First morning of new year, there are lots of reasons to be happy, but this blog is being written because i am not finding any other medium to release my grief and frustration. The front page of the news paper is covered by the news of ruchika girhotra's case. Though, i was following this case for around 10 days, but when i was reading it during the breakfast today, when i read it, food refused to go down my throat.....
Though all of us know the details of the case, i was really moved ( on the verge of tears..) reading the statements of her brother and her friend aradhna. Last night, when the songs were played at their loudest volume combined by beautiful fireworks, that we entered 2010.. proclaimed to be the decade of india , huh !!! , its a nation, where it's still a crime to be a girl and her to be her family members. The torture and mental agony under which her brother underwent, is the story of almost every sexually assaulted girl's family. India is perhaps the only nation in the world , where an assaulted gal and her family is victimised rather than provided protection, lest forget about justice.
But, i was really moved by one person in the whole episode, Aradhna her friend. When i was returning back after watching 3 idiots i was asked " does this type of friendship happens in real world", this one is for you , prakhar. Their friendship has transcended the realms of life and death. At these sort of times even the family members do not support but she fought the case for 19 years among all the adversaries. We always talk about jai and veeru, aradhna and ruchika would be the new epitome of friendship.
Now the most important player in the whole episode, the celebrated indian media. We may make a lot of fun of them, often accuse them of making a lot of hue and cry... but with all their shortcomings , they are the only option left for the "aam aadmi" of india to raise their voice. As we have seen again and again , the cases where all have lost the hope , media ensured the justice for the victims be it jessica lall or priyadarshini mattoo. Once again a striking feature, all the cases are pertaining to girls. To shameful for a nation, priding on its culture...huh...
Also, in hindsight, as i mentioned in the one of my previous blog 'u, me and us', i think that technology has played a major part in ameliorating the situation. If she could have written a mail to president, could have made a blog entry against all the atrocities or could connect with her friends , a life could have been saved ,and various others would have been in a much better condition. Although, excess is harmful, but this can play a important part in helping the youth population of india.
In the land of rani laxmibai and indira gandhi, the girls are still compelled to live a fearful life, i really feel grief and shame .... lets hope that new year bring justice to ruchika and all other victims and their families.
P.S. Reading this case, i felt watching a 90's movie, with ajay devgan as protagonist . The only difference was that at that time there was a belief that all would be settled by the hero, and it would be a happy ending. In the real world, bhaiyya all is not well !!!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Picks of the year !!!!
Amidst the chilling cold and freezing winds , finally the last night of the year arrives. On the eve of new year their would be lots of celebrations, news channel will roll the reel back, entertainment channels will arrange the circus of Bollywood stars. So, making hay while the sun shines ( although it rarely do now a days !!!) , i also try to dirty my hands in picking some moments of mine throughout the year.
Disclaimer : All comments are personal by me, and any resemblence with alive or dead would be considered co-incidental !!! ...
So, lets start now :
1. Loosing "Virginity"
No... No... No, its not what you all are thinking. Its about loosing my virginity regarding alcohol. After 23 years of resistance, i finally sucuumbed to the pressure of alocohol when i first drank a peg on 1st Jan 2009. Well, about expirience, 1 peg seemed very normal, 2nd peg... some thing started shaking and 3rd peg.. i puked !!!.... After that, i had some further misadventures with it, but now i am sure that me and alcohol are not a happy couple.
2. Group Sangraam
Well, meanwhile i got first of my mba call from IMT Ghaziabad ( Which is where i ended). I had practiced GD/PI rigorously in my coachings, so i was confident of doing well. So when we were seated in a group we were 16 in number ( or was it a crowd !!) and then the moderator announced the time limit "8" minutes , like a ration quota in a famine stricken area. So, as soon as the signal is given, all the loaded missiles shot at once. No body was listening to any body, some were speaking to fan and some were to floor. The best part , though, was " stop pointing your finger towards me " :) :)
3. Bharat Darshan
Due to my desperation of fleeing from my job, i applied to all the MBA colleges , i had heard the names of !!!. so, march was the month where i started the exploration of "incredible" india !.. My first destination was Manipal ( TAPMI).. and to all of my horrors, the train didnt stopped at the station. It stopped 90 kms away and then i have to came back, and i reached the institute, just before the gates were being closed. Then i had a "jab we met" journey from mangalore to Chennai. BIM profs screwed me hard . But the trip ended very well , with my seat upgraded to 2nd AC from the 3rd AC on return journey.
