Who gives a rat's ass?

The elevators at our office have these small screens in them which keep flashing news items, stock quotes, commercials etc. So I was in the elevator yesterday and read this headline on the small screen – “India court orders the arrest of Richard Gere for kissing bollywood actress on cheek”. Of course I have read and seen the video last week but to read this headline….ugh! I think this is lame. Public obscenity? You walk thro the streets in India and you will notice the movie posters of soft porn movies with semi-nude women in suggestive poses. So that’s fine? Bollywood movies are full of “masala items” and it is not like they are R rated. I don’t give a damn about Richard Gere but I do hate the perception the world would have about India after reading such a news item. It is so hardliner-ish…argh! It is something you can expect to hear from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Pakistan… We got real problems people!! Richard Gere kissing Shilpa Shetty…WTF! The court was so fast to move on this like their life depended on it…what a load of crap.

Shiva Sena activists chase away couples on valentines day…real mature! They are worried about public obscenity? Give me a freaking break. Ever ride the buses and trains? Women are sexually harassed/molested every minute. Ask a girl/woman in India about it and they will all have their horrid experiences to share. The same activists will ride the train back and molest school girls. No, you cannot handpick places you want to show respect to women. You show it to them in all places. Richard Gere is a stupid idiot to think this will not cause a problem but to make it such a big issue only shows we are a bunch of hypocrites.

but really...who gives a rat's ass about this anyway?

How bored are we?

There is this radio morning show my wife listens to. Eric and Kathy morning show on WTMX 101.9 Chicago. So I have to listen to it in the 8-10 minute ride to/from the train station. They mostly ask questions and people call in to give their ideas/experience/suggestions. It is amusing sometimes but mostly it is very lame. So for the past two they talked about a “social experiment” they were doing. Two strangers and a wedding. They match-make two strangers let them talk over the phone (monitored) for couple weeks and then do the whole wedding thing and in the end they have the option of saying “I don’t” at the altar. Is love blind? – That was the question they were trying to answer. And apparently they don’t even know what the other person looks like. Of course being an Indian I listened to this and went “ok so what is the experiment? We do this all the time in India”. They filled 2 weeks of radio waves with this load of crap and I had to listen 10 minutes of it every weekday! Well, finally it ended yesterday when both the bride and groom showed up and said NO, we don’t want to get married. Thanks for all the free parties, Hawaii vacation, free tux, limo service though. They realized that marriage is too important to be decided in 2 weeks. Really? And you didn’t know that before you got into this becaussssssee? And this is amusing to us? Are we really that bored?

Ever read rediff.com articles? In plain simple words – they suck big time! But I read rediff all the time. It is for the comments. So funny! There is so much built-up anger inside people and they let it lose on strangers on the discussion board. I think rediff has realized this is more amusing that articles that they are trying to put as many sucky articles as they can. Oh and they have this new section called Spotted – where you post pictures you took with some celebrity. Spotted – Sania Mirza in dubai. So in the picture Sania Mirza has just lost a 3 setter, is terribly pissed, upset, exhausted, fatigued and waiting to get the hell out there; standing in the middle of these two desi dudes with such huge smiles. Hilarious!

Can we be more desperate for news?

Read comments on this article and you will know what I am talking about - http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/apr/12sikh.htm

I just realized that most of the funny comments have been removed from the page. Ah sucks! Well, I am sure there are plenty more there and a lot more to come.

Can we be more indian?

So last weekend we went to an Indian restaurant in the very-merry-indian street Devon Ave, Chicago along with another couple. It wasn’t very busy inside but the tables were put so close to each other than you are literally a hand’s length from the next table (if you are really hungry it would be hard to resist the samosa sitting right next to you in the other table). Sitting side-by-side, back-to-back will make you feel you are riding Mumbai commuter trains. So anyway, we enter and are seated in this very cramped table. People on both sides and so close they are already uncomfortable we are going to sit there. So we ask to be seated in the totally open section where nobody is sitting. The guy says the section is closed. Oh well, that is fine, we will just sit with our back against some stranger who is the middle of what looked like a delicious meal. So we sit and in couple minutes a white couple gets up from the seat next to us and asks if they can be seated in the open section. And what do you know – the section just became available. For obvious reasons my friend and I looked at each other and he goes “you still want to eat here?” Well, I was thinking about it. But we stayed and finish our meal which was served with breaks and intermissions. Such awful service. Anywayz…

The reason I didn’t want to leave the restaurant was that I was not surprised by the double standards we Indians show in everything. I am sure every Indian has noticed how service is different to a non-indian (has to be non-Indian looking too) in an Indian restaurant. I have seen so many restaurants do that. I have worked in an Indian restaurant and have witnessed first hand how waiters don’t care if an Indian doesn’t get good service. What I was told when I started was “take it easy with the desis, they don’t tip well anyway”. Which is true, we don’t. You can treat them like the queen of England but when it comes to tipping, Indians will round it off to the nearest multiple of 5.

