mardi. But that also means, newly built swank and plush Airports of Bombay and Delhi, now have overflowing trash cans. With capitalism came disposable income. Unfortunately money did not bring with it, civic sense and basic common civility. That flight has not landed yet.</li>
<li>Bombay was a mixed bag. One of my <a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/2008/10/bombay.html">favorite</a> cities from the yore, it's not a patch on it's old self. Atleast as far as civic sense, traffic discipline is concerned. It keeps hitting a new low, as a culture completely alien to Bombay of 70s and 80s, makes it's footprint on the Bombayland. It's depressing and agonising at the same time. One can only wish this is a temporary phase in Bombay's life and one of my old favorites will rise like a renaissance again.</li>
<li>New Delhi was a revelation. Found much more disciplined than Bombay. Lane driving was followed for most part by our cabbies and I observed zero bottle necks. Of course the good old and notorious "badmashi" of public transport is still alive and kicking.</li>
<li>But it's not ALL negative. Change is happening and like any other change it's bringing both good and bad with it. It's upto India as a country how it absorbs good and rejects bad. If I had to put my money now, it will still be on India. With all that's going on, I somehow felt positive. </li>
<li>People are talking positive. They are enjoying. They seem to be happy. I met a lot of folks from my extended family and a few friends. All sounded positively encouraging. There were few cribs here and there, but overall there was a lot of happy vibes around. </li>
<li>If inspite of infinitely corrupt central government and an unscrupulous first family ruling the country like a banana republic, we are still feeling happy, imagine the transformation, if by stroke of luck, we end up having a semi-decent government at the centre. My hope increased many folds, when I saw the cover page of the latest Business Today magazine. Hope someone like him becomes our PM soon.</li>
<li>One last thing. My 11 year old niece said to me - "Mama, your generation failed us. You used and wasted resources without thinking about our future." I was amazed in equal parts by her confidence, knowledge and pure assertiveness in saying such a thing bluntly. Not that I can change what "my generation" did, but just the fact that she is aware and seemed like "ready to take on" was a winner as far as I am concerned. I wish and pray, her generation transforms India into something beautiful and positive, which probably my generation did not. And on that note... Jai Hind.</li>
</ul>kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-18377568764829172972010-07-28T07:20:00.000-05:002010-07-28T07:20:25.887-05:00MardiIt's a small remote village in interior parts of the state of Maharashtra. It's a place where mud houses galore, there are no roads and when I last visited it, it had a notional version of Electricity; The one who's existence was based purely on MSEB's mood swings.<br />
<br />
It is not a green village, and the once free flowing village river has dried out long back. The only means of income is farming which depends heavily on subsidies. It has a local co-operative bank and a post office too, but for all other practical administrative purposes, the people of this village go to the nearest big town which is called Wani. Wani is about 30 kilometers from it and Wani itself has not much home to write about.<br />
<br />
Why am I bothering to write about such a place in the first place? <br />
<br />
Because it is where my family started it's journey. It's the place where my Grandfather held a sway. <br />
<br />
My Grandfather owned land and house in there. He had a big family of 6 kids. But since he was involved in freedom struggle he missed out on the childhood of some of his kids. My Grandmother was the defacto head of the house in his prolonged absence at times. How she managed all this, I have no clue. But she did manage and all my uncles and aunts completed their education. They used to attend school and college in Wani till they finally had to move to Nagpur for doing graduation.<br />
<br />
All this while, my Grandfather provided the financial support (he did good for most part) while my grandmother provided the moral and emotional one. Between handling Mardi and Nagpur, India got it's independence. <br />
<br />
If I have to connect the dots backwards, I see it as something remarkable. We have been a family of immigrants. My Grandfather held it on his own in a small village in British India. My father worked his way up in a small 2nd-tier city of Nagpur in Central India and lived all his life there. Nagpur is him and he is Nagpur now. My Uncle on the other hand lived all his professional life as a scientist in Mumbai. And now me, the 3rd generation relative to my Grandfather have been living in Chicago for last few years.<br />
<br />
In each case the immigration was triggered by one word. The word is Opportunity. In my father's and uncles case it was more the educational opportunities which were better in Nagpur than at Mardi, And in my case it's job. <br />
<br />
We moved to place where there was a "better" opportunity than what was available at our current setup. Of course I have to put the word better in quotes, coz it's all relative. In other word, if I wanted to, I could have had created for myself a good career at the place of my birth - Nagpur. But I still moved out of Nagpur. What drove was "better" opportunity.<br />
<br />
If I have to put all this differently, I would put it this way - "A place where I get better returns for my efforts". <br />
<br />
If you look at it, the previous generation moved away from their roots for the same reason. They saw better returns for their efforts.<br />
<br />
It may seem to be like a "trade". And at the very basic and fundamental level - it is. And that's what humans inherently do. We trade.<br />
