tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37869159499753381482024-02-07T02:15:46.398-08:00DiceA Self-Surveyspudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-4990549830563289022011-01-26T16:36:00.000-08:002011-01-26T16:37:12.677-08:00<script src="http://charts.wikinvest.com/wikinvest/wikichart/javascript/scripts.php" type="text/javascript"></script><div id="wikichartContainer_D68D3547-4D32-39F3-5A54-C4E6D11C1729"><div id="wikichartContainer_D68D3547-4D32-39F3-5A54-C4E6D11C1729_noFlash" style="width:400px; display:none;"><a href="http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/"><img src="http://cdn.wikinvest.com/wikinvest/images/adobe_flash_logo.gif" alt="Flash" style="border-width: 0px;"/><br/>Flash Player 9 or higher is required to view the chart<br/><strong>Click here to download Flash Player now</strong></a></div></div><script type="text/javascript">if (typeof(embedWikichart) != "undefined") {embedWikichart("http://charts.wikinvest.com/WikiChartMini.swf","wikichartContainer_D68D3547-4D32-39F3-5A54-C4E6D11C1729","400","400",{"rollingDate":"5 days","ticker":"NASDAQ:MSFT","showNewsIcons":"true","embedCodeDate":"2011-1-26","partner":"wikinvest"},{});}</script><div style="font-size:9px;text-align:right;width:400px;font-family:Verdana"><a href="http://www.wikinvest.com/chart/NASDAQ:MSFT" style="text-decoration:underline; color:#0000ee;">View the full MSFT chart</a> at <a href="http://www.wikinvest.com/">Wikinvest</a></div>spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-88207764771616864052010-12-15T19:40:00.000-08:002010-12-15T20:04:41.629-08:00Keeping with the timesI know its not fair, and I know it hurts. But it got to be done. I didn't want to and I wished I didn't have to. But growing up is all about making hard decisions. <br /><br />I never thought I would have to bid it farewell, but I need to keep with the times, not grow old and therefore I'm making this painful decision to say bye to blogger and hello to tumblr.<br /><br />For all those who've been reading me, or interested in what's been up - akshita.tumblr.com is where you'll find it all. Its a lot more casual and I'm incredibly regular. <br /><br />I'm sure I'll miss my blog here and I won't be surprised if I come back here to share with it...<br /><br /><b> akshita.tumblr.com </b> Yay :)spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-49946797503017515272010-08-31T22:15:00.000-07:002010-09-01T13:48:14.173-07:00A so-called summer in San FranLet me start with a short background. I am working in SF, in the ghetto to say the very least, where drug addicts roam and homeless people sleep. I live in a house in a predominantly residential area with a little nightclub nearby called "Tropi-Gala" that plays some sweet and challenging Latino beats. After a month in this queer place, where anything goes and nerdy is the new black, I have a few observations I thought would be fun to share.<div>
<br /></div><div>1. The TV conundrum.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Last week, while looking desperately for parking for my car, I saw this guy drive up, take the spot I was vying for, get out of the car with a TV, leave it on the street and drive off. For fear of a bomb attack, I chose to not park my car in that spot and parked elsewhere. The next morning, I returned to the same street to find the TV still waiting there. Funnily enough, a week later I saw two TV sets just lying on the street, back to back, with no apparent purpose! I am not sure why this happens, or if its a common practice but apparently its a done deal!!</div><div>
<br /></div><div>2. Street Cleaning</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Those familiar with some parts of the city might remember this nightmare. Every street has a certain date and time when the street is cleaned. During this, generally 2-3 hour period, cars cannot be parked on the street. Since there is a perpetual dearth of parking spots after 6pm, the only streets that have any empty spots are the ones with street cleaning the next morning. So for a WHOLE WEEK, the only place I could park my car was streets like those. So every morning, I kicked my ass out of bed at 8.30am to find and re-park my car in a less tow-able area. It is brutal to have to have to wake up EVERY morning and waste fuel, battery and energy REPARKING your car!</div><div>
<br /></div><div>3. Homeless People</div><div>
<br /></div><div>They are a phenomenon. its a lifestyle. They wear their hair a certain way, flaunt their style with pride. There is an unsaid competition between the homeless people on who can come up with the most innovative money grabbing techniques. These guys will make posters, write cool notes, sing songs, dance, juggle balls. just about ANYTHING. There was this one lady on the sidewalk, who'd made a life-size poster with a lot of unusual comments written on it. She held it and sang and shook <i> every single day from 9 am to 1am <who>. She even had a chair, just in case she got tired. This is the modern day beggar. Innovative, with a chair! </who></i></div><div>
<br /></div><div>4. Supersize me</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Oh yes. I used to wonder, HOW does somebody eat 1500 calories in one meal from the comfort of my stingy singaporean portions, where you have to pay 50c for an extra grain of rice. These people really lay it on THICK. Weight Watchers says, "If you want to lose even a gram of fat, don't finish your meal. Carry a doggie bag wherever you go" Hell, yeah. If I ate more than a meal a day, i'd be consuming atleast 2500 calories. This is leaving out coffee, beer or cookies, the staple free food you get at events. No wonder Americans need to book 2 seats on an aeroplane. And alas, the healthiest meal costs the most. You can get a 1000 calorie meal for $4 but for a good 600 calorie pasta, you must pay atleast $15 <excluding></excluding></div><div>
<br /></div><div>5. Public Transport Hell</div><div>
<br />The caltrain be DAMNED. And I am serious. To get from a "city" that's 10 miles from another "city", there is ONE train that comes ONCE and hour. So yes, if you miss it. You wait. For an hour. At a Mcd. And consume a 600 calorie fries box. Hellz yeah. And to make things better, the cost of the ticket is by zone. To go from the last stop of zone 2 to first stop of zone 3 costs $4.50! So I have paid $4.50 for a 3 minute caltrain ride. I could have walked there!</div><div><div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.do">t</a><img src="http://www.wonderhowto.com/images/gfx/gallery/633892658535224610.jpg" /></div></div><div>
<br /></div></i>spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-87678359704886734372010-06-28T09:58:00.000-07:002010-06-28T10:39:43.718-07:00Do feminists wear make-up?For the longest time I believed that feminism was about being as gender neutral as possible. A true feminist would be strong, masculine and shed her stupid girly traits. It was demeaning to dress up, wear frills and put on make-up. I truly believed that the mark of a perfect feminist was one who wouldn't shed a tear, come what may. <div><br /></div><div>And one day, it hit me. I beg an to think truly about what feminism really meant to me. Was it being equal to a man, being able to step into his shoes and carry your bags, open your doors and pay all your bills? But if awoman were to try so hard to be like a man was it not belittling her own self? </div><div><br /></div><div>Women are made the way they are to serve their evolutionary purpose - nursing, child - rearing etc. To do these, carrying heavy objects was not a pre-requisite. Heavy lifting was left to the men, and rightfully so. After all, they were the ones hunting, bringing home the food. In this scenario, its more than fitting that women are more sensitive to their needs and the needs of others around them, more attuned to their emotions and that of others, more empathetic and a whole host of qualities that come with their role in society way back in the cavemen days.