Urban Urchin

An English novel written by me!

2011-05-15T02:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Old Friends,

Has taken a long, very long hiatus from blogging, and has spend time in travelling, contemplating and having fun.

Was writing a novel. Please read it here

. And please ask your friends to read it. Popularize it!!

And you can download it in PDF Here!

Changed!

2007-06-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

Guys,
Sorry for the vanishing act. But let me explain.
I have been contemplating on a new blog ever since I landed in Dubai. I have made up my mind since I left Mumbai and the name "Mumbai Marauder" was misleading. I thought a goodbye post as I am moving on to a new blog.
But, the tug-of-war was so strong, I eventually settled on a name change and decided on a more broad "URBAN URCHIN". Be it, Mumbai, Dubai or any other place, they all belongs to the same category!

So forgive me for doing what I did. And keep visiting!

Good Bye

2007-05-17T01:38:00.001-07:00

Good Bye

CON-Spiracy

2007-04-16T01:28:00.000-07:00

I have made a big mistake. I shouldn't have done that, but you see, I couldn't resist the urge. I hope you forgive me after going through this. http://ammusphoto.blogspot.com/ I promise, I never repeat it.

Dubai - some thoughts.

2007-04-14T23:07:00.000-07:00

Dubai is an interesting city. The way it has sprung up from nothing. This is one of it’s kind. The last two or three decades have changed the face of this once barren land. In fact it is a case study for any aspiring nation. A detailed history is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai.

Dubai, the emirate, is divided into two by the Dubai Creek. At one side the old city, Deira and it’s suburbs and on the other side Bur Dubai. Deira is a Flat, horizontal city due to the proximity of International airport. Only around the creek area, it has high rises. But Bur Dubai has tall skyscrapers all around. Construction of many of them going on at full speed. The Ruler of Dubai, Sheik Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has ordered to finish all the construction by the year of 2020. The Maktoum dynasty is the first family and has been ruling Dubai since 1833. It’s their vision and foresight that made dubai from a small time port to what it is today. Unlike it’s sister emirates, oil accounts only 6% of it’s GDP. Trade and tourism constitutes most of its revenue.
It is truly a cosmopolitan city. The locals are a minority, Indian, Pakistani & Philippine citizens constitute the expatriate majority. Others like Sri Lankans, Europeans and Americans are also made Dubai their second home. Dubai doesn’t issue citizenship to other nationalities. Only exception is when the new-borns mother is UAE citizen. Otherwise the Expatriates children will also be expatriates.
Dubai is an Islamic State, governed by the Shari’a Law. Sunni Muslims are majority, though Shia sect can maintain their mosques. Government doesn’t give any grants but Sunni mosques are maintained by the Government. Unlike other emirates, Dubai offer religious freedom and has many Hindu Temples and Sikh Gurudwaras as well as Christian Churches. But distributing religious pamphlets are a criminal offence and will result in Jail or deportation.
The climate is most extreme. In winter it is really cool and the temp touches 10 degree Celsius. But in Summer, alas!, it goes upto 45-50! Air Condition is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Most of the people own a car, since petrol is much cheaper. Cheaper than parking lots! The biggest problem is finding a parking space. Dubai has Public transport, Buses and Metro railway construction is progressing very fast. By next year end, the Railway will be commissioned, and unlike in India, their deadlines are meant to keep. No extension will be given! Now I am thinking of the doubling of Virar Borivli line. How long that has been going on? Anybody have an Idea as to when that will be finished? May be another 10 years

Dubai- unveiled

2007-04-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

When I landed in Dubai (it’s pronounced as dubaayy) for the first time, I had some prejudices about the place. Having seen the Mumbai life, especially how the poor accommodate themselves in shanties, I had high hopes of the living standard of Dubai. I found out that Mumbai and Dubai are just the same. The rich enjoy it where the poor has to fight it out. There are labour camps, like our Slum shanties, there are Villas which accommodate as many as 40 people in two rooms and one bathroom, sleeping on bunker beds etc. The world know about Dubai as a glittering, shimmering city that has all the world-class facilities, but those who build the city, the workforce is not at all seeing Dubai that way.
Dubai has the best infrastructure I ever saw. Their road network is something to envy. Straight, wide and even road on which vehicles zoom past at 160 KM! Since it was desert, they don’t have any problem in building those straight-line roads. One can see the roads ending in horizon. 4 to 6 lane express ways, interchanges to take to another road, round-abouts at junctions and Radars to scan busy roads for speeding vehicles. The legal speed limit is 120KM, but these drivers know where are the cameras, and they slow down when it is near.
The public transport medium is the Buses. Road Transport Authority (RTA – www.rta.ae) is the authority and has air conditioned buses on almost all roads. But the problem is one can’t trust these bus service alone. During rush-hour traffic, none of these ply on time. One to 1 ½ hour delays are common. So the advice is start early for your appointments if you plan to go by bus. Taxis are also available, but just like buses, takes lot of time in traffic jam. Walking is the best and fast way if your destination is close-by.
The roads are swept everyday with a machine equipped vehicle, road signs washed by manual labours, every corner there are dust bins, one has to say Dubai is a clean city.
What they lack is Public comfort stations. You can’t find rest rooms even in busy bus stations. Example Bur Dubai, Satwa.
In Dubai, it is easy to find a job if one has little talent, can speak English and / or Hindi. Even the Arabic people speak accented Hindi. It is the accommodation is what the biggest hurdle. As I mentioned in the beginning, people live in very poor conditions, but to get even that you have to pay a kings ransom. Most of the people who works in Dubai take a home in Shrjah, Ajman (the neighbouring emirates), where rents are cheaper. And they travel to Dubai. Due to this, the 20-25 KM distance of Dubai Sharjah is covered by 2 hours!
To summarise, Dubai has all that you see in magazines, films and ads. But it has an underbelly, a very dark one. Where people live in horrible conditions, among prostitution, drugs etc. They just hang on here just for the money Dubai can offer. They all live on one dream. That of one day having enough money and settling down at their own village. That’s the driving force behind them.

After the interruption

2007-04-09T23:26:00.000-07:00

Hiya guys / Gals.
Back again! This time I am gonna stay!!!!
So let me explain the recent hiatus in my blogging.
I was employed by a company called Bhatia Group, an Indian management company. Their staff quarters was in a place where, leave alone internet, not even a good hotel visible around! And I worked in their upcoming site office, which was in the middle of nowhere! Yeah, in the middle of a desert! And at both places, the female species was entirely missing!!!!
After a lot of deliberation, I decided to quit the job. Luckily by that time, I got another offer, outplaying this current job my miles. I jumped at the chance and here I am, in an American MNC, in the heart of Dubai.
You can check the company website at http://oceaneering.com.

So there is Internet access, there are lot of good looking females around and a nice work culture, more like my old employer in Mumbai. Thank the almighty for this big break.

Now you can expect my take on Dubai regularly. Tune in!

After a long time

2007-01-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

Hi guys. I have changed my MUM to DU. The rest is BAI. :)
Got it?? I reached DUBAI today, the 18th of Jan 2007, 12:30 Local time. tHAT IS 2:00 pm IST.

Dubai is not what we usually associate with it. It is more like Mumbai, albeit the cost of living is manifold. And for a newcomer, who is used to the lavish living of Vasai (In terms of space), this is suffocating.

But I see a lot of opportunities for Photography. Hope I get enough funds to keep my passion alive!!
Will write more about my endeavours in the coming days. Today I am too tired to write!
I miss my Mumbai & Vasai already!!

Goodbye Mumbai!

2006-12-08T03:07:00.000-08:00

Folks,
Shifting Base!!! Yeah, I am leaving Mumbai for good.
So the name will have to change, I guess!! What do you think??

I am leaving for an undisclosed location on 16th of Dec 2006.
First I go to my native place and then the new place which would be my base!

I would like to thank my dear Foster mothers, Mumbai & Vasai, for their kindness, love & affection! Mumbai Made me! I love you! I will miss you!!
Keep watching this space for my new endeavors. I promise, there will be many!
So see ya all in new year. Happy Christmas, and New Year.
Till then Bye

Sanjay Dutt Convicted in 1993 Bombay serial Blast case

2006-11-28T00:15:00.000-08:00

Famous bollywood actor and son of late Mr. Sunil Dutt is convicted for keeping an AK-56 rifle and it's Ammunition during the Mumbai Bomb Blast 1993. He is likely to be send to Aurthur Road Jail. Sunjay Dutt has been accused of taking 2 AK 56 rifles, a 9 mm pistol and Hand Granades. He returned all except one Ak-56 which he destroyed later. The Special Court Judge Pramod Kode found him guilty of this charge but acquitted him on Conspiracy charges.
Sunjay Dutt 's Career graph has seen an unprecedented high lately. His films, Kaante, Vastav & the famous Munnabhai I & II was all superhits. The Munnabhai series has attained cult status and the second part was triggered a new interest in "Gandigiri", or Gandhi-ism. Recently a University from Rajastan offered a new cource in "Gandhigiri" and it's VC invited Sunjay Dutt to deliver the first lecture.
Currently aproximately 100 crore rupees is riding on him in various projects. half a dozen films are nearing finalization and this verdict means doom for them. The court will give the sentence only at a later date but it is likely that he will get 3-5 year term. He has already spend 18 months as an undertrial. But a 5 year term spells doom for his filmi career.
This is a big blow to Priya Dutt, the Congress MP, who have actively supported her brother during his ordeal. The BJP is likely to call for her resignation on moral grounds. During her election campaign, Sunjay Dutt has actively campaigned for her.

A new Low in Indian Cricket

2006-11-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

Indian Cricket team received another drubbing at the hands of South Africa in Durban. Screamed the headlines of leading dailies the other day. So what’s new? Wasn’t this a regular feature of our millionaire’s club aka Indian cricket team? When was the last time India won a trophy convincingly? Even if we won some after Kapil’s devils, it was more like some other team lost to some other, or a team didn’t score enough runs in a certain over so we qualify or better still, it rained and washed off the play so we got half of the points which otherwise would have been nil. I still don’t understand why all this hype and hoopla about a game. Yesterday our responsible MPs (Member of Parliament, you read it correct) made a big issue about it in the parliament. They want the Coach to be sacked. Why they didn’t ask the Captain & Players to be sacked? It is the players who perform on the field. The coach can give instructions, but it is the players who execute them. So aren’t they responsible?

By the way, ain’t there any other issues worth raising in the temple of democracy? Like the continuous farmer suicide in Maharashtra? Or the Border dispute with China, which is rearing its head again? Or the Terrorist strategies that include sending trained and armed women to seduce army officers and leak information? No. I guess nothing is as important as a bunch spineless individuals losing to a superior team. One must remember the fact that they don’t even represent India. They represent a club called BCCI. Such waste of time…

After the heavy loss, India (I still call them Indian cricket team just for the sake of it) Team captain, Rahul Dravid, lamented the fact that it is our inability to cope with pace and bounce that brought the shameful display. How true?. When we lost to the West Indies on Not-So-Bouncier tracks when we toured West Indies, he said it was lack of application. When we lost to the same team in Indian pitches, it was Experiment and process which were more important than winning or losing. Now he is offering another excuse for their pitiful toe dance (wasn’t it more like a toe dance than a batting display with all our players jumping around to avoid the flying bouncers?). He has been asking for more lively pitches in India so our batsmen can learn to live with pace & bounce. So my dear Dravid, when other teams tour here, are they too calling to change their BOUNCIER pitches changed into featherbeds? Why should we change our pitches (and throw away whatever little advantage we get at home) to suit other’s need? Are you advocating that Pace & Bounce is the only way to survive in a cricket field? Is there a thing called Technique? Or will to fight? We never expect you to win games there. But this kind of wishy-washy excuses are what makes me cringe.

Just a one liner from me to you Mr. Dravid.

“Idiots find excuses for their failure. Others take corrective measures”

Good Luck.

RIP

2006-11-15T00:32:00.000-08:00

Finally God decided to put a stop to my Father-in-law's suffering and took him from us. He died peacefully in his home on 14/11/2006 at 7:30 PM aged 68. He is survived by two sons and a daughter.

The funeral will be taking place on 17th Novemeber 2006, friday and till then his worldly remains will be kept in the morgue. The delay is for his sister, who is a Bangalore resident, to come and see him one last time.

God may rest his soul in peace.

Tough times!

2006-11-14T01:45:00.000-08:00

Guys,
Been absent from my writing & photography for a long time now. A lot of things happened all of a sudden.
First I was under the weather and had to be away from Mumbai for a couple of weeks. Came back refreshed only to be told that my Father-in-Law is in critical condition. Another 3 weeks and I am back. But not feeling like writing anything. My father-in-Law is dying of Cancer. As of today, there is a feeble breath left in him. Just that!
The cancer has spread all over his body and eating up him from within. Hope he don't suffer much. And pray to god to rest his soul in peace!
I'll be continuing my rants once my mind is cleared.

Happy Diwali

2006-10-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here wishing you all a very Happy, Safe & prosperous Diwali.
Play it safe. Keep an eye for our environment too..
See ya all after a long weekend..

Tech-savvy mumbai

2006-10-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

Overheard on a Mumbai Local train

Hey boss, your Digicam is of how many MPs? And howm many x zoom??
Arre yaar, Compact Flash cards are better than SD??

Another occasion…
This is an AC/DC train. So careful while you jump into get a seat. It comes & goes faster…

You should buy a mobile with Smart phone technology. See you can install various softwares that you can download from net. SIS file, Jar file you know… And GPRS, EDGE etc is there. Arre yaar while on the move you could watch news & your e-mails on your cell…

Home theatre? Buy one with 5.1 channels amp.

Mumbai is definitely getting tech-savvy, won’t you say?

Denial Mode.

2006-10-09T23:42:00.000-07:00

Recently there is widespread panic in Kerala at the speed with which Chikun Gunya is spreading. But the health ministry is keep issuing circulars to newspaper offices.
“Chikun Gunya is not fatal. Those who died (the last count is somewhere close to 100), died due to other illness”. The question is if they didn’t contract Chikun Gunya, would they die now? No answer.
The dreaded disease polio is rearing its head in Mumbai once again. All this concentrated effort to eradicate it failed miserably. Now the administration is blaming it on the “Influx of Immigrants from UP & Bihar”. It’s not our fault, you see.
After the floods and subsequent epidemics such as Leptospirosis, The civic chief famously said “It’s the weather. We can’t do anything about it. Due to unprecedented rains this year, there is flooding and epidemics”. But last year also we got Unprecedented rains. So there is precedence.
When dengue hits the city it is squarely blamed on Mosquitoes. “Due to the uncontrolled encroachment of mangroves & other natural resources mosquitoes are breeding very fast. This is causing the current outbreak”. See, none of their / our fault.
This year upmarket areas like Napean sea road witnessed a surge in Malaria cases. Who to blame? Ofcource the mosquitoes. They came from the sky. We didn’t do anything.

Nobody is responsible, you know. The government blames it on administration; they promptly put it on weather, flood, inefficiency, over-worked staff, inadequate funds and trade union problems. Those who are in their list, and can respond (can’t you see, weather, inefficient workers can’t respond to it) put the blame on whatever they can come up with. We, the public, throw all the waste onto the gutter and roads, making it a breeding ground (or rather breeding pool) for mosquito and blame the government of doing nothing. The vicious circle starts all over again.
Who will take the initiative? Who can do something that set off a chain-reaction? I say the government. The government says you start. Now what?

Some photos from my trip

2006-10-09T03:19:00.000-07:00

Rude? Who, us Indians? get a life...

2006-10-07T01:52:00.000-07:00

A few months back there was a big furor about a survey that found Indians among the rudest of all people. Every one was outraged at that blatant statement and protest notes were all over the place. Blogs, articles and TV shows competed to prove otherwise. Yours truly also joined the bandwagon and wrote how the Mumbaikar was not at all rude but how much compassionate during the recent bomb blasts that shook the city. It is true that in adversity we go out of our way to help others but in everyday life are we that lenient? The everyday fight for a seat in a crowded local train, the abuse-hurling nature makes me think otherwise. And my recent trip to Kerala doesn’t make me think otherwise.
We – me, my wife and my 18 month old daughter boarded a sleeper class reserved compartment from Kalyan on Mangala-Lakshadeep Express. Unfortunately my seat was in the next coupe and due to my daughter’s continuous whining I decided to stay with them. A family was sitting next to our seat and they occupied the rest of the coupe except one seat. A man in his forties was sitting on that seat. When he left his seat to stand in the doorway, I decided to have breakfast. While we were having it, he came back and asked me to vacate his seat. I have no other option but to stand up with Idli plate in one hand, coffee cup in the other. I cursed the moment when I decided to have breakfast together. I could have let my wife eat first while I baby-sit, and once she finished I could have mine!
Throughout the journey the family next to us was very accommodating and kind, but this guy was outright rude. Once or twice my kid laughed loudly and he made it clear that he is irritated. Luckily he got down at Ratnagiri, a 6 hour journey from Kalyan, along with the family next to me. It felt like a lifetime!
From there till Madgao (Goa) we had the entire coupe for us. We reached there about 10:00 PM and my daughter was in a playful mood. I had to restrain her many times from climbing down the seat and walking barefoot. She made friends with a guy who was sitting on the double seat across the aisle and by now he too was sleeping on his berth. Suddenly two foreigners came into our coupe with heavy backpacks and luggage. They put all their belongings on to their reserved berths and all the while chatting and laughing, albeit in a low voice. When they noticed that my wife and child was sleeping she politely said “Sorry about the noise”. I mumbled something and got ready to sleep as well.
The next morning while we were having our breakfast, the women from upper birth woke up and checked her companion. Since he was fast asleep, she went back to sleep. This repeated for some more time and every time she gave us a sweet smile. Finally he too woke up and they started shooting the passing landscapes on their digital camera & camcorder.
After some shooting they came back to the seat and struck up a conversation. The first question was “Did we bother you last night?” to which I replied in the negative. Suddenly they two started talking. By then my daughter was fed up with not getting any attention and decided that enough is enough. She started making faces and doing her version of a conversation and these two responded with equal naughtiness. The way they spoke and behaved was amazing. I never remember any of my co-passengers talked to me like that. In a couple of hours we become friends.
Sebastian & Nathalie were from France. He is from Paris and working as an Insurance Marketing executive. She is from some other place (I don’t remember the name or her nature of work since her accent was heavy). Both were on a tight budget (hence the second class railway) and been to Varanasi and other Hindu pilgrim centers. After visiting Goa, they are heading to Kerala. Sebastian was full of questions. Why Indian women wear the “bindi” on her forehead? Is it a symbol of matrimony? How many languages are there in India? How do you manage with all these languages and cultures? Etc…
Natalie wasn’t far behind. She wanted to know how to wear Saree. And is it a costume to wear only after marriage etc. The whole day we spend in talking and myself asked about their culture and living in Paris. By the time we had to get down, we exchanged e-mail address and promised to contact once they went back to France.

Now I strongly believe we have a lot to learn from westerners, particularly from Europeans. Not their free society culture or revealing clothes. But how to behave in a society. How to talk and how to be kind.
Ps: Sebastian & Natalie, we enjoyed that trip tremendously. It was just because of your company. Here is a big Thank You!

Taking a break

2006-09-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

Friends,
Due to reasons that is beyond my control, I am forced to take a break from blogging.
Been under the weather for a week and now I suspect it's little more than that. SO going for a detailed check-up and medication.

See ya all after a while!

Till then Bye

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3rd Oct 2006

Back from te forced hiatus!!
Some respiratory tract infection!!
Now back in full swing!
Will be writing about two extra-ordinary french people I met on my journey, Sebastian & Nathalie!

Tungareshwar - The heaven of Earth

2006-08-30T22:16:00.000-07:00

Trek to Tungareshwar

I have long been planning a trek to Tungareshwar, one of the highest mountain plateaus in Vasai Region. Me & my friend, Saju Isac, started from Vasai West by 10:00 AM on a quite Sunday morning, the second week of August. My back pack was packed with snacks, water bottles and my camera. I had the tripod with me, considering the low light in the monsoon and windy conditions up there. My friend carried the tripod.
Tungareshwar Mountains is one of the highest plateaus of the Vasai region and a tourist attraction. The best time to visit is during the monsoon. You can find the details about it here
I rode my bike through Vasai East – Sativli road. First get to the Highway intersection and cross the Highway. The narrow road ahead is the path to the base of the mountain. As I crossed the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, I spotted hundreds of picnickers walking up the path. I parked the bike at the entrance point of mountain and started the climb.

