Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

My photoplay 1

Astute readers of this blog, the few that there are, would have noticed that I have tried my hand at screenplays. Not having met with success as much as I would like, I have decided to take one step back and see how an attempt at a photoplay goes. Thanks to the email sent by Sujata Kovalam. However, the reconstruction is my effort alone.

This photo play is set to the hit song from Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, "Aye mere dil tu gaayejaa", and may be reflective of the current Indian team's performance in South Africa. Indeed, that is what the photoplay suggests. So therefore without further ado...

Ek Paal Ka Jeena

Phir To Hain Jaana

Tohfa Kya Leke Jaayie

Dil Yeh Bataana

Khali Haath Aaye The Hum

Khali Haath Jayenge

Bus Pyar Ke Do Meethen Bol Jhilmilayenge

To Hans Kyon Ki Duniya Ko Hain Hasana

Ae Mere Dil Tu Gaye Ja

Ae Aaye Aao Aaye Aa

Sorry for the long delay

Sorry to all the (few) people that read my blog, for a long delay in posting. I had exams for the past month, and hence haven't been able to post regularly. However, as a method of repentence, here is a little something, sent to me by both Sudha and Sudheendra (Sunny), no relation to each other, despite having a 'Sudh' followed by a vowel, hehehe!!! (Sorry for my bad attempt at a joke)

See below...........

ATTENTION

ALIENS ARE COMING TO ABDUCT ALL
THE GOOD LOOKING AND SEXY PEOPLE.

YOU WILL BE SAFE,
I'M JUST EMAILING TO SAY GOODBYE

Aaya India

Notwithstanding India's failure in the Champions Trophy (from what I read in the press), the video below is still good. Maybe Team India should have a look and see the hopes we have for them!!!

GO INDIA!!! OOH AAH INDIA AAYA INDIA!!!!!!!!!!

(I will have a decent blog entry soon, just don't know when though)

My screenplay 2

My screenplay for the Mangal Ho (Aatma) song, from MPTR

Tannn tannn....
Sabne suna re...
Show Wayville Pavilion
Danka bole dhum dhum,
Ramping shot of Ridley Centre front
Jago jago ab tum,
Ramping shot of Ridley Centre right side
Neend me ho kyu tum, oooo...
Cut to: Leaves on the ground of Wayville Pavilion
Jago re jago, jagoooo reeee....
Students start slowing trickling in
Jagi jagi hai dharti saar aur jaaga jaaga hai ambar
Jagi jagi hai nadiyaan saari aur jaga jaga hai sagar, jagoooo...
((Mangal Mangal)*3 hooo)*4
From feet up, show close up frontal shot of Prasanna, walking majestically, from the Wayville Pavilion entrance
Show left view, Prasanna, and surrounded by friends, walking in step
Dekho dekho samay kya dikhaay,
Show right view
Dekh kar bhi na biswaas aay,
Koi exam likhne ab jaa raha hai,
Focus on the backpack of Prasanna, and slowly focus on Prasanna
Kitne gaurav-se sar ko uthaay,
Frontal of Prasanna, writ in concentration
Dhanya hai bhaag har us mata ke,
Jo aisa beta paay,
Frontal of Prasanna smiling
Jo needar hai,
Woh amar hai,
Prasanna looks around at his friends, allays their nerves, fearless about the exam
Exam likhne (hai) to aise likhenge,
((Mangal Mangal)*3 hooo)*4
Prasanna goes towards a chair sits down, starts some last minute revision, but mind is not in it
Greets the other friends who are coming around
Aisi dhaj se chala hai ye baagi,
Cut to: Prasanna walking towards locker room
Jo bhi dekhe woh sis nibhaay,
Cut to: Prasanna picking out items needed in the exam room
Cut to: Prasanna standing at the front of the hall, waiting to go in
Apni hoton pe hai aaj bhi woh
Explaining a formula
Naara Formula ka hi sajaaye
Cut to: Prasanna turning to his friends
Apne aankhon me aaj bhi woh,
Show close up of Prasanna's eyes, filled with burning desire
Cut to: CGI of flame burning in the retina of eye
Apni HD ke sapne basaay,
(phaasi to lagti hai F2 ko,
Kaun HD ko phaasi lagaay)*2,
Cut to: Prasanna, still exchanging pleasantries, and last minute tips with friends
Jyot phir bhi nahi buujh sakegi,
Deep chahe de koi bujhaay,
Cut to: Door opens, and for a second everything is still
{HALLA BOL....}
Cut to: Prasanna lip-syching the above line, although in a whispering mode
((Mangal Mangal)*3 hooo)*2
Cut to: Aerial shot of
Prasanna goes in
Jage nagar saare,
Jaage hai ghar saare,
Jaga hai ab har gaon,
Friends go in
Jagi hai baagiya to,
Jage hai ped aur,
Jagi hai pedon-ki chaaw,
All go in

OSD 3 hours later
((Mangal Mangal)*3 hooo)
While background music plays, Prasanna comes out, relief and happiness writ on his face
Friends come out
((Mangal Mangal)*3 hooo)
High fives are thrown all around
((Mangal Mangal)*3 hooo)
Prasanna walks towards locker room
Cut to: Prasanna collecting his materials
((Mangal Mangal)*3 hooo)
Cut to: Prasanna walks away from the pavilion, towards the bus stop
Cut to: Looks behind at the pavilion one last time....for the next 6 months.

Narrator's voice

And so began Prasanna's quest for a degree.
Show various shots of Prasanna at university
While the University called it the mid year exams and end of year exams, to Prasanna, it was the path for a degree
And this path was finally cleared when in 2009, he finally graduated in Honors
Cut to: Prasanna receiving Graduation certificate
Music ends on crescendo

Bill Clinton, former POTUS

I try to keep this blog India-centric, but this is too good. There was a news report here in Adelaide, by Channel 7, a couple of days ago, how Clinton "lost his cool", in the face of interviewing by Fox News. This is surprising because the former POTUS is a calm, colleceted, and dare I say it, "cool" individual, in whatever he does. Naturally I decided to take note of it. My conclusions were two fold:

1. Channel 7 reconfirmed my opinions of it being utter trash in news reporting, just like its counterparts, barring SBS and ABC, which bring some semblance to news reporting....but this rant is for another day.

2. Bill Clinton, on the contrary of losing his cool, pummelled the interviewer and absolutely, beat the living daylights out of him (I won't use other cuss words, I like to keep this a U to U/A blog). If you don't believe me, take a look at the video yourself, below:



The transcript is here. Also check out Amit Varma's post on the episode for more links.

An inspiring speech

Thanks to Sudha for the email. Sorry about the insertion of the '>'. I find this speech highly inspiring, and very wonderful. This IMO is how welcoming/graduation speeches should be.

