Beauty of Muthumalai & Bandipur; Cheetah taming the wild roads !

Another 'Thuglak Reform' - Sun Films Removal from civilian Cars - Threat of 'Crackdown' ?

Sun Films on Cars - Crackdown Starts from May 19 !!!

Grabbed the newspaper today morning, to see myself staring to these lines on the front page. What are we trying to say by 'Crackdown Starts' ? Does this not show the sadist pleasure of the authorities to sit on the head of civilians ? Are there no lawyers out there who can file a PIL to make the authorities who still sit in ivory castles, to open their eyes to the realities ?

It is referred that " heinous crimes such as rape and dacoity are committed within cars that has sun films fitted ". Sounds so silly, and doesn’t it also read that since the law is unable to control crime on roads, something has to be done. Easier option is this.

Alternatively, if this is the way forward, what is next ?

Are we going to see helmets getting banned on Indian streets as criminals use it to hide their identity ? And, point is clear in this case too, where chain snatching by criminals with helmets-on, are getting reported more these days. So, shall we not do it ?

Next, to go to an extreme, since majority of the heinous crimes such as rape and women abuse are happening inside closed doors, will the law ask all citizens to make sure their home walls are made of transparent thickened glass? This helps because cops on rounds can peep into each house, to keep check on such crimes !

Now, let us come down to reality :

This judgment, which might be as per the Central Motor Vehicles Act, Rule 100 (2) talking about VLT not less than 70 per cent and on side windows not less than 50 per cent would conform to Indian Standards from year 1992. Come to 2012 now. Within these 10 years, the country has changed. We have commute time increased at least 10 folds, we have day temperature increased at least 10 degrees, we have traffic congestion increased at least 50 times.

Now, are we saying that, we go to road, and let the scorching sun come inside the car, all through the long wait in the bumper to bumper traffic ?

Now, are we saying that, anyone on road should be left to peep into the car and its privacy, where many of the school going kids will be having their breakfasts (again, in the interest of time, since in peak hours our city traffic is nothing more than 10 km/hr.), or nursing mothers could be even breast feeding ?

Now, are we going to fall prey to the traffic squad checks, where cops will be stopping almost all cars which have sun control films whether it is RTO approved or not, for verification. Nothing but, more time wasted on road ?

Well, will you let somebody or system play like this with our hard earned money and carefully preserved life? Question is what could be done..Answer seems to be absolutely nothing. Civilians are always the last line of living creatures and anything could be done to them.

Could the system 'crack down' Ajmal Kasab and fellow terrorists ? Could the system 'crack down'  scams (public money which they took in form of tax) and personal favors ? Could the system 'crack down' on at least one civic body or its contactor who digs out every other road which is worthy of driving ? Could the system 'crack down' on any of the crimes where netas are involved ?


But, now it is civilians, and 'crack down' will be immediate for sun films on cars. I am awaiting that 20th May will have a newspapers which will talk about 10L+ INR collected as fine on single day, 5K+ fined on day one etc.

Long live this system of hypocrisy !

Let us forget that

- There is only a negligible minority of criminals who are on road. The absolute majority is so called civilians who run for making their life
- If Criminals want cover, they can as well switch to a pick-up van or something, which can give the cover and there is no absolute necessity for a sun film tinted glass for them
- BMTC buses are plying with full body covered ads, and that is not sun films
- Law becomes toothless when the car belongs to a neta. Forget MP, MLA or MLC...I would be surprised to see if the law intends to stop even the cousin of a grandnephew of a corporator
- the side windows in most cars are not laminated, meaning shatter proof like our front windsheild.So, risk your eye sight since the law want to have cops peeping into your cars
- the vehicle will also be liable for seizure to ensure removal of the sun film on the spot, which is supposed to be done by an expert. if the windscreen gets scratches, it is civilian problem and not the system's


FootNote : I see a comment from a respected advocate from 'Alternate Law Forum' in the newspaper today, on this subject. One question : Sir, Is there no option in the law to get a review petition done, to get the civilians saved from this 'thuglak reform' ? I am sure, there will be thousands of civilians out here, who will thank you and remember you always. I am sure we can even pool-in, if this is expensive.

Finally, can the authorities learn from other states, who has announced that there won’t be any 'crack down' on this subject and it is left as recommendation ? Should you be digging deeper into the civilian wallet, to get more accounts filled with penalties collected on such fozzilized reforms?

Bangalore ranked best Indian city to live in :-)

Media reports late last week gave me this happy but bit surprising update - "Bangalore ranked best Indian city to live in". 

