Who is responsible..!!

As I saw the bihar floods on TV and my freinds expressed their sympathy at the pithy state of people being marooned , without food , almost barely existing... Almost surprisingly I was smirking. The only thought in my mind was "serves them right"...

Why? before you accuse me of being a sadist let me explain why do I feel no sympathy for this kind of administrative failure. I will start with a few examples.

Bihar floods- The floods started because of lack of co-ordination and urgency shown by both Nepal and Bihar. However the blame comes on to Bihar because it stood (and has) to suffer the slap. That the administration has failed to deliver is an open secret. That people have been let down is the major war cry . Fine all that is great on the years...But but but..

Let me dwell on the major culprit of this tragedy. Its not the CM , its the people of bihar. Day in and day out by a selective caste based democratic weeding they have consistently favoured caste and religion over efficiency. Politics doesnt develop over a day and the majority decides the kind of people that stay in power. The biharis as a majority have voted for caste rather than administration. Is it any surprise that administration has failed them over and over again. 

An intelligent guy learns by his mistake ..but not biharis. They will go ahead and do the same stuff again and blame the system. They will die as insects and still hold on to their culture of Caste. Hence I have no sympathy for such idiots who do not understand wats good for them.

Singur- Singurs land prices hiked up by 4 times when TATA got involved. For the state of west bengal this plant was god sent but they are on the verge of squandering it all. In the name of janam bhoomi they are losing jobs and income. And being naive they are used as football by politicians. But are they so helpless? I do not think so. If they are interseted in improving their lives why sit silent when they see their livelihood being depleted? Why go ahead and kick the hand that feeds them? Why hold on to the fig leaf of sovreignity when the next day's food is not gurateed. As of what i see next TATA will move out and soon the land will be cut out within CPI cadres. The "poor" on whose name the fight is being fought will again go back to their hand to mouth existence till they die of hunger. Again simple stupidity by idiots who can't identify the difference between pragmatism and idealism.

We always blame the politicians for he ills of society. I beg to differ. Politicians are like entertainers ..if you want them to do a classical dance they will compete with each other to learn Kathak,if you want them to do a striptease they will do it till they have a skeleton left....

Inshort ..u can make them do wat u want..provided they see a vote in it.

The reason Mr Raj Thakeray is boomin is because there is a tacit approval of his tactics from Marathis. A few soundbites from miniscule educated marathis is not the approval he seeks..The majority wants him to do what he is doing.

Similar is the case with Ahmedabad riots. It might be an inconvinient truth but the people of gujurat were by and large anti-muslim and the riots were people propelled..why blame Modi for it. If the people didnt want it..there would have been no riots.

Today majority of muslims are suspect of terrorism..but can it be denied that there is a strong undercurrent of truth in that?

Its the people who decide their future and their short term actions have far reaching long term results. Today a Dam is stopped tomorrow there will be power shortage ,power shortage means lesser work, means low standard of living, means poverty means hunger ..means human tragedy. But these people will oppose a dam because they like environment better than their children. Who can save the Kalidas who cuts the same branch that he sits on?

The most dangerous man is a man who is not selfish. Because his actions are unpredictable and sometimes suicidal. Why should I feel any sympathy for a man who attempts regular suicide.

Hence when there are floods, bridge collabse, temple tragedies or man made disasters I know it has been made because the same guys who are sufferers are the cause of the tragedy..

Hence I smirk and enjoy another longterm disaster of short sighted people....!! And flick over to see the plastic abs to Rakhi sawant..

Rock on!!

Dialogue writing is such a difficult art. Its like making the perfect biryani. If its good its barely noticable if its bad its stinks. The stink spoils the entire table. 

Thankfully films like "rock on" have dialogues that err..rock. The beauty of the film should have ideally been the music but its the dialogues that steal the thunder. I sometimes wonder how do these guys get into heads of people..? I mean its not easy to write like people think. I have been trying my best to write a peice of sentence thats not lifted from already existing literature....