Welcome Address by Subroto Bagchi, Chief Operating Officer, MindTree Consulting to the Class of 2006 at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore on defining success. (July 2nd 2004)

" I was the last child of a small-time government servant, in a family of five brothers. My earliest memory of my father is as that of a District Employment Officer in Koraput, Orissa. It was and remains as back of beyond as you can imagine. There was no electricity; no primary school nearby and water did not flow out of a tap. As a result, I did not go to school until the age of eight; I was home-schooled. My father used to get transferred every year. The family belongings fit into the back of a jeep - so the family moved from place to place and, without any trouble, my Mother would set up an establishment and get us going. Raised by a widow who had come as a refugee from the then East Bengal, she was a matriculate when she married my Father. My parents set the foundation of my life and the value system which makes me what I am today and largely defines what success means to me today.

As District Employment Officer, my father was given a jeep by the government. There was no garage in the Office, so the jeep was parked in our house. My father refused to use it to commute to the office. He told us that the jeep is an expensive resource given by the government – he reiterated to us that it was not 'his jeep' but the government's jeep. Insisting that he would use it only to tour the interiors, he would walk to his office on normal days. He also made sure that we never sat in the government jeep - we could sit in it only when it was stationary. That was our early childhood lesson in governance - a lesson that corporate managers learn the hard way, some never do.

The driver of the jeep was treated with respect due to any other member of my Father's office. As small children, we were taught not to call him by his name. We had to use the suffix 'dada' whenever we were to refer to him in public or private. When I grew up to own a car and a driver by the name of Raju was appointed - I repeated the lesson to my two small daughters. They have, as a result, grown up to call Raju, 'Raju Uncle' - very different from many of their friends who refer to their family drivers as 'my driver'. When I hear that term from a school- or college-going person, I cringe. To me, the lesson was significant – you treat small people with more respect than how you treat big people. It is more important to respect your subordinates than your superiors.

Our day used to start with the family huddling around my Mother's chulha - an earthen fire place she would build at each place of posting where she would cook for the family. There was no gas, nor electrical stoves. The morning routine started with tea. As the brew was served, Father would ask us to read aloud the editorial page of The Statesman's 'muffosil' edition - delivered one day late. We did not understand much of what we were reading. But the ritual was meant for us to know that the world was larger than Koraput district and the English I speak today, despite having studied in an Oriya medium school, has to do with that routine. After reading the newspaper aloud, we were told to fold it neatly. Father taught us a simple lesson. He used to say, "You should leave your newspaper and your toilet, the way you expect to find it". That lesson was about showing consideration to others. Business begins and ends with that simple precept.
Being small children, we were always enamored with advertisements in the newspaper for transistor radios - we did not have one. We saw other people having radios in their homes and each time there was an advertisement of Philips, Murphy or Bush radios, we would ask Father when we could get one. Each time, my Father would reply that we did not need one because he already had five radios - alluding to his five sons. We also did not have a house of our own and would occasionally ask Father as to when, like others, we would live in our own house. He would give a similar reply, "We do not need a house of our own. I already own five houses". His replies did not gladden our hearts in that instant. Nonetheless, we learnt that it is important not to measure personal success and sense of well being through material possessions.

Government houses seldom came with fences. Mother and I collected twigs and built a small fence. After lunch, my Mother would never sleep. She would take her kitchen utensils and with those she and I would dig the rocky, white ant infested surrounding. We planted flowering bushes. The white ants destroyed them. My mother brought ash from her chulha and mixed it in the earth and we planted the seedlings all over again. This time, they bloomed. At that time, my father's transfer order came. A few neighbors told my mother why she was taking so much pain to beautify a government house, why she was planting seeds that would only benefit the next occupant. My mother replied that it did not matter to her that she would not see the flowers in full bloom. She said, "I have to create a bloom in a desert and whenever I am given a new place, I must leave it more beautiful than what I had inherited". That was my first lesson in success. It is not about what you create for yourself, it is what you leave behind that defines success.

My mother began developing a cataract in her eyes when I was very small. At that time, the eldest among my brothers got a teaching job at the University in Bhubaneswar and had to prepare for the civil services examination. So, it was decided that my Mother would move to cook for him and, as her appendage, I had to move too. For the first time in my life, I saw electricity in homes and water coming out of a tap. It was around 1965 and the country was going to war with Pakistan. My mother was having problems reading and in any case, being Bengali, she did not know the Oriya script. So, in addition to my daily chores, my job was to read her the local newspaper - end to end. That created in me a sense of connectedness with a larger world. I began taking interest in many different things. While reading out news about the war, I felt that I was fighting the war myself. She and I discussed the daily news and built a bond with the larger universe. In it, we became part of a larger reality. Till date, I measure my success in terms of that sense of larger connectedness.

Meanwhile, the war raged and India was fighting on both fronts. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minster, coined the term "Jai Jawan, Jai Kishan" and galvanized the nation in to patriotic fervor. Other than reading out the newspaper to my mother, I had no clue about how I could be part of the action. So, after reading her the newspaper, every day I would land up near the University's water tank, which served the community. I would spend hours under it, imagining that there could be spies who would come to poison the water and I had to watch for them. I would daydream about catching one and how the next day, I would be featured in the newspaper. Unfortunately for me, the spies at war ignored the sleepy town of Bhubaneswar and I never got a chance to catch one in action. Yet, that act unlocked my imagination. Imagination is everything. If we can imagine a future, we can create it, if we can create that future, others will live in it. That is the essence of success.

Over the next few years, my mother's eyesight dimmed but in me she created a larger vision, a vision with which I continue to see the world and, I sense, through my eyes, she was seeing too. As the next few years unfolded, her vision deteriorated and she was operated for cataract. I remember, when she returned after her operation and she saw my face clearly for the first time, she was astonished. She said, "Oh my God, I did not know you were so fair". I remain mighty pleased with that adulation even till date. Within weeks of getting her sight back, she developed a corneal ulcer and, overnight, became blind in both eyes. That was 1969. She died in 2002. In all those 32 years of living with blindness, she never complained about her fate even once. Curious to know what she saw with blind eyes, I asked her once if she sees darkness. She replied, "No, I do not see darkness. I only see light even with my eyes closed". Until she was eighty years of age, she did her morning yoga everyday, swept her own room and washed her own clothes. To me, success is about the sense of independence; it is about not seeing the world but seeing the light.