Anywayz…

This double standard is not limited to Indian restaurants, grocery stores and gas stations. Ever flown Air India? Well? Yeah, it doesn’t get worse than that. Absolutely bad service. I have flown Air India on 3 occasions mostly because it is cheaper than Emirates which is the only other option to get to my city without checking out baggage in Mumbai or Chennai. So anyway, people ask me why I fly Air India. Well, I do because it is cheaper than emirates and it is like spending an extra day in India. I have seen lot of bad service in Air India but in the last trip something just ticked me off. My wife and I were sitting two rows from the door. People are still getting into the plane so the hostess is at the door “welcoming” everyone with the traditional Namaste. Ah, how nice! We feel so close to home already! Yeah right! The thing is she was giving a full fledged Namaste to any non-indian (again, has to be non-indian looking too) and to Indians it was more like a “get-ur-brown-ass-in” welcome. Why do we do that? I have seen eastern Europeans flock together and take great pride in it. Italians of course would have dinner with entire Italy if given a chance. Chinese and Japanese look very comfortable with each other but I don’t know for sure. It can’t be worse than Indians. We don’t smile at each other in malls, grocery stores, trains, buses, streets. Oh and if you do find an Indian stranger all smiling and happy to meet you, odds are he/she is with quickstar, amway or whatever marketing-pyramid-cult that is going on now. Because of our attitude, somebody who genuinely wants to be with nice with other Indians will be misunderstood as a cult member, uh er I mean, marketing executive.

We boast of great advances in everything. When we going to learn to be more courteous to another Indian?

Oh and I smiled to another Indian guy in the train earlier today. He looked the other way. Maybe he thought I was trying to get him into quickstar. C'est la vie!

30 mins or less can get you on CNN.com

http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/08/news/international/pluggedin_murphy_india.fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes

Argh! I m pissed…some cuz of anger towards the writer who has only covered one side of the tale…! He is like the TBS commercial which says "u can laugh but not so much"...be proud india but not this much....u are doing good but not that good...whatever!

And rest out of frustration…that we know so much, yet do so little…

So he is comparing adult literacy percentages between India, rwanda and sudan...nice...how about some math class?? u can't compare percentages between a 1.1 billion+ country and 10 million...r u kidding me??

"(Sources: UNDP, Unicef, World Food Program; Edward Luce). You get the idea."
Yeah, I get the idea. This article is something that can be written with 30 minutes research on wikipedia...and so CNN decided it is worth front page coverage because???...grabs attention...

"The problem with India's self-proclaimed (and wildly premature) declaration of superpower status is that..." - no self-proclaimation here pal...you got it the other way around...

And besides, in today's world superpower is a fast eroding idea...america no longer has the clout and credibility it used to have anyway...it is just a matter of time before they realize that it ain't their daddy's world...

I am not done yet. Let me write after my 30 minutes in wikipedia and google...that is my retort...

Go india!

BTW, how is that title for a attention grabber eh?...Geico...

Swadesi or Dreamer?

I am patriotic. Period. That is not open to discussion and I am not writing to confirm that. The purpose of this blog is something else. I have been posting pro-swadesi articles for a while now and felt very strongly about many issues that concern India and her future. But I have been told many times by many people that my “swadesi” feeling is just a romantic version of me being home sick and missing home. At first I felt they were challenging or undermining my patriotism. Anger…that was my emotion. But on further discussion I found out that my patriotism is so not challenged but it is my “swadesi” feeling that is being challenged. So what is the difference?

I would like to think we are all patriotic. We should be. Citizenship is not just another thing that ties you to a place. Citizenship is your identity. You should love your citizenship and hold it close to your heart. I know I do. Swadesi I feel goes a step further. You feel so close to your country. You sense its pulse. You take pride in her success. You feel rage at her defeats. You feel responsible for her shortcomings. (No, I am not going to quote JFK here. What a cliché). You feel you can make a difference and you will.

Now that I have established what I feel swadesi is let us move along.

So my swadesi feeling was challenged and today I answer my critics (yes, I do have critics). Here is my response.

• Yes, I have not felt so strongly about many things when I lived in India. I have few reasons for that. I was a kid. I have matured since then. I have seen more of this world now. I formed opinions about many things. Some right and some wrong but I know I am learning…aren’t we all?
• Yes, I know the other side is always greener. I know things are different from here. I know things you take for granted here are not in India. But I grew up in India. If I go to India and stand in line for an hour to pay my electricity bill I won’t be shocked. I won’t be surprised. I have been there. Now I do it in Chicago using easypay because I can. If I had to stand in the line during freezing Chicago winter I would. Wouldn’t you?
• Yes, I am home sick. I was not home sick for the first few months. But then things changed drastically. There were many reasons I changed. I have been through tough and challenging times. And I have felt lonely then. In the very low point of my life I have felt more home sick than ever. But things changed again…I know it is not easy to get over it but I have. I am still homesick and I miss my family. But would I have my whole family here and still feel homesick? Probably not.
• Yes, I know the work culture is different in India and people work long hours for less pay. Believe it or not I have worked long hours for less pay in the land of opportunities USA.