</div><div><br /></div><div>Granted that today a lot of these functions are redundant - technology has stepped in and filled the shoes of both men and women in so many different ways! That said, somethings are better left to women and some to men. </div><div><br /></div><div>Back to my original train of thought, if the case is that women and men are supposed to serve a different role in society even today, why is it that women strive so hard to be equal to men. Why do they need to be equal. Equivalent, yes. But not equal. By equivalent I mean "Equal Pay and Equal Respect for Equal Work." Something that even today is not </div><div><br /></div><div>Think about every thing that is considered girly or feminine, and think about every big female leader : Margaret Thatcher - She was the epitome of stone-heartedness. Fondly called the IRON LADY, a name that screams all that is not feminine in the world. Indra Nooyi - sporting a short bob and manly suits, nobody recognizes an ounce of femininity in her demeanour. It is saddening that women have to shirk off all the qualities that make them female to be taken seriously at a male-dominated role. </div><div><br /></div><div>There is a massive need in the world to embrace female qualities as potential strengths and for women to not be apologetic of themselves. Isn't that the height of un-feminism?<br /><br />In my opinion, feminism is to be shamelessly female. To take 2 hours to get dressed, spend an hour on your hair, to cry when a movie's sad, to eject high-pitched sounds when excited and to be emo when something or somebody hurts you are part and parcel about being a women. These things do not define us, but they come with the territory. So why apologize, why shirk? Accept, embrace and just be yourself! That's what being a feminist is all about. </div>spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-22915664151941740582010-06-28T01:21:00.000-07:002010-06-28T01:22:15.111-07:00Starting TroubleMajor. Big Time. Plateau :(spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-77166435176577283412010-06-28T01:04:00.000-07:002010-06-28T01:13:57.451-07:0021st Century SlaveryHouse. One Tree Hill. True Blood. Heroes.<br /><br />It scares me how much of my life is influenced by the TV shows I watch. The undiscriminating watcher of mind-numbing shows that I am, I have one too many times allowed major life decisions to be dictated by the frame of mind that a TV show puts me into.<br /><br />My perpetual craving for some form of drama, most often satisfied by subconsciously envisioning myself as the protagonist of the said show, has led to far too many mess-ups and hindsight regrets.<br /><br />What really gets to me the most is the ease with these shows can alter my frame of mind and my philosophy and morals. It takes almost nothing to leave me more than mildly shaken about what I'm really all about.<br /><br />Giving up is not an option. Try as I might, they find me + haunt me = I'm stuck again, slave to the show.spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-83239603933714743072010-06-07T20:58:00.000-07:002010-06-07T21:43:47.538-07:00No we didn't table the chair !One week of chair-dom at the SMUN United Nations Security Council was an interesting experience, to say the very least. Over and above the eternal cliche of standing on the other side of the table, the opportunity offered a plethora of lessons to the novice that I was a mere 10 days ago.<br /><br />There were the added benefits of insulting the delegates and the chairs in parliamentary lingo, ticking them off for informalcy and non-usage of the personal pronoun. But the most beautiful and profound moment was watching the debate on a topic I had chosen evolve. From the early stages of the debate to the last tense moments, the most fascinating issues were addressed!<br /><br />The topic : Responsibility to Protect. At what point is it OK for a country to breach the sovereignty of another?<br /><br />Consider Myanmar, there were thousands starving, homeless and in the depths of a humanitarian crisis. But the junta had the audacity to RESIST aid being offered. The net death toll was over 138,000, blatant evidence to the severity of this natural disaster. It is not a logical move for Myanmar to resist the philanthropy of the international community. While they finally conceded and allowed India to offer aid, the initial move of the Burmese was appalling at the very least.<br /><br />Had they continued to turn down the relief offered by the international community, it would have been tantamount to genocide. Would it have been acceptable for the international community, obviously led by the United States, to intervene - diplomatically or undiplomatically? This was discussed at length by the committee and a detailed measuring instrument was deviced through which the severity of crisis could be judged and accordingly action would be taken.<br /><br />What was worthy of applause was the evident concurrence that sovereignty has to be reinterpret in the light of internal conditions and that it cannot be the zenith of authority. There evidently has to be some form of accountability to the international community and some responsibility and right that the latter enjoys by virtue of its membership to the UN.<br /><br />Another vital point of debate was the result of natural disasters. In case of a severe natural disaster, as in the case of Cyclone Nargis, is military intervention necessary, mandated or even considerable? Some nations, such as France and Bosnia & Herzegovina fought strongly for the cause of inclusion of natural disasters to the mandate of the Responsibility to Protect, however that was struck down by the sovereignty safeguarders like China.<br /><br />Issues like natural disasters fall largely under the purview of NGOs, however, it is worthwhile to ask if military troops might be capable of doing a more efficient job of reconstruction and rebuilding of disaster-torn areas.<br /><br />It is certainly a grey area, and it was absolutely mind-boggling to see a group of 17 year olds attempt to solve this issue in a systematic fashion, evidence of their maturity far beyond their years!spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-60432760387641663482010-03-21T04:20:00.000-07:002010-03-21T10:32:36.806-07:00Ten Things I love about Taipei<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FXUWRgKJEaGUKP5cn7cCLbIfZiw8E_wjwu6Qiy7Lp2J97yhaywL2CAs9HcR9HpslmCGiKR6SFGQQPBnv14liwZODkbUbPaeNn4ftSSGDzUpEdQ5XlehoPisRIrxA8jknmkUj4X-IVdxH/s1600-h/taipei_101_IMG_0924_IMG_0926.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FXUWRgKJEaGUKP5cn7cCLbIfZiw8E_wjwu6Qiy7Lp2J97yhaywL2CAs9HcR9HpslmCGiKR6SFGQQPBnv14liwZODkbUbPaeNn4ftSSGDzUpEdQ5XlehoPisRIrxA8jknmkUj4X-IVdxH/s320/taipei_101_IMG_0924_IMG_0926.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451132430107351698" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;">1. In <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Chiang</span> Kai <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Shek</span> Memorial Hall, the national monument of Taiwan, you find young dancers practicing in the MIDDLE of the national monument, children flying kites. To make it better, our hosts in Taipei managed to erect a DANCE FLOOR in the middle of Taiwan's NATIONAL MONUMENT. Beat that!<br /><br />2. Even though they are not in the UN, they are AWESOME! And a full-fledged country. And they have everything you could ever want...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAuoDTGex8C9yCSr-BEbZeRAX5ZhmTuQDaMl0V9OOrwmrhBt8jWBcVqQV8FxraMspBH-rrUzTFNQTIh5M-Wer43nRcbdI5ankobxU4ZRlbL90wnunPdkLR175HGw6VDNXtrQ9odR3_Q6Ne/s1600-h/Taipei+MRT.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 236px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAuoDTGex8C9yCSr-BEbZeRAX5ZhmTuQDaMl0V9OOrwmrhBt8jWBcVqQV8FxraMspBH-rrUzTFNQTIh5M-Wer43nRcbdI5ankobxU4ZRlbL90wnunPdkLR175HGw6VDNXtrQ9odR3_Q6Ne/s320/Taipei+MRT.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451132404043084130" border="0" /></a><br /><br />3. There is a QUEUE to ENTER the metro. Something even Singaporeans don't queue for!