Dangerous Precedent Being Set

I have not blogged for almost a year and reason for that was primarily due to me being to lazy and turning in to corporate sell out who is only driven by the phrase " Show me the Money" or that is what I would like to think it is or I am just having way to much fun being back in India and my beloved city of Hyderabad.

Anyway coming to the point of this post, for the past few weeks the news has been pretty much dominated by one topic " Team Anna Vs The Government". When the story first broke about this old guy (no disrespect to him in anyway) and few prominent folks that we all have heard about are getting together to do something about corruption I as typical cynical Indian dismissed this issue/topic as something that the media is reporting on since there no other burning issue in the country/ world. As time passed I noticed that I was wrong, India's dismal cricket tour, US financial crisis, Telangana, London Riots and Fabregas finally moving to Barca (ok this doesn't belong here but its my blog) could not seem to push the issue out media spotlight.

Now what is this issue all about ? I think long story short one can sum it up by saying, given the recent slew large scale corruption instances occurring under governments nose being brought out in the open (such as instances appear to be highly correlated with Cong rule, wonder why ?) a few people who in corporate terminology are "go getters" decided we need to do something about this. Given that the most impactful way to protest in India is to fast ( Thanks KCR !! wonder why he was never taken in to preventive custody ?) Anna Hazare backed by his team decided to fast so that he can get the government to act on dealing with corruption.

Anna and his team read the book on " How to get something from the government when not in power " latest edition and had seem to have a foolproof plan to achieve their objective. Now one would have thought the government would have learnt it lesson by now and would know how to handle such issues but guess what a bunch folks who graduated from some of the most elite schools in the world still had no plan in place to handle such issues (you think they would have learnt their lesson from previous issues).

Alright so he suggested that our politicians be made accountable, great the whole country I am sure has no issues with that. Then they met the government told them what they felt needed to be done, okay so far so good. But then came the twist government decided to tweak his suggestions and change the format of the bill ( ok let it be clear that this bill has been the works since 1968) to what they seemed was appropriate, this was not acceptable to "Team Anna" and thus the melee ensued.

Dont you think it was naive of Anna to think bill would come out in the form they wanted it, as a democracy is about consensus no one gets everything they want. You need to believe in the people or government else the idea of democracy loses its very purpose. My belief is that for democracy to work you either believe in the government and the constitution or the people when it comes time to vote.

Now I have serious question, based on what has unfolded over the past few weeks. Before that let me just clarify I am picking sides, I am justifying anyone's actions or belittling any body. Are we saying that a person who has a mass following can hold the country/city to ransom by going on a fast to death ? You might say the end might justify the means, corruption is ruining this country but are you implying that plight of the people in Telangana for whom KCR went on a fast was/is not legit ? Here is a hypothetical situation, tomorrow lets say some goes on fast saying I will fast to death unless a temple is built in Ayodhaya and he has support of the masses should we oblige ? ( these might be real bad parallels but I hope you are able to understand my point )

When does the end justify the means ? In my very humble opinion this is a very dangerous precedent to set in a democracy like ours where numerous factions of people who have valid grievances that need attention, is this the way forward ?

In all this spare a thought for Irom Chanu Sharmila she has been fasting since 2000 to get rid of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. This act is responsible to disappearance and loss of lives of numerous people in J&K and North East regions of India. I wonder why she is not in the news ? Is her cause less important than anyone else who is fasting ?

Luke, come over to the dark side!!!

The words of one of the most immortal villain's (Darth Vader) of all time, appears to be very apt for my current state of being. I feel as if I am slowly but steadily moving over to the dark side, which begs the question what is the dark side??? 3 years ago when I graduated from VIT, I vociferously denounced the idea of going to the US to do a masters in engineering and fit the stereotypical definition of a "Gult". Then somehow in found myself working at the most awesome company in the world "Google" (Yes, the story about the F3 key in college is true. There I said it) but I still worked at Google and was good at what I did, so in your face !!!!.

But coming back to the point, working at Google I felt I was a long way from the concept of " MS in US" , I had totally forgotten about the desperate measures I had resorted to after going to the CTS training program I had given the GRE and applied to 4 colleges. Then somehow after a strange sequence of events which I find difficult to rationalize now, I found myself in College Station Texas doing masters in Industrial Engineering. I came here saying I would love to get back as soon as I can and I miss every single as aspect of India and find it difficult to get used to most aspects of life here.

