The Balding Buddha

First Thoughts - 2012

2012-01-06T19:08:00.002Z

Ola people! Hope everyone had a fantastic new years eve and a grand welcome into 2012. Happy New Year from the bottom of my heart, wish it turns out to be as special as it possibly could be. And I hope a few have already started ruing over their new year resolutions, if not broken them once or twice already. Just a real quick update on life and an extremely interesting incident which has been occupying a good enough space inside my head. Life is quite dull again since work has already kicked off. Exams on the 9th and 13th with a possible resource exam to be taken for Transport Economics and a project due on the 18th, which is evidence enough for the word "dull " being tagged along with life. It isn't really that I hate doing this, but there is really nothing else and thus life is quite predictable until the 19th. A bit of travel is also on the plans after the 19th since I have like 4 days before the next semester begins, though not sure how much of that is going to materialize. Now to the incident.

So I had a visitor on New Years eve. Nobody else was in the apartment and I opened the door when the bell rang. A Portuguese lady was standing outside - neatly dressed, posh, in her 40's if not older. The conversation started in Portuguese, but soon turned to English when she figured out that her English was way better than my Portuguese. And she told me that she was the daughter-in-law of my neighbour, a lady in her 70's. To talk more about my neighbour, she is Ana Maria, 75+ , rich with two houses in Lisbon alone, knows 6 languages including English (which is way too impressive for a European), quite a rare visitor to our place, largely peaceful and nice. She was working in the Portuguese department of transportation during her hay days, so we found a lot of things in common for a conversation to sprout up. Besides her career, she is vastly read, knows a lot about world culture and history and is very interesting to talk to, something which is very rare nowadays as far as I am concerned.

So yeah, the daughter-in-law. She is accompanied by another lady who is Ana Maria's sister, asks for Ana Maria who hasn't been in touch with them for almost 3 weeks now and they are worried. So they came by to check on her. Soon we realize she is not present at home as nobody answers the door. Realizing that she has a key to this apartment, she opens the apartment to check for her. Its all very dark inside, so she asks me if I can come in too. I say yes and we go in. This apartment is a 6 room, old school place, large with a long alley and rooms on either side. Surprisingly, there is no power inside the apartment. We try the different switches and realize the power supply has been disconnected. And that's when things start getting weird. I get a torchlight from my apartment and we go in. Its pitch dark and as soon as we reach the living room, its a scene of distress. Papers, books, flyers, clothes, unwashed plates, cutlery are all strewn around. I nearly pierce a fork onto my leg since it was lying on the ground in the dark, largely unnoticeable. And it was hard to imagine that someone lived here, amidst all the confusion that was called this apartment. The six other rooms resembled a similar picture and after seeing all this, I didn't really have the courage to check the kitchen or the rest rooms. The daughter-in-law was being way too normal throughout this time and I was inching to ask her about her reaction.

So when we came out of the ghost house, I invited them to my apartment and asked her about her reaction on seeing the apartment all messy and weird. To which she replied, "Maria used to be such a task master lady until her 60's until Miguel (her husband ) was around. After his demise, she lost all interest in life. She did not understand why she had to tidy up the place, and for whom, since no one ever visited her anymore. More so, since she didn't want them to." To see the condition of such a well learned lady, in her 70's reaching a stage where she didn't appreciate living life anymore was a hard thing to digest. She was very wealthy, but still lived the life of a gypsy. Why did she have to live life anymore if this was so meaningless for her? And that was the hard reality of life, that even a lot of money could not bring any happiness into her life. That's because the essence of life is not entirely dependent on material things, though it does play only a small role in making it better. People run so much behind material comfort that they forget to live life in between. I have a professor at Tecnico whose story is equally interesting, though that is a story for another day. Though for the sake of debate, if I ever had to encounter that stage in life that Ana Maria was going through, I would just renounce myself from this world and move away. I am sure we all have different takes on it though.

Nevertheless a strange new year realization indeed.

The Sabbatical

2011-12-29T20:44:00.000Z

The First Part

Needless to say, I loved my sabbatical from everything and everyone. Few days in a year to live for yourself is no mean thing. And considering the relief from the vagaries of the grueling fall semester, it was something I could really afford now, even if I questioned myself a hundred times on this regard. No contact with the outer world was a well sought after desire, especially after I mentioned about it here and I am glad that came about in its very own measure. And that meant staying out of social media, loved ones, friends and even the confines of my apartment. All the windows and vents for natural lighting sealed, the soul and the body were ready to go in for a cleansing and I did not wish for any kind of intrusion into it. On the quest to clean up the systems, bring out a fresh zeal for life and more importantly, a re-energized self.

The Second Part

It was half past 11 in the morning. I had woken up late , much to the chill for the sheer joy of it. I switched on the computer and all the networks got connected and I saw her online. She is 15 - a growing girl in her teens, trapped at an age where children generally find it hard confiding matters of their heart to their parents. Or as mothers say, "The age where I lost my baby and she went on to being a completely different girl." Few minutes into our conversation, I could sense that she was a tad disturbed. Like she was hiding something and wanted to shout it out to the whole world. Her little fingers were seen grasping for the right words, something extremely unusual with her. I knew I had to do it for her sake, for I was aware of it since eternity. After all, she was my little baby and for once, was really looking up to me for help without really saying it out loud. Sensing the urgency on her face, I decided to kill her misery right away. Closed my eyes for a bit, and then went ahead and told her what I had gathered of the situation and my reflections on the same. The kind of reassurance that someone needs when they are faced with decisions in life - holding them to your side, with a promise of being there forever and ever and ever. The ice-breaker that it had turned out to be, worked wonders and lit up her eyes. And that little expression of relief and reassurance on her face at the end - priceless.

The Other Side

I had got misled into doing something, which was clearly not a thing of my ilk. For once, the guilt was so profound that forgiving self and moving on was just not an option anymore. The repercussions haunt me, even as I write this piece. But I am aware that life has to go ahead and not stagnate in the memories of the past. I needed the courage to stand up to life and face it as it comes to me.

:: Spotlight ::

2011-12-13T10:26:00.002Z

I am somehow able to remember the dreams that I experience. I am afraid I might be alone in this world when I come to say that, but I do. Not that I remember them long enough to be etched into history, but long enough to write about what I saw early into the morning today (7 am). And strangely enough, the connect well into what lies ahead in life. Not that all my dreams comply to Freud's* theory of wish fulfillment or is it influenced by events in the "day residue" but they serve as some sort of a connect to the future.So, I had a rather interesting dream today.

Time has gone ahead and I have gone grey. I am still alone, quite predictable seeing the current trend. The place that I am in, is not very well defined. But I know seeing the people around me that I am in India. The sun hasn't risen very prominently, but is nestled amongst the clouds. Its drizzling a wee bit too. The air has a fragrance of burnt/half burnt human flesh. The town has succumbed to a growing epidemic/phenomenon and very few people (mostly women and a very few men) have lived through it. And those who are alive are enclosed in a casing, transparent, which I think is made of glass.

The scene outside is grim. Women are seen wailing their hearts out at the sight of their dead partners, children amongst others. They are covered by a coating of ice, so that they can sit near their departed loved ones. Maybe it is a means of prevention of the spread of the epidemic. Some of them are doing the last rites of their loved ones, something which has never happened before in India. The graves have filled out and overflowing. And the roads are soon filling up as make shift graveyards.

It ended right there and I woke up to a start. Strange as it felt waking up to it, maybe the world is set to reach this stage 200-300 years from now. Have you, the reader experienced such notions about life ahead through the dreams you see? If yes, I would like to hear more on that.

* Sigmund Freud - Austrian Neurologist, father of modern psychoanalysis. Author of the book, "The Interpretation of Dreams". The book is highly recommended for those who haven't come across it.

The price is 35 Euros

2011-12-10T12:15:00.001Z

Its almost 11 in the night as I leave Tecnico, for home. After a hard day - fighting deadlines, seeing UNITED lose and bow out of the Champions League, braving the cold (which is rather unusual for me, since I am from Chennai) I walk back, mind flooded with thoughts of the work pending. And of the life that I am living here.

As I descend the flight of steps, I see her standing near the parking lot on the opposite side. I slow down my pace to observe her. She is tall, well dressed and extremely beautiful for a Portuguese woman. A few cars slow down seeing her on the side of the road - some of them slow down, have a conversation with her and go away while a few others look at her and just speed up. Probably they did not like the "package". Less than 5 minutes and there were already half a dozen cars stopping by her and they go through this routine.

And just when I give up on it and start walking, comes another car. I could see two men inside, mid 30's. They have a little conversation with her. And yes, the deal is signed. She gets into the car which speeds away, out of my horizon. And I walk back home, the lady in the back of mind, and of the people who seek warmth in her in the chill of Lisbon.