Why am I being so defensive about this? I should be. I am mature enough to understand the difference between patriotism and home sickness. I have been hurled that question too many times lately. Why is it so hard for someone to understand that I can WANT to be in India even though I have a good life here? Why does it have to be because the grass is greener on the other side? Why can’t my feelings be genuine? But please don’t get me wrong. I don’t show blind patriotism. As I have written in my previous blogs I do not say India is the best no matter what. Neither do I say everything is bad about India.

I know what I am talking about. I am not trying to re-enact the movie Border here but I will continue to voice my opinion. I will continue to show my patriotism. I will continue to say I miss being in my country. I will continue to show great joy when they launch satellites. I will continue to cheer for our cricket team and curse the losers who eat up a spot and do nothing. I will continue to curse the politicians who are corrupt. I will continue to applaud the efforts of many who are making a difference. I will continue to try and make a difference. And you know what…I am a swadesi and I will continue to be one…

GO INDIA!

Go India!

This is a proud moment for India...Go India!
PSLV Launch


"With this launch, India will become the fourth country after Russia, America and China to have mastered the hi-tech area." How about that huh?

India Today

One of my friends got me the special new year issue of India Today from India. A very good issue and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. So to that friend - thank you!

The issue is about how India's next 30 years will be. Each article written by guest writers respond to specific questions related to India's next 30 years. Some of the questions that are answered -
* Will India suffer from an energy crunch?
* Will gay marriages be allowed in India?
* Will our population be a boon or a bane? ...etc etc...

Some are well written. Some state the obvious. Some don't make sense whatsoever. :) The worst one is written by Benazir Bhutto, the former PM of Pakistan. So the question she is answering is this - Will India and Pakistan form a viable asian union? huh? And she is the best person to answer that questions (which is absurd anyway) because??? Yeah, beats me! But she talks like she is the greatest political reformer known to mankind. Apparently, she had done great things for Pakistan and her party "moved" the peace agenda with India. HA!

That article was a disgrace. It was her election manifesto and I have no idea why India Today would want to publish it. Now all her claims...that's not the worst part. What really sucks is she is comparing Pakistan with India. Hello?? India is competing with China here and she is trying to compare Pakistan's economic growth with ours? Phew! She talks about how democracy in Pakistan will remove all the problems that is hampering India and Pakistan's growth. I mean come on...Pakistan might be living in Stone Age but don't blame it on the dispute with India. Blame it on your incapability to maintain a stable democracy or for that matter stable dictatorship in the last 58 years. Blame it on your incapability to separate religion and state. Blame it on your lack of investment in education (other than terrorist training camps). Blame it on the doorknob leaders you had. I recently heard from someone that Karachi can be compared to Mumbai. Now waitttt aaaa minnnnute!! Mumbai is compared to NYC and Shangai.

This turned out to be a rant but I just can't stop myself when I read articles like this. They deserve my ranting and much more...

Nuts and Bolts - parte dos

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Nuts and Bolts - Parte una

After seeing me go through another year of waistline increase my wife decided it was time I do something about it. So I have been told I should be working out everyday and eating healthy. Those were among the other New Year resolutions she took for me. So we decided to buy a treadmill and fill up our already overflowing apartment. After very less consideration we decided the guest room had too much space anyway. The guests can hop over the treadmill and land on the bed which is btw so close to the wall that you can actually smell the paint at night. Well, we bought it last week and brought it home on our friend’s newly purchased SUV (he also helped me carry it, poor dude).

So it was lying there for a day and I figured there are only so many of guilt bombs a man can take. Guilt bombs, aka wife-giving-you-the-stare are what that get thrown at you when you were supposed to do something but you spent sitting on the couch watching football instead.

Ok, I took it out of the box and stared at it for a few minutes. The damn thing weighed over 100 pounds. Holy crap! I need to be healthy to put this thing together. Well, I have to do it anyway so I started…

So I opened the instructions and it says “DO NOT CUT STRAPS”. Straps? What the hell are straps? Well, there was a yellow rope-thingy that I had cut. Could that be the strap? Maybe…Fine. Moving on. My wife decided we should be facing the window while jogging on the treadmill. Great. I love the scenery too but now we have to turn it around. So we turn it around. Done. Lemonade please!

Instructions are very well written – insert metal cast extension into metal cast on the left. Repeat on right. Sounds so easy. If the damn screw fits perfectly yes but this one took little bit of tweaking. Argh! Done. Right side done. I already hate this treadmill. Imagine working out during my precious ass-on-couch time. Oh well…there are bigger tragedies in life. I can’t think of anything right away but there are. J So done with 2 instructions and now the platform had two metal hands fitted on both sides to support the console (yes you have to picture a treadmill at this time if you haven’t done it already). My wife who decided it was a good time to review the instructions we have completed so far, found out we had screwed up. The damn bolt which we screwed in with great difficulty had to really go in the back and not the front. What? We have to loosen what I tightened like there is no tomorrow? Alright…you gotto do what you gotto do. Done. Phew!