The first few miles were crowded. Picnickers of all kind, old, frail to mothers carrying infants were walking the rocky path. Huge rocks lines the road and few adventurous youths rode their Pulsars and Suzukis. And one or two Rickshaws also plying. The first obstacle is a small river and in monsoon it swells. About thigh-high. Careful not to get my camera wet, we safely crossed it.

From there it was relatively easy except for one or two small rivulets flowing down on giant rocks. A small bridge is provided but most of the picnickers chose to cross the stream. The Rickshaws were precariously swayed when it passed the stream but the experience hands were not trembling.

After about an hour, with a couple of halting, we reached the first stop. And for most this is the end. There is a temple of Lord Shiva and few villagers selling goods ranging from “Bhoota” (Corn fried on coal) to small firing ranges. From food stalls to book stalls. And long queue for “Darshan”.

The boisterous crowd melts here. They take a few steps ahead and get themselves enough fun at a small waterfall. I saw a few people smoking pot and upon seeing my camera and tripod, they invited me to join. I graciously refused.

We started our climb on 11:00 AM. There was not a single human being in sight. Very soon we got sucked up in the overpowering silence, and we too fell silent. The only sound was that of wind blowing onto the trees. The constant whirring sound. We stopped for a couple of times for snacks but apart from that no conversation was required. Whenever I stopped for shooting, my friend set the tripod and dutifully stayed silent. An overwhelming sense of the need to remain silent and respect towards the nature.

It was almost two hours and we spotted an open space. Through that opening of jungle, we could see the far fields and villages through the haze. It was dramatic as well as refreshing. It was 1:00 PM and the climate was fast changing. The whirring sound now turned to a roar and wind was swaying the trees as if in a rainstorm. We felt tired and sat down for lunch.

We saw some village people coming up. They just walked past us without a comment. Soon after finishing lunch, we encountered another group who was coming down. We asked them how long it is and the reply was encouraging. “Just half an hour more” was the reply. We walked for another 40 minutes but nothing. I felt cramps and my weak legs were complaining. But then everything changed. Soon we engulfed in the mist and the visibility was only about a few meters. And the view from that point was breathtaking. We saw three guys washing hands and readying for their lunch on a small stream. One side was an abyss and the other was huge rocks. The stream came from the top and run through the muddy path. For a second, the wind blew away the mist and whole world was visible. The next instant, everything is covered in cloud and you couldn’t see the person standing next to you. Literally it was like being on clouds. The heaven of earth.

Rejuvenated we started once again. And another 30-35 minutes and we reached the top. The path was straight and not steep. The tree grew very short and in curvy branches. An effect of constant wind, I guess. We visited the Ashram of Sadanand Maharaj, a scene straight out of picture postcard. They provided us with a hot, black tea made from local herbs. It refreshes the body & mind. The effect was miraculous. Our tired and saggy bodies were soon revitalized. The only thing is photography is not allowed on the premises. We thanked the Guruji and started our journey back home.

It took only 2:30 hours to get down to the bottom. Once down, we felt like we have no legs! I couldn’t even get my bike started. But it was worth all the fatigue. It was an experience I never forget. Since my migration to Mumbai, about 11 years back, I never experienced that much silence. Infact I forgot what it was. I never got that much pure oxygen. I never felt that clouds before. It was worth every penny.

Two milestones!!!

2006-08-25T04:17:00.000-07:00

Friends,
Two milestones!!!
1st. Completed 100 posts!!!
2nd. On this day, few decades ago, a hapless child was born!!! Wonder who is he???
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It's me Guys!! It's me...

Some recent pictures

2006-08-23T04:16:00.000-07:00

For a change some pics!
Shot recently on a trekking trip!

Photographer's plight

2006-08-19T01:59:00.000-07:00

Being a photographer, in these times, is not easy. I have experienced many stares boring into me while shooting public places. I can read the expression on their faces. “Is he planning to blow this up?” is the question that going on in their minds. I can expect them to be hostile and suspecting since we all live under the looming threat of terrorism. But what I got from the police was the most annoying thing.
I was a very active N.C.C cadet in my college days and hence always admire the military and police (to a certain extend). I always hoped to make it into the armed forces and hold a “B” certificate of NCC. So anything that is related to the armed forces, like parades, is a craze for me. That’s why I decided to get some photographs of the Independence Day ceremony in my city. It was on august 15.
So dutifully I went to the police station, Vasai Police station, to take permission for shooting tomorrow’s flag hoisting. After an hour’s wait, the Supreme Authority (I can’t read marathi, so don’t know his position on the pyramid) called me in. He asked me the purpose, my details and I gave him what I was looking for. After all it’s just a flag hoisting, nothing like I asking for permission to shoot our nuclear reactor!!
After thinking for a minute, he told me that I can take photographs, and to come next morning sharp 8:00 AM. I gleefully left him promising him a print once I am through with it.
Despite it being an off-day and insistent rain, I slung my tripod over my shoulder, got my camera fully loaded with a new roll and other necessary items. Normally I have one of my friends, who is very keen to learn the tricks, accompany me on most of my shoots. But today he too, took a leave! I reached the police station exactly at 7:45 AM, early enough to set my tripod at a good angle and get whatever required. I went directly to the office only to be told by a constable that the ceremony is over!! It was scheduled for 7:30, not 8:00 AM! He then sympathetically suggested that there is a asst. superintend office round the corner and their’s is on 8:30. I ran there and told the in-charge what I want. He told me to wait till the asst. sup comes in. He came, fully uniformed and ready to do the ceremony. I requested him and his response was a curt “No it is never recorded” ad off he went.
I stood there frustrated, holding my tripod and camera. If the parade and display of India’s latest weaponry in DELHI can be filmed, why an inconsequential flag hoisting at small-time city police station can’t allow it? What if I shoot it with my mobile camera or a simple Point & Shoot camera? Is it just that they don’t want to take any risks? Or plain inefficiency? What risks they run when they allow a photographer to take a flag’s picture along with some shiny boots and a sword? After all that’s the only time one ca see these police men polish their belts & Boots and iron their Khakis!
I still remember one of my instructors at a NCC camp. He was attached to the Madras Regiment. One of my fellow cadets wasn’t stomping hard enough. And when he saluted, he didn’t raise his knees enough to be stamped back. The Major of Army said “Go Join Police”. Since then my perception about police is that of a weak, inefficient and lazy outfit. This incident reinforced it.

Terrorism in a bipolar world - part 3

2006-08-19T01:15:00.000-07:00

The Modus operandi
It is public knowledge that terrorists operate in very unconventional way. In a war, forces fight against each other, but in a war against terrorism, the forces are hidden among the civilians, hell, the enemy IS the civilians. Just look at how Hezbollah went about the war with Israel.
The operation starts at picking recruits. For this, Jihadi outfits heavily depend upon Madrassas, and Muslim dominated countries. Once they get their marks, next step is to turn the new recruit into a walking time bomb. Constant brain washing by describing how Muslims have to suffer all over the world, showing the most devastating effects of riots, and other atrocities against Muslims. The constant feeding of this information turns him into believing that the whole world is against him. The recruit is not allowed to ask any questions or h can’t verify the authenticity of the facts that is produced in front of him.
Next is training. Our neighboring country provides ample opportunity and logistic support for them. From these camps they learn the art of death.

The method they adopt to kill their enemies are the most disgusting and fearsome. Chopping off the head heads the list. Hanging comes second. The mode of war is Guerilla style. Hide until the opportune moment ad strike. This makes them effective and elusive.
So how can we stop this menace? What are our choices? I want to check the options that we have first. But do we have any options? Let’s see.
Long term
The government shouldn’t indulge in a vindictive head hunting and arrest & harass law abiding Muslims. This will further alienate them from the social mainstream and makes them easy prey for terrorist head hunters. We feel enraged after the wasteful killing of innocents and react with the same tenacity. That is exactly the terrorists are hoping for. They could attract more youths using this as an excuse. True, we must hunt down the culprits and in the process some innocents are bound to be harassed, but what justifies the mass arrests from a Muslim dominant area for every terror attack?
Second, the government should think about starting / supporting the Madrassas and should regulate them properly. Not a single Illegal Madrassa should be allowed. The government can recruit Mullahs & other Muslim clerics who can play a vital role in educating the youth and guiding them. The fiery fanatics should not be able to exploit the insecurity among the Muslim youth freely.
The Police force should be able to act without any bias. It is a well documented fact that during the Gujarat Riots police was abetting the rioters. The police force should be freed from the clutches of low-grade politics.
The ghetto-isation of Muslim community is dominant. Something has to be done since this is what the terrorists exploit to hide and stockpile their weapons. Former terrorists and criminals, who have surrendered, can be used as informers and their identity should be protected.
The most important thing. Politicians with a shady background shouldn’t be allowed any spectrum in politics. Technically, they can compete but I don’t think they can beat the combined might of others. Those who try to earn a few votes by inciting riots, inflammatory speeches, and offering rewards for killing should be dealt with very strict norms. When police was still investigating the role of SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) in the Mumbai Bomb Blasts, UP CM Mulayam singh Yadav gave a clean chit to the organization. He should be brought to book for abetting terrorism, interfering in police investigation and Anti-nationalist statements!
Short Term.
Most of the people I spoke to react in the same way. Attack Pakistan. Is that the answer to all our woes? If that’s true, then Israel must be the safest & happiest country. But the fact is if we defeat Pakistan, which is not that easy considering the nuclear capabilities of both the nations, there will be thousand other locations terrorist’s can choose from. America did the same mistake by attacking Taliban. Are thy any safer now? I say they are more prone to terrorist attack now. One Afghanistan gone, New Somalia, Bangladesh and others can spring up. Or like England, home grown terrorists can do it! So while trying to reveal the role Pakistan plays, we should strengthen our borders by fencing them completely to stop infiltration, and keep our youths from taking up Jihad by educating ad spreading the awareness about the pitfalls of terrorism.
The discrimination in the society must end. When the Babri Masjid was demolished, the government banned RSS, Bajrang Dal and a few other Muslim organizations. While the ban on Muslim organizations are still on, RSS & Bajrang Dal got the ban revoked. Why ban Muslim organizations when the equal culprits of hate-crime- the RSS & Bajrang Dal- are free and can do anything? What is the criteria used to ban / or allow their activities? If it is not the same yardstick, then where is the basic problem lies?

I hope all the nations rise to the new challenge that they are facing. The challenge from an unknown entity. A faceless, yet a very efficient, ruthless death machine. To succeed in this un-holy war, one need perseverance, will and unorthodox methods. It is not a phenomenon where you can wipe out the threat just by using artillery and bombs, but need sweeping changes as well.

Terrorism in a bipolar world - part 2

2006-08-15T22:24:00.000-07:00

Nationalism Vs Religion
A recent survey conducted in London has revealed startling facts. About 24% of London Muslims think the July 7 suicide bombing was justified. The most radical view came from people below 24 years! And 25% despise the freedom in the society and want to see Sharia law implemented! 33% dream of London Becomes an Islamic state one day! Details of this survey is available here.
Startling? Well, as I wrote in the first part, the way Muslims look at the world has changed. Most importantly, the youngsters are more attracted to the fanaticism and are more rigid in believes. The gap between Muslims and the Rest is growing. The bridging attempts are met with skepticism and those who try it are labeled anti-Islam. The new emerging face of Islam is of an intense, sweeping typhoon. It will progress by smashing everything in its wake. Destruction is the way. Terror is the weapon it uses to dominate.
Motive
What are the motives? Is it to establish an Islamic state? Or is it an attempt to break free from the clutches of free-world and go back to orthodox Islam? Let’s take the case of India, a long-term sufferer of Islamist militancy.
If I am correct, during the 80’s islamist terrorism started in the Kashmir valley as a freedom movement. I am not delving into the wrongs and rights of Indian government’s approach against it, since I am too small to do that. But at that time it was a Kashmiri resistance force. During the years hard core militants, mostly from outside of India emerged on the scene and the sole aim of these groups were to destroy India. Pakistan, freely, helped them with training, ammunition and money and provided haven in their territory. And the world viewed India’s claims with skepticism. For them it was a territorial dispute and nothing else; Till 9/11. Till they realize that this is not an isolated incident and their backyards are breeding ground for a new generation that hates their motherland, or adopted motherland for their believes. Suddenly there was a global wave against terrorism. In fact this helped the terrorists to gain global recognition and started a ghetto-isation of Islamic interests. First goal achieved.
Second was to spread the terror web across the globe. They recognized the difficulty of operating their usual hard-core image in the changed scenario and found new ways. Thus born the sleeper cell ideas. This was the most difficult to trace. The Jihadi has a new face. That of a boy-next-door. They act very normal, are part of your local group, engage in regular activities. Suddenly they get their orders, execute them, and go back to normalcy. The Mumbai blasts were an example.
Another aim is to spread terror and disrupt the functioning of the government machinery. I can testify for one thing that I live in perennial fear ever since the recent Mumbai blasts. Every time I see a bearded face, inadvertently my eyes go to his hands to see whether he is carrying a package. Every time I see a big package on the racks of the train, I search for a bearded, capped face. I know I am being silly but can’t help it. During the preceding days of Indian Independence day, I was contemplating about taking leave. I believe that most of my colleagues feel the same way.
As conclusion, it is everything that I mentioned at the beginning. It is to establish an Islamic rule world wide as the final motive. As a way, first to terrorize the world, dominate the society and make them submissive. Non-believers have no place in their scheme of things.
So the terrorists are winning in that perception. As Santosh Desai wrote in Times of India a few days back, if one doesn’t care about one’s own life, he can’t be stopped. Is there any way to stop the terrorist juggernaut?
[To be continued]

Terrorism in a bipolar world - part 1

2006-08-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

1st Aug 2006, Times Of India.
An excellent article by Pritish Nandy.
The euphemisms that he talks about could not be more accurate. On this line, I too have something to jot down.
Terrorism
After reading this, don’t label me a fundamentalist. Or a Pseudo secularist. I am neither. Just an individual, shell shocked after seeing the destruction a misled individual can inflict upon innocent victims.
Why almost 90% terrorists are Muslims? LTTE, IRA, yes non-Islamic terrorists are there but the lion’s share of this ilk goes to that particular community. Why it is so? What do they gain by shedding innocent blood? Don’t they have any soft-feelings? Are they filled with hatred, so much so that to kill innocent children and women? Try for answers…

In the last 2 decades the average Muslim has changed a lot. The constant harassing they have to undergo in different parts, be it Gujarat Riot, or Palestine, or Iraq has caused the normal Muslim to look at the world differently. It’s an us vs them mentality. This has caused him to embrace the religion fiercely. A new generation was born there. One that put religion and Allah above everything; above one’s own life; they start to relate themselves with the plight of far flung Muslim communities. A radical approach towards everything that is not Islamic. An intolerance and arrogant mentality as spreading like a wild fire. This is the time when the Radical Mullahs and Jihadi agents make the entry. They recruit these hapless young men and turn them into death-machines by constantly brain washing them. Their poor economical and education background wasn’t helping either.
If terrorism can gain anything, it is hatred towards their own community for which they are fighting, or so they claim. If terrorism can achieve their goals, then why Palestine country is still a dream? Why Iraq is still occupied? Could the damage of Gujarat riots be undone? And WHY, Why shed innocent blood? Terrorism is the way of a coward. Those who never were brave enough to reveal his face and fight from the front. Those who recruit poor Muslim boys, brain washing him with the promise of heaven after death and a few thousand Rupees. If they can get along with foreign mercenaries, why can’t they get along with their neighbors?
The fundamentalists misinterpret the Prophet’s words and quote it for their own good. Where did Allah said to Kill innocents? To kill Women and children? They say those who don’t believe in Islam is Kafir. And Prophet said it is alright to kill Kafirs. But in prophets own words, Kafir is he who obscure the truth. He who don’t believe in Truth. Enough for misleading?
What was the intention behind the Mumbai Blasts? Or NY WTC attack? Or Spain bombings? Did they kill anyone who is RESPONSIBLE for their plight? In every atrocity that is committed by these lunatics, scores of innocents are getting killed. And governments seldom care for innocent blood.
So, this is a request to those who plan the next massacre. Please spare us. We are in no way responsible for Palestine, Gujarat, Iraq or god only knows whatever else. We want to live in peace. We want to reach our homes, to our children everyday after work. We don’t want to end up as a ripped apart body in one of those bloody explosions.

Child Labour & India

2006-08-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

They say that the sweetest time of life is childhood. No worry, all play. True, for most of the lucky ones. But those who born into a poor home in India were not that lucky. Despite a law in place India is still home to this malaise. So an addition of couple of more industries to the existing law would make any difference? Today Indian Government decided to ban the Child Domestic Labour . Let us try to delve into this malady.
In the first place, why parents send their little ones to work in hazardous situations? I saw many young children, aged between 10 and 14 working in many a shops in Mumbai, India’s financial capital. Be it in a Hotel, a two-wheeler workshop, Zari units or works that required sheer physical effort such as building sites, mines etc. All this happens right under the nose of the authorities. By authorities, I specifically mean POLICE. So why, at the tender age, when they should be playing & studying, mingling & learning, they have to work hard and support their parents?
The first and foremost reason is financial. It is the additional income and a mouth less to feed theory that is gaining the most popularity. But how much truth does it hold? True, a minority has lost their earning member and no one else is there to take care of them or their ailing mother, younger sibling etc. They have a reason. But what about those who have to support his / her fathers alcoholism? How many of the kids had to suffer silently at their own home? 75% of the kids who work have a story to tell. That of a physical abuse, starvation, parents alcoholism etc.
Whatever the reason, however compelling it may be, no child should be allowed to work. It is the time for their development. Mentally, physically, socially. At a time when India is emerging as a force to reckon with, this should not be allowed to go on. But changing a law is not all. Strict implementation and proactive measures. The usual suspects in this game are Zari units, Hotels & bars, workshops, mines and construction works etc. These places should be checked regularly to make sure they don’t indulge in this and if found guilty should be punished severely. Only then our younger generation will be enlightened. Theirs is not a life to rot in the gutter. They are the future. Give them an opportunity.
Read this too. An article I wrote back in February

The Curse of July

2006-07-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

It’s been exactly one year since the famed 26/7 cloudburst and subsequent flooding of Mumbai. Yesterday, Johny Joseph, the BMC Chief, was narrating his pain over the Media hype of the incidents. It is not fair to put the entire blame on him, he said. And he was emphasizing the point that this year BMC is better prepared and within three [3] years, there will be no floods in the city.
God Bless him, but how is it going to happen? As I wrote earlier, a mere 250 MM rain caused wide spread panic, totally flooded streets and the lifeline, the railways, had shut down it’s services. Now who is responsible for that? The irony of the fact is that, the Emergency / Disaster management Cell set up by BMC was flooded in the first day of rain! Isn’t it a little too poetic to say that they are prepared? There are five more days to go before July comes to an end. Anything could happen within these days. Mr. Joseph, I sincerely hope that you don’t have to eat your words. Not for your sake, but for the poor Mumbaikar;s sake. We have had enough for a lifetime. Flooding, Riots, Bomb Blasts and epidemics.
The apathy of people towards this is appalling. In Vasai West, a housing colony, named Brij Bhuvan, has at least 8 cases of Jaundice. And it is spreading to others. Some tenants went to the Secretary and asked him to get the Water tank cleaned. He said that there is nothing wrong with the water tank and no need to clean it. Some of the residents don’t even remember when it was last cleaned!!

Is there a curse on July? Every year July brings disasters and maladies. There are reports that Malaria and Dengue is wreaking havoc in the suburbs. Jaundice is already making it’s presence felt. An old annual guest, the viral fever, is fast approaching the city. Other strains are already came and having a ball. Leptospirosis has already claimed many lives. Yet our BMC chief says that we are prepared. What are they prepared for? Mass Funerals? Or mass suppression of facts? BMC claiming that only 2 deaths occurred due to Leptospirosis in Private hospitals but the original figure is much more than that.
How long we continue to live like dogs? The lethargic, stoic nature, famously dubbed as Spirit of Mumbai, is the bane of an average mumbaikar. Get up from the slumber. Or our beloved city will be a mass grave.

The Spirit of Mumbai - or is it denial of reality?

