Satyendra Dubey- Part II

This is sad. Death of Indian Oil Corporation's employee and an IIM-Lucknow's graduate, Manjunathan is simply depressing to say the least. I don't know what else to say because I am just speechless.

This is just a replay of what happened to Satyendra Dubey, an honest man who lost his life to the mafia during Vajpayee's tenure. I had blogged about it, never did I think I would blog about something similar again. Che....

For me patriotism was a value. I don't think it is any longer. Don't take me wrongly but well, I have become cynical. I have to keep reminding myself that i lvie in a democracy. When Satyendra Dubey died, i felt bad. I wanted him to be treated like a martyr. He was treated like a Martyr, but so what? Who knows what's happening to his killers? The last I know is that one of them escapes from the police custody....wow...amazing na.....What a treatment to someone who died for something that was just.... He died for us....He died protesting against irregularities for a project which was funded by OUR money and would have been beneficial to ALL of us. But what happens. Nothing....we all, including me remember only when another honest Indian dies in a similar fashion. As if one Satyendra Dubey was not enough, we now have another.....just the name changes, but another honest citizen dies. Why? I simply don't think it is worth it, losing one's life for this country, for this country's citizens.

I know each and everyone of us has felt bad after these deaths. But why is it that there is nothing being done apart from constant cribbing about the state's indifference....if the collective angst of citizens is so strong, why doesn't it result in the accused being nabbed or being given a harsh punishment. Simply because, I have come to realise NOBODY CARES. NOBODY FUCKING GIVES A DAMN. NO ONE, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE and this includes me too. SAD. Coz had we, the citizens of India really cared, there wouldn't have been a repeat of Satyendra Dubey- Part II. Rather than sitting here and cribbing and protesting about an innocent man's murder, a pro active action by the government would have prevented another innocent death. This would have been possible had we cared, had the citizens been pro active and exerted pressure on the concerned authorities. I am saying citizens since my faith in governance has long gone....only WE THE PEOPLE can do something, concrete if we really wanna. For the MSM also, this is just a piece of news. But when, even a piece of news doesn't manage to evoke public outrage in a large scale manner, then whom are we to blame? That's another story that MSM simply did not care for a few days before it reported about the news....but well.....that's another story in itself. In this country, deaths are easily forgotten. We the citizens of India deserve this and much worse.... No one should loose their lives for a country that doesn't care, for a government that doesn't care. Why, simply why should someone become martyrs for a lost cause? I am not negating the efforts of those people who have not forgotten Satyendra Dubey. but the fact remains that nothing concrete has come out of it which is very sad.

:(

I wanna blog about so many things. if only I get the time and the energy. Should be blogging about many things soon. Will reply to the comments also soon. Che...I am so irritated....

Expectations

Expectations cause sorrow, stop expecting things....ultimate path to happiness....

STOP THIS BULL CRAP I SAY.

If you can tell me how to stop expecting things, tell me NOW. Tell me how to go about it. Don't give me faltu ka sermons....As if it is so easy living life like a saint. I am a normal mortal boss.... Anyone who gives me I do not expect things from others and therefore I am content and stuff, I am gonna beat them to pulp....

Doubts

I was recently talking to a friend of mine and he just told me how useless he feels now that he is in his final year of graduation. "The whole degree is useless", he told me. And I replied, "You feel just three years were a waste, I feel the whole education system in India is a waste." Yup, that sums up my feelings towards the education system in India, a system I literally abhor and I really do not subscribe to.

..........and then I read This article in TOI. It really made me think.

MUMBAI: Three-and-a-half year old Annapurni is a bundle of life and energy who prattles away in four languages and loves reciting her favourite folk tale about a farmer who spills ghee on the grass. Her parents, die-hard environmentalists Ganesh Subramanium and Sarita Pungaliya, have not sent her to school.

