31 Dec 2007

The Cost of a Medical Degree

I was recently reading an article in “The Week” ( A weekly magazine) that claimed a 5 year MBBS degree (A basic degree in medicine after 12th standard) in China with an additional 1 year internship cost a total of 7 to 11 lakh only. This it claimed included tuition fee, boarding, lodging, flight charges, and hostel rooms that boasted of broadband connections, washing machine and microwave ovens.

Naturally I was skeptical. As far as I know, the average cost of a medical seat in India was much more than that per year. And many places don’t have even half the facilities listed here. My first thought was that these were some little known colleges. However, the article stated that these were top of the rung colleges in China.

Though there are several questions about whether these degrees will be recognized in India I couldn’t help thinking about the supply and demand equation here in India. Around 6 years back I had heard of a friend’s family who paid 43 lakh for the first year MBBS course (management seat). What justifies these prices? Why are parents willing to shell out so much for their kids to become doctors? Is it a investment whose returns are well worth the initial capital?

I am inclined to think that we are obsessed with our kids becoming engineers and doctors. The emotional attachment of the same makes parents blind to the other considerations. Even if the child is not cut out to become a doctor or engineer the parents push their ambitions onto their kids. While this isn’t true in all cases, it certainly holds good for a majority of the cases. The mushrooming of hundreds of engineering and medical colleges around the country which churn out non employable graduates is being documented by numerous surveys. One such survey stated that hardly 25% of the engineering graduates in Karnataka were employable. They didn’t have the soft skills and / or the knowledge to be hired in companies.

While the figures might be debatable, I feel that there is no smoke without a fire. The demand is much more than the supply. Fly by night operators and sub standard colleges are cashing in on the irrational demand. Whether the Chinese colleges belong to this category or are really providing quality education only time will tell.

In the meantime maybe we should take a good long look at our beliefs. In this day and age, with so much information available and the numerous career options open to people, one cant help but wonder why such an irrational demand persists. Is it because we wax eloquent on this topic to others and THEIR kids, but heart of heart want OUR kids to be doctors / engineers?

25 Sept 2007

FM radio comes to town

Recently I noticed one of my colleagues on the bus to work fiddling with his phone through out the journey. Being my usual naïve self, I asked him if he was facing some problems with his phone. After he managed to stop laughing he told me that he was listing to the radio. Yes. FM radio has come to Surat.

There are presently 5 channels:
Radio City 91.1
Big 92.7
My FM 94.3
Radio Mirchi 98.3
Akashvani 101.1

Personally I prefer Radio City and Radio Mirchi. My listening is mainly to and from work which is roughly 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM and 5 PM to 6:30 PM. The songs are pretty popular Hindi numbers. However, the commentary is in Gujarati. For the poor people like me, who would like to listen to the radio and don’t follow the local language, all I can say is this is your chance to pick up Gujarati. English songs seem non existent, though there was a global top twenty on Saturday night at around 9 PM.

That apart, a strange thought struck me today. While flicking through the channels, I suddenly felt like a scientist twiddling with a Geiger counter. Call me crazy, but the thought refuses to get out of my head. The similarity is striking. I didn’t know that FM radio had launched in Surat, until recently. Similarly, you never know the radiation that you are exposed to without the help of a Geiger counter.

We have hundreds of studies on the effects of a modern lifestyle on our health. Have we ever considered the number of radio waves that we are being subjected to? I mean I just realized that I am being bombarded by five more types of man made radiation on a daily basis. My miniature Geiger counter (read as cell phone) shows me 5 FM channels, and four mobile networks (Hutch / Vodafone, Idea, Cellone, Airtel) are bombarding me with their signals. The signals of Reliance are out of its range I think. So exactly how many more of these man made radiations am I being subjected to? How much can my body take? Is there any law governing them? Am I being paranoid? Is the work load getting to me? Am I being incoherent? Guess I should take that break now.

24 Sept 2007

World cup for World peace?

Finally a world cup comes to the billion strong country after what seems like ages. India lifted the world Twenty20 world cup. But in my jubilation i couldn't believe my ears when I heard Shoaib Mallik, Captain of the Pakistan cricket team state, ' I would like to thank my country, Pakistan and all the Muslims around the world...'

He didn't thank anyone else. Not fans. Not supporters. Not well wishers. Not..... I am stunned. I mean, I know cricket is a religion for many people, but to thank only people of your faith???