2006-07-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

The spirit of Mumbai

Naun : resilience ; [ri’zilyuns]
The physical property of a material that can return to its original shape or position after deformation that does not exceed its elastic limit

The words are worn at edges from constant usage. Like an old typewriter keyboard. It is clichéd. The media, politicians, and religious leaders everyone exhorts Mumbai to keep it high. They call it resilience of Mumbai.
This phrase was used frequently when Mumbai is under siege. Be it monsoon, flood, bomb blasts, communal riots, police firing, or strike. They use it as if it is some kind of a cover for their failure to keep the city in shape or at least warn the city about the impending danger. It has become a common practice, so much common that the shoe shine boys on the railway Platforms start talking about the spirit.
What is this spirit?
As per our political fraternity (includes the PM & CM), it is not showing our fear or anger and report to work the next day. For the Media, it is to bounce back tragedy after tragedy and move on as if nothing has happened. For religious leaders, it is not indulging in retaliatory measures and not investigating their interests. For the common man, it is pure and simple. It’s his Life. If he doesn’t report to work next day, he stands to loose one day salary, or a leave which he can’t afford. SO put on a brave face, march on.

But what is exactly happening to this famed spirit? The soaring indexes of Sensex? After every bomb blast in the city, the Sensex gain a few points. The next day media holler “no one can defeat the spirit”. After seeing all the bloodshed, violence and natural calamities, are we immune to these sentiments? Or is it just a mechanism to escape all these, shutting down all the emotions deep within? Why we are so short on memory, that we still don’t have a memorial of those who died in the 1993 blasts? In Us or London or Thailand they remember their dead on every anniversary and shed a tear. Why we can’t do that?

According to me, it is just a mode of denial; denying of what happened to survive. It’s not bravado, but a mean selfishness. That “Oh I am Ok. I am not hurt” kind of thinking. It’s a mechanism developed by the subconscious mind after being constantly exposed to tragedies. For the Mumbaikar, not a single pass without seeing a tragedy. Be it train run over, road accident, flood, epidemics, or building collapse. Every day, he sees dead bodies and blood. So the numbed mind automatically develops this mechanism to escape a nervous break down.

And survival. Mumbai is the most benevolent city; at the same time, it’s the most unforgiving too. 65% of the population lives in slums and most of us can’t afford to take a vacation. A day off means less salary or a leave being deducted. And there is dead lines to meet, commitments to fulfill….
An average Mumbaikar is a hardened soul. Only the Local train traveling in peak hours is enough to make him harder than a battle hardened veteran. He literally had to fight his way in and fight his way out. Meanwhile, a few people fell off and died but he is obsessed with reaching in time.
Finally a bit of selfishness; If I am not hurt, why should I bother?
Despite all these the true compassion was at display on these blast sites. I am not forgetting that. I was referring to the general perception of spirit of Mumbai. It is nothing but a myth. It is time to shed that stoic image and be angry. Be very angry. And show that we are scared. Don’t let the authorities run away from their failure, just by making us false heroes. The city has reached the elastic limit. Not a millimeter can be stretched now.
Show the anger and fear.

Few photos - Exclusive of Mumbai Blasts - Matunga

2006-07-14T03:39:00.000-07:00

Images are the property of Jagran TV Pvt Ltd.

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My prediction about the blasts came true!!

2006-07-12T23:16:00.000-07:00

I don't like to tell you "I told you". But in May 17 I have made a startling prediction Here. How prophetic it was!! But our Intelligent agencies were nowhere near with their thousands of informants and fancy gadgets. May be in India, The Indian meteorological DEpartment (IMD - Indian Wheather bureau) and our Intelligence agencies are on same wavelength. None of their predictions came true!!

Mumbai Blasts – a First Hand Account II

2006-07-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

Day 2 after the devastating Blasts. Mumbai returned to normalcy. Almost. The trains were running on schedule, The same passengers, though they are little ruffled, still joking and laughing, over-crowded trains etc. Everything as usual as if these blasts were nothing but just a routine affair. But only one thing has changed. The faces that regularly met at First Class compartment. Some families will never be again the same. They lost everything in a moment.
Where is the help?
Right after the blast, within 2 minutes of it, I reached the spot. By then, fellow commuters who were in the next bogies started the rescue mission. They pulled out the injured from under the dead bodies, put them into the waiting hands and eased them to the grass and tracks. But where is the transportation? I saw an official; probably the Matunga station master, came to the site after 10-15 minutes the blast, took one look, and was on his phone. His exact words were “Idhar Bahut bada blast ho gaya hai! Mamla bahut bekhar hai. Jaldi gaadi aur police bhej do” (A big blast occurred here and the situation is worse. Send help and police immediately! Then it took another 30 minutes for the first ambulance to reach the spot. Talk about disaster management!!
Police version
It rained soon after the explosion, making rescue mission more difficult. I spoke to a policeman at the site, who was drenched in his Khaki uniform from the rains. He, a hardened policeman, too was shaking his head.
I - “Sir, How is the situation?”
Cop ; “total 7 blasts occurred and it’s total mayhem. Bloody bodies keep arriving from the trains. I have never seen something like this”
I : Why Police took so long to reach the site?
Cop; What do you think? We were sitting idle in our office and dozing off? Arre, (a popular way of addressing here in Mumbai) there were total 7 blasts and we were busy at other sites;
Point taken sir. Only at that time I was aware about the other blasts
Aftermath
It was once again on display; the famed resilience of Mumbai, the so called spirit of Mumbai. Total strangers were consoling the relatives of injured, People set up tables in front of their housing society distributing water and snacks. Local youths were trying to stop vehicles to put the stranded people on them so that they can go at least little closer to home. The slum dwellers rose to the occasion, first providing bed sheets as stretchers and helping in the rescue, then providing water and snacks in front of their shanties. Local Telephone booths, PCOs, let people to make calls without any charge. Just write the number on their log;
Some one called my city as the rudest in the world a couple of weeks back. Do you still dare to call it? The compassion at display was overwhelming. People lined up to donate blood in major hospitals. Is that what you call rudeness? Or may be taking a total stranger to your home and sheltering him, like those locals did!

Mumbai Serial Blast 7/11 - A first hand account from Matunga

2006-07-11T20:01:00.001-07:00

The train left Churchgate station at 5:57 PM precise. Me and my friend were little late leaving office so we opted to get in to the second last bogey instead of our normal 4th coach. I was engrossed in my reading and soon the train was entering the Matunga Platform. Since it was a Fast local it doesn’t stop at Matunga. Suddenly a loud explosion occurred. First I thought someone set off a cracker in some celebration. Then there was this sound similar to pelting stones on a sheet metal. (It was the strutting out sheet of metal scraping on the sleepers) My first thought was, “Oh Sh*t, some protests are going on and they are stoning. But by then the overhead wire, carrying 1500 Volt DC, fell to the other side of the train. People started jumping from the moving train. It happened so fast, that I now wonder whether it has happened at all. I shouted “Don’t Panic” to fellow commuters. By then my friend came along and grabbed me towards him and told me to jump. He too felt that the wire fell down and there is a chance of electrocution. By then most of the people got off, jumped to the tracks. In the process, someone broke a leg, some landed on the other etc.
Once got down, I could see the 4th Coach was totally destroyed. I grabbed my camera, ran towards the scene, and once there, regretted my decision.
It was one of the worst scene I ever witnessed. Dead bodies were lying on top of other. I started shooting. But I was so trembling, I got only 5-6 frames right. The rest was spoiled. The scene was horrifying. One man, under two dead bodies, raised his head, looked at my lens then died. Another was sitting on the ground, side of his face totally punched inwards, teeth protruding outwards awkwardly and bleeding. He was so emotionless. Totally shocked. Another lay on the tracks, his innards came out through a big cut in his stomach and was just rolling his head. In despair? Or in Pain? I may never know.
After shooting for some time, I felt dizzy. The smell of blood and the smell of death were all around. It was intoxicating. In fact I read about the smell of death. But came to know only yesterday. Raw flesh, severed limbs and a head, bodies scattered around the tracks… I couldn’t stand it any more.
The courage and Spirit of Mumbai was once again in full swing. By the time Police and Help arrived, a good 45 minute later, most of the injured were transferred to available transport and to hospital. Ripping the train’s seats they made makeshift stretchers and carried the people on it. No one thought about the possible danger. Whether there is another bomb etc.
I made it out of the station to see the spirit once again. Nearby residents and Local Shiv Sena activists came out with snacks, water and some youngsters forcibly stopped the passing by vehicles. Whether it’s a good’s carrier or it’s a Merc. They put the stranded people into the vehicles. At least they can get a little closer to home.
I’ll be continuing this series . Right now I feel stressed out. Seeing all the blood and gore, I wasn’t able to sleep. It’s sheer luck that I am still alive and I thank god for that. And my heart goes out to those families who lost their dear ones. I can’t get one image from my mind. One guy, was in the same position as he was from the beginning of the journey. Sitting, hands supporting head and sleeping. He died in his sleep.

Mumbai deluge - An annual ritual

2006-07-06T03:31:00.000-07:00

Another deluge hit the city. It was almost like 26/7. Well, almost. The major difference is while 26/7 witnessed an unprecedented 900 plus mm of rainfall, the last few days saw only 250mm at maximum. But the effect was near total. Water-logged roads & railway tracks, lost productivity, attendance of office dropped to a mere 50% on Wednesday. So what had changed since 26/7? Mumbai is famous for its undying spirit, the resilience, and its vibrant nature. But how long it can survive just on reputation? The infrastructure is creaking under the burden. A collapse in inevitable. Did we witness a trial run of that collapse? Was this a precursor of what is to come?
A couple of years back, on a rainy day, I set out for my office. From Vasai to Bandra the local train ran without any incident, though slower than normal. At Bandra it stopped and the Public address system was announcing the submerging of tracks and how trains can’t move ahead. Me & my friends caught a cab from there and reached my office 1 hour 30 minutes late. In the meantime, we never thought of going back home and we knew we will go back in the evening when the water level subsides. But this time around, we were glued to the office TV, watching news channels and anxiously looking skywards. But by 3:30 the urge to leave took over and the next day no one turned up.
So the deluge and water logging is not a new phenomenon for the embattled Mumbaikar. But the fear of getting strangled on a local train amidst submerged tracks, spending the whole night in awkward position without food or water, has prompted him / her to take the excessive precautionary measures. 26/7 left an indelible mark on Mumbaikars psyche. It surfaces whenever he sees a dark cloud on the sky, and gradually buildup along with the rains. They don’t want to take a chance. At the slightest suggestion of a heavy rain, he packs up and leaves for the safety of his home. Otherwise what explains the exodus I witnessed on Monday evening? Every road, every subway & every train was packed, by 4:30! And Tuesday & Wednesday, empty train, empty roads and empty office.
The main reason is the fear, but the authorities are not helping either. By seeing the pathetic conditions of Roads (that too laid recently) and how the drains are clogged at the mere suggestion of rain, and how their homes are getting flooded year by year, how can they not get scared? BMC & MMRDA has made a lot of promises before the monsoon but they can’t prevent the flooding. The reasons are just as ridiculous. Mumbai is a coastal city, and a low lying one so flooding is inevitable! So didn’t they consider this fact before making statements like, “This time we are fully prepared” and “if there is any flooding, you can dunk the ward officer”.
Now this is going to be an annual ritual, one that’ll be included in the government calendar. Just like How the U.S.A declare holidays when it’s snowing heavily. Mumbai has reached the saturation point. Be prepared for the next episode of flooding. May be this will be one that lasts for the entire monsoon.

Post Script:
Some people went ahead with their anti-Mumbai rhetoric, suggesting Mumbai-ites have become a whining lot. They blame the authorities (read Central govt) for every mishap etc. Let me remind you guy’s one thing. Mumbai has every right to complain. We are the highest tax paying city in India, and therefore we demand the best of infrastructure and facilities. We feed the countries economic growth, then why can’t we expect the country to payback when it’s time? We are the economic capital but what do we have in terms of infrastructure? We have a 100 year old infrastructure, mainly the drainage system and since its inception, the population of this city has grown manifold. So why, why Mumbai can’t ask for favors? Or complain? After all Mumbai rightfully deserve it. And if you meant our officials, yes the public have every right to be angry. Those armchair pundits, who writes lengthy articles sitting on their comfy armchairs don’t know what an average Mumbaikar has to suffer on a rainy day. Flooded streets, submerged tracks both means he can’t get home on time. Ground floor residents have to dash before their valuable possessions got submerged. Traders has to shift the grains and other perishable stuff to higher points. So why, why can’t they ask for their lazy Babu’s to do their duty? Can’t they learn from mistakes? How many incidents do they need to do proper job?

Mumbai Deluge Update 2:53 PM

2006-07-04T02:26:00.000-07:00

More bad news for western Railway Commuters!
Trains stopped plying between Dadar & Bandra.
Rains wreaked havoc through out the city.
SV road closed. Airports (both) closed.
As I write this, it is pouring down outside.
No respite anytime soon, as it seems!

Mumbai Rain 2006

2006-07-04T01:44:00.000-07:00

It's pouring down in Churchgate & Fort area right now. Most of the offices gave permission to leave. But Central Railway is already stopped functioning.
Western Railway is still running albeit 30-40 min late.
Advice to all who haven't ventured out of their office.
Stay in the office. High tide timing 2:30-3:00. Coupled with this incessant rain, it's gonna be a lot more than what it is now. If you get stuck in between, only god knows when it will move again. In Office you are safe, you can freely roam around and most important, you could get water, use restroom etc.
And beware about overflowing, open manholes. So don't wade through the water.
And if you have any cuts, or bruises on your leg, please avoid getting into the water. You could well get infected with Leptostirosis.
So stya where you are and venture out only after the rains stopped.
Good luck!!

GOD was Aussie; but referee was an Italian

2006-06-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

The world cup Round two match between Italy Vs Australia; from the 40th Minute Italy was only 10 men. But the Aussies couldn't capitalize this one-man-extra advantage as the match entered into it's dying seconds and was sure to go extra time. Till then The ref was ok, regardless of not calling offsides, the ball crossed the sideline, yet the play continued. But the biggest blunder of the ref cost Aussies the match;
Only 12 seconds remaining in normal playing time. Italy attacked through the left wing and the Australian Defender slided infront to block the ball. The stricker, clearly and visibly intented to jump over him, tripped over the defender. The ref pointing to the penalty spot, and my heart was beating in my throat!! What a blunder!! Totti netted the penalty and there was no time to retaliate. The match was over!!
Sorry Socceroos! You deserved to win! God was with you! But the referee was an Italian! Next world cup mate!

FIFA World Cup - Statistics & Trivia

2006-06-24T00:56:00.000-07:00

The first round of FIFA world cup is over. Half of the teams made it to the second – Knock Out – round while the other half is preparing to go back. So far there wasn’t any major upsets in this world cup. There wasn’t any spectacular individual performance. The big guns, touted as the main attractions, so far failed to fire while smaller teams with less known faces made some progress. Here is the pick of this world cup.
Teams
Ghana – The UN general secretary Kofi Annan’s natives gave a stellar performance that put more famed teams to shame. They are into the second ground. Will Pele’s prediction of an African team winning the word cup come true this time?
Ecuador - No one gave an outside chance to them. Being in a group of powerhouses like Germany & Poland, they were extremely resolute and played total football. Once again proved that Big names are just that. Big names.
Goals
Only a handful of teams produced good scoring matches. The rest were so content in defending and not letting score! As a result, the average goal per match is a measly 1.2! This is despite all the efforts from FIFA, from rule changing to new design of ball, to make way for more goals. Even the top teams played defensively. And the inability of stars to score compound the problems. The lesser known teams were adopting a more defensive strategy and marking the leading players very hardly. Look at Ronaldo, Owen, Rooney just to name a few. All struggled to break free from the strangle hold of the defenders.
Team, Goals Scored & goals conceded, in that order
A
Germany 8 2
Poland 2 4
Costa Rica 3 9
Ecuador 5 3
B
England 5 2
T & T 0 4
Sweden 3 2
Paraguay 2 2
C
Argentina 8 1
Holland 3 1
Ivory Coast 5 6
Serb & Mont 2 10
D
Mexico 4 3
Angola 1 2
Portugal 5 1
Iran 2 6
E
USA 2 6
Italy 5 1
Czech 3 4
Ghana 4 3
F
Australia 5 5
Brazil 7 1
Japan 2 7
Coratia 2 3
G
S. Korea 3 4
France 3 1
Togo 1 6
Switzerland 4 0
H
Spain 8 1
Tunisia 3 6
Ukrain 5 4
KSA 2 7

Most goals scored is 8, by three teams, Germany, Argentina & Spain.
Serbia & Montenegro has the dubvious distinctions of letting in the most number of goals, 10. Costa Rica is just behind with 9 goals.

Three groups scored the most number of goals in a group, A, C & H. 18 goals
The least goals is in Group B, 10.
None of the asian teams made it to the second round, Iran, KSA, S. Korea & Japan were ousted in the first round itself.
One African team made it, GHANA
There was one bloody moment when Italy’s De Rossi elbowed American Brian McBride and the latter had to receive treatment for a bleeding wound.

PS:
There was this robot fortune-teller invented by an Indian software company, who was accurate in predicting everything. So a few people went to him as asked him the following query.
A Brazilian;
"Robot, When will Brazil win World Cup?"
Robot (In a machine-like voice)
"Brazil will win every alternate world cup"
An argentina Fan;
"Robot, When will my team win the world cup?"
Robot;
Next Edition"
so on..
So this Sardar went to him an asked thus;
"Robot Mahasay, Will India ever hold the world cup?"
The Robot said "Possible"
Excited he asked robot "great! But when?"
Robot;
"can't say! An Indian have to steal it!!"

Passing the buck

2006-06-23T02:24:00.000-07:00

Once again, the prices of essential goods are shooting up. The UPA government, who came to power on an anti-NDA wave due to the failure of that government to check the increase of price of essential commodities, repeats the same mistake. Though late, PM has chipped in with some suggestion to reduce the burden on the people, how much effect it will have on this jacked up market is yet to be seen.
It all started with the hike in petrol prices early this month. The government’s well thought out strategy was, increase it ridiculously, then when the protests erupt, bring it down to originally planned level. Well, it worked very well. As usual, behind-the-scene arrangements made sure that the LEFT staged a mockery of a protest, NDA went on with their protests and at the end, the prices are still going up.
The total increment in essential commodities is up to 40% in some cases. Consider tomato. It has gone up by 40%! The increase is partially due to the hike in petrol but the other reason is lack of supply since this is off-season for this crop. But an interesting phrase was ringing everywhere. It’s so much clichéd these days.
“The cost of production/Distribution/marketing has increased since the hike in petrol price. So we have to pass on the burden to consumers”
Well, right from the top notch FMCG manufactures to the friendly vegetable vendor. Everyone was repeating the same. Water bill, Electricity Bill, real estate, everything has gone up. Does the income of this poor consumer increases proportionately? No. But everyone keeps passing on the BURDEN to him. The government stated that Public Utility companies like, Indian Oil, can’t afford to take the huge losses it incurred due to the low price of petrol in India. Unless they are not increased, they will go bankrupt.
The vegetable guy say, since the petrol price has gone up, his overhead expenses like transporting, also increased. Every one has to pass it on to consumer.
But where we, the consumer, will pass it on? Could we cut down the amount of milk our children consume, because it comes dearer by 2 rs per litre? Or should we stop buying medicines for our parents? Or may be we just stop eating. I don’t know.

Logic "DYFI"ing Tactics!!!

2006-06-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

The art of Black-flagging

Black always evoke memories of death and grieve. Black is the color of devil, it is believed. It is a worldwide practice to wear a black ribbon when some major figure in a country dies. Witchcraft is called Black Magic. So black is the representation of black, Black itself is scared of black.

Kerala politicians developed an art form called Black-Flagging. Patented by Left youth wing, DYFI, pronounced “difi”, a close relative of “defy”, since their nature is to defy everything. Law, logic and commonsense. This dark art is practiced only in Kerala, that too at an interval of Five years. They perform it for five years continuously and the next five is spend in researching. The patentees believe only they can perform it. But when someone from the other community performs it, another dark art, in which DIFY is so brilliant, is performed. It has close resemblance to the tribal martial art, popularly known as “Kootayadi”. But there is a major difference in this form. Wherein Kootayadi, both teams have almost equal number of participants, this one is few against many.

