OMG! OMG! OMG!

I won! I won! I won!

I woke up this evening (after my nap!) to this cool award presented to me by Marcy. I dunno what to say, I don't even have a speech prepared. :)I feel so honored. Thank you. *Gives a very silly smile*

So, here are the rules for this award:

1. Choose 5 stand out blogs. Thats easy!! *Goes looking around blogosphere* My most regular reads have already received this award (AV,Michael..etc) so here are the rest :) My Picks

Miss Malady

Plaridel

I luv Retro things

As The Mind Meanders

Tomas Arcanum

2. Thank the blogger who gave you this Award. Thank you,Marcy :D

3. Answer the questions below with only one word. I'll try, but don't sue me if I can't (ooo! I love this)

Here are my answers:
Where is your phone? To my right
Your hair? Dark brown
Your Mother? The Best cook
Your Father? A true leader
Favorite food? Pasta
Your dream last night? Dramatic
Favorite drinks? Coffee
Your dreams? Reflective
What room are you in? My room
Your hobby? Photography
Your fear? Stairs
Where do you want to be in six years? Estonia
Where were you last night? Coffee Shop
Something you're not? Rich
Muffins? Apple cinnamon (with coffee!)
Wish List Item? Ipod touch
Last thing you did? Nap
What are you wearing? Girly things
Your pets? Dead
Your friends? Too busy
Your life? Retired
Your mood? Excited
Missing someone? Yes
Your vehicle? Auto rickshaw (more like my daily ride!)
Somethinhg you're not wearing? Ego
Your favour colour? Pink
When was the last time you laughed? This morning
Last time you cried? This morning
Your best friend? Swati
One place you go over and over? Coffee Shops
One person that e-mails you? Danny
Favorite place to eat? On the couch

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Wall Of Shame

I missed the wall project, last Sunday (25th October), but from what I heard and saw all over facebook, it seemed to be a huge success. No doubt it was a very innovative and wonderful idea, but what was more stimulating was the overwhelming response of the city that turned up to assist in a not so feeble attempt at beautifying Mumbai, a much necessitated task long due.

My sister was present there, and contributed her talent and art to the city walls, so you can imagine her exasperation at this:

In less than 24 hours...

The Before and Afters...

Pictures courtesy blogosphere...

Say, you are sorry...

...now say it like you mean it!

Normally, of the subtle noesis, my sister feels outraged and let down by her own city. I echo her sentiments and so do the many other writers in blogosphere who are in the process of signing a petition against this transgression. I will too, once I figure out how to, although I hardly think this is a matter for petitions and pleas. Read More......

The Red Witch Hunt

Thomas Paine, in his book 'Rights of a Man' states that -
"Government's sole purpose is safeguarding the individual and his/her inherent, inalienable rights; each societal institution that does not benefit the nation is illegitimate..."


There has been a sudden surge of interest in combating the Naxal movements since the recent arrest of Khobad Gandhy, a riposte development long overdue, 40+ years, of which the last 15 itself saw the death of 6000+. Of course, one must not forget that the media has never left any stone unturned when it comes to glamorising the unneedful.

If any of you have been following the updates on the Government’s strategies to curb the Naxalite insurgency, you are probably already lamenting the money and resources, in form of arms, artillery and army, that they plan to spend.

So, who exactly will be at the receiving end of this state funded strategic design to crush this internal terrorism? The people of the state - delinquent and innocent alike. The state, it seems, is waging a war against its own people. How may I ask, is that going to help solve the problem? Before you answer that please take a minute and tell me what, do you understand the 'problem' really is?

Who, do you think, the Naxal represent? How, despite their inhuman ways, have they managed to garner the support of over a million people in the last 40 years? What drives the common peasant to take up arms against his own government? What is it that drives the poor, the peasants, the farmers and destitute labourers to such extreme measures?

History and Karl Marx has told us time and again to beware of the wrath of the oppressed and deprived for he has nothing to lose but his blood and that he has in plenty. And despite this valuable lesson we tend to ignore the human needs of the class below us, till the lowest in hierarchy are pushed beyond the bounds of what can be called humanity. The result is in either self incrimination & suicides or armed rebellion.