With the following that cricket has and the surge in viewership for today's finals between India and Pakistan, I feel he should have chosen his words more carefully. After all "world cup" events are meant to celebrate harmony and understanding between people of the world.

17 Sept 2007

Big brother

Be scared! Be very scared!!!

In continuing with my previous post on matters of convenience take a look at big brother watching you

I think that we are giving in too much for this "increased surveillance against terrorism". There are more people dying of diabetes and heart ailments than those dying due to terrorism. Do we see the government enacting compulsory morning walks or gym sessions?

5 Sept 2007

Grow up

Ok. I’m pissed and I need to vent some steam. My room mate had borrowed my helmet and I needed to go to a close by (not close enough that I could walk) shop. This traffic cop stops me and slaps a nice big fine for riding without a helmet. Ok. So I broke the law. But my question is why should there be a law?

I know the benefits that wearing a helmet gives. It was just that I took a conscious decision due to the prevailing circumstances. Is that a crime? “Yes, it is” says a friend of mine. Criminals are not born. They are made, goes his argument. Ok. Maybe I cant generalise the statement. Let me rephrase. The government says that I am an adult since I am over the age of 18. But it refuses to treat me like one. If I chose to not wear a helmet, though it is for my own safety, why should they bother? Why should I be fined for CHOOSING to disregard my own safety? I am not a child that needs to be taught what is right and what is wrong.

Ah…. There in lies the problem. Everyone tells you to grow up and behave like an adult, but they refuse to actually believe that you could. How do you expect people to behave like grown ups if you keep treating them like kids?

A friend of mine is attending one of the reputed coaching classes for CAT. He was telling me how half the students in his batch are attending the class only out of fear of the coaching center calling up their houses. Our future managers are not considered mature enough to take their own decisions AFTER having paid close to 15,000 to 20,000 for the course?

No. this is not a isolated incident. A friend of mine is studying at IIM – Indore. He was narrating how there is a ten o’ clock in time. Though we might be tempted to brand it as just “one of those rules” which no one takes seriously, it wasn’t so. Two students came in late one night and gave the guard a name of two of their classmates who were in another country taking part in an exchange program. The whole final year batch was called in and were told that placements would be on hold until the culprits confess.

“Culprits”???? If faculty at the premier Indian Institute of Management Indore cannot trust their students to decide how to manage their own programs, how do they trust them to take decisions that will affect not just corporations but the society at large? And if this is the attitude of IIM – I, I can’t even begin to imagine how the other “Management” schools treat their students.

Yeah. I guess I need to grow up to the fact that the rule makers will never be able to treat me like a grown up since they haven’t grown up themselves to know the difference.

15 Aug 2007

Independence Day

August 15th : Independence day is being celebrated all over India. Since it is a national holiday, I am sitting at home doing nothing in particular when I decide to Blackle (Google with a black background that saves power with each search) Independence Day and related topics. Through all of the pages the concept of “being free from the influence of others” seems to come through.

Am I really independent? Am I free from the influence of others? Am I free? Well, when I start my day I have to brush my teeth and do my morning dailies. Right? I mean my dentist has told me if I don’t do that I will have bad breath, bacteria will eat into my tooth enamel and I’ll lose my teeth early in life. If I don’t have my bath then my mom told me that I’d develop body odour. I open my wardrobe and pull out my uniform since my company says that they wouldn’t like to discriminate between employees……And this is just the start of my day.

Ladies are free to choose what they want to wear but advised not to wear “revealing” or provocative clothes. Religious fanatics attack others on the flimsiest grounds. So we are “advised” not to provoke them by stating opinions. We are told not to make adverse comments against old people or the disabled. They are to be called the elderly and the gifted.

Yes we are free. Free to our opinions. That is as long as we keep them to ourselves. Free to move into any part of the country or other countries as long as we get the required travel documents and permissions. Free to drive whatever vehicle we wish to, as long as you have the license, insurance papers, pollution under control certificate, etc. Free to accumulate wealth, as long as we pay our income tax, wealth tax, service tax and other taxes.

Oh man. I feel so free on Independence Day that I think I’ll make the best use of my freedom to curl up in my blanket. [The other option of celebrating is out of the question since there is a ban on the sale of alcohol today] Happy Independence Day everyone.

