Nearing THAT hill!

***** SPOILER ALERT: - YOU PROBABLY WON'T LIKE THIS, IF YOU ARE JUST ABOUT TO TURN 30. COME BACK AFTER A COUPLE OF MONTHS TO READ IT *****

Wow. Just how can closing in on 30 can change you! I am not 30 today, but getting there a day at a time.

As we  near 30, we start to think and do a lot of things. I can think of a few that I do think and/or do myself.

1. We REALLY start thinking about our career and money.

And if you have seen one of those sans-Gandhi Rs. 100 note - you really do belong to a generation that has or will be turning 30 soon.

We start thinking about investments - proper investments - a house, maybe even a second. We start thinking about a promotion or even a start-up sometime. We start saving up for all of that and some even for a rainy day.

Just as a good career advice - network a lot. In India, it would be much easier to do it and you may very well get to meet high power corporate people (not extremely high power like Ratan Tata) much more easily than you would in any other part of the world.

2. We start eating a lot more at home.

A few years earlier you and I were probably thinking where can we go for my next lunch/dinner with my wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend as the case may be, but once we approach 30 - that's really when we start thinking that I should eat more at home.

This is not because you and I have become lazy that we don't want to drive down to that dhaba at Mount Road, but more so since we think that we spend a lot of our savings on eating out. (Refer Point 1).

3. You Plus (at least) One.

As any Indian guy turns 25 and 22 if you're a girl - people start asking you - "When are you getting married?" and if you are married, people start asking you about kids! OMG.

Yes, and as you turn 30 and if you are still single - some thoughts about getting married or having a kid starts creeping into your mind.

4. You really start caring about social issues.

My city's youth impressed everyone all over the world with their efforts during the floods in Chennai in December. I can't but quote what an Indian Army Officer said about the rescue efforts in Chennai - "In all other places we see more victims than volunteers, only in Chennai did we see so many more volunteers than victims."

I guess that pretty much sums up our mentality.

Once you start nearing 30 - your Facebook and twitter feed is no longer about Big Boss or about Virat Kohli's breakup. It's more about the why things happened at so and so. It's about assessing what has been done for India. You start thinking more logically about who you want to vote for (Ahem -  readers from T.N. and Kerala).

5. We lose some friends and gain some.

As we grow older, we do lose some of your friends. It's a sad thing - but that's how life is. That's what turning 30 means. A lot of us must have now lost contact with some of the guys/girls we used to hang out with everyday when we were 27.

And suddenly, your boss and your senior at work seem to become your best friends and advisers for your life and career.


6. We become much more happier with what we have

As you approach 30 - some of the things mentioned above may have happened to you and you start to realize that you feel much more happier with what you have.

You decide that you don't need the new iPhone and you can save more money by using that old Samsung phone and a basic post-paid connection. I decide that I don't want some fancy number plate for my new car and I can just go with what I get.

7. We look back at your life so far and laugh at some and cry at some.

Life always has its ups and downs and when you turn 30 - you definitely look at your journey so far. The road ahead will no doubt be long and tortuous, but by 30 a lot of us would have seen a lot of things and that would give us the strength and confidence to face a lot more in life.

Bonus point - if you have that special someone with you, who will stand by you - no matter what.

8. You start valuing relationships.

Valuing relationships as a jeweller would. You value people who have been good to you, who have helped you/helped your family. You value people who have been bad to you and your family.

You will choose who you want to keep close to you and who you want to cut out.

9. You WILL travel.

Even if not internationally, at least to some place where you find your solace. This will definitely happen to most people a lot before 30.

This will give some experience or another. A story to tell your crush/girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband/kids/random stranger in the seat next to you.

10. You will understand courtesy.

A lot of us Indians do not know basic courtesy and I am ashamed to accept that. I know I will draw a lot of flak for saying this.

We definitely do not know to hold the door for the person behind us. We do not know how to stand in a line (cutting across and creating multiple queues for a counter). Despite so many of us being well educated, we don't even think twice about littering the streets.

We definitely do not care about being polite with people - saying please or sorry. Say please to the salesperson at the store if you need something - it will make their day. Thank your subordinate for the good job he/she did today at work - it will motivate them to do more for you. Ask "How is your day so far?" to that person on the other end of the phone at a call center resolving your issue - they hardly ever get asked that question and it will be very helpful (Trust me).

This is probably the one thing that anyone - 30 or even 3 will need to learn.

Singara Chennai

One week of extremely bad flooding and rains have shown India and the rest of the world what exactly the words - humanity, resilience and self-help mean.

Humanity - India has of late been tagged to be "intolerant" by a lot of people. For them this word might mean isolated incidences of hate crime committed against another religion. For people in TN (not just Chennai) - we do know what humanity is, tolerance is.

We tolerate extreme stupidity such as this one: 

And we are extremely humane:

Resilience and Self-help: Nothing can ever prove our resilience than this one week.  In one week, we have proved that the power of the simple common man CANNOT be under-estimated. In one week, TN has provided more volunteers than you can ever imagine. Ignored by "National Media." Ignored and even abused by the people who think of us only every 5 years - the people of TN have stood up. They have given the FINGER to all of these people and taken care of themselves. 

The hundreds of volunteers, who have stepped out of their houses caring less for their own self and families, the hundreds of fishermen from North Chennai, who plied their boats and trade to help so many souls stuck in Central and South Chennai. 

I am one of those people who had requested help from some of the volunteers to check and rescue some people and I cannot say how happy I am to see so many of them rescued!

Hats off to you guys! 

And a special word of appreciation for some of our stars in the Film and Media industries - specially RJ Balaji, Siddharth, Ashoka Varshini, Chinmayi and Dr. Sumanth Raman! We are deeply amazed and have a lot of gratitude to you. 