Not that I disagree with it or not that after living in Bangalore for more than a decade, I started disliking this place. I do love good old Bangalore, more than I had loved it earlier. What an incredible amount of progress has been made by us in the last two decades. But then, my question is, has the city become any better ? My point is also like someone else had told years back - " This City is what it is, only because our citizens are what they are. Nothing More, Nothing less" !

This newspaper article kept my mind clock-ticking, and is the reason for this blog post. I haven't travelled far and wide within India, but with the limited travel experiences and with the closeness I feel with Bangalore, if this is the 'Best Indian City to live in', then, we Indians must definitely start thinking !

The seed of my thoughts, is this article (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bangalore-ranked-best-city-to-live-in-india/207076-62-132.html) : Pipping the four metro cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, the southern technology hub of Bangalore has emerged as the best Indian city to live in, a global survey said on Tuesday. Bangalore has been ranked as the best Indian city both in terms of quality of living and the personal safety standards.

Being Friday, I had a relaxed schedule (for a change), and I decided to drive today with my mobile phone camera on and handy, to see the lighter side of our city. Here I what I could see, to prove my point :

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8jMkAMbWnTuN2UyN2VlZjYtMjlkMC00ODM5LWIxY2YtNmE3ZTk0Zjk3ZjE2
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8jMkAMbWnTuOTk2MDNmM2UtMWU5Mi00YTNhLWJiZjgtZWJjYzZlM2FkYzhj

So, I would love to summarize once again : The best city is that which has the best man or woman: if it be a few ragged huts, it is still the best city as long as our citizens  are what they are. Maybe we can show government how to operate better, showing this survey result which had been yielded because of just having good people inspite of absolute negligence from the rulers !

Double Dip - RECESSION ?

NEWS UPDATE : Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced to call a controversial referendum on his country's $130 billion European bailout plan in early December, and caught European leaders completely off guard and scrambling for a response.Papandreou's stunning announcement that he would stage a referendum roiled world financial markets and threw into question an ambitious and costly European deal worked out in torturous negotiations a week ago. 

A ``no'' vote in the referendum would have enormous consequences not just for Greece but for the rest of Europe. It could lead to a disorderly Greek default, force Greece out of the 17-nation eurozone, topple many fragile European banks and send the global economy spinning back into recession. 

Playing hardball, eurozone officials said an (euro) 8 billion ($11 billion) loan that Greece needs within weeks to avoid bankruptcy was conditional on Greece backing the latest rescue deal....blah, blah

FOOTNOTE : Is it enough living through these theories of speculations, fearful days on repeated recessions, even the day's weather affecting the fuel prices in the country etc etc....

Why cant we simply go back to age old theory of earning-to-spend and supply-demand equation, to forget what a bail-out or globalization strategy mean ?

The Strange Power of People

It had been a while since I sat to key-in my thoughts for the blog and I am definitely not happy about the same. It just happened so, where my mind went clock-ticking with a buffer-overflow of many things and I had to keep myself out of these little things I love to do, through these days. Not that I am promising to be a regular on my favorite blog table, but I promise to be better for sure.

Enough with the prelude and this time around I want to share an account of one of the very best experiences I have had in my life. I would like to describe it as ‘the strange power of people’ and it just means talking about those intense, colorful, passionate, fun-filled, humbling , inspiring and cherished one and a half days I had, few weeks back.

It all started with a visit to my elder brother’s place where we got an invite for a first Holy Communion function, from Chechi’s brother. It was just another invitation for a family function and since I had missed couple of them earlier I made up my mind to make for this one. Off-late I have become a person who avoids big gatherings of relatives, as much as possible, since I had found it disgusting to see all those elders trying to poke their nose into anything and everything in my life. Moreover, being the un-disputed title-holder of being the most outspoken, insensitive and irreverent one in the family circle, I seriously enjoyed being only in smaller and closer groups. Above all, for me being consciously away from big gatherings, my family had started losing all those fun times and it made me decide to attend this event for sure.