Like a small but growing number of parents in the city, they have decided to skip the process of formal education, avoiding the paranoia of school admissions, college entrances and the education rat race. Sampat and Vidya Shetty, parents of a bright four-year-old girl, Sanskriti, are also staunch believers in home-schooling.

"The current education system is more about stress, pressure and rote learning, less about knowledge," says Sampat. "Education today is all about mass-producing clones. With the high level of competition children lose their originality altogether."

The Shettys have both been journalists who in the course of their careers discovered how corrupt the institutions of higher education actually are. Yashodhara Kundaji and Kanwarjit Nagi read up extensively on various systems of education before deciding against putting their six-year-old son Anant in uniform.

"I remember how traumatic my initial years at school were because I didn't want to be separated from my parents," says Yashodhara. "I didn't want to put Anant through it." Outside the structured confines of the classroom these parents have much more freedom to explore other means of education, such as travel.
Continued...

This article talks about how few set of parents in Mumbai who do not believe in the mainstream education system do not send their children to school and prefer schooling them from Home. They echo similar sentiments that I have in mind against the education system in India. They walk their talk, they practise what they preach.

I suddenly began wondering would I be ever as courageous as them. Disgust and contempt towards the current education system not withstanding, is it a right decision to not send your kid to school altogether? Will the child be psychologically affected if s/he doesn't undergo the traditional schooling method? I mean, I am all for alternative schooling and education methods. But is pulling the child out of school totally recommended?

I think whatever said and done, school is one of the most important areas of socialisation for a kid. Howbeneficial it would be for a child? I am just wondering.... There is a quote in the article which talks about how the current education system is a all about massproducing clones and how children loose their originality all together. Well, I believe when you subscribe to a particular system, one does tend to loose the orginality to a certain extent, not completely. It takes lot of guts to do something which goes against the tide but which is something you believe completely. I do not know. I salute these parents coz they are following a path that they believe in despite the obvious opposition. Just makes me glad that ideals still work in this world. However I have my doubts. Can a child be taught about various other things, skills in life while going to a regular school? if not, is taking a child off school completely a right thing to do? I don't know. In future, the child has to survive in this society. Would lack of schooling mean lack of development of social skills? There are just loads of questions inside my mind.

I am all for alternative methods of schooling. But I feel uncomfortable when I think about a child being schooled at home. Coz, the child then misses an important part of his/her socialisation, which is very very important.

Hey Hey hey

Oh well, hello guys. I am back. Yes, I am very much alive. It's just that work has taken so much precedence over my life that blogging is the last thing in my mind. Anyways, my stupid faulty net connection also did not help matters.

Anyways, I am just wondering what to post. I suddenly realised that tomorrow is Saturday, my weekly off. Yayyy...But I would be working this Sunday, like I have been working for the past many Sundays. :( Man, that can be depressing sometimes. Especially when I ahve Sunday morning blues......Sounds funny na? I remember having written this post Nowadays I crib when a sunday approaches coz it means work after my saturday chutti. Booo hoo...My Saturday also gets over so soon. But for now, I am excited coz I am gonna attend my first catholic wedding, in church and all. What's life if there is nothing to look forward to? So a big, huge reason to cheer and hereby I retire to bed.

Dammit, my most useless post till date, I swear..

Reality shows

There are way too many reality shows happening on the Indian television scene, isn't it? Way to many I guess....Sony entertainment television introduced Fame Gurukul immediately after the widely watched Indian Idol ended. (Apparently Indian Idol is stated to make a comeback during October, round about the same time fame gurukul is supposed to end....not a good idea I think, viewers would be saturated with similar kind of shows...but well, that's besides the point!)

I was watching Zee TV's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. There's another talent hunt show happening there. Interesting concept, of pitting contestants affiliated to various Gharanas headed by popular music directors from the Hindi Music fraternity. I am not a regular viewer. I just happened to catch it while surfing channels. One girl Rakhtima from the Adesh Srivastava's team won yesterday. Despite the fact that she won, she started crying. The she confessed on the show that her mom was in the nursing home because she had suffered from an Heart Attack. Poor girl, had to perform under trying circumstances. However what she said later shocked me to the core. Apparently in the last episode which was an R D Burman special, she lost the contest. Her mother could not bear to see her daughter losing and SUFFERED AN ATTACK BECAUSE OF THAT.