Over the many intervening years, I grew up, studied, joined the industry and began to carve my life's own journey. I began my life as a clerk in a government office, went on to become a Management Trainee with the DCM group and eventually found my life's calling with the IT industry when fourth generation computers came to India in 1981. Life took me places - I worked with outstanding people, challenging assignments and traveled all over the world. In 1992, while I was posted in the US, I learnt that my father, living a retired life with my eldest brother, had suffered a third degree burn injury and was admitted in the Safderjung Hospital in Delhi. I flew back to attend to him - he remained for a few days in critical stage, bandaged from neck to toe. The Safderjung Hospital is a cockroach infested, dirty, inhuman place. The overworked, under-resourced sisters in the burn ward are both victims and perpetrators of dehumanized life at its worst. One morning, while attending to my Father, I realized that the blood bottle was empty and fearing that air would go into his vein, I asked the attending nurse to change it. She bluntly told me to do it myself. In that horrible theater of death, I was in pain and frustration and anger. Finally when she relented and came, my Father opened his eyes and murmured to her, "Why have you not gone home yet?" Here was a man on his deathbed but more concerned about the overworked nurse than his own state. I was stunned at his stoic self. There I learnt that there is no limit to how concerned you can be for another human being and what is the limit of inclusion you can create. My father died the next day.

He was a man whose success was defined by his principles, his frugality, his universalism and his sense of inclusion. Above all, he taught me that success is your ability to rise above your discomfort, whatever may be your current state. You can, if you want, raise your consciousness above your immediate surroundings. Success is not about building material comforts - the transistor that he never could buy or the house that he never owned. His success was about the legacy he left, the memetic continuity of his ideals that grew beyond the smallness of a ill-paid, unrecognized government servant's world.

My father was a fervent believer in the British Raj. He sincerely doubted the capability of the post-independence Indian political parties to govern the country. To him, the lowering of the Union Jack was a sad event. My Mother was the exact opposite. When Subhash Bose quit the Indian National Congress and came to Dacca, my mother, then a schoolgirl, garlanded him. She learnt to spin khadi and joined an underground movement that trained her in using daggers and swords. Consequently, our household saw diversity in the political outlook of the two. On major issues concerning the world, the Old Man and the Old Lady had differing opinions. In them, we learnt the power of disagreements, of dialogue and the essence of living with diversity in thinking. Success is not about the ability to create a definitive dogmatic end state; it is about the unfolding of thought processes, of dialogue and continuum.

Two years back, at the age of eighty-two, Mother had a paralytic stroke and was lying in a government hospital in Bhubaneswar. I flew down from the US where I was serving my second stint, to see her. I spent two weeks with her in the hospital as she remained in a paralytic state. She was neither getting better nor moving on. Eventually I had to return to work. While leaving her behind, I kissed her face. In that paralytic state and a garbled voice, she said, "Why are you kissing me, go kiss the world." Her river was nearing its journey, at the confluence of life and death, this woman who came to India as a refugee, raised by a widowed Mother, no more educated than high school, married to an anonymous government servant whose last salary was Rupees Three Hundred, robbed of her eyesight by fate and crowned by adversity - was telling me to go and kiss the world!

Success to me is about Vision. It is the ability to rise above the immediacy of pain. It is about imagination. It is about sensitivity to small people. It is about building inclusion. It is about connectedness to a larger world existence. It is about personal tenacity. It is about giving back more to life than you take out of it. It is about creating extra-ordinary success with ordinary lives.

Thank you very much; I wish you good luck and Godspeed. Go, kiss the world."

A picture of a cow

My friend Ashok has pestered me for long enough to post a picture of a Scottish Highlander Cow (SHC) on my blog. Now although my blog is more concentrated on Indian Politics (or I'd like to think of it that way), Ashok's reasons in wanting me to post this up are as follows

Cows and Indian Politicians are very similar, they have just the same amount of grey matter, but Indian politicians aren't as cute as Scottish Highlander Cows.

Anyway dude, here's the link for the picture of the SHC. If you want more Cow posts, please visit India Uncut. Amit Varma, has many articles on cows, so if cows are your thing, go there and search around

My screenplay

Scene: Picturization for Sarfaroshi Ki Tammanna Song from Legend of Bhagat Singh, set in UniSA, CWE campus 2006
Hero: Prasanna!!!

(Intro music:15 seconds)
Focus on 99B as it turns onto Nth Tce, coming towards west terrace
At each big "beat" cut to shots, as bus approaches CWE
Final step, Prasanna (in glasses) comes out of the bus, and looks at the logo, smiles, as voice starts

Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna Ab Hamare Dil Mein Hai
Dehkna Hai Zor Kitna Baajuen Qaatil Mein Hai
Sarfaroshi

Hero walks into Yungondi building, camera pans onto writing on the ground, and then uplooking at hero as he has a smile. Still follows hero as he walks along

Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna Ab Hamare Dil Mein Hai
Dehkna Hai Zor Kitna Baajuen Qaatil Mein Hai

Hero walks out of Y and heads towards BH building, and starts walking on the steps towards BH

Dekh Sakta Hai To Bhi Dekh Le Aye Aasmaan
Hausla Yeh Dekh Ke Qaatil Badi Mushkil Mein

Focuses on the eyes of hero (still obscured by Sunglasses), as he walks towards comp pool

Sarfaroshi Sarfaroshi Sarfaroshi
Sarfaroshi Sarfaroshi Sarfaroshi
Sarfaroshi Sarfaroshi Sarfaroshi

3 diff shots of hero walking up stairs and towards HH building for each line and goes upto level 5

Apne Hi Lahoo Se Likhenge Hum Apni Daastaan
Zaalimon Se Cheen Lenge Yeh Zameen Yeh Aasmaan

Passes lecturer and makes a menacing face. Lecturer breaks into cold sweat and wipes face with his hanky

Apne Hi Lahoo Se Likhenge Hum Apni Daastaan
Zaalimon Se Cheen Lenge Yeh Zameen Yeh Aasmaan
Sar Phire Jawan Hum To Maut Se Bhi Na Darre

Hero walks towards his friends group, and exchanges pleasantaries

Aansh Aye Desh Pe Yeh Kyon Gawara Hum Kare

All turn around and look towards the camera, with a mission in mind, writ on their eyes

Mulk Pe Qurbaan Ho Yeh Aarzoo Dil Dil Mein Hai

Group walks towards Lecture theatre
Shots of each member of group as they walk into the lecture theatre

Sarfaroshi
Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna Ab Hamare Dil Mein Hai
Dehkna Hai Zor Kitna Baajuen Qaatil Mein Hai

Hero sits down and finally removes his sunglasses, showing his eyes, and courage can be seen from the stare

Endothermic or Exothermic??

An email thanks to Sudha:

The following is an actual question given on the University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can therefore project that all souls will go to Hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until "all Hell breaks loose".

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until "Hell freezes over".So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you", and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.

