Spiga

Reality and Rang De Basanti

Youth awakening is an overrated non-event

When I saw Rang De Basanti in 2006, I came out of the cinema hall all pumped up and ready to kill a few politicians, so to speak. Today, I look at myself and many others around me and all we remember from the intentions of that movie are the performances of the protagonists and nothing else.

During that time, I had promised myself that I would undertake a reality check once the movie is forgotten and props up in its "original cheap" DVD form. And I feel that little has changed. I feel that change is not possible through a movie. And I guess I was naive at the time, to think the same. Two years down the line "What youth awakening", I asked myself?

Youth awakening, in most honest terms, is a misleading hoax brought into the spectrum by the media, movies and many other sources to keep us peppy, positive and distracted from the lassitude that is actually omnipresent and is also the grim reality. The problem with us is that we constantly use glorified and immortalized terms like YOUTH AWAKENING to keep ourselves distant from the devil called reality.

Reality is harsh and our aversion from that probably keeps the un-truth alive and hence today's overtly-capitalist India is actually a hunting ground for emotionally profiteering units called movie production houses and their dispensable products called movies. And Rang De Basanti is exactly the realization of my defeated dreams of widespread change in the country today.

Masala movies have gained such unnecessary precedence in the hierarchy of India's priorities today that people, especially youngsters, are completely oblivious from what is important and even proud of it! As long as they can look like Shahid Kapoor or Mallika Sherawat, they are happy. As long as a movie is out every Friday, life is cool. As long as tickets are affordable, cinema halls run wild. Or rather, they run wild irrespective of that.

Indians, and again mostly youngsters, are feeding themselves on a lifestyle where the word cool is of primary importance and very conveniently ignoring everything that is essential. When a career in modelling becomes cooler than one in the Army, you can sense the misplacement of all priorities. If ever there was a mirage in front of us, it is now. Yes, a few tears roll when a massacre like Mumbai 26/11 takes place. Yes, the youth are out ranting on the streets about irresponsible governments and politicians. Yes, the youth are seemingly keen on bringing change. But all of this is tightening our eye lids and not exactly reaping change.

What do youngsters know? The Prime Minister of the country, the chief minister of their respective state? The Home minister (because he is always in the news)? Regarding our current Prime Minister, the focus is shockingly always on sardar SMSes and hardly anything else. I am certain most youngsters could write a book on the cast of their favourite TV shows, the Nach Baliyes and the Comedy Circuses, but would fail to label their family tree appropriately.

Spoilt and cowardly. At complete loss with his/her morals. Passing exams and rewarding himself/herself with visual treats and food fests. Nothing else, according to this blogger, can more objectively define the so-called young Indian. And hence, youth awakening eats the dust.

And Rang De Basanti remains a DVD.







If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS

Artists of mendacity

There is a difference between perpetual defiance and compulsive falsehood, but Pakistan seems to have abundant talent for both.

For a comprehensive course in fabrication of accepted truth, I suggest readers visit our dear neighbours. Not only would you be taught how to be an expert in chicanery but you would be given additional training in how to accuse truth speakers and come out with your head held high.

Up until now, the self-created Frankenstein tried to throw back truth-converted-into-lies so vehemently back at India. But the bubble burst yesterday as "state actors" in Pakistan accused India of funding terrorism through its spies. Pakistan arrested four Indians in connection with Wednesday's Lahore blast, but their fallacy ultimately rose to the surface and the egg, or rather a well-cooked omelette, is on the government's face after a pro-Taliban group 'Ansar wa Mojahir' claimed responsibility for the attack which resulted in the loss of one life.

Now what, President Zardari? Any more arrows-disguised-as-boomerangs in your quiver of lies? Now what, PM Gillani? Some more war rhetoric please. We are getting accustomed to it. But why to blame this duo? The real power lies in the hand of the Pakistani Army which is using the democratic system as a mouthpiece to warn India about the dangers that lie ahead.

First the round-robin denial of Ajmal Kasav's nationality, then the denial of Pakistani involvement in Mumbai 26/11, then the accusations towards right-wing groups in India, then the accusations towards India in general and now this. Conscience is lacking and action is unlikely to be taken as Pakistan's firm stand in the war against terror is not only one of blatant arrogant but also mendacious and shocking.