Now the console…you might think that it should be easy but only if the freaking console would be properly aligned to the metal rods. They are but only once you screw all them half way in. They had so generously left that out of the instructions. So after much cursing and fist-thro-air(can’t do fist through wall) we got the console in. It was 11pm. Next instruction – screw the handle bars to the sides of the console. Wait a minute. Those bolts had to go in the back which means we have to remove the bolt that was already swapped once. Holy Canoli…is this a joke? Again?

Alright I call it a night. My wife agrees since she too had done considerable amount of work to get this freaking thing assembled. So there it stays staring at us with its wrongly fitted bolts and nuts. As I return to home today I am picturing myself going through some more nuts and bolts tonight. Maybe it would turn out better. Maybe not. All I hope is I will be done tonight and can start working out tomorrow. Yeah, that is what I am looking forward to. What has the world come to in this New Year!

To be continued…..

India 2006 continued

This is the latest response I got for my question - "The boom in the civilian-commercial aircraft sector in India also crossed my mind. The nuclear deal with US...and of course, Shashi Tharoor....Another thought (somewhat related) is that when I saw the huge number of Indians here now in US- most of them so professional and so well qualified, I wondered what India would be if all their expertise were put to use to benefit our country and what will it take to do that and why that is not the case!!!!"

I like the way this person thinks. Interesting question towards the end. Watched the movie swades? There are quite a few good quotes/observations. One among them is this - "apne aangan ka diya giving light to neighbour's house". Pretty self-explainatory.

Here are my thoughts about the last response - It doesn't cover every angle but it is something that has been on my mind for a while.
I think there are benefits from people going abroad and working hard and providing for their families. We want to be a country willing to learn and grasp everything good out there. People who study and work here learn to be more courteous, tolerant, result oriented and ambitious. We need to take those values back. I think people who wish to do good and bring changes in out country should do it. Waiting for a revolution will take ages. If you think you can make a difference, well you should make a difference. (I guess I am digressing a bit)

One of the other scenes I liked in the movie Swades was when the village heads tell that no matter what India is the best because we have sanskar and parampara. This scene really stays in my mind after my last visit to India. I was caught in a oldies discussion. At my wife's place. Her dad and his friends were talking about politics, home and abroad. Towards the end of a long discussion of how bad India's roads are, hospitals are etc etc, one of them said - "no matter what India is the best because we got great culture and values and we respect our parents. In America kids throw parents out of the house". This caught my attention. It was jtust like the movie. People want to stay in denial. Hold on to their false ego. Of course I am no shah rukh khan to rebel against those oldies and lecture them. (And besides I was at my in-laws place). But that has to be changed. We need to understand that we can improve. Don't say everything is bad but don't say no matter what we are the best either. I think the newer generation who are here are best equipped to change that attitude. We as a country should realize that we can improve before starting to do anything. Accepting that we have culture and values but lack in many others things is the first step. We have potential but need to accept that we have weaknesses and are willing to improve. That is what professional and well qualified people who live and work outside the country can do for India.

Sorry...table is reserved!

India has long ways to go when it comes to providing real solutions to real problems. The OBC reservation bill for instance...I think it is a mistake, a grave mistake. When this bill takes effect everywhere next year, 49% of the seats will be reserved. Students who don't get a reserved seat will have to try harder and be prepared to be disappointed and frustrated. Apparently, merit and hard-work don't matter as much anymore.

The reservation bill is of course aimed to uplift the "oppressed" lower caste citizens who have suffered 2000 yrs of discrimination and rejection that they need all the help they can get at this time. I think it is our failure that even after 58 years of independence we have to give free rides to uplift citizens. Do we want to build a generation based on free rides or a generation based on merit? Do we want to cripple hard working students by medieval-age policies?

From what I understand this bill does two things - gives creamy layer an absolute free ride and gives the government some ammunition to respond to critics questioning their contribution. So creamy layer. For folks who don't understand this. Creamy layer example - children of OBC parents who are doctors, judges, ministers etc etc. So their parents got into medical school because of reservation, graduated, found a job because of reservation(maybe) and make enough money to raise a family and provide for them. Their children grew up with every opportunity they needed. But since this bill considers them at par with the genuinely poor lower caste citizens, they get an absolute free ride. I think most of the seats will be filled by free riders. That is a very sad deal.

