Being Indian: A matter of Pride or Disgust?

In Memoriam

NSG

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Havildar Gajendra Singh

Mumbai Police

Jt. Commissioner (ATS) Hemant Karkare

Ad. Commissioner Ashoke Kamte

Inspector Vijay Salaskar

Sub-Inspector Bapusaheb Durgude

Sub-Inspector Prakash More

ASI Balasaheb Bhonsle

ASI tukaram Gopal Omble

Constable Ambadas Pawar

Constable Arun Chitte

Constable Jayawant Patil

Constable Vijay Khandekar

Constable Yogesh Patil

Other Security Personnel

Inspector Shashank Shinde

Head Constable M.C. Chowdhary

Home Guard Constable Mukesh Jadhav

Constable Rahul Shinde

Are you proud to be an Indian, posed with this question almost each and everyone of us is going to answer in the affirmative. After all don't we possess a rich cultural heritage, hail from a land that gave the world zero and the decimal point, are an emerging superpower with some of the best brains in the world? Indeed what all I said till now is true. But now I would urge you to stop for a moment and reflect. Reflect upon the fact that we hail from a country that has had it's Parliament attacked, doesn't care a bit about meritocracy, whose politicians are hell bent on deepening and indeed creating communal divides just so that they can retain their power, and to top it all, we hail from a country that was besieged by a handful of terrorists for 60 hours on 26/11. Feel disgusted yet? At least I do.

And this is not all. What disgusts me most is that we have come to such a situation that the politicians and the bureucracy of the country no longer care for the life of the citizens of this country. For them one more terrorist attack, more civilian casualties are just mere statistics. All goes as long as they can retain their vote banks.

Our internal security apparatus is a mess. And if we hadn't realized this till now, 26/11 proved it beyond any doubt. Critical intelligence had been ignored in the midst of the inter-agency squabbles. The RAW and the IB blamed the agencies such as the Coast Guard and the Navy for ignoring the intelligence provided while the latter said that intelligence was not actionable. Not actionable? Yeah right. As has been credibly proven, specific intelligence of an imminent attack on the 5 star hotels of the city via the sea route had been passed to the agencies. Intelligence becomes actionable by the ingenuity and the innovative attitude with which it is analyzed. We can't expect the terrorists to send us an invitation letter and requesting us to RSVP to the attack.

Moreover we have been guilty of pushing intelligence reports through just as if they were routine files, not beothering to follow up whether the intelligence has been processed and acted upon or not.

If anything, 26/11 also exposed our utter lack of preparedness to deal with an attack on our nation. With so many agencies around, there was bound to be confusion and it turned into chaos for nobody knew who was in charge! What we needed a cetral authority figure to coordinate our efforts against the terrorists but none was to be found. Our disaster management strategies showed up for what they were: crap.

Our Prime Minister, Dr. Singh, had stated just before 26/11 that we can not afford to be hit again. But we were. What we need now is to wake up from the slumber and realize the mess that we are in. We can't get into any more trouble because we already are in a big one! We need a well equipped and trained police force under the leadership of independent and visionary officers who realize and understand the gravity of the problem that confronts us. And we need to usher in meritocracy. At once! For as an individual who cherishes his life, I want to be sure that it's the best who's working to ensure my safety. I cretainly don't want any dimwit analyzing crucial intelligence just because he happened to be born in a certain family, with a certain lineage. If the powers that be are so concerned about social equlity and undoings the wrongs of the past, let them take a personal initiative. Let their security teams be manned and indeed led by those who ahve been wronged, let their attending doctors be the ones whose forefathers had been oppressed.

India has tremendous potential and the ability to be a world leader. But it remains just that: potential. To harness the potential we need to make certain choices. And it would be these choices that would determine our fate. For didn't Dumbledore, that old wise fellow, said, It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. We can choose to reform our system now, or wait till we are hit again and again, till we collapse. The choice, as I said, is ours. And ours only.

