Common Wealth Games

The question is ,
Even if the CWG preparations were perfect and the facilities were truly world-class, would any one of us in this cricket obsessed country of ours go to attend the event????

If the Delhi Games is not a success, it would not be because of all the controversy but because we did not even try to make it a success. Some celebrity even suggested that we should boycott the games. That would not be necessary. Since there is no cricket, no one would go to watch in the first place!

We Indians are the type of people who want to be the best but are to lazy to even lift a finger for the betterment of this country. It is no wonder we would rather hero worship the existing sport stars (meaning cricketers) than pushing ourselves or our children towards a career in sports.

Of Food

It doesn't matter whether you are studying in one of the top colleges in the country, if you cannot you cannot eat from a mess just because it doesn't serve the food from your region, you are just another narrow-minded and conservative person just like any other person in India.

Its no surprise that the country has not reached even 10% of its actual potential. When Indians cannot take risks with the food they eat even for one day, how are we supposed to take the big decisions that will take the country forward?

In IISc. you can see the entire story unfolding. People complain about the mess but still wont change to another one even though you can change back if you didn't like it. And the students from each regions have their own dishes which they cannot live without. If it is rice and sambhar for Keralites, then it is the Hilsa fish for the Bengalis and so on.

I used to think that only malayalees were so rigid when it comes to food, not trying anything different. But now I have realized that every Indian is as bad. The ones from the big cities are a little better. But they come with their own set of problems

Of Hostels

While going through the hostel admission process at IISc, I overheard one of the officials saying that the girls are always taken care of and its only the boys who have to put up with all the issues such as no water, cleanliness, etc. Someone else told me that this was the situation in all colleges. The girls hostel is always better kept than the boys hostel.

But why? Girls have always been known to be more orderly and tidy than boys. Why do they need any extra attention? If anything its the boys who require more attention. With personal experience about the cleanliness of a boys hostel, I would have to say that its a wonder boys don't catch an diseases because of their appalling standards of hygiene. I have seen rooms covered with enough layers of dirt for it to have an archaeological survey done.

That the boys start acting mature and start cleaning up after themselves is not going to happen any time soon. So I urge all the hostel authorities in every hostel take up the issues of boys' hostels before it goes from bad to worse. The future of mankind is at stake here!!

Political 'Career'

The recent hiking of the salaries of our MPs has brought with it a storm of criticism from the media and the like. With inflation going unabated why are our leaders eager to to take home fat paychecks than solving the nation's problems? Why is it that they are ready to look like selfish babus just for a rise in income?

But why not? Surely inflation also affect the rich too!!! And service starts right from our home and family! But apart from that, Indian legislators are among the lesser paid than their counterparts elsewhere in the world. But that is not an excuse since the 'nation building work' they seem to do may not be worth much.

But isn't politics another career a person may choose? It is also much more riskier and gratifying at the same time than any other profession. In this money driven world where jobs which come with high salaries together with an opportunity to change the world for the better are rare. In this world it may be the best career option too. Of course to succeed in politics takes a lot of hard work as does any other profession bud the rewards are much better. Above all you get the love and respect of the people. Does any other job offer that?!

Indian politics needs fresh faces and not somebody's son/ daughter/ nephew , etc. Maybe this hike in salaries will inspire more people to take politics as a career.

The City of Joy

With names like Esplanade, Park Street and Cornwallis Avenues, one would think they are in London, but a closer look shows that they are in a more beautiful place called Kolkata.

Though the city is one big traffic jam, it is quite a sight. The narrow roads are filled with Ambassador cars, I too went around in one. I was surprised by the size of the car, its huge! Three can sit comfortably in the back without touching each other.

The people are very helpful too. And unlike New Delhi or Mumbai, the youth here are not much of the Pg3 HiFi types.

Got to dip my feet in the Ganga (Hooghly) near the Dakshineshwar temple and hopefully they are free of sin.

The place is more of a girls delight with the large number of saree shops selling the traditional bengali handloom sarees.

Young Adults

Am I an adult yet?
Is being 21 years old enough to be an adult?
I guess not.
We live in a country where talking about sex is taboo. For some, the act itself is a necessary evil.
So I'd say we are all still children. So lets throw all responsibilities out the window and just enjoy!!

The Value of a Human Life

This is an incident that happened to me on my way back to Trivandrum from Ernakulam by bus. We were on a narrow bridge with two lanes when a motorbike tried to overtake us by going full speed. But unfortunately, there was a car coming from the other side and the rider hit the car. It was quite a gruesome accident. Of course, this being Kerala, the bus stopped and many people got down to see the victim. The licence numbers of the both the car and the bike was noted by the conductor of our bus and one person was trying to get some water for the victim. This enquiring mood did not last long though, in the very words of one of the passengers of the bus, “since the accident did not involve the bus in any way, we need not care at all and the bus should leave.” The infamous Malayalee spirit had taken over. The car involved on the accident waited for the police and so did the bike rider who was unconscious evidently with heavy injuries on his head and spine. The passengers of the bus were told to board the bus as it would be leaving. Inside the bus the discussion about the accident began. There was no doubt that it was the fault of the biker. So the discussion was about why we did not help the victim. Surprisingly, everyone seemed to think on the lines that since the bus was not involved we were not required to help at all.