And not only charges. We are constantly trading. We trade ideas, knowledge, skills, labor etc. I trade my skills in return of income. So we all do. When we join a firm, it's basically a trade. I will provide work,idea,creativity,analysis,labor in some form, in exchange of salary. The place that provides me more buck for my bang would be my natural relocation point. Of course there are a lot of factors. But the one thing that does not change is the word it self - opportunity.<br />
<br />
The Opportunity to do something positive, constructive, creative, analytic, intellectually stimulating, progressive and one that allows me to indulge into a positive engagement of my mind,time and energy in return for some greens to keep me going.<br />
<br />
Mardi did not offer same to my father so he moved to Nagpur. Nagpur did not offer me the same so I moved out. What system or model of governance really offers more fruitful and fulfilling opportunities, that's personal and debatable. I don't want to go into that. But the very fact that I made an informed choice of moving to America, a country that was not my natural birth place, tells me something about my own choices. And I cannot be in denial of that.<br />
<br />
And I also believe in standing up for that choice I made. I fully and completely stand by it. I think given the circumstances I would not choose another path.<br />
<br />
Bottom line is, we do not choose the country, city, state, village we are born. But we do at some level CHOOSE what place we make our life moves in adulthood.<br />
<br />
For centuries humans have done this. We moved because of weather conditions, river, resources, skills etc. In each case the basic word was opportunity. Opportunity to have a "better" quality of life. For 3 generations at least my family has moved. And I am totally cool with it.<br />
<br />
********<br />
<br />
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P.S : I had written this a couple of years back. This was lying on a txt file somewhere in "My Documents". I have a son now. Not sure where he is going to Migrate?kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-18665025155255092322010-07-06T17:08:00.000-05:002010-07-06T17:08:11.708-05:00Lingo BingoSomething intrigued me while watching the series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0804503/">Mad Men</a> the other day. In 1960s Manhattan, 'swell' was a commonly used term. The closest word to match swell in today's lingo is 'cool'<br />
<br />
It's funny how our lingo, both spoken and written, keeps changing. It seems to me like the classical English we all learnt earlier in our life, the technically correct one I mean, is a drag now. There you go, I just used .. "is a drag". I don't seem to remember if "is-a-drag" thingy I used much, just few years back. (Thingy? Really?)<br />
<br />
Here are a few things (slang I guess) I picked up in last decade or so ...<br />
<br />
'you are kidding me'<br />
'get the drift?'<br />
'keeping it honest'<br />
'darn'<br />
'size it up'<br />
'mojo'<br />
'bingo'<br />
'i wouldn't do that'<br />
'That is 'so' not cool'<br />
'big time'<br />
'fubared'<br />
'happening'<br />
'cool'and now 'kewl'<br />
'don't quote me on that'<br />
'that's a given'<br />
'shove it up your..'<br />
'it grows on you'<br />
'we are in a home stretch'<br />
'that was smooth'<br />
'whoa'<br />
'sucks'<br />
'oh boy'<br />
'dude'<br />
'hosed'<br />
'r we on same page'<br />
'crunch the numbers' <br />
'here's the rub'<br />
.........<br />
<br />
<br />
and many more I can't seem to think of..<br />
<br />
Just a thought : English is probably the most structurally scalable language IMO.(I admit I don't know enough languages to make this call)kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-17873182355661176392010-06-15T22:57:00.001-05:002010-06-15T22:58:54.378-05:00Why I am a Hindu?In a way I agree to Karl Marx's view - "Religion is opium of the masses". It indeed is. It intoxicates and numbs big part of humanity into becoming irrational zombies.<br />
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So after giving such a dramatically negative introduction to my views of religion, why do I put - "Why I am a Hindu?" in the post title?<br />
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Let me explain. But before that, let me get something straight out - I am not a fan of Karl Marx's. I hate his theories in general and oppose communism/Marxism to death. I think communism is bigger danger than all religions put together. It's a bigger evil. Period. (The 'why' side of this? Some other day)<br />
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Why I am a Hindu? Or rather why I chose to be a Hindu? <br />
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I'll manoeuvre one path of this labyrinth at a time.. and give my best shot.<br />
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I was born into a Hindu family. As in, a family, who thinks they are Hindus. Who believe they are Hindus. But if you really ask any of my family members what a "Hindu" really is; I can bet a million dollars (something I don't have), that no one can spell it out clearly. <br />
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Quite frankly no one really knows who a Hindu is? Or what a Hindu is? And that to me, is the first plus. It is like pulp fiction. No clearly defined borders. No clearly defined boundaries.<br />
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What that means is, you can pretty much believe in what you want. And can believe in what you don't want. There's no over-powering authority (like a Pope or an Imam) who can dictate what's "allowed".<br />
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It is non-monotheist in nature. That's a second plus for me. I don't like monotheism. It reeks of superfluous power.<br />
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The basic premise of Hinduism, if any at all there is one, is - Karma. And Karma or action/deeds itself is a universal notion. It's non-religious in nature. What I am getting at is, being Hindu in a sense is being non-religious.<br />
