Terrorising the Terrorists

Dear Mr.(Islamic) Terrorist.

Stop thinking we are sitting ducks. We are not. Don't you see how we protect our netas. Our Aam Admi? Well they are Our soldiers. Just like you don't question your Boss, back home. We don't question our Bosses (whom we elect unlike you). And while you might get martyrdom, we give the kin of Our martyrs few Lakhs. See our life is not Cheap. (In case you want to die as Our Soldier don't ask me the procedure for getting this amount, but knowing our system I am sure it will be very easy and soothing)

Stop smirking! How dare you think, we are unprepared for you. We have a 10 point Massive Retaliation Plan against you chartered by the Media, Stars & Netas:-

1.Breaking News on all News Channel with the latest information. (Yeah they will be delivered to us Immediately, even without waiting for the silly task of verfication, so that we can take further precautions against you).

2.Netas of ruling party appear on all channels appealing for calm. Netas of opposition party appear on all channels talking about the inefficiency of the CM/PM.

3.Stars empathize with the aam admi and rage against the System and You Cowards via their Tweets. And now Thanks to Sachin(!?) the World of cricketers also tweet against you.

4.Media, on the Frontline of our Fight against you, Talks against You and Talks about the Tweets of the Stars and Talks with our Netas and Page 3 Intellectuals.

5.If you dare to attack Mumbai, we have a special segment and debate on the Mumbai Spirit. (Other victim cities are trying to come up with their own Response Term).

6.Don't think the Aam Indian doesn't care. We switch on the TV, listen and discuss with other Responsible Indians and try to update each other with information. And criticise our netas, babus  police and media. (sorry media). Of course there are some, who are more proactive. We send smses and tweet (Against You) and if you let out your name in advance, we can make you a TT on Twitter. And those with more time, will blog Against You.

7.If We or our Stars and Neta, party after or during the attack, its just to show You, You don't affect us. Ha! Can your people come up concepts like this?

8.Don't think we don't know who you are. WE KNOW. Whatever your Father's name, we know your Mother's name is ISI.(Is there a way to patent this insult?) See we have a simple rule. If its a metro its You. If its some security personnel attacked in some town, its Naxals. (Saffron terror, probably Your Hindu ancestors, back from the past through some time machine.)

9.We don't stop combating you with the immediate response. We have intellectuals like Subramaniam Swamy and Digvijay Singh who have their grand own Masterplan. And we have a highly active online responsible citizens community, discussing it through Tweets and Blogs. If you are reading them and think they just the say same thing everytime and it just retweets and copy-pastes. Well, thats just to confuse You. Its all a code to confuse, you.

10.And as our final blow to you. We give you a Date. (Hopefully you idiots won't attack us again on the same date later and let us safely mourn). And erase you from our memory. Thats right we erase your wounds from our memory. Don't think you are totally forgotten, we will remember all the details, when you attack us,again. And don't think you are forgiven either. Don't you see us raging against Kasab/Kasav/Qasab?

• Even if our Force 1 doesn't have a dedicated home and a place to train, 
• Watchout 10% of them have bulletproof vests helmets and blastproof eyewear etc.
• Of Mumbai 43000 policemen, (150 yes 150 can you deal with it?) have bullet proof jackets.
• And wipe off the smirk while thinking about the quality of those bullet proof jackets. We have now extra careful babus,even if it means 50000 multifunctional belts ordered by the police haven't got the final rubber stamp of approval. And so what if the network of 5000 cctv cameras are yet to be installed. We have private enterprise. Shopkeepers had installed cameras in two of the three places where bombs exploded during 13/7.

Watchout you #@$@#$@# we are Prepared.

PS : This post is intended to strike terror in the heart of the terrorists. This is NOT the platform for any bleeding heart to talk about victims and the compensation they get or don't get. Don't suggest any ideas for helping the victims of terror. Thats just distracts us from our war on terror. Please don't get swayed by your emotions. Be brave hearted and  be Virat.

Shameful Sanitation

In the sea of humanity, some fishes are more equal than others

If the toilets offered to visitors were not hygienic I wonder about the toilets offered to 400000 CWG workers. But in an image obsessed nation, these Indian workers don't matter. 

UN estimates 55 percent of Indians still defecate outside.The media conveniently sleeps to the fact that more Indians have access to mobile phones than improved sanitation and wakes up only to criticize Kalmadi. 

I am not saying unclean toilets are okay. Just saying Clean Sanitation options should not be a luxury and should be a right of every Indian.

2 articles which didn't say the usual

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India-Circus/entry/brown-man-s-burden

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/we-just-won-the-gold/687684/

I am sick of writing about CWG, but sanitation is not a silly cause to support. Would like to recycle 180 feet and  Waste.