Then came this day, and I could see myself stepping into a much different world all together. Chechi’s family was BIG…and I mean it. Big with a capital B, I & G. They were six siblings and I knew about it. But, a house with all of them, their kids (teens to toddlers) and cousins were little different than my expectation. Now, to talk about my expectation: My grandfather too had seven kids and my father happened to be the youngest of the lot. All through my childhood, whenever we had family re-unions, I felt about the same as more a convention than a reunion. Being one of the youngest of the big group of kids, I felt about the big-bully elder brothers and mommy-ish elder sisters as more trouble than good. The last thing I wanted was to have a house full of people who take turn to make you obey to their commands. To be frank, I loved only very few of them, by my heart & therefore, here I am, one of the stand-out disobedient in the entire family of second generation! Now, back to present. I set my foot inside to a home where all (yes, I mean all. Right from the parents, the siblings, their spouses and all kids) we seated in a big hall to have food. It reminded me of the big fat greek wedding and my mind aimlessly wandered to those family reunions of my childhood. We never had eaten together. My grandfather always ate at his regular time and no one dared go and trouble him. My parents, uncles and aunts ate at their own sweet time and we (the smaller kids) were fed as a group at the table by our own mothers or one of those mommy-ish sisters or aunts. I don’t count it as a difference of culture. But more that it was the norm of those years. Even family relations were kept with definite honor and pride. One will never crack an adult joke to your uncle and it was treated as a mandate of treasured culture. I still see that my dad’s voice become softer (and sometimes he even gets up from the seat) when his eldest brother is on phone. Not, that the current generation has lost the sheen of all good things in life. My point is that, we have learnt to express love more evidently. And, according to me, this had made all the difference.

Now, I was in this world. It seemed really magical for me. Festivity was all in the air. Lot of cheer, music, laughter, fun and love was all around. And, moreover never even once did I feel that I am not one among this big grouping of siblings. All of them were just brothers, sisters and kids than being different individuals themselves. Even though I do admit that I have more brothers and sisters in my life, my parents had only two children; me and my brother. I love to put it this way as I am a person who believes that being a sibling is more than just being born to the same parents. I don’t want to get diverted in my thoughts here and hence let me speak about how it feel to have a sibling. It is always wonderful to be together. On a lighter side, If I had been alone in my growing years, I would not have got the chance to beat-up my brother. I would have had things go my way more times than naught. I would not have had to contend for time doing the many things that we used to do to occupy our time. However, as much as I used to consider this as childhood fun, the reality is that I would not be who I am today without him. I always thank god for having given such a wonderful brother for me. Also I had not been so supportive of the bigger count (like seven or six) ; courtesy my experiences with my uncles and aunts.

And, here I see the picture all different. The boundlessly varied feelings, those small bursts of laughter which had travelled miles altogether to meet each other, the special bonds between the next generation of kids, all were different. A realization of that much needed care and warmth that we all feel in this faster world of today, flashed in my mind and I learned through my experience of those moments that the best thing we can give to ourselves in this life of rat race is to spend time with our family.

In fact, I would probably only vaguely remember parts of my childhood if it weren’t for my brother. Now, here I see a multitude of this feeling. There are brothers and sisters all around. There are nephews and nieces all around. May be because of this century and because of the more free world around us, I couldn’t see any big-bully brother of mommy-ish sister who were trying to execute commands on the younger lot. My daughter, who is just over one, had been playing with the eldest couple from Mumbai and with their kids (again the eldest among the cousins) and also with the little sweet-heart who was very much a centre of cheer and exuberance. I see here, that generations are enjoying the moments of togetherness. Maybe all do realize that from the very next day of week, this will fall back as a beautiful memory and the world around will change us back to the seasoned traveler. There were no highs and lows in these days, there were no you and me and it was like a picture perfect time of re-union. I think the difference is not just because of the generation change, but also mainly due to the expression of care and warmth which our generation has learnt to practice. I always felt that our previous generation had been misers when it came to expressing love and we have changed for good. A simple example would be that we were never permitted to draw on walls but now, we do enjoy drawing on the walls with our kids. A simple, but much welcome change in our way of looking at life.

While I drove back to the city and during all these days while I had been thinking about these beautiful days, I felt happy to have joined this blessed family’s get together. I re-iterated in my thoughts that the bond between siblings is the most enduring bond that we can experience, the bond which may not be as demanding and critical as that of our parents, children or spouse and this is potentially the longest relationship we will ever have in life. But, the bond that is shared with our siblings helps us to determine the quality of bond we will experience with our other relationships in life. In this world of ‘no time’ to ‘stand and stare’, I think the biggest blessing one can receive from God is to have a wonderful family who can be together in simple moments of life. Moreover, I stand corrected, the bigger the family is, bigger is the love and warmth around and bigger is the blessings in life!!