11 Aug 2007

Of counter and trackers

Some time back I decided to add a counter to my blog. I reached a site called Stat Counter . I am just over the moon with this site. The features that it offers are just amazing. I found out that if u type

lagae raho munna bhai

"Esop fable" grasshopper

naresh gupta ndtv video

ndtv tamasha political satire

"dinesh hinduja"

Into a google search, my blog shows up in the top ten hits. There are a few others keywords which were probably in the top ten then but don’t work now. As I explore this site I am amazed at all the services it offers me for FREE. I now know that I have a few hits from Latvia and USA. It is very very flattering to say the least.

The site also allows me to lookup the IP address of every visitor to my blog. It can also be configured to send a weekly report of page load activity to your email address. It also has features that would have a computer geek going bananas. The operating system the computers were running on, (Gotee, I know the number of times you have visited since the Linux OS could only be you :-P) , the screen resolution, which search engine sent me what traffic, the length of stay of each visitor, which part of the world each visitor came from etc.

“Where is the catch?” is the most common question. “Such services cost real money, you know”. Yes. I know. The answers to those questions can be found here. I very highly recommend the site.

10 Aug 2007

Taslima Nasrin and the order of democracy?

Taslima Nasrin attacked during a press release for her “anti – Islamic” views. The scores of 24x7 news channels bring you first hand the visuals of this “breaking story”. Breaking is right. They seemed hell bent on breaking everything in site. To top it all they went on to interview the people who “stood up for what they believed in” and comments of “she deserved it” were emanating from the idiot box.

Hello! ‘Freedom of speech’ ring a bell anywhere?

“Yes”, the news channel seems to reply. That is why the John Doe got his 30 seconds (more like 30 minutes with all the reruns and multiple channels) of fame to explain his point of view.

Thank God for small mercies that they were at least arrested. But did the fact that three of them were MLA’s (Member of Legislative Assembly) surprise anyone or has it become so common place that it hardly roused a flicker of interest?

full story

4 Aug 2007

Cash


Just got back from Adlabs after watching "Cash". I have one statement for it Waste of CASH

Story line is convoluted and crazy. Scenes are disjointed. Movie is mainly so-so stunts, catchy jingles and badly botched up skin show.

Director: Anubhav Sinha
Producer: Sohail Maklai
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Zayed Khan, Arjun Rampal, Esha Deol, Shamita Shetty, Diya Mirza
Music: Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani

23 Jun 2007

Crezendo

There is a lot of hue and cry about this new condom by Hindustan Latex. It basically consists of a normal condom with a vibrator ring. The ring is supposed to increase the pleasure during sex. (You can now buy them online here )

The moral brigade says that it is a sex toy and should be banned. That it is unbecoming of a government owned company to “pollute” their culture. I have listened to all their points and find that it is all a farce. They say condoms are meant for family planning and not pleasure. * One tight slap * If the pleasure aspect of it is going to cause more people to use it, isn’t it an added incentive to use it? When you come out with all sorts of subsidies and policies to promote family planning, why are you making a fuss when there is a natural incentive to use these condoms?

They say it is a western influence and polluting our culture. *One tight slap* Our culture created all these temples with erotic figures sculpted on them. Our own culture came out with the Kamasutra. Our culture is also the one that created the caste system. Hence, our culture is already very very polluted by the same definition. Thus either go destroy all the temples and abolish the caste system, or shut up about it “polluting” our culture.

Ban it?? What is your problem with what I do in the privacy of my bedroom? Are we going to become a police state? Where you tell us what we can do even in our own homes? We don’t have any privacy?

I could keep on ranting and raving but a thought suddenly overtakes me. Who got hurt in this whole exchange? The sales of crezendo have shot through the roof. The MP who brought up the whole issue is looking forward to a posting in the RSS. The media got something to fill their 24 hour news channels with. Some Jane and John Doe’s got their 30 seconds of fame. I got you to read my blog. Guess there is no point in complaining because there is no such thing as bad publicity.

14 Jun 2007

The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy


We often hear recruitment ad’s say that they want people who think out of the box, creative thinkers, etc etc. Well, if you want a crash course in the subject or are a fan of out of the box thinking you should get your hands on this amazing book called “The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams.

