Confessions of a Rookie Roadie---- Vol 1

After quitting my previous job and a build-up of energy that had started bubbling under the psyche,I needed to get out of the system...It wasn't the inner urge to explore this time but the newly found one...I wanted to test and henceforth, stretch my limits as to how much I could tolerate my own SELF in the harshest of conditions when conscience tends to melt away and the aggresive alter ego takes over...If you control yourself in such circumstances,you can control a lot of your energies and guide them..It's like testing your ideals in trying circumstances..only the conditions are uncontrolled when you're out in the wild...

We started from Bangalore at dusk hours to take leverage of the cool weather...Energetic and seeking adventure as we disembarked on the 600+ km Rameshwaram journey,things seemed to be on the right track until it started raining plus a 20 km long jam on a pitch-black night...It was a sign of what was to come...After the serpentine moves through the traffic jam,we upped the ante.. and as the rain gods transformed light rain to heavy downpour,we kept moving on the dark road as the water tricked down our helmets (and we had no option but to gulp it)... those lights were the only things left in the whole world....surprisingly it rained for 150- 180 kms...Totally drenched in rain one of the mates hit the wall..he had no jacket so we made it out of a gunny bag!! and moved on group-courage..then it was open road,wind and raw sceneries...

One thing is for sure that if you're not someone with a soft corner for hard-core biking,you're not someone who should consider road trips...coz' as the bums get numb(:P) and continuous bumping mixes the bile juices in your belly giving a regurgitatory feeling,the chemical effects are definitely going to sabotage your emboldened stance...

http://picasaweb.google.com/vivoratorbsb njoi ;)

Delhi 6 :Another feather in masakali 's cap...

Contemporary cinema has always been a tale of stereotype love stories or junk comedy driven solely by male/female actor's charm.This is not an overnight shift but a phased change from the content or moral-driven cinema of the previous times when films like Prahaar,Bavarchi and even comedies like Golmaal(Hrishikesh Mukherjee) used to be socially driven dramas unlike the fast food movies of coeval times.
Its quite difficult these days to get away from the fact that comedies have abruptly brought even the serious actors(like Akshay Kumar) to a whole new level(mostly southwards).Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has always proven to be someone who taps the today's young guns' energy with a little something (and that comedy stuff) for the aam aadmi. It all started with Rang De Basanti, which had a social message amalgamated into its secularly-knit body and had the sensible/practical comedy while preventing it from digressing into a categorical one....Everything about the cast was energetic and so was the script..The Delhi-born director continues with his mindframe of social fabric and beautifully blends the facts and feelings in characters and dialogs with the content-driven yet melodious and amazingly energetic music(again by A.R. Rahman)...Delhi 6 is the continuation of that built-up trust of RDB with the audience which would have otherwise caused some sort of outrage because of the language used or the visibly Hindu-mythology dominance in the film...But in the end you get a strong feeling of oneness, of togetherness and an entertaining movie..hats off for bringing pragmatism to an exaggeration based industry...

INDIA, the WORLD and Mr. OBAMA

Ok...I admit..my comments in the previous blog came from a frustrated common INDIAN ..but that's the power of democracy... Instead if I had blended it with a long forgotten but valid principle of UNIVERSALITY and political olive oil...the collage would've been different..
Let me start by praising Mrs. Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and their team..on the way they've succesfully used the International pressure build-up on Pakistani huqmaran to yeild and seal the LeT accounts by a UN Ban on Jamat-ud-Dawah...2008 year end was a lucky time for a leader who promised change,ECONOMIC Recession being the wand,and also for the Congress leadership which leapt forward in a number of ways.Nuclear deal which saw the Congress play its part in sneaking through the Massive Nuclear leap under the NPT carpet....Now India has been assured with massive civilian trade of Nuclear energy...Big issue politically and for our energy needs...Not too big if you see the Chinese stand as an OUTWARDLY BOLD and ECONOMIC GUN OF ASIA on its own feet(..hats off for the Chinese though..indegenously meeting the policy and planning needs of their country) like the planned hydro power jump by the Chinese almost tripled their production inching it close to its energy requirements over the previous years..this being quite difficult in a democracy with aggresively outward outfits and leaders like Mamta Banerjee(TATA Project fallout), Bajrang Dal and VHP activists ( The bullshit Religion card)....But whatever the case be..the SONIA - MANMOHAN duo has politically and economically emboldened the face of INDIA SHINING...AT LEAST FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS THAT IS...(AGRICULTURAL BAILOUTS apart)....
NUCLEAR DEAL polished INDIA's image as Manmohan Singh met World leaders
(The Republican - Bush Administration playing a huge role in it) and that surely played a BIG role in cogent INDIAN exposure of LeT and the events that followed...The BIG question is..With the incoming Democrat OBAMA Administration promising change..should it be INDIA SMILING or shedding a tear or two...Obama seems to be a well read, politically sound and an immensly popular leader...With the exodus of Bush and the mess OBAMA is left to clean..it is for sure that Republicans will co-operate with INDIA..at least on the terrorist infrastructure that Pakistan has built and fed over the years..
With the first decision coming as a political whiplash to Pak administration..cutting down the funding part(may be hinting towards the approval of alleged links between the huqumat and the fidayeen outfits..which India has been reciting over the years, quite belligerently in recent times)
It is a strange world which bans LeT and turns a blind eye to Israel's legal masacre of 1000s in Gaza...something which we forget that we are members of a universal family (Principle of Universality).But that's the way the US-centered politics has worked over the years.The difference being the approval of a leader who promises change and who has the power to encourage a recession-dispirited world...

