Irresponsible People With Their Thirst For Disaster

I was in school, and we had exams the last time the Ayodhya issue cropped up, and I was majorly disappointed that my school compelled all of us to not only attend school but also write exams during that period. I am talking about 1992. And today on September 30, 2010, the Allahabad High Court passed an order finally (hopefully no party will appeal to the Supreme Court) and has given 1/3rd share to both the communities. I am relieved that this has gone down well with people (and I really really hope that people don’t change their views come tomorrow morning).

As of now, I am a very relieved man. I have been worried over last few days leading up to today. I cancelled all my appointments for meeting my clients for today and tomorrow, and have holed my family and myself up in our house. I was worried that there will be people – who still have that what it takes to kill people and damage innumerable properties in the city – on the streets by evening today waiting for their chance to show that they just like their predecessors can also do it. Nothing of that sort happened, and the streets – touch wood – are really calm tonight.

The reason for this post is that I am seriously concerned with the intentions of the media in this issue. Two nights ago, one news channel had got the hardliners from both communities for the discussion and was throwing up hypothetical scenarios and asking for their response. These guys are hardliners for a reason, and they did their job pretty well. This worried me more. And today, after the verdict, when most people are genuinely happy that there is some sort of a resolution in sight for this centuries old dispute, there are some people, in the media who still want to debate why is there peace today. These journalists are concerned not with the fact that both communities will have 1/3rd share on the disputed land, but with the fact that though the Court found that there was a massive Hindu religious structure before the mosque was built, yet Hindus only got a third share. They are also concerned that Muslim sentiments are hurt because the Court overlooked that they prayed there for nearly 400 years. Thankfully, no one from either of the communities is as worried about these issues as our journalists.

These are not some ordinary journalists in some cheesy news channels, I am talking about highly reputed, and experienced people, instigating people to make some horrendous comments so that at least can make the headlines. What were these people expecting? Were they expecting innocent people to die in the aftermath of their skewed imagination coming true tonight so they can nonchalantly speak their minds off about both communities.

The media should have the right to inform people about the happenings in the society, and not try and create unrest in the society. Whatever it is that gives them the right to comment or criticize about religion, also imposes reasonable restrictions on them from making comments against the religion. Tonight, for the first time I feel that we have a highly immature media in the country, they are better off reporting some lady crying her heart out on TV that she was married to Abhishek Bachchan on the day he was getting married. We have a very cynical media, and today I think I will be pardoned if I say that our media is not a reflection of our society. People are not on the street tonight trying to fight, it is the journalists who are doing it now.

Tonight, I have a new found reason to be proud to be an Indian, and no journalist can take it away.

Calangute It Is!

After Ritz, I have done my fair bit of out of state driving -- I have gone to Kerala, and Maharashtra.  It is now time for me to ply on the Goan roads.  This Goan tour was not supposed to have happened in the first place because we had planned on going to the "valley of flowers."  We were forced to postpone that trip until next year, for various reasons.  Anyway, I am not complaining, K has agreed to sit with me in our car even after that small skid we had in our last trip to Pune, which could have ended pretty dangerously.

I don't know who among us is more excited than the other.  My son is working very hard even as I am writing this to pack his clothes, little does he know that his mom is going to rip the bag apart when she comes back.  K is being very cautious -- she seems glad that I have finally started enjoying traveling, she also tells me to get the family back alive.  COME ON!  Regarding my excitement levels, I have only been telling people at work that while they will be having loads of fun working on Monday, I will be so very much troubled with my family around me on the beaches in Calangute.  They all sympathize with me.  :)  Well!! I do have a reason to be so very much excited.  I have almost planned this trip to perfection: (1) hotel rooms are booked; (2) memorized the route; (3) even surprised K by getting all our clothes ready for packing (she has to do the packing, because I will be tired with all the driving :) ); (4) bought my self beautiful jeans; (5) have completely charged up my son; and (6) have completed most of my work commitments.

I am glad for two reasons: I have never enjoyed traveling as much as I am doing at the moment, and I have never enjoyed traveling as much as I am doing right now.