An invocation to the Gods

asato mA sad.h gamaya
tamaso mA jyotirgamaya
mR^ityormA.amR^itaM gamayeti

Lead me from falsity to truth
Lead me from darkness to light
Lead me from death to immortality

--Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

Please do contact me if the translation is wrong!!!!

Vande Mataram

Recently there have been many articles which debate the "order" by HRD Minister Mr. Arjun Singh, to make the Vande Mataram compulsory in Government Schools. This order, was challenged by the Imam of Jama Masjid, in Delhi, sparking off a furore between political parties. Arjun Singh was then "forced" to say that singing Vande Mataram was not compulsory. The BJP didn't like it, and the case went from pathetic, to a bloody farce (as Amit reports here).

At first, I was also siding with the BJP. Vande Mataram is the National Song of India. If you don't wanna sing it, get the hell out of the country. Well atleast that is what I thought, before sense dawned upon me. Let us analyse this. AFAIK, India is a "free" country. The constitution, guarantees freedom of thought and expression to one and all, regardless of their religion, race, creed etc. My interpretation is based on Article 19 of the Constitution of India (see here). Now, in that case, each citizen is fully within their rights to sing or not to sing a song. Indeed it is anti-national on the part of the BJP to force Vande Mataram to be sung. If someone wishes to sing it, it should come straight from the heart, not from a piece of paper giving a fatwa or a GO.

Although I do not agree that the terms "soceity" and "nation" are meaningless as Amit implies, he does raise a valid, and winning arguement when he says that these two terms are used to justify the worst assaults on personal freedom.

TRS.....a laughing stock of politicians?

Well, for the time being Telangana is off the map in the CMP (Common Minimum Program) of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance). Over the past few days, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has decided to pull out of the UPA. This culminates in a 2 year 5 month journey filled with pot holes as The Hindu describes in this article.

Personally, I do not believe in a separate state. My reasons for this is the fact if Telangana were to be a separate state, it could trigger more vocal calls (than already is now) for a separate state of Vidarbha in Maharashtra. This would then lead to a call for some other separate state, and quite soon, we could have an India which would have undone Sardar Patel's legacy of a united India. That being said, I have recently been talking to a few people who strongly say that a separate Telangana is good for AP as well.

The TRS, IMO seems to have played the politics suitable to a spoilt brat. Far too long they have gotten away with ridiculous and often insulting statements, such as a quote from KCR (K Chandrashekhar Rao) "I will drag Sonia to the streets". Regardless of what your opinions on Smt Gandhi may be, it is highly offensive for anyone to refer to her like that. Furthermore, the TRS was also building castles in the air, with their statements on Telangana being just a mere few months away. The Congress, also, seemed to have realised that the TRS would only be a liability for them, and had distanced itself from the TRS over the few months.

Either way, TRS has done nothing for the T region, and as far as I can see, it just is a laughing stock of Indian Politics, making a mockery of a quite a serious issue. But then again, this is not new right???

Ustad Bismillah Khan passes away

Hi all,

Ustad Bismillah Khan has passed away. India has lost another of her Bharat Ratnas...UBK Amar RAHE!!!


Here is the article :-(

Regards,

Independence Day photos

Hi all,

I have posted up photos from the Independence Day function on 15th August, at the University of South Australia, on the link here. If the link doesn't work, please go to:

http://community.webshots.com/album/553219033lAuuNr

The photos up are just a selection of the photos taken. I will be posting up the whole bunch on the rapidshare server, and paste the link onto here.

Cheers!!!

Gitanjali

Rabindranath Tagore's famous poem, instilling a sense of action into us all

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

btw: I have just downloaded the ATR (Action Taken Report) into the Justice Pathak enquiry. I'll try posting on that, once (and if) I understand it!!!

cheers!!!

59 years ago on this day

59 years ago to this day, Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru's voice echoed throughout a nation, as he spoke of redeeming a substantial tryst with destiny. On the 15th of August 1947, some 90 years after India's First Freedom Fighter, Mangal Pandey was hanged, India, gained freedom and independence from British Colonialism. This day not only marked the culmination of the efforts of great Indian leaders like Mangal Pandey, Rani of Jhansi, Sardar Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Mahatma Gandhi, but also the dawn of a new weapon in the fight against injustice, which proved to be more powerful than any other weapon previously used. The notion of non-violence, the idea that the enemy will lose its bearings, if mass civil disobediance was carried out without resulting in any violence, was untried and met with a lot of skecpticism. We were fortunate to have with us in those times, iconic leaders, who kept this spirit alive, and ultimately on the 15th of August, 1947, our dream, nay our vision, came true. However, in a bitter-sweet day, our leaders, had no other choice, but to accept the tragedy of Partition, the horrors of which we still continue to witness today.

My friends, today, we begin the 60th year of Independence, and India, is coming to take its rightful place in the world, as a nation having the world's largest democrarcy, as a nation home to a sixth of the world's population, we are seen as a major powerbroker, in our region of South Asia. We are also global leaders, and emerging leaders in the fields of IT, Biotechnology, Business Process Outsourcing, among others.

Today, we are in a unique passage of time. Our generation is probably more endowed in all fields than our previous generations. We know have the choices to make, rather than to blindly accept decisions thrust on us. Therefore, while we rejoice at these opportunities, we have, we also have a tremedous resposibility resting on each of our shoulders. We may not believe it, but the fact remains that the road for India, will be mapped by us. That is to say, we will decide the future our country takes. This burden, or rather, opportunity, is not to be taken lightly. If we shirk, or in any other way, under achieve, we will have to face questions from our future generations, and history will relegate our time as being one where we, although having the best of resources, talent and potential, were not performing to our full capability. To illustrate this, let us consider the following: 2 years before the Independence of India, Japan was obliterated by the USA in WWII. Today, its name is synonymous with the growth of cutting edge technologies. Japan may have had a 2 year headstart, but is this the real reason for this rocket powered growth? I am no economist, and will not go into the different economic paths that both countries may have taken.

What I have seen, is that we as Indians, including myself, have been indifferent to the way the country is run. For many of us, India is having problems because of a group of people we call as "they" or "them". However, none of us, are interested in working at the grassroots level to solve many problems which have their roots in the socio-economic structure of the Republic. There is an arguement, and a right one at too, that the Government of the day must be able to tackle this. However, I do not believe that we should leave everything in the hands of the Government. While the Government should look after both the well of and the not so well off, I also do believe that we as responsible, educated, and (mostly) urban citizens, there is a duty for us to help in this regard. As the first Prime Minister of India had said in the first Independence Day address, "Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?"