And not to be taken for granted - the help and service from our INDIAN ARMY AND NAVY and the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), who have helped rescue thousands of people across Chennai and TN. Thank you and we have no words to even begin appreciating your service. 

Please do not treat this blog post as something that was done to damage someone's image or to boost someone else's image. This post is solely an emotional outburst at my city's condition and how my city has risen to take this challenge head on and come out on top.

WE ARE FUCKING TN AND WE ARE THE BEST FUCKING STATE IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!!

வந்தாரை வாழ வைக்கும் தமிழகம். வாழ்ந்தும் காட்டுவோம்.

- We will let live and we will live on.  

5 Reasons why CHENNAI is way better than any other place on the planet.

I am a very proud INDIAN. Yes, even though I am currently living in the US, I am still Indian and more often than not I calculate weights in kilograms and not in pounds, I calculate speed in kmph and not mph, distances in km and not miles. I am miles away from home and yet, I still do that.

I am also a very proud Chennaite. Yes, that city on the east coast of India, which is home to over 6 Million people. I have seen things happen in Chennai, I have heard of a lot of things as well, but for me to convince anyone about why Chennai is way better than any other place on the planet - I only need 5 reasons.

1. You will always be welcome in Chennai. Whoever you may be - Chennai welcomes everyone with open arms. People from the North east fear Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for some of the hostile reactions that they get there. Look around you in Ranganathan Street and you will find at least 60% of India's languages spoken.

2. Conservative, yet modern. Chennai is a more tradition oriented city, where people exist across various spectrums. Chennai is home to a lot of madisar mamis and also to a lot of mini-skirt girls. Well, I guess that sums it all up in a nutshell.

3. Marina Beach. The world's second longest beach. Nope, you cannot wear those skimpy bikinis on this beach either, but I can assure you, Marina and Elliots beaches are a lot more cleaner and safer than the beaches in Mumbai and Goa. And yes, you cannot drink on the beach - horseback cops will arrest you - That's why you find the beaches safer.

4. Safety for Women. Well, what can we say - Chennai is one of the safer cities for women in India. There are crimes against women, yes, but you will never come across ineptitude when it comes to preventing crimes against women. People are friendly and will help almost anyone in distress. That does not mean Chennaites are naiive, it means Chennaites care about those around us.

Read this, if you don't believe me: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/03/16/what-delhi-can-learn-from-chennai-on-womens-safety/

5.Intelligent people. Helping nature is one thing, intelligence is another. Chennaites are very knowledgeable about a wide variety of things. Thanks to some amount of street smartness that our ancestors gave us. Every international cricketer who visits Chennai says that Chennai's cricket loving public are extremely knowledgeable and highly sportsmanly about the game. Apart from that, we are also the kind of people who wouldn't encourage cheating in sports or in exams (Hint: BIHAR).

Oh well, I guess, if those reasons don't convince you, I'm not sure anything else will.

- A proud Chennaiite. :D

Sin City.

Las Vegas. A big beautiful city with all the vices that can ever be there in the world. You name it - gambling, booze, girls, etc. Whatever vices it may have, it is a great place to unwind.

My wife and I took off to Vegas for the thanksgiving weekend and I have to admit it, I was scared of Las Vegas for a few minutes. Sin city - reputed for ruining so many people's lives through gambling. I am not a gambler, but I did realize within the first few minutes of playing slot machines how much I hated losing money. Eventually, we did lose most of our money that we set aside as a limit for gambling and got out of the casino floor. 

Las Vegas is not as intimidating as New York is. Las Vegas is in fact far more inviting than New York.I did go to New York too, but it was a bit intimidating. Big tall buildings, a city that never sleeps, stories that we might have heard from people returning back home. However, when you are entering the Las Vegas Boulevard area fondly known as "The Strip", you see all those large hotel casinos that you see on the picture up there. And all the lights and the hustle and bustle of people during the evenings provides an amazing sight.

The fountains at The Bellagio and the gondola ride at The Venetian are two things one shouldn't miss on a romantic getaway. With this being our first trip to Vegas so far, we hardly planned out things that we wanted to do. Hopefully, next time around would be better planned. :D

Las Vegas has a bunch of great restaurants and shows as well. There are some immensely stirring acrobatics that feature in some shows. Ka is the show that we saw during our trip and I must say it was incredible to say the least. Stunning visuals and choreography. Cirque du Soleil caters to each ones tastes and has a lot of variety for people who are interested in shows. And most of these shows happen in theatres located inside a hotel.

Also, Hoover Dam. The dam is located about 40 minutes away from the Las Vegas strip and is one marvellous construction, considering that it was built in the 1920s-1930s, during the peak of the great depression. The dam is the source of water supply to nearly cities in 3 states - Arizona, Nevada and California and is built on the Colorado river, which runs right through the grand canyon. And yes, do not miss the Grand Canyon. We did not get to make the 12 hour round trip to the Canyon and back, but we intend to do it soon.

Getting back to our cities was no fun, especially after Vegas being a great place to visit. Absolutely recommended for a quick getaway, but don't go lose it all!

Remember: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!

To walk or not to walk....

Yes, I am back after a pretty long hiatus.. Thanks to a cricketing controversy raging in forums all over the world.

Stuart Broad nicked one and was given not out by the umpire and gotten himself a half century in the process, and against who? The Aussies! Probably one of the greatest hypocritical teams to have ever played Cricket.

There are no rules about walking. For those who don't quite understand what walking is - It means that a batsman can choose to walk away from the pitch if he knows he is out. Honesty. The gentlemanly nature it is said.

A few cricketers do walk if they know they are out. It is not mandatory that every cricketer must do so. I applaud honesty in the cricketing field when there is one. Particularly if it comes from an Aussie. And Adam Gilchrist walked. I did admire him for doing so whenever he did it. There was a semi-final at stake, a place in yet another final in a major ICC tournament and he walked. All those who watched him play know the kind of destruction he can unleash with his bat on any given day. And he walked in a semi-final.