I am planning to write a travelogue when we have returned.  And, 

Más vale pájaro en mano que cien volando. A bird in the hand is worth more than 100 flying.

 

No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano. Not through much awaking early does the dawn come earlier.

Threatening Calls!!

I am a big sucker for advertisements of any sort, and I almost end up buying everything that I see and like.  I say "almost buy" because "K" has threatened me with dire consequences if I attempt to buy anything over a 1000 bucks.  Things were not always this bad for me and I was pretty much free to buy whatever I thought was necessary, until the time I decided to buy this brilliant piece of automobile that "K" completely despised.  I went on to buy that one car, which "K" had specifically asked me not to buy.  In my defense, it still was a wise decision to buy it.  Now, "K" made me swear that I would never buy any big ticket item for the next 5 years without her consent.  She does not have the faintest idea what she has done to the economy.  Because of my promise to her, I have single handedly derailed the economic recovery.

I am any sales guy's paradise; in fact, I think sales people give their interns or trainees my phone number so they can practice on me.  Let me explain...

I generally get about 10 - 15 sales calls a day, of which I entertain about 6 calls,  I am not rude to any of them, and I politely refuse to buy whatever it is that they are trying to sell me.  Some guys are so convincing, I give them "K's" number, and tell them to convince her so I can buy whatever it is that they are trying to sell.  Whatever may be the outcome of these calls, most sales guys would agree that I have bettered the statistics, in as much as the number of people calling me, and my responses to them.  I am what they might term a "hot lead," that never goes cold.  People have more hits with me than with anyone else. Sometimes, these sales guys start stalking me, and make my life a living hell.

Since these are my posts, allow me to indulge myself a bit, and let me explain my misery.

There is this video rental company in Bangalore, which keeps bugging me and trying to lure me into their trap by offering me 12 free movies and an encyclopedia free with a subscription for Rs. 2999 only.  I had once previously fallen prey to their calls, I subscribed for a 30 movie package and paid for those movies in advance but ended up ordering only 2 movies over the three months of subscription.  They tried their level best to get me back into their vicious circle, and then they gave up.  I received a text from this company yesterday and I immediately started salivating at the prospect of being able to watch movies delivered to your doorstep at home, and not to mention that 12 movie free pack that I would receive coupled with the encyclopedia.  I responded to this text only with an intention to know what was the deal.  Now it seems like I have invited the devil home as this guy is literally hounding me to go for this subscription.  I would term this as trying to muscle me in to submission.  I will try hard not to buy their subscription, as I am bound by this unbreakable vow, and don't we all know what happens when this vow is broken - JK Rowling has educated all of us very well.

Another example - there is this charitable trust, who cater to under privileged kids, I started receiving calls from these people about 8 months ago, and they too are hounding me for a donation.  I first received a call from this trust from a sweet talking lady who introduced herself and the trust to me, and spoke to me about how this trust is feeding the needy and whatnots.  I thought she wanted some volunteers, and therefore, I was very keen on listening to whatever she had to say.  I realized that this was an extortion call only at the end when she asked me "so how much are you going to pay, and will that be cash or a cheque?"  Now, now, wouldn't it be rude on my part if I said no to her, considering the fact that she spoke for about 20 minutes?  I said I will think about it.  She then says, give me a time, I will send some one to pick up the cash or cheque.  I insisted that she wait before I donated.  She then promptly started calling me once every week, and then I reached a stage where I had to save her number as the "Danger Lady" so that I will not have to answer her calls.  I thought I was free... and then....yesterday, I get this call from an unknown number, and I promptly answer, and she says:

Sir! remember we spoke for this donation?
You have been avoiding my calls, when can I send my man for collecting the money?

I was like... Oh dear GOD!!

It reminded me of one of those scary movies, where we are made to believe that the murderer is dead, only to find at the last scene that his body was missing, and he is still lurking around looking for another kill...

PS: For those who are considering buying a house right now?  Think Twice Before You Buy.

Not Maid In Bangalore South

Had a very eventful weekend.