Some more gibberish that we just cannot tolerate is Pakistani media persons and ex-Army men pleading with India about Pakistan facing a number of Mumbais every day. Is India responsible for the carnage in the country? Is India sending gangs of armed fanatics to unleash their bullets on innocent Pakistanis? Is India the cause of an unstable democracy? Is India bloody responsible for the failure of Pakistan as a state?

Backstabbed we are, friendless we are, but a united India is good enough for every anti-India entity, be it state or non-state, to be taken care and packed away into history. Be warned.







If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS

The enemy within

There's more to the Antulay story than the man himself

Minority affairs minister Abdul Rehman Antulay added his name to a growing list of anti-India Indians living and breeding on Indian soil by considerable vainglory and style with his contemptuous remarks on Hemant Karkare’s death.

The irrational statements ,coming directly from a Union cabinet minister’s mouth, have hence opened the door for not only self-styled Pakistani analysts and self-proclaimed observers of the “real India” but also our very own pseudo-secularist intellectuals and others of the type to create a ripple effect at a time when the country was chasing a dreaded and proven enemy on the other side of the border with some consistency.

But Antulay’s story is interwoven with more than what “meets the eye”, so to speak in the man’s own words. Why blame him alone, as many in his band of anti-Indians would say. Antulay and his band of the eternally “oppressed” have not only provided fodder for our neighbours to feed on India’s self-created divisions with giggles and chuckles and high-fives but have confirmed in all retrospect as to where their true loyalties lie. Not in aiding Pakistan’s so-called “Hindu Zionist” campaign. Not in the progress of the “oppressed” who’s cause they so passionately have picked up. It lies in their firm fundamentalist mindset, where the right wing is the mother of all evils and the cause of so much pain and agony in our lives. Not just so much. In fact, all of it does.

In no other free-minded democracy does the base of the system itself prove so costly – the freedom. Freedom in India is reaching intolerable levels and most terror attacks or so-called anti-minority actions are followed up with all sorts of abuse by the leftist intellectuals.

Arundhati Roy articulately calls Islamic terrorism a deserving return-shot from the oppressed and asks India to look thoughtfully at the reasons for which jehad is being waged. Barkha Dutt proceeds to divide India on communal lines herself by indicating that Antulay’s remarks have embarrassed the Indian Muslim, clearly giving belief to the thought that India is divided from within. Pankaj Mishra, Vinod Mehta, Teesta Setalvad, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose and so many like-minded “scholars” feed on India’s gullible freedom like bedbugs not letting you sleep, pests screwing your crop and lice biting away on sensitive areas.

Left-liberalism is reaching unseen heights in India. Their hatred for all things Indian is not only increasingly evident but even unchanging. These sympathizers of the distressed challenge the Indian state each and every day with their uttering and hysteria-driven pedagogy.

How dare they even claim to be Indians. How dare they apply for a passport and travel abroad and preach hatred towards India. How dare they call themselves concerned “human rights” activists with a natural belief that Indians are not humans, but only abusers of human rights. How dare they speak and speak and speak without any sense of responsibility.

This dreaded brand of terrorists has their “terror camps” in the mainland. They sleep, preach and breathe anti-Indian sentiments every passing day, from our own soil. They operate abroad with their weapons (ink pens and A4-size sheets) and know that they can take refuge in their freedom that always forgives and mutter any nonsense that will always find readers because intellect is admired by many, no matter how much the nonsense ingrained within it - an intellect which is actually pseudo-intellect.

By Indians, who are actually pseudo-Indians.







If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS

King kaun hai, Shahrukh?


Aaj Tak reporter: Toh aap ko kaun lagta hai King of Khans, Shahrukh?

Shah Rukh Khan: Arey, kahaan King. Hum kahaan ke King, yaar. King toh Billie-Jean King hai. King toh Larry King hai. Hum toh employees hai.


TCGH offers an exclusive copy of HOW TO FOOL PEOPLE AND BECOME A SUPERSTAR to the response that best explains the logic in the above reply.







If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS

Verma committee: Media guidelines issued

Former Chief Justice of India JS Verma has issued a new protocol for visual media in the country, in the wake of their contemptible coverage of the Mumbai terror attacks. If the proposed set of measures are complied with by the private television entities solemnly, then it would assuredly prevent a repeat of their wanton conduct during 26/11, and after.

Verma, in his report, states:


"News related to armed conflicts and communal violence should be shown with public interest in mind," the guidelines said.

In case of a hostage situation, the guidelines said no details like identity or number of hostages should be telecast.