Time for an All out Offensive

You know what was easy earlier...it was easy to look at the sky and guess it will rain this evening...But its easier these days to guess while lukin at the calender or the calm in the country that bombs and bullets probably are on there way...
The thing that is clear from the plethora of attacks this year and before is that these people won't stop until India goes for the full...There couldn't be a better time to react forcefully when the world community is on our side...and even if it is not..INDIA must show some guts to shed its image of a frightened and politically futile state..
One thing is for sure, the incidents have exposed the face of Ruling Indian leadership..Manmohan Singh...weakest and sheepiest Prie Minister EVER...fearful to face the camera..give out response to the common man..MARK MY WORDS...It is he who should quit,which he will not do because of his career prospects with Sonia Gandhi.If Mr. Barack Obama can feel the heat half way round the world,then INDIA is at the core..As he said INDIA has the right to go for an offensive...and so it does...But for the lacklustre shows and all party meetings by MANMOHAN...what does he expect to show us...That he is working???Come on Mr. Prime Minister don't mess the social fabric of INDIA...At least Mr Vajpayee had the guts to for Operation Parakram

Got sumthin' to brag about....?

About a month back, I was just roaming around on the streets of Hyderabad when I saw some tricolors lying on the street...collected them and put 'em in my bag...standing by was a group of 2 -3 youngsters giggling...I asked to myself...was that the COMMON MAN laughing...I don't know but I just hoped my responsible actions acted positively on them....now that's something to brag about..Moving on....
What really bothers me a great deal these days is the ever increasing violence in our country be it Malegaon,Assam, Gujarat and even Delhi! and the frequency of it has been astounding..and what bothers me even more is lukewarm response of the leadership at the highest level to this fiasco...and the accusation of unworthy saints like Pragya,VHP leaders,senior army personnel(Malegaon blasts) and now the tacit political approval of the same by BJP leaders is like adding insult to injury and leaves us with only one screaming question...what in GOD'S NAME are these people doing.???..Planting bombs to kill innocent INDIAN civilians and how does camera-shy MANMOHAN Singh or sweaty palms SHIVRAJ Patil respond to this...setting up meetings to give a set of guidelines for every situation or issuing regret statements just in time,which they can brag about during elections!!!...One thing I would like to clarify after mentioning Prime Minister's name is that he's not totally at fault because most of the serial blasts had been planned out of Pakistan's frustration over INDIA's makeover at the world level which(PAKISTAN) by-the-way is out of ideas how to deal with the imploding extremist organisations (which it has fed and incubated over the years), of course, because of its war on terror with the US. BUT it does point out at serious Intelligence lapse ..Sitting in the bus I got this vague idea of how easy it had become to gerrymander this secular country on the very grounds which differentiate us from PAKISTAN(and because of which SHEIKH ABDULLAH,the charismatic Kashmiri leader wanted JAMMU & KASHMIR to be a part of INDIA)...and if you ponder over it for a while,I bet you and I won't differ..but as I discussed earlier in my " INDIA: A SECULAR STATE" blog,the reasons are not hard to find...WHAT WE NEED IS CHANGE...as US PRESIDENT BARACK H. OBAMA rightly pointed out to and won ...Its not that we don't know the reasons...the real fact is that we are the common man and the common man is gullible...he won't go beyond what can be seen and when he does CORRUPTION goes down(Price Waterhouse Coopers - due to Right to Information Act ).BUT the CHANGE in mentality, in sentiments,in education and all ways in which it can be...is to inspire the common man and it always took a leader to inspire which unfortunately are extremely numbered in today's times...Leaders like BARACK OBAMA have that power..these are charismatic leaders like YASSER ARAFAT, DALAI LAMA,MAHATMA GANDHI...VLADIMIR PUTIN,HUGO CHAVEZ...if you are searching for fresh examples...now that would be something to brag about...not the figures of how many muslims slain and the numbers in response......Well educated/well read LEADERS and NOT puppets are a must...Leaders with positive energy can change a lot as we have seen in the past and "history always teaches us,it is we who never learn from it"...ALSO, I would love to see the INDIAN MEDIA come up with some positive picture and not just the grim ones so that common man gets cloyed with NATIONALISM AND SECULARISM and start taking PRIDE in being INDIAN.