People accused him of starting a "walking-crusade" but then each man's integrity is his own. And speaking of integrity. Michael Clarke played under a man known for his great integrity - Ricky Ponting And Clarke for one should remember the Sydney Test of 2008 when the entire Australian team was very honest. There's a saying "people living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at others." This will apply to Captain Clarke as well.

In my opinion, a batsman is entitled to wait for the umpire's decision regardless. After all, the ICC pays umpires like Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus and Kumar Dharmasena (Umpire of the year), who are professionals to do a job, just like working people like you and me are paid to do a job. As far as honesty and integrity are concerned, it would be great to see honest people in Cricket after all that's happening around us - match fixing, spot fixing, corruption, et al. And yes, I do admire such a quality in any cricketer.

One of my friends wrote a status message that Broad should have walked as it was a thick edge and not just a faint nick. Well, I agree, but again - what was the umpire doing? The batsman is always well within his rights to wait for the umpire to make a call. And considering that Australia had used up their reviews, they couldn't review that. Also, there should have been communication from the third umpire saying "that was out", which apparently did not happen.

So, all points considered and given that ICC laws do not say anything that batsmen must walk if they know they are out, I would say the umpires are more at fault than Broad himself. Of course, the bowler would be a little disgruntled, since he has lost the battle anyway.

Oh, BTW - Chris Broad, Stuart Broad's father and ICC Match Referee had suspended Dinesh Ramdin, Windies 'keeper for claiming a catch that wasn't, and what would he have told his son now? Food for thought.

India. My India today.

Ha ha ha.. We are all still alive.

Well, the news is that the world hasn't changed a lot overnight. Thank god for that. The snow in the balcony is still there, our dear victim of the monstrosity of the Delhi gang-rape is still alive with people supporting her and still calling for death for the rapists. And yes of course, which should be done - which should teach all rapists a lesson for now. And, all mothers in India to raise their sons a little better rather than "kuchh bhi karo, meri monu ko kuch nahi honi chahiye" ("Do anything, I don't want anything happening to my Monu.")

My heart goes out to that poor girl and millions of other girls who have been raped and have been denied justice. To quote No One Killed Jessica "Justice delayed is justice denied." I read an article a couple days back, about how quickly Delhi police have acted in this case arresting the rapists. Well, kudos to the cops. And also, I noted how interesting it was to see that the judiciary was also taking an active interest in questioning the cops when they thought the reports needed to have much more detail. Kudos to the judiciary too.

Why do we have rapes happening in such alarming frequency in India? I would think that rapes might have been a lot less in the times when man roamed naked. Ask people in India, even the educated would try to say that it's a woman's clothing that provokes one to rape. Answer this - if your sister dressed herself in a so called provocative dress, would you rape her or would you allow another man to rape/leer/pass lewd comments at her? So, now, dressing provocatively is a cause for rape?

We always tell our girls at home to dress properly and not to stay out late. Has anyone ever not told/not been told behave properly with a girl? Food for thought.

Spare a thought for all those martyrs whose sacrifices to win freedom seems all in vain today. Spare a thought for all those soldiers guarding our borders, sacrificing family life just to ensure that we can sleep in peace. That too seems to be in vain. All of them made/make such sacrifices each day and I feel ashamed that we are a country which calls itself a civil society, where there is nothing civil. Rape of a country. India is crying and bleeding, will there be hands to wipe the tears and stop the bleeding?

And sad how the world's largest democracy treats its peacefully protesting citizens. Lathi charging and tear gassing. Truly sad. Looks more like a throwback to the British era rather than of Gandhi's dream of a free India where Indians will be respected and treated with respect in their own land. The common man being treated like criminals, while criminals get all amenities possible.

The World Is Not Enough.

"The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry." - Brooks Hatlem (the old guy who gets released on parole and ends up killing himself in the movie - The Shawshank Redemption).

True, how it is. A big damn hurry the world is in - to see its own end, isn't it? Take a look around. It is not easy to say or even believe that the world is indeed decaying. Each and every country is decaying. Law of nature? Maybe.

Every good thing has to come to an end right. Probably. It is probably even time to acknowledge this fact.

This one song makes a lot of sense to me. ONLY PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND TAMIL  will understand this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT2l77q-tTo

That's the kind of decay that every single person in any country will realize about themselves or even about their country or even about India.

Warring nations, ready to nuke each other up at a moment's notice. Countries starved of food and water and yet nations choose to arm themselves with hi-tech nuclear weapons than actually care for humanity. People killing people just because they are from another country/another state despite speaking the same language, and (yet you care for each other like you were born to the same parents when you are together in a different country, just because you speak the same language). People in power swindling billions and virtually putting up an entire nation for sale just because you want to live large.

It was said in the Bhagvadgita - "Whenever there is a decline in dharma being carried out in the world, then I will set things right by coming back to earth. Whenever good people are being dominated by bad people, then I will be reborn time and again to help good over evil."

Is the time coming for all evil to end and for the world to start afresh? or is it a complete beginning of the end? 2012 perhaps?

We will never know. Wierd things happen. Chaos.

P.S: Too abstract, I know.

What's in a name?

A name - that's all we really need to judge people. To find his religion, to find where he comes from and in some cases even leaves people guessing what sex the person is.

Wow. Really? Yes. For instance, I know a Mr.S, whose name suggests he belongs to X religion, but however he belongs to Y religion. Like that!

Well, name pronunciation. Most people, sorry to say specifically - in America cannot get even the simplest of names right. How hard is it to say a name properly? Never mind all of the world's population, just for kids to have a name that they can say out loud or even with pride at times, people in China give them "English" names. And that's because Chinese parents feel that their kids need to have a name that a person in America will be able to pronounce correctly.

