Terrorist Attacks

Killing innocent people has always been the simplest way to show a nation that we are superior. This is the effortless mantra all terrorist groups use. Recently, we heard the terror attacks in Hyderabad. This news ‘as always’ jolted the nation. Few days back, we heard an attack took place in Pakistan. This has become a very interesting game now. You killed 15 people in India; I will kill 50 people in Pakistan. The animosity in both countries is only increasing by the day. However, why is the public suffering in this rage? The innocent people who are living their normal life; doing their daily routines; earning money to make their ends meet…why have they become the puppets of this show?

It is not okay to bomb a bus filled with passengers. It is not okay to blast a market. It is not okay to chop off the head of an army soldier who stands guard day ‘n’ night to protect his country. It is just not okay!

When these attacks take place, the citizens look up to their government hoping that things will get better and they will feel the pain as well. But, what is the government doing in these situations? Why can’t they step out of their comfort zone and give comfort to their people? The reputation of the administration is deteriorating with each passing day. It has become nearly impossible to have faith on our own nation. The one thing which excels in our country is ‘the blame game’. Blame it on the state or police or administration etc. This is the best way to escape from this mess.

Can we all rise above this? Can we actually make a life count? Can we?

Theek hai?

Uff…where do I begin speaking about the whole ‘Theek hai’ episode with our ‘dis-respected’ Manmohan Singh!

This man has finally shown to the world that he surely and undoubtedly runs by a remote control and has absolutely no brains of his own. These are the kind of situations which bring distress in the country. How can a Prime Minister not have a heart for his nation? He has three daughters of his own and not once did he ponder upon the sensitivity of the issue. Mr. PM could’ve shown at least some apathy towards the innocent girl and humbly apologized to his people for the atrocity in his country. It’s time to shed egos and the corrupt attitude!

Kehne ko we live in a democratic country but how is it a democracy when the entire desh is run by crooked Neta’s and narcissistic Gandhi family? Our youth generation has witnessed the barbarity of our government and it’s about time we bring revolution to the country. The government and police can exercise all of their man power. From this point onwards, there is no backing down!

Please tell me if this sounds theek hai to any one of you!!! A girl gets brutally gang-raped and beaten by 6 men in a moving bus along with her boyfriend. The Public decides to peacefully protest against the heinous crimes happening around the nation and police intervenes with lathi charges, tear gas shells and water cannon. A girl has no right to complain in our so-called-democratic nation if she’s raped, assaulted, tortured, or beaten. Aam junta is not allowed to raise voices over crime, bribery, or exploitation. From head-to-toe, the media is controlled by biased paisewallah’s! And while the entire country is raging over the chaotic circumstances; our PM decides to show up after four days to express condolences with a script. So yes, it is not ‘theek hai’, anymore!

Diwali in India!!!

We, pardeshi’s love visiting our desh any day, anytime! It’s hard to fathom how we have settled and accepted a foreign land!? Recently, I took a mini trip to India and couldn’t believe how fast our country is changing. If you think that India is still a backward country then it’s time for you to take a trip to your motherland.

One can find gigantic flyover’s all across the country; construction at every corner; all kinds of cuisines available; and all the luxury you find in abroad. And one of the biggest attractions for all tourists is the IGI Airport. Since I visited around Diwali time, I got to see Rangoli, lights, flowers decorated all over the airport. You get to see all classy and authentic shops with trendy items and very hatke décor.

It was sheer joy to see all the houses, market, roads, shops lit up everywhere during Diwali time. Experienced how chaotic people get in shopping, exchanging gifts, visiting family, decorating their houses, buying diya’s and candles after thirteen years. Even celebration Diwali has completely changed in India. People no longer distribute Mithai, these days fancy packaged gifts are trending. Mithaiwala’s suddenly started to experience a decrease in their market.

Fireworks in India are simply phenomenal. For almost a whole week, I heard fireworks every night. Watching all the kids light up chakri, phul-jhadi, anar was a delight. Neighbors’ showed off to each other with the most expensive fireworks. Just watching the whole society come together and blow up rockets was charming.

All in all this year’s Diwali will remain special and close to my heart.

There is no place like home…

Who’s scared of 2012?