You might have heard about the “Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy”, which is only one part out of the “Ultimate …..guide”, since it has been made into a movie. Now while I haven’t seen the movie myself I don’t think any movie could do justice to his style of writing. I do plan to watch the movie at the first opportunity I get. But I seriously recommend this book.

I went crazy with this book. I mean he can take the most mundane fact and create a whole new dimension to it. For example, more often than not, when we book a table at a restaurant we turn up much later than the time we specify. He takes this to the extreme of saying that the time we specify is the exact time that we will not turn up at the restaurant and hence became the basis for metaphysical calculations that should take place on a waiter’s notebook. Or mice being the most intelligent species on earth and they are actually observing us while leading us to believe that we are observing them. Ok. I am getting ahead of the story here.

Basically the book revolves around a book (please note the irony here) called the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. DON’T PANIC is printed in bold on the cover page because you would probably only refer to the book when you run into trouble on your inter stellar travels. Inter stellar travel. Mr. Arthur Dent is the lone survivor of the demolition of earth for an Inter Galactic Hyper pass and is thrust into this journey with a humanoid alien life form.

The story line itself is vague and contradicts itself in places. So if you are the kind who likes a well defined story line and slow build up of facts and figures to a definite conclusion you shouldn’t really consider this book. You would find it a waste of money. But if you are looking to expand your horizons of thought and are ready to laugh at the idiosyncrasies of the human race, pick up your copy the next time you see it in a book store.

10 Jun 2007

Counter

Well, I just realised that I haven't done any blogging in like a month. So in an effort to revive my blog I have added a counter at the side. Lets see whether this helps me put regular posts.

On the topic of the counter, this site seems to be amazing. The guy offers pretty advanced tracking and counting options for FREE. Yes. You heard me right. FREE. There is no catch. Read more about it here Best of all there are no Advertisements associated with this free service.

1 May 2007

Shame on the media?

This came to me in my mail. Thought I would share it with you all :

Shame on Indian Media??? Really what a shame...

By the time u guys read this news, the body of Major Manish Pitambare, who was shot dead at Anantnag, would have been cremated with full military honors.

On Tuesday, this news swept across all the news channels 'Sanjay Dutt relieved by court'. 'Sirf Munna not a bhai' '13 saal ka vanvaas khatam' 'although found guilty for possession of armory, Sanjay can breath sigh of relief as all the TADA charges against him are withdrawn' Then many personalities like Salman Khan said 'He is a good person. We knew he will come out clean'. Mr Big B said "Dutt's family and our family have relations for years he's a good kid. He is like elder brother to Abhishek". His sister Priya Dutt said "we can sleep well tonight. It's a great relief"

In other news, Parliament was mad at Indian team for performing bad; Greg Chappell said something; Shah Rukh Khan replaces Amitabh in KBC and other such stuff. But most of the emphasis was given on Sanjay Dutt's "phoenix like" comeback from the ashes of terrorist charges. Surfing through the channels, one news item on BBC startled me. It read "Hisbul Mujahidin's most wanted terrorist 'Sohel Faisal' killed in Anantnag , India . Indian Major leading the operation lost his life in the process. Four others are injured.

It was past midnight, I started visiting the stupid Indian channels, but Sanjay Dutt was still ruling. They were telling how Sanjay pleaded to the court saying 'I'm the sole bread earner for my family', 'I have a daughter who is studying in US' and so on. Then they showed how Sanjay was not wearing his lucky blue shirt while he was hearing the verdict and also how he went to every temple and prayed for the last few months. A suspect in Mumbai bomb blasts, convicted under armory act...was being transformed into a hero.

Sure Sanjay Dutt has a daughter; sure he did not do any terrorist activity. Possessing an AK47 is considered too elementary in terrorist community and also one who possesses an AK47 has a right to possess a pistol so that again is not such a big crime; Sure Sanjay Dutt went to all the temples;

Sure he did a lot of Gandhigiri but then........ ...

Major Manish H Pitambare (who is from our very own city Thane,was residing near makhmali talao,who was just like one of us some years ago a former student of maharashtra Vidyalay,Thane) got the information from his sources about the terrorists' whereabouts. Wasting no time he attacked the camp, killed Hisbul Mujahidin's supremo and in the process lost his life to the bullets fired from an AK47. He is survived by a wife and daughter (just like Sanjay Dutt) who's only 18 months old.