Thankfully, in the past few years, I have seen that, there is a definite change with respect to how the youth of India, want the country to be run. We now have youngsters as MLAs and MPs, who inject fresh blood into democracy. This must contine on. This will continue on. Let us now make a pledge to proactively, participate in the governance of our nation. Jai Hind!! Jai Hind!! Jai Hind!!

Here is the President's Address to the Nation on the eve of Independence day
Here is the Prime Minister's address to the nation on the ramparts of the Red Fort, August 15 2006

Below is a photograph of the Tricolour in the celebrations occuring at Mawson Lakes campus.

Aye Mere Pyaare Watan

Many of you have heard the song "Aye Mere Pyaare Watan". Here is part of the lyrics, that makes me really emotional. IMO this would make many NRI's emotional too :-) !!

Unfortunately, due to my limited knowledge of hindi (as well as everything), I have given a translation which makes sense to me, though as I suspect, it may not make sense to anyone else. Therefore, those who wish to laugh at my inability to translate hindi may do so, with ease, and if you also can, please send your translation!!!

chhodakar teree jameen ko door aa pahuche hain hum
We have left your land and come very far

phir bhee hain yahee hain tamannaa tere jarro kee kasam
But yet we still have this wish, and I take an oath on you

hum jahaan paidaa huye, us jagah hee nikale ye dam
The place we have grown up, is the place where I want to take my final breath

tujhe pe dil qurbaan
I have sacrificed my heart to you

aye mere pyaare watan, aye mere bichhede chaman, tujhe pe dil qurbaan
Oh my beloved country, oh my lost pearl, I sacrifice my heart to you

Taken from here

RT(N)I- Right To (No) Information??

As you may all know, the GoI has proposed an amendment into the RTI Act. This amendement, proposes to do the following, link:

Government is firm in excluding four areas; defence, personnel, security and
intelligence, as regards file noting while amending the Right to Information
Act, 2005.

There has been considerable coverage from the press in India, namely the ToI. Their articles are linked here, here and here.

Atleast one of these four areas of the GoI has been embroiled in one scandal or another in the recent years (Kargil Coffin Scam/Tehelka comes to mind). Therefore, is it right to exempt these firstly from the RTI and secondly from the "file notifications"?? I think not. More details of the file noting is given here

Contrary to popular perception, file notings are not mere scribbles by officers
on the margins of any document. They are written on a separate green sheet on
the left side of files, giving an officer's considered comments on the issue.

While the right side of a file contains the proposal, the left side has an
officer's views on it. After putting his views, the officer passes the file to
his superior who, in turn, puts his views expressing approval or disapproval on
this page.

Furthermore, the link also gives an example of the RTI "file notings" being used

When 150 jhuggis were demolished in Mayur Vihar in September 2005, DDA said no
land was available to resettle them. However, file notings revealed that 700
plots of land had actually been developed by DDA in Kondli for resettling them.
It's just that some officer, or set of officers, was holding back these plots,
perhaps for more lucrative purposes

While it may be understandable, albeit dissappointing, that defense agencies would be outside the purview of the file notification, one wonders why the ministry of personnel, should be exempt. There may be a sinister reason in this, if this link is to be believed.

The editorial article here carries one reason why people should be worried on this change.

Columnist on Rediff

Here is a link to a columnist for rediff.com, Mr. B R Raman.

http://www.rediff.com/news/raman.html

From his articles, I believe that he was a former IB/RAW officer, some of the organisations, responsible for India's intelligence gathering mechanisms. He offers some very good insights into the working of India's (oft criticised) intelligence services, which normally, are very difficult to find (and in one reason maybe the reason why the media has a field day when "intel failures" occur). Some of his articles are quite good, if they sort of get a bit anti-American at times. I am quite impressed at some of his observations myself.

The train chugs along

After 3 weeks of holidays, I will once again, stare down the barrel for the next 13 weeks, as I attempt to study 4 subjects. A lot of things have happened over the past 21 days, with the major being the cowardly attack on Mumbai's citizens. A lot has been said and done, and hence I shall not say anymore. This piece, is just to wish everyone (or rather the few) who read my blog all the very best of luck for the 2nd semester 2006.

BEST OF LUCK!!!!

Pearls of Wisdom from Bill Gates

Bill Gates’ recent speech (circa 2003) at Mount Whitney High School in Visalia, California, is worthwhile reading for anyone. He concluded by outlining the following 11 Rules:

Rule 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it.

Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. However, the world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you start feeling good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of high school, and you won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers at McDonalds should not be beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping ... they called it OPPORTUNITY.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your own bedroom.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with recognising that there are winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have even abolished failing grades, and they’ll give you as much time as you want to get the right answer on an exam. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. You are supposed to do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop, and go out and find a job.

Rule 11: Be nice to NERDS. Chances are you will end up working for one.

Reflections of the past, and hopes for the future

In 48 hours time, I shall have left the comfort of adolesence and teenage years, to embark onto bigger things, as I shall be 20. As many of you know, this is no simple feat, that can be glossed over. Hence I have decided to reminisce the last 7 years and find out how much teenage life has shaped my thinking.

Going back six years, I can say that my teenage years have resulted in me becoming a more matured member of the human race, and that I am glad for all the situations, and emotions I encountered in the years 1999-2005/6. As I entered my teenage years, I was privileged to have my grandparents on their first trip to Australia. I still remember the gifts that received then. It was a spiritual book that traced the life of a saint through the himalayas. I did read it, and felt uplifted as a saint described his feelings on viewing mammoth mountains, and the source of the Ganges.

1999:My recollections of the year 1999 are both good and bad. The early part of the year was not without its hiccups in studies. I had not got the very best of reviews, and I knew that I had to work harder. As my year 7 teacher said in 1998 "I had to get out of my comfort zone". I realise the essence of his words, even today. I felt that at any given time, I was not willfully using my full resources. I *had* to be pushed into doing things, and only then would I achieve a degree of success. This habit of mine has not changed, and while at times it is a good had bit to have, I must try to get rid of it, as I attain a higher level of maturity. I also had my first taste of leadership that year, although the stint was less than successfull. I was ruled on two occasions where I had used my leadership. One was directly after the toss, where I wanted to bat, but then bowled due to the insistence of the coach, and the other was when I had asked for a 1st slip to be put in place, only to be overruled again. It turned out that being overruled did not matter, as we lost the game to keep our losing streak alive. A happy moment in that year was when I was adjudged as having the best video in the Oliphant Science Awards, and was awarded 1st prize in the Year 8-12 Video Section. Again in this case, it was more of a case of being *pushed* into doing things rather than taking initiative.