About the second thing the bill does. Millions of Indians live in poverty. Our great economic growth in the last few years didn't make a difference to millions of people who still live in total poverty. This bill will not help them. People who don't have food to eat, water to drink don't care about a medical seat "reserved" for them. Our economic growth is mostly limited to cities and towns. Do the villages have enough water for everyone? Electricity? Health care? People in villages need jobs. Let the people help themselves. Build infrastructure in rural India. That can use the work force in the villages. Bring agricultural reforms that actually helps the farmers and not the middle man and government. For instance I know that by growing paddy(rice) in my village you cannot make enough money. But the price of rice in your super market is not dropping. It is rising. They blame it on gas prices, taxes, warehousing problem etc etc. Solve those problems.

So if you find a minister who can eaten up half the treasury and ask him what he and his party contributed, he would proudly say they cleared a reservation bill which uplifts and poor and gives opportunities to the poor. Opportunities...what a joke!

I have seen poor people in my village stay poor over the years. If the reservations are supposed to uplift the poor, why are they still poor? Why didn't they go to schools and colleges? I don't know about everyone's case but I know some of them had to go to work instead of school. They went to work because their parents couldn't find work jobs that provide for the whole family. They still do the same kind of work as their parents did and can't provide enough for their family. The system clearly failed.

Reservations might help but not the way it has been drafted. This is mostly for the creamy layer and that just sucks! We need reforms that empower people not give them free rides. We need to be a nation built on strength not weakness. Hard working students are not asking for a helping hand but they don't want their legs cut off either!

I feel sad as I think about the hard working students who are preparing to be disappointed and frustrated. I feel helpless when I should actually try to do something. But what? Am I doing anything? Can I do anything? A question we should all ask ourselves. This bill will be India's biggest mistake in many years to come and right now we are just looking at it wide-eyed and helpless...Our silence is worse than the government's policies.

As Martin Luther King said, In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Today I hate my silence! You should too!

India 2006

What comes to your mind when you think of India in the year 2006? I posted that question to about 2 dozen people and got a dozen responses already. Overwhelming. :) It was my personal survey and I have got some interesting elobrate responses so far. My response to those folks is - please blog.

So here are some -

"Mumbai blasts were really unfortunate....very unfortunate"

"Increasing number of indians are getting optimistic abt their future. Plus india received a lot of recognition on the world stage. The successful passage of the nuclear deal is just one instance. As the say, the tiger has woken up..."

"RESERVATION - oh my blood boils at the very mention of this topic and Congress could do it one more time!!! indian youth is tryin hard - day in and out to take where our country stands in the globe Today and these sick politicians only care for their dirty politics without caring how these idiotic decisions will impact india's future!!!"

"Reservation Bill for IIT and AIIM etc. SHoudnt have passed this law."

"The first thing that came to my mind were some of the major deals that Indian steel companies did, buying up other major steel companies around the world, for some reason, this came as a sign of great growth to me. (also reflected by the growth in indian economy)."

"Improving Indian Legal system (I was surprised beyond belief with the legal system in India when some well known people were convicted of their crimes and brought to justice by the legal department...examples in case, Sanjay Dutt, Navjot Singh Siddu, Manu Sharma (Jesica Lal case), and Shibbu Soren)"

"Uneducated (when someone supposedly tampered with B.R.Ambedkar's(BRA) statue in Kanpur, in Maharashtra alone the common public followers of BRA destroyed public property worth 2.5 crores in 2 days...mind u we could've made a gold statue of BRA in that money, and I'm not even counting the other states and the troubles faced by other common people...this is un-education at its peak)"

"Opening of Indian Skies. Improvement of aviation in India."

"Dual-citizenship. Now I can be a american citizen and still keep my Indian citizenship"

"Pathetic Indian Politics (I have tons of stories on this, even though I've only stayed here for two and half months. A simple problem in Chennai is after and during monsoon rains, the roads are always flooded with water, and stagnates beyond imagination. Even though this is a known issue, none of the moronic politicians here pay attention to it. The most basic infrastructure in India needs some major attention and revamp, if not we're farther away than our so called global goals.)"

"Number of people who died in the bomb blast which happened in Mumbai locals."

"economic growth because of the growth in the IT sector in India."

To be continued....

Blame...a game we all play!

I have read somewhere that there are two types of people, the ones who take responsibility and the ones who don't. The ones who don't take responsibility blame others for everything. Blame the government for economy, blame politicians for corruption, blame the employer for your dissatisfied job and so on. So...how does it help? Other than a temporary relief nothing!

So although I have a good life there are few things that are quite not where I want them to be. Well, we all do else we would just be one big happy world. How bad would that be? :) I have my own excuses for many things. For instance, I put on extra pounds in the last couple of years and I blame it on my wife's superior culinary skills. She of course thinks I am lazy but I decided to stick with my excuse. It gives me temporary relief. Sure does. Excuses...excuses...But that's not good. If I stop giving excuses and be responsible about it I can have a healthier life. That is just one example of my tardy excuse. But who is perfect huh? Argh! Another excuse.

History shows that people who have done great things did it against all odds. They don't blame anyone. Sam Walton's Made in America is a great book. No blame games. He knew what he had to do. He had many problems, many hurdles but he overcame them and now we have Walmart. History does teach us many things.