Major Manish never said 'I have a daughter' before he took the decision to attack the terrorists in the darkest of nights. He never thought about having a family and he being the bread earner. No news channel covered this since they were too busy hyping a former drug addict, a suspect who's linked to bomb blasts which killed hundreds. Their aim was to show how he defied the TADA charges and they were so successful that his conviction in possession of armory had no meaning. They also concluded that his parents in heaven must be happy and proud of him.

Parents of Major Manish are still living and they have to live rest of their lives without their beloved son. His daughter won't ever see her daddy again. Finally Major Manish, to my generation is a greater hero, someone who laid his life in the name of this great nation.

So guys, please forward this message around so that the media knows which news to give importance, as it is a shame for us since this Army Major's death news was given by a foreign TV channel!!

28 Apr 2007

Ash Abhi

In the last few days I have had tons of Ash and Abhishek pictures flood my mail box. And I am talking of each mail being in the 2 to 4 MB. Add to that people re forwarding the same mail and it makes for a clogged inbox. My poor colleague even had his official email id barred since it exceeded the 50 MB mailbox limit in the two days that he was away.

Add to that 24 hour news channels broadcasting the wedding for well, 24 hours of the day and one wonders what this country is coming to. What is with this fascination? Could anyone enlighten me? I have seen it happen when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie came to India too. Hundreds of photographers hounding them to give the mob what it so desperately wants.

27 Apr 2007

Culture in shambles?

Richard Gere kisses Shilpa Shetty. Mob goes on protest. Court registers a case and issues a warrant. Richard Gere is a wanted man in India.

The list goes on. But I think you get my drift. In the land of the Kama Sutra, a peck on the cheek has outraged the “moral brigade” so much so that our courts (that are already over burdened with pending cases) have time to issue warrants? Couples relaxing together on the Bombay beaches are hauled to police stations for indecency? Kissing in public, they say, is a Western phenomenon that is “polluting” our culture. Is it really? Is our culture so really weak and pathetic that a few public displays of affection are going to leave it in shambles?

Well, I guess so. Since this same moral brigade are the first ones to glorify western medicines, western sciences and send their kids to the west for a “good” education and “good” job. In the midst of this all, the AIDS awareness campaign that they were running seems to have been forgotten. On a parting note, I’ve attached the “offending photos”. Do you really really think that it deserves the amount of attention it has got?






21 Apr 2007

Virginia Tech


The recent killings at Virgina Tech University shocked the world. Images of the victims and the killer have dominated the headlines and writers columns for the last few days for the want of a new “shocking” headline. One can only hope and pray that some other crazed maniac doesn’t see this and go “Hey, I can do better than this nobody”

While I sympathize with the family of the victims I was really intrigued by the question “which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?” This seemingly innocent question posed by Stephen and Steven in FREAKONOMICS is the best answer to all those screaming for tighter gun control laws.

This “rogue economist” has analyzed the number of deaths occurring due to guns and those due to unfenced swimming pools and gives you a very startling answer. You guessed it. Gun deaths are much lesser than the number of drowning deaths in swimming pools.

So in this context, all these calls for tighter gun control laws are hogwash. I’m not campaigning for ‘guns are needed for personal protection’ I’m just trying to state that at times you need to look beyond the media hype.

If you are really interested in looking beyond what is being thrown at us, you should read this book. A great read for breaking the false notions that most of us carry

6 Apr 2007

Apocalypto

I was totally freaked by this movie. Though it hardly a story line, the acting is simply superb. The emotions and graphics are superbly portrayed. Mel Gibson has a knack for these displays of emotion and raw graphics. If you liked Passion of Christ then you will probably enjoy this movie. If you felt Passion of Christ hurt your sensibilities, you should forget about watching this movie.

21 Mar 2007

World cup mania

For future reference: the situation is that Pakistan is out of the world cup after losing to both Ireland and West Indies. India has lost one match to Bangladesh and won one against Bermuda. It has a match on Friday against Sri Lanka which it must win in order to reach the next stage of the world cup.

This was first sent out by a friend:



X is very upset and does a reply all

Hi Y,

Please be Optimistic…..

Indians will win the world cup…. And please don’t send such anti-national mails; it hurts people who love India and Indian sport….

Please don’t take this mail personally….

Regards,
X

Y isn’t a person to take this lying down. So he does another reply all:

Hi X,

Optimism is one thing. And criticism is other. Right now was writing as a critic. That mail was referring to the “mind blowing” performance against Bangladesh.