<br /><br />4. Say you want to go to "Sun <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Yat</span> Sen Memorial". You get it written down in Chinese from your Hotel and show the cab driver. He'll nod and say something TOTALLY different that sounds like "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Chee</span> Ling <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Waow</span>" and take you to the right place! I don't get it!<br /><br />5. Anytime I look mildly lost, a kind Taiwanese local who knows English and is miraculously going to the same place as me appears from nowhere to guide me to my destination!<br /><br />6. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Mochis</span> here are better than the ones in Japan :)<br /><br />7. The concept of Night Markets, open at 6<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">ish</span> and rocking till midnight! That's what I call a happening town<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY5jW3leNEXEInco4nRe5u7OCUVqiOXG8tBRBYsvFJj3rFRLLk6VpOi6vOZ0g-1VnJ6q1IK7zMJ08SiKfWK3aXjnXTCLZdtMEL7iyylaS99CiVG-528AOhzZU3T-47xiGX_oRzxs9zK6JP/s1600-h/jiufen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY5jW3leNEXEInco4nRe5u7OCUVqiOXG8tBRBYsvFJj3rFRLLk6VpOi6vOZ0g-1VnJ6q1IK7zMJ08SiKfWK3aXjnXTCLZdtMEL7iyylaS99CiVG-528AOhzZU3T-47xiGX_oRzxs9zK6JP/s320/jiufen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451132420836941170" border="0" /></a><br />8. Far-Eastern Style Food :)<br /><br />a. The amazing noodles and curry. I have new-found but probably short-lived love for Chinese food!<br />b. Bubble TEA!Who knew bubble tea tasted good?! WHO KNEW!!<br /><br />9. The contradictions!<br />On one hand : <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">BLING</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">BLING</span>! There are so many lights . Every single billboard is digital and perpetually <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">blinging</span>! WHY? It is such poor use of electricity in the age of climate change, makes me wonder how developed Taiwanese really are.<br /><br />On the other hand : Every single public dustbin has two flaps - one for recyclable material and one for trash. That is so wonderful to see! The really good ones have 4-5 flaps for different classes of recyclables! And this exists practically everywhere - in every single <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">MRT</span> station - it is great to see such environmentally friendly measures being adopted despite the digital billboards.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4-Qpt5SasWwUno4BAU-Ykd7X9uocLZXj5XABryTi0XWCren3JL6LA-1M9KhypM-YsFlbq_xGrT7deXv-pFoSKPhtNvRrEZVz2KQBxO8bTME3tkPlQ2_jbxUpnfyxcCJqy33Z_QGktJaT/s1600-h/billboard.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 278px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4-Qpt5SasWwUno4BAU-Ykd7X9uocLZXj5XABryTi0XWCren3JL6LA-1M9KhypM-YsFlbq_xGrT7deXv-pFoSKPhtNvRrEZVz2KQBxO8bTME3tkPlQ2_jbxUpnfyxcCJqy33Z_QGktJaT/s320/billboard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451132412578844402" border="0" /></a>10. They have these things called Hot Springs, which are public sulphurous baths. There are many hotels where you can go just to use their public baths. Fortunately, there are separate baths for men and women. Unfortunately, these baths require full nudity - walking into the bath nude, taking public showers nude and being in the bath NUDE with other people of the same sex. I love that they are so open, however, I abstained from enjoying this attraction for personal reasons :)<br /><br />11. An extra one for good luck. Luxy - I love you <3.<br /><br />All in all, it was an AMAZING trip. As my friend Jamie said, Taipei is live-able! </span>spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-82816861084275518262010-02-24T03:30:00.000-08:002010-02-24T03:55:13.287-08:00When Population Growth was a GOOD thing...It has been hammered into our brains ever since we were born that overpopulation was one of the fundamental reasons for the poverty and underdevelopment of nations. It holds an exalted position in the vicious cycle of poverty and has been a major thrust of the United Nations Development Program which has sponsored countless programmes to curb overpopulation in the least developing nations. <br /><br /><br />Many economists of the developed world have come out with papers and evidence to prove that overpopulation is directly correlated to low GDP. <br /><br /><br />However, Karl Marx, known to all the founding father of Communism, had a fascinating theory about the role of population in economic development of nations. <br /><br /><br />Marxian political economy theory talks extensively about the core and the periphery - the developed countries bossing over the developing countries, keeping them under their control economically and politically. The agents of control are MNCs, International Organizations and sometimes even NGOs. While this formed the main part of Marx’s theory and the consequent public policy adopted by Marxist governments, neo-Marxism took these assumptions a step further. <br /><br /><br />Marx stated that overpopulation is NOT a factor in economic growth and development. The neo-Marxists took it a level further by claiming that this agenda was perpetrated by the developed nations through international organizations and economic research agencies as a form of modern genocide. They believed that the developed nations took the developing nations to be inferior and by promoting population control as a feature of economic growth, the developing world would be outnumbered by the developed and soon the former would be eradicated completely. <br /><br /><br />I'm going to repeat this purely for effect. The neo-Marxists claim that <b>ALL ADVOCATES OF POPULATION CONTROL ARE PERPETRATING GENOCIDE.</b><br /><br /><br />The audacity of the neo-Marxists’ claim was obviously met by unanimous opposition from the capitalist world. I am sure the reader of this article would experience similar emotions. Of course, all our textbooks, governments and everything we’ve ever heard has stressed on the primary importance of population control. China, today, stands living proof of the miracles that can be achieved through population control. <br /><br /><br />How then, does the neo- Marxists’ claim add up? <br /><br /><br />Marx believed that population growth was a problem in the capitalist world due to the gross inequities and inadequacies of the capitalist system. Inadequacies which the socialist economy endeavored to eradicate, to the extent where population growth was good. So good that the USSR implemented a tax on single child and childless couples and banned abortion. <br /><br /><br />Similarly, China was lauded for its massive rate of growth. Mao Zedong is quoted to have said that “A large population is a good thing. With a population increase of several folds we still have an adequate solution.” <br />Neo-Marxists took the cue from these sentiments and championed the cause of population growth. However, with the fall of Communism, their theories were unequivocally disproved by the capitalist world. China itself took a 180 degree turn from their existing policy and undertook the most stringent population control policy ever seen by the word. <br /><br /><br />The neo-Marxists were left out in the dark and their sole mode of self-defense was to call on dependency theory to explain this contradiction. They claimed quite shamelessly that any reference to population growth as a vice was a purely imperialist move, aimed at modern, hidden genocide and the developing world, including China had no alternative but to cooperate. <br /><br /><br />It is fascinating how such an unusual, unexpected line of thought has stayed alive long after its vehement disproval. No non-Marxist in the world today could, while in their senses, claim that population growth is an acceptable phenomenon. The world’s unanimous calls for population control in both the developing and developed world have been almost unchallenged, except for the lone voice of neo-Marxism that stands strong.spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-28630888019003073322010-01-26T20:26:00.000-08:002010-01-27T02:54:28.923-08:00Satellite"Maybe you will always be... Just a little out of reach" - Guster<br /><br />The sky and the stars have an unexpected effect on people. It can send them over the edge in a good or bad way. But few people leave an observatory unaffected. I wonder why that is. <br /><br />In the book I'm reading now, "A Fraction of the Whole", a small observatory is built in a little town. Suddenly everybody started showing more love - fathers bought gifts for their sons, husbands took their wives out and children shared their chocolates. <br /><br />Its nice to know that something so far away can have such a strong impact on people here on earth...spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-66915765818682701562009-07-22T11:55:00.000-07:002009-07-22T11:57:32.656-07:00House of Cards<span style="font-style:italic;">What happens to a House of Cards?