Medley

Being at home means a quite a bit of TV watching for me. Coz unlike in hostel, where u have to struggle to get a view of the screen amongst a lot of prespiring bodies in stuffy environs, its quite comfortable at home. And add to it the delicious snacks being served to you, while you sit and watch TV.. :D

Statistics can sure lie

I was watching this Champions League fixture between Real Madrid and Liverpool and I couldn't help but wonder at the irony.. Madrid were comprehensively beaten 4-0, and one would think that the Madrid goalie had a horrendous outing. Contrary to it Casillas, for me, was the best player on the pitch that day. Had it not been for him, Madrid could have well been defeated by something like 10-0!!

I don't know how often I have judged performances based on the scorecard alone.. Never Again!!!

Ahh.. my bad luck :(

The Indians had been in an ominous form in the Kiwiland. Sachin had already scored a masterful century and in the next match Sehwag has set the ground on fire with his shots as India chased down 200 odd without losing a single wicket! Well it was in this backdrop that I decided to wake up at 6:30 in the morning to catch the final ODI.. Can you even imagine it... Me, waking at that ungodly hour!! Anyways, wake i did. But unfortunately for me first the weather and then the Men in Blue chose to play spoilsport. After a delayed start, the Indian team managed to score a grand total of 149!! Can you believe it? The same team that didn't lose a wicket in nothcing up 200 had been bundled out for a platry 149!!

I jus couldn't believe my luck at that time and had it not been been for HBO, which thankfully was showing Into the Wild, the morning would have been a total disaster.. yay HBO!! :D

p.s. Am not a huge movie buff but a home somehow I do notch up quite a few of them.. these vacations accounted for Erin Brockowich, Into the Wild, Rocky Balboa, and a couple of others.. and haan, even rewatched the Matric and the Pirates... :)

Oh my dear IPL

We all loved the first edition and are eagerly awaiting for the 2nd! SET MAx, the broadcasters have already launched the promotional campagin. However, amongst all this, the very existence of the event remains in doubt. And with the recent reports that there wouldn't be any games in jaipur and Delhi, the very structure and format of the event has been jeopardised. Come on, how can you NOT have matches at these two places... Jaipur, the home of the winners Rajasthan royals. how would it feel if they are not playing their home macthes at Fortress Mansingh? And how would the Nawab of Najafgarh feel playing his home matches in some obscure place in Himachal!!

As the things stand right now, it would be very difficult for the IPL organizers to come up with an event similar to the hugely successful first edition. First and foremost the home and away format has been put in doubt because of the elections and the security concerns owing to the Lahore terrorist attacks.

What I am gonna say now may seem bizzare to some and preposterous to others. But there's a rationale from where its coming. The Elcetion commission could have been more realistic while announcing the schedule of the Lok Sabha elections. While at the face of it, the remark seems blasphemous, it's not. The IPL had already announced the schedule for the macthes. Would it have been too much to expect that the EC would consider the ground realities, both emotional and rational, and schedule the elections after the IPL window? Cricket is a religion in India. And if it comes to a choice between elections and IPL, you need not worry as to which side would this cricket crazy country vote. 

Had it been that the IPL would have announced a conflicting schedule with the Elections, they could and should have been taken to task for it. However what is happening right now is not fair. Its not fair to the players, to the fans and to the organizers. And all this because the EC wanted to be Holier than thou.. 

oops! I should be careful.. recently heard that u cud be sued for ur comments on a blog.. :O!! 

When you want to write on too many things...

Islamic Terrorism and Indian Muslims

Muslims the world over celebrated Eid a couple of days back. It was heartening to see that the Indian ones were quite subdued in their celebrations and that Imams of leading mosques around the country spoke against what is being done in the name of their religion.

India has the largest number of Muslims in any country after Indonesia; yes, even more than Pakistan, the supposed homeland of the Muslims. Indian Muslims are really unique. In any other country, except China, a number of 130 odd million would make them the majority, in India they constitute the minority.

