168 Hours Bygone

Yes the title is inspired by Danny Boyle's 127 hours. It was an eventful week indeed with the second most powerful mans visit ( not 1st any more as its taken by Hu Jintao Chinese President ), spate of resignations, dismissals etc.

He came, He saw and HE definitely conquered the imagination of a nation for an entire week. The media did an exhaustive coverage beginning from the touch down to the movement he left Indian soil. It was followed with the usual bickering on Michelle's clothes, shopping basket, the food they ate, the comments they made and what not. Everybody got their share of the limelight from the school kids to the Bollywood, to the Indian Industry's Big wigs. Amir Khan was complimented on the roles he played, on how they danced to one of his popular tunes, the president was complimented on the equine beauties at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

The speech given at the Parliament was a master piece in itself, he made it a point to touch all our weaknesses, we wanted to be praised and he gave it in truck loads. Gandhi, Ambedkar, Tagore, Zero, Pakistan's animosity, Our aspirations for the UNSC seat, Our ambition as a global Power. It came with the usual attempts to speak Hindi, dollops of praises for our social welfare schemes, our democracy's vibrancy. It almost felt like we have emerged over night ( from emerging), like nothing is impossible for us as a nation.

Lets keep aside all the superficial multifaceted PR stunts. What are the larger implications for India ? For this we have to see Obama as a wounded Lion, loosing legitimacy at his home ground, feeling the heat of a resurgent Dragon at its door step, need for financial stimulus, his need for job generation in the domestic market and above all the need to resurrect the fading image of America as the legitimate super power. Obama is a smart politician and a smarter statesman. He has given us so many promises but nothing as a concrete contribution to the country. A promise on support to UNSC seat, which is useless with a unanimous support from the other big 4, condemning Pakistan is of no value unless they act on his words, and as he mentioned the role of an emerged power comes with more responsibility ( sounded so much like copied from spider man heheh ).

His suggestion that we have to condemn bankrupt military rules like the one in Myanmar is a double edged sword, we have cultivated Myanmar as an ally with lot of effort and investment and if we condemn them they will side with China increasing our trouble in the north east. This is when america is known for its backing to many infamous demagogic rulers like Saddam Hussain ( during his ethnic cleansing time). I do not support The junta in any way, but a more diplomatic intervention to restore democracy would be in the interest of India.

Let us not succumb to the hegemonic overtures of America and distance our geo politically strategic ally. We do need an American backing to stand up to the Dragon's might, we need them for more acceptability among our eastern peers. He came here for the money and he has got more than what he expected, billions of dollars of orders in military, aviation, power generation etc. We have got nothing but a sense of well being and bucket loads of compliments.

Tc

Post Script

UPA's initiative to sack Kalmadi and remove Ashok Chavan was a welcome effort but as the big fish Mr. A Raja ( who has apparently cost the exchequer 1.76 lakh crore !!! in lost revenue) who is equally condemned by the CAG, the supreme court and his colleagues is still in power. the action looks just like a eyewash to distract us from the reality.

Ramblings !!

I have lot of things in mind to write, but yet undecided about this perturbing thoughts. Should i call it ramblings of a hypocrite, concern of a citizen or still indifference to the indifference of the majority ?

Paul the octopus is no more with us, now we don't have the psychic prowess of an amphibian to guide us in the future. He could have helped in the impending crisis in Karnataka, the upheaval in Kashmir or even on how much money was misappropriated at the CWG.

I have always felt pride about my years spent in the IT hub of India, the pleasant, beautiful Bangalore. Been proud to say that i studied in Bangalore, proud about the integrity of business leaders like Narayanmurthy and Azim Premji, always associated the state with positive things. But now off late things have been going bad in fact worse than ever. The political scenario in the state has been going from bad to worse, rivaling the hooligans in UP and Bihar. The corruption has redefined the idea of corruption. the politicians have touched a new low where you cant trust anybody. The question is does the people in Karnataka deserve such a leadership, can we leave the future of Bangalore in the hands of these so called leaders. The IT capital definitely deserves better.