Now, two years hence I find that not only have I got used to those very aspects but they have become second nature to me,

I have picked up a moderate accent with respect to certain words like fast = phast, you all = y'all, and many more …

Football no longer relates to F.C Barcelona (would have never imagined) but the Dallas Cowboys/ New Orleans Saints.

I find myself telling people to please state the word "soccer" when talking about the champion's league or at least say European football.

Prefer watching the Superbowl instead of watching a test match which involves India fighting to stay number 1 in the world.

I seem to have gotten so caught up with the whole "school spirit" thing that my wardrobe is 75% maroon ... almost everything I wear says Texas A&M or Aggies on it ... I so need a wardrobe change its not funny people might actually start thinking I have only 2-3 t-shirts.

Use the word "soda" with reference to Pepsi and Coke and find almost impossible to have a meal or watch a movie or watch a game without them by my side.

I find myself guzzling down Gatorade/Powerade like nobody's business before playing/while playing/after playing.

All of sudden temperatures between 13-17 degrees is pleasant weather, this coming from the same guy who used to wear a sweatshirt in Vellore and used slept using a bedding that contained 2 bedsheets and a blanket.

The last full soccer game I watched was the el classico and before that was the champion's league final.

I used to think people who hit the gym were just too lazy and crazy to play organized sport but now I hit the gym almost 4 times a week ( so jay watch out I still have an outside chance of making good on our bet).

I seem to developing a strange liking for mashed potato and beef in most forms. (Hope my mom never reads this, she ask me to go to the Ganges to take a bath before enter the house again.)

It has got to the point where even " Taco Hell " seems alright , even though in actual truth it is not !!! I have just let my standards slip so much ...

Beer seems to be the form of only alcohol that I can take, Rum and Vodka are things of the past (so guys no more crazy shot nights like the last time we in eXcess or at Jatti's place for me)

I just love watching Desperate Housewives, there I said it. I just cannot understand why people cannot digest the fact that I love watching that series!!!!!

Don't get me wrong my love and longing for India or to be back in India has not diminished by even an inch but somehow I find myself enjoying the very things I could not even stand initially. At point this point of time I find myself looking for a job here in the US and even dabbling with idea of delaying my graduation so as to get a job. Sometimes I feel like a major hypocrite of an insane measure. I find myself becoming the one thing I vowed to not become "a stereotypical gult".

No disrespect to those of you who are. I just do not want turn in to one of these people who visits India once in a blue moon forgets about life there and loses sync with life in India, forgets about his friends and does a pathetic job of staying in touch with his friends (extremely guilty of the later, especially with regards to my friends from VIT, I might be out of sight and not very active with regards to the phone …but I will never forget you all) Basically I don't want be stop being the one thing I want to be most "Indian "and then a " Hyderabadi".

Guys please do not hesitate to slap me back in to my senses , if I ever lose sight of that.

So this goes out to all my friends in India,

Special mention: lieutenant Tarun Chauhan, Kevin John ,Billu,Harry, Anoo, Amlaan and Bunny.

Does It Really Matter???

In the past few months there has been a lot of hue and cry about the personal indiscretions of many a famous sportsperson. John Terry and Tiger Woods are the most recent to suffer this fate. The media as usual is a sucker for sensationalism and has turned these personal issues in to a stupid circus. Channels running shows in which some stupid sports psychologist living his 10 minutes of fame tries to explain why player did what he did and the impact of it on his mind, game etc if his wife should divorce him or not ?? I mean seriously… get a life. Then this guy is most often accompanied by a "has been " or " never was" player who tries to estimate the impact of the incident on the legacy of the player.

We all know who Muhammad Ali is right?, I can guarantee that most of you have never watched a boxing match or have any interest in watching one in the future. Here are some tidbits about his personal life the man changed his religion publicly, refused to go Vietnam as part of the draft, went to jail for it, has been married 4 times and has 2 children from extramarital relationships. Despite all this turmoil in personal life, He is considered one the best Heavyweight Boxing Champions ever and man was voted "The Greatest Sportsman of the Century" by BBC . If Ali's life played out today, the media would label him as unpatriotic and a man of low moral character who will never be anything more than a footnote in the history of sports. And as usual they would have been wrong because Ali's greatness was because of his ability to overcome these obstacles in his personal life, you stupid morons.