Indian Muslims are also in a position to counter the extremist ideology that forms the foundation of the Islamic terrorism. For quite sometime there has been search for an ideology to counter the extremist one being preached by the Taliban and its likes. The more tolerant, sectarian-violence free Indian Muslim way might just be the answer that we have been looking for.

Of Chief Ministers

I had been following the news about Congress victory in the Rajasthan Assembly elections. It didn't come as a surprise as in the recent past the trend has been to oust the incumbent whenever the opportunity arises. Three days have passed and still there's no consensus on the Chief-Ministerial candidate. Ex-CM Ashok Geholt, the person who led the victorious campaign is the firm favourite. Though he is being opposed by the likes of Sheesh Raam Ola, on the grounds that Gehlot ain't a Jaat. Well now, I don't have any problems as to whether a Jaat becomes the CM or a non-Jaat becomes the CM. The only thing that I got problems with is that the Congress is considering to appoint a Jaat as a deputy CM. Pray tell me, why as the tax payer should I fund the cost of this political gimmick? As if we don't have too many ministers already! The 15% limit that has been put on the size of the Cabinet is being seriously abused. It's high time we brought some structure to our executive.

Another thing which I find ridiculous is Sheesh Raam Ola contesting for the CMship. An 82 year old guy as a first time CM? For Christ's sake, gimme a break! If 60 is deemed old enough for our public servants, shouldn't there be an age bar on the politicians as well? Hon'ble Supreme Court, are we listening?

Civil Services

I had been going through the structure of the Civil Services examination and was surprised by the choice of the optional subjects available. While 23 options to choose from for one optional may sound enough, even a slightly closer look would reveal that they are grossly inadequate. For starters, Computer Science graduates like yours truly are on a disadvantage before we even start the process. Reason: Computer Science is not one of the electives. And neither is EC or IT for that matter. Apparently we don't exist.

Somebody called IAS as the mother of all exams. And indeed it is so. For unlike JEE or CAT, where genius might suffice, IAS examination pattern ensures that you need to have the capacity to carry encyclopedic knowledge in your head if you have to have even the slightest chance of succeding. While it could have been a must-have quality in the earlier days, I don't see any relevance of it now, when all the information is just a click away and when you can generate n number of simulation scenarios as per your requirements. Oh sorry, I forgot, how are the powers to be supposed to know that. After all how can we expect them to know of the internet, when they haven't even heard of Computer Engineers.

Mixed Bag

Hmmm.. its nearly four in the morning. I should be asleep, have a presentation in the morning. But I just cant go to sleep, no, not yet. In what has become almost a ritual, i spend hours on the blogosphere, reading, commenting, reading some more and yeah a bit of writing...

I felt something about quite a few things in the past 24 hours or so. This is going to be a mixed bag of sorts. A few lines of this, a few of that....

~

Joined a group on FB. Something to do with bringing about social change in the wake of the recent attacks. A good initiative. But I have my doubts as to how successful it would be. Anyways, I hope that I am wrong...

~

Sid and I had an account running that stretched back to our second year. Finally its settled today.. :D

The wait is finally over.. yeyeyye.. ;P

~

The past couple of days, my mood threatened to go off again.. again the issues involved were similar. Not even similar, they were the same. I wonder when some people would learn and start to give life it's due...

Live it up folks, you just get one shot at it!!

~

My blog has had an influx of new readers over the last 24 hours... :)

All those who have been reading my ramblings, thank you for your patience and persevearance.. :)

And the ones who have just started.. Welcome.. :)

~

Am loaded!! and loaded bole toh seriously loaded... after a loooonnngg time.. :D

Feels so good... :biggrin:

~

Had a great dinner... more than the food it was the atmosphere. The not so quiet and frank talks. Almost rivalled the fun that I had a couple of days back. Didn't write about it.. but hey.. doesn't 60 pics on one's FB account say something .. ;P

At least one of my dinner companions is bound to read this.. lets keep these dinners rolling.. :)

~

It's finally over in Mumbai. I mourn those who lost their lives in this mindless carnage. But more than that, my heart goes out to those who lost a loved one in these attacks. Death is a one time tyrant, but agony and grief are lifelong plagues... :(

Our armed forces did a commendable job in Mumbai...