Good News:

My childhood Indian friend - now an American resident - met his wife over the internet - had an arranged marriage! I attended his wedding "after" party (poor chap he was all smiles, and was completely clueless that he would never smile again). This was on saturday. I swear I did not do anything that was not acceptable to the family crowd that night.

Not so good news:

On Friday, my son was first wrongly diagnosed as - I quote "he has indigestion" - by a local doctor. On Saturday our regular pediatrician rightly diagnosed him as suffering from gastroenteritis, and my son was now officially sick. On Sunday, I had to attend this other function (my boss's), so I just vanished leaving my wife alone. Leaving her alone with my sick son and attending functions seems very cruel. "Man is a social animal" and all that crap is in fact true. We need to attend functions, else people will perceive you to be a nut case. So I attended the function, food was very good though.

Of national importance:

Anyway, my itinerary apart, I want to address a serious issue here - resource crunch. You think only the IT majors are suffering the resource crunch? Think again... Aam junta is suffering too. There are not just enough maids in Bangalore south. You can offer them perks that you yourself do not enjoy in your office, you can even try and give them hikes despite bad performances, but nothing can stop the retrenchment. There is another problem - Poaching - your neighbors are always lurking around to try and poach your maids.

On Sunday, we had some serious problem, our maid ran away. She refused to come and clean the mess we make. Totally unacceptable!!

A little background of my misery:

In January, our long time maid decided to blackmail us and abruptly quit. Fie on her. We immediately replaced her with some one very homely, who instilled so much of confidence in me that made me conclude that I was a god's favorite child. She left after a week, she gave no reason, and she never came back for the money. Fie on her too.

Next, we found another lady in the second week of January, she was a hard working lady. She lasted only for a day. After one week of rigorous house cleaning (despite the tall claims made in the latest post by Kanchan - I help around a lot), we were yet again successful in finding a maid. She was inexperienced and she was the one who decided to leave us in the lurch just this Sunday. She too has not come for her money. Now what is the matter with these people? Why don't they want the money that they have earned.

The Conclusion:

And then it dawned on to me, they don't work for the money - they work for the pleasure. I think these people do it for professional satisfaction. They just move from one house hold to another, just to spread the joy.

Anyway, after serious bribing of the security guards in our apartment, and false promises, I have been able to secure the services of another maid. Her pilot assignment today was very good, I am just hoping that she will turn out for work tomorrow morning, and keep up the good work. Or else! As we are are a developed nation...

The Prince Of Good Times

Ok.. Now that I am the proud owner of a super sexy automobile (fit for “uncles” as my wife would swear to, well! what does she know). I decided to visit my uncle, I term him as the Prince of good times. He sent me to his estate over the week end.

And this is where I was:





Amazing!!!

I stayed in this house




And then I saw this,



This,



And this, (almost cool isn't it?) (If only I had a couple of lakhs of Rupees worth of a camera, along with the knowledge to use it, this pic might have been stupendous)



The guardians



1. Rani, 2. Johnny, 3. Jackie, and 4. Byra


I stayed in the only house for acres around with a vast drying yard completely surrounded by hills. The Prince just owns hills, and streams running through those hills. I don't believe the pictures do justice to what we experienced, but what we experienced was far more than I had bargained for when I first decided to visit the prince.

Power Corrupts And Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely

When the State resorts to brutal killing and complete suppression of the same people it is supposed to protect, people take things into their own hands, and thus, is born a state of anarchy. Many civil wars have been fought by people to overthrow brutal regimes.

Recently, I was a victim of such a brutal power. It completely altered my life, and made a rebel out of me. My experiences with the insane and dictatorial power altered my very perception of freedom. It also made me rethink on unquestionably accepting authority, even when the authority is wrong. The sad part about this entire episode is that, I have no one to blame but me for the situation that I was in over the weekend.