Our country is familiar with latter, where our revolutionary leaders such as Shivaji Maharaj, Rani Jhansi, Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh rose in armed uprisings against their oppressors, something that we teach our kids in school today. Why then are we surprised when the Naxal leaders have managed to exploited the very same sentiments that stood pillar to the Indian Independence struggle? The line 'Give me blood and I'll give you freedom' by Subhash Chandra Bose brought in mass support to his cause then, and still has the charm for Naxal leaders today.

World history also stands witness to similar rebellions, where the oppressed have risen in resistance to their oppressors, most of which we proudly approve of, including the Indian war of Independence against their British oppressors, The French Revolution that uprooted their incapacitated monarchy and The American war of Independence. The victory was always in a progressive change, the need of the hour.



The people most attracted to the Naxal ideology are, as always, the ones who haven't experienced true freedom or justice in the current system but only a hierarchy of oppression with them, mostly, at the bottom rung of the ladder.

Why, you may ask, would these people resort to violence to look for solutions? There could be two reasons to this:

First, less likely, out of fear instilled by Naxals, which would denote the inability of the state in protecting its own people.

Second, more likely, the promise of a solution to their problem backed with action, however savage, unlike that of the promise made by the state with no results. To quote KPS Gill from his recent interview with Tehelka, "Ask the political leaders what they mean by development. How does a good road affect a man who has no means of transport?"

The U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776) of one of the most successful of the world's democracy states in a line -
"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness. "


As hard as the political leaders may try to portray themselves as the saviours of the common man; this common man, already let down by its own governmental system cannot really relate to these leaders with all that stashed wealth and elating lifestyle. On the other hand, the Naxal leaders not only live amongst their consortium but address their issues at a micro level. This, I must say, plays in their favour.

So, why haven't we been able to provide these tribes, humane conditions for development or an adequate platform to voice their grievances? How many of them are still waiting for application of justice? How many of them are still waiting for reparation for the wrong? How many of them are still waiting for the promised reforms? And how many of you really care...

On one hand, we acknowledged, with standing ovations and awards, a movie like 'A Wednesday!', which depicts the vigilante in the common man and pats his back for taking the stand against the stagnant system; and on the other hand we are preparing to bomb our own countrymen, most of whom are innocent, ignorant and even illiterate.

I am not trying justifying their means or actions, neither their decision nor ideologies, but what I am really trying is to emphasis the root of the problem and that lays in our inadequacy of providing the basic fundamental rights enshrined in our constitution to the one who need it the most. This has eventually resulted in creation of a pool of meliorists for the Naxals to pick their insurgents from, and all they have to do is fine tune them in the art of guilt free warfare.

The solution to this does not rest in counter violence but in drastic reforms. The government cannot silence them with threats and weapons, but has to win them back with dynamic result bearing approach to their issues. It is a much difficult task, one that cannot be accomplished overnight but will guarantee effective results. Naxal rebellion cannot be contained by attacking their leaders, but by attacking their ideology with reformist accomplishments, however little we begin with.

My, fellow countrymen, it is time we stop invoking rights to our benefit and begin exercising our duties toward our compatriots.

Almost 2000 years ago, Confucius said,
"When the good way prevails in the state speak boldly, act boldly. When the state has lost the way, speak softly and act boldly."

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Vote for the Clown

This was the first time I truly exercised the democracy of my country with my first ever vote in the recent State Assembly Elections. I had been looking forward to this day for a really long time, believe me! I was so excited and I wasn't going to give away my 'oh-so-precious' suffrage to any Tom, Dick and Hari. So I did what most people do when in doubt - Google!

Now here is something very peculiar that I couldn't help but notice. In India, we have close to 1024 political parties as per the last count (only seven of them are national parties!) and what intrigues me really is the lack of creativity in party logos and symbols. As I stood there on the Election Day staring at my option, I couldn’t help but laugh at the reality of the logo system in the Indian political system. My options were:

A bow and arrow,




A lotus,




A hand,




A rail engine,





A pressure cooker,

(couldn't find a picture, but you can imagine it!)


and some other things I can't remember or I am too embarrassed to talk about.