It is an incredible thing to be able to be there for a sibling in their time of need. It is all the more incredible to be able to celebrate the joys in the lives of your siblings: graduations, weddings, and the birth of children, communions are joyous times in the life of the family that brings you closer together. Siblings are a part of us. If we allow them to continue to be a part of our life, they can be an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, and a conscience that knows us almost as well as we know ourselves.

So, can we afford to stand and meet our Brother or Sister, at every turn of our life’s journey? If yes, I think we are making a definite difference to the life of people around us. The more is the love around us. The more is the happiness inside us. Next question is, will we be able to hand over this warmth of togetherness to the next generation? We better be, or we will lose a generation! Kendall Hailey had put it right “The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you"

Untying the Jugger‘Knots’

The chill has started setting in, with winter round the corner and many of us could agree that there is nothing better than to do on a cold winter day, than to be at home sipping fresh hot coffee. But life here, right in the silicon valley of India, is different. Summer or winter or rain, days here are of early morning alarms, quick sleepy breakfasts, a routinely quick good day smile to the family, traffic jams, white-khaki traffic policemen who make us think roads were never meant for commuters and its only their whole-heartedness which allows us to drive through the mess, adventure driving through the never ending road and bridge constructions, more traffic jams etc etc.

I always wonder why people are always in this mad rush as soon as they got out of bed in the morning. And, I found the answer very soon. The mysterious reason behind this strenuous and challenging hurriedness is nothing but a wish to clock! In much simpler terms, they all are fleeing to swipe-in and swipe-out and to make sure that x.yz hours precisely is recorded in their office, at any cost. Almost ninety percent of this festinating crowd belongs to the IT industry, the one industry which is gratuitously glorified, because of which an entire generation of this country is ‘branded with’ and is made to ‘pay for’. Having said this because the image made available for outsiders are that, this industry has people who belong to an alien world and they are fed with all the luxuries in life while the world outside suffers. So, everywhere you go, whether it’s to the local vegetable shop, the government offices, the meat stall, the newspaper man, the cobbler… irrespective of the place, the attitude is same. Everyone out there had a simple theory written on their face and talk - You belong to the alien IT world, then why can’t you just write-off a blank cheque for me. After all, we all belong to the working and struggling class and you belong to the pampered lot !! Alas, if only they had seen the life in this industry for one day.. This is the only prayer I always had.

Now, I have strayed off enough from what I had to say. Let me introduce myself. My name is immaterial but my existence is of great importance. I am a simple ‘neck-tie’. To make my point more clear, I think the best way is to quote from Chic Simple written by Michael Solomon, "They are not particularly comfortable. They always go out of style (or back in as soon as we have thrown them out). And they are not even practical. Yet the tie remains an essential part of a man's wardrobe because it unites all the elements of a man's outfit, giving him instant respectability and, above all, it is the ultimate symbol of individuality". And, this exactly, is the story I have to share.

Long back, when I was born at Arvind mills and was tagged with the zodiac name, me too wanted to make my prints in this wonderful world. I too dreamt of being wrapped around the neck or shoulders of a high-flying executive, resting under the premium shirt’s collar and knotted at that throat which speaks about multibillion dollar deals. I felt exalted when I had been chosen among my friends and was gift wrapped and taken home by this wonderful lady who wanted to gift me to her husband. I felt the welcoming world around me while I was dreaming about my way to glory. The endless board room discussions which I will be part of; to get introduced to many foreign friends who will come being worn by their owners who wanted to discuss business deals with my man; to be friendly with all of them irrespective of them belonging to bow, ascot, bolo or clip-on families; to enjoy the climate and wind in all those foreign countries where my owner will wear me to…etc etc….

The next day, when I stood windsor knotted on his neck, at the grand entrance of this numbered biggest organization; I never realized that I was standing at the precipice of my life! As I walked in, I started to see this alien IT world, atleast for the neck-tie family. I could see all the sort of knots I could ever think of. Or, should I call that knots itself? Suddenly, I happened to see a cool guy flashing a colorful friend of mine. There was no knot at all; there was no case of ‘one end is longer than the other end’. This fellow didn’t wrap around the neck, but just fluxed around the collar, over the shoulder and stood strikingly at a filmy pose. The only parallel I can draw here is how Urmila Matondkar coils a saree upon herself in RGV films. Where, the saree is definitely present but conspicuously un-blocking the interesting views. Same here, the neo-windsor knotted tie just made some elegant curls and rested on the shirt, hardly making a presence. It didn’t take much time for me to understand the reason behind these fashion-istas. On the second week of my visit to office, I could sadly find myself being crumpled, crinkled and hunkered down into the darkness of the laptop bag’s side-pocket, as soon as the heavily guarded entrance is crossed. I just realized my role as a penalty-saver where a couple hundred bucks will be retained in the paycheck, if and only if I wrap myself around his shirt, whenever he crosses the entrance.

