What was the news? Its the latest in the series of never ending money laundering scams that have been plaguing the Indians. Accompanied by my imagination of countless middle class households despising the scamsters and secretly hoping to make at least a fraction of the ‘mis’ fortune within their lifetime; also realizing that they’ve been lame ducks, hating the Reddy brothers for their audacity to pull off such a huge con. The epic bastards!

Scams apart, I feel we’ve become a playground full of ready targets for a bunch of sadists. Apparently, it is very easy for a lunatic asshole to plant a bomb and hold the country for a ransom. If we are not sure when calamity could strike, we really cannot do much but be at nature’s mercy. If we are not sure when an atrocity strikes, what can we do? We just see it with widened eyes, gasp in horror, partly relieved that we weren’t there. As an icing to this bloody cake, we decorate the post mortem of such attacks with phoney phrases like the spirit of Mumbai and the resilience of people. Bringing the bastards to the gallows is considered inhuman. Instead, we gift them a fair trial as a mark of hospitality and let them go scot free at the cost of lost lives and broken families.

I fail to gather words to express the calamuitous frustration that has built up in me. What should I bear? A few lakh crores of money going into the pockets of looters disguised as politicians and bureaucrats? Be a silent spectator to ruthless massacre thrown at our faces every now and then? Ever increasing prices of petrol cascading into an avalanche rise in the cost of all other commodities? Traveling through pathetic roads amid choking traffic on a rainy evening wondering if I’ll be sane enough by the time it is over? Being a middle class indian, most important matter to me is to be peaceful with what I’ve. Is it possible?

Figure this. An auto rickshaw driver had the nerve to look me in the eye and ask for 300 bucks for a ride that would normally cost me 100. So is he in line to compete with Mr. Burglar Reddy, albeit on a smaller and unnoticeable scale? I just couldn’t resist my anger this time and he got what he deserved. One insult per 100 bucks he demanded. The local bastard!

If all this is on a domestic level, its impossible NOT to wonder and doubt, what would be the maximum extent to which India can grow as a country in the international scale. One visit to any country with able people will undermine the confidence that we too can be a developed nation someday, despite possessing able minds comparable to those in any part of the world. We’re a population whose magnitude neither reflects the aptitude we need to achieve, nor the attitude we need to possess. The altitude we should scale is STILL a farcry to fathom!

How can we hope to achieve something that we want when it is not easy to just do what we should, with these hurdles hurled at us everyday?

Presenting my first post from my smartphone.

Hello again, World!

Guy : You know, if asking was the only thing to it, I’d have done it long back.

Gal : What do you mean? You cant ask my dad?

Guy : You think I wouldn’t ask if I was in a better position in my career?

Gal : I know you can earn good money. I have that confidence in you. But I am not in a position to postpone any plan that my father is making for me now.

Guy : I understand. But do you think I have any chance to convince your dad given my current position earning this paltry salary?

Gal : To hell with the salary. We both together can make enough money to pull us through till you gain good status.

Guy : It is easy to tell. But, it is impractical.

Gal : I thought you love me.

Guy : Yes I did. And I still do.

Gal : Then come and talk to my dad.

Guy : (Back to square one) We’ll see about that when the right time comes.

Gal : Hope it comes before it is too late.

As if sucked into the past, the guy jolts back into reality.

The gal’s birthday is a day ahead and the guy is all set to surprise her. He thinks of myriad plans to gift her and make it a day worth remembering. He browses the web, asks friends, window shops half a dozen malls and finally decides upon the gift. On the other hand, the gals mind ain’t so free to allot either time or space to the guy. She goes on with her routine on the eve of her birthday and is oblivious to the guy’s eagerness.

Things were not coarse between the two. In fact, there were times when people were envious of the pair. The only name on the gal’s lips was that of his, and on his, her’s. Except for the gap between the transmission of a text message between their mobiles, they were inseparable. Like all the fairy tale stories, love seemed to be blooming. Both were aware of the consequences of the make or break of this wonderful phase. When something did happen, all the wonderful times culminated in the dialogue above.

As luck would have it, the guy got a plush job. With the birthday gift in hand and reminiscences of the lovable days in mind, he is excited to celebrate her birthday and the possibility of them being together, now that he has got what he wanted.

He delivers the gift at her place and informs her parents about giving it to her when she wakes up. Dawn breaks, but the gal’s parents, who like the guy a lot, insisted that he break the surprise himself. When it happened, the gal jumped with joy and hugs the guy, who was ecstatic. Wondering if all the differences would come to an end, he told her about the new job and the salary that he was expecting. Seemingly relieved, the gal tells not to discuss anymore at that time, promising to catch up asap.

But there was neither an SMS, nor a call after that.

The reason? Apparently, the guy broke the gals heart when he told he wasn’t ready to ask her parents in the past. She said, “You are not there in my heart anymore. It might sound harsh to you. But that is the hard fact and you have to live with it.”

The End.

PS : This is my first attempt at narration.

Besides that, I want to put some kinda activity into it.

What I like to do is – for a pic that you see on the blog, please come up with some writeup like a related vivid memory, the crazy trip that u might have taken, a short story/poem, (AND NOT LIMITED TO) something that you are reminded of. I shall put it up as the description/content for that post, (with due credits ofcourse). Please be a guest in my blog.

Any strings attached shall be resolved in due course of time. Kindly provide your suggestions / criticism on the idea.

Su.

Mac is like a big aquarium. It is a kind of show-off and sure enuf, increases your charisma in computing circles. It is arguably tough for any outside fish to come to your vicinity, after all, aquariums are meant to be that way. The software at your disposal is like the water in it. To keep your swimming experience a pleasure always, there are a lot of fortification procedures done, even before you buy it. All the glitter is encapsulated and life becomes a bit of a bore as u age. Of course, new water at times, and a new tank every 2-3 years sounds great. New water needs to be certified as we all know that the health of the fish is at stake! But when it boils down to what fishes do, the bottom line : You are swimming in a glass box.

Windows is like a bucket half filled with water. The bucket is some micro-particles-containing soft material. Initially, you are sorta content with it coz u understand that you can add more water as you please. Lots of vendors are very eager to sell/give you some, and make you happier. All seems well. As you add more water, you start to notice something amiss. The bucket starts wobbling and shows signs of weariness and/or breakdown. Also, it is famed to contain some micro holes and your water is wasted little by little either by loss, or by contamination. Naturally, there are vendors eagerly awaiting to provide their hole-filling/fixing services. After that, neither the water, nor the bucket is the same as before. We forgot the fish here right? Fortunately, the holes that we just discussed, are not big enough for the fish. They’ll be pleased with colorful buckets once a while. If they keep jumping around uncontrolled, they might jump out of it and pray god that somebody put them back.

Linux is like an ocean. Water keeps coming from the rivers, and there are a lot of rivers around. There is much to see if you want to, while doing all your regular swimming activities. You can travel the ocean far and wide and be wiser, or you can stick to your school and enjoy your locale. You take the call. You can migrate to a different part of the ocean in search of peace/adventure. You take the call. Typical of an ocean, you find big fish, small fish, medium fish, etc. You can be lost and ask for directions or befriend them and swim more of the ocean. You take the call. This is freedom. With so much freedom, comes so much power. With that much power, comes that much responsibility. You can use it according to the book and be safe, or take a few wrong steps and learn lessons the harder way. Of course, nowadays there are nicely laid out paths in the ocean for new fish to start out, cutting the intimidation. So, you can learn a few things about the ocean and, if you want a little more, the adventure is limited only by your imagination.

And shrug away my misery, as it ain’t yours

My zeal for survival beats that of all your kin

Because I stay hungry for days, not just hours

Bare Bones

I look to the land searching for a hint of grain

Don’t you assume it is because I am a farmer

I look to the sky welcoming a sprinkle of rain

On a summer day, if it is too much warmer

Between sky and land

How you wonder that I could survive

Despite the misdemeanors of Nature on me

With no food to eat and a ‘long‘ life to live

I cant to afford to call it anyone’s felony

Contemplation

I hate to hold out my hands, Oh giveable one

To ask for a morsel of food just to be existent

Of all the charitable deeds that could be done

Just give me some hope and make me jubiliant

Helping Hand

There are channels to reach me in a way better

Than simply showing an ounce of compassion

For, in this material world, only materials matter

To support my being from eventual extinction

Click on the image to support the Cause.

Akshaya Patra is a foundation for midday meal program. It is a Non-Governmental Organization in India. It runs the world’s largest NGO midday meal program for underprivileged school children.

(Images courtesy : Please click on the respective thumbnails)

The cause is being projected elsewhere too. Kindly promote it there as well.

Zooming through the alleys,
Deserted, as they were..
Wind hitting me on my face,
And sneaking into my hair..

Riding in the night air,
Chilled me up my spine..
But the bike was goin, anyway,
Upto a breezy one naught nine..

Foggy foggy weather,
Curly twisted roads..
So much darkness out there,
That I just cant  see the boards..

Switched off my headlights,
In a place spirits may dwell..
But later I thought to myself,
This cud be heaven or this cud be hell!

And then came voices shouting from very faaaaaar away..
My muted ears popped out, thot I heard them say..

Welcome to Namma mechhida Nandi betta..
What a nice sunrise, what a nice sunrise..
Nature’s lovely guise..

Scream it out big on the towering Nandi betta..
Anytime of the year, Anytime of the year..
To hang out, come here..

Fantastic experience..
(3am – 12pm, Sunday the 5th Dec)
The title refers to our plight, unable to find some good tea at that time.

What does a smart phone do actually? According to me, it reduces the number of devices to carry, without reducing the functionalities of all of them. Tons of features are plaguing the smart phone owners by means of advanced hardware enhancements and innovative software apps. All of them are making the smart phone smarter.

In this plethora of sorts, there is bound to be some deficiencies in functionalities, as the craziness of expectations increase. Thanks to the blogging platform, expressing those ‘weird’ needs is now easier. Here I present my idea.

Smart phone mouse
With motion sensing getting refined with every new device, and touch screen almost being a mandate in the smart phone segment, I wish I could use it as a bluetooth mouse. Here is how I wish it worked.

How it should work : The ‘hardware’ part.

• We need to have a small bump like thing stuck to the back of the phone as shown in the pic. Everything else is up to the software app.
• The bump enables us to rest the phone in an area as small as a INR Re. 1/- coin.
• This enables us to tilt the phone in all directions.
• The magnitude and duration of tilt determine the speed of the mouse pointer, and the tilt direction naturally dictates the direction of motion of the mouse pointer.

How it should work : The ‘software’ part.

• The app should work on the host (laptop/notebook/netbook/PC/Mac) as well as the guest (smart phone).
• The touch screen, as a basic requirement, should have touchable areas to capture left-click, right-click and the scroll-wheel motion. Anything else is left to the imagination.
• The info about the tilt direction, duration and magnitude, along with the clicks and scroll-wheel data should be encoded and transmitted via bluetooth just like the current bluetooth mouse present in the market.

Lo and behold! Your smart phone can now work as a computer mouse too.
I am confident that it can give the Apple’s Mighty Mouse, a run for its money, for the simple reason that the improvements in functionality are moving from hardware to software.

Pros :

• One less device to carry.
• One less wire to entangle yourself with.
• With multi point bluetooth transfer available, u can use A2DP for calls and music, or do the bluetooth file transfer with your mouse smart phone concurrently.
• You will be using your wrist better and I hope this reduces frightening stuff like Repetitive Strain Injury and/or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
• Motion sensing and touch are getting better. So, you may not feel like clicking the mouse when your touch makes things work.
• All you have to buy extra is the bump for your phone.

Cons :

• Vendors might not support it as it will reduce their Mouse sales.
• Power consumption may increase marginally.

Photo courtesy : diytrade.com

I can only wonder if we are getting the kind of entertainment we are after. More so, when I see means to entertainment cropping up/dying down over time. Even more so, if the frequency increases. By the way, who decides whether the time has come for something to be born or die? Who decides what kinda things people should be subject to?

There is so much crap over there, that we are subject to it even without our knowledge. Business and money play spoilsport too. Consider this : Earlier, film prints were a costly affair and the number of theatres were less. So, whatever a producer invests, he must be able to get back amidst these constraints. What then is the way out for a healthy business? Make good movies, so that people can watch them, feel good, and tell others about it, and make the movie run for a considerable time. By this, producers can get good business, and we can get good entertainment.

Consider present day. Theatres are in abundance and mass-production of prints is cheaper. So, a big number of prints in a big number of theatres means that, the time taken by the producer to get back the money is reduced. So, the probability of producing not-so-good, average, and bad movies goes up. What is the point of high budget movies, spending money to travel across the world for shoots, if what we get to see is our precious time going down the gutter. The implications of this might not be substantial for one time. But, over a period of time I’m afraid it creates a movie-viewer’s-lethargy.

Coming one level down, the television is also being infected little by little. Every other channel you can find a ‘super-duper’ dance shows, ‘bumper-hit’ song-a-thons, etc. One reason to have so many clones is, may be, to bring out and expose the vast talent pool. But, it can sustain only till it hits the saturation point. Who is thinking about all that?

If the rate of creativity involved in entertaining people becomes less than the rate of its saturation, we have to deal with a lot of “Boredom Under Lost Love for Special, Highly Interesting Talent” (BULLSHIT).