It also asked broadcasters to avoid unnecessary repetition of archival footage which may agitate the minds of viewers.

"Dignity of those who are killed should be kept in mind while such incidents are telecast," the guidelines read.[Rediff]

The point regarding excessive repetition of archival footage is particularly irrefutable as TV channels have opportunistically broadcast past videos without a mention of "File footage", in a bid to retain viewers. Repeat footage is distressing and the purposes with which it is replayed again and again are beyond comprehension.

The report spells doom for our favourite television anchors as their tragedy-time histrionics will be forcefully subdued and it is certain that a few are expected to be up in arms against the guidelines. Hopefully they will, in all their frivolous opposition of these instructions and rabid pseudo-championing of freedom of speech, at least obey the guidelines. Verma states that self-regulation is essential and the only flawless way of the media living up to its fourth-pillar-of-democracy role. And it is hence upto the mediapersons to eventually protect the larger interests of the people, who are undeniably under their elephantine influence.

Barkha Dutt had written, in impudent defence of her acts, not too long ago:


Should there be an emergency code of dos and donts for the coverage of such crises? We in the media would welcome a framework for sensitive events and are happy to contribute to its construction. But it is important to understand that in the absence of any instructions on site and in the absence of any such framework we broke NO rules. [NDTV]

Isn't this what she would have ransacked a politician for if he/she had dared to indulge in any immoral showing during times of crises? Mediapersons jumped onto the bandwagon of endless opportunism during those three dark days and then have the audacity to justify their actions by blaming the absence of a code of conduct. Where was their own so-called moral self at the time?

The bottomline, and it's a sad one, is that media houses showed as much opportunism as the politicians(Narendra Modi, Manish Tiwari etc) and both combined showed more opportunism than the Indian state and people can bear altogether. In times of crises, if their capitalist mindset seeks profit and profit only and they believe that the nation was "awakened" by their constant reporting of the attacks, then it is a testimony of our times that we have slept all along and needed such factions of society to "wake us up".

LK Advani, the supposed next Prime Minister, praised the role of the media openly in the Lok Sabha yesterday. "They woke us up" and "they did national service" were some statements from the BJP leader. What he forgot was that there was another side to the media coverage, that he probably never cared to explore.

It is disheartening that the people of a superpower-in-waiting come to know their true heroes and defenders at the cost of the lives of those heroes. How morally right is this? How much the better that our heroes do not have to sacrifice their lives in order for us to come to terms with what we are facing day in and day out?

Life just came a full circle.







If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS

A mixed bag post: Awards, Links and Cricket

Awards
It's raining awards everywhere. And I'd like to thank three of the best bloggers I've known in recent times for recognizing me and this blog.

Amit of Mashed Musings and the Indian Home Maker presented me with the Butterfly award for the coolest blog. Thank you.


Thanks for the recognition. It means a lot in these testing times when I was actually wondering whether this blog had lost its cool and become HOT because of the previous post which has a female presence that many would savour without complain. No, not Behenji.

Mampi presents me with a Certified Honest Blogger award. Thank you.



Bloggers Krishna, Vinod Sharma, Amrutha, Kiran, Kislay and Rambo Doc, kindly accept the awards from this blogger.

I'm happier than George Bush was when he came to power.



Links
Suno, suno, suno! Over 42,000 free "wallposters" of hot actors, actresses and Enrique Iglesias can be found at the Bahujan Samaj Party website [Link]. Download NOW. Offer valid till BSP in power in Uttar Pradesh.

Former Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy writes this heavily biased pseudo-secular piece [Link] in the Huffington Post that confirms where her true loyalties lie. Some Indians hate India so much that you can sense that the only purpose of their life is to indulge in majority-bashing and minority-appeasement to give their "views" to the world. It's a shame that the West looks to such people to get an idea of what India is about, while these people on the contrary give them the exact opposite of what reality is and the exacts of what India isn't. Why do such Indians exist?

Greatbong provides a sane analysis of this piece. The exact type that should be read [Link].

Cricket
WOW. What a win. India embarassed England in the first Test at Chennai, helped by one of Sachin Tendulkar's most spectacular centuries. Spectacular in cricket terms and critical terms. England basically deserve no credit for letting slip a match such as this, which was clearly in their grasp till the second session of Day 4.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is on the way to becoming one of India's greatest captains ever. With an eye-popping 100% win record in Tests, it is difficult to go beyond the Ranchi man's acumen in handling tense situations and swinging games from draws to wins. And this man definitely doesn't know how to lose.