<br /><br /><br />It falls. Inevitably.<br /><br />Its made to break. If you get lucky, you'll get out while it's intact. <br /><br />But If it crashes while you're there - You die. </span>spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-74987371822761946812009-07-18T13:52:00.000-07:002009-07-18T13:54:06.367-07:00riddleLike shadows, tip-top<br />'Boo'. incessant, unrelenting<br />Poison to his soul<br />Tumour to his heart<br />Static, stuck, daughter of earth<br />Revolves, but he stays<br />Rooted, the tumour feeds<br />'Boo' incessant unrelenting<br />Soaked with gasoline<br />He burns and seethes<br />Confession- don't douse the flames<br />They flare, they lick<br />The gates to his soul<br />And he can't see anymorespudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-9137678934645498092009-07-18T13:18:00.000-07:002009-07-18T13:19:32.438-07:00permanent higha high is a high because it preceeds/succeeds a low. otherwise it would just be a plateau.spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-45106295016598593862009-06-09T03:42:00.001-07:002009-07-18T13:55:18.022-07:00"Crisis"The placement lists shrink, the names turn obscure, monthly allowance vanishes in a week, something is not right. In a nutshell, money is missing. This is the average young person’s view on the crisis. <br /><br />The papers, the economists and the experts have analyzed the crisis to the point of exhaustion, and every contradictory point of view has been debated, supported and torn down. They discuss hundreds of theories that economics has spewed out, they talk about the definition and squabble about the semantics of it – is it a recession or is it a downturn? Speculations are unending about when the economy will rise again. <br />For the young world, definitions are irrelevant. We are not scholars or intellectuals, we are the masses. For us, the name of this situation is secondary to the solution. As far as we are concerned, what we see exemplifies the crisis perfectly – no work, no money. That is the extent of this issue. And our high school civics textbooks have more than sufficiently highlighted the many vices of unemployment. <br />Then we hear and read about the many hundreds of theories being pushed around. Yes, we understand how stimulating the economy might help, how increasing money supply is now the only option left. We do agree that these things will have a positive impact in the Long Run. But we don’t see these processed in action, the invisible hand is truly invisible and for the youth, inadequate.<br />What we want, need and strive for is practical solutions. In the practical world, we see our friends, our brothers and sisters, our families not being able to find jobs, unemployed, underemployed, settling for any job they can find. To ensure the same fate does not hit us, we are constantly reinventing ourselves, trying to do anything and everything to set ourselves apart from the mediocre – be it through extra classes, pursuing a higher degree, doing double degrees, more professional courses, dance lessons, internships. A perfect example would be the ricocheting level of competition in higher education. Everybody would rather pursue a Master’s degree than jump into work directly. And this means more demand for higher education and far more competition. And thus the need for flexibility. <br /><br />We feel all organizations should be doing the same – being flexible, reinventing, offering more for less and being more efficient. Which is easy for the smaller companies, but for the rigid MNCs, it is a long and arduous process. <br />The way we see it, this crisis has its upsides. It makes the world and us re-evaluate the bubble we were living in, get realistic and become better equipped to handle the cut-throat competition that has emerged from the downturn. Natural Selection has spoken and no harm can come from that. Although socialism and the welfare state exist to buffer the impacts of this natural selection, they can do so only for a while. The world is going to catch up with us.spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-79458501050865836512009-06-02T05:11:00.001-07:002009-06-09T04:01:42.981-07:00InvictusWhy does life become so hard sometimes? <br /><br />It feels like you’re always running towards this great something that will bring you happiness and personal satisfaction until the end of time. So every future action of yours feels like it should be motivated towards this great something which will fulfill you. Unfortunately, there is some higher rule which has somehow decided that only a select few can be awarded with this great big something and the basic prerequisites for this great something are having an excellent education, playing you cards right, having a good job of course because without that the world would just crumble and fall away.<br />And, if ever in life, for even a minute, you get this feeling that what you’re doing isn’t leading you to this great big something then it feels like the whole world is closing in on you, its like you are going to be a big fat failure because you will not have a wonderful job and get a fat paycheck to service your selfish needs and make you a perfect person. Why is everything so hard all the time? Why can’t we just be happy and experience life? It doesn’t seem fair that we have to be running towards something eternally – yes, some things need to be done – studying, working etc. but how can they become the very foreground for your existence, why should they control who you are and how you feel. If you love to sing, just sing... why worry if that’s cutting into your time of making yourself a better asset for the corporate world so some MNC or big conglomerate will hire you and give you a large paycheck for doing a job you secretly hate and wouldn’t be in if it weren’t for the money.<br /><br />What’s worse is competition. You see somebody who’s made a little more money than you in a shorter period of time, somebody who’s done something a little more exciting and immediately the world comes crashing down, you feel that constriction in your chest, the panic sets in and al of a sudden you feel worthless, because the other person’s success just reminds you of your blinding failure. Ah, the woes of humanity. Pathetic as we are, we are perpetually held in this trap of the world, we don’t just live for ourselves and our loved ones. We live more for our boss, our teachers, the people we hate because they’re better than us, or so we think. <br />We’re all just caged in this cycle of impressing others and fulfilling this pre-existing mould of what’s right and what’s good. But what’s the point in life? Why waste our lives living it for somebody else. Every moment is gone when we blink it away worrying or just pointlessly working on something we hate.