Look at Agassi , the man recently confessed to using crystal meth during his playing days. He was vilified by most of the media for using and most of them portrayed it as if, he used Performance Enhancing Drugs. But fact being Agassi had stated in autobiography that he used it during one of the lowest points of his career 1997, while suffering poor form(Ranking outside 100) and to quell worries about his upcoming marriage to actress Brooke Shields. And promptly the stooges who run the media jumped on the band wagon to vilify him and said that he tarnished his legacy. Well In my eyes if anything, my respect for him has grown for the fact he overcame his addiction, came back to sports to win the French Open in 1998 and the U.S. Open in 1999. If anything he is a role model for all of us, he exemplifies the fact that we all fall make big mistakes but you are never really down and out unless you choose to give up.


Now look at kobe Bryant, In 2003 was accused of sexual assault and later agreed to having a sexual encounter with accuse but said it was consensual. Everyone said it was the beginning of the end for him. Now fast forward to the present, he became the highest scoring Laker in history and four million dollar ring sure did help to save his marriage. And will go down in basketball history as one of its greatest players.

A personality from Indian cricket, Vinod Kambli made a bigger splash than Tendulkar when he arrived on the international stage, many say he probably was more gifted than Sachin and that theory is definitely backed up by his early career stats but rest as they say his history. Despite his fall from grace, many an ardent Indian cricket fan will tell that he was one of the very best batsmen that India had ever produced, the fact that someone is even mentioned in the same breath as one best players of an era is testament enough to their sporting talent.
So now in this case of Tiger Woods I really don't think he has anything to worry about with regards to legacy even if he decides to call it quits. The man monopolized golf during his time and one can take away his 14 championships because he happened to be a serial adulterer. Same with John Terry, affair or not he is one of the best defenders in world football if not the best and as sports fan I will tell you this, I would watch these guys play any day of the week and twice on weekends (confession I really don't like watching golf and probably would not but… it just sounds good). 20 years from now, if anyone asks me who these men were? I would say he was the one man monopolized golf to extent Google has monopolized the internet and the other was a hard as nails defender who made one half of the blue wall at Stamford Bridge.

Basically the legacy of a sportsman is rarely tarnished or reduced by his indiscretions off the field, if anything it his success after it only adds to his legacy.

IS JUSTICE REALLY BLIND??

In the spate of recent events that have unfolded in India, maybe it is time that one seriously looks in to making some serious amendments to the judicial system in India. An IPS officer can get away with being a sex offender, a convicted murder can become a chief minister, the trial of terrorist can go on for more than a year, the chief justice of India considers himself above the law and if you have money & know people in high places the law is what you want it to be. Currently the citizen of India is not protected by the constitution or judiciary in any way or form.

Of late the phrase the "common man" has been used by the media and politicians so loosely, that I have been unable to figure out which demographic that it actually refers to? I mean Shasi Throor's tweet about the "Cattle class" offended the common man but at the same time a 5-10 rupees rise in price of some commodity also hurt the common man. Come on are you serious… the guy can get on a plane but cannot pay a few rupees extra for vegetables? In a country where 42% of the population lives below the poverty line, 2% pays taxes I sincerely doubt the common man is the one drives to work in car or rides on plane. For the mango people ( have been dying to use that phrase) of the country justice and the idea of every one being equal in the eyes of the law must be as far fetched as India winning the soccer world cup ( possible but not in my life time).

The molestation case was shocking to say the least for many reasons, first it took 19 years for the court to give a judgment then, the punishment for molestation of minor was a fine of 1000 rupees and 6 months in jail!! Are you kidding me???? The girl goes commits suicide and that is what he gets??? The guy would have been sentenced to death in most parts of the world. The punishment has to equivalent of the crime and in what world is 1000 rupees a fine; I mean the fine for lack of attendance in VIT is more than that. To make matters worse he was a public servant who could even influence the CBI. But I still cannot understand how his wife did not divorce him ?? and worse be his defense lawyer ?? I do not know who is more disturbed ?? the wife or the husband??