For the past five years, the inhabitants of Kerala were lucky to see this ever flourishing art, Black Flagging, at regular intervals. A MLA, who goes by the name of M. V. Raghavan, was the chief beneficiary of this. Wherever he goes, DYFI enacted this art in front of him. The MLA has become a scholar in this art. So much so that he plans to write a book about it, sources revealed.

But things took a turn yesterday. An attempt is made to break the shackles of this untouchable status. The offenders were the youth wing of Congress. When a LDF minister was inaugurating something at someplace, a motley group from this party, hitherto considered inferior to their opponents in both these dark arts, tried to perform it for the minister. So infuriated were the protectors of the art, the group was subjected to the other dark art, modified form of Kootayadi. Though, it’s been around for a while, it is yet unnamed. So unprepared were the youths, they meekly surrendered. Few broken rib cages, some lost teeth, and bleeding mouths was all they got as a souvenirs. The Left leaders endorsed the right of DYFI to perform these arts vociferously.

The YC camp equated their attempt at Black Flagging to that of “Sepoy Mutiny” & “Kshetra Praveshana Vilambarom”. They vowed to fight the injustice and want the right to perform Black Flagging. The argument is no single section of society can claim the patent to a popular art form. They quote noted legal bigwigs as this is “total violation of right of expression and right to perform” and hence can get a verdict favoring them.

Both way, the resident Keralite is in for a surprise. They could enjoy this darker art at regular intervals even after DYFI (read their seniors) is in power. They were ruing the fact that since DYFI can’t black flag their own Ministers, this art may lose steam. Now they are heaving a sigh of relief that someone is coming forward and keeping the tradition going. The less fortunate NRKs (Non-resident Keralites) can watch it live on TV and highlights of it after prime time. News papers are also eager to promote this with vivid pictures and detailed reports.

So brace yourself, pack your refrigerator with snacks. A lot of action is coming up.

New Yahoo! Mail Beta

2006-06-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

Have anyone tried the New Yahoo! Mail beta? I just got a chance to test it. I was bowled over. It's such a beautiful interface coupled with new features, it's gonna be a runaway hit and a trendsetter. Now Yahoo mail box look almost like my outlook mailbox and it is as much easy to navigate through the thousands of mails. here are a few highlights

1. The interface. So easy. Click on a mail, the contents show up in the lower pane. Want to see in big window? Double click, and ANOTHER tab pop up. The previous list of mails remain there. No back & forward anymore.
2. Contacts ; They made it into a neat list, instead of an ugly small window. Click as many as you want, and CLICK RIGHT BUTTON!!!! you can send mail (forget CC & BCC), Edit or Delete the contact or add.
3. RIGHT Button Menu; Now just like window applications, you could select different options in your web page!!! Yes it's true. For each pane, the menu list is different.
4. Key board short-cuts; What a relief. Use Keyboard shortcuts like, select a message, press 'r' and the reply tab is opened!!! How easier it could get??
5. It's fast!!! No more agonising wait to open up the message. It's all there when you sign in. Click on the list, it is there.!!!

Cons;
It could be a tad heavy on resources. I ran the test on Firefox and at a point CPU usage is 95%. And it's frequent. So having more than one tab while this is open may be a little taxing on the resources.
I can't see nothing else...

A fine product from Yahoo!. This is going to change the way we see web-based e-mails. And a sure shot winner!!!

Umpiring Standards & Biases of ICC

2006-06-07T23:06:00.000-07:00

The umpiring standards of the current India Vs West Indies matches are something of a benchmark of the slide in the standards that are lately plaguing the game. Billy Doctrove was more than once guilty of lapses. So is Asad Rauf. Let’s see two glaring mistakes they committed during this series.
Elite-Mistakes
Where are you buddy? Asad Rauf.
The second One-day International at Sabina Park, Jamaica. 9th over of West Indies Innings. Irfan Pathan bowls to Sarwan. He pushes on to the onside and goes for a quick single. Suresh Raina, who was fielding there collects the ball and throw down the stumps. Everyone turns to the Square Leg umpire to appeal, but, Umpire was not in his position. He was talking to someone on the boundary Line. The other Umpire, Asad Rauf, permitted to play without checking his counterpart is in position.
To decide or not to decide…
4th Day of 1st test between India & WI. Indian Keeper MS Dhoni’s swashbuckling stroke play left WI gasping for breath. After hitting three consecutive sixes off Mohammed, he went for another one. The skier went to Ganga who took a catch at the boundary line and Dhoni started walking. But Asad Rauf (Yes Him Again!!) stopped him and consulted the other field umpire, Simon Taufel. They referred it to Third Umpire. The Third Umpire, Billy Doctrov (Yep, it’s him), took some 10 minutes, since the TV replays were inconclusive. The question is whether Ganga touched the rope while taking the catch. In normal circumstances, the benefit of doubt is given the Batsman. But, strangely, Doctrov didn’t make a decision and gave the stick back to field umpires. This resulted in chaos, utter confusion and WI captain, Lara’s childish behavior.
Technology Vs Humans?
So is technology helping the umpires? Or it prevents them from taking a decision? Are these umpires being too indecisive, fearing backlashes in the event of a wrong decision? Remember the days of David Shepherd and Steve Bucknor. Those guys stood in the middle of some hostile crowd, yet they took decision which was not in favor of the home team. Now that is what called umpiring. In this series there are too many mistakes. Wrong Lbws when the ball kissed the bat, genuine outs were not given, no balls not called too many of them to be an occasional lapse. The ICC should look into the quality of the elite panel umpires.
Umpiring is all about taking the right decision, not appeasing the home team. If that’s the case, then how can one explain the decision to let off Brian Lara, who snatched the ball from umpire Asad Rauf, and ordered his players to field, though the umpires haven’t reached a decision? Virender Sehwag fined 20% of his mathc fee for excessive appealing. Jayawardhene of Sri Lanka, fined 20% for knocking off the stumps for getting out off a widish delivery. He was showing dissent to himself. Not to any official. Here, one of the prominent player of Cricket, wagging fingers at umpires, snatches the ball and bringing the game to disrepute, yet escapes without even a warning! Need anymore examples of bias?
A few years back, when Sachin Tendulkar, a god in this part of the world, was cleaning dirt from the seam of a ball and he was fined heavily by the match referee. Now Lara’s antics aren’t a serious charge? When Akhtar bowls 150+ Kmph missiles, it’s chucking. But When Bret Lee is doing it, its fast bowling. When Harbhajan & Muralitharan bowls mystic doosras, their arms are bending more than the permissible limit. But when an Australian or English player does it, they change the Law to admit them. This despite the fact that 80% of the total revenue of ICC is generated from Asia.

Read this together with Steve Bucknor’s allegations that the Production Crew doctor footage and the third umpire not always get the correct delivery footage. He, from the beginning, was not at all happy with the advent of technology into the jurisdiction of Umpires. This kind of incidents further underlines the need of the maximum use of human brain. Anyway, our brain is more powerful than any other computer, our eyes are more fast (fast lens means more power to gather light) than any sophisticated lens then why should we needlessly depend on technology? Before the advent of Computers, anyone can do a simple math in their mind. Now even for calculating the total of your vegetable purchase, one takes out the calculator. Technology helps, but not always.

Monsoon Chronolgy - Day 9

2006-06-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

Nothing to report. A slight drizzle on June 7. That's what it is. So I am putting a temporary stop to this diary. Will write only after the monsoon picks up.

Monsoon Chronology Day 6

2006-06-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

Monsoon Diary
June 6th, 2006
LAst 4 days, Saturday, Sunday, Monday & Tuesday witnessed a dry spell. No rain at all.
The gradually increasing mercury and overcast conditions make us sweat.

There is nothing write home about. Rains have done the Vanishing Act and The Leading Dailies are full of Rahul Mahajan stories.

DNA & Mumbai mirror give link to this

2006-06-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

I am proud to say that My article was published by Mumbai Mirror in their Blogger's park section and DNA India gave a link to it in their e-paper on Jun 4th Edition. Two newspapers on the same day!! Isn't it an achievement?

Monsoon Chronology 2006 - Day 2

2006-06-02T02:19:00.000-07:00

Monsoon Diary
June 1st, 2006
Heavy rains till noon, and respite for a while till it started to rain again in the night. This was the second day of Monsoon 2006. Trains and traffic returned to normalcy, well almost. There were allegations and accusationsin the power corridors about what went wrong and who is to blame . BMC, MMRDA and Traffic Police all blamed others for the first day debacle.
The searing temperature now gave way to a damp coolness. And umbrella and rain-coat vendors are lining the streets of Fort area. The construction work on the most of the arterial roads are still half-way through and bearing the brunt of this are two-wheeler riders.
Yesterday, most of the offices reported about 20-30% absenteeism. May be last year's deluge is still afresh in people's mind.

Rahul Mahajan is Critical but Stable

2006-06-02T01:50:00.000-07:00

Son of Mr. Pramod Mahajan, the late General secretary of BJP, Rahul Mahajan is put on life support system in Appollo Hospital Delhi after suffering a bout of vomiting and serious illness. His condition is said to be critical but stable. "Rahul had low blood pressure, oxygen levels were low and respiratory levels were also low. He barely had any pulse," said Dr Ritu Rawat, Apollo Hospital. It is deja vu . Those were the exact words of the doctors who treated his father. Critical but stable.
Pramod Mahajan's secretary, Vivek Moitra, died due to complications arose from the food poisoning.
According to this news, the cause is food poisoning. The Delhi police is investigating the case and still not divulging the exact cause yet.

Is there more to it than what we are made to believe? What was there to celebrate with champagne, that too with the secretary of his late father? It was barely a month since his father's tragic death, and he already celebrating? Who were those three strangers came to the house according to the above mentioned news channel, and more importantly how did they gain access to a high security zone like Mahajan's residence?
"It looks like a drug overdose", some comments screamed from NDTV'scomments section. Is there any truth in it? The whole things is shrouded in mystery and the police too is still groping in the dark.
Was just reading about Mahajan Jr.'s possible entry into politics last week after he attended the BJP meeting in Delhi. Was this a planned attack, from someone who doesn't want the very name of Mahajan raised again in Indian political front?
Now the silence of Pravin Mahajan, the killer of Pramod, gain more significance. Was he the real culprit? Or is he trying to save someone? Someone who is very close to the family?
A lot of questions, many of them without an answer. Coming days will unfold more of this tragic incidents, and may be, there will be many more arrests.

Monsoon Chronology 2006 - Day 1

2006-05-31T21:35:00.000-07:00

Day 1 - May 31, 2006
There was a general perception that after 26/7 debacle, the BMC and Railways are better prepared this time to deal with the rains. But this proved to be entirely wrong. On the first day itself, the life is thrown out of track. The entire system came to a standstill, or close to it. Snarl-ups were everywhere. Most of the arterial roads witnessed chock-a-block traffic. Water-logging in various places made movement difficult, if not impossible. The tall claims of the CM and BMC authorities were proved to be entirely fictitious. Or relied on statements, not on facts. If the drains and Nallahs are cleaned properly, how could this happen? The ironic thing is, the BMC head quarters was under knee deep water. And the recently inagurated, with much fanfare, control room was out of power.

For the railway commuters, the first day brought back memories of 26/7. inundated tracks made trains delay as much as three hours late in Central Railway. One of my colleague caught the train from CST at 6:37 and she reached Vidhya Vihar by 9:45. Otherwise a 45 minute commute. So much for the precautions. At Sion, where tracks are a low level, water rose to inches below the platform.
Harbour & Western Railways claim to have less impact and their schedule is only 45 Minutes. but in reality, Western Railway is as much hit as central. Those who got into the 7:59 reached Virar by 10:45. Normally a 1:25 minute journey took them almost three hours.

The irritating thing is, even though most of the trains are equipped with a one-way radio, ther was no announcement in the train. All the windows were shut, the heat emanating from ever growing crowd, life was hell inside the compartments. People had to stay in this unbearably humid conditions for long while without having a clue as to when the train will move or why they are being held-up. When are the motormen and railways going to learn some Public Relation excersizes?

To sum up, the unexpected heavy rains in the beginning itself caught everyone off-guard. It was testing times for the average mumbaikar who had to suffer the most. Coming days will bring respite or make the situation worse is yet to be seen.

Welcome Monsoon

2006-05-30T03:21:00.000-07:00

The monsoon is here! What a relief for the Mumbaikar, who suffered under the sweltering conditions. The pied crested Coockoo, the harbinger of Monsoon, is spotted in Mumbai. As on cue, today morning was a bit gloomy with all those dark clouds hovering above. Some of the places in Mumbai, the lucky ones, got a few showers too. But the best thing is the suffocating humidity is considerably reduced and merciless sun is stifled by the dark clouds.
As with every prediction, this time too, our IMD got it all wrong. They predicted June 7 with a 3 day error margin, but it may not go beyond 2nd Of June. The news from kerala is, the south west monsoon is at full force there for the past 5 days and causing a lot of damages. For Mumbai, it's music. It means the monsoon will reach here within 6-7 days. And it's already 5 days.
So take out your umbrellas, rain coats, those rain shoes etc.. And pray to god not to repeat last year.
You could expect some rain shots right here.

Some photos...

2006-05-23T03:12:00.000-07:00

This shot happened without any planning....

This is shot at Vasai St. Michael's church. Scanning destroyed half the beauty. :)

Nepal King- Dug his own grave

2006-05-18T22:52:00.000-07:00

The Nepal Parliament passed a legislation to become a Secular state and stripped the King of all his powers. And renamed the government from “His Majesty’s Government” to simply “Nepal Government”. And the army is renamed from “Royal Nepal Army” to “Nepalies Army”. The king is stripped of his powers and made his title just that. A title. Here onwards he will have no immunity from Law, have to pay tax and will have to adhere to the law of the Land.
This is an astounding victory for democracy and the people of Nepal. There was no way the King could have continued in his dictatorship. Six months he has ruled the Himalayan kingdom with an iron fist and now the table is turned. His erstwhile government’s office bearers are facing charges of the atrocities they committed against the people’s movement against the kingdom. Some of them will surely spend a few years behind the bar.
What a contrast between the last king and present one. King Birendra was loved by every one and mild mannered. This one was arrogant and loved by no one. The circumstances in which he got to power are highly suspicious. The Shah dynasty, which was established in 17th century, may die an unceremonious death with this patriarch. Poor Paras, his dream of becoming the king has badly mangled.

The changing face of Christianity in India

2006-05-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

The Ban request
Finally the film “The Da Vinci Code” is cleared for release in India despite the opposition from Indian Christians. The censor board and special committee reviewed the film and told the distributors to add a disclaimer saying it is a work of fiction. I have read the book and found it is a good read. A good work of fiction. That’s it. It is, in no way influenced my belief nor it changed the way I see Christ & Christianity..
A bounty for the head of Dan Brown
So why Indian Christians reacted in such fierce way? The film is released in 36 countries including Italy. Why a particular Nicholas Almeida announced 110,000 RS as a reward to bring Dan Brown “Dead or Alive” in front of him. Okay, what is he going to do once he is brought to him? Slap him? Or sentence him to death? Wasn’t he acting like some other fanatics from UP, who announced a similar bounty for anyone who kill some Danish Cartoonists even though he denies it? Or was it just an attempt to gather some mileage and catapult himself into the limelight?
Changing Basics?
Over the years Christianity has suffered a lot. Right from the time of Christ to this date many of the followers been killed or battered. In India there are several cases comes into mind. Particularly The Graham Staines Case and the rape of Nuns in Orissa. And many more attacks on priests and church goers and destruction of churches. In Mumbai some Vandals disrupted a prayer meeting and beat up the pastor and devotees. All the while, Christians held peaceful marches and candle-light rallies but never were aggressive. That’s the fundamental of the religion. Tolerance and absolution. So why, in a rare gesture, Christian groups exploded? I am here trying to look beyond the film and trying to figure out the changing mindsets.
Analysis
It has started with the changing scenario of world order. After 9/11 there was the War on Terror and Islam, as a group, is viewed as dangerous. Though a few unscrupulous elements in that society are terrorizing the world, the whole community had to suffer. As a result, even mild-mannered Muslims are forced to come out against US and most of Europe. For the poor and un-educated this translated as Christians. For them, US and Britain is Christians. The opportunistic leaders took full advantage of this situation and compared the present situation to Crusade. They were successful in furthering the divide. They were so successful in their anti-US protests and always got media mileage by their outrageous ways of protests. Then come the cartoon imbroglio which further underlined the effectiveness of violent protests. The entire world took notice of growing unrest and had to withdraw the cartoons.
On the other end of the spectrum, The Hindu organizations were always successful in their campaign. The Pravin Togadias, Sudarshans, Modis and Thackerays always held sway with the media and their inflammatory speeches fuelled the mob fury. They can bring down a centuries old shrine and still get away with it. When their shrines are attacked, Akshardam, Ayodhya Makeshift temple, the perpetrators are caught and the police action is swift. But when it comes to Christian churches being torn down or priests and Nuns are attacked, no one raises a finger.
Slowly and steadily this wrong conception, of violence getting notice, started seeping into their subconscious mind. The Film ‘Sins’ was the test case. The film, in which a Catholic priest was portrayed in a sexual manner ignited passion among the same group and protests were held.
Finally the Christian groups that is growing less tolerant to religious matters taking a leaf from the above mentioned religions. If they can do it, Why can’t us? is the question. Where this will lead the community, which is noted for its charity and tolerance is beyond my comprehension. But Indian Christians have finally turned a leaf and there won’t be a turning back.
Future
May be we will see a blanket ban request regarding religious matters. From there onwards, no filmmaker can portray a deity in ill manner. No priests or Nuns can’t be depicted in it. No Purohits or Maulavis will ever hold a dark role. No churches or Mosques or Mandirs can’t be shown as the place of crime. And it’s an end to all protests regarding Films. Peace at last is here.

Explosives seized in Nashik

2006-05-17T03:33:00.000-07:00

Image obtained from Times Of India

May 8 – 40 Kg of RDX seized from suspected LeT terrorists from Aurngabad-nashik highway
May 14 – 50 Powerful grenades along with other explosives found from Nashik.
May 17 – 13.5 Kg of RDX, 5 Kalashnikov, live ammunition seized from Nashik.

The recent seizure of high-grade explosives and other ammunitions and the subsequent arrests of some terrorists is worrisome news for the Mumbai Cops. The proximity of these sites to Mumbai makes it more disturbing. If the rumblings are any indication, then the terrorists are planning for a major operation within or near to this City.
For those who follow the terrorist movements, things have been little quiet for some time. No major operations, no press statements and no major scale infiltration. All these points to one thing. They are preparing for some big challenge. Was this consignment heading for Mumbai or was it meant for Kashmir?
The timely discovery and seizure of this explosives and live ammunition might have deferred a catastrophe but how much of it has gone undetected is unknown. Keep your fingers crossed and stay alert.

My works

2006-05-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

For more of this,
Click here

Public Land encroachers put in a spot by SC

2006-05-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court said that squatters have no right to encroach upon public land. The land mafia in Mumbai has long been exploited the politics underlying this issue to make easy money. And the relentless influx of immigrants from other states helped them to encroach upon more public land and later use the humanity card to ensure they get rehabilitated at state’s expense.
5 years ago, the west side of Mithi River at Bandra station was full of mangroves. Today countless shanties have come up their and it has been eating into the mangroves gradually.
The political parties have so long approached this issue with a pro-slum attitude. Since this comprise a huge vote-bank, they couldn’t, or wouldn’t want to, do anything. And whenever the Municipal Corporation embark upon a demolition drive, the local MLA would oppose and bring the whole proceedings to a halt. A case in point is the eviction of slum dwellers from Airport Authority Land at Kurla. BMC started the demolition but after MLA’s intervention, had to drop it.
The arguments invoked in such cases are, poverty, desperation etc. But the court rejected this arguments upright and said, “Poverty or desperation doesn’t mean they (encroachers) can do anything illegal”. If one poor man robs a bank and claim his desperation made him do it, does it stand in any court? The counsel should have known better.
The next argument was “there is no other places them to go in the scorching sun. The court retorted by “In India, we have three climates. Heat, Rain and winter. If we accept your argument, then there will never be an appropriate time to evict them”
Brushing aside other arguments based on compassion and these people are here since 1070 and came here to find jobs because they have no means of finding livelihood back home, the court said, “No one forced you to come here. Stay wherever you can. If public land encroachments are allowed, there will be anarchy. Tomorrow these people will start living here at Supreme Court claiming a right. If you are occupying public land, what to talk about fundamental right, you have no right to stay there for a minute longer”
An astounding victory for Municipal corporations, and a slap on the face of encroachers and activists who lobby for rehabilitation, I would say. Hope this will further strengthen the Municipal corporations to establish sanity and prevent further encroachment. In Mumbai, there are few open spaces left. This verdict may preserve them from the strangle hold of encroachers who keep coming in hordes into the city.

