Children of the Age

I have my own channel. And a news paper. And a magazine. My own media network. I can be heard. Be seen. And read.I can inspire. Collaborate. Communicate. Even conspire. With almost the entire World. When did ever a Person had so much power? Is there any doubt in your mind, that you do not live in incredible times?


It is interesting, if you observe, how power has been created through the Internet. The cynic in you might say that the Power resides with the ones who own the Telecom Companies, the Fiber Optic Cables, Social Media Platforms and Smartphone companies. But, they are in the business because we, the citizens of this modern, global, all pervading civilisation NEED power. We wanted the POWER to write, to photograph, to videograph, to broadcast , to sing our songs, to beat our drums so that it can be heard. The provider and the reciever are both empowered, this is a win-win situation.


There is an overpowering urge for it, we want more. It will only grow, and get stronger. Our voices are going to get louder. And there will be consequences. There already are some who are afraid of us wielding so much power. And they are going to try and take it away from us. But I will be damned if I let that happen. So will you. Can you let anyone take away the air you breathe? The water you drink? The earth that you walk on? Or the Sun that lights up your life? Never. And I believe this Power is going to be that fundamental to us, if you do not think it is already.


The Internet is evolving into a fundamental right of sorts. And it has the power to esnure that all your other rights are not encroached upon. I am blessed, to be aware and alive in the World of today, inspite of all its shortcomings. I am grateful, to be a Child of the Internet Age. Long Live the Inter Network.

Becoming Superhuman

"Of all the superheroes in popular culture, I’ve always been most drawn to Batman. While many superheroes come by their superpowers through genetic blessing or freakish accident, Batman is a regular guy who gained his superhuman abilities on his own. He studied science, perfected his body, sharpened his mind and powers of deduction, and utilized technology. He became superhuman through his own effort, adding to his powers element by element"

Seriously. Batman is SO possible.

The Whole Man

Becoming superhuman involves reaching for ever greater heights in all areas of our lives: physical, mental, moral, and spiritual.

The average man spends his days as a sedentary lump; the superhuman man strives to keep himself in peak physical condition.

The average man rarely cracks open a book after college; the superhuman man is dedicated to lifelong learning, constantly feeding his mind with books, magazines, and newspapers and studying a wide variety of topics.

The average man cheats and fudges here and there; the superhuman man makes his word his bond and lives every day with integrity.

The average man is content with surface pleasures and material goods; the superhuman man explores the greater depths of life through meditation or prayer.


Well, the author defined superhuman-ness for a Man . It is my unequivocal belief that this is what a Superman is, and more importantly, through persistence and determination, we can get closer to it every day. Now, Let me define superhuman-ness for a Woman in a different way, albeit what the author says is applicable in its entirety to women as well.

The average woman is NOT a feminist . The Superwoman fights for her soul's right to breathe relentlessly, tirelessly and fearlessly. 

The average women rarely questions why Men are so hell bent upon controlling her, why Societal traditions mostly favor men and why is she perceived more as an object and less as a human . The Superwoman is hell bent upon annihilating anything and everything that challenges her right to be a  free and independent spirit .

The average women adjusts, and compromises and builds up her endurance for abuse . The Superwoman fights , ferociously . Whether it is mental or physical, the battles are long-drawn-out, hard and courageously won by her.  

The average woman lets some spineless, worthless, pseudo-masculine and inherently insecure excuse for a man dominate her. The Superwoman is indomitable.

The average woman probably does not know what balls are . In all likelihood, she has been taught that sex is sinful( unless she gets married ), and that her body should be cloaked modestly because - If an extremely horny man is turned on by looking at her anterior or posterior and decides to molest/rape her, she would be tainted and forever held responsible because she, in the first place should have magically transformed into an ugly, toothless,stinking man before the red-blooded men had a chance to lust at her. 

The Superwoman knows what balls are, and how they can be used as a terrific weapon, against men, bringing down the most masculine and mightiest of them on their knees withing seconds. She also knows that sex is neither sinful nor unnatural, but rather a genuine need which is to be take care of by her in the way she deems fit. And most importantly, she is never ever ashamed of her body, of the way she has been designed by Mother Nature, of the way she talks or walks, and she knows that it is her and her curvaceous body alone, which cradles Life .

The average woman is content to play the roles that the Society imposes upon her. She willingly believes in the virtues of marriage, virginity, motherhood, superiority of males and her own subservience to them . She never questions why she is supposed to be NOT good at Mathematics, Driving or Technology . She favors a life of cloaked security over open rebellion . And she gives beauty much more , than is due to it . 

The Superwoman is openly defiant and rebellious. She is exceedingly difficult to handle or to control, as a child, as a wife, as a sister, a daughter, an employee or as a citizen. She is demanding and vehemently outspoken . She is a die hard feminist. She knows she not inferior to any damn one . She has a beautiful and brilliant mind, and is the master of her own body. She is great at what she wants to be good at. She immensely values the beauty of the mind and the soul ,a lot more than the beauty that is merely skin deep. She loses her virginity because it is her's, in the first place. She marries because she needs a Life partner. She is not vessel for harvesting some capon's seed ! She is a mother because she is so full of Love and affection, that it cannot but manifest into a pristine and lovely child . The Superwoman kicks ass ! The Superwoman lives her Life .

The Superwoman and the Superman, complement each other, make one complete whole . They constitute Life .
 

p.s. The word average here does not imply that most women behave or act that way. Rather, it is just a way to represent the norm, which can be observed in many instances .