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People confuse "rituals and traditions" with religion. Religion per <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">se</span> is more like a doctrine.<br />
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That brings me to the 3rd plus. Hindus have no overriding doctrine.<br />
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Then the point really is - why follow religion at all? What's the point? <br />
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I think saying that all religions are evil and all are same is over simplifying stuff. I don't think all religions are "evil" and I most certainly don't think all are same. And there in lies one of my answers for following Hinduism.<br />
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Since not all religions are same, but the big ones are really really imposing in a way (either because of money power and/or muscle power), as a human being, I feel obliged to counter it. <br />
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Think of it this way. If the tea party crazy loonies form a big political party in the US, thanks to large money power pumped in by Talk Radio hosts and they start throwing their weight around so much so that they start defining and imposing their ways of life, you would need a counter balance, a positive, liberal, alternative pole, to hold. A group that can stay put and hold its own against a bigger power, lest being in danger of being run over.<br />
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Hinduism is something like that. It's a counter-alternative (albeit a weak one) to the 2 very big and powerful religions of the world. It's the most liberal religion on earth with no hard-core contours.<br />
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Being a Hindu is in essence being a liberal. It's needed sometimes to call out, and be counted and not give the big and powerful a free run. And that's where Hinduism comes to play for me.<br />
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Hindus don't massacre "others" under the guise of 'jihad'. They don't have crusades in their entire history of being. And to think its the oldest religion, they had a higher probability of doing that. <br />
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Hinduism is like a big umbrella under which several smaller religions found home and wisdom. Buddhism and Jainism to name a few.<br />
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But here's the most important reason I like being a Hindu. Believe it or not, Hinduism actually has a branch that supports atheism. In a way Hinduism is OK with atheism.<br />
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If I chose not to believe in God, I don't have to and still be counted as a Hindu. Can't say that about others..can you? <br />
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As a proud Hindu, I believe in Action. I believe good actions bring good results. I strive not to worry about the "<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">fal</span>". If it comes it comes. Although I am not always successful doing that, Hinduism does tell me it works.<br />
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****<br />
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Caste System<br />
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Most westerners, or people who have been bred with western influence deride the 'caste system' in Hinduism, and to an extent rightly so. Anything that tolerates differentiating between humans based on caste of birth has to be criticised.<br />
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But we are making a big assumption here. Hinduism has nothing to do with caste. Caste is an outcome of several hundred years of (<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">mis</span>)rule of Kings who happened to be Hindus. It's not religion specific. It's country specific. And most people forget one of the most important data available out there.<br />
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Most of the castes that are supposed to be at the bottom of the ladder today were actually rulers and dominant forces few hundred years back.<br />
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I was born in a <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">Brahmin</span> family. Most of the <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">Brahmins</span> were extremely poor few centuries ago. Then they started learning and educating and slowly getting into good books of rulers and aligning themselves with power. That's how they started getting better off. Even in today's India, a very large proportion of <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">Brahmins</span> are extremely poor. The so called "upper cast" people who live below poverty line, with virtually zero help from government.<br />
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The point being, in cycle of events spread across centuries, some group of people (note : caste = group), find their ways around and move up the food chain while some group simply fall behind due to various circumstances. Both external and internal to the group itself.<br />
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Just to simplify this logic a bit, take a look at the different states in India. Each state has a different mix of caste and sub-caste. In overall scheme of things, check what state is ruled by what group. Who's the dominant force. It's a nice homework, if you want to understand caste system in India.<br />
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*****<br />
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The <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">Hindutava</span> forces <br />