Ever wondered what will actually happen in 2012? The end of the world, the destruction, the doomsday, judgment day… are these just hype’s created by the people and media or is it really true? I can’t recall how and what triggered me to watch documentaries on Mayan culture and tsunami videos this past weekend? Doesn’t it strike you that too many natural calamities are going on around the globe? I doubt any one of us have heard about Earthquakes back to back so frequently. In the past month, we encountered Earthquake every week. Twice in some weeks… and don’t forget the catastrophic Tsunami which shook the entire Japan. Infact, the entire island was shifted from its current place.

Any of you recall what happened after New Year’s? Nearly 3,000 dead birds fell from the sky in Arkansas. Not so much of a (Happy) New Year. Scorching sunshine to torrential rain to disastrous hurricanes. This makes me wonder if the end is near. Coming back to Mayan culture – according to Mayans, 21st December 2012 is the day when Earth will complete its wobble around its axis. It takes 26,000 years to complete one wobble. So, every 26,000 years some sort of destruction transpires. As far as 2012 is concerned, the Mayans only predicted that Earth will be experiencing Earthquakes and possible volcanic activity. Many other predictions were made by the people in the last decade.

I strongly believe some catastrophe will occur next year. One can see the signs this year already. Mother Nature is bashing us up in every way possible. Don’t forget the prediction of a colossal Earthquake on California. I vaguely remember scientist predictions post Japan quake. The videos I watched of Japan’s Tsunami in the weekend were extremely disturbing. It’s hard to imagine yourself in that situation. While watching the Youtube, I heard the news of an Earthquake in Sikkhim, India. Many people died and several others lost their home in a devastating 6.8 Earthquake. My prayers go out to all the people who lost their lives in this disastrous quake. I fear how much more Mother Nature has stored in her Pandora box?

Earth will perish one day. It’s just a matter of time… Are you scared?

Yet another Black Wednesday for Indians

So, where should I begin? Another attack on India? Correct me if I’m wrong, don’t you think we are beginning to reach our tolerance level? Yup, we are! The count of the dead in Delhi Blasts is 12 and 90 injured. Not sure if this is accurate, as we all are familiar with our media. May the 12 souls rest in peace. I can’t even begin to imagine how those 90 injured will cope with this pain and trauma? Can you imagine them living a peaceful life? I think living a disable life is worse than dying. That’s just my perception, yours can differ.

While conversing with my mom this morning, I found out about one of the deceased. Unfortunately, this man had forgotten his overcoat at home which is considered the uniform to work in High Court and decided to stand in the visitor queue. How innocent was he? The so-called-political-thekedaar will continue to give their somber sounding statements. Ask the country to stay calm and remain united. Those responsible for the security and safety of our nation will continue to clutch tightly to their kursi’s. This isn’t America, Dost! Our government cares less about its public. They don’t have the guts to barge into someone’s country, shoot the bloody culprit or the mass murderer (if I may) and abduct the body…!

What does the average Joe do in such a desperate situation? The mental torture caused by our neta’s is worse than the terrorist destruction. I really wonder when these high profile people will understand the pain a mango man goes through in such tragedy. In the past 5 years not a single politician was directly affected by any of the terrorist attacks in our country. God forbid but what if the next attack is right on the footsteps of our neta’s? Our Manmohan Ji seems to be undisturbed by terrorist attacks or any kind of change in the country. As if he’s a puppet. Oh wait…did I say too much?

Along with America, there are many other countries which have declared zero tolerance to terrorism. Why are we lagging behind? We, as a country will not get immune to any terror attacks. You dare not think that Indians are tolerable people. Public anger is as lethal, as dangerous as a roadside bomb. Do not make the mistake of triggering it. It will come out to be more destructive than a suitcase bomb left abandoned.

Don’t try to fool the public, you morons…!

India – Terrorist’s soft target!

…and it continues on! Same old story, same old tamasha. Terror attacks are not new to us. It’s absolutely pointless to watch television and the news. No point in watching the repeated ‘breaking news’, the egoistic anchors faking concerns about Mumbai and the same ghastly images. We are just not capable of revolting back in the same manner. We just cannot kill Kasab who’s been living in our own jail for past so many years. We just love to feed him daily. We have a problem! And our problem is simple…the system! Our biggest fight is with our system; and it’s been so deeply corrupt that there seems to be no turning back. Why do the mango people have to deal with such agony?