Now something that disturbs me more is the looming case of sedition against Arundathi Roy. One of the most fundamental aspect to the Indian democracy is our freedom to speech and the freedom of expression. This freedom entitles an individual the right to speak his/her mind even if the notion is not palpable to the majority. Voltaire said it so rightly and this is something we have to abide by now "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it"

the majority who criticize her have not read a single word written by her. Her opinions are based on facts and figures, conclusions come from the result of lot of exposure travelling and experience. Why do people have to always go with the media version. Try to form an informed opinion based on personal observations. Don't let the idiot box guide your thoughts. If you can be told what you can see and read then it follows that you can be told what to think and say !!.

The majority need not be always right, the thundering applause may not be always just it might silence the truth but not forever. We need people like A Roy forming our civil society, giving an alternative opinion or we will have to witness the arrogance of the ruling class. Unquestionable power is very dangerous too. History can give us good lessons on that.

I know just like my thoughts the post too is disoriented, just venting out my fury at the world. Reminds me of another Voltaire quote " common sense is not so common " . I will end this post with one of my favorite quote

"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget." — Arundhati Roy

tc

How i Lost it, Keep Loosing it and More !!

I have been pondering for long on whether to write this post, will i sound preposterously arrogant, as an obsessive narcissist or worse will i sound like yet another among the endless true stories published by the billion dollar weight loss industry. Then i thought about the pros, cons, implications, impact on my so called virtual image hehehe and finally decided ,heck i dont give a damn what u think about this. A decisive factor, was a friendly advice given by a good friend, when u have the opportunity to flaunt or boast dont miss it, because they rarely do come. So no more bull shit, here it is, How i lost 20 Kg in 4 Months ?

Disclaimer
Its odd to start a post with disclaimers, but then

This post will not end with a hyperlink to a dummy site asking you for your credit card details to get the magic ingredient.
I have not engaged in any invasive surgeries or used the assistance of weight loss drugs.
Iam not, and i reiterate iam not, going to put up before and after photos hehe
I do not intend to sound arrogant or snobbish, if i do it was truly unintentional

Weight loss is something close to most of us, either we are fat, we have friends who are obscenely fat, relatives, family members, iam very sure everyone of you have someone close to you who is suffering from this problem. The issue is more serious than we think, it is one of the major reasons for most of the health issues surrounding. I go to an extreme extend by believing that, there is a big conspiracy theory, involving, the fast food industry, the health care industry and the weight loss industry, its their bread, butter, butter chicken and more.

My fascination and battle with weight loss is pretty old, for some of you who have been reading my blog, i keep mentioning it in my new year resolutions year after year. I had reached a point where my weight was my identity, my strength and my weakness. I have tried to loose it before, failed, retried, failed again. It was a vicious cirlce, a new diet, a new exercise regime, a new surrender and more weight to add on.

I used to boast to people that see the day i really truly decide to loose this, i will loose it. Even though it was a half hearted challenge, somewhere deep inside i believed i could do it ( clique). I started by reading blogs, searching on google " how to loose weight", "couch to 5K" etc. Then came across the book 'Don't lose your mind, lose your weight' by Rujuta Diwekar ( not endorsing her), it busted a lot of myths on weight loss, gave a more rational, realistic look at it. Try reading it, could help you.

Then just like in the movies and books one fine day i decided, Ok thats it this has to end here. Precisely first week of June 2010 ( i know i sound like Subodh in dil Chahtha hai hehehe ). I joined a gym, took a 3 month package ( have had terrible experiences with 1 Year Membership), treading the path carefully and rationally. Told my instructor about my plan, he had this sly sarcastic smile, one more bakra this month heheh.

I have done only few things, but i have done it consistently, very religiously and put all my heart and soul into it. I started using the treadmill, and the cross trainer, starting slowly and increased the levels consistently. I have not used any other machines, no ab crunchers, no dumbbells etc. I did the stair climbing exercise ( we had a 10 step stairs, leading to the exit, did 10 reps up and down on it everyday), did the jumping exercise ( yes the one we used to do early mornings in school PT, started with 3 sets of 30 and progressed to sets of 100 ). This is it nothing more nothing less, i did this everyday 6 days a week for 4 months, yes iam 100 % sure i havent missed a day. On the treadmill and cross trainer i progressed to do a combined 6 Km per day by the third month.