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Shiv Sena, <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">VHP</span>, <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">Bajrang</span> Dal represent Hinduism only as much as English represent Soccer. Just because the notorious English soccer fans go rogue with beer in hand, does not mean, Soccer is bad. Or English Soccer is bad. Soccer is followed like a religion by bunch of hooligans too. Does that make Soccer itself bad.<br />
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And without going into details of Shiv Sena, <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">VHP</span> etc, I can only say, these are reactionary forces that got created because of extremely lopsided policies pursued by the Congress party over 60 years of its gigantic misrule.(Congress created Shiv Sena to counter rise of communism in Bombay. In last elections in Maharashtra, Raj <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">Thackrey</span> voted for Congress and <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">Sharad</span> <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">Pawar</span>. Something people gloss over conveniently). In fact lot of caste and class struggle is result of Congress's super bad policies.<br />
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Does Shiv Sena represent Hinduism. Hell no. Not an inch of it.<br />
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*****<br />
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In the end, here's something I am going to say. I like Bill <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">Maher</span> to a point. I know he hates religion. I know a few close people who do too.<br />
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I am not in argument with any of them. In fact i welcome constructive criticism (not blind hatred <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background: yellow;">plz</span>) of something. For me Hinduism is Karma; actions. It's a spiritual binding if you will. <br />
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When I go to temple every few weeks, I close my eyes and sit for sometime. I have a couple of minutes of spiritual connection. And then come out of the temple and go on with the daily routine. That's about it. I don't expect anyone to follow Hinduism. I don't preach it. It is what it is. If I am the last follower of Hinduism, that's perfectly fine too. <br />
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I don't want to impose any religion on anyone. Not even on my own kid. If he grows up to dislike Hinduism for whatever reason; that's fine too. Like me, he will have a choice to follow or not. I won't have any say in it.<br />
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For me Hinduism is personal. Period.kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-56419656348930897252010-06-05T13:52:00.000-05:002010-06-05T13:52:23.560-05:00RefereesWas sort of an eye opener, this <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/04/world.cup.referees.fitness/index.html?hpt=C1">article </a>in CNN.com.<br />
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How granted are referees taken in a game of sports? I don't know a single WC referee although I know a bunch of international players.<br />
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This snippet stands out for me from the article..<blockquote>Referees, who can be twice the age of the players, sprint across the field keeping up with the players and closely tracking the action. They tend to run 12 miles during the game -- five more than the players, according to data from the U.S. Soccer Federation.</blockquote>Hmm.. now that's something. Add to it this..<blockquote>Unlike the elite soccer players who have a cadre of trainers and specialists, most of the referees have day jobs, like teaching or office work, and must find their own time to train. </blockquote>I think I have a new found respect for them now.<br />
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As the world prepares for the biggest sporting showdown starting next week, I sure will keep in mind, that guy wearing black T-shirt and shorts running all across the field in stressed out situations making split second judgment calls. Salut to their Tribe.kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-29830497525204727602010-05-23T19:35:00.000-05:002010-05-23T19:35:31.364-05:00Pak Face OffPakistan has <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/10130195.stm">banned Facebook</a> and Youtube for its people. I am not sure how many people there use either of these applications, but lets say even if 5% of the people have internet access and use it, I'd take it as a big chunk. (SAARC nations and Population is never an issue)<br />
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Does Facebook care if Pakistan bans it? I don't know. I seriously hope, they don't. It's not worth it, because Facebook should be smart enough not to dignify Pak's actions by even entertaining their "protest".<br />
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I have strong views on Pakistan; some may say hawkish, and I give a rat's ass if anyone thinks I am unreasonable.<br />
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The issue with Pakistan is not Kashmir or poverty or education. These are all side effects; symptoms if you will. The very foundation of that country is an issue. A country that was built purely as a "reaction" to something; a negative one at that. A foundation based entirely on Religion and Ideology is a weak foundation and that kinda of foundation can only grow a failed state, as Pakistan has so graciously proved us all.<br />
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How do you deal with it? I don't think we can - directly. (I'll bring back a quote I put sometime back on this blog - "<i>Some problems cannot be solved. You have to manage them</i>")<br />
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Let's say for example, India does agree to give Kashmir to Pakistan; will that be enough to buy peace? <i>Naha</i>. If people think its that easy, they are just being naive. It's not about Kashmir. Kashmir is an excuse. If it's not Kashmir it will be Punjab, if not Punjab it will be "why-are-you-treating-Indian-Muslims-badly" chorus; we gona bomb more of your cities.<br />