Pramod Mahajan passes away

2006-05-03T03:53:00.000-07:00

Image courtesy; Zeenews.com

Just received;
Pramod Mahajan Passes away.
The death came at 2:30 PM (IST).
All his family members were present at the time of death
My condolence to the grieving family

The situation at Hinduja Hospital is very grim. Mr. Mahajan's heath has taken a turn for worst and reported to be in grave danger. Most of the vital organs, lungs, kidneys, pancreas have stop funtioning. for the first time since his hospitalisation, his whole family was allowed to go into the ICU and spend some time with him. Doctors said that his body stopped to responding to medicines. Senior leaders of both BJP and ShivSena is camping at the hospital and monitoring the developments.
Last few days, there was a slight improvement in his condition and doctors lowered the dosage of medicines that controlled his errattic blood pressure. And the body responded in a positive way. This gave hope but since the infection in lungs got out of control, doctors stopped the medications and asked his family to "pray for a miracle".

My heart goes out to the grieving family and though never met him, he was like a friend. Every day in news, most of the time for positive news. An embattled and tireless politician, a superb manager, and a future prime minister that he was, it looks like he is going to lose the final battle.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

over (Turbo) charged Mumbai

2006-04-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

Day One.
Vasai Fort.
Purchase : Two bottles of Sprite.
Actual Price : 7 per bottle
Charged : 10 Rs.
Reason : Cooling charges.
When reminded about the pitfalls of overcharging, response was “I don’t care”
Demanded for a bill and he obliged by writing it on a piece of paper.
Day Two.
Gate way of India
Purchase: a bottle of mineral water and a soft drink.
Actual Price: 12 for Mineral water and 18 for soft drink.
Charged: 15 for Mineral water and 20 for soft drink
Reason. Cooling charges.
When he saw my SLR camera, and my insistence for the bill, he took me for a journalist and returned the excess. No bills here too.
Day Two.
Gateway of India
Purchase. A taxi ride from Gateway to Churchgate Railway Station
Actual Price: 13 to 15 according to traffic situation.
Charged. 26 Rs.
Reason. The cabbie took me on a round about way, thinking I don’t know my way around there. He took me to Nariman Point first then turning right to Churchgate station.

So much for consumer protection and “jaago grahak jaago” advertisement campaign.
Now I am planning to do a repeat of this with some officials. Can anyone give an advice as to how to go about it and whom to contact? Phone numbers in the respective areas are appreciated.

Pramod Mahajan-The BJP strategist

2006-04-26T22:51:00.000-07:00

So the hype and hoopla surrounding the Pramod Mahajan shooting is somewhat died down and the item is longer a front-pager. Now it’s time to reflect upon some of the startling facts this incident threw up. The conspiracy theorists were agog and suspected some black character playing villain in this rather unfortunate episode. It is yet to be ascertained as to why Praveen Mahajan shot him, what was the provocation and motive and whether there were any other conspirators in the whole scheme. Initial reports suggests that it was a crime in the heat of the moment, and not a pre-meditated one, but the final picture will be clear only after the police is through with the interrogation of key witness, Rekha Mahajan, the wife if the victim.

His health.

The doctors constantly keep a watch on Pramod and admit that the situation is very grim. The bleeding from the Lever has stopped and heart is in good health. But two other key parameters, the Kidney and Pancreas, have started functioning erratically. He is on 24 hour dialysis due to the non-functioning of the Kidneys. But it’s his pancreas that has got all these doctors worrying. The injury on the mouth of the pancreas caused the leaking of Juices from it and if it is not stopped, the abdominal tissues will be ‘digested’ by it. And his Blood pressure is kept normal by means of medication and is not breathing his own. He is on ventilator support and until he starts breathing his own, the docs can’t do anything. The bullets still remain inside the body.

Be seen.

The crème-de-la-crème of national glitterati, politicians, film personalities and top businessmen all were there at Hinduja Hospital. But some little-known faces, notably a bearded one, seen smiling at the cameras from behind the media-addressing desk. Irrespective of who addressed the media, these gate crashing party-spoilers just kept showing their teeth and gained some mileage. Talk about blood sucking parasites!

Doctors, dozen a dime!

It is always a good thing to ask a few well-known doctors for suggestions. But the poor doctors at Hinduja spend a lot of time briefing all these visiting legends. They have to glean the time from their duties such as treat less-fortunate and less-formidable patients who are also fighting death.
And the constant flow of VVIPs into the hospital threw the normalcy that is ubiquitous here. An army of Law enforcement agencies virtually hijacked the campus and made life hell for the common man. Though these days we are used to it, I guess.

The loser

The loser in this is BJP. Even if Pramod gets well, I sincerely hope he will, he will be unable to fit into the rigors of national politics. The grind of it may too hard for him. So, in effect BJP has lost a top class trouble shooter and a very good strategist. He was the man chosen to run elections for the party. And He has done that many a times with positive results. He was the cohesive between Shiv Sena and BJP. BJP Maharashtra politics always revolved around him. How they cope with this is to be seen in the coming days.

Had fate not intervened, Pramod could have turned the table on the current UPA government and brought BJP into power. With no clear replacement, BJP is now groping in the dark and like a mountaineer who lost his guide. And we temporarily lost a shrewd, cunning and thinking politician.

My Lord, you are done with.

2006-04-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

one of the remnants of british raj from our Justice system has disappeared yesterday when Lawyer associations decided to do away with "My Lord" & "Your Lordship" from proceedings. Along with the wigs now these too takes a place in the history books. But I sincerely hope someone do something about this too

Anniversary

2006-04-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

It's been one year since I started to write regularly in this blog. I was a member of blogger community much before that, but started my series of articles on 1st April 2005.
I wish to thank all those who supported me and been faithful readers. Thanks a lot.
*crackers*

Nepal-the Lost paradise

2006-04-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

So things have come down to a major face-off between Pro-democracy people and the King in Nepal. King Gyanendra is using all the power he can summon in his quest to suppress the rising and given shoot at sight order who breach the curfew imposed on the capital. The days of Kingship is numbered there. But the alarming thing is the tie-up between democrats and the Maoists. Wonder what is in store for the Himalayan kingdom.

I wrote something about Nepal back in Dec and one Nepali by the name of Nepali_guy has strongly opposed to my views in the comments section. Would like to know what he is saying now.

Get your maths right Minister

2006-04-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty - a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture.
Bertrand Russell
British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)

Mathematics is the queen of the sciences.
Carl Friedrich Gauss, from Sartorius von Waltershausen, "Gauss zum Gedachtniss" [1856]
German mathematician, physicist, & prodigy (1777 - 1855)

So at last there is an answer to the problems that Indian students faced all these years. Maharashtra, a trend setter in many avenues, come up with another novel idea to end the miserable conditions our students live. The extremely intelligent state minister of School Education, Prof Vasantrao Purke come up with this rather bizarre suggestion to make Mathematics an optional subject in school curriculum. . The above quoted greats are in no way comes at par with this guy. For a country who contributed ‘zero’ to the world, this suggestion is an absolute humiliation. When countries like the US of A and other scholars from world over emphasis the importance of mathematics & science in fear of losing the edge of their students to Indian and Chinese due to their prowess in these subjects, we are planning to blunt that same edge by introducing these draconian measures just to make the winning percentage looks good?
At a time when Indian professionals are being hailed as the best all over the world, this suggestion is totally unwarranted and uncalled for. That too from a top minister makes the impact more dangerous. If this trend is continued, we can scrap physics and chemistry and may be biology and other difficult subjects from the curriculum and introduce new subjects like, Paddy farming, Cricket and politics in order to make it easy for rural students.
The very basic of our intellect is Mathematics. If one is to survive in any of the careers that are available now, a sound mathematical background is essential. Without it, how one could succeed in life is beyond my comprehension. May be the minister was just shooting his mouth off. Hope he doesn’t mean it. If he does, it will have serious repercussions on the future generations.

Now reservation in private sector

2006-04-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

It couldn’t get more ridiculous. As if the suggestion to reserve 49% of IIM/ IIT seats for backward caste, our otherwise intelligent PM brought up another suggestion. Sorry, no suggestion, a demand to private sector. Reserve jobs for SC/ST/OBC or face legislation for it. How low they can stoop in this regard? Is this government thinking only about the lower caste? The “upper” caste doesn’t have any right to stay and work in this country? As much as the honchos of private firms agree with the government, they have their reservations about the whole idea. They fear that if they don’t comply with the order, legislation will be slapped on their face. This forcing down their throat is not going down well with them.
The empowerment of backward communities must top the agenda of any government. But should it be at the cost of wholesome development? Here is some food for thought.
It is a common knowledge that govt sector lack any competence or efficiency. In such an environment, the in-efficient, got their jobs mainly due to reservations and not on any merit, thrive. But private sector is totally driven by commitment and efficiency. If a lower caste employee is found to be lacking in this respect, could they fire him? Govt sector promotion is purely based on the duration of service and servility. Pvt Sector is totally on performance. What’s the scope of one getting promoted there? India’s private sector is what driving the boom in our economy and earned a name for its efficiency. Now incompetent employees could just spoil that too.
I am not under the impression of lower caste students/employees are not equipped with these qualities. They have it in them to do it and are eligible for any kind of job as the others are. But reservations are not required for a particular caste if they have it in them. If they are good, and don’t have the financial prowess to make it, then the government should step in and provide economical assistance.

*****************************
Here are few things that we can expect to see in near future.
1. Virar-Churchgate fast local. 50% of sitting & standing space reserved
2. MNcs like IBM, MicroSoft and HP has to reserve 50% of their jobs. As a result, the computers that they make and programs and printers will be 50% less efficient. But who’s complaining. After all India has achieved social balance.
3. 50% of players in Indian cricket team will be reserved. And we can ask other countries to bowl 50% less faster and if they hit a SIX off these it will be considered as THREE

Reservation for OBCs in IIM

2006-04-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

Natural ability without education has more often attained to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.
Cicero
Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC - 43 BC)

Imagine this; you are locked in fierce combat with your opponent in deadly boxing fight. In every round you outscore him only to find out you end up as a loser. When you question the verdict, the judges say this; your opponent belongs to a backward cast and therefore he is eligible for 30% of your marks!
In somewhat similar fashion, the government is planning to bring reservation for OBC (other backward caste) in IIMs and IITs. These two institutions are the torch bearers of India’s march towards the future. The very names evoke respect in any country, is going to be politicized just to garner a few votes.
Reservation for financially backward people is justified. Those who are brilliant in studies but can’t afford higher education should be given a chance. But reservation for people in the name of their religion / caste? What if he/she doesn’t have what it takes to make it? This move will definitely erode the credibility of our premier institutes. The congress have always been adopted this backward community appeasement and in that process, they forgot there are a majority living below poverty line but they can’t claim any of the benefits these backward castes enjoy. Their crime? They belong to a higher caste. I still remember my college days. That time in Kerala, +2 was in colleges and there were 4 groups. 1st (Maths), 2nd (science), 3rd (arts) and 4th (commerce). 1st and 2 were considered superior and 3rd was the last choice. One of my friends who have secured about 70% in 10th Final exam had to be content with 4th(his third choice), while his classmate who have secured just 43% got admission to his prime choice, 2nd group. Eventually the 70% guy passed with high marks and become a very good accountant. The other one, after failing +2, earns his daily wages by working in the farms. A waste, won’t you say?
The criteria for selection should always be merit. All other criterion will just be injustice to others who are meritorious. Caste, creed and tribe should not be a decisive factor in at least this premier institutes. The school and college education is already taken a beating by the politicization.
The only reservation should be for financially backward. This way, more brilliant students get a chance to make it big and, no doubt, our country will be benefiting from it.

Pakistan - How trustworthy are they?

2006-04-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

The wounds that Kargil war inflicted on the Indian psyche is not over yet. India lost about 5000 soldiers in what was absolutely a nonsense war. India received many back-pats from international community for not going overboard and crossing the Line of control and averting a possible nuclear war with Pakistan. But by not crossing the LOC, our soldiers was seriously crippled and the enemy was firing down at them. The war ended and India emerged victorious, both in Military and diplomatic front but at a very dear cost.
Similar concerns are expressed by top military officials about the proposed de-militarization of Siachen Glacier, the highest battle point.The Agra summit of Gen. Parves Musharaff and the then Indian P.M. A. B. Vajpayee led to the Kargil infiltration. After the summit, both nations started walking on a new peace path and exploiting this lower vigilant situation, Pakistan army and the dreaded ISI pushed the infiltrators across the border. Most of the enemies killed that operation was regular soldiers of Pakistan, however hard they deny it.
Now, is Pakistan trustworthy anymore? What had changed since? The General is still at power, ISI still actively pushing terrorists to Kashmir, Pakistan Military still fires at Indian post, though in a less frequent manner. India still sees Bomb blasts and other terrorist activities; terrorist outfits still operate at PoK. So why India should trust Pakistan and de-militarize Siachen? Why they wouldn’t attempt a Kargil in Siachen?
Even the international community eyes Pakistan with some suspicion. They all know that Pakistan, as a nation, can’t be taken seriously in their promises. America, the biggest ally of Pakistan, is shifting its allegiance eastward. After the A. Q. Khan episode, their credibility has taken a further beating. The only thing why America still engages Pakistan in its war on terror is the fear of its own security. If America doesn’t keep tabs on Pakistan, the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan will end up in extremist hands and it will be a disastrous situation. There is no stability in Pakistan. Democracy is still in it’s infancy stage there and it’s an open battle for power between Extremists who wants to make another Taliban and the Military. Their economy is in tatters. Anarchy rules. The arm of law doesn’t reach its tribal areas.
The military’s concerns must be taken seriously. If they feel Siachen shouldn’t be vacated, it shouldn’t be. Period. No political brownie points are worth the national security. We don’t want to send our soldiers to a war that can be avoided in the first place. Don’t pull them out because later they have to go again, but then the enemy will be waiting there.

Indian Justice System is Holidaying

2006-04-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

“Justice Hurried is Justice Buried”
But..
“Justice Delayed is Justice Denied”
Indian courts are notorious for it’s sluggish pace. Cases dates back to previous century still await verdicts. But some cases are heard in a fast-track court and verdicts delivered within a matter of weeks. Why can’t all the courts be Fast-track then? Or precisely, why SOME cases are heard in a special manner while others are destined to languish in the fray for their lifetime and beyond?
Some statistics suggest over 1,50,000 Cases are pending in the Supreme Court alone.
High courts have a back log of about 1.5 Million cases! Don’t think about the lower courts. . Even if the courts work 24/7 for the next century, it may not be possible to clear this backlog.
One reason given for this backlog is the Indian’s highly litigating nature. Some say it judicial over-activism, but it is the people who are running to the court for each and every silly things as if there is no other way out of it. And appeals made to a higher courts make things worse.
But, strangely, courts with such mountainous backlog, still enjoys a lot of holidays. Summer vacation is for 7 weeks and plus all the other holidays in a year . Here is a the total leaves per month for Supreme court of India.
Jan 2006: 5 Sundays, 2 holidays.
Feb 06: 4 Sundays, 1 Holiday
Mar 06: 4 Sundays, 6 Holidays (6 days for HOLI!!!!)
Apr 06: 5 Sundays, 3 Holidays
May 06: 2 Sundays, 1 Holiday, 17 Days Summer Vacation!!!
Jun 06: Entire Month (30 days) summer vacation!!!
July 06: 4 Sundays, 2 days summer vacation
Aug 06: 4 Sundays, 3 days holiday
Sep 06: 4 Sundays, Thank god!! No holidays
Oct 06: 5 Sundays, 14 Days holiday!!
Nov 06: 4 Sundays, Thank God! No holiday.
Dec 06: 5 Sundays, 12 Holidays (Christmas & New Year!!!)
A total of 137 days off!!! 38% of the year! In fact the courts work for only a mere 62% days! No wonder our courts are chest-deep in pending cases. Soon it will be eye-deep and will die a suffocating death. There is no meaning for a system to exist where it can’t serve its purpose.
Recently there was a trend where a lower court’s decision is upturned by the higher court. This will further erode the credibility of lower courts. Does this reversal means the lower court judges are not capable of deciphering the complex laws properly and deliver a just verdict? Does that mean they are corrupted? Reading together with reports of corruption in lower court judges, the picture gets clearer. So where is hope? Not all of us can afford to go to Supreme Court for justice. If lower courts fail to convince the people about its credibility, there will be little respite for the poor man.

The tale of two rapes

2006-03-27T00:25:00.000-08:00

The high-profile rape case involving the Kaslival scion has evoked the debate of the ever increasing threat to women in Indian cities. Right after this incident, there was another case of a minor girl raped by four teenagers in Mira Road.
In the first case, Mr. Abhishek Kaslival (26), offered a lift to the victim (not naming due to various reasons)(52) around 2:00 AM from Colaba to Mumbai central but instead took her to Worli Shriram Mills (owned my his father) and allegedly raped her. The second incident took place in Mira Road, a distant suburb of Mumbai, where four teenagers gang-raped a class IX student in one of the accused’ house and raped one after another. The girl was invited to attend the boy’s sister’s birthday party.
Some interesting facets of this case follows;
In both the cases, the victims were intoxicated before the rape took place. Kaslival offered the drink while on car and the Mira road girl took some juice at her assailant’s home. Both drinks were mixed with alcohol/drug to make them unconscious.
Initially Ambuj Kaslival, the father of Abhishek vehemently opposed the charges and accused the victim of immoral traffic, but as one after another facts came out, he clamped up. In Mira road case, the mother denied her son’s involvement in the case and said “he doesn’t have any sister and the girl knows it. Then how could she come for the b’day party?”
Questions;
Kaslival Rape case;
1. What was she doing in a known trouble spot at around 2:00 AM? She said she was waiting for a friend but is it a good time for a rendezvous?
2. Why did she accept a lift from a total stranger when she could have easily got a cab to go to Mumbai Central which was safer?
3. Why did she accept the drink? Didn’t she know the dangers?
4. Why she didn’t raise an alarm when it was apparent the car wasn’t going in the right direction?
Mira Road Rape case;
1. When she entered the house, couldn’t she notice the absence of other guests / his parents?
2. Did they watch a pornographic movie together before the rape as alleged?
3. Why did she (all of 15 years) chose to go to the police even before consulting her mother?
This is in no way to justify their actions or discredit the victims. But a few questions that my conscience raised. As my fellow blogger Druv wrote in Ashley’s blog, the judicial mindset is biased and sympathized towards the victim and see things in that light. There were enough incidents, which is sub-judice hence I can’t comment on them. The prominent one is Preety Jain accusing Madhur Bhandarkar (a well-know bollywood director) of rape. It is pretty obvious that she is taking revenge for not keeping his promises.
What if some girl had sex with her consent and later accusing of rape? If there a definite way to prove rape? May justice prevail in the end, but the media highlights the accusations only. If one is acquitted, it will be a back page item. The pride of an individual is completely destroyed in this mindless sensationalizing of news. His life, family, career and name could be irreparably damaged before the final verdict.
I was watching one of the news channel and they were showing the kaslival Rape “replay” by showing a blurred video of a lady and a man in a Mercedes. It is obvious that they shot it with professional actors, but it is highly un-ethical to do. If the court acquits the accused, would they re-shoot it and show? I think the verdict is of no importance. They have deemed he is guilty.
There has to be a limit for everything. The over-eager media has to exercise some restraint before they do something like this. Last few years we saw the judicial activism as every person who got some grievance ran to court. Is it now Media-over activism age? Just keep in mind that, the media has the power to make or break. But don’t break someone before he/she is proved guilty. Let the judiciary do the trial.