I came back and Google a few more of these political logos and I still don't get it how is it that these people come up with something that will eventually represent their cause, political image and ideology for the rest of history. I mean, what is it that they say to themselves when they pick something like a pressure cooker as their logo, 'Hey, we work best under pressure, so what better than to exemplify us than a good old pressure cooker!'

Now, I don't mean to offend anyone, but even our nation’s oldest party has a hand for a logo. For someone who hasn't had the privilege of studying our history (and believe me 42% of the Indians haven't!), wouldn't know what it really symbolises and I bet that even from those who have, 42% have no clue about what the 'Hand' stands for. It could mean anything like 'Vote for us. We'll give you a hand' or 'Hey, don't mess with 'The Hand'..!'

One possible reason for this absurd symbolism is probably image retention of a public persona for the rural audience, who usually can't read and live on less than Rs. 10 a day. I guess it makes some sense when you have tough competition with over 100 other contestants, you would want something that is easy to remember for the plain ol' village folks. Something that isn't too flashy & complicated and doesn't remind them of their poor remittance. Something that is easy to relate to, after all, most of India still lives in the country.
I don't really know what are the Election Commission's regulations on how a party gets to pick it logo, but something tells me that underestimating the creative tastes of the village folks isn't really on them.

So anyways, I did go looking for what was really permissible, but what I managed to find was a list of Free Symbols (must check!) - I guess it must be a list of unregistered logos available for use (although most of them are in use with unrecognised parties!)

Or maybe I have it the wrong way, maybe there is some deeper meaning to the cycle, umbrella, ladders and lamp, which my embryonic mind can comprehend.
Either way, I take comfort in the fact that even the citizens of one of the worlds most powerful of polities, have to choose between a Donkey and an Elephant on their election day.

Well, here are some of the logos worthy of mention:

A clock - they are always on time!



Is that a play top?? OMG!! It is a top!!

I have no clue what that is, so don't even ask!

Our very own elephant. Take that, USA!

A ladder, I assume signifies the upward climb, but wouldn't you rather have an elevator?!


What can I say?


That my dear friends, is a hand pump. For those of you who don't know it used to irrigate water off the wells and provides exquisite pleasure to some. Ain't I right, Mr Anurag Kashyap?


What better than a good old fashioned lamp, Who needs electricity?


Of flowers and petals!


That's and chair alright, and it speaks volumes about their comfort.

And below are a few I really like:


(RSP)

(Akali Dal)

(Loksatta)

(CPIM)

P.S.: I am sorry if I hurt any sentiments or caused offense. That wasn't my intention!

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Déjà Vu

My insides feel hollow,
a feeling I live through.

Your mind, you have to follow,
But listen to your heart, will you?

It was real when it happened,
I know you felt it too.

Yet, you ripped it apart,
Isn’t that true?

When I walk outside,
I put on a smile,
pretend all is fine,
but I haven't got a clue.

Come pretend with me,
And don't be honest, would you?

This truth is hard to swallow,
and so are the tears too.

You may call it sorrow,
I call it Déjà Vu.

--

(edits provided by Plaridel)

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The most cliched note ever...

...but, heartfelt, nevertheless. I've come a long way, 23 years to be specific. I know to some of you it may not seem much, but to me it is a lifetime, literally! I have grown as an individual, learnt thing, picked up experience, developed strong opinions, was hurt and saved.

I witness fall of trust, blissful ignorance, mindless anger, arrogance, betrayal and restricted economy, while at the same time I also experienced endless love, streaming knowledge, higher thresholds of patients I never knew I had, a level of superiority, faith and window shopping. So all in all, I didn't lose anything that wasn't already replaced.

Of course, there are people I need to thank for this spiritual evolution, the people of my maladies and cohesions over the last one year. At the end of this note I have made a list of people I think I should thank, people who made the 23 I am. If your name is on that list, I thank you. I thank you for teaching me, for enlightening me, for awakening me, for holding me back, for letting me go, for pushing me down, for lifting me up, for holding my hand, for stabbing my back, for making me cry, for wiping my tears, for providing me, for depriving me, for being cheap, for being pricey, but most of all for being there!