So you might be assuming, i did nothing about my obsessive eating disorders, no weight loss is complete without controlling, reshaping your diet. For all the people who know how badly food is my weakness, how some of us get up in the morning and ponder about the days dinner plan heheh. How food has become a hobby, a stress buster, a celebratory event, a get together agenda and more. Many of us have eaten what an average man eats in 2 life times, we would have eaten enough chicken to be listed as a Hitler, responsible for mass genocide among the chicken world. I have done it all, the quintessential carnivore, have eaten multiple types of meat in the same sitting, gulped it down with sugary aerated drinks, finished the deal with a hot molten chocolate and more. We have eaten as a competition challenging who'll eat more ( i remember maxing a KFC unlimited meal to the extend that the waiter was apprehensive to come towards our side) ( have been cruelly denied the umpteenth helping in the so called unlimited Buffets)

So what did i do about it, i reshaped my attitude, outlook towards food, i changed it from gluttony to subsistence, from bloating myself to immobility to eating enough to survive. Realised the fact that even if the food is free, my body is mine heheh. Changed my attitude fro " Living to eat to Eating to live" i know it sounds absurd and unrealistic, but i realised if i go like this i will have to stop doing this some day, why not today ? For the first two months i shifted to a minimal non veg (if any only in curries, tandoori etc, no oil fried), completes abstinence from all aerated drinks, chocolates, needless snacks etc. All of a sudden i had a deep void in my life, so much more extra time hehe. I realised how a spend a good part of my day on food ( eating, thinking, planning, criticising, praising, advising, recommending and more). After the second month when i started seeing progress i allowed myself complimentary treats of occasional Pepsi, or a bar of chocolate,an ice cream etc.

Now i eat only if i have to eat, if i see a tempting spread i remind myself " i have seen it all, i have eaten it all, whats the fun in it, i have eaten enough for couple of life times". I dont clear out the plates and dishes sympathising about wasted food ( better option order or take helpings more judiciously). If i have eaten more during lunch, i skip the dinner with just a juice, fruits or salad. If i foresee an impending showdown for dinner i eat less the other meals. Another useful tip that has helped me is drinking 2 glasses of water before and after the meal, will fill up your stomach faster, another one i haven't mastered but has a lasting impact is eating dinner before 7 try it, really helps ( will feel difficult for the first few days).

Above all these meticulous actions, your heart and spirit plays an important role, i quote from the alchemist " If you really desire something with all your heart, the whole world will conspire with you to get it" believe this, its not a clique, its not something you should neglect. Think about it every moment, I will loose it, i will loose all this flab, this belly ( CPWD-continuous pregnancy without delivery, for guys only heheeh). Think about all the moments you have been ridiculed, been teased, been left out, been told that we dont have your size. Pick out a set of the best insults you have experienced, relish it, relive it, it helps, it is a big motivating force. Think about all those good clothes you want to fit into, how you want to flaunt the stylish leather belt hidden under your belly hehehe.

Loosing weight is more than loosing weight, its about regaining confidence, about reshaping your image. Its about more life, more time, more of everything. I know the post is a bit too long from my usual ones, given a choice i could write a book on it. I have actually lost 22 kg ( wont mention before and after weights), lost almost 6 inches (15 cms) of my trouser size, shifted from XXL to L in shirt size.

You dont need branded weight loss clinics or expensive drugs or invasive bariatric surgery or liposuction to loose weight. Its there in you you just have to find it, its your attitude. My journey is not over yet, it never will be too, i plan to loose another 6-7 kgs more, hope i succeed. Even if i gain back to my previous self, this will remain as a testimony to my journey to weight loss.
Do comment, do read, do share it with others to whom it might help, do tag and tell them how someone you know did it. ( my success has actually influenced people to start afresh in their war against the bulge). I was even planning on what i will write in a post if i succeeded,Do write to me if you need to know more.

tc

Common Wealth Games: Playing Games with Common Man's Wealth !