I salute the Heroes in Uniform..

Also,

I salute the spirit of the Maximum City... Salaam Bombay!!!

~

Yet Again

They strike again
We bleed again
How long is this gonna last, I wonder
The answer comes,
A scary thought I dread to voice
Until we learn to value human life...

Muted spectators,
That's what we have become
What can we do
Is all we ask
We shrug and move on
That's all we do
But oh, there's a lot more we can do
If only we believe, that
Yes, we can!

Resilience, often mentioned
Would be needed again,
For Bombay bleeds
It's time to grieve
But not to kneel

Big Bashing

Big B has a blog... and he's using it to bash any and everyone... so lets jus tak a leaf outta his book and bash someone! :satan:

a.) The Common Cold virus: the bloody bugger... one of the worst of its kind... why do i have to fall ill everytime i'm home? :S and yeah... u guys guessed it right... its the frustration of dragging a mop everywhere that has led to this bashing.

b.) The Union Govt. : Hmmm... now this is more serious stuff... read recently in the papers that afzal ( the mastermind behind the parliament attack) wants Advani to be the P.M. so that he gets executed and be done with it. This brings us to the question as to why it hasn't happened till now?

Ans: The Union Govt. is appeasing a particular community by procrastinating the execution... Does this mean that the Union Govt. identify that particular community with terrorism? your guess is as good as mine...

Its really a shame that the fellow hasn't been executed yet. And I don't say this because I feel pity towards him. Think of those who lost their loved ones saving the asses of our politicians. the govt. has disrespected and dishonored their memory. Perhaps its would have been better had one of the politicians been hit in the attack. Then they would have realized what it feels like. Wonder how Congress would have reacted had one of their cherished members of the Gandhi clan been injured, or God forbid died in the attack. Would they still have been dilly-dallying? I don't quite think so...

Jaipur Terrorized!

As a dust storm rages through the city, I can not help reflecting upon the much more destructive and threatening storm that had raged through the city yesterday. It was a pleasant evening, slightly cooler than what the norm is during the summer, and I was with my friends, sitting in one of the numerous coffee lounges of the city. Like many others, they too had set up a screen, courtesy the IPL. As we waited for the match to commence, somebody changed the channel to one of the 24 hour news networks. There were a few sighs and protests, but then almost everybody’s attention was drawn to the news flash at the bottom of the screen: ‘2 blasts outside Hanuman Mandir’. Disbelief turned into shock as over the fifteen minutes the number rose from two to five, and the magnitude of what had happened started sinking in. For the first time in its almost three century old history had Jaipur been terrorized. Cell phones started buzzing with anxious parents and relatives enquiring about our whereabouts and asking us to return home immediately. We were among the fortunate few whose calls managed to go through. As the clock ticked, the networks became jammed. The lounge emptied within minutes, and a place buzzing with youngsters had a deserted look in no time. Orders were cancelled, snacks left uneaten as one and all headed to the relative safety of their homes.

Outside it was entire story all together. Coinciding with the office hours, the heavy rush of traffic clogged the roads. A journey that would normally take fifteen minutes took almost double of that time. However even in this madness one thing stood out; Jaipurites hadn’t forgotten how to help fellow beings. At a couple of places where the heavy traffic resulted in minor accidents, the onlookers were ready to step forward and lend a helping hand.

Jaipur had always been a peaceful city. Having lived outside Jaipur for the better part of last three years, I always welcomed the easy going Jaipur life. It had just the right blend. You could enjoy as if in a metro, without being bothered by the hectic pace. Parents didn’t feel alarmed if you returned at 11 or twelve in the night. However it has been going downhill for the past couple of years. Crime has steadily increased, and yesterday’s incident would prove to be the final nail in the coffin.