Another body was blown…with zero resistance! Why does Mumbai has to bleed again and again and again? I can continue rambling on about our corrupt politicians, the aam-junta, the terrorists, the media and so on… however, the truth simply is that: it will continue on, whether we like it or not! Not much has changed from 26/11 and nothing will change from this point onwards either. It was bewildering to see Barkha Dutt’s tweets and how she said ‘things are under control’. Not sure what exactly was under control after so many deaths??? Rahul Gandhi’s ill statement antagonized me even more. “We cannot stop every terror attack.” I would desperately want to find out which attack has he ever averted? Wonder when and where will be the next attack?

May God bless the souls who lost their lives…

INDIA INDIA INDIA!!!

What is going on in our country? What’s the fuss about? Why can’t we stand up and take charge of situations? Why has corruption ruled us over for more than six decades? Why are the mango people suffering in their daily lives? …etc etc. I can ramble on with n number of questions; however, what’s the point? Will it lead to a solution? Probably not! Reason being; crooks running the government, bribable cops and biased laws towards each individual.

The ‘Baba Ramdev’ thing [as many would like to call it] has created quite some hoopla in the media. Everything seems to have shut down and all the attention is angled towards Baba. Yesterday morning, I was shocked to find out about ‘lathi charge’ and ‘teargas shells’ amongst the followers. According to many sources and my better half, this atrocious and absolutely barbaric act has shown the stupidity of government and Congress. The entire destruction has led many people to ‘like’ Baba and ‘hate’ the government. One major thing our government fails to understand is that, we Indians are highly emotional people and connect very easily. Do meethe bol and we are hooked…to you!

The gruesome act performed by the cops during the ‘Anshan’ of Baba Ramdev was totally uncalled. The common man in India has no freedom at all. There was absolutely no need of attacking innocent people. I can bet there are many out there who do not support Baba but still stand with him because of the simple reason: concern about their fundamental rights and democracy as a citizen! And the most cheerless part is that a tamasha is highly required in order to gain a simple right… Why? Why can’t the government make our country a peaceful place to live? Why is the common man suffering the most?

The Congress literally showed it’s incompetency as usual in mishandling the whole thing at the cost of putting lives of women and children at peril. What if there had been a stampede? Nevertheless, Congress wouldn’t have taken charge of any such operation. They are just impotent!

Imported from India…!

It's not oil, food, or clothing, it's the People who get imported from India. Next time you walk by the IT/Systems/Engineering department at work, stop and look around. How many Indian head can you spot? Undoubtedly, Indian brain power is par excellence. We might not have the best of dormitories or the fancy restrooms or even the local roads but we rule the entire world when it comes to the IT industry. The education a student gets in India is beyond comparison. In US, a student is ‘undecided’ on his/her major even after the admission to a college. However, in India it’s the total opposite, a student decides his/her career in 8th standard only. Considered more like a destiny!!!

Few years ago I heard stories of how teenagers are inventing games in their free time and selling it at a marvelous price. When you’re studying in India, the mind set of a student is on a completely different level. Youngsters who migrate to US for Masters or MBA consider the syllabus to be a piece of cake. Life cannot get better for them, at least grade wise. Infact, during my school years, I too acknowledged myself to be very intelligent in one of my Math classes. Oh man, those were the days! Universities in India make you fully marketable for any and every company out there. The entrance exams are tougher than you can imagine in your wildest dreams. Students loose sleep over it, skip meals, and go fully bonkers. If you pass, OMG, it’s literally celebrated with Band Baja Baraat. Well, that’s just the beginning; the reality starts with the first day of lecture. In US, it’s a totally different drill. From schooling to university to courses to graduation. A student has the leisure of graduating at his/her own pace. No pressure, no worries!