Corruption has become a part of our lives, we have started accepting it as a necessity like food and shelter. The latest scam to be unearthed is the one to deal with the upcoming common wealth games, everyone has accepted that the process was corrupt, the only argument is to ascertain the amount. Speculations vary from 40,000 Crore to 100,000 Crore + , the peculiar thing is that every new scam has the ability to out do the previous one, we forgive and forget the previous hungama like it was nothing compared to the latest one.

Chetan Bhagat in his recent column in a popular newspaper aptly compared an Indian citizen to a battered wife who is expected to hide her bruises and praise her husband ( in this case the games organisers). Look at all the recent scams, The Spectrum Scam, The CWG Scam, The Arunachal PDS Scam, The Sukna Land Scam etc. the list can go on and on. We have become mute spectators to a game played with our money and where we always end up the loser's.

Another aspect to the whole CWG issue is that whether we need such a sporting extravaganza in dire times of fiscal prudence, when more than half our populace is going to the bed with an empty stomach. It is just a tamasha organised for the Middle class by the organisers which is yet another opportunity for them to steal money. In the name of the Games a major part of the capital has been dug up and disfigured which doesn't looks like to be fixed any time soon.

Lets get our priorities right why do we need such colossal events when we haven't even made an effort to develop world class athletes ( 1 or 2 medals in an Olympics from a Billion Plus cannot be considered) . Let us emulate China in this case, they had boycotted from international sporting events for decades till they developed world class athletes. And what about all our deficiencies in the development front lets get those fixed first before such circuses.

We have started accepting corruption as a structural fault like some cheap Chinese watch which will stop working, or a loaf of bread that will expire in few days. If money is involved corruption has to be there too. It is our mistake to expect otherwise, we don't expect men with integrity exist or even if they do they are a paradox in the society. From the police constable on the road to the our sacrosanct judiciary, everyone is alleged of corruption.

Even our cinema has stopped depicting straightforward heroes, the new hero is the one who is able to manipulate the system to his favour, not one who challenges it. Recently came across a Telugu Movie called " Leader" which was different from the stereotypical ones (take alook at it ).
So what will happen to the games, we will have to wait and watch. But a statement made by Mani SHankar Iyer could give you a hint of the things to come " India is the only country where you find an international airport is build for 9,000 Crores and you find the ceiling leaking" .
One thing is sure and predictable we will have bigger scams and more hullaboo, we are definitely being regularly entertained what if it is at our own cost ?

tc

Do We Need the Civilian Nuclear Deal ?

What is the big fuss about the civil nuclear agreement and the nuclear liability bill. Do we really need this with such a huge risk of possible nuclear accidents and shortage of nuclear fuel. The sad thing is that we badly need this deal at any cost or we will be in big trouble in 2-3 decades.

In a country that is growing to be an economic super power, competing with world powers in technology and services, electricity is as important as water or the air we breath. Lets not forget about the burgeoning middle class and the farm sector dependent on pump wells. There re states in our country having 18-20 hours of power cut, or its easier to say 4-6 hours of availability.

Quick Facts

Current Power Generation - 165,000 MW

Current source of Energy- Thermal (coal) 70 %, Hydro- 15 % , Others - 15 %

Total Potential of Hydro - 145000 MW

Estimated life span of Coal Reserves - 30 years ( as per Geological survey)

Projected energy Requirement (2030-31) - 800,000 MW

We have been able to generate only 165,000 MW in the last sixty years and that too heavily depending on the thermal power plants which is running on depleting source of fuel. At this rate we will be able to generate thermal energy only for the next three decades. So the government is telling us we need the nuclear deal but what it is not telling us is the power vacuum that we are going to experience in a few decades.

In order to ensure our energy security and a shift from the undependable thermal power production we need the international technology and support in the nuclear power sector. If we start now we can have a healthy shift in our power structure by 2050 !!. That doesn't mean we have to blindly accept any clause that jeopardize our population. We do not want to experience multiple Bhopal fiasco's anymore.