4. Jahapanah ....Tohfa Kabool ho !!!
Although it was not exactly the "tohfas" as depicted in the new amir's flick "3 idiots", the most popular 'PDP' program of IMT Ghaziabad was very much same in the spirit. To non-imtians.. this is an softer version and euphemism for 'R" word in the boarding schools. Newly arrived bacchas, almost forget what sleeping means.... but its lot of fun doing some bizzare things that you would not have done in a sane mood. The best part is "shav-asan" in the morning yoga ....
u dont know why ??? just lie down in the same pose on a clean sheet for 2 mins !!!
5. "Gravity of Situation "
The chances are that you must have felt it some times in your life, but it is very common in IMTian Life. If you are not feeling it, you would be constantly reminded by some Zombie committee people time and time again. If you want to have the expirience of "Nazi Concentration camps" just attend their open houses. Any ways jokes apart, i really salute the efforts they put in and i really appreciate their hard work and spirit. Kudos to u guys !!!!
6. Sir... Actually.... We are coming to that...
A MBA life is synonumous to presentations.At the end of every day, you will find yourself making one presentation or another. So, when i was standing in front of class, with some muscles of my leg vibrating, equipped with a shabby presentation prepared last night , last thing i wanted is the prof interjecting in between. And to every questions of his, the standard answer was " Sir .. actually.. we are coming to that point.. we have covered in further slides... " and it continued till the " Thank You" Slide !!!
7. "Immediately "
During the much awaited weeks.. a cherubic female voice, announces this as a signature word. Although , the important words precede this "immediately". If you happen to hear your name, then it sounds nothing less than honey to your ears.
So, these are some of the picks of the year for me... although some are classical but not to mention here like " dont touch me i have a boy friend ( after boozing !!!)..." to " i got the imt blues !!!! "....
Wishing all of you ( The patient readers , thats why i kept this part last :) ), a very happy and prpsperous 2010. May god bless you all...
Adieu for the last tym in 2009.....
Yours truly
Disclaimer : All comments are personal by me, and any resemblence with alive or dead would be considered co-incidental !!! ...
So, lets start now :
1. Loosing "Virginity"
No... No... No, its not what you all are thinking. Its about loosing my virginity regarding alcohol. After 23 years of resistance, i finally sucuumbed to the pressure of alocohol when i first drank a peg on 1st Jan 2009. Well, about expirience, 1 peg seemed very normal, 2nd peg... some thing started shaking and 3rd peg.. i puked !!!.... After that, i had some further misadventures with it, but now i am sure that me and alcohol are not a happy couple.
2. Group Sangraam
Well, meanwhile i got first of my mba call from IMT Ghaziabad ( Which is where i ended). I had practiced GD/PI rigorously in my coachings, so i was confident of doing well. So when we were seated in a group we were 16 in number ( or was it a crowd !!) and then the moderator announced the time limit "8" minutes , like a ration quota in a famine stricken area. So, as soon as the signal is given, all the loaded missiles shot at once. No body was listening to any body, some were speaking to fan and some were to floor. The best part , though, was " stop pointing your finger towards me " :) :)
3. Bharat Darshan
Due to my desperation of fleeing from my job, i applied to all the MBA colleges , i had heard the names of !!!. so, march was the month where i started the exploration of "incredible" india !.. My first destination was Manipal ( TAPMI).. and to all of my horrors, the train didnt stopped at the station. It stopped 90 kms away and then i have to came back, and i reached the institute, just before the gates were being closed. Then i had a "jab we met" journey from mangalore to Chennai. BIM profs screwed me hard . But the trip ended very well , with my seat upgraded to 2nd AC from the 3rd AC on return journey.
4. Jahapanah ....Tohfa Kabool ho !!!
Although it was not exactly the "tohfas" as depicted in the new amir's flick "3 idiots", the most popular 'PDP' program of IMT Ghaziabad was very much same in the spirit. To non-imtians.. this is an softer version and euphemism for 'R" word in the boarding schools. Newly arrived bacchas, almost forget what sleeping means.... but its lot of fun doing some bizzare things that you would not have done in a sane mood. The best part is "shav-asan" in the morning yoga ....
u dont know why ??? just lie down in the same pose on a clean sheet for 2 mins !!!
