Rahul becoming Gandhi!

It really pains to see how this 'Mumbai for Marathi' issue is playing out.

Just when I was thinking Rahul may bring some luster to political filigree I am getting convinced otherwise. Rahul asked at a public meeting, 'who killed terrorists during 26/11?' pointing towards the NSG commandos.

Well its pity that such potential young leaders can not differentiate between National assets and National integrity. By no means Raj is equitable to Rahul, and so I don't think Rahul should have dug that deep, but no matter who is digging National-Integrity is getting buried!

Sense of responsibility.. lesson for others(?)

What a typical case of Nooriya havelliwala! 27-year old damsel was partying on Saturday night, not so late.. just until 1 am. But at 2 am she finds herself locked-up! For she mowed down 2 people, seriously injured 4 police-men on duty by ramming her SUV into their car, at the speed of @150 Kmph!

The police report said she was drunk heavily (9 times of allowed limit; 450 ml) and that's what made her loose control of her car. Beer cans were found lying on the back seat of her car, oh sorry not beer cans, but 'Open' beer cans. She was charged with culpable Homicide amounting murder. As expected her parents have come out in her defense. The most audacious argument by her father is, the instrument to check alcohol content that was used, is broken! He was/is trying to make it a point that one who drink 450 ml of alcohol cant even walk and his daughter was even wearing high-heels. What a ludicrous argument is this. Icing on the cake comes from her mother, where she claims that her dear daughter doesn't consume alcohol really, just drinks beer once in a while. I am so upset on these comments that less said better.

I have really grown suspicious these days about the parents only! I don't believe that these are well behaved kids, and mostly due to their parents. The kind of freedom they are enjoying could easily astray them into the wonderland. This is not out of any jealousy but out of sheer pity for them and concern for victims.

I had an argument with a good friend of mine and he was vociferously against my stand of anti-parents. I agree that not all the kids are like that but I feel we need to analyze it case by case basis and extend the gamut of law to include even parents/guardians or those who are mostly responsible for the life style of the person. That way at least others will get serious about their kids. Its when your own a** is on fire only will you 'Think' about what has happened.

I strongly vote for infusing some sense of responsibility into the society and even if it means by coerction I am for it, for I sincerely believe that we are very near the point of total collapse of social responsibility structure!

My Name is, Indian!

Three years ago, at the beginning there was lot of uproar about IPL but once begun, although in infancy we been nurturing it as an adored child! We also have made a successful international tour with it!

But now its the time for some maturity I suppose. Scars of 26/11 are deep and none needs to be convinced of the stubborn stand India is seeking against the scar-inflicting nation. Just when I was to get convinced that Individual nationalism is a thing of past for India, I was awoken from this nightmare by recent IPL players auction.

Purportedly none of the Pakistani players were selected by any of the IPL teams. Now I am not too naive to believe that those team owners were exercising divine love for their country. I am sure those were mostly business driven decisions, but realize that if they think that by hiring those players their business will be impacted, it certainly means that they were aware that public opinion is much against those players. Nonetheless political controversy could also be motivating factor but I guess they were too unlucky to avoid that quagmire. But at the end as of now there are no Pakistani players playing in IPL!

Just about when the fire was getting doused, few heads are calling it a foul play. Mr. Khan, Shahrukh Khan, thinks that IPL did wrong thing. Alright Mr. Shahrukh, so you think that no matter what other country does to your country, we must abide by righteousness. What a hypocrisy Mr. Khan!

I think what IPL did, for whatever reason they did it, they did it right. They need not be sorry about it at all and they can always throw the 'Business reasons' to pacify those barking mongrels. I feel that this is a chance that Indians can exhibit their nationality and it should not be intrude upon or toiled with. Mr. Khan better keep mum when Mr. India is speaking!

Beaware H1-bs!

Today a dear friend of mine notified me of this news - http://www.murthy.com/nflash/nf_h1conc.html

This initially infuriated me, I mean what is wrong with USCIS? Why is it sending legal contract workers back to their native country (OR India!?) all of a sudden? But then I thought, from American perspective, that actually is a right step. I mean if their economy is in shambles I do not see any befitting reason why they should entertain foreign workers. This by no means exonerate anyone who have misused this system to its full stretch. In conclusion I suppose, both the sides were right and wrong. USCIS offered this system and then turned their blind eye to its misuse so long as they were getting profits out of it. Go Capitalism! We Were using this system because we were getting monitory benefits from it. But since USA's own house is in disarray they are turning the knob on H1-bs and I guess we should byte the bullet.