On Birthdays, their relevance and the common sentiment associated with them

2011-12-05T17:10:00.001Z

I recently came across this message on one of my women friend's wall on Facebook

It read something like this:

Never thought that I would have so many surprises lined up for my birthday which I thought would be otherwise low-key. Thanks everyone for everything. I am glad you are with me, my precious!!! :)) :D.

And it somehow got me thinking on the relevance of birthdays among the two sexes and the common sentiment associated with it. Girls, as far as I know never have celebrated a "low-key birthday". Yet, the reference for a low key birthday is obvious even when they themselves know it has never ever happened to them. Guys, on the other hand stand a very good prospect of celebrating a low-key birthday. Many instances would come to my mind in substantiating my stand on this.

When you are single (either by choice or chance) or stood up in life, there is a good enough possibility of it going low key coz nobody really cares apart from yourself. On the other hand, even if you are in a "thing" (as is the trend nowadays), you might still have a girlfriend who wouldn't remember the dates (I myself had a couple of those) and would blame you (the guy) for the mishap that was called your birthday. But then, they are women so we men don't make it such a big issue and tend to forgive. Imagine if you had swapped roles and forgot your girlfriend's birthday, you can be rest assure the marching orders would be ready soon enough. :)There comes the aspect of relevance. I cant think of many men who would think of their birthdays being the most important days of their life. But on the other hand, its quite natural for women to feel so.

Coming to the common sentiment associated part, I found something amazing in this part of the world. The common sentiment associated with your birthday here is in loose terms, "something of a pure joy of growing old and having accomplished a milestone in life". This is actually the most common sentiment on a global scale, and you end up spending a fortune to let the world know that you are growing old. This is quite a contradiction to someone like me (I am always in the minority) who thinks that birthdays are just one more way of god telling you that you have one year less to the grave. Thus I never understood the whole concept of celebrating it ever since I was 18, I think. I still am unsure which of the versions is the right one, but continue to go about mine for the sake of convenience and comfort.

How do you, the reader view your birthday?

BRT Transmilenio : Bogota, Colombia

2011-12-01T20:29:00.001Z

Bogota, the capital of Colombia is home to the pioneer of Bus Rapid Transit with the BRT Transmilenio. Handling about 1000 buses in the peak hour with real time dynamic scheduling, average speeds in the range of 28-40 kmph, a whole lot of innovative inter-modal transportation features. And that is not it. Watch the video to know how Transmilenio has changed the realms of Mass Transit in Latin America and possibly the world.

Into the Wild (2007)

2011-11-28T09:33:00.001Z

The real life story of an American hitchhiker, Christopher John McCandless brought onto the silver screen by Sean Penn. A guy who gives up everything and everyone in life to live for self, in a land devoid of fellow human habitation.

And just when I thought this was a one-off thing - of people going off on a trail to live life in the wild, I was wrong again. This came a surprise when I read the prelude, before I got into watching the movie. And 2 hours and some well needed wisdom later, I think I have the answers for the phenomenon. This could be seen as the western adaptation of Sanyasa. Though not an alien concept to India, the movie is still an eye opener for it makes you think deep and delve into the intricacies of our existence. Indeed a very good watch. And I hear the book is equally good too, though the lack of quality time to be devoted to reading makes me take the shortcut. [4/5]

Happiness is never real, unless shared

- Christopher John McCandless

You might also want to read about these people too:

Carl McCunn (1946 – 1981) was an American wildlife photographer who became stranded in the Alaskan wilderness and eventually committed suicide when he ran out of supplies.
Everett Ruess (March 28, 1914 – 1934?) was a young artist, poet and writer who explored nature including the High Sierra, California Coast and the deserts of the American southwest, invariably alone. His fate while traveling though a remote area of Utah has been a mystery for many years.
Richard Louis "Dick" Proenneke (May 4, 1916–April 20, 2003) was a naturalist who lived alone in the high mountains of Alaska at a place called Twin Lakes. Living in a log cabin he constructed by hand, Proenneke made valuable recordings of both meteorological and natural data.

There are indeed guys with the same thought process | A reply to the young Indian woman

2011-11-24T01:14:00.001Z

A couple of days back, I read this post on the Indian Homemaker's blog where a girl had written to IHM with her queries about life, something which I thought was indeed very genuine. It goes like this:

An email from a young Indian woman who has seen her parents respect each other as equal partners.
I wanted to share an incidence with you and also what it means in the future, for young Indian women (and men). However, at the outset I would like to clear out something since it features my late maternal grandmother prominently. I loved her immensely and she did too. I know I was destined to spend time with her just a month before her demise, because she genuinely wanted to meet me.
My father since childhood always stressed that girls and boys are equal, each are unique and there are no grounds for differentiation between them. That’s why I have grown up questioning the status quo.
My mother ( C ), including her are 3 sisters ( A, B, C ) and two brothers( D, E ), in order of their ages. Now my B mashi got married before my mother, and within a year she had a daughter. A year later my mother had me. And my nani cried when she heard it, because “Ek aur beti” (’0ne more girl child’). I learnt about this fact as a kid, and it hit me hard because honestly my nani loved me. When I went over to her place...........

Read the full letter here.

It was a very genuine thought that had crossed the mind of the young Indian woman in the letter. Born into a family which treated her as equals (the best thing is that she fought for it, whenever she felt she had got a bad deal [*respect*] ) with a person of the opposite sex (which by the way is not very common in my part of the world), she was afraid whether she would find a guy who would treat her in the very same way, meaning sharing the same thought process as her. This reply to her, is in many ways the sentiment echoed by the average Indian man who would be very much willing to treat his woman in the same equal terms as himself, thus sharing the same thought process (I know there aren't many, but still ).

Dear woman in the letter,

First up, thanks for bringing up this dilemma of yours into the forefront. You have echoed the sentiments of a very many number of women in this country, who have probably thought of this aspect at some point in life. As someone from the opposite sex who is a believer in equality and equal opportunities, I would like to tell you that there is indeed hope for people like us.

Though I must confess that I do represent only a minority of men who would want his woman to be treated equally well as he is. But then the fact remains that if you are patient enough and have the mind to stick by what you think is right for you, there is a good possibility that you will end up finding Mr.Right. It might mean having to deal with the pesky neighbors, nosey aunts among others, who might end up branding you as being "demanding and choosy", but don't you think life is worth the wait for the right man?

Having given you the bright side, I got to tell you one more aspect of it, namely the alternate view. The predicament that we are in, you might also be well advised not to keep your hopes very high on this. And I have my own reasons for saying this. I represent the opposite sex which has been accused of not living upto the expectations of the womenfolk in all universe (the converse is also a very well debated topic, but for many different reasons mostly). I do not have any explanations in my defence as to why many of my women friends who have recently been married, ended up coming out of it because they felt that the guy they got married to, was so much different from the guy who was in love with them a couple of years before they ended up in wedlock. Reasons, which I am not really proud of.

On the being single debate and its viability, ending up being single for the rest of your life is better than being married to the wrong person. If you thought that the fear of getting married to the wrong person was just a woman thing, you might be surprised to know that you are wrong. Again it comes to being a minority but then, there are men in this country who have the same fears as you have echoed here. And some of them have succumbed to the pressures and ended up with the wrong person, only either to struggle through the ordeal without any positives or to come out of the relationship, bruised and battered, with what was a horrible past.

Lastly, I just want to say one thing. I, for one, believe that I will never end up being with someone who is not even remotely compatible with me. I am seeing someone even now (someone I know for like 8 years, been in an in and out thing for like the last 2 and the like) as I write this letter, but it remains to be seen if she will end up being a part of my life. And that's the thing about being of the same thought process (not gender equality as in your case but then, that should be a story for another day) and the fact that I will only listen to what my mind says about this and none else. So as you can see, it ain't any piece of cake, but it is definitely worth the try. Because we have only one life and its always a comforting feeling to realize when you are old, that you have lived life thus far in your own terms rather than succumbing to the pressures of the people around you. I don't know if I made things easier for you with this letter, but then you are not alone if that makes you feel any better.

Yours Sincerely,
The-minority-indian-man-who-is-a-preacher-of-equality-and-equal-opportunities.

On Administrative Procedures and Formalities

2011-11-17T13:20:00.001Z

Its amazing how things pertaining to administration work in Portugal. Atleast when you are coming from India where the smallest of things take a week to be a reality. Today, I had an appointment at the Portuguese Ministry of Justice complex, which houses the Department of Criminal Justice (Registo Criminal). I needed to visit the Campus de Justica for obtaining a certificate which would state that I had no criminal record liable to conviction in Portugal, one of the prerequisites for a residence permit in the EU.