PS : Clicked the Pic on the latest trip. 

Offline

My brain is brimming with blog posts but I have to deal with this 2 and half year old.
***

I prefer to keep my offline life, offline, but thought I would make an exception and talk about whats been happening to me lately.

Saw Inception , after being depressed about the ending for couple of days, decided Cobb's guilt would have got him out of the dream. Guilt is more powerful than Love.


Read few days back, the three books in the Millennium series, by Stieg Larsson. Felt the original title of the first book "Men who hate women" was more apt than "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". There are not just men who hate women, but even women who hate women. My most recent encounter, a maths teacher who said, women can't compete with men when it comes to cooking. (I couldn't resist pointing out, that perhaps, men focussed on taste and were more liberal with oil salt etc, while many women who cook regularly think of their husband's cholestrol bp and are moderate in its usage.) Five minutes later, she said, girls were stupids who had to slog and study everyday but boys could study at the last minute and still be brilliant. And continued to admire boys. I didn't argue on this one. Even if I had pointed out few girls who studied at the last minute and came up with good marks, she wouldn't have admired them.  I just pitied and prayed for the girls in her maths class. I simply gave up on the conversation. And for the record, I think its stupid to generalise that one gender can cook better than the other. On maths, even if the brains are different, the ALL boys and ALL girls is a bit too much. After reading the book, I thought about her and others like her (men and women) who hate women. And wondered if there were men and women who hated men. And for a whole day I was stumped. There are different standards for men and women. If Hilary Clinton behaved liked Bill, she wouldn't have got away with it so easily.

I tried to think of atleast one woman or one man whom I have met, who hated men. And I couldn't come up with the above teacher's equivalent. Till I thought, under what circumstances will the above teacher hate men? And the answer is so simple. I have a feeling she would hate a man who decides to be a homemaker or a man who wears skirts and lipsticks occasionally. I don't know if its true. But in my mind, I have restored the gender neutral balance.

I lost few files. One of the files was an excel file a daily planner which mentions what each member of the family had and will be having for the next month, for breakfast lunch dinner and snack. What me and my kid wore, the anniversaries and the expenses and whether I walked or had fruit. And the chores I did. And a 2do list. No I am not an organised person. I have that file, precisely because I am not organised. I have shopping lists, packing lists, 2do lists because I know I am stupid and liable to make mistakes. I believe in being a wise donkey even in real life.
Now I am busy typing in all the databanks. (The Shopping list, The Packing List, The Dinner Menu List, The Dress List etc and of course the Daily Planner till December.) So that I rotate all the clothes, and recipes and don't spend too much time on trying to remember if I have forgotten something.

Unknown, if you are reading this, I didn't win or get a mention in the Freedom Contest. Didn't pout this time, just shrugged and moved on.

It might not be a coherent blog post, but just wanted to update. Rachna's comment acted as the Kick. And I have been back to mention I will have to go back for 3 more days on a short trip. Then I hope to blog till October 10th before leaving on a one month trip. And somewhere in between I have to shift my house.

I have kicked myself many times over choosing the online Identity wise donkey. (Try to tell that name to a group of bloggers in a blog meet). But now I am think thats better than Parents who think their children's kindergarden and primary school marks are a reflection of their Identity.

I have to catch up with many blog posts. Hope to catch up with them by Tuesday.

On Ayodhya, Would like to recycle Path of Ram

The other IPL

We need our ministers, in state and centre to focus on the other unglamourous IPL, Indian Poverty Line. They should be banned from holding posts in BCCI. BCCI should be run by professionals, not politicians. Not just to root out corruption, but to atleast to increase ministers concentration and focus. After a disastrous World Cup, didn't BCCI restrict the number of advertisements, a player can appear in? If BCCI can demand this from the players, why shouldn't we demand it from our politicians.

The Planning Commission has accepted the Tendulkar Committee report which holds 37 per cent of people in India below the poverty line, an increase of 10 per cent. But activists on the ground are already calling it an underestimation of poverty. Two other reports had pegged poverty at higher levels. The Arjun Sengupta report had said 77 per cent of Indians live on less than Rs 20 a day while the N C Saxena Committee report had said 50 per cent of people live below poverty.

Waste

All wastes are not equal. Some are more expensive than others.

Chennai Corporation spent more than Rs 24 lakh on the inauguration of two flyovers(at Cenotaph Road and Alandur Road) and a subway (on Jones Road, Saidapet) by chief minister M Karunanidhi on December 11, 2009. According to a reply to an RTI filed by V Madhav of Porur.

Rs 16.45 lakh was spent on the inauguration of the Cenotaph Road flyover while Rs 7.87 lakh was spent for the Alandur Road flyover and the Jones Road subway although no stage was put up and the CM inaugurated it sitting in his car.