Then we have Shibu Soren, the man was convicted of murder and has several other criminal cases against him but somehow has managed to become the chief minister of a Jharkand. The man should even be allowed to stand in an election for a building association president let alone chief minister. Is not common sense to not allow criminals to stand for election? At least not convicted criminals!! All you know next a Dacoit/Naxal will stand for election … oh wait... sorry that happened too .. maybe next is a Terrorist. Then there is the saga of Ajmal Kasab, whose trial is still in progress. His trial has been going on and on and on like some stupid Duracell battery advertisement. I mean seriously does it really take so long to get a conviction ? is not one of the slam dunk cases ??? if the length of his trail is any indication of the amount of time to convict a man of a crime. It is no wonder then that most crimes against women are not even reported. Women can get groped in the middle of Mumbai on TV and you still get away with it.

Another example of how everyone is not equal before is the case of Irom Chanu Sharmila. The lady has been protesting the use of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the state of Manipur, this act is considered a "dated and colonial-era law that breach contemporary international human rights standards" by the United Nations. Irom Chanu has been on a hunger strike since 3rd November 2000. On 6 November 2000, three days after she launched the strike, she was arrested by the police and charged with "attempt to commit suicide", which is unlawful and was later transferred to judicial custody. Then the police then forcibly used nasogastric intubation in order to keep her alive while under arrest. Since then Irom Sharmila has been under a ritual of release and arrest every year because under IPC section 309, a person who "attempt to commit suicide" is punishable "with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year ( Source:Wikipedia). Compare this to what unfolded in Hyderabad with respect to the actions of Mr. K Chandrashekar Rao. Does it even seem fair? Basically if you are "loaded" and "well connected", the law of the land is what you make it to be.

The sad state of affairs is best exemplified by that fact the supreme court in India was fighting a case in the Delhi high court that the right information act (RTI) should not apply to the office if the chief justice of India ( implies the community of judges ). The verdict of the Delhi high court was in favour of people of India. But the office of the chief Justice of India has challenged the judgment and thus the case will now move to the Supreme Court. To sum it all up, the Supreme Court of India will now decide if the chief justice of India (head of the Supreme Court) falls under purview of right to information act.

TElANGANA: Do the Ends Justify the Means !!!!!

Nearly 58 years ago, a man went on a fast to death in Madras with objective of obtaining a state along linguistic lines. The man in question was Potti Sreeramulu and he fasted in order to obtain a separate state for Telugu speaking people to be carved out of the state of Madras. Well, he fasted for 58 days and died after which the normal routine of mob violence extensive damage to public property followed. Thus 3 days after his death then prime minister, Pandit Nehru officially created the state Andhra Pradesh. Thus the unfortunate precedent of holding the country to ransom was set, also the precedent of division along the lines of language had begun with government endorsement (as if we have a lack of issues to divide us !!!)creating present day monsters such as the MNS and Shiv Sena .

Following this event the states of Kerela, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat were created. Now let's fast forward to present day we have a named K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) who apparently is on a fast to death for the creation if the separate state of Telangana . Even before his death we have Bandh's mob violence and destruction of public property and state has been any position to prevent it. So basically if you want the government to give something that you have no right to "Demand" then you can just vandalize public property, stop trains, and traffic and so on and you just might get it. Thank god the BJP and VHP have not figured this out yet then this country is definitely doomed. Here is a question that I have: If a person is on fast to death, is he not trying to commit suicide? And isn't suicide a criminal offense in our country? Next if by actions of person incite mob violence and causes public disturbance can he not be held accountable and punishable by law? Today it is Telangana , tomorrow it will be Vidarbha and aftert that some one else . Everytime we have problems of disparity the solution is most definitely not statehood for every region. The only thing that would achieve is moving India to day of small princely states where the Kings are repalced by politicians.

I concede that the region of Telangana has been a victim of economic neglect and double standards over the past 50 years but my question is do these people think that making another state is going to solve their problem ? And is the holding the country to ransom is the way to do it? And the news channels keep saying that it is a student based movement , I wonder how many of these apparent " students " actually go to Osmania University? There is proof enough that most of these apparent students are overaged men with political ambitions who are not even enrolled at the university.

In 1950's the demand was for a new state with Madras as its capital, the state was created was created but with Kurnool as the capital. So may be Hyderabad may be made Union Territory. So If I am that would imply cheaper alcohol in Hyderabad …. Whoop !!!!

Also I am thinking on starting a political party with objective of obtaining union territory status for Hyderabad, how is this for a party name " Bhagyanagar navnirman samiti "

WHAT A WASTE OF TIME & MONEY

17 years and 8 crores later, we got a 1000 page document that can be best described as “Expensive Paper Weight “. The findings of the Liberhan commission In my opinion was anything but earth shattering to say the least. In my personal opinion it did not reveal any new information regarding people culpable for the unfortunate events of December 6^th 1992.

