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The National Scapegoat?

Our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has faced a lot of flak in his tenure. What is worse is that he always deserved more. But in any case, in the recent times the entire political scenario in India is changing in strange ways. For example the PM's decision is rubbished by Rahul Gandhi - the powerhouse of the same party that our PM belongs to! Political compulsions can be understood. But this aggressive turn of events had pitched Rahul Gandhi face to face with Mr. Singh. One represents the party, while the other represents ...well - God knows what. The situation is tricky because the decision to allow criminals to run for politics was taken by the party. The same party that Rahul (practically) leads. Following the lines the Government decided to act. The Supreme Court play spoilsport by declaring it unconstitutional. But Congress was determined to let criminals be political masters. So they decided to go for the temporary but valid Ordinance route. PM Singh and his Cabinet sh...

September 6

Today is 6th September. In 1965 Indian tanks halted on the Ichogil Canal of Lahore, just short of the main city. The ceasefire came into effect in a couple of days. This 'brilliant feat' of defense by Pakistan Army is considered a matter of pride for them. It is for them and also for many Indians that I am posting some pictures. Pakistani Patton Tanks in Patton Nagar Sherman - Pakistan Army - Ichogil, Outskirts of Lahore Gorkha Regiment celebrating Sialkot Sector - Captured Pakistani Tanks Pakistan's 1st Armored Division in Indian hands Pakistan Patton Tank in ditch Pak Chafee Tanks in wheat field, Punjab Pak M24 Chafee Tank taken to cantonments as war trophee M24 Chafee stuck Indian PM Lal Bahadur Shastri posing over captured Pakistani Patton Tank Indian Officers pose in front of captured Pakistani Sherman - Chawinda Pak Tanks Captured - Chawinda Patton Tank loaded into ...

If your Life is Boring

Ok. I get it. True, sometimes Life is boring. When you have to do the same things on the same days in same ways, meet the same people in the same places, listen to the same music, watch the same shows, sleep with the same partner(!) Life does sometimes feel low. In such situations you have two broad choices. One is to quit and go back to your comfort zone(whatever may that be) or to get things arranged and start something to spice up life itself. When Life gets boring, you need to remind yourself that it's much more than a word of four letters! - Useless Quote Start Blogging - You can do this. It is simple and a very rewarding experience . Apart from money (not much) it gives you self satisfaction. Blogger , Typepad and Wordpress are some common blogging platforms where you can start for free. Draw stuff - Remember the days when you would draw stupid things on the walls of your home and get spanked by your parents? Do something like that. No, I don't mean to tell yo...

The Stigma of Being an Indian Male

" I am an Indian. An Indian male. I love to rape. I look out for girls, especially young girls and rape them - without worrying about the moral and social implications. Because raping is my obsession. If I don't rape, I won't be able to sleep properly. " No. None of the above is true. Except the first two sentences. But as an Indian male I am ashamed. Ashamed because so many gruesome rapes have come to light in recent days. Cases of groping, molestation and indecent behavior is more common among us than I could ever imagine. No amount of pleading for forgiveness is going to suffice. Some recent cases that needs to be highlighted are here. Yes. That is the only reason. Admit it. TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER GODDAMMIT! Previously I wrote about the infamous Delhi gangrape. Ok, since multiple gangrapes may have occured, let me specify - the one where the girl was literally killed with an iron rod inserted into her body. Oh yes, I don't wish to spare your sensibil...

Dear Afghanistan - Go back to Hell

The message is clear. USA will leave Afghanistan. So will all NATO forces. It is nice to see that American intentions are laid bare. Once the job is done, they are content to go. The Afghans can kill themselves, thrash their women to death, stone people, indulge in terror attacks in the neighborhood, blow up babies, pour acid or shoot women and so on. All is fine as long as USA is not again attacked. Fine job, gentlemen. If they would have said we are coming to get Osama, I would have had some respect for them. But all those talks of 'bringing democracy' sounds just so hollow. USA does not care. It never did. Afghanistan is a hell hole. There is no doubt about it. It was a shit hole and a hell hole before the Americans arrived. If you walk the streets of the country, you may feel transported to the 9th century or earlier. Brutality reigns supreme and whatever compassion is there is enshrined in tribal codes and does not usually come out of compassion. With the NATO presence ...

In Defense of a Decent Defence Minister

In India Defence Ministers engage in some of the biggest scams ever. Multi-billion dollar deals are hijacked and loot siphoned off clandestinely. The ill gotten wealth goes all the way to some top notch Swiss bank. After a couple of years some folks raise a hullabaloo about the whole matter to earn votes and topple the Government. So that they can do the same thing. And the process goes on and on. Our present minister Mr. A.K. Anthony is a decent man. He may have his failings, no doubt. But he is not corrupt. In a Government that has broken all records of corruption this should be a matter of pride. This gentleman has been instrumental in finalizing a number of defence deals and that too with a fair amount of transparency. He has always lead a simple and spartan life, quite like out previous Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee and so far at least has a very clean image. For this reason alone he has earned my respect. So it is very unfortunate the the events have taken an ugly tu...

My Trip to Kozikhode and back

I left for Calicut or Kozikhode as it is now called last week. My brother was accompanied by my parents. They were to come to Bangalore first. From here I was to join them in a bus ride to Calicut. Problem was that I did not know where Shanthi Nagar bus stand was. Google Maps came to my rescue. I plotted down the stops in Bangalore for the bus. View From Yeshwanthpura Railway Bus Depot to Kengeri TTMC Bus Depot via Shantinagar Bus Depot and Mysore Road KSRTC Bus Depot in a larger map Shanthi Nagar Bus Depot was our first choice. The other two - Mysore Road and Kengari were failsafe points of boarding - in case we miss the first one. After almost a 9 hour journey we reached Calicut. The city itself is clean and quiet. Funded generously from the remittances from Gulf States, these port cities of Kerala has always had a great time. On route I traveled, I could see the effects as well. I did not see even a single temple in the morning! Not a single temple at all. I saw mosques of ...