Travelling salesmen of BJP

2006-03-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

Mr. Lal Krishna Advani lapped up the first opportunity to turn a vicious incident to a vote gathering exercise. This time around he declared not one, two Yatras, to gather momentum against the ‘minoritiysm’ of the central government. Ever since his Pakistan visit and the subsequent Jinnah controversy, he was on the look out for an opportunity to turn himself into his old self, a hardcore Hindutva Advocate. His failed experiment with soft-hindutva failed miserably and it threatened to end his political career. Now it’s back to where it has all started. The Ram Yatras and the Babri Majid demolition saw BJP grow to a big player in Indian political parody. Advani must be hoping for a repeat of history.
The Varanasi bombing has set a perfect stage for his comeback. It’s the old ‘We Vs Them’. A place of Hindu worship has been bombed allegedly by Islamists. And a few days ago the muslim mobilization against the publication of Prophet’s cartoon turned out to be a show of strength of the community and turned violent at a few places. This has a cascading effect on BJP and its think-tank. Not only Muslims are a force to reckon with, but they started to recognize it. This doesn’t augur well for BJP and hence they are embarking on the old tried and tested formula, The Yatras and Hindutva.
It may not be a co-incident that after every Yatra, there are communal skirmishes followed and some places it turned violent. Since He has decided about the Yatras(travels, loosely translated) to sell hardcore hindutva, it is just to doubt the intentions behind it. Is it an attempt to try what has been done in Gujarat? As I wrote a year back, Gujarat was a test case. They found it successful and now won’t hesitate to repeat it elsewhere. Where else to start the strategy than UP, the state which sends most MP’s to Delhi?
As I was speaking to one of my friends, S(he) asked me about the bombings and who might be behind it? I chose to answer the obvious, the terrorists, but then s(he) was raised another query which is still ringing in my ears? Is it the same forces who are now protesting? Are they trying to create a situation similar to Godhra? Just read the enquiry report of Godhra train carnage together . The findings of the committee is relevant here. The commission said that, the fire started from inside the train, NOT OUTSIDE. And thousands of people killed in the ensuing riot.
Police have zeroed in on the usual suspects, Lashkar-e-Toiba, and they owned the responsibility, through a fictitious outfit. But I now remember a protagonist in a Malayalam Novel, written by famous author Vaikom Muhammed Bashir, the author of many a bestseller.
His name is “Ettukaali Mammonju” (Spider Mammonju). In his village, whatever happened, be it a theft, a rape or an act of bravery, he suddenly owns up it by saying “Athu Njammala”. Now LeT just remind me of him.

Register your Day fast.

2006-03-09T20:31:00.000-08:00

It seems the days of a year are fast becoming insufficient. At the rate each day is dedicated to a particular cause, may be a couple of years later we will be celebrating multiple events on same day. Like Christmas & World Marriage day!! Recently there has been an addition to the long list of commemorative days. The top nephrologists of the world got together and to raise awareness about kidney diseases, they decided to celebrate “WORLD KIDNEY DAY” on every 2nd Thursday of March. We already have a lot of this. Aids day, women’s day, heart day, no-smoking and now that long list added one more day to it. So celebrating these days will spread more awareness about it? If that’s case, then why Aids is spreading like wildfire? I am waiting for a day called world penis day (since there is no World Men’s day this is absolutely a necessity) and followed by world vagina day (spreads awareness about diseases that infects these body parts) and leg day, arm day (to generate awareness about disease like cuts/burns) . I have prepared a list of probable organs that qualify for a day dedicated to it.
World Nerve Day – to cool one’s nerves
World Bath Day – spreading awareness about bathing and it’s effects
World Hair Day – specially for the hairy type
World Skin day – How can we forget the biggest organ?
World Penis Day – Come on! This is an automatic qualifier!
World Vagina Day – How can this be left out?
And gradually we will have a day dedicated for each and every organ! Funny isn’t it?
An incomplete list is available Here .
So if you want register a day in one of the organs. Or this 365 days may not be enough to include everything.

Wet summer

2006-03-09T03:09:00.000-08:00

India is experiencing some strange weather. At this time of year, rains are like a snowstorm in hell. But since uesterday, west and north india received unseasonal showers along with lightning and thunder.
Today Mumbai, usually above 32 C at this time, woke up to a cool morning and overcast sky. By 8:30 AM it started to drizzle accompanied by lightning. Office goers were caught unaware and most of them got wet since they were not carrying any umbrellas.
At the time of writing, it is still overcast and and sporadic showers reported. Right after noon, it rained and now though subsided, still going on.
Wonder does it have something to do with global warming and climatic patterns like la nino. Or just some depression in bay of bengal?

The other side of young India

2006-02-26T21:56:00.000-08:00

The Maharashtra & Central governments may want us to believe India is on to the verge of breaking into the super power club. The picture they paint is so rosy that an average person would consider his country indeed is on par with China or even America. Why not, India registered an unprecedented growth in GDP; our stock market breached the magical figure of 10K. Why not, we are acquiring world class fighter planes and other military paraphernalia. We are gained entry into the exclusive club of Nuclear Powers. We have set our eyes on the permanent seat of Security Council. Yes India is sure flying.
But India is not only the flashy cosmopolitan cities. Indians are not the only ones, who drive swanky cars, fly to exotic places to spend vacation or bring the crème-layer of America to celebrate wedding. The real India is where children die of malnutrition, children who work under punishing circumstances to feed their family.Under the very high rises, kids beg for a living. This is the India. The real India.
India’s rural face has always been neglected. The recent avian flu has unearthed a tip of an iceberg. The health workers who conducted a house-to-house test for avian flu found seriously mal-nourished children in this tribal area, Nawapur Maharashtra. Some of them were so weak that the doctor said they may live another year or so.
There were a lot of child deaths but the government machinery systematically covered it up. There was a gaping difference between the government’s statistics and independent studies. A detailed report is available Here.
Being un-educated and out of income the tribals are not able to look after their kids properly. And the corrupt officialdom is making things not easier.
Another instance of government’s total lack of concern is regarding the child labor. All these years there were numerous laws to prevent it, but nothing has been done to eradicate this malady from the society. In Mumbai alone, millions of kids work in Zari units, small hotels (prominently in hotels that run by Mangloreans) and construction sites. The age ranges from 5 to 14! They work as hard as any adult and get half the pay! I interviewed some of this hotel cleaners and thye said their parents forced them into this! When their friends and relatives go to schools and playgrounds, these unfortunate youngsters are working hard to support their family!
Action must be taken against those erring parents who underfed kids or sending them to work. If they can’t afford to feed their children, they don’t have a right to be the parent.
Law must be changed to include this provision to punish the parents. The future belongs to kids. Save them!

Karunakaran - To be or Not to be?

2006-02-23T21:13:00.000-08:00

Kerala politics has always been intriguing, to say the least. Where almost every major party owns a satellite channel, the first Communist Government elected my democratic means, one of the smallest states of Indian union but has the one of the highest number of political parties; Kerala has always been a different arena when it comes to politics. Intense factionalism is rampant in almost all political party. Minorities play a major role in elections and the only state where BJP has yet to have an MLA or MP. It has been a state of political peculiarities. One can expect the least un-expected from this state.
But the sudden somersault by the LDF caught everyone off-guard. The denial of entry into the LDF for Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DICK).(a little thought here. Why did suffixed his party name with Karunakaran? Taking precaution for a future split and don’t want his son’s rivals taking away his name? Like he did with Indira’s Name.)
Kerala politics has always been a bi-polar affair. There was no place for a third front. So Mr. Muralidharan’s statement that they will contest all the seats by themselves doesn’t mean much.
Before they left Congress, Karunakaran and Murali succeeded in ousting the then CM Mr. Antony. The irony is that he is the vociferous supporter for taking back Karunakaran into the party. May be he doesn’t want Oommen Chandy returning to Cm’ship. Which is anyway a distant possibility given the states history. No ruling alliance made it consecutively.
Now DICK is stuck. They can’t go back to Congress which they left 6 months back, Left is not accepting them and BJP is not a force to reckon with in Kerala Politics. Where it leads? The only possibility is that of becoming a part in UDF without returning to congress. But there are many who believe UDF is better off without Karunakaran, who made life hell for Congress leaders not too long ago. They argue that it will be sending a wrong signal to aspirant rebels. If they managed to snub DICK in the forthcoming elections, that will be a strong warning to those who revolt against the party.
Now it’s all up to Ms. Sonia Gandhi who will decide the fate of DICK. How ironic considering what Murali & Karunakaran said about her while leaving the party. In the coming days, the fate of one of the wily old politician of Kerala will be decided by a lady whom he despise and whether it’s an end or a new beginning, non one is sure.
For Karunakaran & His son, it's a question of existence. a Question of to be or not to be.

Saurav Ganguly-A Sad End to a Maharaj

2006-02-23T20:32:00.000-08:00

The most successful captain of Indian Cricket is snubbed again. Not long ago, he was hailed as the savior of Indian Cricket. Under him we achieved unprecedented heights. He backed his players to the hilt. He was the role model. On fine day, he is portrayed as a bad influence on the youngsters, a liability to the team and most important unwanted by the team management and selectors. Did he really deserve all this?
We Indians are very unforgiving and less grateful when it comes to cricket. Past laurels are not an excuse to present failure. True. But did he really get a chance to prove that he is still worth a place in the team? In the recently concluded Pakistan tour, where he got only one test to bat, his performance was better than some of the stalwarts. So much for Chappell’s performance is the criteria. If you happen to read my earlier blog - A letter to Ganguly - you know how prophetic I was.
He has been humiliated as no other captain ever has. Once celebrated and elegant left bat, he has been selected to the team as an all-rounder. He has been left to prove himself in the Ranji Matches. He fell from the height of being the successful captain to an unwanted element. Every time the selectors sit, he has been made to wait painstaking before being told that he is not selected.
The diminutive More has made one thing absolutely clear. That there is no place for him in the scheme of things. As I said in my earlier post, Dada, it’s time. Why would you want to put yourself through such agony? You were known for your royal ways, the aggression and arrogance. Why bow your head now to these comedians, as one of our former cricketers called them, justifiably?
It’s almost sure that we have seen the last of Saurav. If he wants to turn the tables, he has to scores tons of runs in the domestic circuit, which is a rare possibility. There is a cartel working behind the scenes to make sure that he is never selected again. My plea to the self-important More and team is that, just give him one match by which he could go out gracefully. At least he deserve that much. At least.

The God's protectors are very rich

2006-02-22T20:26:00.000-08:00

The gods never had it so good! And the prophets too! The recent cartoon rage has changed the mindset of otherwise normal people. AN Uttar Paradesh Minister offered a bounty of 510,000,000 INR (11333333 US$ aprox) to anyone who kills a Danish Cartoonist. In retaliation a hitherto unknown organization has offered 1,010,000,000 INR for slaying the famous Indian painter M. F. Hussein for his obscene representation of Hindu goddess. India surely is not a poor country anymore. Another individual from Indore offered comparatively a paltry sum 1,100,000 INR for just chopping off Hussein’s arms!
The Luknow based Hindu Law board has offered this sun for the UP minister to kill Hussein. If someone else succeeds in killing him, he would get only 510,000,000 only! This is partiality, I say. Why should someone get paid less for the same job? This is violation of India’s Labor Law. So better make it equal for everyone.
Sarcasm apart, it’s a very serious crime. As per the land’s law, inciting murder is a criminal offence. The UP minister, Haji Yaqoob Quershi, has publicly offered the amount to anyone who kills a Danish Cartoonist. As a public servant, he should have refrained from uttering this nonsense if he had any political ambitions. As a legislature, his known source of income is in public domain and it never boasts of assets worth 51 crores. So Mr. Haji must reveal the source of this reward. In any other country, he would have prosecuted right away. But here, keeping an eye on Muslim votes, he is walking free. What’s more, now he enjoys more clout in the assembly due to the support he now enjoys. A true savior of Muslim interests!!
How can be a true Hindu could lag behind? So some of these true Hindus decided to take up the cause of Hindu goddesses and offered 101 Crore Rupees for anyone killing M. F. Hussein! But they were more practical. They didn’t ask to kill ANY Muslim cartoonist / Painter. Their target is specific, only one man. Another Advocate from Lucknow offered 11 Lakhs for chopping off Husseins hands. Wonderful! So if someone first chop-off his hands and then kill him, he would get both, I presume.
Now on, one can expect offers similar to this every now and then. Unless these nonsensical fools are prosecuted and put away. Our society if now replete with this self-appointed protectors of god and religion. Free publicity is what they seek. Our media give unnecessary attention to these small-timers and make them feel they are big fishes. It’s time our police take an interest in this growing menace and put an end to it by either asking them to deposit the sum that they have offered to the state coffer or face the music. For that the police require spine. Which is what they don’t have.

Shiv Sena disowned Nallasopara Vandals

2006-02-19T22:09:00.000-08:00

To err is human. Shiv Sena pramukh, Shrish Chavan must be soothing himself by this cliché. On Saturday two major incidents took place for him. First was Mr. Thackeray’s statement disowning him and his fellow sainiks who ransacked the Nallasopara Party. The second was the smooth running of Saturday’s “Belated Valentines Day Party” where a few hours earlier he and his band of rogues performed Thandava. Cooling his heals in jail, its retrospection time for him.
Despite the previous day’s vandalism, many people turned out for the party. The defiance is a very good indicator of people’s mindset against the violent political tactics of the party. In the coming years, this small incident will have it’s mark.
Thackerays apology was well timed. That incident has caused enough humiliation and if anyone planning to do a repeat in the name of Shiv Sena, he wanted to stifle it. But in the process, Sena lost it’s face.
It’s closed chapter for both Thackerays but what about those three arrested? In a sense they were obeying the party chief’s orders. They just went overboard and now staring at bleak future. This could act as a deterrent and hope some normalcy prevails during next Valentines Day.

Challenged Shiv Sena may back track

2006-02-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

A post script to my previous article, Nallasopara Bash-up by Shiv Sena.
The organiser, Vipul Patel, has decided to openly challenge the might of Shiv Sena by arranging another party at the same venue on this Saturday 18 th Feb. This time he named it to a more challenging "Valentines Day Party" to provoke the Shiv Sena and demanded police protection. And it's open for all public. It's from 6 PM to 10 PM.
It is to be seen that whether Shiv Sena take the bait or tactfully avoid it. In all probability, they would avoid it saying their opposition is against the Valentines Day only. So this is probably going to be a dampner.
I'll be reporting on it. so watch this space.

Pakistani Cricket team's Succes Mantra

2006-02-16T01:15:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back one of the journalists from India asked Mushtaq Ahmed, The new bowling coach of Pakistan Cricket team, that what is the secret of the recent surge in their fortune. To a simple question his reply was “We are honest Muslim so we give 101 % in the field”. What does that mean? Others don’t give 100%? If one goes by the recent accounts of Pakistani player interview, there is a conscious effort to mix cricket with Islam. It all started with Sayeed Anwar. He started to grow a beard and slowly one by one Pakistani cricketers started to show off their newfound belief in Islam. The long list now reaches Shoaib Akhtar, once a bad boy of Pakistan Cricket.
Believing in one’s religion is in fact a soothing effect. It brings peace, calmness and clarity of mind. But does one really have to wear it on one’s sleeve all the time? The interview of Pakistani team is always ends with this question and answer as if it is recorded.
Q. What is the secret behind the recent success of Pakistan team?
A. We believe in Islam. We pray for 5 times a day. This has brought the team closer. There is a never-before unity in the team.
But once they started to loose matches to India in the ongoing series, talks of rift in the dressing room surfaces once again. The grapevine has it that Shoaib Akhtar’s injury is not the only reason for his ouster but differences with the captain is the real culprit. Dig deep and you get more disturbing news like, there is unrest brewing amongst the team and some players demanded the ouster of Captain Inzamam from the ODI captaincy.
So much for unity in the team? When a team is winning, all the dirty linen is pushed under the carpet. It’s all hunky-dory then. Players will put hands on each other’s shoulder; pose for photos, visit hospitals together, attend parties etc. Once the loosing started all these camaraderie make way for a blame game. And all the dirty linen is brought out and washed in the public. It’s the baggage failure brings along. Saurav Ganguly episode is the best example.
So please treat sports as sports and keep religion at hands length. The terrorists and extremists are already misusing it.

Nallasopara bash-up by Shiv Sena

2006-02-15T21:09:00.000-08:00

Couples, Beware. There is a political outfit that assumed the duty of Moral Policing. On Feb 14 night, a mob of around 60 people gate crashed into private party held at a hotel and beat up the men and women. And the children. Yes you heard me right. Children too. Innocent, not aware of any clash of civilization and unaware children. Reason? The mob suspect they were having a valentines day celebration. The mob in question is the local unit of Shiv Sena.
A Nallasopara resident, Vipul Patel, had organized a party in remembrance of his late brother. It was a cultural event and a cross section of society, married couples, senior citizen, teenagers and children alike, thronged the stage. Mr. Patel has obtained permission from the police to run the sound system till 10.00 PM. Till 9.30 everything was perfect and the group was having fun.
By 9.30, the mob armed with Hockey sticks and rods stormed into the party and beat up everyone. First they destroyed the Disco Lights, then the DJ’s Equipments and then turned their fury on the participants. Men and women beaten up and their clothes were ripped off. The ladies were groped in the dark. Even Kids and senior citizen were beaten up. Their valuables, chains, bracelets, expensive cell phones, were stolen. Everything was orchestrated and well thought out. A TV crew was shooting all these incidents. The semi-naked women and beaten up men tried to escape through the door and fell into the hands of waiting goons and the TV crew. Talk about rubbing salt on the wound.
The police arrived exactly after one hour as if to let the miscreants to get away from the scene. As it is always shown in bollywood films. Why the police took that much time to reach the place? Did they get any instruction NOT to reach there?
Shiv Sena has taken a contract on Indianising our society. So Valentines day bear the most brunt. Since it is a day of love it must be hated, according to them. To them Love is only sex . Or how could they perceive that any celebration on Feb 14th is a valentine day celebration? And who gave them the right to beat up people? Is there a thing called Law and Order? If someone had died of shock and / or beatings would they charge Murder case? Why don’t they press charges of attempted murder? The police is gong to charge a mild case of trespassing and may be causing injury. That too will be watered down since the all powerful Thackeray clan is there to support such thugs.
So readers don’t ever plan to celebrate anything on Feb 14th. If you are born on this day, forget a birthday bash. If you are planning to get married on this day, postpone it. Never ever try to do anything on this day. The big brother (rather the big Bhai, in Mumbai parlance) is watching. They could beat you up, molest your partner. It’s their exclusive right. Since birth they were doing it and no one yet challenged their right. Who the heck are you to do it now? If the police can’t do anything about it, or don’t WANT to do anything about it, how could you and me do anything?

Girl burned in havan pyre. attempt to sacrifice?

2006-02-14T02:27:00.001-08:00

There was a wide-spread idea among other nations that India is a land of myths. A land of snake-charmers, and the poor. But recent surge in our economy and the deep inroads made into the European psyche by our technological prowess made Europe sit and take notice. They started to change the perception of India from a backward country to surging economy. But had we changed indeed? Urbanites might be enjoying a meal at a ritzy restaurant; they wear top-class designer apparels and drive swanky cars. But gauging India just by this scenario is totally foolish.
The recent incident in Virar, a hamlet about 70 KM from Mumbai, in which a handicapped girl was thrown into fire to “cure” her and the village from chicken pox seriously dent our image of a developing country. For the uninitiated here is the story.
A couple of years back there was another incident, where a small child was sacrificed to gain a treasure hidden somewhere. This brutal homicide performed by a baba located in Mahim. There were numerous Babas available in that area. Police arrested the culprit and shunted out all others.
What is the moral of the story? We are in the space age. Human being is planning to set foot in Mars. Technology gives you everything at your fingertip. Still why these barbaric acts persist? Is it the lack of education and awareness? Is it for money? Or to settle personal scores? Does it have anything to do with religion?
Questions. Answerless?
The background
Tempi Pada village. Virar. About 70 Km from Mumbai. A fishermen hamlet. Jyotsna, the victim is a handicapped girl, all of 22, helps her family by selling vegetables in the market and earns Rs. 100 a day. She was engaged to a Dahanu boy and the marriage date was yet to fix. Recently there was a Chicken Pox outbreak and many of the people caught it. Jyotsna was of them. Anita Meher (21) aka “Devi” is a local god women and a faith healer. To contain the outbreak, the Meher family requested the villagers to stop eating non-vegetarian food. But this doesn’t checked the contagious disease and they arranged a prayer at Meher’s. All the infected asked to come to their house. The Mehers made the villagers to believe that they are carrying out prayers and poojas but they locked these people inside their home. Yet the disease was spreading like wildfire. So they have finally decided to conduct a havan (praying infront of a fire) to appease the angry gods.
The Incident
While the relatives of Jyotsna were told to leave the house since they are not infected. Around 10 PM, as the prayers were reaching a climax, Anita allegedly gave signal to Vijay Mangela (22), uncle of Anita, to push Jyotsna into the 6 feet deep pyre and he did just that. After a while, may be around 4 to 6 minutes, not sure though since the details are sketchy, she was pulled up from the inferno badly scalded. Then she was kept at the house for hours without any treatment. The next day, when her father came to take her home, they came to know about it and admitted her to the hospital. Later shifted to KEM where they diagnosed her with 67% burn.
Motive
First glance, it looks like an attempt to sacrifice the girl. But then why did they pull her out? There was no reported interference from anybody. She could have died there. So it wasn’t that. Then faith-healing? Why didn’t they tried it with anybody else? Family feud? There were reports indicating that the two families have a long-standing dispute. So did Devi tried to settle scores with her family? Looks probable at the moment. The police also probing the same angle. It is too early to hazard a guess. Keep watching this column. There will be more to it in the coming days.