The source of the content in italics : Becoming superhuman in 2011

Ghost of a Dead Belief

I Believed .
Those Beliefs are now swimming in front of my eyes.
Dripping in blood.
Their heads hacked off.
For a while I thought it was over.
And off I went, to cremate my dead belief.
There were others there too.
Like me and unlike me.
Friends and foes.
They are burning, faces in fire,
Melting, losing shape,
Consumed, but not purged,
It is strange.
The Beliefs were all colored.
But the ashes , an indifferent gray.
With the dying embers, I said a prayer,
"May its soul rest in peace",
But I had burnt the soul a long time before.
With this thought in my mind,
I made my way out,
Out of heaven's doors.
What I didn't notice, was the Ghost.
Following me, was the Ghost of my dear old friend !


By Stuti Chandra

This is a poem by my sister, who blogs here.

My Dear Women

What comes to your mind, when the first thing you read in the morning is about a padeophile who got away? Or when you read gruesome headlines like “ 7 year old girl raped and killed” . 7 year old ? Raped and Killed ? What the FUCK ? What the FUCK is wrong with a society where children , innocent, divine, pristine, and unspoilt, get raped and killed !

From the very day a woman comes to existence, as a being on this Earth, she is the target, assaulted at every stage of her life. From female infanticides, to being raped and killed, no matter how old or young she is. Whether she flaunts her gifts in a bikni or gracefully covers herself with a hijab, whether she wears a saree, salwar,skirt or shorts, no matter what, why or when, she gets hit. The sickness of men when it comes to sharing the Planet with Women is universal , and manifests in many many cruel ways . They are mostly animals, or animalistic at times, at best.

Leave alone Rape and Murder. They are the end of the spectrum. What about being sacrificed for the sake of a mythical honour, being burned for dowry, being abused by the husband, exploited at the Workplace, sold in the market place, molested in a crowded space? What about the myriad other ways, in which, We, men , in general, make things difficult for them?

This huge gap, between the socio-economic status of men and women, will it ever be bridged by Reservations alone? I don’t think so. And neither can we bridge it by special favours and treatments to a few . You think, just because you don’t see it happening around you or with you, the times have changed, and women now walk along men, shoulder to shoulder? If you do, then you are among the lucky few in India for sure. I cannot say what happens in the Western countries for sure .

And to top this fine fettle of affairs, the Media has descended upon Womenkind, as a eco-friendly fossil-free resource, to be used anywhere, and in any way possible to maximize profits. No, it is not just pronography. Pornography is very direct. It is very blunt . What I am talking about, is the multitude of advertisements, that perpetually drive home the insidious message that if you use :-

My Deoderant -> All the Women for You
My Hair Oil -> Hot wife for you
My Cement -> More women . I don’t know how, but more women for you.
My underwear -> A hot woman for you
My pen -> A hot teacher will fall for you
My Car/Watch/Laptop/Mobile/Analgesic/Soda/Umbrell/God-knows-what-else -> Woman, in every nook and corner for you

And I am not counting the tv-shows and cinema.

So what message do I get , on a subconscious level? And why would would I need so many physically beautiful women? Ergo, a woman is an object, to be enjoyed and collected, if possible. And this message is put forward, 24/7.

I can’t understand the way this society wants to function. It is at odds with it self .

It seems to me, that they are trying to go by the following :-

1. I am a Man. I rock. Even if I don’t, let me reiterate. I am a MAN. I rule.
2. I want to sleep with as many women as possible. From my teenage.
3. It is my birthright to molest, eve-tease,grope etc., any woman that dares to step outside.
4. If any other man does the same to my mother or sister, all hell will break lose.
5. When I marry, I want a hot wife who cooks,cleans and bears my child.
6. I want to be paid a certain amount for my masculinity , and the huge responsibility I take on my shoulders, to feed and protect your daughter. ( I forget at times, that I also get a wife, and the mother of my children)
7. If the hot-wife is an only child, I would be very happy. I don’t want her brothers to share her fortune. My fortune is mine. Her fortune is mine as well.
8. My wife should be a virgin, when I marry her.
9. I should have robbed at least one girl of her virginity before I get married.
10. My wife should not ever betray me.
11. I may sometimes sleep around, just to recreate myself.
12. My wife should respect every memeber of my family, no matter how they treat her.
13. Of all the children 50% or more should be sons.
14. If all the children turn out to be sons, I will reward my wife appropriately( depends on the build,complexion, health of the son, and what he becomes) over her remaining less torturous life.
15. If all are daughters, then all hell will break lose.
16. I may decide to kill some of my daughters, even if I dont have many of them, at times. I may kill them at birth, forcefully marry them off anytime I want, virtually killing them, or may kill them if they marry against my divine wish.
17. I may be upsetting the sex-ratio, but fuck that, my honour comes first.
18. Another source of my beatific honour is the possession of sons with beautiful wives.
19. I am extremely aginst homo-sexuality of any kind. Homosexuality of the feminine kind can be condoned provided I am entertained by it.
20. Coming back to my wife, she should take care of all my children. Sons can hang out with me.
21. All my sons, should get ample opprotunity to play with as many other girls as they want.
22. Any woman , my son marries, should be pure, as was mine, and should not have had any affairs prior to the marriage.
23. It is the fundamental duty of the father-in-law of son’s, to pay me back with interest, all money that I ever spent on him. But he does not get my son for it.
24. If my wife or daughter should get raped, I will first try and rule out whether she asked for it.
25. If any family member does that, I may punish, my wife/daughter, depending on what I think happened.
26. My wife/daughters should not step outside, without my direct permission.
27. I want a certain percentage of the women, to be set aside, for my , and my fellow-men’s recreation. These women, will be treated the worst of all, because of what they practice. The sleep with men, for money.
28. There are a few, amongst, many other things that I want from Women. The others escape my mind. So to simplify things, I have the right to impose any rule I like, from flattening breasts to inspecting wheter women are wearing bras or not. So please co-operate. Or else, you know.