5. "Gravity of Situation "
The chances are that you must have felt it some times in your life, but it is very common in IMTian Life. If you are not feeling it, you would be constantly reminded by some Zombie committee people time and time again. If you want to have the expirience of "Nazi Concentration camps" just attend their open houses. Any ways jokes apart, i really salute the efforts they put in and i really appreciate their hard work and spirit. Kudos to u guys !!!!
6. Sir... Actually.... We are coming to that...
A MBA life is synonumous to presentations.At the end of every day, you will find yourself making one presentation or another. So, when i was standing in front of class, with some muscles of my leg vibrating, equipped with a shabby presentation prepared last night , last thing i wanted is the prof interjecting in between. And to every questions of his, the standard answer was " Sir .. actually.. we are coming to that point.. we have covered in further slides... " and it continued till the " Thank You" Slide !!!
7. "Immediately "
During the much awaited weeks.. a cherubic female voice, announces this as a signature word. Although , the important words precede this "immediately". If you happen to hear your name, then it sounds nothing less than honey to your ears.
So, these are some of the picks of the year for me... although some are classical but not to mention here like " dont touch me i have a boy friend ( after boozing !!!)..." to " i got the imt blues !!!! "....
Wishing all of you ( The patient readers , thats why i kept this part last :) ), a very happy and prpsperous 2010. May god bless you all...
Adieu for the last tym in 2009.....
Yours truly
Saturday, December 26, 2009
About actors
Amir Khan was my favorite actor. Yes, 'was' till I watched 3 idiots. The process started with Lagaan. Then DCH, Fanna, TZP, Ghajini and finally 3i followed. These films were among the biggest blockbusters of the year they were released. They lived up to the hype created by the media and promoters. All were so different, depicted different storylines with good camera work and music. Then why so unusual ?
There lies the reason. In all these films, amir's character was so powerful. It had a larger than life image. In Fanna, he was an impostor, a terrorist on a mission and a passionate lover at the same time. In Lagaan, he had the courage and talent to take on the Englishmen. He was the best player of all; a leader, a good bowler and batsman too. In Ghajini he prepared a masculine structure to support his macho and confused character. Again, in TZP he was an artist, a model teacher and by chance suffered from dyslexia in his childhood. The limit crossed in 3i. Mr. Rancho was intelligent, extrovert, naughty and a topper too. He ended up becoming a scientist.
It's not that I am envious of these unique characters potrayed by him. AK has been my favorite so much that he adorns my mobile screen in his Ghajiini look till date. Today, I know not why, my mind reminded me of actors like SRK and Amitabh Bachchan. I remembered their classic performances and yes, I found them better than AK. Their characters are not so powerful, they are like u and me. That is the true test of potrayal. Without any support of external appearances, extraordinary talent; they have lived their roles pretty well. Amir Sir was always looking for a larger than life script (read role) for himself.
There lies the reason. In all these films, amir's character was so powerful. It had a larger than life image. In Fanna, he was an impostor, a terrorist on a mission and a passionate lover at the same time. In Lagaan, he had the courage and talent to take on the Englishmen. He was the best player of all; a leader, a good bowler and batsman too. In Ghajini he prepared a masculine structure to support his macho and confused character. Again, in TZP he was an artist, a model teacher and by chance suffered from dyslexia in his childhood. The limit crossed in 3i. Mr. Rancho was intelligent, extrovert, naughty and a topper too. He ended up becoming a scientist.
It's not that I am envious of these unique characters potrayed by him. AK has been my favorite so much that he adorns my mobile screen in his Ghajiini look till date. Today, I know not why, my mind reminded me of actors like SRK and Amitabh Bachchan. I remembered their classic performances and yes, I found them better than AK. Their characters are not so powerful, they are like u and me. That is the true test of potrayal. Without any support of external appearances, extraordinary talent; they have lived their roles pretty well. Amir Sir was always looking for a larger than life script (read role) for himself.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
How to change ?