In hindsight one could say that one should have seen this coming. Its proximity to Delhi, and lax security coupled with a booming economy made Jaipur an ideal target. The most disheartening fact about yesterday was the reaction by the security forces. Though at par with most other places in India, there was a lot of scope for improvement. Till 2 hours after the blasts the major exits out of the city had not been blocked. No directives were issued by the administration as guidelines to the citizens.

Another fact that’s worth mentioning is the strategizing that must have gone in planning these blasts. By no means was it a casual show. The details had been meticulously chalked out. The blasts shook the heart of the Old City and had been aimed at creating communal tension. Hanuman Mandir was chosen on a Tuesday, a day guaranteed to attract the largest number of devotees; and the time of the blasts again in sync with the time of the evening aarti. Though the bombs targeted a number of major areas of the walled city, Ramgunj, a locality densely populated by members of a particular faith was conveniently out of range.

The aura that had surrounded Jaipur has been shattered. Its not that night life would come to an end or the citizens would alter their life style drastically. No, it’s not that. It’s just that it would never be the same again.

The Afghan by Frederick Frosyth

So the master is back! But is he really the master this time? From a debutant, The Afghan would have been considered a superb effort, but coming from the veteran of The Day of the Jackal and The Fist of God, it doesn’t quite arouse the same feelings! The book it seems swings between extremes, on some points one can detect the Forsyth magic at its work, but at others one can feel the lack of attention on the author’s part.

The storyline is current and in sync with the present world situation. It talks of a terrorist threat to the world that would even make 9/11 look insignificant. As the western intelligence agencies get wind of a possible catastrophe being planned by Al-Qaeda, they are desperate for more information. But who would provide it to them? For they have no moles in Al-Qaeda, and the secret is so well guarded that only the elite amongst the elite of the Al-Qaeda hierarchy actually know about it.

It’s impossible to plant someone in the Al-Qaeda unless they manage to pass of a westerner as an Afghan among the Afghans. Colonel Mike Martin is a 25 year old veteran of war zones, but more importantly is dark, been raised in Iraq and can pass as Izmat Khan, the true Afghan!

Is it possible for the British Colonel to pass of as a former senior commander of the Taliban? Does he have the potential to pass a test, the failure in which would surely guarantee a death ticket, but not before a journey through hell.

Forsyth has made references to the use of latest technology in the book and it seems that the modern thriller is going to have more of technology and less of the old-fashioned thriller stuff. However there are some glaring mistakes, mistakes which I feel a bit more of research and some good technical editing could have easily removed. One more thing which we as Indians would be especially interested in, Kerala has been referred to as providing a fertile place for Islamist extremism to grow!!!

On the whole I would say that The Afghan is surely not up there with The Day of the Jackal, but it does merit one reading.

Rating: 6/10

My view: Israel v/s Lebanon

Israel's action against Lebanon is unjustified. Are you also among those that think so? Then stop! And think again after reading the following paragraphs.

On 12th July 2006 Hezbollah initiated a diversionary Katyusha rocket and mortar attack on Israeli military positions and on the towns of Even Menahem and Mattat, injuring 5 civilians. At the same time, a ground contingent of Hezbollah attacked two Israeli armored Humvees along the Israel-Lebanon border with anti-tank rockets, capturing two Israeli soldiers, and killing three. Five others were killed later on the Lebanese side of the border on 12 July during a mission to rescue the two captured soldiers. The Lebanese Police force in a statement said that the soldiers were captured on Lebanese land; however there is no doubt as to what reality is; all major international organizations such as the UN, the EU and the G8 along with the prominent news agencies had an opinion to the contrary.

Now lets move on to the question of whether the Israeli action against Lebanon was justified or not. Quoting the Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, 'The war started not only by killing eight Israeli soldiers and abducting two but by shooting Katyusha and other rockets on the northern cities of Israel on that same morning. Indiscriminately." I am of the opinion that each and every nation has the right to protect its citizens against any sort of threat. And even more so when an organization, which the UN has asked to be disarmed in a resolution adopted by its Security Council launches an offensive.