Now , you tell me, how the hell will a society be sane, given even half of the above rules are true. Men try to tilt eveyrthing in their favour to such a crazy extent, that things are way out of balance. But we never see the root cause. We suffer, and make women suffer even more. When we don’t get our sons,we kill them. When our sexually frustrated sons, as a result of the disturbing ratio, rape or attack other women, whom do we blame ? Even when we have paedophiles creeping out of many corners, we refuse to find out, why ?

We choose to ignore all of it. Because we are men. We want women to serve us. Till the day we end up killing all of mankind, and all other women and children.

The Traveler,The Peasant and The Brahmin

A traveler, Muslim by faith, passing through a predominantly Hindu village, pleaded for shelter to a peasant of moderate affluence. The peasant was aware of the difference in their faiths, he knew that stranger standing before him was a beef-eater, one who called him a kaafir and prayed to his Allah. But he also saw a hungry man; he could relate to his tiredness as someone who has plowed his own fields, the traveler’s weariness was no stranger to him as one who was at the mercy of agents beyond his influence, factors beyond his control. The drooping beard, the disheveled hair and the pangs of hunger on his sweaty face appealed to the human in him. In his heart of hearts, he wanted to help this man. But he was hesitant. So, he decided to consult the priest of the village, a shrewd and learned Brahmin. The Brahmin scoffed at the idea of him helping a musalman and threatened him with dire consequences if he did so. He used his learning and eloquence to explain what a grave sin he was going to commit. He reasoned with the peasant, whether he actually wanted to give shelter to a cow-killer? The Brahmin smiled, inwardly, when the peasant left with a squarer jaw and a flinty look in his eyes. The Mohammedan was given the boot, no surprises there. The Hindu was saved from desecrating his dharma. He was happy, even proud, of his actions, considering it a step closer to Heaven.

Now, why did the Brahmin inspire the peasant in such a way? It was not because he actually believed in what he preached. Oh No! He was well versed in his shastras, he was aware of his first and foremost duty as a human, as a member of the family this World is. Vasudeva kutumbam was what his sacred texts had taught him. Had he been in a similar pickle, he would have actually cooked for the poor traveler, as he knew that, Atithi Devo Bhava. He had no objection to his being a Muslim, for he truly believed in Sarva Dharma Sambhava. But his knowledge did not deter him from doing what he did. Because it did not help him. The good will that the peasant would have earned was of no use to him. The control he had over the peasant, and his kind, was more important and beneficial to him. If the peasant somehow came to know, that his natural instincts and his common sense kept him on the morally and ethically right path, that he did not need the Brahmin’s wisdom, for what Life taught him was through its myriad ways was enough for him to live with his head held high, that he could reject the Brahmin’s wisdom if it did not appear wise to him; the Brahmin would lose the power he wielded over him, and subsequently the others. In an indirect fashion, the priest also influenced the Muslim’s lives, by ensuring that he was not sheltered. His one word could have been the difference between life and death for the traveler. Power was the most sinful delicacy the Brahmin had ever tasted.

But he forgot, that the power he acquired through gaining the good will of such Hindu peasants and Muslim travelers was purer, whiter and not easy to vanquish, as compared to what he wielded through control, deception and obfuscation. The surrender of the peasant and traveler to his will may or may not be a natural result, unwilling and half-hearted, but the good will of a fellow man cannot be forced out of him.

We all condemn Divide-and-Rule, but we all indulge in it, I think, if not consciously, then sub or un consciously. We all have been the Brahmin, the Peasant or the Muslim once.

The Brahmin could have been a Mullah,a Padri and the traveler a Hindu or a Sikh. It would all be the same. Humanity is so hell bent bickering , waging wars against each other , fellow species and Mother Nature , that it forgets why we are humans in the first place . An intelligent life form must have a higher purpose other than mere existence , at least not the way we exist now . Is it too much to expect this from Gaya's most intelligent child , to live with all the possible imperfections , but in a way which ensures that life itself is not threatened ?

Creative Disclaimer - No disrespect or mal intent intended towards Muslims , Non Brahmin Hindu peasants or Brahmins , in general . It is just a story , please treat it like one .

The Idea of a Nation

It started of at Nita's blog , on her latest post , "Kashmir through the eyes of a Kashmiris" . where a gentleman said so -

"This may seem uncomfortable, but I think India should not only give away Kashmir but also let go of North Eastern states if they want independence. Who are we to impose our rule on them? Actually I don’t even know why India is even one country. Our states have less in common with each other than the countries in EU do. What’s with this artificial sense of national identity, forced language (Hindi) and fashionable talk of secularism (asking Hindus to be secular is a mockery).To begin with, the BIMARU states should be let to go. These states can go screw themselves as they have been doing all this time. Enough of taking money from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, TN and other states."

There other such comments as well , questioning the Oneness of India , and the incredulity expressed at it being one country without having a common language, culture or religion . And I came across a new definition of nationalism . Nationalism , it seems , "is nothing but the regionalism of the Hindi imperialist north Indians" . So the martyrs of 26/11 , Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan , a Keralite , Hemant Karkare , Ashok Kamte , Vijay Salaskar and Tukaram Omble , all Marathi's , were not Indians , but rather a Keralite and Marathis defending Mumbai for their own selfish interests . Irrefutable logic . Yes , Hindi was imposed , the imposition of was not fair . Even so , the mere imposition of Hindi , making the official language of India does not imply that Nationalism is Regionalism of Hindi Imperialist " North-Indians" . In one stroke, I have been reduced to an "imperialist" and a "North-Indian". And this is just an interesting tit-bit , V D Savarkar , who was a true blue Marathi and a Nationalist ( I beg of you not to drag the assassination angle), wanted Hindi to be the National Language . Shocking , right ? I cannot comprehend why . Once again , I do not suggest that it should be . If it were up to me , I would have a common script(Sanskrit's script could be the best) for all Indian languages , and make English and some-other-unanimously-decided-upon-language , as the official ones .