You say I am anti national.

Now tell me, there are millions of people in India who say criticize the Indian military / air force / navy /system etc etc… You call them anti nationals???

No they are critics.

A critic speaks out when something performs badly. Perhaps it’s a message for something / someone to perform well. There is a huge difference between a critic and traitor.

You say Sehwag should be thrown out of team. Isn’t that from a critic’s point of view?
Now you may say. Didn’t you watch India’s match against Bermuda? I will say “didn’t you watch Sehwag go against Bermuda?” It is individual perspective.

Hope you have not forgotten the news that Dhoni’s house was destroyed after the Bangla upset.
They were your so called OPTIMISTS, SUPPORTERS and FANS. That doesn’t hurt Indians and Indian sport fans right?? They destroy a private property but that’s out of their love for sport.

Even they weren’t “anti-national”.

They were just speaking out for the bad performance.

So now what do you see dear “FAN OF INDIAN CRICKET TEAM”.

Oh ya almost forgot… Please don’t take this mail personally.

9 Mar 2007

Freedom

“Parzania, the movie about the Gujarat riots has had some spectacular reviews. Unfortunately I don’t think I will get to watch it. The movie is not going to be screened in Gujarat out of “fear” of offending sentiments. What happened to the freedom of speech?”

“Duh. That died a long time ago dude. Go get a life. The mobs rule.”

“What about blood diamonds? The diamond traders here actually went on record saying that they would like to watch the movie.”

“Doesn’t make economic sense man. Don’t you see the serious lack of audience for English movies? Big ticket movies like Spiderman and Harry Potter were released with subtitles. Others were dubbed”

“(Sarcastically) Ah. So that is how they expect to have a command over the English language while cracking exams like the CAT.”

“SHUT UP. A statement like that will cost you dearly”

Silence

Guess the same thing goes for the theater owners.

7 Mar 2007

life matters

Clichéd though it may seem, one wonders what life is coming to. Seriously! I open the paper today to see a news report on fakeyourspace.com. The guy is actually making fake model (obviously female) profiles and will add you to this profiles friend list / scrap you for 98 cents per month per “friend”. If you are saying that’s weird or gross consider that he has such a huge clientele that a modeling site from which he lifted the photos has sent him a legal notice to remove those profiles. If that still doesn’t give you an idea on how big this thing is consider that he has hired two people to do this all day long.

Is impression everything? I mean, I have come across people padding their resumes to land that job but to fake your friends? To fake your social life? Is there no limit to the lies we will tell? I mean, the other day there was a review about a book titled “How to speak on books you haven’t read”. Ironical though the book may be titled it does make one wonder, what is the need to behave like you have read the book if you haven’t? Maybe we will have a book soon on “how to speak on the book that teaches you to speak on books you haven’t read”

Seems like a person who doesn’t have a life or personality of his own is seeking recognition and self worth in other people who probably doesn’t have one either. WIERD

20 Feb 2007

Plugging for the malt march

Recently newspapers around here seem to have been plugging for relaxation of prohibition laws. The last week has seen daily articles in The Times of India (Gujarat edition) on various items related to the prohibition laws. From relaxation of prohibition in Special Economic Zones (SEZ’s) in Gujarat to whether a middle path of sale of only beer and wine is feasible. Articles from old timers to the hot blooded youth on the sale of hard drinks and the freedom of choice

Today was no different. They managed to unearth a 1975 study by the government (I wonder who supplied this to them) taking the winds out of the sales of most pro prohibition lobbies. This “detailed study” seems to have found no correlation between the poor being vulnerable to temptation and remaining poor due to alcohol.

While I am all for relaxation of the ridiculous laws, I cannot help but wonder about this daily front page occurrence. Looks like someone up there really likes Mr. Dinesh Hinduja. No. I don’t mean our numerous Gods and Goddesses. I mean someone in the Modi government pulling such a stunt in the election year.

Has it really dawned on our “enlightened” politicians that over regulation is stupid and a waste of time and resources or are there more skeletons in the cupboard? Has Mr. Hinduja managed to awaken something among the masses or does he have some good friends in The Times of India? Guess I’m an eternal cynic. Only time will tell. Till then lets all lift our glasses in toast to these new developments.