When the USA and England can attack Iraq on the false pretext of Iraq being a threat to the world then why cannot Israel respond to an attack against its citizens? Or is it that only the superpower has the right to protect its citizens. Oh just a minute'. against what? The false threat of weapons of mass destruction?

Many who are of a different view would say that Israel should not have retaliated in the way that it did. They would say that all disputes should have been resolved by talks and negotiations. I would like to point out to them the failure and futility of such acts. Let me quote the example of our own country, India. We have been trying to resolve our disputes through dialogue for the past half century, and what has been the result? Nothing!

I will also remind those of you who continue to bring up the fact that Israel is occupying Arab land that had Israel's Arab neighbours not continually invaded them, threatened to invade them and incited war, that land would never have been taken in the first place and held as a buffer for future attacks. It's hypocritical whining about Israel illegally hanging on to Arab land and holding terrorists in detention when organizations like Hezbollah have as a stated aim the destruction of Israel, and even before this war started have been firing rockets and sending suicide bombers into Israel to kill civilians.

Also one should not forget that it was not the Jews themselves who decided to leave their homes and migrate to the Middle East. It was not of their own choosing; rather it had been forced upon them by the circumstances, which I'm sure everyone is well aware of. And sooner or later the Arabs would have to learn to coexist with people following religions other than Islam. Where in the Islamic teachings is it said that Muslims cant live together with people following other religions. Hating Israel simply fore the fact that its non-Islamic is not justified at all. The sooner the Arab states learn, like Egypt and Jordan did, it would be better for them.

Israel is far from perfect and has done many reprehensible acts, but it would be fair to say that their neighbours, including organizations such as Hezbollah have done the same, if not much worse. Until their soldiers were taken Israel did not indiscriminately bomb civilian areas in Syria, Iran and Lebanon the way that these terrorist organizations indiscriminately kill civilians, be that Jewish, Arab or otherwise.

Besides, Israel LEFT Lebanon in 2000 after an agreement with the Lebanese government that Hezbollah would be disarmed and Israel's northern border would be safe. Six years later and Hezbollah is even better equipped than the Lebanese army itself. And now there are cries of merging Hezbollah with the Lebanese army. Under such circumstances only a fool could hope that Israel would give up the buffer zone.

The way many of us think it seems as if the Hezbollah and the Arabs and Muslims are totally innocent victims when we all know that this is not the case. Israel has inflicted a lot of collateral damage on Lebanese civilians which is unacceptable. But Hezbollah indiscriminately fires Katyusha rockets into Israel, and sends suicide bombers deliberately to kill civilians. Is this any more acceptable? And then several of us have the audacity to point out the sufferings of Lebanese people. Agreed they are suffering, but what else would you expect if you go on supporting Hezbollah; chocolates?

Most of us would not know that apart from in our own country, where the Muslims are fighting for Kashmir, there are several other regions where they are fighting for autonomy. For instance:

a) South of Thailand - Muslims living there want their own land carved out.

b) South of Philippines - Muslims fighting for a separate state in Mindanao.

c) West of China (Xingjian) - Muslims fighting for autonomy.

d) North of Spain - Muslims fighting for autonomy.


The point I'm trying to make is; if Muslims want people off their land, then they must be prepared to get rid of this mentality of " we're a majority in this city, so let's ask ( or not even ask - create terror ) so that the government of that country gives us autonomy'.


If the Muslims want the world to think that they are a peaceful community, then they should stop terror attacks in places that don't belong to them. The recent attacks in India highlight this point. What did India have to do with the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the current crisis in Lebanon? Nothing! But yet Muslims keep up their terror tactics. The above shows that even Muslims have a greed for land. And land that is not even theirs.

Again, I reiterate - if Muslims want Israelis off their soil - they have to be prepared to let their people in the world know that they cannot indiscriminately go around calling other people's land as their own.