The concept of a nation is not just born out of a common language or culture . Diversity cloaks everything, without fail . This planet does not have one species , one climate or one vegetation . Should life on Earth cease to exists just because all the living beings have nothing in common apart from being alive ? I see India as a microcosm of the World . A rather big one though . You have different languages , religions and cultures . You have different , or rather a mixed race as well . So if we, cannot survive together , tolerate each other , then I have no hope for humanity . If we cannot learn to exist within the realms of diversity , then we will either perish or live very tumultuous lives. A common language/religion/culture may seem the ideal way , but sooner or later , some other issue would crop up . People following the same religion fight over caste and sect . Brahman and Dalit, Forward and Backward , Gujjar and Meena . Shia and Sunni . Protestant , Catholic , Baptist and Syrian . People following the same language ay start arguing over dialects . Hell, you have blonde , brunette and red-headed Caucasians, and even that could be turned into an burning issue by some diabolical genius. And if that doesn't brew up anything, you can always bank on : Communism Vs Capitalism . Male Chauvinist Pigs 's Vs Feminists . Straight Vs Gay .Maybe Vegans vs Non-Vegetarians . The question here is , to what extent are you willing to tolerate the differences between you and the people around you ? Do you want to live with people who look,talk,eat,pray,copulate exactly like you ? Ever come across a jungle with just tigers or rabbits living in it ? Humanity will never be short of reasons to fight over . The trick is to try and keep it to a minimum .

And it is not just race or language or religion , but also shared historical experiences which is important , for nationhood . I bet people were not wondering whether we were one or not in 1962 . It seems as if you need a common enemy to unite everyone , even if not for long . It reminds me of the movie Watchmen , where Dr. Manhattan takes the blame for the nuked New York , unites the World, and de-escalates the tension between US and Russia, who are shown to be on the brink of all-out nuclear missile shooting match . It is fictitious , but makes a lot of sense . So some day , if a hostile alien ship is found hovering above Earth , I guess Chavez , Bush and Osama would also come together . How do you unite people even in the absence of a common enemy ? How do you pull off something like what Hitler did with Germany , without the Jewish fixation ?

The children of a mother may have nothing in common , but that doesn't nullify their bond, does it ? Diving people into smaller and smaller groups, on some nonsensical “common” ground , might be a good short term solution , but in the long term , it will come back and bite us in the ass . It is very easy to crib about how India is divided , how we constantly fight amongst ourselves , how there is not even a semblance of unity . Well , first of all define One . If you expect a nation of 1.15 Billion people to sway in unison over every damn thing , get off the dope you are smoking . That is only going to happen , when , as I said , there is a grave external threat , say , China attacks again . And in the absence of that , you need good leaders to bring out that united "Aye" . And secondly , you are one , if you want to be one . You need the collective will of the people to be a nation. It is like living a big joint family , it seems like a nuisance , but has its advantages . I have said this before , the mass of humanity is a force , if tapped the right way . And yes, it can be mother of all chaos as well . I bet the Nagas , the Tamils , the Kashmiris will be ecstatic to secede . It will be good for a while , until the next despotic dickhead decides to add them to his empire or exploit them for it . And the smaller you are the weaker you are . Gone are the days of nations like Sparta , where 300 held off an army of thousands , may be millions . The concept of India as a nation comes at a price , are you willing to pay for it ? It is an idea ,a bold and imaginative , and it won't be that easy to materialize completely . For those "love-lorn" Indians living in the US who disparage it , please read American History . The US of A came at a price , after a lot of struggle and blood-shed , but that is what makes it strong , among other things . They had a Civil War . May be , even for us , a good spell lies ahead , after the turbulence settles down . Don't we all love be to Global citizens , and rant about Globalization , and how boundaries are created by shallow selfish power-crazed politicians . Well , if you can learn to be a citizen of India , it will teach you everything you need to be a good global citizen .

Indians need validation from the West . So , take a look at a huge chunk of the West , Europe . What is the European Union all about ? They are trying to bring down the walls, after fighting amongst themselves since ages, coalescing themselves as a single unit . Why the hell are they doing that ? Aren't they a bunch of fools, falling for “united we stand,divide we fall, even if the unity involves diversity” ?

Quite a while ago , I had written this as a comment on IHM's blog . What does patriotism mean to me ? It is an extension of the feeling I have for my family . You love it unconditionally . And why do I feel that way ? May be I was born like that. May be there is a gene for it , you can trust the geneticists to come up with something like that . My up-brining is responsible , yes . My grandfather taught me that the motherland comes before religion , or anything else . And education . Not the crap I learned in school . The NCERT History that is taught in our schools is very clean and very guarded. I bet if they added the parts about the creation of Jan Sangh and RSS , it will create a furore . I heard about a man called Deen Dayal Upadhaya through chance, when we all should have heard about him through school books . His words -

"We are pledged to the service not of any particular community or section but of the entire nation. Every countryman is blood of our blood and flesh of our flesh. We shall not rest till we are able to give to every one of them a sense of pride that they are able to give to every one of them a sense of pride that they are children of Bharatmata. We shall make Mother India Sujala, Suphala (overflowing with water and laden with fruits) in the real sense of these words. As Dashapraharana Dharini Durga (Goddess Durga with her 10 weapons) she would be able to vanquish evil; as Lakshmi she would be able to disburse prosperity all over and as Saraswati she would dispel the gloom of ignorance and spread the radiance of knowledge all around her. With faith in ultimate victory, let us dedicate ourselves to this task."

His is the kind we need . And he died under mysterious circumstances .