2000: The year 2K at first began rather awfully. I was in danger of losing my scholarship and had to correct that immediately. At this stage, I had already worked out my career options and plans, thanks to the friends I had made. While others of my age group were deciding on basic matters, I was proud, and rightly so, that I had made a decision to study certain degrees and hence had to work towards my goal. I knew from Year 7 that my interests in all things computing were not going to subside, and that a career in the IT industry was a real possibility. Year 8 enhanced this fact and Year 9 cemented it. To this end, I also believe that my class teacher had certainly helped, as he was from a science background, and explained the concepts of basic science and physics very lucidly. The year 2000 also bought with it my enthusiasm for debating, where, I had turned my habit of talking too much, into a strength of arguing a certain point. It was that debating which has held me in good stead, not only in arguements but also in other areas of my study. By debating, you analyse, and in an analysis, you are looking towards a macro and a micro view at the same time. Fruthermore the year was also good for me, in the sense that the P.hD my mother had been working for was finally submitted. However, there was a huge sense of loss, that my great-grandmother had passed away. However, I had thoroughly enjoyed the year, and was looking forward to more.

2001: The summer of 2000 was special in the sense that it was the first time, when we, as a whole family, had travelled to India, to celebrate various functions at home. During that time I was exposed to some new ancient Indian works, which I can happily say that I am in the process of reciting. It was a great trip, and although there are many incidents, I wish to retain the privacy of it. The year 2001, began on rather an ominous note of the tragedies ahead when an earthquake rocked the town of Bhuj in India. This was a terrible incident, more so because it occured on the same day as Indians celebrate the birth of the Republic (Janurary 26 1950). I was into my final three years of my schooling, and after a gap of three years, I knew that I had to write examinations once again. What I found amusing was the amount of "counselling" given to students who were writing their first exams. As a student who had endured the "stresses" of examinations, these were not new to me, and hence I had no trouble doing them well. September 11 2001, will be remembered world wide. I still nurture nothing but disdian for the Al-Qaeda group and its offshoots, particularly, being Indian, my country has faced such attacks, and still continues to do so. In the same breath, I salute all those who gave their lives in those terrorist attacks, and bore witness to mankind's biggest gift. The ability to suffer, so that others need not!

The summer of 2001, marked a very stressful and tough time for myself and my family. I had just finished my last year of Pulteney Grammar School, and I knew then that I was never going to return to its premises in any responsible capacity ever again. It was a strange, and nostalgic time for me, when I bid goodbye for the final time to many of my friends, where it would be unlikely to see them again. Although it is my good fortune I meet some of them regularly, the same cannot be said of my other friends.

On the personal front, I had received a terrible news that my grandfather, who I still say is the most energetic out of all of us, had to undergo a bypass surgery. Although there had been radical improvements in medicine over the years, all major surgeries carry an amount of risk. It was a very tough time for us and for a certain period in 2001-2002, there was a time when I wanted to be a doctor, after watching what my grandfather underwent. However, ther was even more bad news, as my house was burgled. It was both a dissappointment and a godsend at this juncture of time. I realised once again the futility of worldly possesions, and the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, where the Lord, explains that time is perpetual and that nothing can be taken for granted.

2002: Leaving the trials and tribulations of 2001 behind, I embarked on the final two years of my schooling at a new school, Eynesbury College. It was meant to be the time when things started to heat up. However, I had not noticed it, and hence did not work hard enough towards it. This was also the time when I had first got a mobile phone. After months of pretending I would never need one, I have found that mobile phones, like cigarettes are an addiction. They are very hard to leave, once one uses them. I compare mobiles to diabetes. When managed, they are easy to live with. The year also introduced me to the future institution where I would start my degree. As part of my work experience, I had decided to work for a week at the University of South Australia. At that time, during the dot-com boom, UniSA, was and still is, at Mawson Lakes, an area touted as an IT destination in South Australia. After once again focussing my ambitions on IT, after a brief flirt with medicine, I had the pleasure of visiting a university, which at that time was technologically advanced (in some areas it still is). However, it was during this year that my subject selections for future study came into play. After much consideration, I had decided to drop chemistry, and take up IT and English as a Second Language (due to a loophole in the system, which has now been closed). Although, it is still debatable whether they were the correct choices, I still stick to them even today.

2003: This was the do-or-die year for me. On January 1 2003, I woke up thinking that this was going to be the year, which would ultimately decide my fate. During the past 3 years I had made up my mind that I was going to be a Bachelor of Engineering, specializing in Computer Systems Engineering. However, what was not certain was the University I wished to join. It was also evident that just joining a university was not enough. I had to secure higher marks, so that my life post-enrolment would be smooth. Moreover, I also had to follow the precedent of my Indian peers, who had achieved high results. There was a lot going for me, and somehow, I did feel the pressure in the final stages of the year. However, there was a lot of happy moments throughout the year. My grandparents had come for the second time to Australia, to provide me with support during my final years of matriculation, and also to oversee the house warming of our newly constructed house, 9 years after settling in Australia. My grandparents provided me with much needed support. I can say that the reason why I did not experience any of the stress related to year 12, and its implications was due to the fact that I had two extra pillars of strength, namely my grandfather and my grandmother, who had helped me. There was a time when I didn't care what my marks was, because I was being treated to three excellent square meals a day, courtesy of my grandmother's culinary skills. In the end, Year 12, was all that I knew it would be. I do realise that if I worked harder, I would have achieved a score nearing the 99.95 TER. However, did I really need to achieve it? In the middle of Year 12, I knew so much about my post-matriculation plans, that I was in the danger of looking too ahead into the future. However, I never was trapped due to the above mentioned reasons. Although my score of 94 was not the best, I have no regrets, except that I could have or should have rather, worked harder.

From the years 2003 onwards, my life has changed tremendously. As I stepped into the University of South Australia at the beginning of 2004, I did not realise the difference between school and university would be that great. However, that being said, I found it quite easy to adjust to University teaching methods, thanks to the two years I had spent at Eynesbury College. From 2003 onwards, I have slowly realised that whatever I do from now on, directly affects my future. This has in a sense brought some responsibility to my shoulders, and in self-introspection, I feel that I am ready for such responsibility. 2004, was also the year in which I had experienced my first interview for my application for the UniSA/BAE systems scholarship, which I have been awarded. I am thankful for both the University of South Australia, and BAE systems for awarding me the prize and pray that I shall not lose the trust they have placed in me by awarding me the scholarship. The years 2003-2006 have been quite the same, with no major incidents that I can say have changed me. My visits to India have only reinforced into my head that my future belongs in my motherland, and eventually, I shall settle there.