And as soon as I reached the justice campus, it weirdly resembled the typical IT parks that are beefing up the landscape in India. The buildings were posh, lush greenery, super awesome shades and all that you normally associate with a software park these days. And we entered the building and got into the counters in 5 minutes. The lady at the counter asked me for my visa, she entered the details to check into the database and voila, it was over!! She gave me a certificate in less than 5 minutes.

And, I fondly remembered how I went up to the Shaastri Bhavan, Madras not once, but twice for the same job and it took me 5 hours in the queue plus a further two weeks for the correspondence of the police certificate.

And far too many typos in the current article means I need to catch up with sleep. And that will follow the legendary Moshe Ben Akiwa on video conference from Boston, which should start in an hour.

Guangzhou, China: "Winning the future" with BRT

2011-11-14T19:44:00.001Z

In the first in a series of many-to-come reviews on Sustainable Transport, here is the story of Guangzhou, China. Guangzhou - for those who don't know or haven't yet heard of it, is the main city in the fastest growing economy, in the fastest growing province of the fastest growing country in this world for the last 30 years.And much of its success is due to its rapid strides in the field of sustainable urban transportation. So much so, that Guangzhou is the winner of the Sustainable Transport Award of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) for the year 2011.

The video below shares the success story of the Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit project, one of the largest bus rapid transit systems in Asia. It also explains why the Guangzhou BRT is where it stands right now, at the top of the world in an effort towards sustainable transport and "winning the future". India and also the many other developing countries, who are pinning on the Bus Rapid Transit for an answer towards sustainable transport needs to study the Guangzhou model in detail.

The Santhosh Pandit Effect

2011-11-09T20:39:00.003Z

If you thought that I meant to put in a kind of a comparative analysis to the very well known Raman effect, I believe I caught you wrong fair and square.

Santhosh Pandit, for those who don't know of him as yet, is the man who brought the malayalam cinema industry to the cleaners recently, when his movie 'Krishnanum Radhayum' , an absolute shit of a movie got a rousing opening at the cinemas and was declared a super hit at the box office. It was a movie made of a shoe string budget of INR 5 lakhs with a 105 strong cast. Santhosh himself handled 18 departments in the making of his movie including story, screenplay, dialogues, direction, production and cinematography. The most stunning aspect of this man however, was his brilliant marketing strategy which I think could be a subject for the management students and gurus to ponder upon. Under this strategy, he played some sort of a reverse psychology on the malayali audience. In order to do this, he released an album which largely included the songs from the movie and it got viral on YouTube in no time.

It got viral not because it was too good to be one, but that it was nothing short of being called a pathetic attempt to make a song. I mean, there was no striking aspect, but a sheer sense of pain and anguish for the viewer on seeing his gimmicks on display. So much so that those videos brought about a sharp negative response from the viewers as was evident from the comments on the video thread, which I am unable to share with you primarily for this being a family place. More and more people got to watch his clips on YouTube just to have a good laugh and fill up the existing and ever-so-active comment thread with rather ornamental expletives. But then, his marketing strategy was realized since he had achieved his target of generating traffic onto his albums on YouTube. Interestingly enough, he is the second most searched keyword on Google after 'Facebook' (Google Trends, November 1 2011), an obvious consequence of the impact that he created.

And then at the right moment, he clawed onto the malayali audience like how the tiger does to its prey, when he announced that his movie was awaiting release and that it would hit the theatres anytime soon. The already enraged audience wanted to see how much worse his movie would fare, since everyone was aware of the man and his capabilities by now. And thus spake, the story of this man who released his movie and people barged into the theatres just to come out with more and more ornamental expletives. But then, he had achieved what I personally thought was next to impossible. And that was to make the otherwise choosy and miserly malayali to spend his 50 bucks on a movie which has to go down as one of the worst ever attempts to make a movie in the history of all cinema and transform it onto one which opened to full houses and collected almost 10 times the production cost within the opening week.

And it doesn't end there. Today, he is all over the news - openly challenging all the movie makers to replicate his success model, which he is sure will not be achievable - primarily because of the financial aspects prevailing into making a "normal" movie. And thus Malayalam cinema, which was until not-so-long-ago, one of the best industries of cinema in India in terms of good subjects, good performers and refreshing themes is being dictated by a man who probably has to go down as one among the worst in its very history. Personally as one of the greatest admirers of the movies that are made in this part of the world, its sad to see what kind of movies get released into the theatres these days. On a positive note for Santhosh Pandit, he could only be looked upon as a warning for the impending state of affairs for malayalam cinema, if things are not put to order soon enough.

The 400th tenet...

2011-11-08T22:28:00.001Z

No better way to ~~celebrate~~ commemorate number 400 than an ode to myself. From being the very naive, innocent kid who got into the world of blogging by mistake in 2007 (thanks to Meenakshi Madhavan and her story) to being the Balding Buddha by the end of the year 2011 makes for nothing short of phenomenal journey, I should say. I have none to say gratitude to, but god and myself. When the going has been tough, I have always been alone, fighting. And when things have been well, you know what happens.

But then, I got no plans to celebrate. Coz I ain't stopping any soon and I feel celebrations are a way to stop and look back. And in reality, there is no time to look back for if you do, you lose track of whats ahead and get stuck in the present.

Cheers!!!!

One Year on, Still No Government

2011-11-07T14:52:00.001Z

A country with no form of governance isn't something impossible as I realized yesterday. Apologies if this news comes as being a thing of the past, but Belgium entered into a record of sorts after being government-less since June 2010. After a series of political disagreements, it was decided that there wouldn't be any form of governance at the national level. No important decisions are made, all of the administration had been handed over to regional or municipal administrators long ago itself.

And that's not the best part. The Belgian economy improved in this period than in the same period previous year. The Unemployment rate is at 8.5%, lesser than the European Union average of 9.4%. And that's just the start of the many things that hit the green without a stable government. Brilliant, isn't it?

Don't believe me? Read these:

Belgium: 450 Days after Election, still No Government | Huffington Post
2010-2011 Belgian Government Formation | Wikipedia
Belgium: One year on, Still No Government | CNBC

Anyway, for a country which is as big as Kerala, all this might work out well. I didn't mean to generalize when I put this up, you know. Even though we have a shit of a government ruling over us.

Sole to Soul - A Spectacle of Kathak

2011-11-06T13:30:00.000Z

I was fortunate to be one among the rasikas (spectators/audience) of Sole to Soul, a spectacle of the Indian classical dance form Kathak performed by Lajja Sambhavnath and her disciples at the Museu de Oreiente yesterday evening. Kathak, as you all might know is a Northern Indian classical dance form which conveys a lot of stories through the form of dance. It is derived from the Sanskrit word Katha meaning story.

The rasikas for yesterdays show were largely a group of partisan Europeans who seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed the performances on stage. Paulo Sousa was on the sitar while Raimund Engelhart was on the tabla.

If you are on Facebook,this is the link to the video. Enjoy.

The Weatherman Kronicles

2011-11-01T18:49:00.000Z

I am just amazed at how the climatic patterns shift in the span of a few days here. The day I arrived here, September 3rd, the sun set at 2047 local time, which was a first in my life. And the mornings were adequately warm in the late 20's and early 30's (which is quite warm enough to get people to complain in this part of the world). And in a couple of weeks, it slowly dipped enough to feel good again before it rose into the mid 30's for the hottest days in the year making people say, "What we are seeing now should have been August and not October!!!"

1930, September 14 2011. Venue of the Benfica - Man U match.

And just a week after that, there came the first rains and the temperatures dipped a further 10 degrees in the span of 36 hours and people were beginning to take out their thermal wears. It hovers around 18-19 in the morning to drop down to 11-12 by night, largely cloudy and windy. Late sunrises have become a part of life compared to Madras where the latest the sun would rise was at 0615.

Late sunrises. 0730, Mid October. View from my window.

View from my balcony at 1430, the first rains.

And today was a new personal record when the sun set at 1738 and it was pitch dark by 1755.

City of God (2011)

2011-10-28T00:16:00.001+01:00

Mafia and Kochi have an instant connect with the average malayali. And so is the life of the migrant tamizhan in Kerala. And when you have a colossal movie of the same name set in Rio de Janeiro, you just got to get your act together. And City of God doesn't disappoint you. Prithviraj is a serious contender for being numer uno and he proves it yet again. Notwithstanding the raw theme, I love almost everything about this movie - even the villain. Cocktail, Chaappa Kurish and this one down, the newly found experimental mode of movie making in malayalam cinema is on the rise.