The above , like many other historical facts, I learned on my own . Through observation and by quetsioning things . From the left,right and center angle . I think if you want the complete picture about a Historical event , you should read about it from the different kinds of Historians . You know , Saffron,Secular,Marxist etc . Then , a semblance of the truth might emerge from it . I use "semblance" and "might" , as this is just a theory . It took me a while to realize that History , is his(or her) story , and not just a cold,unbiased and unemotional assortment of facts . And that it only acted as a soporific while I had to mug to score , in school . :)

I wonder what scares the custodians of History in this country from writing as it was , as humanly as possible . Why can't the coming generations be trusted with the tales of the past , even if they are full of blood , gore and pain . Are they afraid of creating a rift ? I think the absence of truthful historical accounts would create it instead , when one fine day , you suddenly discover what happened , and you feel cheated , and suddenly , all of it seems like a conspiracy directed against , you / your kind / community . I think we just not need to teach the right History , but we also need to teach how to assimilate it the right way . If India was invaded by Mughal/Arab rulers and thousands of Hindu heads rolled in their bloody quest , that does imply that Muslims in India , today , be held accountable for that . I have read about the hundreds or may be thousands of temples destroyed by the Muslim invaders , and kings like Aurangzeb , and that makes my blood boil . But , I am not picking up my demolition kit , and going to destroy mosques in turn . Isn't the study of History , our past , supposed to teach us a lesson for our present and future ? But how will that happen , when those lessons are doctored by the people in power , to suit their ideology ?


Coming back to patriotism, a few days ago, after reading a fellow bloggers comment , I question myself . Why am I patriot ? Why does the motherland mean so much to me ? Am I patriotic because I am a Hindu , one who has been not faced any caste-based discrimination ? A Hindi speaking one ? Is it so , because so far , this nation has not been unkind to me , as could be said in the case of all Kashmiri Pundits or certain parts of the Muslim and Sikh populace , or Dalits ? Does this feeling of patriotism stem out of your association with this land , or is it measured in terms of your net gain as a citizen of this country ? Discrimination or denial of rights alone could be held responsible for having an apathetic attitude towards your nation . I have known quite a few affluent Hindus , who would ditch Mother India , in a jiffy for the land of milk and honey . And I don't think I am patriotic because I am a religious Hindu , cause once again , I think there are thousands of this kind , who will and have gone abroad , but still look up to India as the Holy Land . And if religion alone is the reason to fuel one's love for motherland , than shame on such a patriot . Love for one's country should flow naturally , and without reason , as does your love for your own mother . If the change is one's faith leads to a change in the loyalty for your country , then shame on you , and shame on that faith as well . The prime reason behind my love for my country is that I was born here , and I belong to this place; by virtue of birth and history is this land my motherland . And I can say that his sense of belonging can only be discovered and realized on your own .

Edited to add :

"The human hand is very different from the leg , as the kidney is from the heart , but together they are one functioning entity , and the soul , the consciousness resides in that body , not in the limbs and organs that make it up . And when you chop off a piece of that body , it may live , but in pain . And if you keep hacking off pieces from it , one day , it will die for sure. My sense of patriotism directs me to respect and revere the entire body as that of Mother India , and establish a bond with her soul . "

Things(supposed to be ten) That Make Me Emotional

This is a tag, by IHM. I was supposed to write about 10 things, in brief, I guess, that make me emotional. But I went berserk and wrote about everything that makes emotional, sentimental, angry and mental. These are the things that make me cry, and make me gnash my teeth.

1. There are 1.15 Billion people in India. That is one huge number. That is one fifth of humanity. If those 1.15 were to even shout in unison, once, it would deafen everyone, maybe trigger quakes. It would not just be a force to reckon with, it would be The Force, with or without nuclear weapons. We are yet to see that day. Prime reason to be emotional.

2. Bharat Mata makes me emotional. A mother who has children, so eager and willing to desecrate her. A mother who is not even considered as their mother by quite a few. A mother who was hacked into pieces once, and if things don't change, will get hacked into a few more.

3. The Political Leaders - Especially when the elections are around. Once in every 5 years you get to see what a wonderful and vibrating democracy you are a part of. The Political Circus cum World War, all gunning for Power. Forgetting the real issues, and making up fake ones. About PM's to be from a list of people, who are too old, too foreign, too meek or too corrupt and uncouth to do justice to it. And the latest addition to this beautiful and bright bunch of desh-ka-netaa’s is our very Gandhigiri-walla Munnabhai, who has lost it, completely. The wife. The Political Party. The Public Speeches. What next? I hope the Late Sunil Dutt jee's soul is at peace.

4. Mahapurush Bhagat Singh and the Other Lost Heroes of India. Chanakya. Swami Vivekananda. Netaji Bose. Aurobindo Ghosh. When we not busy singing and dancing over Gandhijee, who it seems, was the only great person to have been born on this land, we can also try and study these heroes as well, who might have been less in stature but were no less great.

5. Riots - It is not a war, it has no rules, there is no Geneva Convention, and it is just a clash between two groups, no holds barred and barbaric. And it brings shame, infamy, unrest to the country, and power to the corrupt.

6. Secularism, the way it is practiced in India, makes me emotional. The twisted, contorted, I-will-use-it-as-it-suits-me form of it. The Madani and Pragya Singh kind. The Karunanidhi,Vaiko,Raj Thackeray and Varun Gandhi kind . If one deserves the NSA, then so do the others, or at least something similar. No political party is secular. If you ask for votes on the basis of religion, caste or language, or race (Aryan-Dravidian bull shit), how can you claim to be secular? What gets my goat is that some get away with this hypocrisy. This bandying with “secular” and “communal” is funny at times.