The past 7 years have certainly brought about in me more changes. As with any teenager, I have made monumental errors in judgement, yet I have learnt from them, and I am thankful for learning from them. My teenage years, have given me maturity, and a sense of accomplishment at helping out friends, family. Indeed, I feel happy when I volunteer, or when I am in the company of friends and family. This is one thing that I have learnt throughout my life, and has only been cemented in my teenage years. I shall continue this as I enter the 2nd decade of my life. My friends and family form my foundation, and I always try not to hurt them in any endeavour I pursue. I take this platform to apoligise to all my friends and family to sincerely apologise if my behaviour was unbecoming at any time. Over the past weeks, I have been listening to the Siksha Valli section of the Taittiriya Upanishad of which the meaning is found in another post in my blog, namely here. The last verses of this section is an instruction of a student as he leaves the vedic gurukul to begin his life. Although I am not embarking on such a great step, and hopefully will not for another 2-4 years, I nevertheless find it quite poignant to read the verses. From my understanding (or rather my imagination), the student would have been around my age at such a time, and, hence in a strange way, the instruction also applies to me. I can only hope and pray to the Lord Almighty that I follow the "instructions" as much as I possibly can.

Lastly, I thank everyone who have befriended, and put trust and faith in me, and hope that it continues for eternity!!

JAI HIND!!!!

A Convocation address in Ancient India

Chapter XI—Exhortation to the Departing Student
1

Having taught the Vedas, the teacher thus instructs the pupil:
Speak the truth. Practise dharma. Do not neglect the study of the Vedas. Having brought to the teacher the gift desired by him, enter the householder's life and see that the line of progeny is not cut off. Do not swerve from the truth. Do not swerve from dharma. Do not neglect personal welfare. Do not neglect prosperity. Do not neglect the study and teaching of the Vedas.

2

Do not neglect your duties to the gods and the Manes. Treat your mother as God. Treat your father as God. Treat your teacher as God. Treat your guest as God. Whatever deeds are faultless, these are to be performed—not others. Whatever good works have been performed by us, those should be performed by you—not others.

3

Those brahmins who are superior to us—you should comfort them by giving them seats.
Whatever is to be given should be given with faith, not without faith—according to one’s plenty, with modesty, with fear, with sympathy.

4

Now, if there arises in your mind any doubt concerning any act, or any doubt concerning conduct, you should conduct yourself in such matters as brahmins would conduct themselves—brahmins who are competent to judge, who of their own accord are devoted to good deed and are not urged to their performance by others, and who are not too severe, but are lovers of dharma.
Now, with regards to persons spoken against, you should conduct yourself in such a way as brahmins would conduct themselves—brahmins who are competent to judge, who of their own accord are devoted to good deeds and are not urged to their performance by others, and who are not too severe, but are lovers of dharma.
This is the rule. This is the teaching. This is the secret wisdom of the Vedas. This is the command of God.
This you should observe. This alone should be observed.



Please see the link here for the above. Note that I have only given part of the Siksha Valli of the Taittirya Upanishad. The above address has the Upanishad in its entirety.

The end of the first quarter

Well the first quarter of this year has finished. By that I mean to say, my first term of 6 weeks at uni had come to an end around the same time last week. It all seemed like yesterday when I had stepped onto the hallowed turf of University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, to become a student once again, and undertake the joys, sorrows and challenges involved in being a pupil.

I must say that while the work has been quite demanding, it has also been equally exciting. This year, I am beginning to have more than just glimpses into how the world behaves after one graduates from university. This is because in this, my 3rd year, we are obligated, nay, expected to take care of our responsibilites not only as learners but also as part of the future generation which shall govern the world. This therefore means for any answer to a problem, we must look internally, then look externally. Only then if we are unsuccessful, do we ask for help or assistance.

During the past two years, I had often wondered where all this learning would go, when I read about advances in technology, and many a time I asked myself "Am I doomed to only learn about equipment or techniques which are going to be obselete?" During this year, especially in the first 6 weeks, I have found things which made me realise where exactly the two years of learning fit into the "grand scheme of things". I only hope that the remainder of this semester and year is the same.

I have seen that in these 4 weeks, I have been to uni longer than I necessarily need to be. I ascribe partly of that with my timetable, which has given me two whole days without any lessons. This freedom has instilled in me a sense of responsibility, knowing that from now onwards, I am only the Kartr and the Bhoktr (doer and enjoyer) of my actions, within the purview of my studies. I also ascribe my new found "love" towards University as being due to my enjoyment in learning more about my subjects.

However, I must apologise to all readers, and all my family (immediate and extended) and my friends, who have not heard from me during these weeks. A simple excuse such as "I was busy" cannot, should not, and will not suffice. Only a complete apology may be close, and hence I unconditionally apologise towards me behaviour in the maintenance of communcation between you all. I will once again endeavour to make regular posts.

In conclusion, I have thoroughly enjoyed the past 6 weeks, and am awaiting/dreading the next 7 odd weeks of the semester. I await them because of my experience in the past 6 weeks, yet I dread them due to the fact that I will be required to write exams!!!

Jai Hind!!!

As things progress....

Again, India has faced another round of attacks on its innocent civilians. It is truly said that the strength of a nation is not guaged by its armed forces, or its economy, but by how people rise up at times of national calamities. India has been no stranger to calamities over the past few years, such as the Tsunami, Earthquake and Mumbai floods, just to name a few.

However, the calamity that India has faced in the last 24 hours is more about the dignity of humanity, and its dissappearance from the face of the earth. In the past, when people wanted to fight, they did so with a lot of dignity and grace. They only targeted the government, not the people. More precisely, wars were fought against armies (externally), or civil wars were fought (internally). There were (and still are) strict codes on what or what not to attack. Even in the Mahabharata, it was noted that before the start of the war, both sides, laid a framework boundary, which no side was mean to cross. In it, one of the first ones was that no civilian was to be killed, injured or inconvienienced in any way, shape or form.

How then do we describe the actions of 24 hours ago? I would describe the events that have occured last night as pure act of mindless, idiotic people, with no regard to religion, whatever it be. It can be seen that this (and other acts of such kind) damages the religious beliefs of those who claim to believe it. Any layman would find it terribly hard to give credence to a religion, which has been used as a shield to cover violent acts, while its moderates cry hoarse at cooling the situation down.

While I wish that those who were caught committing these acts be given a sentence fitting the crime, what is more important, is the reaction of the country to it. I commend the government for a quick reaction and placing the whole country on high alert. We must not be caught off guard, and let the demons of communalism and carnage rule in the coming weeks. Doing so, would mean that whatever (false) justfication the idiots gave for the action would be automatically be true. Hence, we must be on our guard even more, and make sure that while the perpetrators of this incident burn in hell, we as a country, and even greater as a global player, must seek the restraint that was the hallmark of our father of this nation.

Satyameva Jayate!! God Bless the Union of the Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic of India!