Holy crap! I was stunned beyond belief. Shessssssh.....poor girl, so much pressure. I just thought how important it would have been for her to win today. But the point is....I am just plain irritated. The whole thing was dramatised completely as is the Indian style. What might be traumatic to the poor girl would be increasing TRPs for the channel. Sick! In their quest to attain quick stardom, I think the participants fail to realise that the channels are just playing with their emotions. Simply because live drama would just bring in more moolah. There is a singing talent hunt happening in every television channel these days. What happens to those who don't win? They are in the spotlight only for that specific period of time. Post-show, it is struggle time for them again. I don't understand why do they have to subject themselves to such ridiculous scrutinies with a camera looming around them 24/7? Why is there a glaring need to succeed instantly? I don't know, speaks a lot about us, the youth of my generation. Speaks a lot about me too. I think we have just missed the point somewhere. Only a selective few get to the TOP. Otherwise they are just mere pawns to get more TRPs. Sad reality! *Sigh*

Question

Acha...I have a question. How does it feel after confiding into someone? Do you feel oops....s/he knows everything now or do you feel light? (s/he maybe close friend/relative/sibling etc) I am curious to know about the state of mind as such. Do you ever feel bad? Have you ever felt that you have done a mistake as such? Well...well...well...lots to answer...So...long comments awaited :)

Irritated

I am just irritated with certain people. People whom you love, you accept them for what they are. However there are certain things I cannot accept anymore. Funniest thing I have told them what's bothering me. But well...DUUUHUHHHHHHHHH! I hate stingy people....people who have all the money on earth but WON'T SPEND. Paisa, hain, nahi hain, ek hi baat hain....kanjoos they will be.all their fucking lives!

Havoc

Well...much has been said about rains. One must have heard countless stories of bravery, tolerance, mishaps etc. etc. courtesy the media, friends, blogs, magazines and so on. Some of the stories I have heard are chilling. I was fortunate enough to have a relative staying nearby. Things were so bad that my family couldn't go back to our home for 3 whole days. Fortunately Amma, Appa and me were together at my relative's place. However I do have a little experience to share with you. On my way back to my workplace, I hopped into the train which happened to one of the last trains which plied on tracks that day. Suddenly it halted in middle of nowhere with the rains lashing heavily outside. I waited patiently for 15-20 minutes in a hope that the train will start moving. Much to my dismay, I saw other trains also halting abruptly in middle of nowhere. It was then I realised.....Oh oh...I AM STUCK. Gradually ladies in my compartment started getting down. Well getting down isn't very easy because in absence of a railway platform, the distance between the compartment and the tracks below is huge. The ladies started getting down with the help of the chotu ladder installed below. The tracks were full of water. If unlucky, one would just land up inside a naala. Also, some years back amma had done a little bit of jumping from the train and had broken her ankle into 3 pieces. The imaginary warnings of Appa kept ringing inside my head. I tell you, when you left to fend for yourself also, parents' warnings and Dos and Donts don't leave you alone......gr.....! So there I was busy contemplating whether should I jump....well not technically jump, hop out of the train.....hehehe! But then I finally decided that instead of staying inside the train and rotting away the time, I might as well hop down and walk my way to the station. I positioned myself properly and was all geared upto get down, but my legs couldn't find the stairs and I chickened out. I was way too afraid tog et down. Also when you are scared of heights, it doesn't help matters. I stood there looking like a fool. Gradually the number of ladies began to dwindle which prompted me to think about it again. I decided that I would try for a second time. Again I chickened out. Feeling like an absolute loser, I came inside the train . I was all drenched with all my stupid histrionics. (How irritating. Got all drenched but still did not get down.) I enviously looked at the ladies who were all down and walking their way. Then I saw this 60-yr old lady getting down. That was it! Now my ego was hurt. I had to get down. I had a point to prove.....to myself. So I mustered all the courage and decided, ok....I am getting down. Suddenly one gujju lady who had got down, took the initiative of supervision of the remaining ladies' climbdown. My legs again started searching for the stairs and I again panicked. However, this lady grabbed my leg and placed it over the ladder. Thank god, bless her! Finally I got down and I walked up to my way to the station. I finished my work and then went to my relative's place who stayed closeby.