Clubbed with this is our inefficiency in processing and distribution, we have an abysmal 30% pilferage of power unheard of anywhere else in the world. And to add to the mess, the opportunistic politician who promises to give free power to farmers once he wins. The logical question is How can you give something free that you do not get for free. Along with the nuclear power generation what we need more is effective power distribution and a disciplined approach to power consumption.

tc

Pax Indica - The Resurgence of An Economic Might

It might sound like a folk lore now when we hear about India's glorious past and in particular the economic might it commanded over the world. It is believed that in early 18th century and 17th century India accounted for nearly 35% of the world GDP much more than the substantial 16% America accounts for today. Volumes have been written about our wealth and some historical travelers compared it to the legendary eldorado.

From our glorious past we were subjected to a sequence of incomparable exploitation. When our wealth, pride and glory was systematically eroded and fed to the colonial masters. The colonial rule acted as a sponge draining all our wealth from the Ganga and depositing on the banks of Thames. We had centuries of exploitative regimes which plundered us and left us in abject poverty. An imperial dominant fought wars and expanded colonies world over with our wealth.

The first four decades of our independence was subjected to a controlled regime of economic socialism, when our erstwhile rulers were drawn to the glamour of pro USSR economic models of developments. We improvised by gifting the world with the five year plan model of planned controlled development. We concentrated so much on heavy industries, big dams etc. and left out vital needs like infrastructure, inclusive growth strategies eradicating poverty, unemployment etc.

When our economy was on the verge of collapse due to trade imbalances, short lived unplanned economic endeavors, we were forced to open up our economy under the legendary stewardship of Mr. Manmohan Singh. The irony is that the socialist china had opened it's market to foreign players two decades prior to us, for them the colour of the cat was not important, only whether it catches the mouse made sense.

the last two decades of economic independence ( i would call 1991 was our economic independence from an authoritative state control) have shown wonders in our country. Unlike the other doom mongers ridiculing all things associated with new economic policy, i would call it as a big step forward. the progress that we have made in major social indicators like poverty, literacy, IMR, MMR etc have been majorly influenced by this open up.

The last 2 years have been the most glorious so far in our economic history. When the world economies tumbled like a house of play cards, we stood our ground and graciously grew at a remarkably robust 7 % averagely. When the economic superpowers were shocked with the onslaught of never ending economic crisis, we were comfortably advocating and implementing ground breaking welfare policies like NREGA, Right to food bill etc.

The British are rightly justified in discontinuing the yearly economic assistance provided to us on the ground that a country embarking on ultra modern space missions and touted as the largest consumer of weaponry no longer needs assistance. I consider this as a gesture of acceptance. on rising to the global platform of economic super powers.

To add more glory to our prominence our supremo is being respected world over for his economic acumen, his fiscal prudence and above all the grace with which he handles himself. An amusing anecdote mentions an international journalist comparing his knowledge on economics with the rest of the leaders combined at the G20 and still he would outsmart them by far. And recently when Obama mentioned that " when Manmohan sing Speaks the whole world listens" it was a moment of pride for the entire nation.

Our mighty corporate behemoths comparable in power and size to any global giants have been on a shopping spree off late. Acquiring whatever was on sale, i would call is a case of reverse imperialism. Ironically our historical exploiter the English East India Company was recently acquired by an Indian. The popular attitude among our corporates has been, "name your price we will buy it " for some time now.

Economic crisis can have such adverse affects that countries like Britain resorting to extreme acts of diplomatic sycophancy to improve bilateral relationships. What else would you call the recent visit of a British premier. I think we have to get used to this adulation, this constant recognition as a shrewd and prudent economic power house.

And finally with a new global symbol to our national currency to enter the elite club of Dollar, Pound, Euro and Yen. We have given a face to our might, a voice to our hopes and an identity to the billion dreams in our nation.

Tc

addendum: i know it was too much in favor of the brighter side of life ignoring all that is wrong in our country, next post will be dedicated to the darker side of the story.

Cutting off Hands / Honour killing What is happening ?