If you were to ask educated man in India with decent sense of history & politics as why, how and who were responsible for the unfortunate events December 6^th, I am sure his answer would very close to the “findings” (If one can use that word) of the Liberhan commission. So what did the commsion accomplish? Even after 17 years of investigation the report is unable to produce any facts that can hold their weight in court. So sad is the state of affairs that the 13 page action taken report tabled by the government does not involve athe charge sheeting of any of the accused. (Link for ATR: http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/nov/24/action-taken-report-of-liberhan-commission.htm).

Makes you wonder what the objective of the Liberhan commission was? Is he not accountable in any manner for the time delay and squandering of tax payer money?

The sorry state of affairs does not end here; the report throws minimal light and blame on then Prime Minister P.V Narasimha Rao . As one reputed journalist once remarked” the man turned the act of inaction in to a form of Decision making”. Then home minister Shankar Rao chavan has also been overlooked by the report.

Then there is Mr. L.K Advani who till today claims that the demolition of the Babri Masjid was the saddest day in his life, I say what a hypocrite!! Mr. Advani went on rath yatras across the breadth of India to mobilse karsevaks for the every purpose of bringing the mosque down but says he never wanted it to come down. You gather a mob, work them up in to frenzy point them in the direction of the apparent enemy and then walk 200 yards away and stand and watch the surgical demolition of a structure. Then claim that you were unable to control them as they were too many of them overcome religious fervor. The man exemplifies lack of moral responsibility, moral character and honesty.

Then we have people like Uma Bharati and Kalyan Singh people who to this day come on national television and say I have no regrets regarding the demolition of the Babri Masjid and I am proud of it. At least they are not hypocrites you they will not lie to your face.

Every sane person in India knows that there is no way you bring a massive structure like a Masjid within 12 hours if you do not plan. All you need to do is go to youtube put in the word Barbri Masjid and you will get a whole set of videos showing the inflammatory speeches given by all the political heavy weights in days leading up to the demolition. One can even seeMr. Vajpayee doing the same. I cannot understand, what is the hue and cry regading Mr. Vajpayee name being mentioned is all about ? Are you telling me that he had prior knowledge of what was going to happen, come on man!! everybody in India knew what was going to happen next, so how do you expect me to believe that even the most moderate voice of the BJP inner circle was not in on it. Yes he was not present in Ayodhya so what does that prove?

The truth is that these people and other politicians who used religion for politics are responsible for the loss of life that followed and since then every political party has used this unfortunate event in the history of India for its own mileage in some form or the other. No one is really interested in bringing the culprits to justice. It is all a bloody sham.

If you want a copy of Liberhan commission report please leave comment with your email and I will email it to you.

" THE TWEET THAT SHOOK INDIA"

"Absolutely in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows" was what our minister of state for external affairs had said in reply to a question asking if he would fly "cattle class" from now on twitter. The poor guy has been taken to cleaners for it!!! It is like India overnight lost its sense of humour. My god people how can we brown people who are supposed to be really smart not get that simple joke!!!! Cmon we have more english speaking people here than in Britain so it's not like we misunderstood it!!!

I mean the " President of the free world " as Americans like to put it ...called Kanye West a "jackass" but has not got half the bashing that the former UN under secretary general Tharoor.

But " speaking your mind " appears to be the flavour of the season. Let us see..... Roger Federer the apparent " Iceman" showed us his best impression of what I like to call " the McEnroe Syndrome" . But the winner of best impression of the " McEnroe Syndrome " was undoubtedly Serena Williams with her rendition of the " McEnroe Syndrome " with a modern day sprinkling of "I will KILL you". I think Jeff Dunham and Achmed might considering a copyright infringement law suit against Serena.

I mean the winner though has to be Kanye West for his interuption of Taylor Swift's victory speech at Video Music Awards. I mean seriously was some distrubed way of trying to say Beyonce I have a crush on you. I mean he really could not do anything right beacuse next he went on a talk show with Jay Leno and broke down .... are you kidding me !!! The show you are suppose to go cry on is Oprah !! Even I know that!!! I mean seriously talk about crash and burn.