7. Aryan-Dravidian, North-South, Illad & Ghati & Bhaiiya and Chinki make me emotional. That people think that North Indians are descendants of Aryans and South Indians are Dravidians . Do I fucking look like an Aryan descendant to any one ? I am 5 feet 8 inches tall. I have black hair and brown eyes. And if I had not been afraid of getting a tan, I would have gone out in the sun more, and been darker. The concept of a race, once again, Western, that has been imposed on the Indian mind. How will we have one race, and by race I mean a group of people with common features. India is so diverse from its tip to toe, and people change accordingly. The Kashmiris will be fairer, and the Keralites will be darker on an average. When the body is subjected to more heat, it shrinks in size, and that could be the reason why the people from Haryana or Punjab are taller. We do not have been one religion, race, or language to be one nation, but one in spirit.

“Race does not make an Indian, religion does not make me an Indian, but history does, and in the long run, it is History which counts” – Ruskin Bond

8. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, 26/11 and the entire episode. There was this banner with the images of the brave men who died, and Major Sandeep was one of them. And every time, I looked at it while walking to work, it made me cry. It was hard controlling my tears in public, I used to hide behind my handkerchief and bite my tongue. Every time, without fail. I don't know why, but it seems as if I lost someone who was close to me. Someone I had never heard of, had never seen before, but still was like a brother. That makes me very emotional and sentimental. It makes me cry and wince that He was martyred and his father had to face that AcchuthNandan. The fact that almost 5 months have gone by and yet nothing concrete has taken place. The fact that on 26th November 2010 , a bunch of fools led by Ms. Sar-kha, literally, eat-my-head(I dare not use her actual name, lest I am sued as well) would light multicoloured scented candles for those who died , sing patriotic songs , air this on the 24/7 Crap Spewing News Channels, and then carry on with their lives . And I would wring my hands, curse in the choicest expletives and write another post.

9. Rape, the Indian sex ratio and the plight of Women
Why do men rape? Why do they eve tease? Why do they molest? Why do they resort to acid attacks? Why do they burn their woman for dowry? Why do they want sons alone? Who will those sons marry (if those poor guys become gay out of frustration, may be they will be lynched or ostracized for being so)? Why do they beat their wives? Why do they kill their daughters? What honour does it bring to a man when he takes the life of a woman who is her own flesh and blood? What dishonour does a woman bring to her family when she is the victim of some twisted bastard's uncontrollable lust?

I wonder whether being a father of daughters would be good idea at all. I would rather be childless than raise a daughter in this hell hole of a world .Where at every step, and every moment, you have to be on guard. WTF do we do about it? This world cannot exist without women. The Indian sex ratio suggests that woman kind is a like fast depleting natural resource, and I say resource, because that is the way most of the existing ones are treated like. The subject of family honour, the object of sexual desire and so on and so forth.

I remember reading about the rape of that Girl in Delhi by a gang of 10 or so scum bags, and how incensed and agitated was I. And now you have this TISS episode. I have often asked this question, and never found a real answer. I have often tried to analyse the psyche of a rapist, and never could arrive at a concrete conclusion. And I still cannot fathom, why? Why do men rape? What is it that manifests itself into an inspiration to rape? And if the reason is pent up sexual energy or sexual frustration, then why not go to a prostitute, which inspire of being illegal, is in every nook and corner of the country. And about prostitution, the leaders have all the time to be secular and communal, and preserve culture and language, but they have no time for these women. Even theirs is a lost cause, like the Kashmiri Pundits.

The things I would like to do, personally, to a rapist would definitely get me certified as a psycho. So I won't mention it.

This episode of South Park,Eat,Pray,Queef , sends a very subtle message. It is very disgusting and will gross most of you out, but the underlying message is about the discrimination between men and women. That is the brilliance of South Park. It shocks, and awes. Read the plot, if you can’t bear to watch the entire episode.

10. The plethora of brain dead and stupid TV shows, the 24/7 news channel, advertisements and movies, reality TV - The incredibly stupid advertisements brimming with corniness, the mass of brain-cell-killing movies that is thrown at us in the name of entertainment. Are we brain dead? Do they want us to be brain dead?

The apple of MTV’s eyes – Roadies and Splits Villa! It never ceases to amaze me, as to how dumb can people get. What makes me sad that it is so immensely popular. The kind of young people that participate in it make me even sadder. They are the youth of this country , my peers , my generation . Is the brain a vestigial organ for them, for this Pepsi sponsored Youngistaan ? And I have never come across a stupider coined term . Youngistaan? What the hell is that ! And it seems that the more you abuse and cuss in these shows, the more they get to bleep it and the cool quotient increases tremendously. It all becomes so "real", doesn't it? What the BLEEP!

And the news channels, with their pretentious holier-than-thou anchors. What the hell do they think of themselves? They so clearly are sided with political parties. It seems as if they are running a propaganda campaign of their own. Remember what Karunandhi said about Ram, “Who is this guy? Which engineering college did he go to?” Now let us substitute Karunandhi with Modi and the religious character with Jesus or the Prophet? What do you think will happen? Sarkha, Turdesai and Sadi-garika would go medieval on Modi, or any leader who dares say that. There will be a huge hullaballoo about how intolerant and the communal is the party in question. May be, one of these brilliant anchors might take a telephonic interview of Sarkozy, who will air his views on religious intolerance in India.

Every time I switch on my TV, I find it very hard not to fling a brick at it. The truly idiot box makes me intensely emotional.

p.s. How do I know so much about the dumb shows aired on MTV? Thanks to my flatmates, Anshuman and Ankit (names changed), are stuck to the TV set like moths to a flame, when those shows are on. One of them ogles at the women, while the other cries when their favourite fool is about to get the boot. They metamorphosize into a dumber and shallower versions of themselves!

11. Ramayana and Mahabharata – I have done some research over it, and I think it is a part of our History, and not mythology. It is a very personal belief, and I do not expect everyone to endorse my views. And my research on it is far from over. Even if you don’t consider it as History, it is a part of our heritage and culture. There are so many valuable lessons to be learned from it.