<br /><br />If only there could be a way to exit this cage and this cycle and be completely free of it. Invictus – ‘I am the captain of my fate, I am the master of my soul.’spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-30880889206116262282009-05-20T01:53:00.000-07:002009-05-20T02:03:33.000-07:00ClayHuman nature seldom ceases to amaze me. Day by day I learn new little secrets about people, things that cannot be taught but that can only be learnt by feeling them yourself. <br /><br />The day I returned, I shocked myself. India was a little overwhelming for me. The dust and pollution made me cough, the dirty streets were par impossible to navigate, the oh-so-crowded malls were the antithesis of fun. Why? How? Bangalore, my home, my first love, was suddenly unfamiliar, hard to adjust to.. <br /><br />Had I been so spoilt by the clinical efficiency of my new residence that suddenly home is something else. I had gotten so fully assimilated, emotionally and physically into my other home that this one was foreign. It is so shocking that people can so quickly forget something and move towards another.. With the speed and completeness akin to an amoebic engulfing, we just are something else. <br /><br />On the first day, it was pure shock, it was a shock of the sort i felt i could not handle. . But slowly I eased up, slowly the loud buzzing of the traffic started to sink beyond the conscious and just became a part of living. I slowly figured out how to avoid the potholes, slowly I relearnt all these small existential problems that afflicted me initially and I moulded back to my old self. <br /><br />Its a hard life, alternating between one and another distinctly different societies. But I guess the more you stretch, the more you deform and reform yourself over and over again, the more flexible you become. Like a dancer who trains and with that training comes her alarming grace and agility, we too train ourselves to adapt, to asimilate, then detach , reassimilate.. It is like a game, we just keep playing and the more we play, the better we get.<br /><br /><br />we are the children of change. <br />We adapt, we reform, we float, we just mould into anything, into everything.spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-87216869289952405312009-04-28T01:45:00.000-07:002009-04-28T01:56:15.756-07:00float.its always the most random things. the strangest, most trivial things. They just take you away and make you hide or rejoice, but always confine. Its those little things that I want to live for. Those moments where life feels more, and better, and higher.<br /><br />Its like living on a cloud, floating somewhere, hanging down in pleasant ecstasy. It makes you want to jump with joy, to create, to love, to just float a little bit more. <br /><br />It always comes when you don't expect it, when you don't want it, when you have more important things to do. But pushing it away is like letting go of a rare gem. Life's short, hold the gems. The sparks just fly around, buzzing in pure happiness. <br />Don't you just love the perfection? YOu could live in it, and die in it and if you're in it. nothing else matters - the world doesn't, friends don't , politics, family, success - everything is just second to this. Sigh, its perfect.<br /><br />But it never lasts. <br /><br />It always evaporates and you curse your stupidity for ever having believed that it was here to stay.<br /><br />The conflict arises then.. do you live for those moments, hoping and awaiting their arrival? Or do you just assume they're ephemeral aberrations and live with that non-expectation? <br />I wonder.spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-88249061213384878572009-04-17T01:43:00.001-07:002009-04-17T01:50:40.953-07:00The City Of Blinding LightsThe city made for tourism, the city alive for the visitors, the transient town, where every structure was erected for exhibitionist purposes. The history behind every museum was to attract somebody in its general direction. An amusing phenomenon but highly successful.<br />Amsterdam kicked butt. It was fun, exciting, there was always something going on - street football, live football, cycles and camping at a youth hostel gave me ample opportunity to figure out this seemingly idyllic, radical, freezing, European City.<br /><br />However, I wonder, what could a city constructed purely for tourism have to offer? It would be foolish to assume that history can be created but shockingly that is exactly what I saw. The Anne Frank House, a reconstruction of the house that Anne Frank, the little Jewish girl who wrote a book that shocked the world, hid from the Nazis in, was a stark and telling tale of the atrocities on humanity. Beyond just the historically informative benefits, some NGO had set up shop within the house and promoted awareness on a plethora of humanitarian topics. It was a pleasant surprise to see another tourist site being converted into a medium for raising awareness. And I think it is this House that is characteristic of the city of Amsterdam. Yes, it is merely a city- museum, built purely for revenue and Heineken, but behind every tourist spot there is a purpose, there is something they are trying to achieve out of it.<br /><br />Yes, weed is legal, it is ubiquitous, the stench of hash was evident from 100 yards of any of the “coffee shops”, but from a reliable source it was known that the whole process of legal smoking is aboveboard. They ask for IDs, alcohol is banned inside the shops, the officer who is in-charge is a burly threatening-looking guy who seems capable of single-handedly taking down dozen people,and they rehydrate you if you seem off. Maybe somehow this is a better solution than what Bangalore/India has now. Underground Rave parties, weed patches in Law Schools, are that really the way to do this? Granted, more people will be wary of breaking the law and doing drugs but is the cost of those few turnovers worth all the 16- 25 year olds who risk a police record by possessing, dealing and smoking /snorting/ swallowing drugs? <br /><br />Shady red lights with negligibly clad women displayed on the windows like dresses, people bargain and choose which they like the most. Sources inform me that if a lone man lingers in front of a window long enough, the women start doing things <ask me later if you want to know what the THINGS are :D>! Now, this may seem the basest form of perversion, legalized prostitution, but it is safe, the police patrol the streets ON HORSES and intervene in case of some problem. <br />Anything goes, everything goes in Amsterdam, but somehow with a grace that is lacking in most of the developed world .spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-77771539471320565862009-01-05T04:57:00.000-08:002009-06-11T01:08:21.774-07:00The Accidents of CircumstanceWhere are we headed? The ubiquitous 'youth' of today - the urban youth in particular, <br />have acquired a new class of thought - this new-age awareness. They feel the urge of the hour, that something is <br />truly wrong, they feel the need for change, they hear the earth and their country screaming for help. But they are torn,<br />like Robert Frost waxed in his work 'The Road Less Traveled' - the conflict rears its head day in and day out.<br />Should we take the beaten path - become the engineer or the doctor or the new age lawyer breed, with great promise of <br />salary but job satisfaction being a distant dream. Or should we answer our heart's call and pave a new path - help <br />the world, save the environment, fight against poverty, corruption and ease our country of it's malaise.<br /><br />Most choose the in-between road, or at least tell themselves its the in-between road, that all hope is not lost, there <br />is still time and it can all be done. There's no limit to dreams, we can have it all! They hope to start with a <br />conventional path - make the money, built a family, pursue an MBA in an IIM or abroad, and once they've saved up enough<br />to send their grandkids to the moon, they'll feel that urge to help society and pay-back. Their morals will being<br />to pull on their heart's strings and Voila! overnight they work for/own an NGO, each one resolved to its own cause,<br />hoping to make that change and be featured in the 'Offbeat' section of the daily supplement. <br /><br />In a way it's a good thing, unlike our predecessors, we can claim to care, claim to be aware and claim to know<br />where the world might be headed. Most of all we can claim that we want to make a change, and save the world.