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They will keep creating n-number of excuses to be a nuisance in the region.<br />
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I have no respect for Pakistan (as if it's not evident enough). It's for me an extremely bad excuse for a nation. It's not a nation. It's a land where enough people have been indoctrined to "serve Allah". Pakistan is actually an extended Madarsa.<br />
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Pakistan's Army's motto if translated from Urdu reads - "<i>In service of Allah</i>". Yes, no kidding. That's their official motto.<br />
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Do I feel bad about the "regular" people of that country? The "normal" people? The "like us" people? <br />
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I used to. But not any more. I think they are as much to blame for being passive observers. They have been sitting on the fence for so long that now its meaningless. The power is long gone. Many of the middle class people (the "like us" people) were actually cheer leading from the same fence, when general Zia was running riot, converting Pakistan into a theocratic state and playing footsie with the US. During the late 70s Pak would rub our noses of the ground, since India was still a struggling socialist nation. (We din't have Pepsi/Coke that they had. They assumed that was sign of "progress". It was actually crumbs thrown by uncle Sam to use their land against Soviet mission in Afghan)<br />
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Much water has flown through Jhelum since then. And probably the state Pak is in, blood is the single biggest pollutant of Jhelum.<br />
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Will it implode under its own 8th century ideology's weight? I don't know. It has already once in a way, when it was split in 1971. So who knows....?<br />
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I say Pakistan should ban internet itself. Why stop at facebook/youtube etc. Isn't internet against their holy laws?kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-24278030017780735252010-05-08T21:26:00.009-05:002010-05-08T22:04:09.950-05:00Weekend Listee- Got ripped by the new ISP guys - <a href="http://www.clear.com/callnow?s_kwcid=TC|9630|clear%20isp||S||5571144159">Clear</a>. Had to go through a whole lot of trouble having to cancel it. Still not sure, if it's done. //todo : Write a letter, spread the bad word around and register with consumer complain agency. (Like it'll ever work)<br /><br />- Waiting for World Cup Soccer to start, but not sure how I will catch all the action. Most games will be during day time; which sucks. Will this be <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY7OlTvUZb8&feature=related">Leo Messi's </a>year? (Check the slow motion part of the video. It's a cracker..)<br /><br />- Tories won most seats in UK general elections this week, but <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8670443.stm">fell short </a>of majority. I wrote something about British Elections in one of my <a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/2009/10/durun-dongar-sazre.html">earlier</a> posts where I said - <em>France the poster child of liberal Europe brought in a conservative Sarkozy to power. There's a good chance England will follow suit in next elections</em>. My prediction fell short by just a few seats, but it still looks like 10 Downing will have a conservative PM after a long time. Being a centrist, I consider this a good sign, and hope for sake of UK that David Cameron does the trick.<br /><br />- Still waiting for my IRS refund. The first time home buyer thing din't really click. We din't qualify for 8 grands as promised by US government, and that was a real bummer. Will take the pro-rated amount now (crumbs really). Damn the fine print.<br /><br />- Was looking for some old Hindi "lori" songs on youtube and came across this signature Gulzar, RD, Kishore Kumar trio song. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP3q2vA5DWw">Liked it</a>.<br /><br />- Will like to end this Listee with one good quote I found - "<strong>The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind</strong>" :D<br /><br />Have a good weekend!kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-86938769017950988632010-05-06T17:50:00.010-05:002010-05-08T22:04:40.242-05:00Phases and FolksI lack one art that I wish I had. That of keeping in touch with folks. <br />I started using Facebook only after slacking for a while. Was not sure whether to jump in or not. And now although I use it quite regularly, I still ain't good at keeping in touch.<br /><br />For different phases of life you end up choosing different folks to bond.<br /><br />As kids, you are close to your school and neighborhood friends and to lota extend cousins, both paternal and maternal. Then you go to college and you bond with folks there (specially if you live in hostel). That phase of friends extend to a certain period till you get married.<br /><br />For most part you still continue to be in touch, but it's not the same anymore. The dynamics changes a bit (whether you agree or don't) as it becomes us from I.It's just the nature of marriage. So, no pinning blame here.<br /><br />Then of course your work friends join the inner circle and now your time and space is further divided.<br /><br />Point here is simple, really. You "choose" your folks, based on your phase, situation and liking of course. This cycle probably continues till the end of your life, where you keep adding new friends, but then somehow also loose touch with old ones.<br /><br />It's not bad really, if I am making it sound like it. It's really not.<br /><br />You can stay in touch with only so many people all the time. It's practically impossible to sustain same level of rapport across ages, across phases and sometimes across countries / continents.