So what blame does is lead you away from the actual objective. We lose sight of what we really set out to seek. We now have excuses, somebody to blame and we feel much better. Ah...gain without pain! But don't get me wrong. Sometimes there are assh**** who deserve every blame you throw at them but the blame game needs to go. We are now a society playing the blame game everywhere.

So how do I change? A positive attitude? That can help. Ah too vague. I can get that from a cereal box! Well, I think taking responsibility and shedding the ego will surely help. Taking on responsiblity doesn't mean we fuc*** up in the first place. It shows we are mature enough to handle the situation and we believe that we are problem solvers! We should be a society of problem solvers and not blamers. Ego...drop it.

Well, I will only know if I can if I try. And I am going to...

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go" - T. S. Elliot

Faith...

I just started reading "End of Faith" by Sam Harris. A very bold book which says how Faith is going to lead to our self-destruction. Yeah, I was not kidding when I said it was bold.

It is some heavy reading but quite intriguing. Usually, when I read a book I am looking for that one thing which can capture my attention and make me think. So when I start reading a book I am just reading along initially, just like eating pop corn. But then something comes up that intrigues me or amuses me. Get that sudden rush of blood. Bang...now I am really into it.

So this book, well I start reading and he is making some bold statements but yeah OK. I still just read along. And then I came upon the attention grabber. So he says what if the whole world woke up one morning and nobody remembers anything. Not a thing. Read, write, drive cars..everything. Well, what would man try to learn first? What is of relevance now? Well, once we figure out how to grow stuff and eat we would start reading books. Which book would you turn to? The religious ones? Or the ones that tells how you can fix and run the machines. If they were to rearrange the library then, where would the religious books go? Interesting....yes, think.

I am not an atheist, in fact far from it. I believe in god and I am glad I believe in Him because to me that makes a big difference. We live in a world full of uncertainties. There are no guarantees in life. And I want to believe that there is a greater power looking over me who is beyond these uncertainties, beyond the worldly limits. I need that faith. I need that belief. Is it because I feel insecure. Maybe..maybe not. But I draw some strength from that belief. That faith helps me through tough times.

I still have most of the book left to read so let's see how it goes.

It ain't your daddy's train!

I hate something about my train rides. Seat Hoggers! Yeah those damn seat hoggers on the train. You stand in the train station freezing your ass off and get into the train only to deal with seat hoggers who have colder hearts! I usually try to get on to the upper level and sit on the cross-seats so that I don't have to deal with these knuckleheads but on the occasions that I had to resort to the lower level...it sucks.
So I got into the train today. Sat next to this guy reading his newspaper. Yeah fine, I sit down next to him and start reading my book. Ok, he gives me the cold stare like I had just seated myself on his living room couch and grabbed his beer. Well, fine, I go on reading the book and every few seconds he has to look at me. WTF! Crap, I am trying to unwind after work and this guy is giving me cold stares? How cruel is this world? Usually, I would have put up a fight in this weird cold-stare-for-seat contest but whatever. I moved to another seat. Enjoy the whole seat you damn seat hogger.
There are others who leave their bags on the seat. Sure, that is subtle enough. Some leave their coffee or food on the seat. Anything to keep the whole seat for their sorry big ass!
So my message to these seat hoggers - move your freakin ass! It ain't your daddy's train..

WFH

So...for guys who drag their asses to work everyday, WFH means working-from-home. For the wise asses who WFH when they are too lazy to show up at work - how do you sleep at night? :)

As ridiculous as it might sound, WFH is the mostly commonly used lame ass excuse for not showing up at work, second only to dog-ate-my-homework. So last week, Chicago got hit by a snow storm and I couldn't make it to work. Well, I didn't want to use my vacation and it was officially a very working day, I said I am going to work from home. So I sent off an email to by boss saying I am WFH.

Ok...now that it's settled I figured I should move on with the day's tasks. First things first, switch on TV. My wife who had to work from home too gives me a stare that really says "u gotto be kidding me". So I flip through the channels. Ok, Monty, Jerry Springer, Judge Judy, Judge Hachet. Hmm...Five minutes into that I wanted to run for the door and somehow make it to work. Daytime TV is the single motivation factor you need to show up at work everyday. But I decided to improvise instead. PS2. Oh yeah, never lets me down. Now my wife is shaking her head in total disbelief.
9:15am - Madden 05 Green Bay packers vs San Diego Chargers!
9:30am - I am losing...
9:45am - I tied it in the 3rd quarter
9:55am - lost the game, threw away the controller in disappointment.

Hmm...well, maybe I should work. So like everyone, I start my day's work by opening my inbox. Oooh, we got some interesting emails. Responding to emails gives a feeling that you are actually working so it is pretty gratifying. Ok, that's done.