From then onwards, my life was mostly confined to the laptop bag, along with the power cable, longing for fresh air. The only relief I received had been for the two days in every week when I see the walk from parking-lot to entrance and way back. My most awaited day-out had been the wash I used to get from the lady of the house, once in every month. Even at this point, I am not sure why this guy always disagreed to his wife’s proposal of giving me a wash. But thankfully, in accordance with the general family rules of the human race, always the lady won, and I used to get my regular wash.

I should say, my life inside the bag had been fairly monotonous. But, soon did I find out that I was happy for the same. Once in a while when I get time talking to other friends who are worn by my man’s friends, while on our way to the machine-gun guarded entrance, I substantiated beyond doubt that mine was not the worst experience. I could see all sort of abuse to the ‘neck-tie’ community, which is instilled by the cruel human race. There were few of my friends who had become allergic to water and they will even bounce-off the rain drops falling on them by mistake. This had been a cultivated habit from the day they were first worn, deprived of the privilege of a wash in life, making perceptible presence right through the complete office hours, being dedicated corporate citizens, all through these many productive years. Maybe, it is my intuition, but I felt the piercing smell of these deos and perfumes are nothing but a pre-meditated effort to keep this natural tie-stink at bay.

To add, in summer, I could see my friends drenched in sweat, trying to drip through the shelby knots. I can hardly visualize people who can think of this as sexy as ‘tip-tip barsa paani’, while the world around realizes that we were not intended to make our appearances in tropical summer time. Right from the days of our ancestors, the steinkirks, stocks, solitaires and cravats, we were invited in-accordance with the weather. Even emperor Shih Huang Ti of China, your very neighbor, had considered us as an ultimate honour bestowed on his soldiers, and not a regular uniform material. Here, I continue to see my friends, tagged around for wiping the face after a sip of mid-day break coffee, carelessly hanging and made to dip into the grand gala festival lunch offered on special days in the cafeteria, wiping the sweat after a cycling tour to meet the friend sitting at the other end of the campus, peeping out of the shirt pocket while the men are seriously discussing business matters in conference rooms etc etc. To make a final remark, most of us never got the liberty to un-knot and knot again. The one knot which was made on day one, was retained till eternity, and it was just tightening and loosening around the neck which was the routine.

Today, I feel, is an important day of my life. I had the privilege of walking into the office hours again. I could hear many goodbye bids and I am surprised. It is evening and I am getting the privilege of getting un-knotted. Finally!! Out of the wrinkled days in the bag pocket, I suppose. But, oh no, you shouldn’t have done this to me! I am being thrown at this big entrance and I can see my man walking away from me. No, he is not looking back and hence this is not a mistake. I realize that I am still at the same old precipice of my life even though there is a deliberate push to make me fall. I lie here, in a box next to this entrance, thinking about my future.
Either I could make history and become the first public utility ‘neck-tie’ in the world, being used on a daily basis by people who forgot to get their own knots and still want to save the bucks. In this case, I will live the rest of my life in this box, making my entry and exit through the entrance, wrapped upon different necks. Else, I would be considered as yet another symbol of a reactive generation of the country and will be picked up by the security personnel today and will be thrown out to the free world outside, to be chewed by stray dogs and to be buried in the Bangalore dirt when the next rain pours down. Drowning all my sorrows. Here I am, awaiting my destiny..un-knotted !

FootNote :
A man was crawling through a desert and soon he was approached by another man who was riding on a camel so when that rider came near to him this man whispered through his parched lips “Please...Can you give me some water….”

The rider replied him that “I am sorry because I don’t have any water with me but I could sell you a neck tie”.

The crawling man again whispered “Necktie? But I need water! I am dying”

Again the riding man said “There are only four dollars a piece”.

The man replied “I need water”.

“Okay two for just seven dollars”.

The thirsty man exclaimed “Please…… I need water”.

“I don’t have any water I have only ties” said the salesman and headed off into a distance.
By this time the man lost all track of time because he was crawling through the desert for many days. With clothes tattered and skin peeling under the restless sun he soon came near a restaurant. With his last breathe of strength he staggered to the door and confronted the head waiter.

The dying man again pleaded “Water.. Can I get… water”?

The waiter replied to him “I am sorry sir; our dress code requires a NECK TIE”.