Before its too late to comment, before it becomes too common to notice, and before we become too indifferent to this gruesome brutality let me voice my views. First i thought why should i even bother to comment on whats happening, but what hppens if all of us keep quiet ? what happens if no one is bothered ? EDdmund bruke the Noted statesman once said " All that is necessary for triumph of evil is for good man to do nothing " , this wouldn't sound more apt any other day. Iam not advocating my righteousness out here, iam bringing your attention to the lawlessness in the society.

The news of the public amputation of the professors hand was a shocker, how can this be happening in our state where there is a relatively higher sense of morality than any other place in India. I agree to the fact that the protaganist out here had committed a grevious crime by hurting the sentiments of a religions pious followers, but the concerned authority had acted very appropriately and criminal investigations was proceeding against him. No justification can be given to the assailants for doing such a henious act, we have a very commendable system of jurisprudence present in our country, we do not live in a jungle, here in this modern society what prevails is principles of natural justice.

By the acts of the sparingly few fanatics the whole community is getting condemned . The only silver lining out here is the solidarity with which the civilised community reacted by standing strongly against it. The majority still has its conscience intact.Fanaticsm or violence under the banner of any organised ideology should not be tolerated under any circumstances.

We dont want to be talibanised or dictated on morality. Its not only the extremism down south that is disturbing. The exessive morality imposed on the name of honour is quite appalling. Whose honour are you protecting by slaughtering your loved ones and in front of whom ? The judgements of these pseudo self righteous guardians of social moral sounds quiet amusing. And the fact that there are people adhering to such archaic senseless laws and customs even today is even more surprising .

Out of pure curiosity i had delved into the history of this controversy, in ancient India where discrete polygamy was widely practised and villagers went out for trade and commerce into far off villages for months together, there was a risk of cross sibling nuptials taking place. The father could be absent to stop such a disastrous thing to happen, so a law was adopted by the dominant banning intra village marriages. Another version says that it was brought out to limit the dilution of lineage and even to avoid pilferage of community wealth into outsiders hands. These circumstances are irrelevant today.

We had outrageous social customs like sati and child marriage practised in India even till the begining of the last century. It was a socailly accepted practise and highly in practise in many parts, but it was not right and our policy makers had the audacity to abolish it from our society, today we are daunted by a similiar evil. Have you ever wondered why men were not forced to jumb into the pyre of his wife upon her death, because as usual the customs were evolved by the dominant oppressive patriarchy.

It feels like we are deteriorating as human beings day by day, enforcing jungle justice in day to day lives. More than the cruelty of this miniscule minority, it is the acquiescence of the majority to such practices that is disturbing. How many hands will be amputated, how many innocent youth will be lynched to death before the society will wake up. Lets hope that we will not fall pray to their evil plot and live long enough to see a just and tolerant society.

Tc

Do Women Really get turned on by Axe Effect ?

Prior Script

Ages have passed since i have posted something on this portal, yes iam alive and kicking, yes i still look forward to blogging and yes definitely expect your honest reviews on it.

Off late i have been bugges by all the deodrant advertisemnts portrayng women as someone who runs behind fragrance and subjected to unlimited versions of lustful beings turned out to an outright raunchy mode on being exposed to certain peculiar smells. The versions have become so monotonous and predictive that everytime a model opens a deodrant bottle to spray you can expect women coming through the roof, door, walls and god knows where else, or undressing to continous bouts of spraying.

It was quite amusing initially and actually compelling to see the pied piper version of axe effect with an entire town of women following suit to his odour. It was also ok when they came up with multiple versions but quite amusing versions and i felt the choclate boy was also interesting . But it is not ok to see every tom dick and harry emulating their concept on and on and on without making any considerablealterations to the theme and even the basic structure. Cant people come up with any original idea in this regard.

From here we go to the original story " Do women really get tuned on by the axe effect ?" . I feel for all those millions of mislead consumers expecting to get a wink or smile from the girl sitting next to him on exposing his perfumed armpits. This is against the rationality of human conscience we are not living an utopic world where lust can be turned on with a switch. Rather studies have proven that women are attracted to pheromones given out by mans glands are attractive in nature to women.