Next...well, let's see what going on around the world. But before that, let me get some coffee.
10:35am - Good coffee.
10:42am - Need some more.
10:50am - Some more emails. Mostly, single-line insignificant responses to my emails. "Thanks." "Welcome" "Get lost" "lol". I mean really a whole email for lol? No, I do not care if you laughed out loud.

11am - I am hungry.
My wife by now has tuned herself out of my madness and working hard. She said I was the worst WFH ever. Fine...
11:15am - Done eating leftover pizza. Now I am hungry for revenge.
Madden Madden 05 Green Bay packers vs San Diego Chargers REMATCH!
11:45am - Victory can't taste better! Gotto love Brett Favre!

12:00pm - Oooh, nearing lunch time. Yes, the pizza was breakfast really.

My wife after working hard since 9am wanted to go out for lunch. They had kinda cleared the snow by then so I figured it might be a good change of "pace". But I was determined to actually do some work once I got back.

2:00pm - back home after Japanese lunch. The roads are so F****** up!

2:15pm - Email, news...
2:30pm - TV is on. Is that Oprah? Did she lose weight? Whatever...5 mins into that I am on the couch like Homer Simpson. I get violently woken up by a projectile thrown with great anger and strong determination. It was a cushion thrown by my wife to stop my snoring. How long was I out?
3:30pm - That's it. I cannot do it anymore. Sent an email "hey guys, I am signing off early. Have a great weekend". Yes, it was friday.

Later that evening, I felt bad...really bad. I am usually a hard working guy but what I went through that day without actually doing anything productive. So I learned my lesson. WFH is not for me...for sure! My wife agreed instantly...

So now when I see a WFH email from someone I am thinking...yeah rite!

I found books...

Yes, as I had suspected I was not able to continue writing after the few initial posts. Well, they are mostly rants so let's just leave it at that. So yes, it ain't easy to continue writing. At least to write something you want people to actually read. :) How do professional writers do it? Well...that is why they are paid the big bucks while I am scribbling away on cyber space.


Few months back we moved from the city to the burbs. I hated the idea and made sure it was not hidden from anyone. Yeah, I can be a real jerk sometimes. I didn't want to move away from the cool Chicago downtown to the burbs. I dreaded the train ride to work everyday. City living was hip although I never did anything cool. Oh well...So we moved and I dreaded the train ride even more. I thought it was such a waste of time. But I started doing something I have hardly done in my life and probably would have not done but for my 45 minute train ride to work...Read books. Oh I did read before but everything online. News, history, sports everything from web. I still think reading on the web is good but books are really more personal. I have read some great books...yeah, all the favorite ones in my profile are so so recent. :) Now I love my train rides.

And the moral of the story is - drink less coffee during the day so that you don't have to stay up late and write about your new found respect for books on blogger! Ugh!

Comments, blog settings and more thoughts...

Great comment there Jai*. I am glad the first ever comment on this blog is so well-written, crisp and absolutely thought provoking! I totally agree with you about the media taking the back seat instead of doing what they are supposed to do - to stand up for the people and voice our opinion!

I made a slight change to the settings. Anonymous comments can be posted but I have enabled moderation to make sure it doesn't get out of hand, if you know what I mean.

Tomorrow the indian PM Dr. Singh will be attending the G8 summit and is expected to make a strong statement against the attacks. Mere words will not do it but if they are strong it would be a good start for him. The Indian media has however decided to focus on auxillary news. Rediff is filled with articles that quote the so-called party leaders and ministers. Let's examine couple of them, shall we?

Murali Manohar Joshi - Senior BJP leader. - "If Pakistan thinks that country is incomplete without Kashmir, let us make it loud and clear to them that in that case India is also incomplete without Pakistan," the BJP leader thundered.

Huh? What? He might have "thundered" but he sounds like he has just been hit by a lightning. Dude, what you said doesn't even make sense leave alone provoke thought or action! Either that or the reporter screwed up the translation (Hey Rediff - are you letting www.dawn.com reporters report for you too?)

Abu Azmi - Samajwadi Party MP - "Muslims are made to feel as if all of them are terrorists. I would like to tell the government that if 20 lakh Muslims pour onto the streets, it will be very difficult to control the situation," Azmi told reporters.

Great. So what are you implying Mr. MP? Turn this whole thing around and make it a communal issue. That should do wonders. It will shift what little focus the ministry has and worry about how to make peace with this dude so that they don't lose the 20 lakh votes. You are thinking "wait, wait, wait...He never mentioned votes. What are you talking about?" Yes, I am sure they are more worried about the votes and majority balance than possible communal riots.

So what is happening is these leaders are just trying to get back their position in the government. To them this is an opportunity to topple the government, regain power and make more money! What a disgrace!

Former premier of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto says she would close down any terrorist camp operating in the country if she returned to power. Hmm, so you are saying there are terrorist camps that can be closed down? Interesting!

I hope the moronic ministers/leaders don't turn this situation to a communial issue and shift the whole focus. We need focus! Remember the lives that were lost.