Now coming back to politicians, Senator Joe wilson got in to a lot of trouble for screaming "Liar" during the President speech on health care. Poor guy man all he said was one word ... Think of how we do our assemblies, the prime minister keeps talking people are a lot more than the word "Liar", they are walking out, abusing , throwing mikes and personal favourite emptying tons of money in the middle of the parliment.

Back to Tharoor and his tweet, come on guys we all know he meant no disrespect to any one and the second part where he called the rest of the top brass of the government " Holy Cows " I kind of do agree.... beacuse come what may culling "holy cows ( politicians)" is a virtual impossibility in India. I actually for once ..want to meet the " mango person (thank u saif) " whose feelings have been hurt becuase such statements. I mean recently I was told that " Quick Gun Murugan" did not release in Hyderabad becuase the villian was named " Rice Plate Reddy" and that too offended the people.

Are we really that sensitive ?? Slumdog offended us, Sach ka Samna offended us, Song from movie " Aaja Nachle " ( dont remember the exact line) offends us and oh wait !!! the best SHAH RUKH KHAN getting frisked at US aiport offends us. But now lets us look at what does not offend us .. foriegn nationals and Indian women getting molested/ beaten in public, A professor getting beaten to death in public and more than 10 winteness turning hostile, fact that we elect politicians with criminal records to power.... and so on you get the picture ... oh wait we have politicians who uses 2000 crores of taxpayer money for building parks and statues of her herself ... I think that kind of money would give Stalin and Hitler a run for their money as far as self glorification goes!!

LIFE AT END OF THE BENCH

We all know and have heard about what it is to be the star of a sports team and heard these stars speak about how they led their team to victory and blah blah. I am sure you all would have seen that one guy who runs on to the field when the team wins but he is still in his warmers (track pants). And first your reaction is who is that guy ? does he ever play... why is he on the team?? I have never seen him play.

Well that guy is the one nobody outside knows, he is the one who gets the drinks for the " main" players. He pretty much is the water boy or towel boy of the team. All this may sound a little demeaning but I don’t think it is. Because like it or not counseling some of the big shots when they are not playing at their best... trying to give a pep talk by lifting lines from famous movies... and so on ..you get the picture... Basically doing things that are not associated with you dribbling the ball.

To be very honest ...I for long time was that guy on my college team. I mean my first 2 years on the mean I was a " 30 player ". That implies i would only play if we were up 30 or down by 30 . Basically you are the one who runs around like a headless chicken after the opponents have mopped the floor with your senior team and trust me it is not fun. Especially when you can hear people in the crowd go “whoa .... Where did they find this joker from ". The toughest part was seeing juniors who got in to the team after me work themselves in to the rotation of playing team.

But I guess me turning in to the guy, who sits at the end of bench was a product my attitude of "playing safe". I mean was scared to shoot beacuse I was too worried that I would miss and preferred to pass. So at the end of the day you do not look bad but flip side being you would not look great either. The then coach of the team who for some insane reason called me " mogaan" for year then called me "mogith" for the next 2 years. he believed that if I really tried hard , I could be decent shooter ... I just generally concluded that he lost his marbles ... if he thought I can turn into a guy who could the shoot the ball from distance with consistency i.e. turn into wing player.

I didn’t believe it then but now days that seems to be only thing I can do ... ironic!! Not that I am great at it but most definitely million times better than I was back in college. I think it is phenomenon know as "evolution", as I really cannot do anything else when the guy in front me can just jump over me with no effort at all ... I mean over me. Trust me ... being hopped over like a puddle of water on the road is not a very desirable experience. It is like wetting your pants in front of the whole class. So to be respectable you just shoot before the come near you (survival instincts).

In college I certainly did wish I could have been the guy with " star power" but honestly I think I would have not been able to enjoy being on the team and playing as much as I did if that were the case. In my opinion being the guy at the end of the bench worked out perfectly.... I was close to nearly all my closest friends, was able to share all the high & lows of basketball and life from winning, loosing and all the other crazy stuff. I met my girlfriend in a way thanks to basketball and being on the bench( more of the latter as I was kinda was unofficial coach of the girls team along with another friend) ... and learnt a hell a lot about basketball and life and met the really amazing people along the way... not bad for being last in a line... eh!!