No iam not advocating all men to quit deodrants, it will definitely be a more difficult world to live then. But wake up to the reality dont be so gullible that any PR team can take advantage of your basic instincts. And women for a change i think you can stop protesting on all the gender discriminations and question the pathetic portrayl of women in deodrant advertisements. You can do better than running behind men like he is the last man alive. Raise your voices against being comodified to the extend of a foot massager or a sauna belt you are more than that to humanity.

I know there are people who dont agree with me on this, people who think why do you give a damn? people who think as long as they show super sexy models in skinpy clothes and women ready to flaunt their clevages on a flick of a coin whats bothering me. Whats bothering me isan entire generation growing up with false ludicrous assumbtions of reality, on turning out to be gullible idiots worsening the extend of consumerism.

Do comment your views on this , if any or else create one make a stand.

tc

I Me Myself

I look myself in a mirror
Unmoved careless he stands
He stands in the midst of all this chaos
Like he doesn’t give a damn

There in the midst of maddening crowd
I stand, i stand lost and confused
The whole world is moving ahead
And yet i stand even without care

The days dawn to dusk as usual
As usual they are again ordinary
Iam living a life without a change
It looks like any other ordinary life

Tomorrow it’s yet another day like today
And when it’s over i will still be the same
My agony my pain will still have its pang
And when it’s over ill still crib about the same

I will still hope for a better day tomorrow
For every mundane day that passes by me
I will still hope for better days and nights
Coz i can hope only till when it’s all the same

-acp

Kerala Consumed 2 Billion $ of Alcohol in 2009 !!!

Yes it is true the people of kerala has consumed 2 Billion Dollars or more of alcohol in 2009. This is a staggering achievement by any means. We should pat ourselves in the back for arriving at such an interesting figure. The official sales by the beverages corporation ( State Supplier? organised Sector ) put the sales at 4500 crores and this does not include the major chunk of supply by the unorganised sector which includes hotels, restaurants, Bar's, the toddy shops, the arrack shops, military quota hehehe and more. if you consider these outlets it could contribute to nothing less than double the sales of the organised sector, for a comfortable analysis lets give them an equal share so the total sales can amount to 9-10,000 crores.

If you go in detail about the figure, the population, the demographic breakup and all the figure can be quiet revealing. Out of the 30 million population of the state more than half are women ( the only state in the country to have a favorable social indicator) so we have roughly 15 million men ( not that all women are teetotaller) and if you look at children below 15 and men above 65 ( assuming they consume less or totally abstain from it) lets assume them to be 3 million. So lets assume out of this around 5 million people are alcoholic or at least consume on social occasion. So the 2 billion worth of alcohol is consumed by 5 million people .

That gives us a figure of 400 $ worth of alcohol consumption i.e. per capita consumption of alcohol at 400$. This you should consider in a state with per capita income less than 300 $. This is really alarming to say the least. In terms of our ranking we stand first in the country in terms of alcohol consumption even beating the party manic Punjabis. We have clearly outdone everyone by far now.

Alcohol consumption has become a necessity for most of the customers like a social addiction that cannot be stalled. There is an anecdote of how a great leader was suggested by his advisory to ban smoking and drinking in his country and after great thought the leader asked him " if you can find me another activity that generates as much revenue for the state, i will immediately oblige to your wish ". SO it has become more of a necessary evil for the state to sustain its developmental activities. For some states like Punjab 1/3 of its revenue is collected from alcohol sales.

It has become a necessity for the youth to consume, to belong to a certain group, peer pressure etc. In certain group it has become difficult to disclose you don't drink rather than the other way around. People have started assuming and taking for granted such habits in us. The social stigma that was associated to drinking earlier in conservative communities like Muslims have started shifting. We have started recognizing the fact that someone cannot be considered alcoholic if he consumes on selective social occasions.

This has become a social epidemic to say the least ( i know some of you will be grinning now hehehe) and something has to be definitely done to contain this or we will end up like Yemen addicted to qat leaves which has lead to an idle population and a looming water crisis. We have to organize community awareness programs and do social advertising campaigns curtailing the enigma attached with alcohol consumption.

tc

How We Look Different From Our Photos !!!