I should confess that this has been one of the most disastrous rains ever faced. It's the not the magnitude of the rains which is alarming, it is the way the infrastructure has literally crumbled is a cause of major worry. In my 20 years of my existence I have never seen the infrastructure crumble like this. Take the railways for example. The lifelines of Mumbai. Heavy rains are not unusual in Mumbai. Neither are the stalling of trains. However usually, the train services resume the next day after an event of a downpour. The torrential rains hit Mumbai on July 26th. The railways have not yet resumed their services properly and there exists only skeleton service for the time being. This is worrying because for the first time I am seeing the city being brought to a halt. No matter what, Mumbai has always bounced back, that's the unique feature of the city. However this time, I see schools, colleges closed. Many people have not been reporting for work. I am afraid that the undaunting spirit which Mumbai is known for has been hit badly. Not because that Mumbaiites have suddenly chickened out. It's because the infrastructure has just tumbled like a pack of cards.

It's the biggest irony that after raining COWS AND BUFFALOES AND HIPPOES, there is an alarming water shortage. I mean isn't it funny....it's the biggest joke. My house has not received water for the past4 days. We received water only today only for 10 minutes :| There are power cuts galore.

There is anger, there is frustration. The administration did not come and help anyone. The people helped each other and that is the real story of the disaster. The feel good factor of the tolerance of Mumbai shouldn't be taken for granted and I am afraid that's what has been happening now. If care is not taken to rectify the situation, I really don't know, it would escalate into something really disastrous.

Sweetmeet

Aaaah, that's my pathetic attempt to con a word. But well, what the hell. Hello people...How have you all been doing? Life's become hectic for me but well, I met Ridhish and Bhai the other day :D

Ridhish and me started blogging about the same time. We both have known each other for the past 2 years. So I was all excited and looked forward to meeting him. When I started blogging, we belonged to a small coterie of bloggers (aint that a nice collective noun?) who had all started blogging round the same time. Me, Vidya, Ashwin, Ridhish (dumbo, doesn't blog anymore..grrr), Shonu etc. etc. Infact it quite funny. I got acquainted to Mumbai bloggers only after I started visiting Ridhish and Vidya's blogs. And they both reside in Australia. So well, to cut the story short, we both go a long way Also Ridhish is the one who is responsible for the template that I have currently, he designed it for me :D

Pranshu....It was so much fun meeting him too :D An absolute sweetheart :D So, myself, Ridhish, Bhai and BBC decided to meet up and what a meet up it was! As usual, I started my budbud......but I had someone here who just about overtook me as far my chatterbox skills are concerned. Ridhish, I bow to thee....Kitna bolta hain yaar....Hahahahaha! As we both competed as to who spoke the maximum, Poor Bhai and BBC were left with no chance but to keep mum :p But well, this just happened only for 15-20 minutes :p Bhai gave a polite excuse of a sore throat for not talking, but well, we know it better, don't we, Ridhish? ;) hehehhee!

It was just meeting old pals and catching up! I had great fun. Of course, we spoke endlessly...had pav bhaji, coffee, Mayonnaise roll outside my college......Boy, it was one fun day :D You will find masaledar spicy gossip added versions of blogmeet at Bhai and Ridhish's blog (he promised me that he will blog) Don't believe it I say..:p Also, thank you for the books Bhai :D You da best >:D