Now, don't get all shining! Just because you name shows up on that list doesn't mean that it's a good thing or something to be proud of. I thank you today, cause I am learning to move forward, but that doesn't mean I couldn't have survived without that what you put me through. It still hurts sometime... but I'll live! And you’ll be pleased to know I turned out just fine.
And to those who I owe extreme gratitude, I can't describe well enough, what you mean to me. But just so you know, and you know who you are, I will strive all my life to be there for you in every possible way I can. I promise.

The List:

(The names below are in no specific order or importance. They were jotted down as and when, what came to my mind!)




Dad - My knowledge bank
Mum - Omniscient
Shono - Probably the world's best little sister alive!
Swati - My conscience
Hitesh - The alter conscience
Santoshri - The 'its OK!' of my life
Danish - My better whole
Coffee Shops across the suburbs - Mocha, Aroma, Peaberry, CCDs at Marol, Saki Naka, Amboli
Blogger
Facebook - Hell, yea!
Namit
Sagar
RED - It always be MY baby, no matter what!
MovieSum
Mr. Barodia - In a way, he will never know!
The Brahma Kumaris
Kamal
Raj Thackrey
The UPA
Praful Patel
X Men
Lokhandwala
Stall 66, Fashion street
The shops on Linking Road
Sugeet
Dollar, a vergetarian black mutt from Delhi
Dalai Lama
Ban Ki Moon
Kumar - The sarcastic lover
Vishal - If I only knew where you are..
Aida Mam - If you were alive, you would kill yourself
President Obama, definitly.

If there is something or someone I am forgetting, please help me!

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When the kids start talking

I have this blogger friend, Marcy, whose blog(Tales of the Kids) I very keenly follow. She writes these interesting anecdotes about her kids (Cathy & Miles) and their antics. She records every little triumphs of their childhood in her writings, like about the questions her 6 year old asks her sometimes (Who invented shower?? Really!!?? Who did?) Or the really enlivening observations of her 5 year old (Did you know that fishes don't have any feet?!). It is so witty and hilarious and always a pleasure to read. As a veteran mother she can provide some pretty valuable insight to the inner circles of motherdom.

So, anyways, I was reading the recent article she wrote about things little kids can say sometimes and I realised that I too have stories to tell about similar experiences with street smart kids, in fact I was one myself. So here I present those and some from what I've heard from my peeps.

Once, one of my little cousin saw one of those prismatic rainbow reflection in an oil puddle. He ran back home and got his mum to show it to her and as I recall he said, 'Look ma, a dead rainbow!!'
--

One of my friends, when she was little, once asked her dad when colour was invented. She believed that the world was Black & White once upon a time.
--

When I was little I once asked my dad why he worked for money when that was simply available for our disposal at the ATM.
--

My 4 year old niece recently asked her mother, 'What is the purpose of date?' And was very upset when we couldn't give her a satisfying answer, she even gave me a disappointed look and asked if I ever went to school.
--

A four year old nephew of one of my friends had just watched a super hero movie and couldn't seem to get enough of it. He had turned into a big fan of the actor who played the superhero. So, thinking that he might enjoy them, my friend got him a couple of other movies of that actor, one of which happened to be a romantic tragedy (Don't ask why?!) where the actor is ambushed, dogged and murdered. Needless to say watching that movie broke the little guys heart, but what he couldn't understand and kept asking us over & again for the next few days was, 'Why didn't he fly away when he was being chased like in the super hero movie?'
--

One of my colleagues, who is a graphic designer, was once with his wife at a workshop for little kids, something like a summer camp. So anyways, he was there teaching them basic computer applications like MS Paint, etc. When he finished explaining the paint brush & the colour palette to many curious eyes between age of 4 and 8 yrs, one little boy asked him, 'Who refills the colours in the computer when they are over?' Before he could think of something to say, another little girl answered, 'God does!'
--

We have a hired help at home. She has little daughter of age 4. This little girl has a best friend at her pre-school, she admires a lot. One fine day, she asked her mother to make her like her best friend. Her very confused mother asked her how was she supposed to do that. To this the little girl replied, 'Oh, its simple. Just take her (the little girl's friend!) and divide her into two and make one of the parts into me!' It's okay to say that the mother was left dumbfounded.
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Writing My Epitaph...again!