Now Playing:

2011-10-27T15:19:00.004+01:00

Outcast Vocals 2 and Neha Nair (performing in the video clips below) work like magic for me. Just when I know things are not going the right way, I play this clip and by the end of the 8 minutes of the song, I know I am back to being my usual self. Her forte is in improvising the old malayalam and tamil classics to suit the listeners of the modern day. Its light and breezy with minimal orchestra.And when you have an electrifying voice backing up the song, the power of her music becomes indeed amazing. So much so that after my recommendation, my marathi friend got head over heels for her music and is a proud devotee! :P Now that I have effectively managed to sell you her brand of music, enjoy the clips. :)

The all new Facebook Block feature

2011-10-27T08:24:00.002+01:00

The all new Facebook block feature has taken it to a very literal level. You block someone on Facebook after you unfriend them and then you realize that you are not even left with the traces of them on your feed. The access to their profile is blocked, their comments on a common thread don't appear on your feed and ~~you cannot reverse the blocking action~~ (well you could if you were a pussy ofcourse). Awesome!

In other news, the winter is taking its effect in this part of the world with low to very low intensity intermittent rains. And I am slowly getting into the comforts of my fur coated winter wears now.

On the M.Tech Vs MS debate

2011-10-26T10:20:00.003+01:00

Its almost 2 months in Lisbon and life has undergone a shift of sorts in this time frame. The course work is getting more demanding by the day and it requires much of my focus on a more regular basis. The old days of sailing through the coursework (during the bachelors) is a thing of the past. Though I must admit I am liking the way the academics go about in this part of the globe. Rot learning, as was prevalent in India no longer exists. And there is a distinct relationship between theoretical study and its application in the real space.

Sure it demands more work but I think this works well if you are the kind who detests unreasonable and irrelevant intake of information, much of which becomes useless for the best part of your life ahead. What you get with a master is more of an optimized , no-nonsense holistic approach towards learning. I am not trying to look down on the Indian system of Post graduate education, but I feel this is what works best for me.

Hell: The last door, on your left

2011-10-22T16:09:00.000+01:00

I am absolutely in love with the fact that this world and the people inhabiting it are failing to recognize the pit falls that are coming out, slowly yet surely into the open. Its like everyone is hallucinating and their minds have been switched off. The India Against Corruption movement got plagued with corruption allegations, chappals and sandals were thrown at the patrons, people started walking out fearing the political turn of events in the IAC and the movement just fizzed out, the very same way as it sprouted up.

And that is not it. Gaddafi died and the Libyans started to celebrate. America said it is a historic day and the rest of the world nodded their heads in agreement. The promise for an alternate leadership in Libya sounded optimistic at the beginning, but nobody, not even America says a thing about the patch work that has to be done to bring up the republic, which was plentiful of riches not-so-long ago.

And then there are these people who are making all the noises in the vicinity. Some are getting married, some are trying to get laid, some are coming out of a bad marriage, some are breaking up, some are waging internal wars and conflicts, some are just trying to look cool and a few others are playing the middle men. And I especially despise these middle men. For they are putting one leg on each boat, not knowing where it is taking them to. Trying to be genuine and being genuine are two different things. Yet, they think the honeymoon shall last forever.

Screw it!!!

Living life by its merit

2011-10-18T22:19:00.001+01:00

I really wish to live long. Faced with this question, I remember having stuck onto this view for as long as I can remember. I want to travel far and wide, explore the world and its people, live a normal life, imbibe a lot of cultures, learn a few languages - something like a global citizen. And in the fag end, come down to Kerala and grow old. Although I am aware that death is not something you could really wish to have a control on, I would still not change my opinion on the same.

But having said that, probably the only deviation would be the awareness of the imminent tragedy striking any moment. Yes, I live with the fear and the really bad possibility of not living to see the next sunrise. For, the desires for a long life are merely desires - idealizations that I wish turned true. Being aware of this fact, I have always realized that its best to live everyday as your last day. And I was happy to know that Steve

Jobs thought of it the same way too, though the majority of us got to know about it post his death.

I might not be doing the best things in this process of living in anticipation since I have modeled them on my preferences and likes rather than what is hip and happening. I have abstained from drinking alcohol (even after coming here, where beer is cheaper than water) neither do I smoke/do drugs, one of the reasons for which could be this kind of a thought process. You might tell me to go out, explore the world and more importantly to have a life, but I like it this way. Things I love as of today (Neha Nair and Outcast Vocals, a few people in my chat lists, family, sports and a few sitcoms & movies here n there) are very few and much of the day is a repetition of the previous.

But, trust me!!! Life is so different when you live each day as your last day.

2011-10-10T09:51:00.004+01:00

~ Working 18 hour shifts over the weekend is no excuse to sound stupid and silly ~

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.

2011-10-09T11:23:00.003+01:00

Well.. I wrote a whole list of things that I have been doing this past week. It was more like a description of how much different Saturday nights meant to me right now, thanks to the MIT Program and the vagaries of the same - rather depressing account for us all. But then, I realize that I love myself so much to let me down thinking this way. I am drowned with work, most times its overwhelming. I run on deadlines but I am learning a lot. I live out of the memo' and notes on the mobile phone to keep myself organized. I live on breads for the best part of the week (and I couldn't eat them any bit back home). Every cent goes down into the account books (maybe its because its almost equivalent to 6.4 INR) unlike times in India where I have never lived out of a budget, to be honest.I work on Sundays too reaching home by dinner time, but I have the company of some awesome people at the Tecnico. And despite being hard pressed for time, I think Facebook is a brilliant stress buster and I love it.

So even though life is a bad bitch right now, I have learnt to love her! Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.

On Greece, Serbia and the European gibberish

2011-10-05T09:32:00.000+01:00

The most trending topics of discussion in europe or among europeans seem to be the erstwhile Yugoslavian era and/or the crisis in Greece. Its strange to realize that however nice the europeans are towards you, there is an infinitesimally small element in them, which loves to see you in misery and agony by remembering to bring up these two topics in any discussion. Maybe it is unintentional, but it indeed manages to come out of the bushes, and into the open 9 out of 10 times. So if you are either from the Balkans or Greece, you turn into a story teller by default because your tales are much in demand all over continental europe.

The decision of Yugoslavia to back out of NATO, the break up and their impacts, the crisis in Greece, the impact of the EU on these two nations, inflation, petty politics,the umpteen number of strikes that take place in Greece and the jokes that come out of it all seem to be the trend of the modern day. And I must admit, the victims in this case have amazing amazing patience to deal with these questions, some of which are really provocative. And I hate the fact that everyone look down upon them in pity. That is like the most common under tone of these conversations. The way they have hung on, especially the balkan region after the half dozen wars with almost everyone in the planet itself make for an amazing tail piece into the mettle of the people living there. I have heard the stories atleast half a dozen times by now that I can tell you with conviction, what really happened in these two nations.

But people around never get bored of the Serbs or the Greeks. Portugal is going the Greece way too, are they even bothered?

The Weight of Chains

2011-10-03T12:02:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I saw The Weight of Chains - a brutally honest documentary tale of the ethnic cleansing in the erstwhile Yugoslavia tied amidst the vested interests of the western world and its after effects on the region. It may have been just the Balkan perspective which was projected, but nevertheless opened my eyes into never forayed depths of the role of America and Germany in their quest for world dominance. Also accounted for were the lives of the ever-so-greedy Franjo and the people's man Slobo who finally left them high and dry in almost unavoidable circumstances and their predecessors. Highly Recommended!

2011-09-29T21:19:00.003+01:00

I used to be indecisive, but now I am not so sure.
- Boscoe Pertwee

This thing called Love

2011-09-29T01:10:00.003+01:00

The story of one particular four lettered word which has captured all life forms alike (No, I am not talking about the F-word here, but then which could also fit the bill if you think) is amazing. A few posts before this one, right here (read it if you haven't already)I had mentioned about one of my classmates in the programme, a comrade from Belgrade, Serbia.

So the tough talking, straightforward guy who has seen much of life thanks to the erstwhile Yugoslavian era always has a story or two to tell us. And almost all of them mostly end with, "fuck these Americans!" The ring masters that they have been have managed to tear apart the Balkans and much of the republic of erstwhile is slowly coming over the damage of war and bloodshed. Hearing his tales, one feels his hatred is justified in more ways than one.

So me and this man got talking about life apart from wars and political carnage. And as soon as the topic of relationships and love hit the forefront, he had a story there too. But unlike the others, where the narration is quite raw and unemotional laced with concern, he was a picture of emotion and it was showing up on his face black and blue.And then he went pink, when prodded further and our lunch served as a perfect occasion for another wonderful piece.