The catalyst for the win was Virender Sehwag, undoubtedly. The Delhi man's blitz in the final session of Day four had bred optimism in the Indian camp of a win. Sehwag's swashbuckling hitting took the pressure of the rest of the team and hence the fourth-highest target ever in Test cricket was comfortably chased out.


India didn't snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. They whole-heartedly went seeking victory and deservedly got it so. Period.







If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS

How to survive a terrorist attack

A lost Aam Aadmi huffs and puffs across an unknown territory somewhere in the Land of Unprotected Civilians, chased by MP5-wielding terrorists and sinister demons armed with AK-47s. As Aam Aadmi looks around for help, he senses a glimmer of hope somewhere ahead that is shining bright. He speeds towards it.

Aam Aadmi thinks – “Oh wow! It’s President Bush – the world’s strongest man. He will help me.”

Pres Bush – “Haay! Who the hell are ya? What do you think you are doing, coming to me for security? Are you American?”

Aam Aadmi – “No, sir. But you could help me as the people threatening me might also target Americans.”

Pres Bush – “What! Who told you that I will help you? I am only concerned about the prime interests of my citizens and my country and my concept of world peace depends on that. Only if my people are threatened, I will help you. For now, all I can do is point you towards your dear Prime Minister.”


Aam Aadmi grudgingly moves ahead.

Ah! It’s the Prime Minister of India. He will save me for sure, Mr. Aadmi thinks.

PM – “See, Aam. I will give you not one, but two ways of helping yourself. But I cannot directly help you from my current position.”


Aam Aadmi – “But sir, you are the Prime Minister. You certainly can.”

PM – “Yes, but I myself am not secure. My dear rival for the PM’s post in the upcoming elections, Ms. Mayawati, has bullied me into giving her the maximum security and I stand helpless. Ms. Gandhi has been kind enough to provide me shelter in the office. So you either go to Mayawati or go to Bihar where a kind old man will help you. Or at least provide you with a train ticket to your home.”

Aam Aadmi, disappointingly, heads for the badlands of Uttar Pradesh.

The Queen of UP will help me from these dreaded terrorists, who are after my life for the past three decades, he thinks and calms himself down.

And before he could even utter a word...


UP CM – “GET OUT, Aam. I don’t help anyone. I only help myself. Don’t you know that? GET OUTTA HERE!!”.

Scared and frightened more than he has ever been, Aam tags along to Bihar.

Laluji will help me. He is known to help a lot of people in his state. I hope for the best.”, Mr. Aadmi thinks.


LPY – “Aam, I lub India. I lub avar pippals. I lub this desh ki mitti. I am agnaist all pippals who threat to unity of avar India.”

Aam Aadmi – “Laluji, dreaded terrorists are behind my life.”

LPY – “WHAT!! Why did not you tell early? Oh, I hab to run. Ok, come sum adhar time and listen to me bhashan.”

Aam, however, is extremely desperate for help. He clings on to LPY’s lungi and tries to force himself out of the situation he is stuck in. LPY smacks him on the head with his broomstick, blurts "Ki karat hai bahua!" and Aam loses grip. LPY escapes. He was later spotted savouring continental lunch on an express train.

Meanwhile, Aam moves on towards the south. On the way, he meets Amar Singh (on the way to his weekly social gathering at the Big B Adda) who offers to listen to his troubles.

Aam explains his problems.


AS – “My party helps most minorities in this country, especially those that consistently vote for us. So until the next elections, I’m afraid I cannot help you as we will have to see how many seats we gained and how important we are in the current setup.”

On reaching the Most Frequented-by-Terror Land, Aam heads to the sparkling bungalow of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. SRK, apparently rehearsing a clown act for his next movie, seems to be taken aback by his plight.


SRK – “Aam, Kabhi Kabhi Kuch Jeetne Ke Liya Kuch Haar Na Parta Hai, Aur Haar Ke Jeetne Wale Ko Baazigar Kehte Hain”.

Aam - “WHAT!? That makes no sense”

SRK – “Kya hua? I am trying my best, Aam. This is what I do. This is what I am good at.”

Aam – “But, I need help.”

SRK – “Ha ha ha. Aam, the maximum help I can give is to sign you an autograph. We represent Page 3 of the daily news. Don’t you love our words, dialogues and movies?”

A disgruntled Aam has all but given up any hope of survival.

But...

From a distance...