One can have an endless debate over the education provided in US and India. However, when it comes to earning money; it’s US all the way. Irrespective of how much a person earns in India, it automatically multiplies by 45 when gained in US. No wonder, more than eighty percent of IIT graduates end up making a living in US. I’m sure all the gora people envy the Indians for their brilliance. Our intelligence and rapid growth forced the most known and famous television network [NBC] to produce a show on us. You got that right; I am referring to ‘Outsourced.’ The show is fantabulous and hilarious. So, watch out World, we are catching up to you way too fast!

Happy Karvachauth to all my ladiesss!

After circling through a whole entire year, that one day comes once again! With the bundles of joy and elation, Karvachauth comes yet again. So, what is the feeling of going through ‘no food/no water’ for an entire day? What is the purpose? What is so special? From my perspective, it’s an individual feeling fondled by each women in India. Girls devote this entire day for the longevity of their significant other. I believe a relationship gets durable once the husband perceives what his partner goes through. It surely is tough to go without water for an entire day. The respect grows right after this one day of fasting especially in newly wed couples. Karvachauth is also quite famous among engaged and committed couples. With too much of westernization, it feels so pleasant to see the younger generation latching on to the old traditions.

Every girl awaits the moon in the evening so that she can open her fast. And the enshrined husband performs all the rituals with his wife. From standing in front of her to feeding her food & water and praying for their happiness and togetherness. It’s all done together as two bodies in one soul. On this one day, life seems beautiful. Period. Ever year I see so many ladies fasting and not once do they feel irritated or aggravated of ending their fast early. I’d say it’s a pure symbol of earnestness and dedication. It is considered one of the most charming customs in our culture filled with our rich heritage. Happy Karvachauth to all the ladies...!

...Veero kudiye karvara, Sarv suhagan karvara, Aye katti naya teri naa, Kumbh chrakhra feri naa, Aar pair payeen naa, Ruthda maniyen naa, Suthra jagayeen naa, Ve veero kuriye karvara, Ve sarv suhagan karvara...

CWG = Havoc

Where should I begin? Countless questions unanswered, overabundance of corruption, forged certificates etc etc. Aren’t we Indians already dealing with enough fraud in our country? Then why more? And it’s no where near manageable at this point. During my vacation in India, I encountered extravagant melodrama regarding CWG games in New Delhi. Special lanes for buses! Don’t we have enough traffic problems and to add to that misery, distinguished lanes just for CWG crowd. Why? Special lanes are only sitting there; why not open them for the locals? However, our government flagged them as ‘privileged lanes’ for bloody Gora’s. Fines increased to Rs. 1000. Earlier builders mixed cement with sand, and now, sand with cement. How pathetic can it get? Had it not been for Mother Nature, no one would ever discover the robustness of CWG special lanes…

For the past bloody four years, the only thing one hears is the transformation of Delhi for the games. However, no one comprehended the actual meaning of transformation until now. Delhites are troubled by the vicinity of the games area. The so-called-development is extremely worrisome and disgusting, but my real worry stems from the way quality standards have been trampled upon. The foundation of our system itself is based on bribery, fraud and corruption. Every single tender passed for the CWG project was forged and approved by our own government officials’.

On September 21st, a footbridge collapsed which injured around thirty people. Immediately after the incident, Delhi officials’ promised to get the entire infrastructure ‘up n about’ by October 3rd. It’s easy, let’s paste back the debris as it is! On September 22nd, a small portion of a ceiling collapsed at the weightlifting arena. Sidewalks often lead to a dead end or into a tree. No thoughts gone behind building a ramp. The chaos began a couple years back and now its result time! Our Civic administration had 7 years to prepare for this grand event. I bet, 3 were wasted intentionally, the next two years were dwindled in discussions, meetings, budgets, risk and so on… and now, pants on fire!!! With monsoon showing no signs of abating and the infrastructure quality being shockingly sub-standard; we are finding ourselves in the gutter. It won’t be surprising if the same incidents would happen during the games. These episodes have made its way to the local newspaper all over England and Wales.