But then, is government of USA doing right for the native business? Would big clients in USA like IBM, Bank of America Or Walmart can afford to loose this workforce? I am pretty sure they will start talking back to the government about this worrisome attitude of theirs! After all are they not capitalists? Also, another practical matter is, if a consultant is re-entering into USA what a mess it is for him to get turned away! All his liabilities and personal items just go unaccounted for. I think if USCIS really cares for these people (which I personally don't think they do) they should let them into this country and put them on leash and ask them to leave in a amount of time.

'A decision is made to assure a fair probe...' said the spokeperson.

I have read quite a lot ironical statements, but the one in the title takes the cake!
This is in context with the Haryana rape case (http://www.ibnlive.com/news/cbi-to-probe-haryana-rape-case/67244-3.html). In a very shocking ('shocking' not by value, but by number of incidents) incident, a lady in Haryana was supposedly raped by two constables. The lady, to my surprise, ran to police and lodged a complaint and (I am pretty sure) not to her surprise, no action was taken. But then she takes a very bold (and perceivably unfair for her young daughters) step and inhales the poison. Wait, that's not what bold is referring to, the bold step is yet to come. The lady then runs to police-station and gives her apathy to the police officers in their face and ends her note sharing that she has already taken poison. Unfortunately care-takers of society failed to take care of this lady! May her soul rest in peace.
The lady ended her embarrassment with taking the most difficult decision; but we (you and me) are left with the MOST embarrassed face, especially when we face those little two girls!
And as if that's not enough for us, one of the spokes person goes on records to say that,
'A decision as been taken to assure a fair probe into the matter....' What the hell? now Judiciary has to take a decision to assure fair probe, doesn't it actually stands for it?

Becomming Jane

High expectations always disappoint you and no expectations always surprise you! I recently got a chance to experience the second part of this. I was strolling through the lanes of Hollywood movie rental, and a movie name ‘Becoming Jane’ just caught my eyes. There was something about the face of Jane (played by Anne Hathaway) that just forced me to pick it up. When I came home after running that evening, lying on sofa when I was about to doze off I thought I might just keep this movie playing and so I did.

To my surprise the movie turned out SO great! First of all, I am always thrilled by Vatican style English (or actually any language in classic style, to put it in general). Then the cinematography of the movie was stunning! The 18th century style studio sets they had installed were just perfect and were greatly complemented by the immaculate performance by the crew! Few shots, like when Jane and her sister Cassandra are walking on the sea-shore OR when Tom is walking behind the stagecoach while Jane is leaving him for good.. a wonderful direction, Master-piece of art I must say.

It would be a gross error to call it a romantic movie, but the fist part of the movie certainly leaves that chocolettee, romantic taste on your palate to survive through the agony coming its way. The screenplay is just nice too… everything is jelled so well that you have to be conscious to complement the dialog writing skills!

All in all it’s a great experience to watch that movie. I loved it and I would recommend it to everyone, although make sure that you are not in haste…. It’s a movie which runs at its pace and if you don’t get involved into it, it’s a waste of your time.

Kudos to Julian Jarrold!

Sex Education in schools.

I am supporter of having sex-education in schools. But it is critically important that we think through what we going to offer before we start passing on any judgments.

Sex education is a need of time. The kind of society we are developing into is probably not the best one that we should offer to future generations. So bracing our forth-coming generations against our wrong-doings is our moral responsibility. BJP is vehemently against introducing it in schools with the argument that it is against the culture! What a lame argument. Even if I am to buy into the supplest definition of ‘Culture’, I don’t think sex education goes against it. Ramdev baba, the Yoga guru also passed out a statement that instead of teaching sex-education, government should teach Yoga. What a pity! I would have been much happy if he would have used ‘and’ in place of ‘instead of’. I do not under-estimate the power of Yoga or challenge his knowledge about it (when he says that Yoga can put sex-anxiety in teens at rest), but I don’t think Yoga is a ‘replacement’ in any sense.

I understand that there are infinite things to think about before to actually introduce it. The age of students when we want to introduce it is equally important with what contents are to be introduced. We have to consider from the stand point of teachers as well! It wouldn’t be surprise or unexpected if the present teachers are un-comfortable teaching that to students. Either we will need to have separate task-force for this OR we will need to train fresh Teachers about how to teach it. The techniques of how one should teach material in class are also worth pondering over. Students are not going to take anything serious, let it be sex-education or political history! Besides, they are quite likely to embarrass the teacher than to not pay any heed.

So we certainly need a well-thought solution in place, but turning the option flat out down is not the way.