A parallel, I think that would make some sense. Imagine that India, through some stroke of luck, gets a truly great leader, who is popular across the length and the breadth, a leader of the masses, and one who is a good human being as well. Now, the family of this Great Indian Leader is taken hostage by a group of terrorists (who do not belong to any religion). And unless their demands are met, you know what happens. So, what do you think should our GIL do? Should he sacrifice his family for the Nation, or should he take the risk of fulfilling the terrorist's demands, and hope for the best? What would you do? Would you be a great leader or a good husband ?

I think this is the kind of choice Shree Ram had to face, when he had to banish Sita Mata at the behest of a two bit washer-man. But then, that is what Ram Rajya signifies, I guess. The King throws away his own wife, whose purity is unquestionable, to appease one of his "praja”, a mere washer-man. Personally, I would say this to the washer-man, "GFY”. But that does not mean the Ramayana has nothing to teach us. And the same goes for Mahabharata. The injustices Karna and Sita had to face do not imply that all is bad. No, all is well that ends well, and it is not a perfect world. Dismissing these two as mere mythology is not fair. It is quite possible, that Krishna and Ram were not avatars of Vishnu, but just two very great men who walked this Earth. Quite possibly, a few of the accounts could be exaggerated. I think it is history, even if blown out of proportion. I think it is quite possible they had technology; for even Robert Oppenheimer believed so (I had to quote a Westerner's name to make it more credible). Knowledge is cyclic, and not linear. And most importantly, I would rather put a question mark than dismiss it as BS.

12. The Rise of China. It is the single largest threat to India. And we are busy pretending to be secular, gyrating with our ever vibrating democracy, while those Red Devils are heading towards Global Supremacy. We are not even strong enough to be an Asian Power, and yet, every now and then, some educated ostentatious fool would come up with an article propounding how we have become a power or soon will be. What a load of crap. We will never be a power with Naxalite in our yard. We will never be a power with riots and terrorist attacks. And, the worst of all, China might do a 62 again, and we won’t even know what hit us.

13. Regional Parties - There are so bloody many of them. The more they are lesser the chances of a stable government. Each with their own ideology cut-out, their pretence to be secular or communal, their quest for the rights of “their” people. You may think otherwise, but I think it reflects that we are becoming an even more divided society. If only we could have a bi or a tri party system.

14. Saviours /Critics of Hindu Dharma – People who misunderstand and misinterpret Hindu culture, Hindu Religion , Hindu Philosophy and Hindutva(the elements of being a Hindu) , and use it to their advantage to win some votes or popularity , by either pretending to be the protectors or by criticizing it incessantly . I despise both the kind.

15. Religious Intolerance – I am not a kaffir. I am not a heathen. Neither is my religion the best, nor is yours. I won’t convert. I won’t let you proselytize. And never will I ask you to convert to mine. If you believe in God, then I am his child as you are. Even if you don’t, I am still a human, as you are.

16. Humanity. Yes. We, People, the homosapiens, this species make me emotional and angry. "Oooo, we are humans, we cook our food, and sleep on beds, live in houses, use technology at the drop of a hat and speak intelligible languages. We have a societal structure and we are smart. And that makes us better than the rest of species. We are so precious. " . And yet we kill, we murder, we never run out of reasons to fight over, are raping this planet every instance of our existence. Yes, we are intelligent, but what the fuck is that good for? Is our evolution and development in sync with our natural environment? How much of our technology is green? Our pretence of being better than the so called lesser species is farcical, and we should not be allowed to compare the lesser of our own species to animals. You know, phrases like "worse than an animal" or "animal like behaviour”. Animals are way better than us. I guess it is the curse of having a much more evolved brain. It should come with a statutory warning "The actions undertaken by the individual under the influence of this organ may be injurious to the planet”.

17. Casteism - How dumb do you have to be, to engage in a battle over caste? The differences of race and religion are visible, but what about those of caste? You can say that certain castes are forward and certain backward, because of their financial standing, but even that is not the case always. Poverty strikes all. And yet, we vote, we fight, we marry and we socialize on the basis of caste. May be urban India does not do it that much, but this DOES go on in rural India, and not just in the BIMARU states, but throughought the nation.


As IHM said, there are quite a few things which make me angry. And instead of 10, I got 17, so far. :) They make my blood boil and BP soar so much, that at times I think, living in the world as a regular person would make me lose it someday. I should move to the Himalayas, and start my "vanprastha" and take a stab at "moksha". ;) Okay, even if I don't do that, it would still keep me cooler and saner. I guess I have said it all, or rather most of it. So if I die in a terrorist attack or a riot, I would have the satisfaction that I ranted most of it out.

Random Thought #7 : Gift of God

I read a joke. Here it goes .

The new minister's wife had a baby. The minister appealed to the congregation for a salary increase to cover the addition to the family. The congregation agreed that it was only fair, and approved it. When the next child arrived, the minister appealed and again the congregation approved the increase. Several years and five children later, the congregation was a bit upset over the increasing expenses. This turned into a rather loud meeting one night with the minister. Finally, the minister stood up and shouted "Having children is an Act of God!" An older man in the back stood and shouted back "So are rain and snow, but we wear rubbers for them!"

The joke sparked off these thoughts. Many a times have I come across these words - "Bacche to Bhagwan/Allah/Whatever-name-you-use-for-your-God ki den hai", and the ones who say it have a dozen kids, give or take a few ; and it suddenly struck me, are they? Really? Maybe, for a childless couple who have been trying too hard too long, it can be looked upon a great gift. Personally, the birth of twin daughters to millions of families in India would be one hell of a gift for India, given the seemingly FUBAR-ed sex-ratio. But for the rest of the cases, I say BS. What a load of crap! WTF , literally . A horny husband wants to do it, may be the wife does not let him that often, so he decides to cook up a solid excuse for it. Quite possibly his priest/padre/imam/rabbi helped him figure out a good one. "Woman, children are the gift of God, and refusing a gift from God is blasphemy”. Take that. Irrefutable logic. The magical wand of God/Religion was waved over it,and lo and behold, you have a football team. But that was then. One might say, that people were encouraged to have a lot of children , in the name of God , as the infant mortality rate was higher , and the average life expectancy lower . But then again , no longer true , relatively speaking . 6.5 Billion people and counting ! We should thank God for contraceptives. All I have to say is, please feel free to engage in this activity as much as you want to , but don't call it an act of God , and the by-product , His gift . But if men can kill in the name of the Merciful One, why not this?