And when the tables turned, it was time for me to spill my side of the story. And what did I have to say? Nothing. And as is with the westerners, the curiosity to know why/why not was evident. Funny though I ended up telling a very cliched remark, but on an afterthought praised myself for my poise in handling it. For if you asked me, I sense the europeans are running on a shortage crisis when it comes to women. Everyone I have met till today are in a relationship from age 16-17, some with the same guy, some different (ranging from 2 to half a dozen in some cases). And that is when I understand the difference in mentality.

A country of billion would have several fish in the pond and so we can wait. Much to my surprise, he bought that counter quite well.

On the paneer & roti crave kronicles...

2011-09-18T20:56:00.000+01:00

Two weeks since and an utter craving for anything paneer and roti made us (myself and Mudit) scan around for Indian restaurants in the downtown. And as much as surprised as you are gonna be knowing this, we were also in for a shocker when we realized there were around 30-40 Indian places spread far and wide across Lisbon. Add Porto, Faro and the suburbs of Lisbon and we reach a figure touching 50. Quite Impressive!!! And we zeroed in on this place near the Rossio square - Restaurante Gandhi Palace.

An above average meal with paneer and chicken cost us around 26E. Needless to say, it was a relief though the spice content on them was abysmally low. And that's like a given considering the fact that this was Lisbon and not Delhi or Madras. Next on the agenda is to find a south Indian place. Dosa anywhere in Lisbon?? We are on it, people!!!! :D

Bairro Alto, No Thanks

2011-09-17T00:05:00.000+01:00

When almost 99.9% of the atleast half a lakh student population in Lisbon and much of the current generation have headed off to the bars and pubs spread across Bairro right now, here is one man, who is really old from within (as remarked by his rather concerned flatmate) churning out this post from scratch. Everyone is gone, the doors have opened all over and across Bairro Alto, the night life capital of Western Europe, if not continental Europe as such.

Discounted rates on drinks, happy hours, parties, beautiful women (& men of course) - there is everything there, enough to get a physically able person to run over and immerse yourself in the festivities. The best part is that its just not about Friday or the weekend, Bairro is alive 7 days a week, 365 days a year starting from 2330 and running well upto 0400 the next morning and in some cases, even 0530. And yours truly happens to be one of those very rarest of the rare people who still haven't got himself an ESN card which opens yourself into Bairro and the best part of nightlife and parties with heavy discounts and offers.

Even before people have got themselves settled in the flats, they are concerned whether the counters at the ESN office would shut down thus deeming it impossible to gift themselves an ESN card - such is the case. And for a moment, I thought it was just the "European" thing to head off for a dash at Bairro, at the slightest window of opportunity. And my Indian friend proved me wrong, so much so he probably thinks I came from an altogether different planet. People gave me a really concerned look when I told them about this and asked me to seek help (with the psychiatrist is what they had in mind, but they were nice enough to put it in milder words... :P )

Somehow I just do not feel like it. I have always despised crowds and gatherings, and this should pass off as an obvious counter to my traits. But then, I delved into this a whole deal and figured that most people go there just to have fun, and loosen up and unwind from the clutches of the grueling semester and work and life in general. I mean, that is the case with most people. And maybe its the fact that I am so in love with myself that I do not feel the need to go out into the crowd, and pay a few euros to unwind and relax. My relaxation would be fine with a few conversations with the people I love, some good music some good stuff to read and maybe catch up a good game on TV or live stream. This is not to endorse the fact that I might never head off to Bairro as long as I am here, but I would rather be a recluse than be claustrophobic and cringe inwardly at the sight of an exodus.

Now Playing: Etho Vaarmukilin, Neha Nair (Outcast Vocals 2) - been listening to this for the best part of the last two days.

2011-09-15T08:02:00.003+01:00

On the Madrasan girl, the Delhi Boy and the mad crowd running behind them....

2011-09-14T18:09:00.001+01:00

Madrasan girl has made life hell not only on twitter and her blog, but also on Facebook. As a result, my computer stands to get some well deserved rest now that people have woken up to this and started writing their own hate posts, mine included. I was part of this debate on television for Ragam on "How racists are we" and the verdict on that was quite obvious.

Even when India makers a hue and cry about the racist mentality that they have to deal in the states or in the UK, what we forget is to see whats happening inside this country.We are a country of norms, traditions and faiths, which range from every microcosm of activity that transpires all across this country. And when we see another person, who is from another part of India do things in a separate manner, this becomes an obvious event of confrontation. Its not because we start doubting our principles or ethics, its just this feeling of the growing insecurity from within at the sight of this total stranger who would go about his weird ways and in most ways, find you weird too.

I am very much an Indian - born and bred in the south of the country and I am no different from these people. I did have a few rogues from the north in my class, who were very much annoying if not anything worse, but then I am very sure I was nothing less than annoying for them too. And for the best part of life in college, I have made myself steer away from them for reasons that were purely personal coz I felt I was best being around with my people. And I am sure, everyone does that. A Maharashtrian would be most happy if he/she can spot a marathi more than anyone else, a gujju does the same, a bengali, a tamilian - EVERYONE does this.

Only when it is somebody who beings it up in the public domain, we have a tendency to trash it, call it racist, have a big bad debate wasting a lot of time over something, which we all know exists even within us. India is my country, all Indians are my brothers and sisters is only reserved for the national pledge, but the reality is far far different. I do not think, I am exactly in a flourishing brotherhood or sisterhood with someone who cannot take me the way I am and instead ridicules the fact that I eat with my hands or calls me a madrasi. I think of you in no less demeaning manner.

So let us not deny her, her right to express what she felt. She has put in a lot of thought into this, much of what she says will be echoed by the average south Indian. Maybe she got in acquaintance with the wrong set of people in Delhi, maybe she is a victim of extreme inferiority complex and frustration because she stands no chance against the women in the north in hitting it out with a guy up there, maybe some totally other reason too - but we all meet up with these jerks and invariably take off on things like this. So take it with a pinch of salt and move ahead, atleast she has managed to get us to think. Everyone is indeed welcome to set their records straight on this issue and that indeed is the way to go about it. And the Delhi boy' response I hear is equally good, but I do not prefer to read that and you know why.

2011-09-13T18:41:00.003+01:00

j0ethought:

Only in Kerala <3

The Belgrade Bomber

2011-09-13T08:04:00.002+01:00

When you live through adversity and come out in a single piece, life would have taught you a lot in the meanwhile. Families have been torn apart in the war, parents literally split between the war torn countries, People having multiple bases spread across the Balkans, uneasy calm prevailing between the Serbs and the Croats, the road adventures at the height of adversity and unease - all make up for amazing life experiences to listen to.

And then I realize... All the shit that I went through all this long was just nothing compared to my story teller classmate from Belgrade, Serbia - Andreaj. The best part is where he has a lot to share with the people from the outer world, as he calls it. And yet in these troubled times, he is a picture of poise and confidence which becomes quite infectious and lifts you up in a good way. And Novak Djokovic is no mug with the game anymore. His confidence is what drives him to reach almost impossible heights. And when you defeat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal hands down to win a major, it really is out of the world. And its just not Djoko, there is a whole entourage emerging to the top flight from the Balkans. The emergence of people from a war torn, war bruised environment which smells of blood, to go on and win over the world is quite amazing at a first thought, don't you think??

The world is watching you, Serbia.

2011-09-11T12:53:00.003+01:00

2011-09-11T12:52:00.003+01:00

inothernews:

Front page, New York Daily News, Sunday 11 September 2011.

(via the Newseum)

The Mallu Trail

2011-09-08T22:32:00.000+01:00

The trail to find an Indian, most importantly a malayali in Lisbon ended up nowhere, so to say. The feeling of having a rather bland affair with Onam this time around was almost unthinkable a week ago when I left home, but I have convinced myself to probably inhibit from the very fact. Not that I didn't go searching for one, infact I spent quite sometime of the day on the 5th doing this.

I did most things right too. For instance, I got down at Martim Moniz, a predominantly Afro-Asian belt in Lisbon I am told. I did walk around the place for clues, asked a few Chinese and they redirected me to this lady at the Indian store who quite candidly said she had not heard of Kerala. I did not leave it quite there, got myself to this Indian restaurant (very pricey menu) and he was kind enough to tell me that he indeed was in acquaintance with one family from Kerala. My hopes of an Onam celebration were bearing fruit much more than ever before. And I hopped my way onto this other street as directed by the restaurant friend.

On reaching there, I met this family, they looked quite Indian and when we got talking, I realised that they were descendants from the Mozambique. And thus ended the mallu trail.