We are fault ridden beings. Claimed one of the best philosophers of all times. We all know our weaknesses. ( or do we not ?) But what is it that we are unable to break the shackles, come out of it. Emotions, the word commonly countered in such situations! It simply does not allow us to change, change for the better. Thus, we are stereotyped by our personality types, which keep reminding us of our traits.
Is it tough to change ? Our childhood memories, some of which has formed deep imprints on our psyche refuse to die down. Maybe, obviously, we dread a particular behaviour because of the "horrifying" experiences in the past. The past encumbers our childhood, when we were nascent enough to take certain things seriously. The reactions of elders to our childishness might have prompted such behaviour.
World has so many extroverts and so few introverts! People who talk less and think more are introverts. As I anticipate, introverts are people who think ahead of their age. Right from the kindergarten days, they do not find activities of their fellow beings exciting enough. They are bored of it. They want to do what their immediate elders do. But they are not supposed to do that. Result, if they approach out of curiosity to 'higher' people, they are unacceptable. People usually take them with a pinch of a salt, until they persist to prove themselves. Sadly, not all can hold that courage, some need help from others. They hesitate to express their intentions, knowing that they will not be understood.
Thus, they keep concentrating on areas where they are supposed to do well. In the meantime, they feel that they are not enjoying life. Their unhappiness in completing those expected chores is highlighted when they distance themselves from people. The search for loneliness where they can 'invent' something is always there. If they are unable to accomplish so, they get angry at hindrances. Again, people find this unnatural. Unnatural it is, because they were not allowed to do things which they could have done. Their mind process tells them things which they are unable to explain to their friends. Often, introverts result in excelling in arts, music and literature. These fields provide a platform to invent, to keep growing and not reaching the end.
When I happened to pursue PGDM (accidently, I must say), I was told a manager must have an extroverted personality to leverage maximum benefits. Well, it sounds reasonable. So what if I am not an extrovert ? I do not talk to people spontaneously. I need a reason to be a first mover. What to do ? Am I in the wrong place ?
State(s) of Nation
If anyone get a chance to look at the globes of the era before 1990s, he is bound to be perplexed by what he would say. The world and thus nations look completely different from what they was 2 decades ago. The present fiasco in the telugu land is the latest bead in the necklace. Once again the political map of India is bound to change.
As a north indian, to be frank i am relatively naive to comment on the issue of a separate telangana state. So, at lunch i caught hole two of my andhra friends. So, for the benefits of the readers (like me :) ) , andhra is broadly divided into 3 parts viz telangana, coastal andhra & rayalseema. While the coastal andhra is most propesperous owing to the agricultural prowess, telangana has lot of heritage, with the jewel "Hyderabad" , one of the heriatge city of the world. People of telangana feel that they are inequitably treated and hence are demanding for a new state or it seems so. Telangana is like a proverbial phoenix which rises again and again at the time of elections or some other political activity. It is the bread and meat for the politicians of andhra pradesh.
Before dwelling on pros and cons, i want to understand the dynamics behind it. Are big states destined to be partitioned ?? , well the answer is not very easy. At the time of the independence, India was a confederation of 9 British provinces and 500 princely states. With the help of 'iron man' vallabh bahi patel , the federal system in India was conceived with dual system of centre and states. Initially, established geographically, the later states are conceptualized on the linguistic basis. According to me, this is the root cause of the conflict. If a state is considerably big, then there is bound to be regions with different culture, languages and dialects. Certainly there would be place which will become the economic hub and other places which will left behind in the race. So, in the long run, the clash of the humanity in these states are inevitable. To strengthen the point, we can see that parallel governance system of Maoists started from the states which are struggling to handle their diversity.
So, are the smaller states answer to the problem? Well, the tempting answer wouls be yes !!. Smaller the states, lesser the diversity, lesser the conflict and the utilization of funds would be more effective, common sense huh !!!. Well, sometimes the common sense is very uncommon. To, examine these points, we can always look at the fate of the 3 states viz uttarakhand, jharkhand and chattisgarh. The first one was separated due to the geographical terrain, other 2 due to their tribal base. But the situations is far away from what envisaged. Jharkhand , a state rich in natural resources, still remains the poorest state of the nation, Maoist insurgency is almost uncontrollable in chattisgarh, and uttarakhand although faring a little well , is still under debt of crores of rupees from the centre. These new states , to an large extent , were unable to serve the purpose for what they were created.