3 Feb 2007

The Malt March Strikes

A reader had commented on my previous entry as to how long can Gujarat live with this hypocrisy of prohibition. As if on cue, Mr. Dinesh Hinduja, leader of THE MALT MARCH decided to prove this hypocrisy. Union textile minister Shankersinh Vaghela went on a hunger strike under full media glare to protest against the governments liberal policies towards alcohol. Unfortunately, he forgot that he is not the only old hand at manipulating the media. Mr. Hinduja walked up to him and asked him to swear on the Bagwad Gita that he had never broken Gujarat's prohibition laws under the same media glare. Caught unawares, all he could tell Mr. Hinduja was to put the book away. He later tried to explain it away saying that he has drunk in other places etc etc. All I can say is three cheers Mr. Hinduja. Let us hope I can say it many more times to him and to my friends in the days to come.

24 Jan 2007

GO AIR

Mr Wadia Nusli, promoter of GoAir was found to be carrying a revolver with 30 round of live ammunition at the Dubai Airport when he disembarked from an Air India flight. Am I surprised? Not really. What would surprise me would be when a high jacking takes place and we say, “How could they have got the weapon on board?” “How did they manage to get past security?”

Getting past security is easy, because the security check is just an eyewash. Personally I have been through the Bangalore airport with a toothpaste tube in the top most pocket of my hand luggage. This was after the London scare and there was a huge notice saying that deodorants, toothpastes and other such tubes / canisters were not allowed aboard the flight. We behave in a total lackadaisical manner and expect everything to fall in place.
Guess now we know why there was such a commotion when George Fernandes got strip searched in the U.S. Going from not being searched to a strip search would have definitely been a very unsettling experience.

Read the whole story here

22 Jan 2007

Moving?

I'm trying out wordpress at http://mundanemusings.wordpress.com I will be posting on both blogs for the time being. Depending on my experiences there i will decide which blog to continue with.

Shilpa the CELEBRITY


Last week if I had said Shilpa, I would have been greeted with a Shilpa who? But today, I’d probably hear, “Oh! That poor thing. We should really teach these Brits a lesson.”

30,000 highly skilled Indian workers are facing expulsion from Briton because of their proposed new immigration laws. But our foreign minister prefers to talk to Chancellor (prime minister in waiting) Brown on “racism” on a TV sop!!!! Dude. It is a DRAMA series. NOT an intellectual discussion determining the fate of our country.

Heaven help us. When Shilpa decided to take up the offer, the news was buried somewhere in page 10. Now it is front page news. We even know the name of a previous Jane Doe. Guess it just goes to prove that there is no such thing as bad publicity. More and more eyeballs are glued to the idiot box tuned to “Celebrity Big Brother”. Viewer ship ratings of channel 4 have gone up along with the number of complaints.

Get a life people. I mean, its not like she didn’t know what she was in for. She is being paid 350,000 pounds for it!!!! But that would be pittance compared to what she can earn in the future. She has become a household name in England. Sponsors will be a mile long the moment she gets out of that Rat Hole. Why do I think so? Simple. 82% of the voters on the show voted to oust Jade Goody. And if this is any response to go by, Shilpa will probably win the episode on the wave of sympathy factor alone. If that isn’t enough, one well placed barb in Hindi from Shilpa and she will be able to milk this non issue for all it is worth.

And for the record, aren’t all of us moral cops racists? Have you never bad mouthed a neighbour or friend? Never called another person names? Caste, class & religious politics and policies are all racist. Stop venting your moral frustrations on a non issue. If you really feel so bad about the subject, then try to do something useful like fighting caste and other grounds of discrimination in your neighbourhood.

20 Jan 2007

Utharayan the Kite Festival


From riding at 90 kmph to traveling at a speed of 5 kmph over a distance of 3 kms is not something that occurs everyday. But with the kite festival kicking off in full swing on Utharayan, there was no other option.

 

Utharayan or the kite festival is one of Gujarat’s most touted tourist attractions. It is celebrated on the 14th of January every year. It basically consists of all and sundry getting on to the top of the nearest high rise and flying kites. No. It doesn’t end there. The kite fights start next with each person trying to cut off the next person’s kite string.  It gets very competitive. Cutting free the most number of kites with a single kite becomes an ego issue with people refusing to get off the rooftops even after dusk. The number of kite fights can be guessed by the fact that a week after the event, broken kites can still be found on the roadside, stuck on telephone or electric lines.