I quote Marlon Brando in Superman(1978) - "They can be great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son. "
Unfortunately, we don't have a superman coming to our rescue. It is just us. Do you see the light? Do you see the way? Ask yourselves....

Jai Hind!

*Jai (not real name) is someone I know but we haven't spoken in a very long time till I received his phone call last night. Great surprise! If you haven't read his comments please read it in the posting "Zidane...."

Anger, Zidane, Laloo and Angelina Jolie

So we all get angry. I do. I get angry more often I guess. But I can calm myself down pretty soon too. I can hold a grudge sometimes but anger, eh no. It goes up and then low...Well, that's about my anger level and it ain't going to bring any world peace so moving on.

Did you follow FIFA world cup? I am sure you did unless you are in the US of course. I just don't get it. Question to USA - how can you not be the world champions in the one truly world-wide game but be world champions in everything else. Basketball (nba), football (nfl), baseball (mlb) and ice hockey*(nhl). Oh I know, me me me me!!!! Because....because....you are the only country playing. Sure, that's one way to be world champions. However, I should add that the above games are played at the highest level and I love watching NBA and NFL. Recently, I asked someone "do you follow soccer" and his response was "soccer?...eh no...too slow for me...i watch my son's soccer games". No, his son doesn't play for the US soccer team. He is 7. "too slow for me". Are you kidding me? And you find baseball real fast eh? - no offense to baseball fans. So anyway...

Ok, you followed soccer; then you know what went on in the finals between France and Italy. Italy won, went to penalty shoot up, Zidane got a red card, french fans booed...wait, wait, wait - Zidane got a red card? Hey, didn't you read that Italy won? That's ok, tell us about Zidane. Seriously, that is how the media is treating this news. If you google Italy's victory is gone into history books but Zidane head-butting incident still reigns as top story. Well, alright...let's jump into right way. So why did Zidane head-butt Italy's Materazzi? I have read few reports but the 2 most common reports - 1. Materazzi called Zidane a 'terrorist'. 2. Materazzi insulted Zidane's mother and sister. Materazzi - not cool! So Zidane got pissed and that lead to the infamous head-butting incident. Now that's anger! Does he regret it? Don't know. He got sent off the game which went into PSO and France missed one of their shots and france lost. Who knows. If Zidane was still in, he might have scored that. Anyway.....

So Zidane's got anger. For being called a terrorist or because his mother and sister were insulted. Being called a terrorist...Hmm...not freedom fighters like www.dawn.com likes to write. Damn, we need that anger in India's leadership. Let's get Zidane to pay a visit to the Dr. Singh, Shivraj Patil and laloo Yadav. If they don't listen to him, give them some head-butting treatment. Although, he might want to go easy on Laloo. The guy has eaten up all of Bihar's treasury and lot of central ministry's treasury so might throw up anytime. Ewwww, on that thought. Damn sissy! So message to the indian leadership - wake the F up! Do something. Those are our brothers and sisters that died. Show some anger! Head-butt the sh** out of LeT and SIMI and all those cowards!

Here is an interesting link my friend sent me about the Zidane incident.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/13/zidane_headbutt_outrage/

On another topic - Angelina Jolie is starring in the movie they are making about Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and murder by pakistani militants. Yeah, I said pakistani militants - that's how it was written in E! news. Go fight with them if you have a problem. So the pakistani militants, LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) kidnapped and beheaded this american journalist and they are making a movie based on his wife's best seller. That's great. At the very least american people watching the movie will curse the crap out of pakistani militants! Gee, if only our leadership acts I wouldn't have to resort to this! Shame on you! Wake up, will you!

TGIF!
Jai Hind!

* NHL - whenever played!

Yeah Right!

It is sometimes interesting to read pakistani news websites. The "news" is "reported" in a very amateurish language and sometimes the headlines will have nothing to do the news. Please don't counter-attack by saying that's how I write. If you compare a leading newspaper article with my scribbles, you got issues pal!

So try www.dawn.com. Oh wait, I will get a better link in a second.

The reason I came up on this subject is this - http://www.dawn.com/2006/07/13/top2.htm
hmm...well...hmm...ok read it again and I am sure your reaction is WTF! So I read dawn once in a while and the thing I consistently notice is this - what we term as terrorist will show up as freedom fighters in there. That's a good spin. Whatever makes them happy!

And the website - Jeezaloo! Somebody get them a freaking web developer! Don't center align the whole article. At least don't center align the whole front page of the website. WebDev 101 comments - Not Cool!! It is a damn piece of "news" item, not a classified ad for free Pizzas. And will somebody please tell them it is not cool to put a real annoying color ad between every headline. Seriously, I could eat an HTML book and throw up better crap. For the copyright police - I dont think that is my line but I don't know who to credit it to so chill.

Now I have comments about rediff but dawn needs few web developers, reporters, spell-checkers a.k.a proof-readers and a lot of unbiased approach before being mentioned in the same context of any other newspaper.