<br />A noble enough thought to begin with. And though most of these noble thoughts are largely for show, to out-do<br />your friends and pretend to care and pretend to want to change, there's this little part of all of us which truly unselfishly<br />wants the change. But what's the harm with a little selfishness. Objectivists would nod furiously at this statement<br />for after all doesn't everybody just want to be happy with themselves, and make others around them happy, albeit for <br />selfish reasons yet again? The Bhagavat Geeta did after all say that strong neighbours ensures happiness for the man,<br />the country and the world. Which is all too correct especially in today's global scenario. With all our neighbours crumbling,<br />don't we Indians feel the backlash? Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi refugees, Pakistani terrorists, even the Tibet crisis is <br />felt by us in no small way.<br /><br />So, lets pin down the final motive of our breed to objectivist selfishness. If it helps the world in some infinitesimally<br />small way why complain, just let the world take it's course. <br /><br />But, if all we want in the end is our own precious happiness, why do we all insist on running behind some idealistic<br />vision of 'HAPPYNESS'? The money, the power and the fame. The conventional success of the newspaper and the television.<br />We all watch in awe as some underdog from a village in Karnataka struggles to come first in the IIT entrance exam and, <br />Lo and Behold! clears it much to the delight of the TOI human interest reporters. Why not create a massive story out of this? <br /><br />There is no doubt that the 17-year-old certainly outdid himself, and deserves a big clap on his back, but all those<br />1lakh odd who didn't make it into IIT even though the odds were in their favour and they had the most charmed <br />background they could've asked for end up feeling like massive failures, like their purpose in life has been<br />defeated and they have eternally disgraced their family and their institution of education. Alas, that is how they have been brought up.<br />They can't shirk this system. But why must it be this way? <br /><br />Why is success so narrowly defined? Why can't an academically average person who enjoys reading books and drawing on walls but is <br />phenomenally happy just doing that also be successful. After all, life can't possibly be about this urge to be something,<br />its got to be about something most fundamental. Because, whether we like it or not we all were born into this world,<br />by the accidents of circumstance, and if we leave it as happy as we can, it should be enough.<br /><br />But it never is. And I guess we'll never know why. Tspudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-78071908441392197342008-08-31T20:54:00.000-07:002008-08-31T21:03:34.901-07:00Ephemeralits been so long since the last time i was here.. SO much has changed..<br />Different everything. Nothing is the same. Except me. <br /><br />Coming here first was a big and scary experience.. It seemed like there could be no way for this to feel real and for me to be happy. IT seemed like I was stuck, suffocating and jsut sinking into a vortex that i didn't wish to be a part of. <br /><br />But like child thrown into the middle of a deep pool I found a way to the edge - splashin and sturugling but there nonetheless. And like the child who learnt to swim, I emerged the better.<br /><br />Now in one short month, everything hre is so familiar, the faces known and it feels like i've known these people for years and like I could not hav been in any other place.<br /><br />My room feels comfortable and the view is beautiful. Life is falling into place.<br /><br />BUt thers always that litle nagging sensation - the inevitabl WHAT IF.. if i'd taken some other choice, not this.. Would I be happier, more successful? <br /><br />One small "yes" or "no" ca change lives so instantaneously. The future gets altered with that wave of a hand and nothing remains the same.<br />Some of us like this transiency but many feel rooted to their past. They don't want to be shaken from their abode of comfort. <br /><br />But life is change. SO craving change might be a goood thing. Just hope you're happy once you get it.spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-43824089595798077292008-07-22T20:48:00.000-07:002008-07-22T20:52:54.593-07:00Love-HateDogs! “NO, please take him away, please please, NOo.. I’m scared… Noooooooo! ” Yes, that was my usual and expected response to a dog for as long as I can remember. Whenever I went to my friend, a dog owner’s house, the poor canine had to be locked up in the furthest room prior to my entry. My guitar teacher’s dog too suffered a similar fate. And to me, it was justice... Some people just didn't like dogs , like some people don't eat meat. Its normal , acceptable and its just not fair for dogs to be imposed on us.<br /><br />If anybody asked me if I liked dogs, I always responded with, “I’m more of a cat person.” The irony of that retort was in the fact that I’d never even been near a cat in my life. As a consequence, I was quite indifferent towards them. My dog phobia worsened as I grew older. If a dog behind a gate began to bark, I jumped a mile. If a dog on a leash was walking on the other side of a road, I lagged behind waiting for the dog to pass. I even had some traumatic incidents of dogs chasing me around corners with me screaming and running about like a raving lunatic. It was a phobia. <br /><br />Unfortunately for me, my mother’s best friend had no children and two massive golden retrievers. Every visit to their house included me standing on a table and the dogs circling it conscientiously. It was a mental burden to carry around a fear like this in my head everywhere I went.<br /><br />One day, something unusual happened. I had gone for a visit to my mother’s friend’s house and the dogs came running and pounced on me. I was stricken. I froze up and shouted for help. The two canines were all over me and I was not enjoying it. My mother’s friend told me to pet them; the dogs just wanted some attention. I slowly and gingerly placed one palm on the mangy head of one of them and stroked him. To my shock and secret joy, he felt nice and he didn’t bite! I took a deep breath and did it again. And again. And again. Soon, I was actually petting a dog.<br /><br />After aprroximately ten minutes, the scene was this. I sat on the floor with Mishtii (the girl retreiver)'s head on the floor next to me and her paws on my lap and my hand under her tummy. That was the position we adopted for the following 2 hours.Whenever I got up, he’d follow faithfully. It felt wonderful to know that somebody loves you no matter what, albeit for a few minutes.<br /><br />The first time I petted a dog, I had a revelation. I realized that I loved dogs. After that day, any dog I saw I loved. They were such kind and selfless creatures. They gave love so willingly and asked for nothing in return. Lately, I even go to my friends’ houses just to play with their dogs. I now proudly proclaim myself a Dog Lover. And loving it!spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-45813672560608379522008-07-22T20:43:00.000-07:002008-07-22T20:48:16.900-07:00Bangalore Vs Delhi Take 1(This was an article i wrote in 2004 after visiting Delhi.. How different things are now...)<br /><br />I have spent many a days pondering what it is about this city that makes it so unique. Every time I go out of Bangalore on vacation, by day 3 away from the city, I find myself pining longingly for the familiar sights of M.G. Road and Indiranagar. For this reason, apart from many others, I concluded Bangalore has something unignorably special about it.<br /><br />Let us start with its total lack of tourist appeal. There is, quite surprisingly, just about nothing of historical significance or scenic beauty, not counting Ulsoor Lake and Lal Bagh (after all, it would be difficult to find anybody traveling from Bengal to go sightseeing to Cubbon Park or Banerghatta).<br />The maximum you can expect is for eager tourists to come here as a stopover on their way to Mysore or Coorg. So most people are locals and are in the same groove as you and don’t nag like the enthusiastic tourist types.