we as a country, celebrates our uniqueness of 'unity in diversity'. This is the foundation of our very culture. But by giving into the demands of the creation or more aptly the partition of states, are we not jeopardizing our basic tenet. Did we become so intolerable of the diversity, or whether we always were. Today, it is telangana, tomorrow the voices would be raised for gorkhaland, Coorg, bundelkhand, and god know how many states... We know that, history repeats itself , are we going to see 500 states in India again. Jawahar lal nehru , in his book 'discovery of india' , says that if you see a pathan and a south indian, you will hardly believe that they are part of same country, but if you spend some time with them, you will find a intangible string of indianness which would be binding both.
Is that string is breaking, do our differences have become big enough which can overpower our felling of unity and belongingness, well the future holds the answer... who knows our knowledge may become obsolete when we would teach geography to our kids !!!!
On the finishing note, fasts as a way of protest , was attributed to mahatma gandhi as an unassailable tool of non-violence... in those times, they were for uniting india, now they are done for dividing it, life definitely comes the full circle !!!
As a north indian, to be frank i am relatively naive to comment on the issue of a separate telangana state. So, at lunch i caught hole two of my andhra friends. So, for the benefits of the readers (like me :) ) , andhra is broadly divided into 3 parts viz telangana, coastal andhra & rayalseema. While the coastal andhra is most propesperous owing to the agricultural prowess, telangana has lot of heritage, with the jewel "Hyderabad" , one of the heriatge city of the world. People of telangana feel that they are inequitably treated and hence are demanding for a new state or it seems so. Telangana is like a proverbial phoenix which rises again and again at the time of elections or some other political activity. It is the bread and meat for the politicians of andhra pradesh.
Before dwelling on pros and cons, i want to understand the dynamics behind it. Are big states destined to be partitioned ?? , well the answer is not very easy. At the time of the independence, India was a confederation of 9 British provinces and 500 princely states. With the help of 'iron man' vallabh bahi patel , the federal system in India was conceived with dual system of centre and states. Initially, established geographically, the later states are conceptualized on the linguistic basis. According to me, this is the root cause of the conflict. If a state is considerably big, then there is bound to be regions with different culture, languages and dialects. Certainly there would be place which will become the economic hub and other places which will left behind in the race. So, in the long run, the clash of the humanity in these states are inevitable. To strengthen the point, we can see that parallel governance system of Maoists started from the states which are struggling to handle their diversity.
So, are the smaller states answer to the problem? Well, the tempting answer wouls be yes !!. Smaller the states, lesser the diversity, lesser the conflict and the utilization of funds would be more effective, common sense huh !!!. Well, sometimes the common sense is very uncommon. To, examine these points, we can always look at the fate of the 3 states viz uttarakhand, jharkhand and chattisgarh. The first one was separated due to the geographical terrain, other 2 due to their tribal base. But the situations is far away from what envisaged. Jharkhand , a state rich in natural resources, still remains the poorest state of the nation, Maoist insurgency is almost uncontrollable in chattisgarh, and uttarakhand although faring a little well , is still under debt of crores of rupees from the centre. These new states , to an large extent , were unable to serve the purpose for what they were created.
we as a country, celebrates our uniqueness of 'unity in diversity'. This is the foundation of our very culture. But by giving into the demands of the creation or more aptly the partition of states, are we not jeopardizing our basic tenet. Did we become so intolerable of the diversity, or whether we always were. Today, it is telangana, tomorrow the voices would be raised for gorkhaland, Coorg, bundelkhand, and god know how many states... We know that, history repeats itself , are we going to see 500 states in India again. Jawahar lal nehru , in his book 'discovery of india' , says that if you see a pathan and a south indian, you will hardly believe that they are part of same country, but if you spend some time with them, you will find a intangible string of indianness which would be binding both.
Is that string is breaking, do our differences have become big enough which can overpower our felling of unity and belongingness, well the future holds the answer... who knows our knowledge may become obsolete when we would teach geography to our kids !!!!
On the finishing note, fasts as a way of protest , was attributed to mahatma gandhi as an unassailable tool of non-violence... in those times, they were for uniting india, now they are done for dividing it, life definitely comes the full circle !!!
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