Especially the interaction between aditya and his wife...Maaannn!!! This is one original peice of talk that hits on your face. I sympatize with aditya ..while i also know that even his wife is right. 

Women have a logic so twisted that its easy to dismiss them as crazy but even they are convinced that they are  right. Not only that they try to convince others about their "right" path. They want the "whole" thing ..not in parts. Its so disgusting..Anyway I am digressing. 

This is supposed to be about the film not about women. Anyway the latter subject is still under active research....

The followers..!!!

I would like to believe in an innocent world . A world where things are fair, where dogs are cute, where people are generally nice and well meaning ...where workers are self motivated and capitalists are philanthropists. I would love to believe in a world which believes in love , where people fall in love and stay in love , where emotions are pure and clean...!! I would love to believe ..provided its real.

The fact is that this is not true. The world with all its jagged edges is not fair. Everyone realises it . But the most disgusting fact is that some people refuse to acknowledge it and continue to advertise and sell their concept of a pink pink strawberry world to the gullible lot who really dont mind getting mentally spoonfed. What makes the offer even more smelly is that these sales guy/girls are themselves a product of the real world and practice exact opposite of what they preach.

But the most dangerous people are not these salesmen..the most dangerous are the idiots who buy these ideas. They are the ones who make the world a jittery place. Since their conviction is based on borrowed ideas they stand stubborn in their claim to the originality of the idea. The will fight and die like insects for these on-rent ideas. Thats not so much for their conviction as much as it is for the recognition of their mundane lives.Assiociation with big ideas gives them a chance to be a part of a bigger chaos and grab their corner of limelight which would have never otherwise come their way. Its more of a psychological manifestation of severe underconfidance.

These are the people who form the lines of Indian Idol, of MTV Splitsvilla, of Shiv Sena, Raj Thakeray and Al qaeda...These are the devouts infront of shirdi sai baba, and these are the wannabes who roll their "R's" in anticipation of the american dream, these are the ones who wear their patriotism on their sleeves ....These are the PETA guys who never ever face a mad dog on the streets, these are the Narmada bachao party who never face the crunch of lack of development...These are people who perpetrate the exact disease they seek to cure.

These are the termites one should be aware and beware of...!!!

How does one react..

I used to laugh at people when they talk of life altering expierances....It always used to be the logic that how can one incident alter fundas that have taken years to built. Now I am wiser...(hopefully)

An expierance CAN alter the perspective you see things with. It can turn a view by 180 degrees and set you on a course which you may not have even envisaged in your wildest dreams. It can make a conservative out of a liberal..it can turn u an atheist from a believer and set you on a totally different tangent.

The expierance can be personal or collective ..but i have seen that its personal one that changes ppl most. Something deep down turns about and voila he /she is a changed person. The change may not be visisble or tangible but manifests itself in subtle gestures..which can be noticed on inspection.

Something tells me that even I have changed a lot in years..I hope its for the better ;)

Generation gap...

Sometimes when I think as to can I define myself as todays generation..I am cornered by the idea as to what this generation means and what are its value systems. Although its all very convinient to dismiss all "new" generation as all fart and no shit..It takes only a minute of introspection to find out that there is no homogenity in todays generation to warrant such generalisations..

Come to think of it , todays generation is more democratic in arts and culture scene. Our best directors of late have been the new blood, so have been music composers, painters, sculptors . Our best businessmen have been new blood ...But despite that there is a great divide even within this confidant lot...
The divide of viewing the way of the west. Here there are two categories.

One who believe and live in the western space. They act and believe wholeheartedly in the western scene. They are convinced that the india around them can be ignored. However they are also contributing to the growth of India.
The second category are actors. They also believe in western way of life but underneath they despise the very system. They are ok with others wives wearing bikinis as long as their missus stays in salwar. They will join in a bachelor orgy but come back and atone for their "sins" in their puja rooms next day. These ppl do not believe in the west. However the interesting fact is that both these groups are convinced that the western way of life is the most pragmatic way.