The trend seems to be catching on India as well. I have noticed that some people have started changing their Indian names to something fashionable? Just because your boss/counterpart somewhere on this planet cannot pronounce your name properly - should you change it? A name that your parents kept for you so lovingly?

Yeah. Make it fashionable. Kuppusamy is never going to run out of fashion. Traditionally modern - yes! Old Sanskrit names now seem quite fashionable don't they? Attention new moms and dads (**winks**).

Truly, honestly, losing traditional names just because some guy somewhere cannot get your name right is something against what you have been, whoever you might be.

After a hiatus...

After a hiatus of a few eons (or so it seems to me), I am back on my blog.

Well, a quick update as to why I have been missing. My book has been published. Yes. I am a published author now.

What's the book about? Mumbai, November 2008. Almost all of us know what happened in Mumbai in November 2008. For those who don't - There was a dastardly terror attack in Mumbai and 10 men had kept the city under a siege for nearly 3 days. Countless lives were affected - directly or indirectly. And the story is about some lives which were affected by this attack.

What's the name of the book? [LIVE] from Mumbai.

Where can I get it? Flipkart has print copies available for India only. The ebook is on smashwords.com
Flipkart link: http://www.flipkart.com/live-mumbai-8192349918/p/itmd8psax3bduktk?pid=9788192349916&ref=ad7ecd6a-e218-462e-b8fe-d4a79248feb0

Ebook link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/172202

And if I want to contact the author to give him a few of my choicest words? This is the author's site : http://karthik.scribe.im/index.php/page

Ok.. apart from my book being published, I read a couple other books and a couple other experiences giving me a whole greater perspective on a human mind (OMG.. another lecture). Humans are not always good or bad. One man's hero is another man's villain.

Man is not black or white - he is grey. He his composed of good, bad and ugly. Most people may not understand this, but yes, good, bad and ugly - all of them exist within us. Evil is not something that we find around us, it lives inside us and comes out at an instant when no one knows when.

It's in the middle of the night that I am typing this rather abstract and meaningless post, but I do hope, sometime, someone may actually understand the rubbish that I have typed here.

And btw, please do send in your comments once you have read the book - you can always catch me on twitter - @karthiknj or tweet #LivefromMumbai.

Why this Kolaveri?

Within the past few weeks, some of the safest jobs in the world have turned into ones that people might fear to take up. A bank was robbed in broad daylight, a bus driver goes crazy and kills people by running the bus over them, a teacher was murdered by her own student.

Is 2012 really going to happen? Chaos all around already. But really, that kid murdering his own teacher? What were you thinking? Killing your teacher is revenge?

Well, to be honest, inherently we (read - Indians) have always been blaming someone else for even the tiniest of our faults. Would that kid have gone to the extent of killing his teacher had his parents raised him properly? The thing with us as Indians is that we always beat the floor up if our kids stumble and fall. That's to make the child feel that "my parents are protective of me."

What could have happened with that kid so badly that he went to the extent of killing his teacher? Most of us have faced failure in academics (to varying degrees of course) at some stage or the other. But really, killing your teacher? and the reason is you were influenced by a movie? Where did you leave your brain, boy?

When most (generations of the 70's-80's) of us were growing up, we didn't have so much of violent movies, and even those which had scenes of a knife dripping blood were given an "A" rating, so that only mature audiences could watch the movie. In fact, movies which didn't have too much of violence or sexual content used to get an "A" certificate. The movies that come out today... well.. and kids these days too "mature" quickly.

Parents of today don't really have the time to sit with kids and talk to them, neither do kids for that matter. Nuclear families, no influence from the grandparents, working parents who return late from work, kids who run from school to tuition classes to extra curricular classes, etc -  all that hardly leaves any time for interaction between the parents and their kids. Fast paced, hectic life has taken out what matters the most to growing kids.

Adolescent kids, specially boys tend to do all sorts of nonsense growing up. It's at that time when a parent's or a grandparent's guidance is most important. And when that's not there for the kids, you never know what may happen. In joint families (seems like way back into stone age huh?) there was always an elder person in the house who used to take care of the kids. My parents never had to worry that their 10 year old son was all alone at home. My grandparents, my aunt, my uncle and even my great-grandmother were all there to take care of me. Stories, tales of people with good virtue used to be told to the kids to make sure they had the right kind of influence growing up.

When us kids from the 70s and 80s grew up in India, we didn't have too much of technology or western influence on us, which made us go bonkers at every opportunity. And also money. Money makes the world go round. Apparently, this particular kid came from a very affluent family and was given enough pocket money. And that money went to buying a weapon for himself to take his teacher's life. Indirectly, the parents themselves had sponsored a woman's death.

Well, life will go on.. life will find a way.. May that soul rest in peace...

No title...

Some of you might have read a previous post of mine saying "Love stories"... Well... I do hate most love stories to be honest... And that's because I've never had the patience for that.

2 Love stories... or rather 2 Reel life love stories that I have enjoyed immensely are Alaipayuthey and Mayakkam Enna.

Alaipayuthey can be described as the more sedate movie of the two. Well, those who haven't seen this movie -  too bad, too sad, you've missed probably one of Tamil cinema's classic love stories. But some of us may have caught it as Saathiya in Hindi. Well, nothing can ever match an original.

Alaipayuthey is the story of Karthik (Madhavan) and Shakthi (Shalini) who are in love with each other and after their parents don't agree to get them married, they get married secretly, without their parents knowing. The movie showcases the love between the lead pair and what happens in their relationship - the stresses, the strains, the anger. The story weaves itself and is one beautiful movie to watch.

I know it's a bit of my mokka....

