A thousand Words

They often say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and given that I am terribly miserly with the number of words I use, maybe I should use some Images for a change.

This blog is my blog, where I write about whatever is bugging me at the moment. The thing that is topical for me, is my mental degeneration, from being a physicist to my current trolling, on reddit and digg and iCanHasCheezburger. Let me try to trace my de-volution.

I have often said that Physics is very easy, but hardly anyone agrees with me. Maybe this guy does:


Then, I switched over to the dark side, to do a professional course, from Symbiosis, due to which I got a job, where I code for most of the time. Which is why, I can totally see myself saying this:



My Sense of humour, too has degenrated to a new low, to where I find the following hillarious:

What Just Happened?

Convalescing from a severe bout of Flu, I am surprisingly at home today. I caught the news that a new Terrorism bill has been introduced in parliament and I had to check it out. And I am shocked!
Check out http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/dec/16mumterror-features-of-the-proposed-national-investigation-agency.htm

They have put in a small point at the end, expecting most people would not read down till there. Go read it again. Ok I’ll mention it here, incase you haven’t still got it.
Court shall presume, unelss contrary is shown, that accused has committed offence
Have you digested that? Let me repeat it, in case you still haven’t got it. Court shall presume, unelss contrary is shown, that accused has committed offence.

Do you see how scary it is? We used to think that the BJP/NDA was the scary one, with total disregard for human rights and civil liberties. The congress has once again proved, how it can be even scarier.

If you think I am getting all hyper about something trivial, let me introduce to something called Presumption of innocence or innocent until proven guilty.

What this principle basically means that the accused is presumed to be innocent, until the prosecution proves beyond doubt that the person is guilty. The burden of proof, lies on the accuser, not on the accused.

This has been valid for a long time, and is the basis of most of modern law. It is one of the most important principle in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says that Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which they have had all the guarantees necessary for their defence.

Now do you get why the new law is so scary? Suppose you are sitting in train, and you make small chat with the guy next to you. Later that guy goes and does something heinous. The police can just say that you were aiding him, and hence you are now a terrorist. Now it is your job, to prove that you are innocent.

Well actually as they have put it, they don’t even have to say anything. If you are charged under this, then you will be automatically sentenced, unless you prove otherwise. Guilty by association, was never this easy.

Maybe I am reading a simplified version of the bill, or it has been dumbed-down in the article. But as it stands, that is one hell of a shocker.

I don’t even understand how that is valid under the constitution, and maybe other people will scrutinise it further, and throw more light on it. I am going to watch, what happens in the next few days, very closely.

Thanksgiving

I had scheduled this post to be posted to the blog on the 27th of Nov, but had to stop it, since taking into account the incidents of 26th Nov, it did not correctly portray the state of my mind on that day.

Over the past couple of weeks, more than a couple of friends have told me, how much their lives suck, and how they totally hate what is going on in their lives. A couple of them, even said that 2008, was the worst year in their lives, and they couldn’t wait for it to get over. (As if, the change of a digit, on the calendar can actually be responsible for anything)

I am however, not so pessimistic. This year has been particularly good to me, especially when compared to the previous one. There are several things I am thankful for, and what better day than this, to give thanks for it.

I am not going to mention Family and friends, because that goes without saying. Further more, they all know what I am thankful for. I want to mention the other things, which need to be acknowledged.

Firstly, I’m thankful for the job I have. It may not pay as much, as the other offers I have received, but when I look at the people who took up on those offers, I’m more than happy for the choice I have made. I get to work with some wonderful human beings, doing what they love. Hardly any politics goes on here, and it’s fun all throughout the day. I get to work on something, which is basically play for me, so I couldn’t ask for more.

Besides the actually content of work, work is helpful in a lot of ways. It requires you to follow a routine, thus preventing me from following my instinctive procrastinating ways. It gives you the confidence, to do whatever you want to. It increases your self worth and gives you a purpose, for the day to day life. And Most Importantly, it gives you a steady source of cash to spend.

Secondly, I’m thankful to my Bike. This year, I’ve really ridden her, not only for my daily commute, but also for a few trips, out of the City. This year, we have done more than 17,000 km, through, sunshine and rain, wind and fog, sand and gravel. And she still runs like new. Yes we have had a couple of incidents, but, both of us have come out of it, with only a few scratches here and there.

Some people ask me, how I can bear to bike over 60 Km per day. How do I have the motivation to sit in the saddle, and ride home, late at night, after a grueling day in the office? Well the answer is a secret, which I’ll like to revel. It goes by the name of chocolate. No, seriously… There is a Cadbury factory, very near to my office, and every night, when I leave office, I can smell them making some delicious confectionery. The fragrance of drinking chocolate or coco powder fills, my nostrils, and I’m reenergized, and rearing to go home.