Ok... Now the facts. Uninterrupted internet browsing, and not having an anti-virus software had its toll on my laptop. Many insurgents (viruses) infiltrated the Financial Epicenter (my laptop) due to a weak security cordon (firewall) and occupied key positions in facility (.dll files). As a result, the facility started under performing, and became completely unreliable. As I normally deal with a lot secure data, it was getting increasingly difficult for me to keep working with so many perpetrators trying to damage the files, and trying to cause maximum economic damage. Every file I used to send underwent umpteen number of scans, which was not only humiliating to me but also time consuming to my clients. Many well meaning people advised me to opt for internet security (PAID! Anti-virus software, Really!), to rid the infiltrators from the facility. Then I saw light at the end of the tunnel, a highly placed security personnel from a multi billion dollar corporation asked me to download free anti virus software from the internet, I was also told that there are many such freewares to ensure complete malware genocide. My happiness knew no bounds, I was like "thousand salutations to you - oh intelligent one - I am indebted to you."

I thought to myself that "I will fight terror with terror," and downloaded the freeware. I was delighted when the freeware found as many as 52 infected files, and moved every one of them to a "virus vault." It promptly asked me to delete the infected files from the virus vault, and I dutifully obeyed. It said there were "three key files," which when deleted would cause a system failure, and advised me to not delete it. I thanked myself and the "intelligent one" for giving me this super efficient freeware. I then start working nonchalantly. Over the last week, I worked overnight, I got up in the mornings at odd hours, completed all pending work, and my life could not have been any better. Suddenly, at 5:30 in the morning, the freeware prompts me, "dude! install updates, I see more incoming viruses, I am not equipped to handle this situation." I think - OK!! sure whatever you say, and start downloading the updates. After about an hour of downloading, freeware pops up and asks me to restart my machine to effect the updates. I say hold on, I am in the middle of something, I will restart later. 30 minutes pass by, freeware pops up again, I say kindly wait. From then on, every hour I was reminded to restart my laptop. Finally, after completing my work, I bow down to the freeware pressure, and restart the machine. And, because I am adequately protected with all the updates, I go for a short nap (by the way my power naps run for about an hour and a half on week ends). I wake up and switch on my Laptop, only to find that the freeware has taken complete control of laptop. It is not allowing me to open any file/program, it says that every bloody file is infected, and I will need to scan all drives, I obey, after about an hour, It still comes back with errors, left, right and center. After spending about 5 hours trying to retrieve my data, I realize that I do not have any control over my data. The Freeware was in fact terrorizing me and pushed me into a state where I had no power to use my laptop. Before installing the freeware, I was at least able to access my files, use it, but the new security deprived me of basic amenities such as checking my emails, reading F-1 news!! The freeware turned me into an anarchist of some sort. (I thought to myself) Enough was enough! and I decided to raise to the occasion, and to take control of affairs.

I then used external help - mercenaries - to breach the freeware's security cordon. This specialist, breached the security cordon through DOS, went into the directory, and got the data, on which I had spent so many nights, out of the system. I check the retrieved data only to find that all the work that I had done before installing the freeware was intact, the rest was not saved. My sleepless nights went for a waste. That did it. I hired more mercenaries and staged a coup; I had that freeware forcibly uninstalled. The freeware however, did not go down without a fight. It left traces of its presence and deeds in most ".dll" files, and while going down, it also deleted a few of those key files in the guise of ridding my laptop of all viruses. It was like the freeware was trying to tell me that "I did it for the country (laptop), it was not personal." I couldn't care less for the freeware's intentions.

As I was told by the freeware, the system did collapse. Imagine! how can something made by Microsoft! crash, its unthinkable. When you are stuck in unthinkable and "I have nothing to loose" situations, go for the kill. Overthrow the damn regime I thought. Therefore, I asked my mercenaries to format my hard disk, and re install the OS and important softwares.

I learned a lot from this experience, I realized that I am very brave when I am pushed to a corner, I felt like Rajanikanth (don't mess with me or I will completely destroy you attitude). I felt like a creator, in the sense, I will allow external forces to cross the limits to a certain extent, if you cross the limit, make no mistake, I have the power in me to take control of my situation. Maybe this is how most powerful men, king makers, or maybe even god feels like.

Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton knew this in 1887, when he coined the phrase "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton also said "Great men are almost always bad men." If only Lord Acton knew that his statements are true even to machines...