Mayakkam Enna - what do I say? One stunning movie featuring iron strong characters. Yamini (Richa Gangopadhyay) is one hell of a woman. Yamini spells out her love for Karthik (Dhanush) more than any other couple in any movie that has been made. The character has been portrayed as a woman with nerves and a mind of steel. She doesn't leave Karthik even when he's at his lowest, nearly what people would call mental. She stays with him and supports him in his perseverance to become a world class wildlife photographer. At the end of the movie, one can only say "Whatta Woman".


One thing about both movies is that how strong the pairs were in their relationship. At any point, either of the pairs could have broken off, but it took them a lot of courage and a lot of strength to stay and be there for each other.

And at this point, I am reminded of a couple of pairs I happen to know in real life. Both the pairs I know, I have known them over quite a period of time and I also happen to know how strong they were in their relationship. They wanted to get married only after obtaining their parents' consent and which they managed to. All the struggles that they had to go through... and finally its such a special thing when you get married to the person you love...

"Love doesn't come to everyone, but if you find the person you love, never ever let go of him/her..."

The end of the month....

Yeah... the month is ending... not news to most of us I know...

As a month draws to a close, how many times have us (read - male Indian bikers living in India) faced the situation of being caught by a traffic cop, just for the sake of filling up his "quota" or to fill up hi pockets for expenses the coming month?

That is the most common and CHEAPEST and UGLIEST form of DEMANDING BRIBES that you can every see on the roads. I have hated and still hated traffic cops just for their cheap behaviour. I have immense respect for the guys in Khakhi, but to be honest, and many Indians will agree with me on this - No respect at all for those cheap buggers.

I live in probably the busiest part of my city in India and I have never ever seen a traffic cop on the road till say the 25th date of each month and suddenly they are omnipresent as they date ticks past 25.

Every single person earns his money through hardwork and here are some assholes which sit at some roadside tea shop drinking tea and eating samosas for free, pocketing a few thousand rupees for not working and earning as much as 5000 Rs. in a couple of days. Taxpayers money goes down the bloody drain like this.


And if you ask why this happens, the answer would be "People give, so we take." People wouldn't want to part with a paisa of their hard earned money unless and until they are forced to do so and in this case -  unscrupulous traffic cops. People would rather part with 100 Rs. easily than go to court and argue their case after losing nearly 5 times the money due to loss of pay leave, transport and hours of waiting at the court for the judge.

Sheer disregard for the people in the largest democracy in the world and we have a republic day too. Shame.

How many times do you notice a traffic cop who is on duty every single day, in proper uniform, performing his duties properly and not expecting the month end bonus?

And the reasons that the give to extract money from you -  atrocious. Speeding when you don't even have a chance to go over 25 kmph. You might be just at the stop line when they decide to pull you aside and take a chance.

As a traffic cop, you are expected to clear the way for an ambulance. How many cops do that? Who knows what happens in the lesser cities and villages....

If you ask a cop to justify his actions - it is a long sad story too. Almost every cop who has donned the khakhi or the white shirt would say this. I had to "pay an amount" to get this job. And I am still paying the interest on that amount. This might even be true.

The root cause of all this leads back to corruption. Bribery.

Well.. who knows for how much longer. Earth's countdown might have well begun???

Something to think about... 2 sides to that coin...

Sir! Post!

அச்ச்மில்லை யச்சமில்லை அச்ச்மனெப தில்லையே

இச்ச்கத்து ளோரெல்லாம் எதிர்த்துநின்ற பொதினும்
அச்ச்மில்லை யச்சமில்லை அச்ச்மனெப தில்லையே
துச்ச்மாக வெண்ணிநம்மை தூறுசெய்த பொதினும்
அச்ச்மில்லை யச்சமில்லை அச்ச்மனெப தில்லையே

- மகாகவி சுப்ரமணிய பாரதியார்.

I do know a lot of people who read this blog do not know Thamizh (Tamil). So, here's a bit of translation.

" Do not fear. Do not fear even when the entire world opposes you.

 Do not fear the cold stares that people give you".

- Subramaniya Bharathiyar. 

Why I began with those lines. The reason is pretty simple -  Mr. Kapil Sibal. Minister for IT and Communications, has asked social networking firms to filter objectionable content, particularly with reference to UPA chief -Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister- Manmohan Singh. The analogy is pretty simple, when a team fails, the captain is the first one to draw flak, and here - well, needs no further explanation.

Well, it is quite apparent that the UPA is full of Taliban people disguised as Indian politicians. Starting off a few weeks ago was planning commission chairman Mr. Ahluwalia, who somehow brought about a random number to indicate the minimum amount of money required per day to survive in rural and urban India. And now, it's the turn of another educated person. 

Seriously. Mr. Sibal. What were you even thinking? And now your loyalty towards the nation as a whole itself is under scrutiny. When you took your oath, you pledged your loyalty and service to the NATION.  Loyalty and service to the UPA chief DOES NOT become loyalty to the nation. A BILLION people are under so much pressure due to your government, which has like every other government before it, forgotten how they got elected. 

We the people can only share kolaveri videos and post good pictures of your youth icon Mr. Rahul Gandhi is it? And politicians who deserve to be ***censored*** are just slapped in this country. You talk so much about censorship and all that stuff, but are you even concerned about the people who elected you? Shame on you for even calling yourself an Indian, living in a free democratic republic.

This is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. The government is concerned about the personal image of some very powerful people, while the average Indian struggles to make ends meet. We all get abused by you politicians day in and day out. A few days back, a teacher was slapped in Punjab, by an illiterate sarpanch. The audacity that you politicians have to tell us about abusing you. We the people are abused by you - economically, physically, psychologically, verbally and at times in some cases, even sexually. 