Happy Onam to myself and all my mallu readers. This time around, I am quite alone in Lisbon. Though I still will make payasam and maybe head off to the temple on the other side of town (Atleast some mallus should be coming there!! )

Lisbon Times

2011-09-05T14:49:00.000+01:00

Okay.. so Lisbon finally happened. Quite in an uncharacteristic fashion, I braved through long delays and an unofficial overnight stay at London to finally reach Lisbon Portela Airport at 10 in the morning. Barring the delay, it was a pleasant flight. And when you get a free stay in a 160GBP room at the Ramada London Heathrow as a complimentary gesture from British Airways, you just do not complain. As simple as that.

Infact being an Indian, I ended up confirming it atleast half a dozen times before I checked in, just to make sure that is. :P So yes, Lisbon... Matia, my friend was here to welcome me and he took me to my place, not so far from the university. The city appears to be quite amazing on a first sight. My apartment is decent, flatmates are wonderful till now. There's Hugo (a Portuguese pharmacist ) and then there is Yolanda (a Spanish Erasmus student).

And we did indeed go out to explore the city a wee bit yesterday. And I must admit it was a very nice experience. Its the city of romance, art, a lot of history, nightlife and what not!!! Yeah, Great food too. University starts next week after induction, looking forward to that too.

Attached below are a few samples from yesterday' trip. Enjoy! :)

Marques de Pombal

Marques Pombal overlooking the sea.

Praco do Commercio

Castle Sao Jorge on the background.

Restauradores Metro

Av Marques Tomar

and thats home!!!

The Celebration of Life

2011-08-31T15:20:00.000+01:00

I like the way people in Madras deal with the loss of a loved one. As against the common norm of burying oneself in sorrow and gloom, they believe in giving the departed soul a grand send off.

The first time I landed here in '99, I was pretty aghast on seeing the scenes - of drum rolls, dancing, dappaankoothu and the merry amidst a couple of grieving inconsolable members of the family. On one such occasion, I went up and asked one of them this obvious query that was lingering in my mind for time immemorial, "Why celebrate death??". And that's when someone said that this was their way of showing gratitude for the departed soul - by celebrating their life and appreciating their time spent amidst family & friends.

And this sounded more like the memorial services of the west where they make sure, you celebrate the life, that was. Awesome, isn't it?

PS: Last post from Madras & India. Next stop: Lisbon, Portugal.

2011-08-29T13:34:00.003+01:00

sukhada:

The Eighth Wonder.

Ma'am, the Harry Potter movie ended 20 minutes ago. You have to leave the theatre.

2011-08-29T11:43:00.003+01:00

most-awkward-moments:

Click here if you’re awkward!

2011-08-27T01:42:00.003+01:00

The Dirty Picture

2011-08-26T17:56:00.003+01:00

Times of India reports:

Vidya Balan has never exposed as much - but in the first look of "The Dirty Picture", inspired by late southern sex icon Silk Smitha's life, she has painted a perfect picture in an itsy-bitsy red blouse matched with luscious red lipstick.

_________________________

Silk Smitha was quite a rage (a softcore goddess) as far as the south indian cinema industry was concerned, back in the 80's. Largely unnoticed among family audiences thanks to her ultra sensual appeal. And "Silk" as she was known to her fans, was some sort of a refreshing change from the rusty old Jayabharathi' and Unnimary' in this department. She died young - a tragic death, the reasons of which are still not clear.

Now when the ultimate symbol of desire descends down to play the ultimate object of desire, this is what I call a cinema lover' delight.

Amma illa, Summa!!!!

2011-08-25T17:05:00.000+01:00

On boarding an auto-rickshaw in Madras, the most common scent that you are witness to is the auto driver cribbing about how less he is being paid for this particular trip. Reasons are usually attributed to the rising "petrol" prices. The other day, I got the same quirk from a nice looking gentlemen and I asked if his auto ran on petrol or on diesel. And he never spoke for the remainder of the journey.

Something really vague happened today when we boarded the auto on Mount Road to head to Broadway for getting back home. This man, looked old, must have been in his 60's. He did not complain or brag on how less we were paying him and instead shot off into conversation mode, which is very unlikely unless you are in Kozhikkode or Palakkad in Kerala. To my knowledge they have the most talkative auto drivers who can speak anything from small talk to politics and the nuances of it.

So this man..., he started off in the usual political fashion lauding our "amma" for her decision to convert the secretariat-to-be into a multi-speciality hospital. To which I nodded in agreement. And then he went on to the metro rail project, whose construction has been going about in the recent past. He was critical of the fact that the authorities had taken away a part of the road, but he couldn't see any work being done on them. This was more like my zone for small talk and I told him that the construction had already commenced and it is an underground section along the Mount Road.

The lights went red and upon hearing my response, he instantly turned back, looked at me and said, " Are you crazy?? How can they run trains underground?? How will you reach the station? How will you board the train??" I thought it better to stick to my claim and told him that would be the case, atleast this time around. And I showed him one of those entry and exit ways proposed and he was startled. The poor man could not digest the fact that when so much of space was available above ground level, there we were, going below it. By now, the idea had sunk into his head and he went on to say that this was the first time he had heard of something similar and opined, "No one had ever thought that trains could be run underground also", in obvious reference to this master stroke of amma. "First the hospital, now the metro rail, WOW.."

Though the bubble of admiration was broken when I quite casually remarked that all these decisions are/were not made by her. There are always a panel of experts who work on these aspects to bring about a solution and that she, as the chief minister merely brings it out in the public. On hearing this, he retorted, "Apdi naa avanga amma illa saar, summa!!" (Then she is not amma sir, just another human being.), with a look of disgust and disbelief . He did not speak for the rest of the journey, lost in thoughts. In a matter of 10 minutes, his faith had gone for a toss. The auto meandered into Broadway and I bid goodbye to our man, who acknowledged the conversation with a smile, quite an unusual way to deboard an auto-rickshaw.

2011-08-25T13:37:00.003+01:00

Meera Jasmine!!!! :(

2011-08-25T13:36:00.003+01:00

sukhada:

The Master.Vintage.

One day tour match between Sussex and India at The County Ground on August 25, 2011 in Hove, England.

2011-08-25T13:10:00.003+01:00

We aren't a Banana Republic as yet...

2011-08-23T19:01:00.000+01:00

As has been the order of this day, half a dozen debates have raged on my own profile on Facebook branding me to be quite shallow in my thoughts, anti-national, traitor,anything and everything. Contrary to popular belief, I am neither Anti-Jan Lokpal neither am I being pro- government. But I certainly have reservations to the manner in which the so called civil society led by Anna Hazare has been working towards the anti-corruption drive.

India against Corruption, however contentious enough it may sound with regards to its funding sources is a great beginning on this regard. Though being a realist, I am of the opinion that trying to get a democratic setup under siege by hunger strikes and massive show of strengths is certainly not the way to make sure you have your say in it. The elected government setup however bad its performance has been, is elected through a democratic process of voting by the citizens of India. Precisely the reason why I feel, they are obligated enough to douse the fire and bring in a solution. We are not in favour of parallel- governments motivated by individuals, who dictate terms to the administrative and political setup how things are run in this country. Add to this, the rather aggressive tone in which the anti-corruption drive is taking place, one fears that the nation is on the brink of anarchy.

There are indeed strong repercussions that one is to witness, if the government makes yet another mistake as what transpired in the earlier cases of CWG,2G and Air India. As such, their days stand numbered.

Of Hunger Strikes and Fasts unto Death

2011-08-18T12:19:00.002+01:00

Cynical voices have been on the rise ever since Anna Hazare came about with his I-am-going-to-go-on-a-hunger-strike-drama, which somehow seems to have dwindling number of takers as the days pass by. What started as a fast-unto-death later got modified into an indefinite fast (I still do not understand the difference between the two) as was clarified by Kiran Bedi and he has kept almost all of his followers on the brink of suspense as to when he shall really be coming out of Tihar.