FAKE IPL PLAYER : A MUST READ FOR A CRICKET FAN ( IF YOU HAVE A FUNNY BONE!! )

During the past few weeks ... finding time to update the blog has definitely been at premium. It is the general cycle of end of semester madness… projects, assignments, deadlines..... Final papers... blah blah.... But it has always amazed me how at around the same time as exams the number of movies... Tv Series.... etc one watches on their pc's dramatically increases. All in all the time spent on unproductive activities more than doubles... For example during my undergrad I watched about 80 odd Naruto episodes with English subtitles over a period of 2 days right before my toughest paper and only stopped because I ran out supply of episodes.

 

So now at grad level I have found new hobby at least for now.... rather should I say for this semester. As most you being the knowledgeable netizens you are, would have heard of this blog called "fakeiplplayer". This anonymous blogger ... an apparent insider.. writes about the off screen happenings of the IPL ( Indian Premier League) dishing all the dressing room dirt about IPL teams with a special focus on the Kolkata Knightriders and a little bit about the team from Punjab.

 

The beauty of his writing has to be his complete utilization of his right to free speech. But also at the same time he does not address any of players but comes up with comical equivalents for their names. Though I must admit at first read I really found it tough figure who was who... but as you read more it becomes pretty obvious. So I have spent the last week decoding, which name corresponds to which player and have made a list.

 

So here are my personal favourites:

 

Dil-do: Shah Rukh Khan

Lordie: Saurav ' dada' Ganguly

Kaan Moolo: Agarkar because of his extremely large ears... 

Little John: Ishant Sharma

Bhookha Naan : Buchanan

Candy Nickle : Andy Bichel

Gilli Danda : Ashok Dinda

Babaan: Arindham Bose

Budhimaan Baba: Wridhiman Saha

Chikna Pu**y : David Hussey ( may be to harsh dont you think?)

Boy George : Joy Bhattacharya

Sticky Something: Ricky Ponting

Appam Chu***a: Shreeshanth ( my favourite)

Havaii Chappal: Greg Chappel

Meerabhai: Bhajji

Mr.Batlivala: Mr. Mallya

Big Mac: Matty Hayden (totally agree)

Lady Jaya: Mahila Jaywardene

Cool dude: Dhoni (sounds about right)

Arnold Power: Romesh Powar (funny!!)

Pedophile Priest: Gilchrist.... (Extreme... way too extreme... )

Panty Pu**y: Robin Utthapa

Chinnu Popli: Virat Kholi

BUBlee: Brett lee

Vakil Saab : Sangakarra ( due to his excessive appealing)

Durbaan of Patiala: Tom Moody

Castro : Fidel Edwards

Springbok: Morne Wan Wyk

Ghati Baba: Rohit Sharma 

Prince of Patiala: Yuvvi

Kammez Pajama: Rameez Raja

Many more.... but these are the ones that appeal to me... and here are a few excerpts....

 

Prince hit him exactly where it hurts by saying, "Attitude toh poora masala dosa ka deta hai, aur bowling Appam jaisa karta hai" 

 

"Chirkut Teli hits on a 100 girls every night, at least 99 of whom reject him outright. Not too quality conscious, he'd take those odds any day. Although, given his batting average, I find his faith in this law of averages a little ironical."

 

"Imagine a group comprising Gilli Danda, Buddhiman Baba and Bubaan hitting on hot white chicks. My respect for South African girls has actually gone up a bit. "

 

If dropping catches wasn't embarassing enough, our young boy Bubaan not only dropped a catch, he also showed half the stadium behind us his white cotton 'andar ki baat' while doing so

 

"Last year, with just one tight slap he suddenly evolved from being an Ape to a Neanderthal. And the run-in with Re-Peter seems to have magically brought him to the Cave Man stage. If someone were to meet him for the first time today, he could almost mistake Appam to be a normal human being."

 

It was Castro's last night here and he sure was making it count. Being the class act that he is, even off the field he seemed to be aiming at the block-hole. 

And many more ... Basically if you want to give your mind a break from some hectic work this is a good read. On the question if this is right??  I have to say it is not... because I believe what happens in the dressing room should stay in the dressing room. But the fact is dirt sells!!

P. S apparently the blog is pretty well followed even by the players as apparently the other day Hayden referred to the mallu dancing boy by his blog name ... which sent him in to a tirade... 

 

THE GREAT INDIAN DEMOCRACY..... CHOICE OR LACK OF IT

In a few months time India, the largest democracy in the world will go polls for the 15th time. The as usual the million dollar question arises who will come to power after all the dust has settled?? Gone are days of single party governments and of 3/4th majority in the center, now the in things are seat sharing formula's, power sharing formula's, pre-alliances and so on. I have been going through many a news website trying to figure out, whom should I vote for ??