“The total amount spent for the functions is almost equal to the ward development fund of a councillor, which is Rs 25 lakh a year. At a time when the government is short of funds for welfare schemes, there should not be any wasteful expenditure,’’ Madhav said.

So, what was 24 lakhs spent on? Rs 8.3 lakh on lighting, mikes and ACs at the Cenotaph Road flyover inauguration, Rs 2.5 lakh on the stage arrangements and toilet facility for Karunanidhi, Rs 1.15 lakh was spent for chairs for VIP, VVIPs and members of the public, the fabricated tent and synthetic mat. In addition, booklets supplied to VIPs, VVIPs and the public on the two flyovers cost Rs 4.3 lakh, while Rs 3.53 lakh was spent on lighting arrangements on the Alandur Road flyover, the Jones Road subway and the approach roads. All this expenditure does not include the money spent on the CM’s security and newspaper advertisements.

Scorned

In measure of time, a tiny scar.
Scares me with the "staring abyss", away from which I want to Walk.
Walk I would, but my memory cements those dark velvety churns..
Churns control me, I float, drift or perhaps, walk in a quicksand..

Sandwhiched between self loathe and rage.
Raging for retribution, as I am roasted by a fury from within,
Within also flickers a flame of hope,that I would respond and not react.
Act only because I want. Prove its just I won't, not I can't.

Can't yet climb back on the pedestal, without a final kick..
Kicking hard to get the slush off, from my mind and feet.

Celebrating Birthdays

What did Nehru Do for Children? Why should we celebrate Children's Day today?
Perhaps we should celebrate Sonia's Birthday as Bahu Day.. (Sorry Ekta Kapoor you still have Saas Day)..
Since Balasaheb seems to know more about Indian culture, should we celebrate Culture Day on his birthday? (Kareena's bareback poster irks Sena activists)

Outrage

There is a lot of outrage on the streets
Not due to the poor quality bullet proof vest provided to the ATS chief, Hemant Karkare.
Not due to the 4000 Crores Koda loot.
Not due to a Japanese Rape game, where you get points for raping a woman and her teenage daughters..
Yeah you got it right, India dropped to 3rd place in ODI rankings. And Dhoni spotted partying after loss!
Lets sack Dhoni. We need accountability in this country.

PS : Since we are ahead of Pakistan, you don't have to rush out on the streets to start a revolution.

PPS : Congress is outraged at the Forbes Powerful People List, for including Manmohan and excluding Sonia Gandhi.
And MNS is outraged because the list wasn't in Marathi..

Butterfly vs Fly

Why does the beautiful butterfly, always fly away
While the irritating fly, never flies away?

Fly & I - Why a Fly, Fly & I - More stupid than a Fly, A Butterfly called Happiness

Oh God

The dog was well taken care of ,
it thought, these people are God !
The cat was well taken care of,
it thought, they realise I am God !

The brat was well taken care of,
but it thought, how cruel is God..
Life is just not fair, when,
I cant get, even the latest Ipod!

Winds of Hope

In 2002, during Malawi's worst droughts, 14 year old William Kamkwamba had to forego schooling, since his family couldn't pay his fees. Based on a book in a library, he made, in three months, a Windmill!

His "resources" : spare bicycle parts, a tractor fan blade and an old shock absorber, and fashioned blades from plastic pipes, flattened by being held over a fire. He bolted the pieces using a screwdriver made of a heated nail attached to a corncob.

This is the subject of the book "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by Bryan Mealer

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8257153.stm , http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/10/05/malawi.wind.boy ,
http://williamkamkwamba.typepad.com/williamkamkwamba/2009/04/my-book-the-boy-who-harnessed-the-wind.html

Why

Why haven't I posted for so long
I can blame it on the net connection
or mention the lack of time
Point out I was out of station for two months
or mention my dad died and how I am trying to cope
Or brag about my kid..

But actually Silence is Easier than words
And hopefully this time around I would blog more..
Its nice to be home at the blogs..

Nudity vs Humanity

"It was one Bhagiram Barman, a local shopkeeper, who not only helped her with his own shirt after she ran for about half-a-kilometre but also handed her over to the police. By then, Chameli had been trapped in several cameras and numerous cellphones — and then on national TV. " http://www.indianexpress.com/story/244641.html

Half a km, to get a shirt? Whats more important, capturing nudity or showing humanity. When the police dont bother to do their duty, when citizens prefer to click use their cellphone or simply stare, perhaps its too much to expect journalists to show humanity.

After all, their job is to report the incident not prevent the incident. But would we expect the journalists to be professional, if it had been our sister or daughter or their sister or daughter?

When we are not against a crime, aren't we part of the crime?