When all the conditions imposed by Team Anna were more or less agreed upon by the Delhi Police, one wonders why is there a delay on his part to go ahead with his plans, come out of Tihar and proceed to Ramlila grounds.My sentiments were echoed by a septuagenarian, Hema Raghvan on the Hindu and I sense she has a point here:

Read along:

[Source: The Hindu]

Dear Shri Anna Hazareji,I am a septuagenarian like you. Like you, I fight for principles and fight, following the Gandhian way of satyagraha. But you may not include me as a member of ‘civil society' as we differ in the means to be adopted to secure the ideal ends.Gandhiji never resorted to coercion to have his way. He never used fasting to blunt his opponent to accept his views and ideals. He never abused the British whose rule he fought against (except for one odd remark about a ‘gutter inspector'). But you call the Prime Minister a ‘liar' because he has accepted the Cabinet decision not to include the Prime Minister within the purview of the Lokpal.Dr. Singh is a team leader and does not impose his views on his Cabinet. This is functioning in the true spirit of democracy where the collective wisdom of the majority is respected as against one's own personal views. Did Gandhiji ever tell the British: “Come on, jail me,” when he went on fast. No, because he did not want to deny the British government its right to action. Aren't you whipping up mob hysteria and anger just because the government has not accepted six out of your 40 clauses? Do you mean to say that there can be only your thinking and there shall be no alternative? Your silence about the mining scam in Karnataka is baffling. But you choose to vent your righteous ire on the Prime Minister and his government!You say you are not against democracy but against the government. The government, elected by the people can be thrown out at the next hustings. This is democracy. If you are in favour of democracy, why are you against a democratically-elected government that is given a mandate of just five years to govern?You did a yeoman service, pushing the government to table the Lokpal Bill in this monsoon session. But you cannot say that ‘it should be my team's version and nothing else.' You want to bring all three main pillars of democracy — the legislative, the executive and the judiciary — under the jurisdiction of the Lokpal to function as an effective single pillar for deciding on crime and punishment. The dance of democracy unleashed by you and your team has every danger of destroying our democracy.(The writer's email is: hema.vr@hotmail.com)

The Zillionth "Hello World" Post

2011-08-15T18:07:00.000+01:00

People who know me decently well enough would take this as one another of those Hello World posts that I frequently churn out. I do not blame them at all. This is something that is done every time I start something NEW on the internet.

What ended as an abrupt knee jerk reaction to start running away has come a full circle I should say. A stint on Wordpress, Jhoomla and Tumblr was soul stirring to say the least. Though the latter is the only one standing now, there is a sense of a home-coming and it is doubly satisfying to be standing upon your own shoes thanks to a personal domain.

If in any case, you follow this blog and fall in love with me or even want to date me etc, check on the ways to contact me. I would be glad to connect with you. Just write in a personalised sentence of introduction and we are through. The RSS feeds are available as such on the bottom of this page. Make good use of them too.

Peace!!!!

2011-08-13T00:44:00.003+01:00

We are a smart phone obsessed nation. And Samsung knows it more than anyone else. Sigh!

A new hairdo, new funky looking glasses, a truck load of tech accessories and a smart phone DOWN, I am almost done!!!! and thus went a good 20K in a span of 10 hours. Never seen so much money together, forget spending it all. I am a rich bastard, yeah..

Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them.

2011-08-05T14:15:00.003+01:00

Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them.
Edward R. Murrow (via sari-skirt)

The Singh who could never be Kingg

2011-08-03T10:47:00.003+01:00

Dear Harbhajan Singh,

Unless anything catastrophic should happen, we have seen the last of you in a test match!

Thanks for all the entertainment - the monkey gate, slap gate and all other gates which failed to kick off, just like your off-spin bowling. And recently I heard a statement from you saying, “I would be devastated if I didn’t end up taking 600 wickets.” Well well…

Firstly, you should be glad you played this long. Nobody entertains extra and unnecessary baggage like the Indian Cricket Board. 10 golden years since I last saw you in form and you needn’t be feeling any bit let down, I dare say.

So here is an online petition which I am starting urging the fellow Indians to sign on, requesting you to stop entertaining us.

Goodbye and Good riddance!

Sincerely Yours,

Menon

When poverty peeps through the front door, let not your love fly away through the back door.

2011-08-02T13:06:00.003+01:00

When poverty peeps through the front door, let not your love fly away through the back door.
as told to Phiroza Irani (John Abraham’s mother) by her to-be-father-in-law way back in the 60’s.

It’s better to have nobody, than to have someone who is half there, or doesn’t want to be there.

2011-08-02T13:00:00.003+01:00

It’s better to have nobody, than to have someone who is half there, or doesn’t want to be there.
Angelina Jolie

The obsession over picking Harbhajan Singh in the eleven....

2011-07-29T11:29:00.003+01:00

If he had bowled a few more overs at the nets rather than swindling precious time over suing Vijay Mallya over a rather dubious looking impersonation of him at one of those liquor ads, I would probably not be witness to what I am seeing today.

You have an off-spinner who has 400 plus wickets, only the second after Muttiah Muralitharan having to be a no-brainer than being a handy number eight in the famed Indian batting lineup who might go hunky-dory once in a blue moon. And with Munaf Patel being a far better bowler in form and prevailing conditions compared to Bhajji, one is left astounded on the prevailing selection policies which looks more to be of filling a reservation quota. He needs to be told that he cannot be resting on his 400 plus profile, all the time. And I think its about time the management looks ahead.

I have no biases in being a Chennai-ite and neither do I believe we churn out the best players or that Kris Srikkanth has an upper hand in getting the South Indians into the squad. But Ravichandran Ashwin even though he is young and inexperienced would have made himself a far better option if spin was indeed mandatory to quicken up the overs and help the ailing over rate. His record in the shorter forms have been meritorious enough, so to say.

Why Hina Rabbani Khar means change?

2011-07-28T16:35:00.003+01:00

Well begun is half done. This was precisely missing during the tenure of Shah Mehmood Qureshi who was more of an aggressive old school diplomat than the younger and refreshing Rabbani Khar. She has managed to bring out the voice of the youth of Pakistan,a voice of anticipation, peace, cooperation and brotherhood. Although she is widely touted to be the face of the army, her initial days have been largely error-free. Only time will tell whether she really meant all that was boisterously put out to this world.

Optimism is a bitch. It sticks onto you at the most ill-opportune moments.

2011-07-28T16:17:00.003+01:00

Whattayy shitload dumbfukn movie!!!!!!

2011-07-28T14:34:00.003+01:00

Lokpal or Jokepal. It doesn’t really matter. This is India, people!!!!

2011-07-28T04:18:00.003+01:00

2011-07-28T04:03:00.003+01:00

2011-07-26T14:02:00.003+01:00

The Mistress or the Puppet??

Two nations and two billion people wait in bated breath. There is a renewed hope for change in fortunes and it all rests in the hands of this 34 year old, mother of 3 children.

2011-07-22T02:47:00.003+01:00

I like the “high” that a particularly satisfying pilgrimage can give me. Seeing the world over, its vast cross sections of humanity, the power of faith that one can experience at real time, the feeling of oneness- puts the lid on all the worldly pleasures. Ofcourse, this could be classified as “glorified narcissism”, but then no one needs to be reminded that they shall come alone into this world and shall depart as a loner.

And my 16th visit to the lords abode at Sabarimala has strengthened my belief in the supreme one. A pleasant journey, a relatively easier trek thanks to a relatively good (better) karma since February, the monsoons, it all played oh-so-beautifully in sync.

Man is sometimes extraordinarily, passionately, in love with suffering.

2011-07-15T14:02:00.003+01:00

Man is sometimes extraordinarily, passionately, in love with suffering.
Fyodor Dostoevsky (via yeatsofhell)

2011-07-15T14:01:00.003+01:00

An underdog with minimal, almost zero expectations from people around. Life couldn’t have been easier.

2011-07-15T04:20:00.003+01:00

It all begins in Taunton today. Nothing like conquering England at the home of cricket. \m/

2011-07-13T14:26:00.003+01:00

When there is a government hopelessly helpless to protect its citizens.When atrocities strike the same city day in and day out.When there is an uneasy calm each passing day with prayers for a reversal of fortunes.When social media comes together in a show of support with resources, never seen before.There is blood boiling inside the hearts of every Indian at the sorry state of affairs that we are witnessing this moment.

I am afraid for this democracy called India. There go 17 unfortunate and ill-opportune lives. And it wasn’t on Kasab’ birthday for god sake!!!!

Stay safe, Bombay. *Prayers*

2011-07-13T07:07:00.003+01:00

Dear God,

We are extremely proud to have among us ministers who end up crying like pre-teens (Veerappa Moily),when they do not get the portfolios of their choice or when they are moved into a new portfolio. We are also glad to have politicians who think every sentence they speak is incomplete without a reference to the blessings of Sonia ji and Manmohan ji (Jayanthi Natarajan), which means that your position is in danger (atleast inside the Congress Party).

It makes me stand up in pride to know that we have amongst us, ministers who run home like typical indian married women, when they do not get the portfolios they want, lock themselves up and play out a resignation drama (Gurudas Kamat). This list would be incomplete without a mention about our great prime minister ([Wo]Manmohan Singh) who I thought was the best man to be reshuffled,instead of the cabinet in itself.

Atleast in my next birth, please make me witness to a political scenario which instills in me, a wee bit of courage and confidence to head to the polling station to cast my vote. I have already waited a good 5 years for the right moment to spill some ink.