There could be a thousand reasons for this atrocity. Whatever the reason, a poor girl lost her life. Well, almost. Her proposed marriage is in danger. Her life shattered. The livelihood of the family lost. A thousand dreams unfulfilled. This incident will definitely leave a big scar on her. Physically and mentally. There is a law preventing black magic but thousands of villages in Maharashtra still practice it. Who’s going to enforce the law?
The culprits should be brought to justice and not only should be punished, but they should compensate her. For her hospital expenses as her family keep worrying about it.
And for her life too. What could have been a beautiful life destroyed. The guilty must compensate for it.

Durga on Whiskey Bottle

2006-02-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

Another case of blasphemy! This time a London alcohol brand depicts Durga, a Hindu Goddess, carrying bottles of whiskey in her many hands. There were protests by UK Hindus and many other secularists. While it is condemnable, the way the protests were going is remarkable. So far there is no torching of Embassy, no war cry and no boycott of UK products.
But I suspect that RSS and VHP will take this issue seriously and won’t loose time to arrange for a big scale protest. They may even resort to violence and target Christians since the Whiskey manufacturer is probably Christian. The Togadias and Singhals were waiting for an opportunity to pounce on the minorities and recently there was sharp increase in attacks of Christian prayer meetings and missionaries. Specially in Gujarat.
And in the recently held Magh Mela, The leaders of RSS & VHP declared that they will press for a bill against all conversions. According to them, all the Christians in this country are trying to convert the Hindus to Christianity. And they would offer monetary and other benefits for those who re-convert (back to Hinduism) .There was a study conducted in Gujarat stated that the Gujarat government is preparing the field for another genocide. The difference is this time target will be Christians.
The RSS & VHP can well follow the path set by Muslims on the Cartoon protests. There is precedence. Anyway the coming days will unfold what’s in store and as per the indicators it’s not a happy picture.

India's godmen really flying

2006-02-13T20:36:00.000-08:00

Another god man raising a hue and cry in IGI Airport New Delhi. Read it Here
His supporters shouted slogans and came very close to a violent brawl. The contentious issue was the Guru was asked to undergo security check (secondary). His followers didn’t like their leader being frisked and his luggage checked by a hand held detector. A couple of months back there was another incident. What’s wrong with us? Is there different law for different people? Or is it just the ballooned ego of these spiritual leaders? What do they think? They are above the law? Every single person is subjected to this check and if he wishes to fly, he must under go it. Period. Please refrain from flying if you don’t like to be frisked or your luggage checked. Instead of putting other passengers at peril, you could at least do that. Or do what the security agency is telling you to do.

Valentines Day and India's Talibanization

2006-02-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day is here. This year too, the moral brigade is out in full force. The warnings issued to public is if caught (by them!) they will be forcibly married. I plan to take my wife out today. It would be a rare experience to get married for the second time! That too, forcibly. I plan to refuse to marry her!
All year long, one can go out with one’s partner, one can enjoy the companionship, go to malls, cinema but not on this “corrupting day” as Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray put it. Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal, two extremist outfits, have been opposing the celebration of valentines day for past decade or so. Their reason? First, it is not in our culture. What? Love is not in our culture? Ok. They prefer to spread the message of hatred, violence and intolerance. But to insist others follow suit is breaching the fundamental right. But who can stand against them? If someone do that, they will be beaten to pulp. Second, it has a corrupting influence on our youth. You said corrupting? What are you politicians doing? Amassing wealth beyond your means doesn’t have a corrupting influence? Or your infighting, nepotism, violence doesn’t have an influence? Third, He is afraid of excessive spending by youngsters in Malls and shopping centers. They will blow their parent’s hard earned money. So in that sense, do you oppose Diwali celebrations? Or Christmas? Or New Year? Why are you unduly worried about their money? Oh come on Mr. Thackeray.
We all know that this is the way you rule. By fear and violence. Why don’t you just ask people to refrain from excessive celebration? But then who will pay any heed, right? You can rein them only by fear and violence.
The sufferers will be Malls, Cinemas and Greeting Card dealers. A few years back Archies suffered a lot of damages as Sainiks ransacked their showroom on this very day. Yesterday the Vibhag Pramugs (Zonal Heads) of Shiv Sena met together to whip up a list of targets. Target to attack. They have the blessings of Chieftain Thackeray. This is the best opportunity to regain some lost ground. Raj Thackeray is pro-V-day. So if they can stage a big protest and smash a few window glasses and beat up some young couples or forcibly marriage them, they can divert the public attention from the infighting.
I wonder what if the boy and girl is under-age? Wouldn’t that attract Rape charges against the boy and the Sainiks?
Due to these unnecessary gimmicks, the V-day has attained some big importance among our youngsters. It is in their blood to defy. So if someone opposing something, then one must do it. In a way, Sena did their part to spread the message of V-day rather than curb it.
Shiv Sena is being more and more an aggressive, intolerant unit of thugs. In order to hide the humiliation of election failures and constant defection, it will resort to more meaningless gimmicks like this. May be the next target will be Christmas, New Year and minority celebrations. They are becoming Talibanized.
Nowadays, in India, the public is being told what to do and what not by a few people. The fundamental right of freedom of expression is systematically curtailed. In Mumbai, one can’t hold hands with your partner. It’s offensive. One can’t sit close to each other. Our society is driven back to some 300 years back by some self-proclaimed Netas. And pity is that no one seems to be raising an alarm.

Punkprincess is hiding.

2006-02-09T22:35:00.000-08:00

Is my fellow blogger Punkprincess in serious trouble? Her accusations of judiciary being hand-in-glove in Daya Nayak Case to purge the officer drew the attention of a reporter in Times of India. Times said she could be booked for contempt of court. My wise friend propmtly removed her profile from blogger, removed all links to her personal website and erased all personal info. Good for her, though, I might remind her, nothing is personal and hidden in Internet. But I don't understand why this talk of contempt of court? What you said was your opinion and everyone is entitled to an opinion.
Another thing in this is, she was very vocal about her views regarding Times of India. She equated Times of India to a tabloid and accused them of sensitizing news. Or sexing it up, like BBC did on it's Iraq reporting. Well, whatever. So Times is after her i guess. May be not. let's see.
But if you don't have anything to hide, why did you remove your profile from blogger? Why did you erase links to your site?

Muslim Outrage-an overreaction?

2006-02-09T20:39:00.000-08:00

The recent violence and protests of the Muslim community all over the world regarding the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper is creating mayhem in the west. Why there is a big outcry and violence about a non-issue? This issue is blown out of proportion. Thanks to this large scale torching of embassies and violence, a non-issue has gained world wide publicity.

A couple of years back a US company printed Lord Ganesha’s, a Hindu deity, pictures on their sandals and drew sharp criticism from all over the globe. There were some peaceful rallies in India and India diplomatically solved the issue by notifying US government. The manufactures withdrew the product, as per the reports. Jesus Christ, the god of Christians, ridiculed many a times in cartoons, films and the Christians never resorted to violence. Judaism came under attack many a times but they never took such drastic steps for such petty stuff.

It seems that nowadays part of the Muslim community believe in intolerance. At the slightest provocation, they resort to violence. In fact, jihad (holy war) is a way of life for these fanatics. Due to this, the entire Muslim community is viewed as an anarchic, fanatical and unruly people. The perception is that, they don’t know what dialog and peaceful means. The last decade saw a drastic change in people’s mindset in regard to Islam. 9/11 had a big impact on the world.

The history of Islam is as two-pronged as its people. It is interlaced with wars and peace. Prophet always advocated peace and tolerance at the same time they fought non-believers or Kafir. And the holy book, Koran, has been of late misrepresented and used to incite violence against other religions by some hardcore fanatics. Prophet’s words were twisted and it made out to be like “kill who don’t believe in Islam”. It is really pathetic to see young Muslims fall for it. And all over the world, US, UK, France, Iraq, India (Kashmir), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Palestine to name a few, these fanatics sow seeds of hatred and reap murder and mayhem.

Another fact about Muslim people, not Islam, is they don’t mingle well with other communities. They ghettoize their community and fiercely stick to their customs even if meant violating the Laws of the country where they reside. Consider the divorce law if India, for example. Their ‘triple talak’ and remarriage of another girl is amount to bigamy and is a violation of Indian Marriage act. And many a times the verdicts of Muslim Clerics contradict Indian constitution and in most of the cases the Judiciary is helpless. But they have the last word in such things. The recent rape of a Muslim girl by her father-in-law is an example. The timely intervention of some social activists saw her case gain nation-wide attraction and her husband is willing to accept her. But the Muslim Intellectuals are opposed it citing Koran is against it.

How many people lost their lives in this? How many billions destroyed? No one knows exactly. But one thing is sure. Some vested interests are using this opportunity to set scores with west. And they will never allow the settling down of this. They will keep adding fuel to the already raging fire in the name of Islam.

Nepal - In the Eye of a storm

2006-02-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

Nepal Election – Farcical Comedy

It has been a tug of war between the political parties and the king since the royal coup. All of that now coming to a final showdown. A one-sided one. There is a ‘shoot-at-sight’ order issued if anyone attempts to obstruct the proceedings. And Maoists retorted by issuing another ‘fatwa’ that if anyone ventured out on poll day, they will be killed. Both are threatening the same. Death. Is there any conspiracy to stymie the ever-growing opposition to the King? I wonder.
I was pondering another angle to this. The democracy in Nepal is as good as dead. Since King has all the power, he sure will conduct this poll, by hook or by crook. This is Just Municipal Elections. Encouraged by the success he may attempt to do it in Parliament election too. If he succeed in that too, Nepal will have a mock parliament and the West and rest satisfied. Much like the Pakistan Scenario. But poor Nepalese will suffer forever then. The opposition can well kiss goodbye to Nepal. Or they can spend their lives in some dark dungeon. Ask Mrs. Benazir Bhuto and Mr. Nawas Sheriff!. Or Myan Mar’s Aung San Suu Kyi. The Maoists and the King can engage in a war dead-lock for the next decade. Sri Lanka is an Example. Or they can resolve their dispute by power-sharing or some other settlement. Still, the poor Nepali will be the sole loser in this drama.

***************

South Asian Curse

I wonder what kind of curse has fallen on these South Asian countries. Just have a look at this. Most of India’s neighboring countries are either ruled by Dictators or are in total anarchy.
1. Sri Lanka - Strife torn; Civil war for the last two decades. Now India faces a huge inflow of refugees from there.
2. Pakistan - Dictatorship. It has been the case since it’s inception in 1947. Military rule and dictators.
3. Afghanistan - A powerless government as of now. Vast rural areas are still ruled by war lords and / or Taliban. Total anarchy.
4. China - Socialistic Party Rule. There never was real democracy. Remember Tiananmen Square. And still no freedom of expression. The world know how stiff their censure of Internet and Media.
5. Nepal - Right now Monarchy but slipping to Anarchy.
6. Bhutan - This poor country is ruled by a King but he voluntarily stepping down and making way for democracy.
7. Myan Mar - Not even god knows what’s going on in that country. A beacon of hope was Aung San Suki. She is kept in house arrest. May be forever.
8. Bangladesh - There too is a history of Military rule and dictatorships. The new haven for Islamic terrorists. Growing ever hostile towards India.
India is the only country which has a stable democracy and freedom of expression in this region. But these neighboring countries has become a bigger menace for India. Internal Security is a big head-ache and if anything untoward happens in any of this country except Afghanistan and China, India can expect a huge inflow of refugees. The flow has already started from Sri Lanka and Nepal. India’s already creaking under its own weight.
Another million or so refugees and it will have a catastrophic effect on our resources.

My creative photos

2006-02-06T21:50:00.000-08:00

Here you can view my works in Photography. Very few so far. and the scanner I used is of low quality. So images may appear a little grainy.
please vote and comment it.

Is Left Right?

2006-02-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

Once again the Anti-development, Anti-modernization and Anti-globalization forces of India is bringing our booming aviation industry to a standstill. The workers of India’s main airports, Mumbai, Delhi are striking. Reason? The Government of India has decided to privatize the Airports and thus bring the operational quality to a global standard. What are they opposing? The modernization? Privatization, may be? Partly yes. But the the objective of the latest in a string of strikes, is the fear that there will be job-cuts.
This time instead of giving in, the UPA Government has decided to go ahead with it. Congrats for showing some spunk. But how long it can hold on against a crucial partner? It is to be seen and one would be surprised if there is no roll-back. At least some concessions for these warring employees.
This is the curse of coalition politics and the Congress is paying a heavy price for depending on what is ideologically their enemy. So far the congress has humiliated itself by retreating from its promises many a times. And this would continue until congress can stand on its own leg.
But are these Leftist parties serious about their strike? The other day one of the leaders of the Left, Mr. Prakash Karat, assured the media that they won’t withdraw the support to the government. At least not now. The next day, another leader, Mr. Seetharam Yechury, contradicted this statement by threatening the government of dire consequences. So who is speaking for the left? There is confusion among them too. Like, how long they could go and what would be the next step if their demands are not met. They slowly started to understand that, threatening every now and then wouldn’t go a long way in Indian politics. And worse, backing of from the current revolt will do more damage to their image. But the flip-flops of left parties are not new. They have done it in the past and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.
An interesting turn of this rather routine stuff is that these strikes are, against the law. According to a 1962 judgment passed by the Supreme Court, it is not a fundamental right to strike. It said, that no one, including political parties, can not claim a right to paralyze the industry or public life. It is the violation of fundamental rights. So who dare to initiate action against these?
The coming days will unfold more dramas and flip-flops. What could have been a wonderful opportunity for the left to demonstrate that they are not anti-development has now been wasted. They must be ruing this fact and now stuck in no man’s land. It require a lot of political maneuvering and a thick skin to escape from this grave they dug themselves. If a situation like that of Tamilnadu, where Jayalalita mass-terminated around 120000 striking employees back in 2003 and the SC upheld it, arises then the only losing parties will be the employees.

Mumbai Diary

2006-01-23T22:41:00.000-08:00

Hunter became hunted

The Mumbai Police has long been viewed as an efficient though it is corrupted. The last few years saw the dramatic decline of underworld activity in this metropolis due to the heavy crack down on these gangs by the special task force, popularly known as “Encounter specialists”. Some of the top officers hogged the headlines when they shot down many a gangsters and one of the prominent of them was Mr. Daya Nayak. He has 86 scalps to his credit! Not long ago, the officers were the heroes, the hunters of evil.
Last couple of weeks witnessed a dramatic turn of events. The hunter became hunted. Daya Nayak, the high profile encounter specialist has amassed wealth disproportionate to his known source of income. As a Police officer he earns Rs. 9000 per month. He has assets well over a billion!
It is a well known secret that police officers use ex-criminals and small time criminals to get information on big guns. But this officer is a latest example of the unholy nexus of Police and underworld. He accumulated his wealth by taking contracts to kill gang members and enemies of a particular gang. Now that’s the real policing.
He has been of late keeping a low profile foreseeing this coming his way and in hiding now. Once feared and now fearful.
He has applied for anticipatory bail claiming that if arrested the gang members lodged there would take revenge. My advice is “Don’t fear Mr. Nayak. Anyway most of your colleagues are there anyway. You can take some more contracts there and kill gangsters lodged there.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Step Mother
Little Dhruta Kurlekar is recuperating in the hospital. Wondering who is she? She is in the news of late due to the treatment meted out to her by her step mom Vaishali Kurlekar. She made this little girl suffer too much. Burned, made to stand in cold water for hours on end, broken arm severe beatings etc.
It is beyond my comprehension that how someone could harm a little child so much. At her age she hardly understands the word hatred. But she was subjected to it too much. Are they not human? Don’t they have a thing called conscience?
The appalling thing is that what was the father doing while all this is going on? There is laws for child labor, rape and abuse but none for parental abuse. The perception is that maternal home is the safest place for a child. But this kind of incidents makes a dent in this perception.
This should be treated as a rarest of rare case and the guilty must be punished accordingly. It should be treated as a case of abuse of child and the punishment should be a lesson to all those who attempts to do it. There is a lot of kids suffer the same fate. Step moms are notorious for their treatment to their husband’s kids. But this case should act as a deterrent to them from inflicting pain on these hapless angels.
My heart goes out to little Dhruta. Get well soon angel. And don’t let one incident dent your confidence or the way you look at us. We are with you.

Maneka; The Animal Police

2006-01-18T20:44:00.000-08:00

Mumbai’s film makers are in a state of shock these days. These creative artists has long been the main stay of our society and our young generation looked up to them as role models. They have their freedom in expression and the general public was the final authority to judge their work. But recent incidents are any indicators, it is all going to change soon. So far it was all about their creativity and genius. A film maker finds a story, he shoot it and the public accept or reject it. Period.
A very public figure, a famous daughter-in-law (second only to Sonia Gandhi), and a former Cabinet minister, Maneka Gandhi, the fiery animal savior of India, is out to save all the animals of India. Her perception is that, no animal should be shown in a rude way. Recently a director conceived a story that unfolds in a jungle and has a man-eating tiger as a negative character. He send it to her for approval. Her question was “how can you show a tiger as a villain?” and told the director to look for some other story. She won’t approve it.
So tiger is pure-vegetarian animal, harms no one and should be worshipped! He is not a villain at all. Just ask the Borivili people!! In another film where rabbits where used and depicted killing them, she objected to it. But as Times Of India writer put it, it is just film ma’am. They show murders and rapes in films, and does that mean some human activists should object to it? There is a lot of gibberish she has uttered in the same manner. All this show the utter nonsensical approach towards creativity and genius. May she succeed in her ways because of lack of concern of the authorities towards the artists. After films she may turn her attention to some other fields. Just imagine the following scenario.
• Painters can’t show animals in their paintings in a rude manner.
• Newspaper can’t print their pictures because often this comes under the feet of people.
• Video games such as deer hunter, bird hunter must be banned
• All zoos must close because it has animals in captivity.
• Borivili public should shift to Palghar or Dahanu because tigers and leopards must be given first priority. (Borivili is the place where a lot of leopard attack reported due to the close proximity to National Park)
• Stray dog must be treated with respect (where street kids are dispensable)
• Slaughter houses can’t hang skinned parts as it is insult to the dead.
If her fantasy run really wide, she may imagine the following too.
• Every street dog should be provided with a home.
• Milk is meant for calves and it’s use must be banned (Same with meat, egg etc.)
And some over-eager human activist can pick her trail and demand the same with Humans. After all everybody is entitled to an opinion. But one must clearly understand the thin line between opinion and judgment.
Where are we heading? True, animals must be protected and treated with kindness, but her demands and perception is stretching it too far. Every director gets a permission to shoot from the respective boards/committees before he/she uses animals in the film. But every one has to convince her to get the approval is pure egoistic. Is she the only one concerned? Isn’t she mocking the censor board? Who is she to decide what is right and what is wrong? In a land where hero worshipping and god men prevail, she has gained a cult figure. A very adamant one.
The second one who is trying to control bollywood is our Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss. His proposed ban of Smocking on screen has attracted a lot of criticism and the new Information & Broadcasting minister, P R Dasmunshi put an end by saying “it is next to impossible to enact it.” A blanket ban on smocking was on card. Just think a film about Churchill without his cigar, a film about Devdas without drinks, a Documentary about Shah Rukh Khan without Cigarette. How would it feel?
The ignoramuses at top, at least try to, understand the complexities of film making,m specially getting a theme and putting it on paper and co-operate with them. Instead of hampering their genius by putting unnecessary roadblocks in their way. They are not barbarians who would kill for fun. They are responsible citizens who cares about their environment. May be better than you.