I want some help from my readers. So, what do we lack? Actually, I rephrase my Q, where do we lack? Aren’t we considered one of the smartest people in this whole wide world? We literally rule the IT industry all over the globe. We have one of the best engineers, doctors than anyone in so called Amerikka. Where is the problem??? Is it the higher committee ruling India or corruption or money…? Or is it simply the reluctance of making our country a better place to live? Raise hands or rise up…

Bonjour

Sitting in Paris, sipping Café Latte and enjoying the crispy-ness of a buttery croissant. Gosh, time flew by so damn quickly. It feels like yesterday when I was rushing through work, emails, and my boss; only because I was flying to my desh. Yup, certainly a life changing experience on this trip and a smile on a face added with a pinch of ticklish feeling. Two week vacation flew by rapidly. I still have a crystal clear memory of the day I was leaving. Left work around noon followed by a nail salon stop [which by the way was highly required since I have the tiniest nails]. As I was driving to my home, I ardently wanted to get over with my packing and get on that plane. Even though the destination was still too far away, resting in that uncomfortable chair of economy class was getting me one step closer to everyone back home. Reality check: it’s not too much fun travelling from one continent to another when you can only afford the common man class. Ugh, I envy those people travelling via business class, enjoying the comfy seat with a huge space where you can practically lie down flat and relish the coziness. Its okay, one day I will too. Expect less; dream more – simple funda of my life!!!

Running out of battery and cannot find the junction which is needed for my laptop. Paris Airport and no power junction. Wah, kya baat hai!!!

***After two hour break***

Alrite guys, so this is what happened in the past two hours. Like I mentioned above, my battery was dying. So, I went on a hunt to find a power junction which would charge my laptop. Mission failed! Remarkably, I found out that UK also uses the same power cord we use in India. In order to start up my laptop, I was told by a passenger that I’ll have to buy a converter. To that my reaction was, “dude, being a pakka desi, I highly oppose wasting money on something I’ll never use again.” While sipping another latte and chewing a tomato mozzarella sandwich, I came across a decent American. Striking up a conversation with him was not too complicated. Thanks to my ‘talkative personality.’ Hehe, I’m proud of it! Since we are on Paris airport, I’ll describe it a bit. Firstly, this place is huge, and I mean Humongous. A passenger needs to travel via bus or subway in order to get to their terminal for the connecting flights. Infrastructure is a treat to your eyes. And let’s not even get on with the cleanliness. However, regardless of how long is the halt, every passenger is only allowed to stay in their respective terminals. Which kind of sucked since one cannot fancy the entire airport! Everyone is speaking in French, infact everyone is conversing with me in French as well. After a split second they realize, I’m a visitor because my face expression goes inane. Till date, this is the first airport where I was able to get a glimpse of every type of plane. Boeing 747, Airbus 380, Airbus 330, tiny jets, that double-decker plane, pretty much everything.

I had absolutely no intentions of writing my next article on Paris airport. Howbeit, since life is not planned; this wasn’t either. When I was vacationing, I had numerous topics in my head which are worthy of my article writing. That will happen once I land in US of A. For now, these are my random thoughts in Paris on my eight hour halt before I board my connecting flight. Oh, by the way, it was quite motivating to hear comments on my articles from my readers in India. Got me so charged up! Anyhow, for now, I’ll take leave. Will publish this article once I get back home. Hoping not to get jetlagged at all. Got a lot more to write, so stay tuned.

Farewell dost…

Love – Relationships – Break ups – Suicide???

Love beholds no boundaries, no limits. It’s merely a saga, experienced from ages and ages. And before you know it, that love blossoms into a relationship. A relationship which makes you fly high; makes you more confident and brings immense happiness. It appears as a magical wonderland. Erects Goosebumps!

However, the happniess is short-lived. The thunderstorm building right beneath a relationship is poisonous as venom. Break-ups are awfully hard which leads straight to a depression, stress, or constant mood-swings. These are still manageable, but some lead to the worse: ‘suicide’. Recently the media went bizarre with the sudden death of Viveka Babaji. A prominent model shook the entire film/fashion/media industry. Viveka committed suicide on June 25th, by hanging herself from the ceiling in her apartment in Khar Mumbai. Now the question arises, what impact will her suicide leave on the other upcoming or outdated [if I may] models? Or what impact will this news leave on the common man, who goes through break-ups quite often? Every relationship demands equal respect for the both partners. If one fails to do so then why bother abiding such relationship? It surely takes a whole lot to recover from a failed relationship especially when it comes to Indian women. We, Indian women, demand the same respect. Why it is that always a woman commits suicide? There is an endless list of much known personalities and very common girls who chose this route. Why does society manipulate us in a way that it’s the women who has to suffer in a relationship?

