Posts

Democracy: By Of and For the people, not politicians

Sometimes we think we are being extremely cool, but will end up becoming a big fool. Something similar happened to Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh. Right from his yesterday’s “Tour de Taj” to the press conference today, his actions have been extremely childish and irresponsible. If this caused ripples through the media, Mr.R.R.Patil’s alleged comments caused quite an explosion among the common people ( We, The People in NDTV). If it’s true that he said “ ….this whole episode is trifling in a big city like Mumbai… ”, then it’s a shame to the people of India that we have elected such people as our representatives. To add masala to this we have Ram Gopal Varma, who was certified as a non-terrorist by Mr. Deshmukh. In Bangalore yet another politician suffered humiliation. Mr.V.S.Achudhanandhan, the Kerala CM was denied entry into the house of Late. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan by his father, who saw no reason to receive the condolences. Though the reaction was a bit extreme and the situation could ...

The Dark Knights

Image
Hats off to the NSG, RAF and other commandos who were involved in flushing out the terrorists in Mumbai. Their services are not sought often, but then each time they gamble with their lives in performing their duty. Something most of us won’t even dream of doing. Thinking how an attack of this magnitude would have been possible, we have only ourselves to blame. Corruption, negligence of duty and lack of national feeling emerge as the three main reasons for these repeated terrorist attacks. Corruption and negligence of duty are very complex and deep rooted in the Indian administrative setup. It is impossible to remove them overnight. But this incident is an indicator as to how lethal their effects can be. Without blaming the system, if each one of us refrain ourselves from corruption and perform our duties well, the system will change automatically. It is easy to say “…let others start and then I will start...”. But then we must realize that we should do what is correct, and not what is...

The Debate

(This happened to me during my 12th standard in Palghat. I wrote this story two days after the incident. Browsing through some old documents in the computer, stumbled into this. Just thought will share it here.) The bus was slowing down. Sitting in the last long seat, I had to hold the seat for stopping myself from falling in front. ‘Inertia of motion’, I thought. Though the last seat had this particular disadvantage, I usually prefer it. Sitting on it means a good view of both sides of the road. It was 6 AM, a beautiful April morning. Unlike the day to come, it was quite pleasant and breezy. It was summer vacation and yet I was on my way to tuition. I was entering twelfth standard and was to write the Engineering Entrance Examinations in one year, the vacation had little meaning to me. The bus stopped in front of a temple. It was a practice of most buses in this route to stop at all the temples that come their way during first trip of the day. The conductor wou...

The winning habit

A comfortable 6 wicket win at Cuttack has given a 5-0 scoreline in favor of India. They are evolving as a great unit and hope this helps the team to sustain the high standards for a long time. A lot has been (and is being) written and said on the Indian victory, why dont we focus on why England are losing ? The reason for their failure seems as simple as adding two plus two. Of the eleven players who are supposed to play, only 3 or 4 of them seem to be playing for a cause at a time. Only Pietersen , Shah and to an extent Flintoff seem to bat a bit. In bowling, again its just Broad and Flintoff who cause a little bit of trouble. The rest of them are just bowling as if they are at the nets. And is Matt Prior the best wicket keeper in England ? Surely there must be someone better playing for some county team. That someone will atleast know to appeal spontaneously, and not 5 seconds after the ball enters the gloves. If the poor quality of British cricket is disappointing, the advertisemen...

Blame Game

The Australian cricket team was a very professional outfit, which believed in just going out to the middle and performing ruthlessly and thrashing the opponents. They showcased themselves as a team that didnt believe in giving excuses. But last week has seen a dramatic turnaround in their behavior. Look what some of the players had to say: "The reason for our slow over rate was the problems with sight screens." - Matthew Hayden "I became bad after the Sydney drama, because I took to alcohol." - Andrew Symonds "I dint perform well because of food poisoning in India." - Brett Lee What are the others going to say about their bad show ?? Hope not these : "I got out to Harbhajan repeatedly because I had difficulty in differentiating between the ball and his turban. Its against the game's integrity. The ICC must do something about it." - Ricky Ponting "I know from history that India got independence from British, and how they ousted the fair s...

Inspiring victory

Image
The Border-Gavaskar trophy is sitting pretty in the BCCI office after few years, and it is indeed a moment to cherish. The victory as such is important, and perhaps what is more important is the timing of it. Some legends are calling it quits, some are showing wear and tear of long years on the field, and the media is numbering their days. The team is clearly undergoing a transition. In such a situation it is heartening to find new entrants showing their mettle right away, seniors ready to take extra load of an out of form player and importantly, the emergence of a truly inspirational and influential leadership. Personally, I learnt a lot from some people of this Indian outfit. Will be happy to share it here and happier if someone reading this is also inspired. Licence to Kill : Gambir (Skill): Showed us how to hit-and-run a Kangaroo (I mean, the Watson collision incident !), but was punished suitably. It was good to show attitude to Watson, he deserved it. But a quick apology ...

சென்னையில் ஒரு மழைக்காலம் (Monsoon in Chennai)

Image
Though there is a popular belief that Chennai's weather can be classified into only three categories, (hot, hotter and hottest !!), the climate prevailing now is just perfect for the festive season, and people like me having a pre -exam vacation. Waking up in the morning and instantly feeling a cool breeze from the other side of the window caress the face is a real pleasure. The pleasure doubles when I know I can fall back to the bed, this time covering my face with blanket, and realizing there is no college to prevent me from snugly curling up and going back to sleep again. Hot coffee at 8, sitting in the balcony and watching the sun slowly peek from the clouds, spreading a cool sunshine all around is like, Hmmm , cant explain in words. The overnight rain has washed my bike clean, and a ride to the beach is a perfect way to start the day. By 10, I am home alone and jobless. Playing Yanni's "Enchantment" , I take The Greatness Guide and randomly bro...