I've walked the distance, I paid my dues and

tried to have a go at what I thought I knew was real, heldno appeal

I've been to places, I've seen the tidings,

I bought a book of rules for every coin that I could steal

And so I came to gaze upon the stars, when they were yet unborn

And consequently, tear at my old scars, and the mask I had outworn

So when I'm crying alone

Yeah, when I'm cold as a dying stone

Grow me a garden of roses

Paint me the colors of sky and rain

Teach me to speak with their voices

Show me the way and I'll try again

I've heard the rumors, started fires, I sowed a sordid lot of

plays for keeps for what I need, behold

the demons that I freed

I've tried my best at wearing the hard hat,

but healing doesn't seem to happen when you hide away theseed

And so I came across the medicine man, and he showed me what I'd forlorn

For if I'm stayed it happens by my own hand,

and my own voice full of scorn

So when I'm crying alone

Yeah, when I'm cold as a dying stone

Grow me a garden of roses

Paint me the colors of sky and rain

Teach me to speak with their voices

Show me the way and I'll try again

Without you I'm nothing at all

And life has the face of a morbid game

With you nothing seems impossible

It all seems to fit the frame

So when I'm crying alone

Yeah, when I'm cold as a dying stone

Grow me a garden of roses

Paint me the colors of sky and rain

Teach me to speak with their voices

Show me the way and I'll try again

A New World Order?

There's been a lot of talk about the recession of U.S. economy of late...and that of a new Political scenario worldwide...To what extent do the two hold their ground in reality is debatable but that it is happening...is not.A weakening U.S. dollar and strengthening of other currencies pegged against it is seen, as the garangutan consumer faces challenges from across the globe...globalisation and hence cheaper and economical means being the reason...Alongside stands its Sub-Prime mortgage crisis which potentially broke down bull's back in all economies of scale..an example is the engulfment of Bears Stearns by JP Morgan Chase...former being a strong player and a strong contender in good times sold at a meagre 240 mn$...General Motors which showed more profits than Exxon, the oil major, in the 80's(!) suffered huge monetary blows and lost the no. 1 spot to Japanese major Toyota recently...Moving Eastwards the Euro is Strong but they face a major energy crisis and who's come to the rescue??the former Communists, Russia of course....With huge Gas reserves and a promising gas pipeline linking Europe...no guesses over who's going to call the shots in future...and the Russians are getting active again, politically,more importantly..threatening U.S. of recognising Ossetia and another state if Kosovo meets Western acceptance and also gave huge blows to US after talk of setting up missile set ups on the backdoor of the emerging mammoth...and the Roulbe's growing strong too....leave INDIA out and add the dragon to the scenario and you get the new big picture...Russia and China setting up SCO(Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) and the Russia centric CSTO(tends to be NATO of the east with time)...With a booming Economy and an active political set up (minus the collision course stubbornness of the US), China has the potential to make it to the top..Russia has evrything already,thanks to Putin and his successor Medvedev...having said that, the Europeans are now struggling on 2 weak legs -- one of energy crisis and the other of breaking up of new countries (non- togetherness, as one can put it) and is slowly standing up to it...Africa stands in its AIDS, crime, civil war and poverty driven BUT energy rich resources(luring US and China etc. as future suppliers, with latter having better stands ,politically)...But my take would be...don't count the Americans out ...they still have hidden cards in the form of Fed Bank's control of Dollar and a strong CIA...just a matter of an year when the govt. changes...so may the political see-saw...but amidst all this speculation...one thing's for sure...US economy is much weaker than it was a decade or two ago...and the east is now stronger than ever before..and there's a shift in all senses( power,economic, political etc.)..and the shift is VISIBLE...so don't shake ur head if trading starts in Euro but the Russians rule the roost (or in Rouble itself!)..or the Chinese dictate the east by their financial muscle and low tone voice...Wait and watch .....Phoenix is back from ashes...