Sincerely Yours,

Menon

I don’t give a yellow fuck, I don’t give a purple fuck. If a fuck had wings, I wouldn’t give a flying fuck.

2011-07-10T05:31:00.003+01:00

I don’t give a yellow fuck, I don’t give a purple fuck. If a fuck had wings, I wouldn’t give a flying fuck.
TheGoodShxt2 (Harjit Bhandal)

2011-07-09T15:29:00.003+01:00

You only need a 45 in math in your class 12 boards (which is just pass btw) and a few tens of thousands of dollars to see your name alongside APJ Abdul Kalam in the alumni network of MIT Chennai. Engineering admissions in Tamil Nadu scaled such a new peak last week.

2011-07-09T15:23:00.003+01:00

Reading the blogs of today is a sad affair. Kisi bandhook se mein mere hi apni kopdi ko tonkega in short.

That was a bit too hard, I know. :P

2011-07-09T06:48:00.003+01:00

Dear Harry Potter,

Goodbye. Good Riddance.

Sincerely Yours,

Menon

2011-06-27T12:35:00.003+01:00

Caroline Wozniacki would qualify to be the most undeserving World No.1in the history of all sports and entertainment. Sabine Lisicki, my champion for this year. And now that we have seen the last of Serena, the draw looks a whole lot in her favour. And the match against Li Na, my pick for the Championships thus far.

Overdose of anything is bad. Sex,Twilight,drugs….even Harry Potter.

2011-06-26T15:37:00.003+01:00

Overdose of anything is bad. Sex,Twilight,drugs….even Harry Potter.
self

2011-06-24T12:52:00.003+01:00

2011-06-23T00:53:00.003+01:00

Respect. At age 40 to give Venus Williams probably the worst nightmare of her entire sporting career and to give us, the royals a visual orgasm with one heck of a singles match. Respect sometimes becomes an understatement.

2011-06-23T00:43:00.003+01:00

So things finally have a head start. The much awaited formal letter of acceptance is here. And my programmes are more or less running as per chart. Delhi from 1st (or even earlier, depending on the passport clearance) for the visa application - meeting up with a few friends slated there, Chennai again on the 7th, visa interview sometime in the 3rd or 4th week of July again in Delhi, Sabarimala (one last time before I set off) slated for the third week, Bangalore for a dear friend’s shockingly fast engagement (:O) in august, some bit of shopping for lisbon (amma’s grand plans for a pressure cooker amongst the items for purchase), more like the major agenda till september.

Thinking women are a turn on if you can beat the quest for finding one.

2011-06-22T01:56:00.003+01:00

Thinking women are a turn on if you can beat the quest for finding one.
self

2011-06-21T09:04:00.003+01:00

tiffanylin:

My all time favorite quotation.

It couldn’t have been better!!!!!!

Don't write me off

2011-06-20T23:27:00.003+01:00

Just yet!!!!!!!!!

We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.

2011-06-20T11:30:00.003+01:00

We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (via carouselinparis)

Though its a different thing whether that spark continues to build up. In most cases, it does down almost as instantaneously as it came up.

I suck more than you do!!!

2011-06-20T01:54:00.003+01:00

We have a United Progressive Alliance (UPA) which has deep roots in Corruption, a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which has deep roots in Hindutva and saffron politics, a left front which is anti-developmental in character,a Third front (more like the neutral gender) which is largely regional and racist in character and all the barmy army’ called the Shivsena,MNS and RSS which are anti-socialist and averse to any kind of stability.

Blessed indeed are the souls who are forced into pick a government from among these elements.

Dear citizens of this country,

2011-06-18T13:21:00.003+01:00

People who still believe the Lokpal Bill will become a reality, need to be stoned. No politician would openly endorse such a campaign which is sure to nail each and every one of them, one day or the other. And frankly, I don’t blame them at all. They have made it to the houses of the Parliament with a view to splurge, amass a whole deal of money and loot the common man as against the noble cause of serving the nation, which was once a priority.

And I feel bad for the ones who go to the polling booth to exercise their franchise. For the last time!!!! I am not fighting this battle and fasting myself unnecessarily as I am completely aware of whats in store for things like this. Anna Hazare and his friends are wasting a whole lot of time by the fast-unto-death drama. And the whole voting exercise might seem as such a waste of time. Open your eyes and see around!!!!!

Sincerely Yours,

Menon

2011-06-18T12:13:00.003+01:00

long-distance-jitters:

downlo:

“Men of quality respect women’s equality.”

Exactly this.

2011-06-18T11:56:00.003+01:00

Residents Associations are funny. There is the wannabe smartass, the wily old fox, the broadway slut and a mister cool dude in every cross section of these societies .

When the Sabina spit some venom.....

2011-06-17T14:26:00.003+01:00

All the world class sloggers that we posses(ed) failed when the Sabina Park spit some venom, far from its hay days. And it ultimately boiled down to finesse and technique to overcome a B-grade West Indian attack. Cricket should be played on uncovered pitches for the next 2-3 years even if on an experimental basis. Just so we really know!!!!

2011-06-12T04:03:00.003+01:00

Seriously!!!!

2011-06-08T14:58:00.003+01:00

keeepcalmandcarrryon627:

-.-

2011-06-08T14:51:00.003+01:00

2011-06-07T15:28:00.003+01:00

(via waveofeuphoria, rufustfirefly)

Mission Dawood Ibrahim

2011-06-07T11:38:00.003+01:00

Catching Dawood Ibrahim has finally made some headway!!! If sources are to be believed, UPA-II has finally come up with a strategized approach in a bid to capture the dreaded don. In the modern age of fasting unto death, the Union Cabinet has decided that a section of it would be fasting unto death in front the United Nations Headquarters and another section in front of the White House, which if done in a convincing manner (like Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev) could provoke the Obama administration to SEAL Dawood.

2011-06-05T14:37:00.003+01:00

waveofeuphoria:

The undisputed king of clay court, Rafael Nadal.

4 is wonderful, 5 is brilliant. 6.. is a habit. That’s how I see it. Vamos Rafa! :D

The comedy called Baba Ramdev

2011-06-05T06:11:00.003+01:00

Russian Circus starts a new show, featuring acrobatic showmen from the foothills of the Himalayas. The trick involves jumping from atop the dais, into a crowd of curious onlookers and disguising yourself as a woman before the audience find the show man from amongst the crowd. They are currently in talks with Baba Ramdev for providing the training for the show men. And the rumour is that Baba has demanded an island in the Samoa as his compensation.

Rahul Gandhi Exposed by a genius!!!!!!

2011-06-04T09:15:00.003+01:00

Rahul Gandhi Exposed by a genius!!!!!!

Awesome must read for every Indian. Rivaldo, you beauty!

2011-06-03T14:41:00.003+01:00

The story of a small port side town growing up into a bustling metropolis and a soon-to-be mega city sounds tempting enough for an introduction. Welcome to Kochi, the queen of the Arabian Sea. There was a time when people set sail from here, to far enough lands in the quest of their dreams and aspirations. Now in tune with evolution, people relocate to this part of the world in making their dreams, a reality. And no better thing than being witness to such an evolution of sorts.

2011-06-02T13:15:00.003+01:00

Pranchiyettan and the Saint - engulfing the essence of the easy going, yet supremely complex life of a Thrissurkaaran is a phenomenon. And movie maker Ranjith is one hell of an institution himself. Kudos for this gem of a movie. Absolute pleasure. :D

2011-06-02T06:51:00.003+01:00

2011-06-02T06:49:00.003+01:00

~ Vadakkumnathan Temple, Thrissur

2011-06-02T06:36:00.003+01:00

Dear God,

Please take away all these fake god men and yogic supergurus to hell. We are a whole lot better without them.

Sincerely Yours

Menon

god's own Thrissur

2011-06-02T06:30:00.003+01:00

The feeling of being in the midst of a spiritually charged atmosphere could be the most alluring thing on earth, if you desire a whole lot of sanity and peace within. And no better place than Thrissur, if you ask me. I have lived in various cities across which embrace a whole lot of cultures though nothing beats life in this part of the world.

So much so, that I feel my evenings post retirement would be spent along the Swaraj Round - walking across the length and breadth of the town, after paying a visit to the lord Vadakkumnathan, roasted groundnuts in hand, a few movies occasionally, gearing up for the next ‘Pooram’ in all eagerness. I wouldn’t mind an elephant in my ‘ettukettu tharavadu’ too coz going into the temple grounds to catch a glimpse of one when needed, seems to be painful enough.

And to speak of this now, a good 30-35 years before its gotta really transpire is the level of utter madness and a sense of extreme fascination that this small little town could take its people into.

2011-05-31T09:49:00.003+01:00

Haha.. :D