On a side note, I remember reading about the Chinese manufacturing/distributing very cheap TV sets, for/to the masses, as a population-controlling measure. You know, keep the guys entertained through other means, as for most of them, being poor, it is the only recreational activity. Interesting, eh? But will that work in India, given that most of the shows/movies aired do not necessitate a functioning brain. So ultimately, the blood of the male animal will not stay up there. Just a silly thought. :D

Corny jokes apart, we are heading towards some very tough times, given that we already are 6.5 Billion strong, and that number won’t go south short of WW III or the Yellowstone going boom. It seems to me, that most of the problems we face today are somehow related to the mass of the humanity that occupies earth. If the people inhabiting this planet were in sustainable numbers, who could have been fed, clothed and sheltered, then those who want to wage wars using religion, caste, creed, colour,nationality,race or their own asinine ideology would be out of a lot of soldiers. We think we are evolving , as a civilization, but are we? Leave alone the jackasses who want to go back to medieval times, what about the rest of us. Our technology, is mostly un-green, it makes our life easier, but creates a mess as well. It sounds very pessimistic, but nothing other than a disaster of biblical proportions, either natural or man-made, would restore the balance.

A thought provoking movie – Children of Men. Maybe, this what Mother Nature has in mind for us.



Source for the joke

Random Thought #5 : A Grey Zone

The World, as I perceive it, is one huge grey zone. No absolutes. Nothing in black and white. I think that no individual can be held completely accountable for his/her actions, and that they are influenced by factors, some quite out of our hands, and some even out of the realms of our sensory perception. A vicious and mystical cycle of cause and effect, where one cause gives rise to an effect, which further creates another cause, and so on. But it would be too chaotic a world to live in, if we did not delineate, defined right and wrong, guilty and innocent, a crime and its punishment, and penalized those who dared to cross over, no matter what the reason was. The societal structure would surely crumble, if we take away that. We obviously do not have a right to decide who lives and who doesn’t, but then, creating societal rules pertaining to that, gives us a false sense of power and security, and may be, even righteousness. And that, I guess, makes it seem less chaotic. But still, born in this world, have to live in this one. We need to have “cut-offs”. To carry on with this madness called life. To serve our biological purpose and die. And to give fools like me fodder for rumination. Three cheers to Anarchism ;)

Nothing is easier than to denounce the evil doer; Nothing more difficult than understanding him." - Fyodor Dostoevsky

A thought provoking movie - The Grey Zone , and song – Behind Blue Eyes by The Who

Life After People

I watched a documentary called Life After People, which explores the scenario when all human life disappears from the face of this planet one day. It delves into how Nature would react to such an event. It was shown that Mother Nature would eventually reclaim what was hers, and slowly and steadily, in a matter of 10000 years, almost every trace of an intelligent life form would be wiped out. The Earth would be green to hilt, the oceans teeming with life, and every other species except the Homo Sapiens lived happily ever after. My heart rejoiced at the end of this hypothetical yet quite possible episode. It was mentioned in the show that the possibility of us evolving again was bleak, as its first occurrence was a rather fortunate accident for humans (unfortunate for the Planet). In short, the existing chimps might not evolve into the ubiquitous omnipotent human with astonishing brain power, but would be limited to a species with a fair amount of interaction and control with its surroundings. I am not a misanthrope, but sometimes my thoughts are rather misanthropic. I wish to live a full and healthy life, but the chances of it bearing fruition seem gloomy, thanks the havoc wrecked on mother earth by its most intelligent son. I vividly remember the scene from the blockbuster Matrix, where Agent Smith , an AI sentient sentinel delivers the following dialogue to a captured Morpheus,

“I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure”,

and I sincerely believe it to be true, except that I definitely do not wish to be a bloody battery for machines. Our species did not just spread to the entire planet and is consuming every resource the planet can offer, we wage wars, we kill each other, we kill other species, we pollute, we over-populate, and our entire existence seems to be out of sync with nature. The technological advancement that we are so proud of is mostly ungreen. While I am absolutely, indubitably and irrefutably in awe of our brain, the ability of think does have its side effects.

We as a species have evolved to such an extent that we not only interact but more or less control our environment which has taken a severe toll on the natural order of things on planet Earth. Our quest for survival has put to an end the very existence of many species and the others are in imminent danger. Sometimes, I wonder where our civilization is headed with all this incessant development and advancement which does ease our lives in the short term but creates new problems in the long term. Electricity was an electrifying invention, but didn’t it lead to the burning of fossil fuels? Splitting the atom was a momentous event, but isn’t that the greatest threat humanity faces today? One slip, a genocidal maniac ends up with a nuke, and oblivion for a part of humanity. Quite obviously, every thing can be used for good or bad. A knife can be used to chop vegetables or human heads. But what is the collective goal of our civilization? Is our existence fuelled just by the need to do so, the innate genetic programming which drives us to eat, drink, sleep, breathe, copulate and ultimately die? Hindu philosophy has an answer for it called Salvation. But let’s adhere to the materialistic world alone, what is the answer then? I often cogitate on how the greatest gift we have, our brain, could someday be responsible for our obliteration. It’s quite a paradox. But at then end of this tirade against my own kind, the inevitable truth that faces me is that Life for us is indeed precious, because it comes at a great expense.