SG OwnBlog

In India we often name people according to their profession. Like someone selling aloo or potatoes becomes aloowala meaning potato guy. Same goes for rickshaw wala (a man who drives rickshaws). I was having serious issues due to insufficient speed due to a shared connection . It was not the fault of the people sharing it. When the speed is high, the fair usage limit (read miser speed limit) needs to be high. Unfortunately, the download limit was low and so after exhausting it in a couple of days, the rest of the month we would just be sharing a 512KB connection. That is completely inadequate for my needs. Hence, I was forced to order for a new connection. I called up the local DSL network operator . If you are not familiar with how things work in India - these are small cable operators who buy bandwidth from the ISPs and then themselves rent out small bits at a time. Hence they get them at a bargain. We get them cheaper than other players in the market. The only downside? Suppor...

I am afraid of a number of things. Of the irrational fears I have, the fear of surgery is paramount. So this Saturday I decided to subject myself to some exposure therapy. What I basically planned was that I will sit down and watch a particularly grisly surgery on youtube and not black out. For many of you it might sound as easy and simple. But not for me. Indeed, I subjected myself to a number of torture-exploitation films just to overcome my fear. Funny thing is, I could watch Hostel I, or Hostel II and even ‘ A Serbian Film ’ without batting an eyelid but when it came to a real hospital environment I freak out. Possibly the idea of ‘this is not real’ kept me from feeling sick. So I went over to Youtube and decided to watch a brain surgery where a group of doctors would remove a brain tumor while the patient is only locally anesthetized. I got myself a piece of paper and a pencil to write down about the impulses I feel. Also having something to do also meant that it w...

Rajesh Ahuja is one of the top journalists that India has been able to produce. Now he has come up with a startling piece of information that he and only he has been able to unearth. Hopefully a great controversy will now be put to death. So lets try to unearth this revolutionary discovery and the mystery man (turned superman) behind it.   On the quest for truth, our crusader journalist hunted down an 'intelligence official' who admitted he worked for the RAW ! He apparently either refused to give up his identity or our crusader is keeping it secret to keep the  whistle-blower  safe and sound. Now lets pack the 'facts' that our mighty knight discovered. One - this ex-RAW man admitted (under interrogation???!!!) that Sarabjit Singh worked under him to fulfill operations in Pakistan. Lets call this ex-RAW man Yudi - short form of Yudisthir. He has also been mentioned as the 'external intelligence agency's chief as well'. Two - Let me quote Yudi now,...

So here I go again. My topic  is Islam in Arab countries. You might think, here I am ranting my ' Islamophobic ' rants here on my blog. You might think, that since I don't like a few things, and I honestly come out in the open saying so, rather than conspiring behind everyone's backs, I no longer have the right to live. Well, maybe, but today this post is going to be something different. I recently watched a number of videos and came across some well meaning individuals and groups that are a beacon of humanity amid the barbarism and stone age mentality of the middle eastern fundamentalists. This post is about those free people who wish to remain just that - free. Islam in Arab countries is perceived to be highly politicized , radical that permits and encourages barbaric practices that are completely opposed to the requirements of basic human rights and dignity. Values that go against the very basic principles of life are promoted with divine sanction. The image is tr...

In India the constitution came into effect on 26th January, 1950. In theory we got a very liberal framework that could have been an instrument to promote equality among all Indians irrespective of caste, sex, race etc. Though a lot of progress has been made in form of social and cultural reform, several essential sectors have remained stuck in stone age. Indian Law is still, by and large pathetically outdated. This is not a matter of dispute. All policymakers and lawyers accept this. Of course they prefer not to implement a new one. Who wants to change the syllabus anyway? :) So what is the Big Fuss? Simply put, the Indian laws, the Penal Code, the constitution, all, by and large do not differentiate between Indians. In comes the Personal Law. Hell, this one could well have been a troll comics in other countries. In  spite of being a "secular" country, India has two distinct Personal Laws. One for a set of Indians, collectively called "Hindus" and the oth...

I am romantic. Okay I am an emotional fool and highly romantic. When I was a kid(not that I ain't now) I did all kinds of extreme things. Like proposing to a girl when I was in the third standard. I of course never did drugs but how about quarrelling with your 'girl'friend's mother? That too in the ninth standard! Well, there are many but many of my teachers even believed (rightly) that I was(and am) incorrigible. I don't know much about Fate. Or destiny for that matter. Of course I know what they mean in the dictionary, but that is just all about it. If you ask me about it and may be speak on them for a couple of hours I would probably fill them with ummm, aahhhs and your yawns. But what do you do when what happened to you long back come back to you the exact same way? How do you react to such a situation? The similar feelings, mixed with the grown maturity and all the complexities of growing up start playing against each other. Its almost like becoming a footba...

This post may not really suit your taste. This is going to be unsettling if not outright disgusting . I am going to write this in morbid detail. What happened in Delhi ? A couple was returning home in the evening. Like so many of us do. They waited and waited for a taxi or an auto rickshaw. Just like us. The autos didn't stop to pick them up. A bus came, they got in. Just as we would probably have done. Inside were about 5 guys sitting. A couple of them passed some lewd remarks - pretty common in a public bus and especially so in Delhi. The guy turned hero, like so many of us do or at least try to do. He asked them to behave themselves. From here the ordinary-ness of the incident changed. Dramatically and tragically. The guy was hit in the head with a metal bar, variously described in the media as a rusty iron handle to steel rod. Whatever it was, it was strong, lethal and in very wrong hands. He fell unconscious. The infamous five then turned on the girl. The driver was ca...