Dear Datta,
See what I just came across while pouring coffee for myself at thecafeteria
40 people; in a videoconference, on the implications of the changes in the Foreign Credit Tax Policy of the United States.
Ask how many of them know why are the following four lines present in the Congress Manifesto "The Indian National Congress has always been the bulwark against the four "isms" that threaten to tear our country apart -- communalism of all kinds, linguistic chauvinism, regional parochialism and casteism.
"WHAT WAS THE CENTRE DOING WHEN a certain MR. RAJ WAS TALKING ABOUT 'HIS'MAHARASHTRA AND THROWING OUT NORTH INDIANS FROM 'HIS' LAND, THE VERYSAME PEOPLE WHO WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN CREATING THE MUMBAI AS WE KNOW IT??
Go through the manifesto, it’s hilarious!
One of the points is "We will connect all villages to a broadband network in three years time" This would be in the year 2012.As per the census, 82% of the villages in India are electrified. The Government promised Power For All by 2012.
Now tell me, how do they plan to send power as well as internet facility by 2012, are we having some Power over Ethernet technology here? Hilarious, I told you!!Read it, it's really funny.
www.congress.org.in/manifesto.doc
And this is what they had to say about the Leftists,
Third Front - a recipe for chaos
“There is also the so-called Third Front, a grouping of opportunistic parties. These parties have neither consistency nor clarity. They have neither competence nor commitment. This Front, grounded in the politics of convenience, is nothing but a platform for personal ambitions. It speaks of "alternative polices" without spelling out what these alternatives are. Parties of the Third Front do one thing when they are in power and quite another when they are rejected by the people.
The Left Parties, who are prime movers behind the so-called Third Front, supported the Congress-led UPA government for over four years. They attempted to exercise authority without taking on any responsibility. At every step, they violated the discipline, restraint and sobriety so very essential for running a coalition smoothly. At every step, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, briefed them on all important issues. The Left Parties withdrew their support on the issue of the civilian nuclear agreement even though it had been negotiated and concluded on our own terms. They adamantly refused to listen to reasoned arguments that convincingly demonstrated that the agreement was in India's supreme national interest.
The Left Parties and their present partners pride themselves on being secular. On the contrary, it may be recalled that they had actively aligned with the BJP in the past. They are, in fact, responsible for the electoral growth of the BJP.”
Ha!! I am so sure that the BJP's manifesto will be as entertaining!
~Jay
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The co-travellers...
Dearest Datta,
There has always been a hint of the writer in you - Ofcourse leaving out the last point, the others were merely catalyzed through some form of extreme inebriation of the rational mind (I am hoping it's just the liquor)
I found the research on Menelaus compelling. I also tried to draw some analogy, not metaphorically, just logically out of Menelaus and Ju**id.I don't know, but somehow still, to him the heterosexual tag does not really fit the bill. I can reasonably argue today, on that very front, how and why J**n frequented his place, unsuspecting. Anyway, my guess is that you out of all people are savouring only the mascara and not the cologne.
Now, from where we set out, was a question - Directly implying whether the brain (aka material world) must abdicate and let the souls/morals/principles have a chance?
This is what happened:
A friend told me that he was too lazy to go and vote.
Baneful to the country, isn't it? Considering the already brittle fabric of democracy here, can we afford such blitheness? To us, its trifling, because we happen to be in the (I am not very sure of the Statistics) 24-25% of the population in terms of affluence/eruditeness, whatever you may want to call it, but to the rest of the75% of India, it makes a lot of difference.
Preponderant - yes in terms of the numbers and just that, but really, tell me how much is the Government really doing to really make these people "count"?
The 80/20 principle is ubiquitous, even in the context of elections in India.
A ramified society, financially, socially, intellectually. If the English used us against us, what do you think these elaborate poll mandates are all about? After all, 80 year old politicians have learnt from the English and are still carrying on the legacy, ignominiously.
And then, when on a train, I tell my co-passengers ( A commander in the Indian navy, A sub-inspector serving the last four years of his service with the UP Police and a young Civil Engineer) that maybe Mr. Karat is not wrong afterall, maybe there is a need for us to be moderately communist, they just flip out!!Can you tell me, why would three well-read, mature people just discount the mere idea of mild socialism?