 To my astonishment I have hardly come across any information that sheds light on the policies or the election manifesto of any one party or why or how is it different from another. I find it strange that parties seem to be more concerned about coming up some formula to share seats than telling the people why they should vote for them over someone else based on their policies. I really feel the political parties in India no ideological credibility of any sort. If a party says it is one for secularism, how in the world can you be in an alliance with the BJP( Bhartiya Janta Party). I am not going to waste blog space trying to explain why the BJP is not a secular party, honestly if you cannot infer that from the past 30 years I am sorry but the world has to be told the " Dodo" has not gone extinct ( may be you are even dumber than that). Now after the Varun Gandhi's episode it is pretty clear that nothing has changed.  

 For example look at the state of Tamil Nadu and you will notice how political ideology is dead. The leader of the AIADMK, Jayalalitha imprisoned Vaiko under the act of POTA during her reign as Chief Minister. Now the both of them have become partners so as to oust the DMK from power. (I do not even want to get in to how a man, who is known to have links with an organization responsible for the assassination of our prime minister, can fight an election?) How can Sanjay Dutt , a man in the Mumbai serial blast case and Tada be allowed to stand in an election?? what kind of message are we sending out,  if a convicted fellon gets to represent the people of the country... Is there no one else... or is everything forgotten just becuase he did Munnabhai!!!   

 Since I could not find any information about any political outfit’s policies or their plan of action if voted in to power I decided to make my choice based on will be the face of the government if they were to be voted in to power.

 

Dr Manmohan Singh: A man of few words, an economist turned politician. Many say the most honest man in politics but the very same man who was the head of one the most corrupt cabinets in recent history. One of his ministers Shibu soren is actually in jail for murder. Shivraj Patil I think will go down in history as the worst home minister ever.... I mean man did absolutely nothing. Just as side note he was born in 1932....  May be its time he hang up his boots considering the government retirement age is 62 ... but ironically in terms Indian politics he is termed has fighting young !!

 

L K Advani: Mr BJP I am sorry but the day he comes to power India might as well bring down the tri color and hoist the saffron flag. Going by what the BJP has achieved in Karnataka, a Hitler’s SS type persecution of the so called evil "mall & pub culture" god alone what comes next if he takes control at the center. And he still will not stop with Ram mandir Issue somebody needs to inform him that rest of the country wants wipe out any and all memory of our of shame. He is 81 years old!!! Most of our cities hardly have buildings that are that old.... 

 

Then we have the the so called 3rd option behankumari Mayawati.... her justification for why she should be the prime minister is... because she is a dalit. This coming from a lady who fielded 131 canidates with criminal records in U.P's state elections. Out if which 63 won and most these people have multiple criminal cases against them ... some include even murder!!! May be ethics is not her forte.... I pretty sure that if she were to become PM all her projects would be named Shri Kanshi Ram ... something . P.S she is endorsed by the left the so ideological stalwarts of Indian politics. 

 

This last candidate is a long shot for  the post PM but even then Mr Sharad Pawar the present BCCI chief and union cabinet minister...( How there is no conflict of interest there ...I Have no Idea)  thinks its time that there is a marathi PM .... He criticizes ... Mr Raj Thackeray on one hand but uses the same concept of “Marathi Manoos “for his political ambitions. Hmm I have an idea why stop at this lets make Sreesanth the captain of the Indian cricket team considering that we not had a captain from Kerela!!

 

So basically as an average Indian voter our choices have come down to the following 

Dial 1 for Corruption

Dial 2 for Religion (communal politics)

Dial 3 for Caste ( caste based politics)

Dial 4 for Regionalism (language based politics seems to catching on)

 

So ... I guess most us feel the system is screwed ... needs to change something has to be done.... Blah Blah... I have question how is it going to change if you and I do nothing about it!!! So please let us make an effort to do something.... you can start by going and voting.  

 

Pick the lesser of the 4 evils or if you are in Andhra Pradesh check out this party called Lok Satta  may be it might appeal to you basically there a lot more alternatives to what we have ...we just choose to ignore them.

Here is one more  lok-paritran

And Bharat Punarnirman Dal

Or.... the Professionals Party of India