Iam sure iam not the first one notice this, many of you might have had this odd feeling too. I was inspired to do this post by seeing an original photo of Ambedkar on the latest Outlook edition. The photo looks so different from the popular representation in hoardings and paintings. In them he looks more like Mamooty (southern Super star), may be because he has made an attempt to portray him in a movie.

This kept me thinking and i started researching on various other popular figures, the results are truly shocking a majority have been altered to form an entirely different image. Don't take my comments on face value, try looking through images 50 years before and the ones circulating now.I think this has a lot to do with the emergence of photo shop editing, beautification relevant now. Are we so conceited to hide our real faces or has the fair and lovely bug caught up on this front too.

Iam not talking about the political figures alone here, try looking at the image you have put as profile pictures on Facebook/Orkut/ and the countless other social networking sites. This cannot be tried by people who have put Shahrukh/ Salman/ Hrithik/ John Abraham etc as display images iam pretty sure they will find no resemblances at all heheh. You will be shocked to find that the best possible images pasted will have only 50-75 % resemblance to your real self. And if it is a bad hair day the chances are even remote.

Recently one of my cousin was asked to give his own photo from a government office because the one given by him (whitened/ spot less/ fault less) image had no resemblance to him heheheh. Most of our images specially the good ones will be at least 2-3 year old, before the additional pounds crept on, before the love handles started bulging heheh.

Who are we trying to fool here, What are we trying to prove here ? Iam not looking at my best today but 1 1/2 year ago i was definitely good looking hehhe. Lets accept it we dont look as good as we expect we are, we are not as smart as we think are and yes the fat guy sitting opposite to you is definitely thinner than you. And the seemingly bald guy across the street has more hair than you hehehehe.Iam sure there wont be changes in photos any time soon. We are as hypocritical as we can be, if Susan Boyle can make a difference we should definitely give reality a shot.

P.S
I look better than my photos, the smile is for real and extra pounds have been added virtually to give a more mature look hehhehehe

Why i Hate Social Networking yet bother to Annoy You !!!

Here i am shifting between my home pages on face book and orkut, deciding whether the display photo looks as good as i thought it would when i first placed it there. brooding on whether this virtual social networking is getting boring by the day, the alerts that prompted me to eagerly visit these sites have started to become annoying. whats on my mind deserves to stay in my mind, not to be shouted to a bunch of friends who are as jobless as you are.

The photo updates have started becoming typecast, its either a marriage, a recent trip or sometimes scanned images of old escapades. And the endless games which gives you high IQ ratings if it ever was true you wouldn't be sitting and blabbing on. Its as silly as it can to be to be farming virtually bothered about the non existent black sheep that has entered your non existent field. And then we have the fortune cookies and random questions which can make your day ahead more confusing than it already is.

Take your time to browse through your friend list once in a while and look at all the guilt driven acceptances you have had to make, of people who you rarely know, of some who have common friends, some with cheesy display images. If you seriously reconsider you friend list every other year, you will have to remove a quarter of it. And in the midst of all this orkut is trying to be emulate features on facebook, suggesting people you might know just because you have common friends, your neighborhoods are across the street and evn because your birthdays might come on the same day hehehe.

And of the endless new sites trying to get a share of you wasted time, some offering you hug, a pinch and even a slap. Friends unknowingly requesting you earnestly to join this new freebies. Describing their satisfaction and the endless freebies on offer.

I am yet to decide whether to join Twitter, to be bothered by one more set of user name and passwords. I know its the popular thing to be tweeting now, when iam unable to keep up with blogging how can i do justice to micro blogging. Even Shashi Tharoor is in trouble tweeting , so where do we mere mortals stand a chance. I think iam technically handicapped, i cannot configure the GPRS on my phone, yet to come into terms with 3G and unable to handle basic WIFI settings. Is it virtually aceptable to accept these handicaps, will i be sidelined for more aware and able browsers.

So as usual i have done justice to my confusion my hypocrisy. I have bothered you with my gyan, of which you would have been better if not bothered to read this. So why do i keep visiting the so called social networking sites, I Dont Have an Option !!! hehehe

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