<br /><br />Next is the “Great IT Revolution” which has transformed the “Pensioner’s Paradise” into the Silicon Valley of India, though I am yet to find any signs of steep slopes or mountain inclines, the closest to it being the natural downward curve of the road somewhere near Richmond Road. <br />Whitefield was once considered to be on the outskirts, a place you passed on a weekend trip to some pretty hill station. But now it’s booming into the heart of the IT and BPO sector. At any random given time, at least 1 out of 3 people working in those sectors make the daily journey to Whitefield riding the rocky road over the Marathahalli Bridge which is undoubtedly going to give way anytime now. <br />ITPL probably lodged one out of every 20 of those. There are about three Dell buildings in Whitefield alone, and many other reputed MNCs are lodging there. Many of may wonder Why? , why this sudden interest in Bangalore and Whitefield of all places. Now, I’m not a Business trend predicting expert (or whoever those people are) but my best bet is these companies wanted cheap space accompanied by good connectivity, a cosmopolitan environment and nice weather so they chose Whitefield. Obviously once two or three clever men (or women, for that matter) did this and the whole jing-bang-load of them followed along with opportunist real estate cos. Like Adarsh and after a sudden revelation in more recent times Purvankara, Prestige and Alliance to name a few. I’ve also heard that there are plans of some big malls in that section. Yes, and MALLS. What happened? If I can remember clearly, just 4 years back the largest mall you could find was Mota Royal Arcade on Brigade Road, which held heavily-discounted fake-brands. Ah! My idea of a luxury shopping experience. And today, we have been gifted with Forum, a 13-screen multiplex, the seamless Bangalore Central and Sigma among others. Shopper’s paradise, would you say?<br /><br />Topic no. 3: TRAFFIC<br />We know, we see it, we hate it, but what would we do without it? <br />Can you possibly imagine a Bangalore where it takes a mere ten minutes to travel from the airport to the Taj hotel on M.G. road? Impossible, isn’t it? For without traffic jams, where would we find the time to catch up on phone calls to old friends, some philosophical reading and stress-busting in the form of road rage? Moreover, this is the perfect scapegoat for just about all our cities troubles. Rising temperatures? Blame it on the increased levels of CO2. Anger management problems? No problem, blame the traffic. So traffic is not a bane as the supplement sections of the leading newspapers believe. It is in fact, a boon to the city-people. It will just take people a long time to realize (approximately 10 years, by which time the monorail and metro would have eased traffic loads and since distance makes the heart grow fonder, everyone will actually miss it).<br /><br />One thing I just love about my city is the weather. Summer, for example starts in February and the mango showers interrupt it by April-end. And what’s more, the temperatures rarely exceed 30- 35 degrees Celsius.<br />After August, it’s just beautiful. Windy nights, perfect to don the latest in the autumn- winter collections of Benetton. November and December are quite cold, but in the pleasant way which makes us all smile up at the sky on the rainy Sunday morning (akin to the hit Alternative track –“Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5. I can practically hear the song in my head each time I think about winter). The rainy season, whose credibility is terribly flimsy, seems to land up like an unexpected visitor just about whenever it wishes. So one morning , you might be sweating it out on Commercial street, and the next , you’ll be ducking into Anand Sweets because you forgot to bring the umbrella your grandmother warned you to take(and also to sample the mind-blowing jalebis).<br /><br />Finally, the most important and indispensable thing: The people. <br />There’s something about Bangalore society that sends a shiver up my spine. Honestly.<br />Just a month back, I was visiting my aunts in Delhi and we had gone to Sarojini Nagar for a spot of cheap, seconds bargains. And everytime we entered the shop, I would smile at the shopkeeper, say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to everyone I interacted with, while my aunt would look at me like I was possessed. I took a moment to observe how the other customers requested for something that caught their eye. The most polite request I heard was ‘Arre, vo dena’ (translated: hey you, gimme that). The others merely barked orders, and one man had the impertinence to remind the shopkeeper that the customer is king and he should get what he wants that very second.<br />Another common Delhi phenomenon is the driving. People there, especially those on the road, feel that the only method of getting something done is by barking. So if you, by mistake, come so much as a foot away from the car next to you, uh huh, you’ve had it. That guy will get off , stand in the middle of the road and threaten to sue you. And mind you, he actually might. Taxi drivers, on the other hand, will just tell you exactly what they think of you in language you would not dare repeat at home in front of your kids. Bangalore on the other hand, I think is the one of the politest big cities around. It becomes an automatic reaction here to smile at anyone whose eye you happen to catch, and if they don’t smile back, oh, well, life goes on. That’s not all; Bangalore is one of the safest cities too. Imagine being a girl and traveling by public bus in Chennai, or even worse, auto! In fact, my aunt in Chennai does not even go for a walk down the road (she takes the security guard as a bodyguard). I’ve concluded that this is not because the people are so nice that they would not dare commit a crime, it’s just because they are too scared and just lack the guts to do anything bordering on the illegal. Well, it’s very wimpy I agree, but good for us.<br /><br />So I’ve decided, Bangalore rocks and if I had the choice of living in some Indian city it would definitely be Bangalore, and if ever I get tired of it, I’ll just visit Delhi in the oppressive heat of May and I’m sure I’ll come racing back home.spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-63271763118728908882008-07-17T07:18:00.000-07:002008-07-17T07:50:06.847-07:00Delhi vs Bangalore Take 2..Back in 2005, I had visited Delhi.. just to feel what it would be like to go back to my home turf, look around and just feel the scene..<br /><br />Once again, after 4 years, i visited again.. Once more , to feel the scene.. This time i was staying in Gurgaon, the up-and-coming suburb.<br /><br />Gurgaon is, for starters, mall paradise. Its the mecca of all hard-core shoppers and in Sale season, it is heaven. Its better than Heaven. every store - from the Marks and Spencers to the Shopper's Stop and everythign in between has massive giveaway sales.. Its just mind-boggling.. the kind of economic activity this place generates. The government, for reasons beyond my comprehension, has imposed a compulsory holiday on Tuesdays for all commercial centres. They have no choice but to stay closed. Imagine the revenues they lose out on!<br /><br />Despite all this, Gurgaon remains the concrete jungle of lore. There are massive buildings everywhere you turn. Its hard not to be suffocated by all the glass and concrete.. The buildings are a mixed bag, some office buildings, then a mall or two and then huge apartment complexes. The sky too is tainted.. You can barely see a star. The day I landed, I could not breathe. The heat, the claustrophobia just took over me...<br /><br />How do people live here? It eludes me completely. How do they manage to feel even a little bit at HOME.. How can this possibly be home to anybody. Isn't it more of a jungle of money and society, with Page 3 parties, pubs and hard-selling businessmen?