A couple months back I published a post, a collection of some witty, funny and inspiring epithaps. Since then I came across a couple of more interesting and epochal epitaphs I believe deserve mention. So here they are,

Pablo Neruda



"And today in the depth of the lost forest
he hears the sound of the enemy and runs away
not from the others but from himself
from that interminable conversation
from the chorus which always accompanied us
and from the meaning of life.

Because this once, because just once, because
a syllable or an interval of silence
or the unstifled noise of a wave
leave me face to face with the truth
and there is nothing more to interpret,
nothing more to say; this was everything.
Closed with the forest doors.
The sun goes round opening up the leaves
The moon appears like a white fruit
and man bows to his destiny."


Uncle of Ruskin Bond, James Bond

I found this in a book I read recently edited by Ruskin Bond. He dedicates the book to his uncle, James Bond and writes,

In the memory of my uncle, James Bond,
Who was a dentist by profession and not,
As some believe, a secret agent...
His epitaph reads:
"Stranger! Approach this spot with gravity,
James bond is filling his last cavity."


William Carlos Williams



"An old willow with hollow branches
slowly swayed his few high gright tendrils
and sang:

Love is a young green willow
shimmering at the bare wood's edge."


Lytton Strachey



"If this is dying, I don't think much of it."


Robert Louis Stevenson



"Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you 'grave for me:
Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill."


You can find more of them here Read More......

I saw the Avatar Sneak Preview

Yea, so I was there, amongst the chosen few to get a peek of James Cameron's much awaited movie, Avatar. It is said that this movie was in the making for 14 years and they invented cameras just for this movie. Now, I don't really know how much of it is true but I was left completely impressed and amazed.

I wanted to write something about how I felt, but I could not describe it better than my friend Dan here. So why don't you guys just pop over at his blog - Lowdowns on High Brows and read his rumination of what this movie is truly about. The experience, the feeling and what you can expect come December 18th.

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In the totem of Twitter

Ok, here is another thing I thought I'd never write about - Twitter! But then I read this another article published in a daily that so echoed my feelings towards Twitter.

So, what's the deal? It’s a site where all you can do is keep updating your status messages all day. Nothing but a site full of status messages! And when people run out of interesting status messages you are treated to the very painful details of their very boring social existence. Now what makes you think I would be interested in that?

Oh, and if you want to personally chat with someone, you have to first type in their @name followed by your message, so every time you reply you repeat the process. Isn't that so cumbersome? It is so much easier to use a messenger.

But, despite all my censures Twitter is a flourishing colony of people in the need to have their voice heard over the others. The louder you can shout the farther you will be heard. It's no longer about the money, the power lies in the number of followers you have and your influence lies in the number of RTs you make in a day.

Now don't get me wrong, I am all for shouting and I love having followers. But, I am not comfortable with flashing every moment of my day on a public platform amongst people who seem to thrive on exactly that. I mean on one side we complain about the government surveillance of our emails & phone calls and then on the other hand the Twitterites broadcast their every move, every thought and every breath on Twitter.

The author of this article I read perceives twitter as a platform making the Twitterites into copywriters who sells what they know best - Themselves! So true! And since the resurrection of the internet that is what everyone has been desperately trying to do, get heard, get noticed, advertise themselves...

But I still don't get it, with all its refutations why would I want to broadcast myself, connect with people, send a message through a bunch of status messages. I can probably do all that and a lot more with Facebook, Myspace and even Orkut, then why Twitter?

I have a twitter account since about a few months now (I even have twitterfox!), but every time I log in I draw a complete blank. I feel like an alien or some kind of refugee wondering what do I say next. I don't think I have even crossed my 100 tweet mark yet.

I don't understand what to write. Would you want know what time I woke up? Or which coffee I had? Or what I had for breakfast? Maybe my morning constipation would interest you? Or you might like me bitching and whining about people around me. That would make your day, wouldn't it?

So until I figure out what to my next tweet will be, I will tweet about not knowing what to tweet about!

P.S.: I promise NOT update tweets daily or sometimes even weekly. I promise NOT to retweet your tweets and I promise NOT to follow you back. In case you still want to follow me on Twitter, my id is RuchiKumar. Happy Tweeting! Read More......