Viveka was in a relationship with a guy named Gautam Vora, a stock broker. Marriage was on the cards for Viveka with Gautam. However, he denied such rumors. Infact both had a spat two days prior and coincidently 25th June was Gautam’s birthday and Viveka's judgement day. My blood boiled when the media unfolded the most moronic story of Gautam wanting to get Viveka checked up by a gynecologist to see if she’ll be able to bear kids or not? Isn’t it enough that such things still happen in rural India? If the same still exists in the most hyped-up city and that too with such well-educated people then what’s point of calling ourselves modern? Be it Mumbai or Meerut; both follow the same old grotesque heritage. We demonstrate ourselves as ‘a westernized society’ but we forgot that some people are still very much tightly conjoined with their old customs.

There are hundreds of Viveka’s out there. Only reason why Viveka Babaji’s death created such hoopla all over is because she belongs to the fashion industry. May her soul rest in peace. However, this should act as a lesson to all the girls in India. Bypass the split and walk-out with confidence. Suicide is never a solution to any problem. It’s a mere escape from the reality. Life goes on regardless. Face the bastard, face the society, and face the world with enormous fortitude. Become bold & blunt.

Cost of poor: Dead bodies sold for Rs. 1 lakh. Injured sold for Rs. 25,000.

‘Rich gets richer and poor gets poorer’. National anthem of our country. I feel ‘disheartened’ to write this article, however, at the same time ‘tempted’ to spread the awareness of Bhopal Gas DISASTER in India. An industrial catastrophe which occurred in 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. At the time, UCIL was the Indian subsidiary of the US Company Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), presently Dow Chemical Company. The ‘raavan’ [as Bhopal people would like to call him] Warren Anderson ruled the company in 1984.

About twenty six years ago deadly toxins from the plant were exposed to over 500,000 people. Around 22,000 dead. More than 1, 20,000 injured. Studies show that symptoms are related to eye problems, immune disorders, cardiac failure, female reproductive difficulties and birth defects among children born to affected women. Basically, it never ended; it’s an on-going suffering.

Along with Anderson aka Raavan, six others were convicted in this ghastly act. Anderson bribed the government and flew off to US and only 2 years of jail for the remaining accused. Wow… This is called justice. This was the verdict on the most deadliest gas tragedy till date in India. From the past 26 years, people of Bhopal are living on a hope to see Raavan behind bars, waiting for our Government to take stricter action on this holocaust. However, what is our government doing? Relishing the fringe benefit paid by Raavan. $450 million!

All these years, people of Bhopal did everything possible to get justice and so-called-compensation. They protested, they cried, they begged, they filed court cases, they sat hungry and faced police lathis on roads and most importantly: they hoped! Little did they know, there culprit was living life king-size in a mansion in New York. And the bastards ruling the government in India were having a ball with corrupting gift.

British ruled us for 150 years and gave us independence. However, did we really get independence? Aren’t we still being ruled over? The only difference is, instead of British, now it’s America. Kehne ko we live in a democratic country. Kehne ko we have freedom of speech. Kehne ko sky is the limit for us. But the fact still remains that it’s the Americans who are driving our country and the dollars. Actually, it’s not a particular currency, its just money that matters in this kalyug.

The victims have always alleged that Bhopal tragedy happened because of negligence by the Union Carbide and that was cost-cutting measure taken by Anderson. Anderson is a criminal, surely he’ll do anything in his power to protect himself but what is our government doing by letting this mass-murderer go scot-free. Is it because he’s an American? Does this mean Americans can visit our country anytime and kill the poor? Will we not fight back? Is it because higher level authorities had no family members who suffered from this disaster? Is it because people of India are worthless?

Poor has no say in anything because poor doesn’t have money.
Poor will rot in hell because he was born as poor.
Poor has no value.

We never got independence and we never will, until India decides to stand on its feet!

http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/aidaustin/bhopal/bhopal.JPG