<br /><br />Delhi city on the other hand, is beautiful. It retains a certain amount of old-world charm which even Bangalore cannot recreate. The localities of Greater Kailash, CR Park, Vasant Kunnj, Karol Bagh. I could go on.. Except for their facade being marred by a McDonalds or two.. They are rel;atively unspoilt. And being the capital city does them no harm. The infrastructure is top class.. Huge distances can be covered with hardly any bottlenekcs, an unheard of phenomenon in my native Bangalore. Maybe we too can learn a thing or two from them.<br /><br />Though, the city isn't all good. The peoples attitude, their outlook and their general behaviour leaves much to be desired. The pace of life is so fast that they don't have the time to walk slowly and selflessly. The focus is on 'ME', How did they get there?<br /><br />That is probably the most frightening but interesting part of this conversation. Influx from other cities, especially from north India, for the sole purpose of occupation and heavy industrialization at the fastest pace possible, coupled with rapid monetary growth in the people.<br /><br />The change I saw could be attritubed to my growth and my perspective. and what struck me the most was not how much Delhi had changed, but how much Bangalore had...<br />In the past 3 years, its gone through so much - more than any other city i've observed. Flyovers, Malls and Whole IT parks have sprung by the dozen. And not to leave out apartment complexes. The whole growth makes my head spin.<br /><br />This trend of Delhi's emergence as it is now is identical to Bangalore's growth and for that I fear. How will we survive in this fast-growing, high-competition world..? How will we retain the 'Garden City' title? Where is the pensioner's paradise now? There is nothing wrong with our city becoming younger and less with it becoming industrialized. The immigration of people from all over the country is to be welcomed for where else will we find the coming together of such different points of view and experiences and cultures. But, I think, we need to keep a check on the personal growth. Are we losing the sense of society, of caring for others and the friendliness that Bangalore was always kown for? I honestly hope not.<br />What makes Bangalore, for me, the best city to live in? The people, the weather, the architecture and the spirit of the city.<br /><br />Right now, the people need to feel a part of the city. To have care and grattitude for everything that it has given us. I hope that it can see where we are and where our inevitable future lies if not for a concerted change in all of us.<br /><br />I love Bangalore :Dspudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-86212789233373908892008-06-25T22:19:00.000-07:002008-06-25T22:24:03.513-07:00Imperfections<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>The land of perfection – A thought that I’ve pondered over for more than a year now.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I try and imagine what it might be like to be in such a place. Everything would be as it should be – glittering, flawless and untouchable. The natives of this land would also be perfect. Everything they want would land on their laps, negativity would be nonexistent. They would all live lives of success, beauty and wealth. Around every corner there would perfection would just be lying free– for anybody to take. In fact, the residents of this land would be so perfect that they would have nothing to yearn for – no desires no hopes for a better tomorrow, no ambitions or journeys. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In this land, everyone would sleep an undisturbed, peaceful night. Nothing would hamper their calm, nor give them the sweet pleasure of being somewhere else, albeit for a span of 8 hours. They would have no dreams. They would have nowhere to go to be anybody or anything they want unhindered by the laws of nature. The people there would just exist, day in and day out, for the sake of living absolutely devoid of any drive or motivation whatsoever. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><br />Is that really perfection? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>So often, when we, mere mortals, lust for perfection in every form, we fail to realize what emptiness that object of our desire would bring us. A life of empty fulfillment, a life where we no longer dream! The very thought is inconceivable. How can something be perfect if it is flawed in such an essential aspect of its being? Dreams and hopes are what make us human. They are the basic ground for existence and all of humanity thrives on them. Without ambition, life would be at the pinnacle of ennui and just not worth living. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><br />If we, from the ordinary, flawed earth went to this land of perfection, we would inevitably be bored and tired of its monotony and ordinary nature. We would then be yearning to return to the very place we wanted to leave. Indeed the grass is greener on the other side, or maybe its greener on our side! It’s something we’ve heard all our lives but it doesn’t really strike any chords unless we experience it ourselves or realize it for ourselves.<br /><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The day I pondered over these thoughts was the day I realized that all my late-night fantasies about being in a utopia where all my problems vaporize before they are born were quite misplaced. I had been yearning for something that I didn’t need to attain. Life was good the way it was now. However, the biggest realization that struck me was that in all our flaws we are all perfect in our own way. Despite everything that we do wrong, despite the times we hurt other people or cause problems to ourselves, there is something in all of us that is still perfect. It’s up to us to shirk it or embrace it. <o:p></o:p></p>spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3786915949975338148.post-64425555547335764882008-06-22T07:47:00.000-07:002008-06-22T09:28:42.698-07:00UnreservedJust today, I was walking down the road i saw these street boys walking, no sliding down the road on these transparency sheets.. and they were just having the time of their life.. they looked so happy! As I walked down the road I stepped over around 20 more of these transparency sheets and I looked at them in wonder.. what ingenuity must have possessed these young boys to use the transparency sheets for such a frivolous but enjoyable task!<br /><br />And then I thought - would I or my 8 year old brother have EVER thought of using those sheets in any other way? All we might have done would be to pick them up and throw them!<br /><br />The lateral thinking that those children displayed is not very easy to find.. and to think that 20 years down the line those boys will probably be owning a vegetable cart or at best bus drivers breaks my heart. So many brilliant minds with such great potential are probably out there tilling fields or cooking for a family of 10. Its the complete lack of opportunity that so many could-be Amartya Sens or C.V Ramans are being lost in the web of poverty..<br /><br />The government is obviously trying, or making a fancy show of it. The heavy caste-based reservations made sense in the early years of independence when the maximum population below poverty line were in these SCs or STs or OBCS.. but now, most of the population who belong to the SCs and STs and are using the reservation to enter the colleges, are from as good a background as the non-SC an non-ST population. In fact, one of my batch mates who is an SC is now going to IIT though his classmates who went to the same coaching classes isn't despite him being much higher in terms of merit.<br /><br />Does it really make sense to give away to students the seats that they could have earned through the general category.. Would it not be much more beneficial for the aid or special help to be given to those students who cannot afford the education? deserving students who cannot pay the comedk fees? or maybe income based reservation?<br /><br />If its not blatantly obvious by now that the system is unfair at best, Its got to be worth considering atleast to make some basic amends to the current education system!spudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07250697449708743003noreply@blogger.com0