A Catwoman-like lady swoops down near Aam and shoos away the terrorists, with her God-awesome looks.

Aam – “Wow, there’s my beacon of hope. Thanks, dear lady, for saving him. Who are you?”


Masked Lady – I am Mallika Sherawat and I have just saved your life. Now pay me 75 lakhs.







If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS

Wasted integrity

An IAS officer writes this wonderful open letter to the Prime Minister, stating the significance of action above achievement. It is action, and only action, that amounts to a great leader being remembered by history as a contributor to a nation's empowerment.

If not, then what use is it being a prime minister if, even after reaching the very top, you can’t do a damn in an hour of national crisis? Soon, all this will be forgotten and it will be back to business as usual. But then, history will judge you. If you have some conscience left, please do something. Don’t forget, “mind without heart, intelligence without conduct, cleverness without goodness are all tools, but only for mischief”. [Live Mint]

The PM is an exponent of a text-book life and glowing report cards. This is not to say that his integrity should be doubted or his honesty questioned. But when you are guided by a de-facto presence in your Cabinet, when you head a corrupt party of politicians with verified criminal records, when you can't stand up for the people of your country in times of dire need, when you represent an elite society that doesn't take up the cause of loss of so much blood until they themselves are touched by menaces like terrorism, there is little you can do but bear the majority of the blame. In this case, all of it.

It is in your hands, Mr. Prime Minister, to enforce measures and mechanisms to keep corruption and bureaucracy in check, to keep erring subordinates in control and to know when to get rid of them, to give a hard-hitting response to threats intending to destabilize a growing nation. So the fault is all yours if you don't rise to the occasion. An occasion that so desperately calls for effective activity from a position like yours.

Medals and honours are showcase material that must be deservingly publicized from the vicinity of your own home, sir. Once that door closes, you step out armed with only your focus on the next move you make and not stockpiled felicitations. "Stand up and deliver" should be the only mantra.

Keep the integrity, the honesty, the soft-spoken nature, the silence and the spongy heart for Page 3 appreciation and Congress sycophants, sir. Even Gandhiji would have shed the "Mahatma" tag so deservedly conferred upon him, if he would have failed to act on the challenges of today.

However, he didn't fail. Unfortunately, you just did.








If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS

A failed state

As news channels scramble to invite our foremost expert on internal security and religious fundamentalism (read Shah Rukh Khan) to do an interview and offer relief and hope to our ravaged nation, Pakistan continues to dally on its promises of "reacting on evidence, at least". The Acorn points out that it is high time that our neighbours stop sheating mounting evidence against the role of non-state actors in the Mumbai carnage and actually undertake action.

These demands may be a fig leaf to cover their own impotence against their military establishment, but they only have the effect of reinforcing the impression that the language of diplomacy is merely a frivolous sideshow when it comes to engaging Pakistan.

[The Acorn]

In all respects, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to judge that Pakistan is a failed state. Since the immediate post-Independence times, Pakistan has been a thorn in the South Asian geo-political status quo. Their invasion of Kashmir in 1947 is well documented in history and confirms Pakistan's hand as initiators of the unfathomable conflict. Pakistan is like a child of a family that was born in the midst of much fanfare and pride for a cause (the so-called Two Nation theory), but failed to deal with changing times, failed to mature into a fine adult and hence resorts to perpetual cribbing and snivelling in a need to propagate it's demands.

The FATA is virtually uncontrollable, the Army and the ISI are principal lawmakers, the civilian government is a pawn that puppets about in the international arena seeking attention and sympathy, their President is a full-time sycophant who intends to show some heart ("India is not a threat to Pakistan") in an arena where emotions mean little and failure to learn from history holds the aces. The Taliban's open challenge to the world that they are close to sealing the deal in Pakistan poses even more grave challenges to the plight of the idea of the country.

To worsen it, Pakistani "experts" revere about their "victory" in the Kargil conflict, speak of conspiracy theories of Indian involvement in Mumbai 26/11 and hence try to keep themselves happy in their nappies. This certain gentleman is braced up for a full-scale war and warns India of annihilation in case we undertook surgical air strikes on terror camps across Pakistan. He even has the cheek to call the 1998 nuclear tests a shift of power in the subcontinent, believes that Pakistan "won" the 2001-02 standoff post-Parliament and hence probably finds the solace to live and breathe.

Grow up, kid.







If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS

We, the inconvenience

Oh, I tell you. It's all down to the bloody politicians.


