Virus CASTE,deadlier than H1N1 & HIV!

We come across various viruses in our day to day life like H1N1, HIV, Trojan Horse, Bugbear and Hepatitis B to name a few. Now each of these viruses affects our lives, rather disrupts our lives to some extent or the other. Though some of them are deadlier than others, there are some which we treat as part of our lives and we hardly foresee any threat from them. One such supposedly innocuous virus which all of us have accustomed ourselves to in our routine life is CASTE. Howsoever educated, rich or high profile life we may lead, but almost every one of us is infected by the caste virus. So for all those who are criticizing the government’s move to include caste also in the census should question their own stand on this highly contentious and sensitive issue.

We have this knack of talking big when ever the issue of caste crops up, everyone of us behaves as if we are the most secular people around and we are the ones who fall in the bracket of so called broad minded people by virtue of our education, upbringing or high thinking. But is this actually the truth? On a macro level may be YES because we have friends from all the castes, we visit to diverse places of worship, our favorites range from shahrukh KHAN, sachin TENDULKAR to michael JACKSON and various other similar reasons. But on a micro level things aren’t the same otherwise why do mothers keep separate utensils for their domestic maids? Why are some parents still more worried about the last name of there son’s girlfriend rather than her qualifications and mannerisms? Why do we form preconceived notions about a new colleague with the last name Gupta(bania), that he is surely a big time miser? Why do we hesitate to rent our house to a Dalit tenant? Why matrimonial ads in newspapers and websites are classified caste wise, Brahmin seeking for Brahmin and a Bania seeking for a Bania? Can’t we have ads like ‘seeking a prospective groom who is a BE MBA and say, 6 feet tall etc etc’, why it has to start with ‘seeking a Brahmin guy…’. And trust me these are not the views and ideas endorsed by the parochial and so called narrow minded people, we the broad minded high society people endorse them even more religiously. Following ones tradition is a good thing, but taking a call on a certain issue based on an aspect which the individual has no hand in deciding (read caste) is nothing less than a crime. We do hundred such things and take thousands of caste based decisions day in day out without even realizing the stupidity behind them and all this while our MBA degrees, MBBS tags and self proclaimed secularist alter ego goes for a stroll.

So when the Union Government decides to include caste also in the census, criticism from various corners was bound to come. Our country is already tottering with various communal disturbances and upon that a greater emphasis on caste is not going to do any good to our nation. Though the government officials are backing this move by a rationale that a caste based census will help the government in taking some key decisions and formulating various policies on caste based reservations. But the question is do we really need reservations of any sort at this point after almost 65 years of independence? I personally feel we need it, but we need it for the physically challenged people (read handicapped) because they are deprived of certain important faculties to accomplish their goals, we need it for the freedom fighters and their dependants as a token of acknowledgment for their services and sacrifices for our nation but we certainly don’t need it on a caste basis. We can certainly help the poor section by providing them the amenities to come at par with the well to do section of the society, we can certainly help the vibrant women of our nation by providing them the adequate security so that they don’t feel afraid of pursuing their goals because of a constant fear of assault of any sorts. So a question of reservations based on caste and creed shouldn’t ever arise, all sorts of reservations should be done logically because more often than not the benefits of a caste based reservation system or a community based reservation setup are being reaped by the richer segment of those so called backward classes, the poorer ones never get to avail them and the talented ones don’t seek to depend on such favors.