Thirdly, I’m thankful for staying at home In Mumbai. My stay in Delhi and Pune, over the last two years, has been extremely educating, and I have learned more about life that I though possible. But Still I want to stay at home, where the dal will be made how I desire, and I don’t have to worry about small things like laundry and breakfast. Besides the Obvious advantage of living with your loved ones, the other major advantage is that I hardly have to spend money on anything.

Lastly, and most Importantly, I’m very thankful, for that one special thing. Most of you might know that I was crazy about someone for the major part of the year. Sadly it didn’t work out as I would have liked it to. I feel bad for that. It still hurts like hell, and I still miss her a lot. But I’m very thankful for whatever we had, for those few months. Those were, some of the best days of my life, and just because that period has ended, it doesn’t mean that I am not thankful for them. It was good while it lasted, and I’m glad it happened. I only hope it was good for her too.

What were they expecting?

The crowd at the Gateway, on Wednesday, was an eye-opener for many. Some found it inspiring; other thought it was the mythical Mumbai-spirit on display. I for one found, the whole thing to be disappointing, dismaying and more proof, why things will never change.

Rashmi Bansal writes “Everyone was there out of choice and seething with anger. Anger against Pakistan, against politicians and against the System.”

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that people are angry with the politicians, and the system. But what I don’t get, is what were they expecting them to do during those 58 dark hours? Did they expect that magically those in charge will suddenly do the right thing? How could the public even expect such a thing? Ah, I forget just how stupid people are.

Were they expecting the police to act faster, smarter, to protect the public? This is the same force, which was told by the Kolis, that some 10 strangers have landed by boat, and did nothing. These are people, who are still stuck in a nineteenth century mindset; They do not understand, the internet, and modern modes of communications. After the Emails from the Indian Mujahedeen a few months back, they had made wi-fi as the big-bad boogey man. They instruct hotels to permanently stop providing Internet facilities to patron, to prevent terror attacks. Might as well ask hotels, to do away with walls, and have transparent glass partitions, to keep an eye on all the guests.

Or were they expecting R.r. Patil to do something? Why would he suddenly change his behavior? What has he done in the last five years, besides closing down dance bars? He did nothing after the July 11, and let Raj Thakrey’s goons terrorize Mumbai, over the last 18 months. How can he suddenly provide security to Bombay?
Somehow, we people like to blame others. It’s very hard to accept blame, and acknowledge that we have been wrong. I ask, who made them leaders? People don’t become Leaders in a vacuum. They become leaders, because someone follows them. Who placed these politicians incharge? It is we.

We have failed in our duty, to select the competent people, for the right jobs. We were complacent, and did not pay attention.

Why is it that crowd, at Gateway, suddenly called these politicians, names? Did they become bad overnight? Or is it now their incompetence has become unbearable? Why was it tolerated till now?

A society gets the leaders that it deserves, and we deserve no better. We as a society, we as a culture are stupid, impetuous, hypocritical, and half-baked, as Arvind Agha puts it. Another of my favorite author, Sashi Tharoor, said that “India is a highly developed country in an advanced stage of decay.”

To have a proper functioning democracy, you need checks and balances. All the arms of the state should be cancer free. In india, we have an ill-informed Public (As Chitrack has pointed out, in the above link). When the educated voters are like this, what can one expect from the ill-literate, uneducated, unexposed villager from a remote, part of India? Is it then a big surprise that our leaders are what they are?

I find it highly hypocritical that we complain about our politicians and public officials being corrupt. Who amongst us, can say they have never paid a bribe in their life? Who amongst us, has never greased the palms of cops, when we were caught doing something, that we shouldn’t have been doing? Why do we then get all enraged, when Manu Sharma goes Scot free? Forget that, lets take an example much closer to home. How many of us, enjoy alcohol? And how many of us, actually have the permits, for consuming liquor from the excise department? How can we then blame the politicians for being criminals?

We in india, do not Understand the meaning of leadership. Do you remember a year back, TOI had a public contest, to find a leader from amongst the people? It was nothing more than an entertainment show. What happened to those people? I remember during that time, one of the persons in the race from pune, was a director of one of Symbiosis Institute. The following poster was pasted all over SIU.

One of our classes was stopped midway, so that we students could be convinced to vote for him by SMS. Read the poster carefully. What does it mention? Does it mention what he stands for, or what he believes in? No. I should vote for him, so that the name of Symbiosis shines brighter. So, basically, if he becomes a leader, SIU will benefit. And we find this acceptable. How then, can we look down on corrupt politicians, who personally profit from the actions they take, when in power?

The only thing I’m really surprised about is the way in which the NSG, professionally took care of the situation. The astonishment was due to the fact, that this is what they are usually doing.

We Indians, have this ‘chalta hai’ attitude. Some think, that it is a bad thing. I’m more ambivalent about it. I think it is this attitude that has preserved us over five thousand years of harsh and bloody history. One shouldn’t be in denial about these sort of things. We need to introspect, and think deeply, about what we are, what we want to be, and for that, what we have to do. Just blaming someone, for all our ills, will not make them go away.

Get out my head, Randal - Part x