By the way, you said, "Hate speech must be banned."  Why would an ENTIRE nation hate all you politicians? When all you politicians, particularly the government, have done nothing worthwhile for the nation, there obviously will be hatred towards you. And now you say that people cannot vent their ire on a social forum just because one of your colleagues got slapped and that some of you may even be attacked in future? Didn't you know all this before coming to power? And you are all scared despite your Z category security? So lame.

And if you did really want to screen posts on Google, you should have made them get our map correct for a start.

All you politicians make sure that no one else comes to power by doing all sorts of illegal things such as booth capturing, cash for votes, political assassinations and threatening people. And when you do come to power, you indulge yourself by building statues of yourself, amassing huge amounts of wealth and property and all such things.

Honestly, have a chat with your own conscience Mr. Sibal, you too would feel like giving a nice tight slap to certain people. For a few minutes, forget that you ever were a politician, a minister, a man in power. Think of yourself as the common man of India, put yourself in his shoes and think. Would you really feel that you and your government have done anything good for the people? Would you really ask Facebook and Google to screen content now? Learned and educated people like you and me should realize that not all people go off to slap someone like your colleague or throw stones at someone else's house.

Exceptions do not become examples Mr. Sibal. We are living in a civilized society. The world has evolved and so must we, if we are to become a nation greater than what we are at present. Criticism should be welcomed from anywhere, and especially if it comes for the people who elected you.

Do something good for the people Mr. Sibal. The people will respect you.

Jai Hind.

P.S: This blog may not be alive tomorrow. I'm very thankful to all those who have read this blog all these days. Thanks a lot for all your support.

An unsung hero...

Millions of pages have been written about the world's greatest batsman - Sachin Tendulkar. People have run out of praises about him. He is the god of cricket. However, as the tour of Australia is next on the Indian cricketing calendar, and it might well be the last tour down under for Sachin Tendulkar and a couple of his other illustrious colleagues, namely - V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid.

Both Laxman and Dravid have been in the background as compared to the other duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly, when all four of them played. Of all four V.V.S is obviously the one who has been least sung about. His epic 281 Vs Australia at Kolkata is obviously his greatest achievement, and his shoes will be way to huge for anyone to fill. India will somehow find someone to at least bumble around wearing his shoes.

Rahul Dravid's shoes will be the ones noone can even hope or even want to fill. The kind of pressure that he has soaked up all these years, doing everything for the team  - noone will ever want to be in his place. Even when the entire Indian team collapses around him, he'd be the rock in the middle, playing his characteristic innings of holding up one end.

What has he not done for the team? Bats at number 3, kept wickets, even played some pinch hitter knocks, holds up one end steady, has even bowled, taken tough catches, has run with quicker batsmen like Yuvraj and Kaif, and has even been the captain, but has been praised a lot less than either Sachin Tendulkar or Saurav Ganguly. Indian cricket should be thankful for the presence of this gentleman cricketer who has given his all for the game and the team.

Dravid was dropped from the ODI side at one point of time, because he couldn't make fast runs, but his absence has always been felt whenever India started collapsing. The guts that this man has to steady a ship and even take the team close to winning matches or at least face saving draws - no words. Respect.

I was just thinking about the Indian test side today, especially with respect to replacements for Dravid, Laxman and yes, of course, You-Know-Who too. Nope. None of them can be replaced. In fact, truth be told, India are yet to find a proper replacement for the worst of the fab four - Saurav Ganguly (Yes. He can be regarded as the worst of the fab four and Yes, I am a die hard Ganguly fan, who says this). Scary thoughts, just to imagine an Indian team travelling to England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa without The Wall. On a green top like in New Zealand - no Dravid, no score.

India have gone on tours previously with at least one of the fab four to rely on, and at most times, it has been Rahul Dravid on whom India have depended on to take control of the batting in the middle. India will have to search for appropriate replacements and groom them properly, if they want to see someone make at least half the number of runs that Dravid has made in his test career till now.

That day of the year.

Another 26/11 has dawned. Kasab is still alive and the 26/11 probe will go on till Sun Tv broadcasts the 1 millionth episode of some serial. Kanimozhi will even get bail, but Kasab will not be hanged, nor will India's elite anti-terror units get what weapons they request for. And we will remember the martyrs who saved our haves staying in the Taj and the Oberoi, and the cops at CST who tried to save our have-nots and Tukaram Omble, who was killed trying to apprehend Kasab.

Mumbai will forever be in fear and Indian media will forever telecast the happenings of 26th November 2008. Petrol prices swell and so do our netas pockets, with no relief to the common man's burden. While prices of essential items in TN have been increased to an extent that Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia's Rs. 32/ day norm looks like a figure that he might have reached if he was planning for India during Shahenshah Akbar's time.

Kolaveri takes the nation by storm but the kolaveri that we actually need here is something that Sharad Pawar was given a taste of. When one politician gets just slapped there is a huge furore and such unity displayed, which sadly is missing when all our money goes waste in the form of parliament sessions - which never take place. Thousands of Indians are starving across the country, while all our MLAs and MPs eat 4 sumptuous meals a day.

When the voting public who voted people to power struggle to get into a bus and reach their shifts on time, our CMs and PM happily stop the traffic to reach their bathrooms to have a nice comfortable shit.


Yet another 26/11 dawns and the aam aadmi is still not sure of whether he will return home to die another day, while no good politicians who have done almost everything to ensure that they live happily till they die are given Z category security - and just because of one slap/slipper. An entire nation clamours for that kind of security from terrorism, corruption, weekly price rises and whatnots that have been imposed on the people. When will we get it?

Another 26/11 will dawn next year and who knows what we might be seeing then?

Talents gone waste...

I am writing this post just after Messers. Salman Butt, Mohd. Amir and Mohd. Asif have been found guilty of charges of spot fixing which was levelled against them. It is such a sad thing that cricketers have failed to learn from one man who brought the game into disrepute a few years ago. But that man had the guts to accept his guilt. That man was Hansie Cronje.