The only issue is that which group is more "correct"..? well that itself is subjective as there is also a third group which shuns western culture totally ..(but they are in no way to be confidant enough to be the movers and shakers..this group can only be a nuisance..so we will neglect them)... The is no correct or incorrect label..I think a conflict is necessary for India to evolve a "middle Path"..and I think that is possible. ie. Pragmatic westernisation with Indian values and culture....Its possible and its happening as we speak...

We just need to open our eyes...

Independence day...I am free..thanks for reminding !!!

Today as with all Independence Days and with all indians..I got up ..put on my collection of hindi patriotic songs, pinned a tricolor to my door, adjusted the flag stand on my car and maybe wished a few freinds in MHADA and IIT ..a happy I-Day (thru sms ..wat else..u expect me to go over to them..!!?) and that ended my duty towards all the idiots who gave me the chance to breathe in free air.
It ended and summed up my devotion to a country I am supposed to love. It freed me,an average Indian, from the moral and ethical responsibility of spitting on the roads , pillaging govt property, Ogling at the PYT at the bus stand, picking my nose in public,abusing infront of children, bossing over my juniors and super sychopancy to my seniors.

It freed me to think narrowly on religious lines, kicking the street dog, sniggering at the over full wards in govt hospitals, buying my way through a traffic violation, watering the roadside grass with urea and bile, lazing around, giving and taking graft ....

It freed me from the obligation of being patriotic for the rest of 364 days, of behaving like a bum , and generally talking without reason, boring people and yeah taking my freedom for granted...

What else do i expect from Independence day!! Wish fulfilled

When are you goin to think....

There are times I hear very very cliched lines coming from quarters that make me throw up. Thats because of the fact that somehow it really doesnt fit in the person. Or sometimes the whole situation seems so bloody cliched that you question the genuineness of the entire scenario...

Lets take a "cliched" situation.

Girlfreind/Boyfreind.Scenery one. ( we assume that the boy smokes) .

Freinds sitting in a cafe ..Boy casually starts smoking-----> Girlfreind Gets angry----> Boy is scared of his girl-----> Mock fight---->Boy admits that although he is machoest man(is there a word like that??)the the girl Controls his life---> Girl is still angry but now is coy because she has proven her "right" over him..(the end)
More often than not this situation is played out to an audience...Where the audience applauds the act(instant gratification). Society in general expects such a scene(expectation). However there is an element of randomness in which one of the participating actors lose their lines or fail to take the cue(random act of God) ..in which case the audience provides a helping hand.

What actually gets my goat is the sincerity with which the "actors" believe in the role they were playing. I have given this example because this is wat has happened with a freind of mine(yeah and his GF) and within two months they were ka-put...

Why do we let such stupid notions of what our emotions should be ruin what our emotions actually are? Why do we feel that we "should" behave in a particular way? why should we be straitjacketed into a role the "audience" wants us to play? Why seek truth in vaudevile?

I sometimes think I ask weird questions...Well what the hell can you do about it?

Just happy

Electronics goods (esp laptops and smart phones) are some things that make me happy...I mean i do not count myself amongst "geeks" but I am sure u understand when i speak of expierancing the happiness of running ur eyes over the sleek lines ..well placed buttons ...the glazed screen..bright smart applications ....ooohhh....!! U get the idea I guess..

Today I went to buy a "cheap" alternate phone and bought an expensive one(well..not that expensive) ..proving once again that love is blind. But I think its worth buying sumthing u like rather than burning in its desire (as long as u do not burn a king size hole) .

I have regretted not buying what my heart desired as far as my lappy was concerned. I always feel maybe with 5 grands more..i would have been happier..!! but then there is a school of thought which says "you can never be satisfied with electronics"...be that as may..I feel there is a platue level of "electronic happiness"....

I m right now sittin on that platue...

Fever & imagination

I do not know if anyone has escaped a high fever but there is an expierance i would like to write about here before i forget it(something like a early dream)...!
A few days i "caught" malaria falciparum ...Pretty sneaky fever and sneakier parasite.

Apart from the severe chill and pain there was something else which i expieranced.