I also learned this yesterday

Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

Procrastination

Lately, I have been accused of procrastination, be it in completing work on time or doing something more worthwhile and important as getting the refrigerator's eight year old stabilizer repaired. I cite to "inspiration" as my one reason for pushing every thing ahead in time. I keep telling everyone that I am not just inspired or motivated enough to do something at the moment. Some people buy it, some don't, most accept it as their fate, very few fight back. And fight back they do..

To begin with I do not procrastinate (too complicated a word), I just say that I'll do it later (a simpler way of saying it), and secondly, there is nothing wrong in living for the moment. This brings me to the question, why do I procrastinate, which then brings me to a larger philanthropic question "why do people procrastinate?"

Well... the answer is pretty simple. You are expecting people to do something very boring; and when you further bore them by accusing them of being a procrastinating being, people just refuse to do it, unless of course there is a complete submission to the authority. I mean why would you want people to do something that they do not enjoy. Isn't life too short, and complicated enough already for you to expect us to do something tedious? I think the reason "you's" want "us's" to engage in tedious activities is because "you's" are just too darn lazy to do it yourself in the first place. I think that "you's" find the activity too taxing, and feel that it is easy to accuse people like me of procrastination rather than doing it yourself. If Mahatma Gandhi were like you - just accused other people of not fighting for the independence - we would not be an "in dependent" country today. If he were alive today, I am positive that Mahatma Gandhi would have the stabilizer repaired himself rather than ask his followers to do it. He did not accuse any one of anything, let alone of procrastination.

A thought for Non-Procrastinators :

"One should always be self sufficient, give, but do not take, do not mock others' helplessness." - ME

Scottish Gaelic Phrase V. 2.0

"Cò an caora sin còmhla riut a chunnaic mi an-raoir?" (Kaw uhn KEU-ra shin KAW-la root uh CHOO-nik mee uhn-royer?) "Who was that sheep I saw you with last night?"

"Cha b'e sin caora, 'se sin mo chèile a bha innte!" (Chah beh shin KEU-ra, sheh shin moe CHYEH-luh uh vah EEN-tchuh!) "That was no sheep, that was my spouse!"

Adultery

If thinking about someone else, when you already are in a relationship amounts to some sort of an adultery, as some people say, then, I must say I am guilty.

I have a car, which I always believed was "mine"; in fact, there was a point in time when I spent more time in my car than I did with my wife; I always referred to my car as "my car,"and not "our car," which resulted in many unpleasant moments in my life after marriage. I possessed my car for the first 3 years after buying, and owned it for over 2 years now.

And now, I am dreaming of another car! I now dream of driving a new car, of course, the tag along party were always a part of those dreams in "our new car." I do not stop at dreaming; I also decide to sell my old car; and shamelessly book a new car, which is not even a good looking model, yet... I am looking forward to driving it.

I not just committed adultery, now I will sell my car and buy a new one. This is the same car where I had a wonderful time with my family, shared many stolen moments from other people. If I was doing this to a warm blooded homo sapien as opposed an inanimate object like a car, I would have been termed as inhuman, maybe some people would call me a criminal..

Tha mi nas àirde na mo pheathraichean." That's Scottish Gaelic for "I am taller than my sisters."

Simply Travel

The last time I really did want to travel was way back in 2001. I strongly believed that way forward was to buy a fiat palio 1.6 gtx (100 bhp) and drive all the way to hampi. Any guy who liked watching F-1 back then, would have wanted to buy a palio; it was endorsed by the almightly - Michael Schumacher - himself. I didn't buy a palio, and I never went to hampi.

I like to travel at my own terms. By this I mean, I am not fond of using public transport. I always believed that you should not sit in a mode of transportation that you cannot control in an emergency. Therefore, trains and air planes were out of the question, buses were not comfortable, and petrol cars are not economically viable especially when you have just started earning. As a result of my logic, I desisted travel of any sort and by any means by the time my wife asked me go visit places. Since then, I have failed miserably in trying to make my wife understand the logic behind keeping my traveler's bone in hibernation. I have now decided that the time has come for me to explore the world. I will visit all weekend destinations in and around Bangalore. Thus decided, I shared similar feelings as any normal guy would have, i.e., "hey now I will travel, so things should be super cool at home." Surprisingly, my simple solution to travel did not go down well at home.