<br /><br />Things change. Situation changes... and again one ultra random stuff.kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-6050298939902481932010-05-03T22:09:00.014-05:002010-05-03T22:56:00.476-05:00m back!Alrite. So it was almost 6 months hiatus; and t'was a long self-imposed "exile" from blogging. It's actually longest of anything I have imposed. You see, I am not 'imposing' as such - physically and figuratively. (Ok - so some PJs just don't fly. Never mind)<br /><br />So what's going on? What has been happening?<br /><br />Ahh. I got one. I hear USA has now joined the bandwagon of universal health care. Mr O is back in business after a brief Boston Tea Party set back. I thought the Republicans really shot themselves in the foot and pushed themselves into the corner by their extreme negativism. Serves them well. In the end, the bill wasn't perfect but a victory for O and Pelosi nevertheless. Congratulations Dems. You showed you had spine; for once.<br /><br />Had some personal changes in life in the meantime. Bought a house in the Chicago burbs and became a father to a handsome baby boy. He's doing well, thank you.<br /><br />This is probably the only time I am gona mention something like this on the blog. I want to keep this blog about me. My views, my ideas, however dumb, demented and insane they may be. This is my private zone. And I wana decouple it from my personal life as much as possible and as much as I love my family. And yes, I have my reasons, not to bring in personal stuff in here.<br /><br />I don't have much to blabber about today. Life is alrite. Going well so far. I am turning old and not necessarily wise. But that's ok. Sometimes wisdom is overrated. You just got to dig your hands and do it. That's how it works. That's why Socrates never became a King! Karma; that's all it is, as my Hindu blood would say.<br /><br />Oh yes. Haven't seen television in a while. Nor seen any movies. Oh wait; I did see 3Idiots. It was a quintessential Hiranisque movie. I think he has the finger on Indian pulse. Or atleast some demography of it. He's got a hat-trick now, no? (Disclosure : I am biased about Hirani for 2 reasons. He is a Nagpuri and also my fellow alumnus from <a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/2008/03/sfs.html">S.F.S</a>)<br /><br />What else? Yes. I have been boring my office people about Nagpuri Samosas a lot. Well, atleast I have it on their radar now. So anytime someone mentions Samosa, they can think of Nagpur. I am doing my bit of promoting my hometown...as you can tell.<br /><br />It's almost 11:00 pm now. My mind is dense and I can't think of much. Had a long day at work; although was working from home. (I feel like I work more when I am wfh)..<br /><br />So anyhow; I will keep posting stuff in here. So hang around sometimes. I promise I won't bore you with Samosa stories. That's for my hapless co-workers. And ye, I may be sending some of you an unsolicited email/message. For all those who I think may have read my stuff in past and may like to reconnect.... and apologies for this ultra random post. But it had to start somewhere..<br /><br />C U soon.kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-27373220972723142822009-12-08T09:13:00.002-06:002009-12-08T09:13:00.571-06:00Taking a break... from blogging.<br /><br />I wrote my <a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/2007/06/dharampeth-coffee-house.html">first post</a> on june-9-2007 on this blog. After more than 2.5 years of blogging and Bull Shitting, I feel like taking a sabbatical from it.<br /><br />I always thought that I will stop when I don't enjoy it anymore. (I remember mentioning it in some post some time back).. I still enjoy blogging but I think I need to move on to new avenues or as they say - TP. (Our generation seriously needs ADHD treatment)<br /><br />I am not sure what those new avenues will be. A different kinda blog may be! All said and done, I enjoyed while it lasted. It was a fun ride.<br /><br />I wrote a total of 400 posts (including this one); BSing about everything under the sun. From Politics to Movies to Sports. Sometimes I touched on topics related to Nagpur (although I named this blog honestlynagpur, I din't intend to make it Nagpur centric).<br /><br />Some of my posts were extremely opinionated, some just plain lame, others decent, while still others just sketchy. But so is life... :)<br /><br />I won't decommission this or anything. It will be lying there out in the wild.. or as long as the blogger.com folks keep it. I may even restart at some point. Not sure.<br /><br />I am looking to buy a new sleek SLR. May be I would like to start a Photo Blog in future. We'll see... I am not too worried about it right now.<br /><br />Life has phases. I enjoyed this particular phase, where some topic would randomly pop in my head and I would go about rambling and ranting.<br /><br />Anywho... enuf said. But before I end (or go on a long break), here's some trivia that might be relevant to this blog..<br /><br />1] The most searched term on this blog was "Saoji.." Most google/yahoo re-direction to this blog came from that term. I have had people from unlikely places like "Kazakhstan" search for this term and come to this blog. It was funny..<br /><br />2] I had about 35 posts on politics, 45 posts on India and around 84 random posts.<br /><br />3] Some of my own personal favourites have been...<a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/2009/03/aadaa-paadaa.html">'Aadaa Paadaa'</a> , <a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/2007/06/dharampeth-coffee-house.html">DCH</a> , <a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/2008/07/nature-blesseth.html">'Nature Blesseth'</a> , <a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/2008/06/zhunka-bhakar.html">'Zunka Bhakar'</a> , <a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/2008/05/greatest-cricketing-moments.html">'Greatest Cricketing Moments'</a> , <a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/search?q=Impossible+is+Nothing">'Impossible is Nothing'</a> ....