I realised that when the fever was at the highest ..I got severely depressed. The world suddenly looked so dark and forbidding. Everything was really really negative. I was convinced that I would fail in whatever I was doing. My rents would be unpaid. My grades would come down...I would be handicapped. In short my deepest fears became magnified and projected themselves...To say i was suicidal would be an extreme but suddenly i lost interest in life. It was as if there was no point in living .... Its funny recalling all this now but then the feelings seemed so real . Maybe the whole atmosphere was more darkened by the fact that it was pretty overcast and raining heavily....
The time I slept..i dreamt that i was a computer going thru an algorithm of the film "jab we met" ...Swear! What can beat that ...Or the fact that somewhere i felt that if i could reach the end of this algorithm I could sleep peacefully. Or the fact that I was a printer printing out copies of people passing by(I kno its absurd ..and maybe I will myself not believe these hallucinations..thats the precise reason i am putting them down).

To tell u the truth I sincerely feel that Malaria does release some hallucinogenic minerals into the blood stream. I am no bio technologist but just an average sufferrer and I felt as if I was under some drugs influence when the fever was at its highest...Maybe some day some doctor will write his thesis on this(by the way does ever a doctor write his "doctorate" thesis..ha ha )

By the way did u ever have this kind of expierance anytime?

Jaane tu- A review

Directors like Abbas tyrewala make me proud of the fact

that i belong to a country which has bollywood ....!

Jaane tu ..is a film which is nice ,wonderfully ,

"differently " written and directed by a person who can

write the truth in all its myriad forms. He is not

infalliable neither can he be always right. He will most

likely make pretty rotten movies but not today. Today he

made me proud that India has such wonderfull talent .
The film is not too much on story as much as its on the

little nuances that jump at you when you least expect it

pull you hard and leave you breathless and refreshed at

once .
The freshness of the treatment spills into the

interaction between the dead Naseeruddin shah and Ratna

Pathak. Its brave , amazing and just the sense of humour

which was missing till now in majority of the shit that

goes around.

Most of the scenes are so well crafted that I feel that

its difficult to single out any but what hit me host

were the the interaction between between the parents .

Its so deeply etched in my psyche ...especially the

interaction between Meghna's parents. Its the most

original peice of interaction i have ever seen in hindi

films.....

Actually towards the end of the movie it actually made

me think ...Do we really know the value of things till

we lose them..our parents , our pets ..our freinds

.......!! Do we really know the worst within our near

and dear ones..or do we really go by the bar code on the

wrapper. And does the bar code always say the truth?

Maybe i am reading too much into a nice film...but thats

what is the job of a nice film is ...
Makes you think ....makes you a part of it and suddenly

you cant stop being pulled into it.
Sahib biwi gulam made me sad for choti bahu..Do beegha

zameen made me cry for the rickshawala racing on streets

of calcutta...Choti choti batein made me smile and being

a part of the quirky family..Khubsurat left me with a

happiness long after i left the movie...
Jaane tu..left me with a lot of thoughts....most of it

pleasant.
Mr Tyrewala ...good job

Marriage –A markov model

	0	1	2	1a	1a'	1b	1b'	1c	1c'	1d	1d'	1e	1e'	if	1f'	3A	3B
0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5
1a	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1a'	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1b	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1b'	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1c	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0
1c'	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0
1d	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0
1d'	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0
1e	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0
1e'	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0
if	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.9	0.1
1f'	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	0.9
3A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

THERE IS A SLIGHT MISTAKE IN THE DIAGRAM STATE 1 IS MARRIED STATE (NOT "UNMARRIED "AS THE DIA SHOWS..)

This is the Markov table of the marriage process.

3A and 3B are final absorbing states

Since the probability of having a happy ending (ie 3A ) from unhappy phase(1.f') is low I have kept it at 0.1 ..Similarly from 1.f --à3B

I have assumed equal measure of probabilities for favorable as well as unfavorable events (ie. 0.5 probability)

I will shortly calculate the probability of being in state 3A(happy) from state 2(unmarried) and from state 1(married). Rite now I am sleepy so will do the remainder later