I had great respect for Hansie Cronje, and I still do respect him, just for the one reason that he stood up and accepted his crime. Salman Butt and Mohammed Asif had the guts, not to accept their crime, but to stand up and say that they did not do it. Not only that, they even traded shit about each other.

Everyone would remember Salman Butt's classic century against India in Kolkata a few years back. An innings that I can still watch just for those classy square drives which he played and the fantastic footwork that he displayed against the spinners, to steer Pakistan to victory and end undefeated.

It's such a pity that such talent goes wasted in their lust for money. I have always enjoyed watching good cricket, no matter who plays it. I would even confess that I am a fan of Wasim Akram and I have enjoyed watching Saeed Anwar bat (Yes. I did hate his monstrous 194 against India), and No that does not make me a fan of Pakistan cricket. It's just a few of their cricketers that I like.

During their prison terms, no doubt all three of them would, at some point of time, regret what they have done. However, regretting that is no punishment for bringing the game into disrepute. Hansie Cronje did not go to prison, I don't know why, but he was banned for life. One thing about Cronje was that he had the guts, I say again, the guts to accept to what he did - That itself showed that Cronje was remorseful of his crime. Something that these young cricketers failed to do. They chose to defend themselves of a crime, which they took part in and were blatantly guilty of.

Why is it that the lust for money made so many talented cricketers into such cheap low lives who would sell their career, the great game and even their countries? It is so sad to see such talents go waste...

The game can no longer take hits like this... All those who love cricket as much as I do, would love to see the game live beyond generations and I hope those professionals (who play the game and read this article) would care to make the game a cleaner one.

The Great Indian Independence Struggle

A struggle that began with Gandhi has now brought us fighting once again for Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi is dead? Who said so? He still lives in the Indian currency note. Take out the 100 Rupee note and Gandhi smiles back at you. That smiling man is smiling in heaps of bundles of notes in our neta's pockets and bank accounts (Of course -not in terms of Gandhis, but in terms of Benjamin Franklins and whoevers).

India is now united against one of India's biggest diseases (not AIDS). CORRUPTION. India's biggest bhimari (disease). Leading from the front is one man named Anna Hazare, who is emulating Gandhi by uniting an entire country to fight corruption. A non-violent struggle, which will always be a thorn in any government's flesh, be it the Empire in which the sun never sets, or the filthy money monging Indian politician who all come from varied backgrounds. Right from A.Raja to Manmohan Singh (who is branded as "Mr. Clean") every single one of them is party to a crime which has taken place against a billion people.

Can this government even think of contesting the next elections? If anyone from this govrnment contests and wins the next election - it means 2 things, one - we are dumb and stupid and we do not eat food (please substitute food with it being processed out of our bodies) and two - it means that probably that person will get his good share soon.

The Indian government formed by the Indian National Congress and its allies, which includes the DMK of which A.Raja was a minister, has only done everyting that it possibly could to ensure that no one will ever vote for them again. Scams of the magnitude of Lakh Crore Rupees were unheard of until Mr. A. Raja was caught. A scam of such a huge magnitude took place with no knowledge of the Prime Minister of India? Nonsense. Rubbish. And Dr. Manmohan Singh wants to stay out of the Jan Lokpal?

Everyone is equal in the eyes of the law and our lawmakers do everything that they possibly can to make sure that they stay above the law. This Congress government is even worse than our colonial rulers who imposed absolutely dictatorial acts to undermine the Indian people. What is being done is very similar to what happened then. The sun set on the British Empire and it won't be long before corruption and the corrupt in India meets their fate.

Cleaning India of corruption is no mean feat and it will require a lot of effort from us the people - remember - We are a republic - by the people, of the people and for the people. The day we root out corruption will be the day that we can really call ourselves an independent nation. Our grandparents used to wonder if we would be able to live in a Free India, today we are wondering if we might be able to give our grandchildren (if not our own children) a Free India - an India, free from corrupt netas, incompetent and yet such useless governments (which are filled to the brim with people like Kanimozhi and A.Raja and the lot).

Can we make India corruption free? I hope it happens. I would like to see my India corruption free. I hope we all live to see the day that corrupt politicians get CORRECT punishment and a government, which actually is made by the people, of the people and for the people.

INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION!!!!!!

P.S: Did you put up your facebook/twitter status for Independence day? Food for thought.

Alaipayuthey....

One LOVE story that I truly Love. Of course, I hate stupid love stories like "I hate luv storys". But, Alaipayuthey.. NEVER. Right from the moment I stepped out of the theater, I was thinking "what a love story.. so, is this what love is?" And I was just in 9th standard at that time.

11 years have rolled by since that Mani Ratnam masterpiece, so many movies have come and gone, so many love stories, told, forgotten and buried, but Alaipayuthey - has only managed to make me fall in love with it, all over again, every single time that I see the movie.



And it is only when I look back I suddenly realized -  11 years have gone by!!! Wow.. and it just seemed like yesterday night that I walked out of Devi theater after watching this.

I don't think I need to tell this movie's story now, as everyone would have watched it quite a few times - thanks to Sun Tv, Vijay Tv, etc. However, I must say, it is such a timeless classic, which has only been so enjoyable, that I have never been able to quit watching this movie.

Well, coming to the question - "What is love?" That's a very tough question to answer. Different people have different meanings. However, it will all come down to just that special someone, who can turn each of our lives up side down.

I guess I have run out of words to write about this movie and about love. I think I was better off just watching it for the billionth time and I am going back to continue it. I hope, I have performed an Inception on you to go watch the movie now. :)

Love stories...

Guys.. Im writing this post right after watching a really stupid movie called "I hate Luv Storys".... No offence meant but it's not really my kind of a movie.. Utterly depressing.. deplorable.. and I am not using expletives on my post.. but seriously- I'd consider it one of THE WORST movies of my life...