1) Equality
2) Freedom
3) Against Exploitation
4) Religion
5) Cultural
6) Educational
7) Constitutional remedies
I am sure we all remember these; these are the Rights we have.
How about the duties? One of the duties is "To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women."Promote brotherhood? Hah! What a bloody joke? We are used to servants, helpers, waiters, rickshaw pullers and the likes, and this is India, where these people do not get even an iota of respect that they deserve only for the sheer hard work they put in.
We cannot let go of our premonitions about losing out to these people who are gradually rising. The same goes for the entire Global population which might not like India rising the way it is.
And what are we doing about it?? Contributing in ANY way?? NO
Now tell me, do you see where I am heading with this? Convoluted is it?
Actually, it is all inter-related. If I were to calculate the correlation factor between our own indifference and the putrid condition of the country, it sure would cross 0.95.
We aren’t able to let go of what we have. We sure are ambitious but at the same time we just cannot relinquish the power.
We as politicians, as the aam aadmi, as everyone we know, just cannot let go.
So, let me ask again, is there anything, at all, that you would kill for?Or die?
There has always been a hint of the writer in you - Ofcourse leaving out the last point, the others were merely catalyzed through some form of extreme inebriation of the rational mind (I am hoping it's just the liquor)
I found the research on Menelaus compelling. I also tried to draw some analogy, not metaphorically, just logically out of Menelaus and Ju**id.I don't know, but somehow still, to him the heterosexual tag does not really fit the bill. I can reasonably argue today, on that very front, how and why J**n frequented his place, unsuspecting. Anyway, my guess is that you out of all people are savouring only the mascara and not the cologne.
Now, from where we set out, was a question - Directly implying whether the brain (aka material world) must abdicate and let the souls/morals/principles have a chance?
This is what happened:
A friend told me that he was too lazy to go and vote.
Baneful to the country, isn't it? Considering the already brittle fabric of democracy here, can we afford such blitheness? To us, its trifling, because we happen to be in the (I am not very sure of the Statistics) 24-25% of the population in terms of affluence/eruditeness, whatever you may want to call it, but to the rest of the75% of India, it makes a lot of difference.
Preponderant - yes in terms of the numbers and just that, but really, tell me how much is the Government really doing to really make these people "count"?
The 80/20 principle is ubiquitous, even in the context of elections in India.
A ramified society, financially, socially, intellectually. If the English used us against us, what do you think these elaborate poll mandates are all about? After all, 80 year old politicians have learnt from the English and are still carrying on the legacy, ignominiously.
And then, when on a train, I tell my co-passengers ( A commander in the Indian navy, A sub-inspector serving the last four years of his service with the UP Police and a young Civil Engineer) that maybe Mr. Karat is not wrong afterall, maybe there is a need for us to be moderately communist, they just flip out!!Can you tell me, why would three well-read, mature people just discount the mere idea of mild socialism?
1) Equality
2) Freedom
3) Against Exploitation
4) Religion
5) Cultural
6) Educational
7) Constitutional remedies
I am sure we all remember these; these are the Rights we have.
How about the duties? One of the duties is "To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women."Promote brotherhood? Hah! What a bloody joke? We are used to servants, helpers, waiters, rickshaw pullers and the likes, and this is India, where these people do not get even an iota of respect that they deserve only for the sheer hard work they put in.
We cannot let go of our premonitions about losing out to these people who are gradually rising. The same goes for the entire Global population which might not like India rising the way it is.
And what are we doing about it?? Contributing in ANY way?? NO
Now tell me, do you see where I am heading with this? Convoluted is it?
Actually, it is all inter-related. If I were to calculate the correlation factor between our own indifference and the putrid condition of the country, it sure would cross 0.95.
We aren’t able to let go of what we have. We sure are ambitious but at the same time we just cannot relinquish the power.
We as politicians, as the aam aadmi, as everyone we know, just cannot let go.
So, let me ask again, is there anything, at all, that you would kill for?Or die?
Datta...as always 80% funny, 20% senseless..
Jay,
Let's deal one at a time,
1. You got an internship at ########, so I learn from your email id.Also suggestive that you are in ##### and are intern ##.
2. Menelaus as you would have noticed throughout the film Troy (2004),exhibits an indomitable urge of shouting at people's faces, particularly if the recipient is a male. The associated literature of ancient fictional works, Troy in our case, depicts hints of confused sexuality. Referring to the cliché “the actor has to step into to the character heis playing"- Thus the hypothesis can be deduced - Brendon Gleeson isn’t utterly heterosexual (in a simpler term Ol' Brendon loves the pole...also aka ass pirate).