It is said that God helps those who help themselves. I used to think that this meant that we should learn to take care of ourselves and not be dependent on others. But I have now learnt that this means the we should try our best not to help others and we should not help ourselves either, otherwise we wouldn’t need a god to help us!

As the bus left I could see the bike rider lying on the footpath with his motorbike kept beside him and his bag kept near his hand for easy access. He was unconscious though. And where was I during this whole episode unfolded in front of me. I was worse than the average Malayalee. I did not leave my seat fearing I would lose it. I did not enquire about his condition and just kept on listening to the others.

 

The value we give to another human’s life is always more than ours. If we think of an unknown person’s life to be highly valuable we would also be right up there. But on the other hand if we deem another person not worthy of our help we too are worthless indeed. If human life could be measured in absolutes then the average of them all would be very low. The life of the common man is quite worthless for if he was worthy of anything then he would not be common at all.

Excess Baggage will Be Charged

All Indians are born with luggage which we are expected to carry with us throughout our lives. The baggage I am talking about is our cultural baggage. Indians especially carry a very huge and heavy bag, more likely an aluminium trunk. Every ‘learned’ person claims that we have to let go of this cultural bag that we carry if we want to ever develop into a great country. Everyone, from a student of a local engineering college to ex Infosys guy Nandan Nilekani, wants Indians to let go of its past. But do we really have to?

Has anyone ever opened the bag they carry around and actually seen what lies in it? Have we ever read our history books, our scriptures and mythologies not to mug up for exams but to examine our past? We must realize that there is a lot to learn from our past. A lot of good things were told that must be done. A lot of mistakes were made from which we must learn so they are not repeated. It was this past that inspired Indians to overthrow our colonial rulers so we could live our lives the way we wanted to.

Have any of these new-age rationalists ever read any of our scriptures? Because those who have read them would attest to the fact that they have a lot to teach in almost every field from music to politics and can be helpful to all kinds of people in almost every situation imaginable.

Isn’t it hypocrisy to speak about something you don’t know about?

Life Cycle of a Wall

I was walking down the street, with nothing much to do, thinking of ways to waste my time. I had about an hour to my next appointment. As I turned around corner, I saw a man staring at me. As I turned around I realized it was not me but the wall he was staring at. I continued walking. ‘But hold on’, I thought, ‘nobody stares at a wall. Maybe he was just window shopping’. I turned to check but it was a solid red brick wall. There were no windows and definitely no shops. ‘Probably a nutcase’, I thought. That was when I got a bright idea. I sat down on the footpath next the wall. The same wall which was being stared down by the other person. I sat there looking intently at the other person. He was around 35 years of age I guessed. He wore a pair of blue jeans. But I realized “Almost all jeans are some shade of blue. We definitely need more descriptors for jeans than just its colour. Especially since the branded ones cost an average of about Rs.1000.” I came to the conclusion that this pair of jeans the person was wearing was the shade of blue found on the seats of the Indian Railway compartments. The ones which are new. The person wore a cream colour shirt. The cream being, in this case, that of a butterscotch ice cream. When I looked op to the persons face I realized the he was looking back. He looked a bit uncomfortable. “Can’t blame him. He has a person sitting on the floor gawking at him studying the colours of his clothes. But hold on! Isn’t India the land of staring? Everyone stares. So why can’t I too?” But I discovered the truth, “You are allowed to stare only at people who look out of the place. This guy was wearing normal clothes and was normal in every sense.” He started tidying himself up though there was nothing wrong with him. He took out his napkin and wiped his face. And after giving me a sharp glance he walked off. “The converse of the Stare Rule has come into play. If you have someone staring at you, it implies that there is something wrong with you.” My eyes were following the person as he walked away. He turned back to look at me and when his eyes met mine, I gave a mischievous smile. He stopped in his tracks and started adjusting himself again. I thought, “Since this guy was staring intently at the wall, there must be something wrong with the wall.” I turned to look but found nothing interesting. It was a brick wall, comparatively new, probably only a year old. The red colour of the bricks was still shining. The wall was enclosing a school. “Maybe he was waiting to pick up his child from school. But wait. Shouldn’t he be waiting at the gate? How can staring at the wall solve anything? Was he a thief? But what can you steal in a school? Chalk!” I smiled at my own joke. “It is funny now but if I tell it to my friends, it becomes a PoorJoke. I think all jokes are lame if taken out of the context.” “Maybe he is going for the computers and things like that. He’s probably the scout and has come to check the place and make the plans. There may be others members in his gang.” But computers are not that costly and have very little resale value especially if it is stolen. “What else can you steal in a school? Maybe it is the fees collection time, there might be money lying around there. But isn’t this a government school. The fees here is quite low and wont add up to anything substantial.” “Is it possible that he was a Pink Floyd fan and was thinking about the meaning of ‘Another brick in the Wall’?” They referred to the wall that surrounded our minds. Bad teachers were just a part of it. And it was a brick wall just like this. And this was quite a big wall. It was more than five metres high. “Maybe the playground is on the other side and the wall was built to stop balls from flying out. Of course there is a bigger probability of it being built to keep the children from flying out, with the high dropout rates in schools.” At that time the school bell rang. I checked my watch to find that I myself had been staring at the wall for about half an hour. A I turned to move, I found another person staring at me and then at the wall. And I thought “The cycle continues”