What is the Government doing for us? Where are they? Look at our corrupt public officials. The system is so dirty. Yuck!


Politics is single-handedly responsible for the decline of the concept of India as a nation.


While we should rightfully hold no inborn sympathy for the lack of leaders in the country today, it is high time we look at ourselves in the mirror before engaging in cliched rhetoric again and again. The above mentioned statements are one-liners you can pick up from many ongoing conversations across India, from ignorant youth to lecturing elders, from uninformed commoners to high society elites. Anyone and everyone talks, talks and talks.

The amount of complains, regarding the system, that we dish out everyday is becoming like a hoard of filthy, piled up vomit that nobody wants to assess and clean but everybody wants to squabble about and engage in unending chit-chats. People are forgetting the essence of democracy and are engaging in blatant generalization of the system of governance. It's high time we re-assess ourselves.

It is very convenient for people in this country to sit in their comfortable sofas, dine in multi-cuisine restaurants, engage in social gatherings, watch the latest Bollywood potboilers, go to sleep in cozy beds and then wake up the next morning to throw the "Ohs" and "Aahs" at reports of political delinquencies and national inadequacies in newspapers, while sipping a cup of tea.

It is very convenient for people in this country to rally behind a very opportunistic mass media(that shamed us with their woeful conduct during the horror days of Mumbai) and claim that everything in our system is rotten and it's best to stay out of the mess. In the process, the majority of us do not see active involvement in society and the nation as our job or cleaning up the system as our duty. If high-end ignorance is all we can offer to the country from a position of no self-sacrifice, then expect a return punch of the kind that the politicians throw at us today.

People do not bother with results of state assembly polls, but are gaping earnestly at the previews of MTV Roadies' new season. Discussions and debates are held across the country about deserving winners of TV reality shows, but no cause is taken up about what ails the system. People, who ordinarily do not give a fig to the state of affairs in the country, will egotistically jump at a chance to malign the men holding crucial posts of governance simply because it is way too convenient.

We squeal and screech at figures of India's abysmal position in the Corruption Index, but willfully offer bribes at public offices to get our work done. Bureaucracy is a pain, but WE are a part of the inherent cause of that pain. We forward nationalistic mails during days of tragedy and gloat "India should do something" and "Jai Hind" because that is ALL WE CAN DO. That is all that comes in our frequency of convenience.

At the end of the day, WE are the problem. We are the inconvenience in the system. It is very true that today's politicians are irresponsible leaders and are very responsible for the mess we are in today, but they are a part of us. They are there because we allowed them to reach there. And from a position of power, abuse is but the next thing on the list of a vehement pursuit for selfish and partisan interests.

If blame-game rhetoric is all we can engage in and personal convenience is all we can offer to the so-called "dirty system", then stop disparaging at the state of Indian politics and engage actively in our democracy to make it more accountable and rewarding. For a start, VOTE.

People ask me what ails this democracy. I wish I could hit back with a "It's me and you, my friend". I wish I could tell everyone that only WE can make this work. I wish I could create a sympathy for the broken system that is crying for our help. It's a matter of choice. It's a matter of causing that little inconvenience to ourselves to make the system work. We can revolutionize the system. Because the system is only a by-product of how actively involved we are today.

Because what actually ails this system, and this country, is ourselves. If we won't, who will?







If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS

An Indian speaks

This is a must read.


Dear Mr.Terrorist,

My name is not Hades. Some of the more intelligent readers of The Times of Bullshit, no doubt, suspect that.

My name is Shoaib Daniyal. No, that won’t do. My name is Shoaib Mohammed Daniyal.

You say that you killed 195 people in Mumbai to avenge the maltreatment that people like me with names like Mohammed have faced in India.

Let me tell you something about my self. I did my schooling in Calcutta in one of the city’s finest schools—La Martiniere for Boys. I completed my graduation in Electrical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra and am now employed with a premier business research firm in Gurgaon.

Maltreated? How?

If there was wide spread discrimination against Muslims, as you claim, how did these institutions take me in? A cursory look at my name is all it takes, if you want to discriminate.

That’s not to say that India is perfect. To get a house in Gurgaon I had to lie about my religion. I claimed I was Christian, playing up the similarity between ‘Daniel’ and ‘Daniyal’. People would not let out their house to a person named Shoaib Mohammed Daniyal.

[The Times of Bullshit]


We need more such voices. More than ever.







If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS