Shocking

You get a shiver in the dark.... there goes the lyrics of the sultans of swing by dire straits.its any day one of my favorites.The lyrics are great and so is the music.Yesterday i was watching a debate on Times Now on some minority program launched by the Government.The panelist were Tarun Vijay and some member of AIMPLB.I was left shocked and aghast at the kind of statements made by Tarun Vijay.The diatribe launched by him again was was so virulent and vitriolic that even this strong words seem quite mild.I had never seen an educated person having such a parochial and venomous mindset.It was then i realised the apprehensions expressed by the intellectuals when they talk of the rise and growth of organisations like RSS.May God save this country from Tarun Vijay and his ilk...

Of tits and bits

Nowadays m reeling under too much workload.It is getting on my nerves and at times also affects my behaviour.That is what you call a stressful life in the corporate world.I guess this is the actual corporate world, where you are supposed to slog day in and day out.Moving over to other issues the Gujarat elections are over and the results are yet to come out,but then anyways that hardly matters as almost everyone knows what the outcome would be.It would be an outright victory for Modi.He had a total domination in the elections.The election was all about Modi and only Modi.Sonia Gandhi gave him a wonderful opportunity to shift the attention from development to communal issues and he gleefully pouched the opportunity.On other fronts USA has finally agreed to some kind of cut down on some kind of emissions.The convention which was held in Bali saw initially a stubborn not agreeing on cutting down emissions,but instead putting pressure on developing like India to cut down emissions.It is worth noting that the Kyoto protocol did not require developing countries to cut down on emissions.USA is the only developed country which has not ratified the Kyoto protocol. The present convention required the developed countries to cut down green house emission by at least 25-40 %.Tokyo and Washington were totally against this but then the tough stance taken by EU and India forced them to agree to it.India on its part said that if it is forced to cut down emissions then this would severely hamper its development,and in the words of the foreign secretary" when we speak of shared responsibility it must include the international community's shared responsibility to ensure the right to development of the developing countries. Development is the best form of adaptation to climate change".

Delhi

This weekend i went to Gurgaon and Delhi.Gurgaon with all its glittering skyscrapers looks very beautiful,but that is all from the highway.Once you go inside the city it is pathetic.Delhi also is a very interesting city.With a blend of the medieval and the modern one would be surprised at the stark contrast in the architecture of the country.But what actually shocked me and took me out from my comfort zone was the plight of people in certain parts of the city.I went to saket and then to the walled city.The sudden change which i noticed was enlightening and has certainly broadened my outlook regarding life and the society in which we live.From there on i went to the monastery,which is a market where the majority of the shopkeepers are Tibetan refugees.It was a different world altogether.I was just spellbound as soon as i entered out there.The place was brimming with people and i had to jostle to walk.I had to haggle with the shopkeeper in order to get a good price for what i was buying.All in all it was a very enriching experience and has been etched in my memory and would stay there for ages to come.

The removal of the facade

So, at last yesterday the Gujarat government officially accepted that it had given the go ahead for the extra constitutional killing of Indian citizens.Another first in the history of India.But all this points to the fact that India is becoming a banana republic where modern day Nero's rule the roost and fascism is camouflaged in the disguise of nationalism.I wonder when would we Indians rise up above our parochial mindset and defeat the nefarious designs of such fascists.

Pluralism

I was just watching "we the people" on NDTV and the topic was about the purdah system.A very controversial topic on which the we can find extreme views.It was certainly interesting to hear the various opinions.As far as i am concerned i am not a proponent of the purdah system as i believe that in the current scenario the purdah system 'seems' to retrograde and regressive.Again i am not too sure about it.But that certainly does not mean that if someone who wants to wear it should not be allowed to wear it.It should be left to the individual of what she wants to wear and what she doesn't.At least it doesn't affect the sensibilities of any person unlike the way a bikini clad lady can cause furore.Moreover we live in a pluralistic society where extremism should give space to liberalism and the individual rights of every individual,every community should be given the due respect which they deserve.That is what makes a diverse country like India so beautiful to reside in, where diverse opinions are taken into consideration and pluralism is celebrated in every sense.

Review

At last i have finished of reading "The last day of the jackal" by frederick forsyth.I had been trying to get hold of it since many years,as my father had sung paeans of it.It was an interesting read.The story was riveting and it was difficult to put it down expect somewhere in the middle pages when the author was describing about the ammunition to be used.But then it had all the ingredients of a potboiler. One has to give the author credit for his insight on the psychology of people of various countries,their grudges and preferences.It is not fair enough on my part to compare this book with "The Odessa file" which was his first book that i read.Anyways i would recommend this book to all those people who love reading thrillers.It would be an absolute treat to their pallet.