Jai Hind!!!!!!!!!!

Reflections

Well it has been just under 60 hours since I got back from India, and I think the homesickness levels are slowly coming down. India was certainly more relaxing than in previous years, and I am raring to go on Feb 27 (more precisely 28), when the doors of Uni SA open for the acadaemic year 2006. While I still need to sort few more things out, in my opinion the only way (not proven experimentally or othwerise, still is in the stages of speculation), to beat homesickness is to jump into the deep end called work, the next day after arrival!

While the trip to India was more of a holiday, it has strengthened my resolve and ambition to eventually settle back there. By the word eventually, I am hoping for a target of 3 years, however realistically, it is going to be around 6-7 years from now. With the FabCity project coming to AP and India really shining, there is no other place in the world (certainly not Australia), where I would wish to spend my future. I have certainly found that my ambitions, which would have been best described as abstract, have been clearly taking form now and thus I now know what may be expected of me in just over half a decade's time. This would therefore mean that my preparation has gotten underway, a la allusions to Team India and WC2007.

So here it is to India, which has become a focal lens to my ambitions!!! Jai Hind!!

Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna

Sar faroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai,
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazoo-e-qaatil main hai!
Rahraw-e-rah-e-mohabbat rah na jana rah mein,
Lazzat-e-sahra nawardi doori-e-manzil mein hai.
Yoon khara maqtal mein qaatil kah raha hai baar baar,
Kya tamanna-e-shahaadat bhi kisi ke dil mein hai
Waqt aane par bata denge tujhe ai aasmaan,
Hum abhi se kya bataaen kya hamaare dil mein hai.
Ai shaheed-e-mulk-o-millat tere jazbon par nissar,
Teri qurbaani ka charcha ghair ki mehfil mein hai.
Kheinch kar laai hai sabko qatal hone ki umeed,
Aashiqon ka aaj jamghat koocha-e-qaatil mein hai.
Ek se karta nahin koi doosra koi bhi baat,
Dekhta hoon main jise woh chup tiri mehfil mein hai.
Sar faroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai,
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazoo-e-qaatil main hai!

The meaning is as follows:

We are now raring to die for our country's sake
Let's see how much of strength the assassin can display!
O traveller on the path of love, do not drop mid-way,
It is the distance of the goal that glorifies the chase.
Standing by the gallows the hangman makes a call,
Come, if there be any, by the martyr's zeal enthralled.
We'll tell you all, O sky, wait till the time arrives,
How can we at this stage, our secret plans unveil?
O martyrs in the nation's cause, kudos to your sacrifice.
Even in the enemy camp they talk of you with praise.
Fired by patriotic fervour, many a maddened youth
Has gathered at the crossing, itching for the cross.
Why are they mute and silent? no whisper, no talk,
Everyone that I see has got his lips locked.
We are now raring to die for our country's sake
Let's see how much of strength the assassin can display!

I thank the following website for the information http://www.flonnet.com/fl2225/stories/20051216001407800.htm

The start

"I always thought there were two kinds of men in this world. The first kind are ones that silently go to their deaths and the second kind are ones that go to their deaths screaming. And then I met the third kind"-Rang De Basanti

The movie actually does not mention the third kind. It never says, "the third kind are those etc etc". However, allow me to take a (bleedingly obvious) guess. The third kind are those who's fear of death has been replaced by anticipation, satisfaction, and excitement. In short, the third kind are those who go looking for death with a glint in their eye. Therefore, it is fair to cast Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Sardar Bhagat Singh, Suhkdev, Rajguru in this third group.

I wanted to start creating a blog after watching RDB, so that I could pen down my opinions on not only the movie, but its demographic, i.e the youth of this country, which I am proud to say I belong to. The movie RDB completely hooked me from the first scene to the last. In my humble opinion, no (Bollywood) movie has set me thinking on the freedoms that I enjoy.

RDB sets out questions to today's generation that may or may not be easily answered. The most obvious question it asks the 15-25 age group is "Will you be whole-heartedly willing to sacrifice yourselves for the service of a greater good, just like your predecessors did?". However I believe that the part of "sacrifice" has changed. Whereas our predecessors sacrificed their lives, and went to the gallows unmarried, I believe the context of sacrifice here may quite possibly mean the sacrificing of a "plush lifestyle" (i.e the kind we youth perceive the West to be having). Moreover, I think ROM has sort of answered this question with a disappointing NO, and I tend to agree with the director on the answer. As a "local" student of a university in Australia, I see many international Indian students coming onto the campus. While their external reasons may be different, the real reason they are there for is to get Permanent Residency, after which they can go back home, get married with a huge fat dowry, and live "happily ever after" (in Australia). Only a very few decide to come back and use their services to make things better. In the lines of Madhavan/Siddarth, "No country is perfect, it is our responsibility to make it better". This line seems to be going to deaf ears in the country if we look at the current situation.

Another question RDB and ROM seem to ask us, is whether or not we remember the sacrifice of the freedom fighters and whether we can completely analyze their thought processes. Again the answer we face is a NO. I could not agree more with this answer, both in my experiences as well as what was portrayed in the movie. Siddardth in RDB cannot comprehend the fact that Bhagat Singh, who was just around 19 at the time would forsake his life for something bigger, something more fulfilling than on a mundane plane. Furthermore, I myself am surprised at the complete disdain bordering on apathy, at response of a selection of P3 youngsters on the national anthem. Therefore, it is no surprise to see the answer as it is.

RDF takes India in the 20-21st centuries and dishes it out on a plate, saying "Here is the situation, you work it out". I believe this is evident in the character of Atul Kulkarni, who starts out as a "brain-washed" right-wing party worker, and in the end, realizes the folly of it all. Furthermore it is also evident in the actions that the right-party took in the movie. It was against "Western Culture" which apparently is eroding our minds, yet did not come out with a statement after the MiG incident. This mirrors the RSSs, the Bajrang Dals, the Shiv Senas etc of today. While they have strong opinions on Valentine's Day celebrations and enforce moral policing on young people, they strangely and surprisingly turn a blind eye to the thousands of women harassed by their in-laws for dowry. Mr. Thackeray, I thought that to uplift Hindus, we also had to look within our own society as well. So why is your party and your ideological allies not assaulting the thousands of men and their in-laws who not only take dowry, but treat their wives worse than street dogs? Hmmm....Maybe you can answer that after slowly thinking about it eh??

Anyway, that is my general opinion of RDB and the things I believe it portrayed. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and truly felt Indian (in an un-jignoistic way) walking out of the theatre. I would recommend it to all between the ages of 13-25 to re-assess their opinions of what it means to be Indian.

Hopefully you liked my first blog and keep commenting!!