<br /><br />4] Apart from my family in Nagpur who were the most loyal readers (no surprise :)), I made good conversation with a few friends. You all know who you are .. <br /><br />Life is a discovery. Till I discover my self a new amusement... Alvida!kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-42117255569269553862009-11-23T22:07:00.002-06:002009-11-23T22:15:18.373-06:00Super MJMJ Akbar's latest post is just awesome. I like the part where he refers to Obama's sleight of hand on his recent trip to China.<blockquote>The lean and lissome Obama has learnt to slap [us] with a long hand.<br /><br />Obama did not have a word to say, incidentally, about Dr A Q Khan's latest revelations on Chinese help in fuel and technology for Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, a clear instance of illegal proliferation. Do not be surprised, however, if India gets a lecture or two on nuclear proliferation. </blockquote>Yeah, Mr. O, not a big fan of what you were doing in China (apart from lecturing us on 'having good relations with Pak'. We know that. Thanks but no thanks)<blockquote>Some politicians take recourse to fudge, and sell the notion of India as a soft power. This is a useful screen when you have turned the nation soft, instead of making it powerful. If we were in the midst of the Garden of Eden, this would have been laudable achievement. But we live in a region where terror haunts the headlines. <br /><br />Amnesia is an invitation to the next terrorist assault.</blockquote>Super.Super.Super...kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-82700745506782196372009-11-17T09:46:00.000-06:002009-11-17T09:47:18.878-06:00It Touched Something. Not sure what..<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/M0XTPSYdP08&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/M0XTPSYdP08&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-54262359814973895532009-11-09T15:25:00.002-06:002009-11-09T15:33:51.732-06:00Taking a breakSome random stuff going around in life, so taking a break from blogging for a while...<br /><br />Turns out, even BSing needs a vacation.. :)...So long!kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-25639587894301177022009-10-28T17:05:00.009-05:002009-10-29T07:10:46.065-05:00R.I.P, Mr. ShepardThe new generation of cricket lovers may not identify <a href="http://cricket.ndtv.com/cricket/ndtvcricket/ausind09/news_story.aspx?ID=SPOEN20090114425&keyword=news">David Shepard</a> easily, but for people of my generation who started watching cricket on black and white television sets, he was clearly one of the most recognizable faces and umpires of 80s and 90s.<br /><br />He along with Dicky Bird were the mainstay of cricket umpiring. Between the two of them Shepard was my favorite though..(even when it was fashionable to call Bird as best umpire ever)<br /><br />I particularly remember an Indo-Pak world cup encounter where Javed Miandad was doing a monkey jump to poke Indians and Kiran More and how Shepard handled that situation really well. He was aware of Indo-Pak matches tensions and would sooth the nerves time and again making sure situations won't go out of hand. An apt Gentleman for a Gentleman's game. <br /><br />He was also the umpire when Amir Sohail and Venky Prasad had a something going on on the pitch during the famous Banglore encounter of 1996 WC.<br /><br />He was a thorough professional and good Englishman. And he probably would be most remembered for his 'Nelson' idiosyncrasy. As they say...'Go well Sir'kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-50494134002434992562009-10-27T15:54:00.009-05:002009-10-27T16:16:52.958-05:00No TelevisionI know I have been talking about my relocation a lot lately.. and I promise this would be the last time I mention it. I am gona zip it after this.<br /><br />Last weekend we moved our stuff (well, most of it) to our new home. This included my favorite stuff - the T.V ; and no, I don't call it Stevie, the TV. It's fair to say though that I am hooked to Television in general. I may be borderline couch potato.<br /><br />And TV has always been a hot button issue between me and my better half. (While on that term, why is the spouse called the 'better' half? Why not just other half? Beats me..)<br /><br />So anywhoo.. TV is one of the explosive issues we have. The last major fight we had was when I was so engrossed watching NFL that I completely blanked while she was discussing something terribly important (or as she claims it was). And she flipped big time. In my defence, the Steelers were in dumps that day.<br /><br />Me and my wife haven't budged from our respective positions. I maintain, I don't watch as much TV and she insists I am all about TV. Suffice to say we have an uneasy calm on that front; more like India-Pak on the Wagah border. Both parties have taken a position and no one's willing to back down.<br /><br />I am without TV for this whole week. And this Internet connection is all that I got. You would think this would make my wife happy. But only yesterday she said.."Damn we don't have TV. It's going to make us go under each other's skin". So as you can tell, this is going well...kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-34521649540429033532009-10-25T21:01:00.002-05:002009-10-25T21:03:25.662-05:00Fall<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Je45Uu9Uh7w/SuUDWUNdCRI/AAAAAAAADNM/TyxkmntGPwQ/s1600-h/DSC02377.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Je45Uu9Uh7w/SuUDWUNdCRI/AAAAAAAADNM/TyxkmntGPwQ/s400/DSC02377.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396723410390550802" /></a>kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-58137404681637499662009-10-25T10:17:00.002-05:002009-10-25T10:23:09.057-05:00Weekend LevityI am usually not into 'forwarded emails' or 'forwarding emails'.. but this one I liked. T'waz sent by my Dad.. It says..<br /><br /><strong>Some Laws that Newton forgot.