Just think of it, all I am saying is that lets go buy a new car, and start visiting places. My logic is we have a petrol car, lets sell it, go buy a diesel car, which is pretty "swift" and gives a 21 kmpl. (I am not trying to endorse any car here, I am not getting paid... Please keep in mind when you buy it). My logic further argues with my wife's common sense that if three people go out in this "swift" diesel car... it would work out much cheaper than a bus. And hey... The car is under my control and ... so on and so forth. Sadly, there is no sanity left in the world today - what with terrorists targeting the one place I wanted to visit for their sleeper cells, and President Obama's pep talk to the American youth to go to colleges. This bug has infiltrated my home too.. My wife does not believe buying a new car is right way to travel. She however, has halfheartedly agreed to go for the car.

Before I end this post... I would like to make things clear, I really did a lot of introspection, and even had a very mature conversation with her. I told her that we will go for alloy wheels of "her choice," DVD player with a LCD screen, let her pick the right leather (my apologies to you Maneka) for the Car. Nothing worked. So I concluded that no matter how much I to make the her life as simple as mine...

Son of the Soil

Ever since my wife started posting, I have been itching to write on my own. In my pursuit to blog, I first started reading other blogs; I even wrote a professional blog; then decided that I will not blog. You know my thoughts are fairly simple, either I decide to do something, or I just don't do it. This time I have decided to write, and I am calling this post the "son of the soil" - a simple man (my definition) . I would like to think of me as the Son of the Soil, particularly because I simply simplified my life 3 weeks ago. I am married, I have a 3 year old son, and I am a lawyer, Nuff said 'bout me - yes I too am influenced by Uncle Sam.

Until recently, my mother was living with us, and helped us with my son. One day she decided that she needs to diversify her interests from her "only" grandson, and dedicate the remaining part of her life pursuing her other interests - namely her other two grand children. OK... whilst she embarked on a new adventure, I was left seriously worried. I was shamelessly and completely useless around the house. All through the time my mother was with us, my dear wife, at first, lovingly, and at other times almost threateningly, asked me to help around the house. My mom always intervened and she never let me do anything.. Great, now, she is not staying with us to save my skin any more, so I come up with a brilliant plan and decide that I will work from home, when my wife goes to office. (My wife travels for 25 kms one way in the hot sun, for about a hour and a half every day). She is skeptical of my home management skills, she is supportive.

OK.. Now...

DAY 1 - I get the UPS installed in our house, I get the water purifier repaired, I feed my son, and it is 4:30 already and my wife is back home.

DAY 2 - I am amazed by the very fact that there is a 5 hour load shedding, and "i can still use my fan." I feed my son, and I decide to play the cool dad, and take my son down to play. Did not foresee that how something so innocent as taking your son out to play can make you a villain. This is what happened, few women, who were with their children, asked me if I was on leave, I say no, first mistake. Next question, why are you home, and I respond... "I am working from home." This other lady then asks, so you are home and your wife is in the office? I respond "YES... that is correct."

The other lady: Doesn't your wife travel for about 2 hours every day?

Me: Yes!! Thats right...

The other lady: And you are working from home?

Me: Yes, thats correct.

That's it, I play with my son, and come back home. The next day however, the two ladies were giving sympathetic looks to my wife, and all the while menacingly staring at me. I could see the "THIS HORRIBLE MAN IS MAKING HIS WIFE WORK, WHILE HE IS ENJOYING HIS TIME AT HOME" look in their eyes. For avoidance of any doubt... I don't feel guilty that I am WFH, and the look that I just spoke about, is not a figment of my imagination.

That day.. I kept the curtains open, spoke loudly on the phone, and made sure that about half of our apartment complex knew that I am working from home. This was my simple solution. The Jury however, is still out.

If any one out there wants to help me be a "hero" he/she is welcome.

PS: Now I can make bournvita and "wafer thin" chapatis. I am after all.. "the" Son of the Soil...