Wordpress

OK folks. I am on Wordpress now. Please re-subscribe to the new feeds [Feed Link].

This page will auto re-direct to the new blog.

Thank you.

--
Trailblazer

Site Maintenance

As I have observed and as was also pointed out by Mithe, the current template on this blog has exceeded the bandwidth limit.

Since I'm not too keen on other Blogger templates, I guess I will use this breakdown to complete a long-pending move to Wordpress. And also get my own domain name.

Be back soon. New and improved.

The 25 Things Tag

1) I have lived more than half of my life outside India.

2) Deciding to pursue engineering was not the wisest move in my life. I wish I had the conviction in me to pursue a career in sports, political science or even become a pet detective (Ace Ventura style).

3) I detest fame of all kinds, but secretly dream of hot women screaming my name.

4) My social skills are not terrible, just plainly weird. Sometimes, I dont know why I've behaved in a certain way, spoken certain things in public and made certain acquaintances.

5) I like football more than cricket. In fact, I am fanatical to the point that the craze has become an addiction. I cant live without football (playing, watching on TV, brainstorming, gossiping). Period.

6) By posting the same comment five consecutive times on one of my blog posts (an example here), I do not understand your point better than I did after reading it just the once.

7) I am a vegetarian. I have had my spell with smoking. I drink very, very rarely.

8) Sometimes, I like playing the uber-cool fool when I am surrounded by people(women) I wish to leave an impression upon. Sometimes.

9) I dont enjoy being in the company of cynics and sycophants. Other types will do, but these two categories of people make me feel like I need blood donors.

10) Thank God, I've reached Number 10 on this list.

11) I think Bollywood plays a hand in keeping India united. On a personal level, Bollywood is not for me (Reasons here). I am your occasionally-found-at-multiplexes kind of guy.

12) I was NOT a bully in school. I did NOT rag anyone in college. As far as I can remember.

13) I do not enjoy dancing, of the type in a discotheque with coloured lights and 'rocking' music. I enjoy Garbaa and Dandiya Raas, the folks dances of my home state.

14) During my school days, a history teacher who educated me on the Indian freedom struggle, the World Wars and Mahatma Gandhi was one of my role models. I scored 55 in Social Sciences in 10th. I dont know why (Dont smirk! One of the toppers in my school scored 49 in Social Sciences and 90s in all other subjects). I still believe this was a CBSE-sponsored conspiracy.

15) I hate obsessive love. Simple love is fine. But some lovey-doveys are overtly obsessed with their opposites. I feel life loses pragmatism with this kind of 'love'.

16) The Fair-N-Handsome effect doesn't fancy me one bit.

17) I think religion has been misunderstood by people to an extent I had never imagined. And it's getting worse. And the only tonic is tolerance.

18) I think Priyanka Chopra is very beautiful. And hot. I think Mallika Sherawat is very hot. But not beautiful. In an ideal world, I'd want to marry Priyanka and have an extra-marital affair with Mallika. ;-)

19) When in my teens, MyHotBoard.com was one of my favourite internet haunts. It doesn't take a genius to interpret what the site was about, from the name of the site.

20) Sourav Ganguly is my all-time favourite cricketer. During the NatWest final in England in 2002, at 146/5 (when Sachin Tendulkar got out), I made an instant bet with my uncle that India will chase down 326. And we did.

21) I try not to lie. But there are certain situations in life where you just cant seem to 'go ahead' if you choose to not lie. I also try not to lie in those situations. But what eventually makes me lie is that greatest fear of 'being stuck' in compromising situations.

22) Yes, I realize that I've wickedly used this tag to promote some of my previous blog posts.

23) I am usually very calm. MS Dhoni, for me, is a soothing brain that one should attempt to emulate.

24) Two things in the world elevate me to instant bliss - 1) making people laugh 2) scoring a goal in a football match.

25) Thank God, this tag is over. I usually dont enjoy tags. Anybody in the whole wide world can take up this tag from here. Dont pile the pressure on me by expecting me to come up with a list. :-)

Stay safe.

[Tag request: Indian Home Maker]

(I have a gut feeling that there may be others who would've requested this. If you(blogger/reader/Ram Sene hooligan/Congress stooge/BJP hardman/ISI agent) requested one before reading this post, kindly get in touch. A courtesy link is then a necessity.)






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Shoddy Intimidation

A blogger Chyetanya Kunte has delivered an unconditional apology on his blog to NDTV and Barkha Dutt for criticizing their coverage of the Mumbai attacks and quoting Wikipedia on their role during the Kargil conflict.

However, just a glance at the post [Google Cache] should convince any right thinking individual that the blogger never intended to defame the said media house, but was merely giving an opinion. And how much does the opinion of a single individual even matter to such a revered corporate entity? In truth, not much. Blogs have a lesser reach, inarguably.

In fact, that is what makes this case even more outrageous. To silence a person who is plainly excercising his fundamental right and offering views of what he felt during the time is unconstitutional. What use is the Constitution if the flag bearers of one of the enlisted rights do not respect opinion - praise, criticism alike - driven at them?

Read others: Retributions, Vimoh's Open Letter to NDTV, Shripriya, Prem Panicker, DesiPundit







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Awards acceptance speech

[Mike check 1...2...3]

[Clears throat...]

[Smiling]

Thank you, dear bloggers. Thank you for showing faith in my dementia to consider me intellectual and lovely enough to be rewarded. I humbly accept whatever has been conferred upon me, with the deepest gratitude for one and all.

First of all, I'd like to thank Blogger.com for hosting me.

Secondly, I'd like to thank my clothes for bearing the real me, my shoes for walking me and food for feeding me.

Thirdly, I'd like to thank my family, friends, hot female admirers, Trailblazer-tattooed-on-their-back models, cool kids shouting their throats out over TCGH and me, exhaustive shoppers for official Trailblazer merchandise(including Trailblazer lipstick in 47 flavours honourably selected by BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Trailblazer condoms in...err...a few flavours selected specifically by Mallika Sherawat and Rakhi Sawant).

Fourthly, I'd like to thank my well-wishers, deep well-wishers, well-wishers trying to force me into a deep well and other well-wishers from across the border.

Fifth, I'd like to thank ex-President George Bush, Lalu Yadav, Mayawatiji/Behenji, Arundhati Roy, General Kayani, related state/non-state organizations and the gun-trotting folks from Muridke.

And finally I thank all those working effortlessly to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra or an Islamic Mulak. I hope your labour meets its right ends.

Thank you for your love.







(In response to Catwampusme, Smitha, Kiran and AmreekanDesi's felicitations.)







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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.







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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.







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Make A Difference

It is a moment of immense pride for us Indians that a NGO has been nominated for the International Youth Social Entrepreneur Award, a prestigious award handed out by the Ashoka Group.

Make A Difference, a youth volunteer network, is the only Indian entry in this competition where 15 finalists have been chosen. 521 nominations from 60 odd countries have been cast and MAD is the only Indian entry.

It operates in three cities - Kochi, Pune and Chennai - with 321 volunteers educating over 1200 underpriveleged kids in English and computer skills. Such noble work deserves acknowledgement of the highest order.



So let's VOTE and Make A Difference.

Pragati and Mutiny - Two noble ventures

Being a compulsive netizen, I make it a point to read these two fantastic websites which have enlightened my knowledge about the on-goings in India to a great extent. Pragati is written by an extraordinary group of people called the Indian National Interest. You can download it for free from the site. A must read.

The second one, Mutiny, has just gone into print and you can subscribe to this brilliant magazine for just Rs. 300 a year. Do not miss out on this one. Subscribe here.