</strong><br /><br /><strong>Law of Queue:</strong> If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now. <br /><br /><strong>Law of Telephone:</strong> When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged tone. <br /><br /><strong>Law of Mechanical Repair:</strong> After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch. <br /><br /><strong>Law of the Workshop:</strong> Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner. <br /><br /><strong>Law of the Alibi:</strong> If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire. <br /><br /><strong>Bath Theorem:</strong> When the body is immersed in water, the telephone rings. <br /><br /><strong>Law of Encounters:</strong> The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with. <br /><br /><strong>Law of the Result:</strong> When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will. <br /><br /><strong>Law of Biomechanics:</strong> The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach. <br /><br /><strong>Theatre Rule:</strong> People with the seats at the furthest from the aisle arrive last. <br /><br /><strong>Law of Coffee:</strong> As soon as you sit down for a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.<br /><br /><br />***<br /><br />I can vouch for atleast half of these based on my personal experience.kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-57973879299643446622009-10-23T07:21:00.006-05:002009-10-23T07:47:16.901-05:00FridaynamaIt's friday again. And TGIF..<br /><br /><strong>Holiday Season :</strong> Feels like the Holiday Season is right around. There's already talk of Halloween costumes. Last year some babe in our office paraded as Sarah Palin for our annual Costume party. Boy! a year has already passed since we had Tina Fey making mess of Ms. Palin...<br /><br /><strong>And I am back :</strong> Brees and Co did some real good to me in fantasy league last week. I am now 3-3-0. Not bad for a first timer. Go Saints!!<br /><br /><strong>Average Joe :</strong> I usually mess around with names and piss my wife big time. So there's this guy called Jose (pronounced Hozey, as you can tell) and I keep calling him Joe. He's our mover for this weekend. I even have him listed as Joe in my phone. One of these days he's gona yell!... Moi is Hozey... J,O,S,E...<br /><br /><strong>Mad Men :</strong> So I think Mad Men is good and all. Well made. But I guess the writers are too caught in the 60s mode. In 2009, instant gratification is the name of the game. You got to keep your viewers attention all the time, baby. If I have to reach for my laptop while watching the show, it ain't working. With Sopranos I was always hooked.<br /><br /><strong>Metra Rides :</strong> My suburban rides to work and back on the Metra will be longer and more taxing from next month after the move. Not to mention the long walk from the new station. (The current one was so convenient and easy). Wonder why am I moving at all!! Some one called it the <strong>'Home buyers remorse'</strong>. Here's my question, how do these term strike people?<br /><br /><br /><strong>Formality ?? :</strong> One of my old friend, CK, from the gone by era, send a friend request on Orkut. (Yeah, I still have an account somewhere in there). And on asking him - "How are you man?", His reply was - "Why the formal message? Is someone behind you?" ... I was like wtf!!! So what was I suppose to write after all these years.. "Saale.. Ga%$& LKB.. L@#%&du.." and make it informal? I tell you boss! decency has no place in this world...kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051847548667699532.post-81305141840302933952009-10-22T07:01:00.007-05:002009-10-22T13:49:05.635-05:00Kaudu WinsMardi, a small rural village in Maharashtra is where my paternal ancestry has it's roots. My <a href="http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com/2007/09/pralhad-narayanrao-deshpande.html">Grandfather</a> owned enough area of land and farms to require a decent labor force to manage all that.<br /><br />One care-taker of the farms even after my Grandfather passed away was a guy named Kaudu. Kaudu and his family stayed right near our ancestral home. And over the years when we visited sometimes, he would be the only person to take care of our brief visit.<br /><br />I remember him narrating something, that stayed with me. He said, every few years when there are elections in Yeotmal, the people over there feel it's a ritual to stand in line at election booth, and put a stamp on Panja (Congress(I) symbol). The idea he said was to go, put a stamp and collect your money from one mai-baap leader.<br /><br />In other words, Elections = Stamping on Panja symbol. Most of them were unaware they had to 'elect' an option.<br /><br />Turns out not much has changed in Maharashtra since 80s. People still stand in line and vote for Panja even when Maharashtra had the highest farmer suicide rate in the country, even when metros and semi-metros are reeling under power shortage, not to mention one of most glaring display of incompetency by state government in handling Terrorism during Mumbai carnage.<br /><br />If people of the state are ready to accept such morons to rule over them, giving lazy excuse of TINA (There is no alternative) good luck Maharashtra.<br /><br />Update : Analysis by Rediff's <a href="http://news.rediff.com/special/2009/oct/22/analysis-why-the-cong-ncp-won-despite-poor-governance.htm">Bhatt</a><br /><blockquote>In last five years, officially each Maharahstra MLA has got richer by Rs 4 lakh. Once again, as it happened in the last ten years, Sonia Gandhi will forget that mini-India named Mumbai needs mega vision, mega planning and great leadership. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Till, the next election Raj will be cuddled covertly by the Congress to keep him alive for future use</span>. Floor Space Index is the only thing that would attract her party's leaders. Marathas will not allow OBC to get stronger in state politics and once again the new government will give us a bogus dream of making Mumbai into Shanghai.</blockquote>kautilyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04196450087427067882noreply@blogger.com1