Can't there be reporting without the camera. True, images have an impact, but if there is a gangrape during a riot, would it be ok to have live coverage and meaningless remarks about it being a shame, (if it involves a political party we dont support.)

I dont need to see nudity, even if censored, to express my outrage. I need to know how the victim is coping  and if the guilty have been punished.

Forced Kiss is Fun

I dont know the literal meaning of "Ched Chaad", a theme in this week's Nach Baliye 3, (The mid-day says its mischief between couples). But its disgusting to think, its just fun and mischief to hit ball against girl's back (Pooja-Hanif). And ,eve teasing and molestation are not topics of fun and dance (Karan-Kavita), even if the victim is Rakhie Sawant. Its not easy to report molestation. But to add insult to the injury, one is supposed to grin when someone makes fun about it? Would the compere or the audience ask their sister to laugh at it, if they had been the victim? And leave alone outrage, we dont get even a murmur against it from the judges. Thankfully, I have a remote and continued to surf.

When mobs dont care about killing, perhaps, its silly to wonder why, ragging, eve-teasing or molestation, doesnt seem outrageous to all. And perhaps its sillier to brood, over the attitude that its ok to molest men. Many months back the media reported with a touch of amusement on a fan kissing, Dhoni.

So there we have it the rules of Kissing :
Kissing is fun and fine, even if forced, on some women and most men.
But kissing is not fun, if its between consenting adults in public, and definitely not fun, if the man happens to be a foreigner.

Just a Social Problem, Not Repeat Rape

A 14 year old girl in Malda, protests against her marriage to a 75 year old man, the authorities shrug off with the message, its a "social problem".

Even though rape is not an offense legally, within marriage, its going to be rape emotionally, for the child, and not just once. And anyway Child Marriage is an offense legally.

Its wrong for teachers to humiliate children, but its ok for a man to repeatedly rape a child, in the name of marriage?

Yet the authorities are able to shamelessly shrug it off with a "social problem" statement and  and can be solved only by "social awakening".

Oh when will we wake up?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/75-yr-old_hounds_child_bride_in_Malda_/articleshow/2417638.cms

Path of Ram Part 2 - Just Two

Whats the difference between members of Al Qaeda who kill those who don't believe in their God and those who killed two humans today to express their support for the Ram Sethu? The numbers of course. Terrorists kill Thousands, after all its just two..

Yeah two doesn't mean a thing, unless, its you and me.

PS : Hey Ram, what a U-turn! Sethu project was BJP's baby

Crowd

No help for naked, unconscious woman on Mumbai local
A woman in her mid-30s was found naked and unconscious on a CST-Titwala train's first class ladies compartment on Saturday night. In a display of utter apathy which puts the city to shame, both policemen and commuters chose to steer clear of the ladies compartment fearing they would get entangled in legal hassles. In fact, no one even came forward to cover the woman. She may have delivered a baby since she was reported to be pregnant.


Mob blinds 3 snatchers in Nawada
After the recent torture of a thief by police and the public at Bhagalpur, the eyes of three motorcycle-snatchers were pierced and gouged out with a pointed iron tool by people at village Vardaha under the Sirdala police station of the district on Monday.

Voice of India

I am disappointed by Toshi's early exit in Amul Star Voice of India.
The mute button on my remote had been working overtime
And its one of the few programs on TV, I watched and listened:D

Its easy to blame the voters, but lets not forget the voter's profile.
When multiple votes are allowed, its not about wooing the audience but the right audience.
How many Indians can afford to vote online or through smses,
When 836 million Indians live on less than Rs.20 a day
And who cares for the real Voices of India

PS : Pity I had cast only one vote for Toshi.

PPS : People have been performing yagnas for a contestant from Indore! What next?

Hindus will Hang

Hindus will hang - their heads in shame,

if Criminals justify Crime, in Hinduism's name

Irrespective of religion let justice be the same

If we dont stand up, we are also to be blamed.

Silliest Yet Best

The silliest yet best invention in my life at the moment - The Mute Button on the Remote Control.

Why?
1.I dont have to listen to the ads. (The Best invention would be the remote which recognises the ads and surfs automatically for a channel without ads and with sensible content. Heard they have already made the remote but are unable to test it due to lack of a channel, it can switch to.)

2.I dont have to listen to film stars saying the latest movie is equal to Hollywood standards, blah, blah, blah

3.I dont have to listen to the news and then wonder, why I hear about the floods in Bihar from BBC and not the Indian Channels.

4.M factor - I dont have to listen regarding Monica Bedi,Munnabhai,Mahesh Bhatt, Movie song cricketers celebrated their victory with etc.

5.Ex-cricketers criticising current cricketers for anything and everything.

So whats the Silliest yet Best Invention in your life.