3. The moral dilemma presented in the film is contingent to the events running up to the hypothetical "Kill". To save yourself, yes, To save others, yes again. (Feeding yourself is well within the ambits of saving yourself from the global threat called hunger)However the physical act of killing, as outrageous as it may appear, can be strikingly different from the metaphor "kill". eg- "Ufff maar hidaloge" , "Maar dala" (Devdas, 2002)Subscribers of the re-birth theory would suggest that killing is an average action, almost inconsequential(ref- AKS,2001 "na koi marta hai nakoi maarta hai...mai nahi keheta tumhare geeta me likha hai"), like brushing your teeth, because you'd be popping out screaming your lungs out in the next clinic around the corner. This however has further implications on abortion rules, that of course is a different point ofcontention.
4. Meat is, in its meaning and sense synonymous to flesh, and hence the satisfaction derived from each. Hypocrites can take a walk, Yes I would give up my life for my faith in carnal pleasures; beef/lamb/goat or otherwise. (PS: lean meat often comes with a strong flavour of cosmetics/mascara)5. And this doesn’t necessitate me to add a point, however will mention for the sake of solemnity; a well construed introspection on matters of profound philosophy requires an equivalent question. Thanks for triggering the thought.Yours truly,
Let's deal one at a time,
1. You got an internship at ########, so I learn from your email id.Also suggestive that you are in ##### and are intern ##.
2. Menelaus as you would have noticed throughout the film Troy (2004),exhibits an indomitable urge of shouting at people's faces, particularly if the recipient is a male. The associated literature of ancient fictional works, Troy in our case, depicts hints of confused sexuality. Referring to the cliché “the actor has to step into to the character heis playing"- Thus the hypothesis can be deduced - Brendon Gleeson isn’t utterly heterosexual (in a simpler term Ol' Brendon loves the pole...also aka ass pirate).
3. The moral dilemma presented in the film is contingent to the events running up to the hypothetical "Kill". To save yourself, yes, To save others, yes again. (Feeding yourself is well within the ambits of saving yourself from the global threat called hunger)However the physical act of killing, as outrageous as it may appear, can be strikingly different from the metaphor "kill". eg- "Ufff maar hidaloge" , "Maar dala" (Devdas, 2002)Subscribers of the re-birth theory would suggest that killing is an average action, almost inconsequential(ref- AKS,2001 "na koi marta hai nakoi maarta hai...mai nahi keheta tumhare geeta me likha hai"), like brushing your teeth, because you'd be popping out screaming your lungs out in the next clinic around the corner. This however has further implications on abortion rules, that of course is a different point ofcontention.
4. Meat is, in its meaning and sense synonymous to flesh, and hence the satisfaction derived from each. Hypocrites can take a walk, Yes I would give up my life for my faith in carnal pleasures; beef/lamb/goat or otherwise. (PS: lean meat often comes with a strong flavour of cosmetics/mascara)5. And this doesn’t necessitate me to add a point, however will mention for the sake of solemnity; a well construed introspection on matters of profound philosophy requires an equivalent question. Thanks for triggering the thought.Yours truly,
Letters....India elections - 2009
Good Morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, I watched this one movie yesterday called In Bruges.It's about two hitmen who are sent on a vacation to Bruges(Belgium). The kingpin wants one of them (Colin Farrell) dead (Farrell had accidently shot a young boy earlier and the boss wanted Farrell dead 'on principle'.
Anyway, as the other hitman Brendon Gleeson (the guy who played Menelaus in Troy - Helen's husband) is unable to kill his own friend Farrell, the Gangster boss comes to Bruges to do the job himself.Of course, he shoots both of them - Farrell and Gleeson. However, in the process, he also accidently shoots a dwarf - Jimmy, whois an actor wearing a boy's school uniform.The gangster boss sees the headless body of the dwarf and thinks it's achild he killed, shoots himself - on principle.
Now what this movie has done is made me think about two things:
1) How many ideologies/principles in the world exist for which we would kill?
2) Or die?
Of course Datta would give up his life for meat, but then that's adifferent subject altogether.
~Jay
~Jay
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