Well.. this post is not about that (I know I am getting a bit stereotypical here like a la karan johar's movies).. but seriously, its about more serious issues. Love - successes and failures.

Why do people break up? I hear all sorts of new reasons each day. People give reasons with big words such as compatibility issues. compatibility -  what does that mean? Means a girl and a guy need to agree on certain things (mostly sensitive things such as respecting each others families, sex, etc and that s only in 20% of the cases, and in the remaining 80% its on some rather silly things such as drinking, smoking, returning home late at night, rash driving, etc). Some people have a list of items with each criteria having an AND condition on it, which means all conditions MUST be fulfilled and must be Mr or Mrs perfect, as the case maybe.

I don't mean to say that all people breakup just like that. What I mean to say is trading off is the way to live. Guys, if your girl doesn't like you drinking, then try not to drink (or at least try not to get caught.. :P) Oh, and compromises are not only for guys, the same goes for girls as well (not the drinking part.. well - maybe some exceptions).

Breakups are such a cruel thing. Probably the worst punishment that people in love with each other can give to each other (and it is yes, a huge torture to the friends of the people who break up... just kidding -friends are always there to help) . Breakups happen for various different reasons, but at any point of time, there is always one of the two, who still wants to get back.

And to the question - why don't things work? Have you seen any machine work on its own? Even a TV? You have to switch it on, increase the sound, adjust the picture, set the TV properly in a good setting, all that. Love is also a machine. Love also needs its own bit of adjusting, care, etc. Of course, there will be fights, arguments, separations, at times even lack of time for each other, but all of those will just be a passing phase for people who are strong willed in a relationship.

This article might seem like utter bullshit ( I'm no love guru or something..) but I really thought I should write about this, after watching that movie.

A conversation....

Not long ago, someone asked me. What is India all about? What does India have that we (America) don't have?
I asked her in return. What do you THINK that you HAVE?

She replied. "We have culture, military, arts, science and technology, a great economy, money power, a strong democratic system, a peaceful life. That's some of the few things that we have. Now, tell me. What does India have?"
I know half of you would quickly flash through that memory of a movie in which the guy who plays Amitabh Bhachchan's younger bro saying "mera paas maa hai". True, it would have sufficed truly.

My reply "India has got a culture, a tradition that goes far beyond the time that mankind would remember. India invented plastic surgery, zero and taught the world how to do agriculture, trade, commerce, governance, science and economics, when the rest of the world was still just learning to pluck hair out of their heads. When you talk about culture, do you know how old America is? I don't know how old India is. India has been around since before Christ. Modern India has been around for only the last 63 years though, but imagine how close India is to becoming a world superpower. Without India and our contributions there would be no world, no new world."

She looked at me and I knew she was seriously working on her counter attack "Well. If you guys were around for as long as you say, why haven't you become the world's greatest superpower?" I knew this question was coming. I replied "If you haven't noticed, every nation has had its time. India was a world superpower, until your ancestors from England came and set foot in India. America rose to be a world superpower not more than 80 years earlier, to be exact since the first world war. India was ruled by a colonial power for over 200 years. Now we are a free country. A country which is once again on the ascendancy."

"Tell me something about your culture." I asked her. "What do you know about your culture?"
"Well, we have so many buildings, so many different writers, artists, great men and women like Martin Luther King, who have shown the world what we are all about." I decided to barge in "Looks like you don't even know what culture means. Culture refers to what a country/community has developed all over the years. India's culture also has so many art forms, artists, architectural marvels and also great men, who are revered in all parts of the world. Do you know any language that has existed for over a thousand years? Don't say English. English was spoken only after probably 1500s and 1600s, till then the official languages used in Britain was Latin. And I don't know too many Americans, who speak proper English. My mother tongue- Tamil has been around for over two thousand years. You can't find an inscription in America which dates back to Before Christ, while you can't find inscriptions in India, which don't date back that long. That itself is evidence for how long Indian culture has been around. We were born in our land. You guys came from Britain, to settle here and create a new world for yourselves."

"Why is India dependent on the U.S?" was the next question. I laughed. "Can you see one company which does not outsource at least some part of its operations to India? Now who's dependent on whom? Maybe we are just biding our time till we can show you what the true meaning of the word superpower is. I can't tell you till when we might just go on with this game, but one day it certainly will stop and that day is not too far."

"Well, I was watching this video where this guy talks about healthcare in India." said my friend. "I too saw that video. You know what. He is such an idiot. I can't believe he can say such things on air and the youtube description for that video was also inappropriate."
"Why do you say that?"
"1. Indian healthcare costs are certainly lower than in the U.S. That's because you shell out maybe 1000$ and that's about 50,000 Rs. in Indian money. Same emergency will cost you a few hundred dollars lesser. And by the way, the countries that have cheapest healthcare are Canada and France. They treat people for free.
2. The description of the video reads "...insulting an ally" India is not an ally to the U.S or to any other country in the world. "

"Pakistan?"

"There would have been no Pakistan and no place for Osama Bin Laden to hide and no terrorists, had only we been allowed to take them out completely and had only developed nations such as yourselves stopped supplying arms to a country run by terrorists. It's a well known fact and no one can refute the fact that America supplied and still does supply arms and intelligence to Pakistan, while Indian brains come here to study, settle down, pay taxes which go towards funding yet another weapons research technology which will protect American lives. Two faced."

I could see this conversation meandering to a sort of an opening gambit of a blame game, when I decided to leave before she could ask another question. I left soon after that reply. Just told her I had to go somewhere and I left. I knew that I had made her think. I knew she would get back at me sometime when she had a chance, when she had done her extensive research. I am waiting for that day, when she can ask me a question and I can answer it with disdain saying that "Guess who's the world's superpower now?"