Lalu's cattlehouse dilemma

2006-01-16T22:01:00.000-08:00

The new government of Bihar has issued another eviction notice to Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi. And this time too, the couple paid little heed to it. What are the motives behind the reluctance to move to their new bungalow, 10 Circular road?
For the last 15 years, Lalu was living in 1, Anne Marg, the official residence of Chief Minister. It is very difficult to leave a place where one has been living for such a long time. But the real reason behind the reluctance is something different.
Lalu has a big flock of cows, goat and such animals. He got around 200 cattle in his CM Residence., Finding a suitable accommodation for them is the first problem. The new residence offer less space and this means they have to shift their cattle to some other place.
Next thing is the defiance that is associated with this man. He is used to issue orders, not to take it. Now that he is at the other end of it, he finds it real hard to swallow and trying to create an issue out of it. That is why leaders of his party dared the government to evict them forcibly. He is adept in this kind of games and can turn a mole into a mountain and thus diverting public attention from his humiliating defeat and project himself as victimized.
Another strategy is to humiliate the CM, Nitish Kumar by not vacating the house. Nitish is stuck in no mans land. He can’t forcibly evict them. That will give Lalu an Image of a martyr, a much needed one for him. On the other hand he has to enforce the law. By not vacating, Lalu is doing more damage to this Nitish Government. He is proving that, rule or no rule, he is still above the law.
Those same bureaucrats who did all unthinkable things for Lalu has now switched ships. Lalu has bee quoted saying “The particular official who served the notice is doing tabar tod tel Malish (trying to placate) Nitish. He has been doing it for me the last 15 years”. This sums up his mood and his fear about a backlash of his own doings.
Delaying the in-evitable seems to be the mantra of the former first couple. But in the end, they had to move out from what is not theirs. This man doesn’t know how to do things honorably, it seems. The meaningless reasons such as inauspicious time and consulting astrologers is making him a laughing stock. Oh, I forgot that he IS the laughing stock of whole nation. May be it is his clownish image that keeps him doing anything with respectability.

Back in action

2006-01-16T21:15:00.000-08:00

I am back after a couple of week's vacation in Kerala, my native place. Will be writing regularly soon. Just letting my hair down now!

Nepal-Brink of civil war?

2005-12-26T20:57:00.000-08:00

When my friend Siresongs was in Nepal, I used to get first hand information on Nepal. Now I had to rely on the TV channels and news paper. There was recently two items in Newspaper that caught my eye. First was the decline of an offer for Talks from the Maoists and second was the purchase of lethal ammunitions from China. So is the King really on to something? Declining the peace offer (or attempts to make peace) from the Maoists looks like a brave attempt on the face of it but it has a lot of underlying statements. Reading together the purchase of armaments from China, signals a notable shift of equations with India, Nepal’s traditional ally. If the king had accepted the offer, he would have to revert to democratic means and less military means. As with every dictatorship, military is his first and last straw. Fear is the weapon. Suppression is the way. So anything that remotely resembles democracy, the King will weaken his grip on the Himalayan kingdom. And this would give the ideal opportunity to the political fraternity. Once a people backed rising started, his military might may not be able to contain it. So this may be the reason behind his refusal.
India and US, the traditional arms supplier to the kingdom, has stopped their supplies since the royal coup. India has asserted that it will be a temporary stay, fearing that Pakistan will scoop up the opportunity, and resumed limited supply later but that was not enough to keep China at bay. New Delhi must be ruing the lost goldmine.
Still a large chink of Nepal, Rural areas especially, are controlled by the Maoists. King Gyanendra is losing control everyday steadily. Clamp down on media and arresting leading politicians accelerated his dropping popularity. On international front, pressure is mounting to bring back democracy and law and order. It is to be seen how the wily king cop with the pressure and hold on to power.

Mobile blues

2005-12-26T20:05:00.000-08:00

It has been an exponential growth for telecom in India in the last decade. Mobile telephony has seen a phenomenal growth in urban India. A lot of acquisitions and mergers happened and the tariffs are one of the cheapest. It was hailed as a revolution and has changed the way of Indians keeps in touch with each other. It is a ubiquitous gadget these days and an essential one. The advent of Reliance started a flood of cheap mobiles and made it affordable for the lower class. The private operators are boasting of millions of customers, they slash prices every month and they come up with a new scheme that will add a few thousand more to their fold. The latest is validity war. Tata telecom introduced the 2-year non-stop incoming without recharging, and others joined in too.
But has it really evolved? After a decade, it is still in it’s infancy. The recent criticism about the quality by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) highlights the plights of customers.
The other day I was commuting back to home after work when I got a call on my mobile. It was my wife calling to tell me that she wants to do a little shopping and want me to join with her. She want me to wait at a spot and as she was about to tell me where and when, the line broke. She dialed again and managed to convey the place the line went dead again. Before I get the timing. She dialed again and all I could hear was some static. I tried to call her but as usual all networks busy, or that’s what the cell displayed. It is the fifth time she managed to tell me when.
Even if at home, I had to place the cell near to the window or in the Balcony. If I get a call, I had to lean out of the window to get a clear voice. While on train, I had to drop many important calls due to the call-drop. One second you are talking and next second there is only silence. I have identified some spots where there is no signal despite it being a crowded, commercial and residential area.
I use an Airtel connection, and hope they notice this.
1. The stretch between Matunga & Mahim Rly stations.
2. between Santacruz & Vile Parle
3. Kandivli Rly Yard.
4. between Dahisar & Mira Road.
5. Naigaon Station.
6. Mumbai Mantralaya section.
Many a times my relatives complain that they could never reach me. I am always out of coverage area or switched off. When I try to make outgoing calls, especially in the evenings, I could never get it.
That’s not all. I had experienced some discrepancy in my account balance a few months ago and they were deducting some money from my balance every day. When I enquired about it they said they have some new scheme in which I can make outgoing calls at a lower rate. Once activated they would deduct a certain amount everyday. When I asked that guy who authorized the activation, he said they send an SMS and if not replied, they take it as consent! I was thinking like you need to SEND an authorization to activate something. NO SEND is a negative response. Don’t you think?
When the roaming service made free, they made it sure that every one got the message by advertising it all the railway stations and TV channels. And for two months there was no deduction. The third month I found some 25 Rs missing from my account. Upon enquiry the operator said it is Roaming charges. When I asked him about the absence of deduction for the last 2 months, he said it might be a computer error!! I hung up fearing that they might consider deducting retro-effective. As a computer expert, I know that computers don’t make mistakes. But It can be programmed to make! Or humans can make mistake!
The last blow came in November. Till then I could ring up a “customer executive” and tell him my grievances. Not anymore. They made customer care a paid service. A minute 6 Rs! This one too, as usual, was not informed. I was dialing customer care and I got a computer recorded life-less voice telling me that if you want to call the operator, the calls are paid service! So that avenue also closed. Now mobile telephony has really evolved, isn’t it? The next thing, may be, to revert back to charge the incoming. But a consumer is trapped there. If I want to switch operators, I had to opt for a new number. That would mean losing all contacts or I had to sit and inform all my contacts about the number change.
TRAI suggested the number portability and the private operators are vehemently opposing it. But for the users it is god-send.
The cartel of cell operators has so far resisted policies that harm them. There is no reason to believe things will change soon. So hang on, or rather, hang up!
Landlines are no better. Read Dilip's experience in this article

Tsunami Reports

2005-12-25T21:25:00.000-08:00

One year has passed since the Tsunami wreaked havoc in South Asian Countries. Life is back to normalcy. Well, Almost. Read the tsunami reports, a first hand account of a journalist, Dilip D’souza , my friend and former colleague.

* * * * * * * *

July 26, a day when Mumbai was submerged. A lot happened since. But at that time there was a lot of clamor about how plastics caused the choking of drains and how govt is going to ban it and what steps must be taken to avoid such things in future. Half a year passed and what had changed? The much-hyped plastic ban is postponed due to it’s impracticability. It’s dropped actually but the authorities are reluctant to admit their failure.

We, Mumbaikars never learn from our mistakes. We still use the plastic bags and abandon it as and where we pleased. It could be found in every drain, every inch of Mumbai. The inexplicable behavior of the authorities are making us worry. Our beloved city may not be able to hold up if another flood occurs. Its old infrastructure, already taken a lot of beatings, may collapse and take with it all its occupants.

These pictures are taken on July 26th at Vasai.

Shubh yatra (bon voyage)

2005-12-22T22:52:00.000-08:00

Traveling in India by train was always a miserable experience. One had to put up with stinking coaches and waterless toilets, cockroaches and rodents, leaky roofs and beggars. The threat of dacoits always looms large in every mind, but it was isolated incidents. But not any more. Our trains are not safe anymore. Yesterday a group of armed people barged into a Lucknow bound Pushpak Express and looted the passengers and before jumping off the train they gang-raped a 22 year old lady in the toilet. The most funny-sad thing of this story is the response of the railway spokesperson. He said “It’s just a minor incident since the rape is not confirmed”. The honorable (comedian?) Lalu Prasad (Rly Minister) also confirmed this by saying “Rape is not confirmed.”. to the great relief of these comedians, the terrified lady is not available for medical check-up and currently lodged in some private hospital.
Recently there was a surge in the crime figures related to railways. Spurned lovers throwing acid, befriending the passenger before drugging and looting, armed robbery and Rape. There were no GRP (Railway Police) when the loot occurred.
Before it was in trains that goes to Bihar, UP and Up north. But today the menace is everywhere. And the Railways are doing nothing. They want to confirm rape before initiate action. Now they may want the dead person’s affidavit to confirm death!
When comedians like Lalu is ruling, we couldn’t expect anything more. The time is not that far when every passenger has to wear a bullet proof jacket, a pistol and some protective gear before they embark on a train Journey. May be this is what railways had in mind when they say “Shubh Yatra” (bon voyage)

Condomphobia of Tamilnadu

2005-12-15T01:21:00.000-08:00

Tamilnadu’s moral brigade is at it again! Last time it was poor Kushboo . This time they vent their ire at the Condom Vending Machines. Two Muslim organizations came to the fore and their Lady-wing is on the streets protesting. The statements of the state Convener, Fathima Jalaal is funny. CVMs are “belittlement and denigration of Indian Culture” and “There is no need for Condom” and “it’ll have a negative impact on children”. If you talk about Indian culture, then why are you opposing the unified civil code and attempts to legalize your communities Talaque (divorce) methods? You may not need condoms. But for thousands of people it is the difference between life and death. And let me remind you one thing. It will not leave a negative impact on children. But it will keep they alive and healthy.
It is a known fact that Catholics (not all Christians) and Muslims are totally against birth control and abortion. The latter may be justified by the fact that it is killing a little soul. But Condoms?? The best method available to prevent contracting HIV virus is Condom.. And Tamilnadu has the highest infection rate this year . The opposition come from the fact that, if every family do this, there may be less followers to the religion, less income to the church / mosque and less people to carry out the hidden agendas. The Burqua-clad women held plaques saying “condom culture down ,down” and remove condom vending machine”. As if the new generation has never seen the object and never heard the word. Who are you trying to kid? Kushboo just said the truth. You may not like it but pre-marital sex is here.
Women’s League state convener A S Fathima Muzzafer said “one hand we preach one man one partner and same time promoting CVMs” Does CVMs encourage infidelity? Is it a cause to illicit relations? She said it is. What reasoning! Amazing!
These are either simple publicity stunts or some hidden agenda behind it. Tamilnadu has too many disasters this year. Tsunami, floods and the next in line is an epidemic called AIDS. It is already too late, but better than never. Stop these meaningless moral policing and unite against the killer diseas and spread the awareness and educate people about the perils of HIV and unprotected sex.
One last question to these leading ladies of morality. Are you sure your partners have never had any affairs? Are you sure you never had some? If not, then better you make sure they wear a condom. Sex is a biological need. But AIDS is not.

A letter to Saurav Ganguly

2005-12-15T00:41:00.000-08:00

Dear Sourav Da,
It must be really hard on you, the latest developments in Indian Cricket. Any cricket fan will admit that the treatment meted out to you is downright insulting. Let’s explore the reasons that led to your ouster.
The recent developments in our Cricket board have a big role for your ouster. When you were selected for the first two tests, you have a strong backing in the selection committee. But as the new president of BCCI, What Pawar did was expel these so-called Ganguly supporters. That gave the wise guy ample room for maneuvering. It is public knowledge that the Chairman of Selection committee or the selectors doesn’t want you in the team either.
Let’s explore some statements made by the Coach, Mr. More, and others in BCCI prior to your selection. Mr. More explained at the press conference that you were selected as an all-rounder. Couldn’t you see the trap there? Everyone knows that your bowling in tests is a below-par affair. After all these years playing international cricket from where did this sudden revelation came from? So what was the reason to take you as All-rounder? Wasn’t it was a trap? Ponder it and read further and you would get the picture.
It is public knowledge that the relation between you & Greg Chappell is not so hunky-dory since things turned sour during and after the Zimbabwe tour. So what was going on his mind when he repeatedly stated “Performance is the only criteria”? Your recent poor run might have made him sure that you wouldn’t succeed. Or what is the alleged 7-0 verdict of selection committee including COACH and CAPTAIN after you performed well? If performance was the sole criteria then Gautam Gambhir, Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh wouldn’t be in the team.
Now one thing that appall us cricket fans is the new regime’s politics. The former regime was hated and ousted because of their politics and nepotism. As soon as Pawar took charge, he announced some bold measures to change the face of Indian cricket. But now he too stooped to play the games and the first scapegoat is you. Believe me, there will be more fun coming up.
You are a beneficiary of former regime’s favoritism and now you are at the receiving end. Think of Mohd. Kaif, after many successful outings had to sit out in the recent Zimbabwe test. He was excluded to accommodate you. Now things have come a full circle for you.
As things stand, Dada, it is better you quit. It is not an advice. Just a friendly plea. Because you will find it difficult to get back into the team as long as Dravid And Chappell at helm. Consider this; Dravid was your deputy for many years, you have helped him, he has helped you but during your exclusion or yesterday’s news of your being dropped, did he utter a word of consolation? Yeah, he said that your contribution was valuable to the team’s cause, but he could have said that in the Selection committee. Or he could at least have called you and said something soothing. But that was not the case.
Cricket is a cruel game. Yesterday’s heroes are today’s villain. So decide upon your future. It is made very clear that you are unwanted. We are such a thankless people, not very long we were hailing you as the savior of Indian Cricket. Now you got the sack and bricks.
Whatever your faults are, be it running out your mates, or performance, you don’t deserve this ridiculing. And call it a day when you can. It is better than being dropped from next series and the next. And the next.

Mumbai Mirror got this on their Radar

2005-12-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

This article of mine was published in Mumbai Mirror, a times group publication under the section What world wide web is talking about on 9-Dec-05 Friday.

God(man)'s plight on a flight

2005-12-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

The airports of Luknow, Mumbai and Aurangabad witnessed a different kind of mob outrage yesterday. A very holy man, Narendra Maharaj, has been prohibited from carrying his staff (“dand”) onboard. The Central Industrial Security Force forbade him from entering the flight with the staff. As the word reached Mumbai before the arrival of the Holy man, a mob of about 300 protestors gathered there and besieged the airport. They smashed few cars in Aurangabad airport too.

Later the Maharaj said that he would ask “people’s representatives to take up the issue”. Promptly the Shivsena took up the issue as they are the only representatives left in the country. As they were reeling under the after effect of in-fighting, this was the second elixir of life that they were searching for. The Grand Med collage (JJ HOSP) issue was dying down and they desperately need another straw to clutch on. This was god send. Or rather God man Send.

I am not against of any particular religion, but if the latest developments in India is any indication, We are heading towards another communal riot. Intolerance towards minority and immigrants, resorting to physical violence by the least provocation and as if to add fuel to fire, the statements of the so-called God men or political patriarchs. We are sitting on a communal time bomb and the time is ticking away. The elements in some political outfits are also aiming for a cleansing of some sort.

Somebody said that “if other swamis can carry their staff onboard, why not our Swami?” So what if tomorrow someone else pretending to be a swami and carries a rifle along with him claiming his belief required him to carry that weapon? In a country of great diversity, we must respect the feelings of others too.

On the other hand, Shivsena is fast becoming ever more violent. It is back to it’s roots. Terrorizing tactics and violence. But as Pritish Nandi wrote the other day, India is fast changing and so is Indian Politics. They can’t rely on the outdated techniques forever.

Our cultural rituals and festivals all must be respected and adhered to. But none should come in the way of security. Compromises have already been done on many occasions. Now it’s time to tidy up our act and act tough. Everyone should have equal rules. Be it a big shot politician or a crowd pulling sports star or a self-proclaimed god man.

Some interesting comments in today’s newspaper regarding this incident and my thought about them.

Fr. Tony Charangat, Official Spokesperson of Catholic church.

I don’t know if carrying the staff is an integral part of religion and can’t comment. But everyone should try to observe rules. Carrying cross is not allowed in Saudi Arabia;

Well, this is not Saudi Arabia. They still observe eye-for-eye punishment. And you are allowed to carry your cross here. Don’t you Father? Unlike Saudi, this is a secular country.

Daljith Singh Bal, President, Sikh Association.

Rules should be same for all. Even we are not allowed to carry our kirpans on board despite it being a religious necessity. I don’t think religious leaders should have special rules.

Consider taking up this issue with Shivsena. But chances are likely very bleak since they take up Hindu issues. Or consider starting up something in the line of Shivsena. You can even call it Gurusena.

Maharashtra Vs India

2005-12-06T22:46:00.000-08:00

The latest gimmick Shivsena employed to avert the public attention from their own in-fighting and crisis is making headlines. After Raj Thackeray quit all the posts, Shivsainiks were demoralized and bewildered. But the wily Uddhav Thackeray found an opportunistic moment and hijacked the movement started by his cousin, Raj. Now both factions are competing each other who can - cause more destruction, invoke more fear in non-marathis and beat up more Biharis.
A couple of years ago, it was against “Bhayyas”, people from UP, was the subject of Sena’s ire.
A few years ago Shivsena embarked upon something similar. They wanted all the boards and sign boards and nameplates in Marathi. I still remember the Cell operator Orange (Hutch) ‘s main signboard blackened and in crude lettering they painted ‘marathi’. Many of the establishments suffered the same fate. I never heard any case filed against anyone for that.
Further down the memory lane. The Anti-south Indian drive of Shivsena. “Pungi Bachao, Lungi Bhagao”.

Back to present. Last year, Uddhav Thackeray started his “Mee Mumbaikar” campaign. It died an unceremonious death. Sena is back to it’s vandalizing, terrorizing self.
Today many of the Marathis working in Bangalore, Hyderabad and other cities in IT / BPO sector. If the Kannada people start something like this, and then Delhiites starting Morchas, and violence to stop Maharashtrians coming to their state, where are we heading? Aren’t we behaving like separate countries? Is it better to “Declare Freedom from India” and form separate sovereign countries? Mumbai and Thane can be ruled my Maharaja UddavSaheb Thackeray while the rest of Maharashtra can go to Maharaja RajaSaheb Thackeray. Both cousins happy, Marathis happy. And yes, other states too can follow suit.
The attitude of Shivsena is to kick up a dust storm whenever they are in trouble or when they need public outrage to win election. And they very well know what is the sensitive issue with Maharashtrians.
If these guys are really concerned about Marathis, why don’t they attempt to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and bring development? Shivsena was in power and that is the worst period of Maharashtra. Kicking people who belongs to other states means prosperity for Marathis? Is the Shivsena is above the Indian Constitution? Why can’t police act in a neutral manner and booked only the non-maharashtrians?
I guess I asked a lot of questions that has no immediate answer. The terror tactics and vandalism won Shivsena many accolades. They will keep doing it in order to empower Marathis. All the immigrants (Or lower grade citizens), should go back home.
It is a separate country! Jai Maharashtra.!!!