 

It goes to the extent that people have kite strings laced with glass pieces. I can just imagine the plight of the poor birds that have to fight with the kites for space. I walked instead of taking my bike when I went out that day. But that didn’t prevent me from getting cut by one of the kite strings. If while walking at 5 kmph I can get a minor cut, one can just imagine what would happen to birds or two wheeler riders. To give you the enormity of the situation, for a week before the event we had newspapers advising people to wear helmets and mufflers while riding two wheelers to prevent injuries. What the cops couldn’t manage to enforce in a year with fines, the festival managed to do in a matter of days.

 

Other than that the place comes alive with kites in various colours and styles. You get to see people making kites, kite threads, dying threads and selling them. You don’t need to go to a remote location or factory to see it. It happens on the foot paths besides the road at intervals of 500 to 800 meters.  Kites are sold in pieces or sets. The sets can consist of anywhere between 5 kites to 100 kites. The prices of kites vary from Rs 2 to Rs 1000+. While the 2 rupee kites are similar to the ones you might have made when you were in school, the more expensive ones are made fabrics in a variety of shapes. You can get a silk ‘miniature airplane’ kite for the right price. Need I say anymore?

 

As with any festival, it is also an excuse to socialize. Til ladoos, gilabies, chikki etc are some of the sweets made in huge quantities on Utharayan. These sweets are freely distributed to all friends and neighbours. If you think that people will get bored with 15 to 20 recipes of the same sweets, you haven’t experienced the Gujarathi sweet tooth yet. Gujju’s are renowned for their love for sweets. So much so that they decided that this excuse to binge on sweets and fun, for only one day in a year, was inadequate. Thus began Vassi Uthran which literally is the day following Utharayan.

 

It is pretty much a two day festival right now. But what has been done once can always be done again. I don’t think it will take long for the people here to make it another Navrathri or nine day festival of colours, fun, a little competition and lots of sweets. After all, how many of us could turn down an excuse to spice up our mundane lives?

 

11 Jan 2007

The Mob

 

It has been stated that those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Some times when I reflect over 2006 I remember stuff like, “Angry mobs” burnt the Deccan Queen when Ambedkar’s statue was allegedly desecrated. “Angry mobs” entered Kaif’s house and vandalized it during his poor performance at South Africa. The killing of a college lecturer because of delayed elections by “the mob” caught on television.

 

 “Angry Mobs” ???? Who is this “mob”?  Who gave some one the right to kill or damage the property of another person just because they felt hurt? Is it that they are safe in numbers? I mean, causing 7 crore worth of damage to the Central Railways on an allegation. Barging into another person’s house and destroying his property just because he was out of form and our “Indian Cricket Team” lost. Are these valid reasons for causing damage to life and property?

 

Doesn’t it sound strange that a bunch of people who were upset about a rumor could organize for enough petrol to be poured over a bunch of railway carriages and set them on fire? I don’t think so. It sounds more like the handiwork of some people wanting to gain political mileage or letting his sadistic side loose by hiding behind the safety in numbers.

 

Who is this “mob”? But it seems that we would rather pay a million dollars in taxes to pay for the repairs than try ask the million dollar question.

 

4 Jan 2007

A matter of convenience

I’m sure all of us have heard of one way streets. But, have you heard of a one way street for pedestrians???? Well, guess what, it exists. Or rather it existed for a day. On New Year’s Eve, Bangalore’s Brigade road was sealed off for traffic and made one way for pedestrians!!!

While the reason given by the administration is convenience and prevention of XYZ, one wonders to what extent are we willing to go for convenience.

We have given up our freedom of speech for fear of hurting religious sentiment. We don’t mind being strip searched at airports for “better” security. We agree for the U.S. government to go through our credit history and email inbox if we book airline tickets into the USA online. We agree to Google going through our mail for content driven advertisements since they give us a 2 GB mailbox. I could go on and on. But what is the use? People aren’t going to fight for their rights. It is just convenient for us to look the other way.

Corruption, rape, murder, terrorism, poverty, hunger, AIDS are happening around us. It is CONVENIENT for us to allow the government to look after these issues. We look the other way as long as it doesn’t affect us.

One cannot help but wonder, “How much is too much?”. Will we only wake up and scream when the monsters knock on our door step?