Hence, unless we get away with this caste virus and eradicate it from its roots we shouldn’t even dream of graduating from a developing nation to a developed one. But it’s easier said than done because if such a thing happens 90% of our politicians with get jobless, as a huge chunk of political parties like Bahujan Samaj Party, Telugu Desam Party, Maharashtra Navnirmaan Sena, Samajvadi Party etc are formed on the caste based politics and are surviving on the sentimental ups and downs of these highly volatile strata of people. Hence these shrewd politicians will never let this caste based division get diluted, after all they have very well learned the lesson of Divide and Rule from their previous rulers. But if leave aside the macro economics of national politics and talk of individual level dynamics, truth of the fact is unless we change our parochial mentality on an individual level we can't even dream of living in a harmonious environment and for that we surely need to move above these caste based cynical prejudices. After all the Babri Masjid demolishers aren't the sole criminals for being involved in the inhuman barbarian act of caste based violence, rather all of us are also equal partners in crime for making preposterous assumptions and decisions based on somebody's last name, community or caste. Because at the end of it we all belong to a common caste called HUMANITY and for those who are further obsessed with the nitty gritties of caste-ism, our subcaste happens to be INDIAN :)!

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Mother's Day - An Occasion to Salute her!

Though I don’t really endorse to the concept of special days to acknowledge the importance of a particular personality or a group in our lives but the hoopla created around each of these days be it Women’s Day, be it Father’s Day,be it Valentines Day or be it Mother's Day compels one to give a serious thought to all such wonderful people in our lives. So what happened on this Mother’s Day was no different, various articles on Mothers Day doing rounds across various websites ( which is a refreshing change in these repeated boring era of Modis and Kasabs), even the TV channels aired special programs through the medium of celebrities to emphasize on the importance of Mother in everybody’s life (celebrities using fake accent and the most dramatic expressions to blabber that their mothers are the best in the world, as if our mothers have been beating us right from our birth till the present day), even the newspapers came up with special supplements to celebrate this day ( which are far better than those matrimonial, property or classifieds supplements) but I was really appalled by one particular write-up/article which said about the sorry state of mothers in India and various atrocities which mothers in general have to face in India. That article even pointed out that out of the 77 countries which were a part of this survey, India stands at a shameful 73^rd in the ranking (these rankings being based on the conditions the society provides to Mothers in India). I was literally shocked with this statistic, though I am not an authority to question the authenticity of these findings, and may be the parameters they might have used to derive such results might be the ones like standard of living, access to basic necessities in routine life, poverty, pollution, foeticides, education etc but one thing which I believe they must not have been taken into account would have been the emotional and sentimental attachment every individual associates with his/her mother. This being a qualitative measure can not be taken into consideration and hence I believe not only me but every fellow countrymen and a proud son will disagree with such surveys/findings/results. I can also proudly ascertain that the importance and respect which we Indians give to our Mothers is far higher than that in any other country, where children move out of their parental house and lead there own life after a certain age thereby not only delineating themselves physically from their Mother and Father but emotionally too. And they term it as being practical, now in India can we even think of being practical with our Mother? We treat our mothers as GOD, so what even if these feelings can not be quantified.

So not only superstars and celebrities, every individual share a beautiful relationship with his/her mother and holds numerous fond memories which he/she treasures for life. Though there are many things which we don’t like being told or instructed to do, even if that instructor happens to be our mother. But when we ponder upon those instructions after a while, which at one point seemed so irritating, they seem so obviously corrective and productive now.

For instance mother seems to be ones biggest enemy when she presses her child on and on to drink a glass of milk every morning before going to school. One wonders what pleasure she derives from her child’s drinking a glass of milk but she relentlessly makes sure that her child drinks that every morning. But one understands this mystery only when he grows up and stays far from her mother when there is nobody to push for that glass of milk which keeps him fit and running throughout the day.

Or for that matter that feeling of extreme helplessness when she forcefully keeps her child inside the house, not allowing him to play in the sun. One really wonders what monetary gain she is receiving by keeping her child inside the house and not allowing him to play outside. But again the rationale behind that strict behavior makes sense only when one gets a sun stroke while going to the office in the extreme heat.

That sense of frustration when she instructs her child with hundreds of dos and donts before taking him to any friend’s or relative’s place. One really wonders if she has done her specialization in the hospitality management with a super specialization in etiquette and social mannerism. But the motive behind those lessons gets clear only when in a corporate party one sees somebody unable to use fork and knife and making noises while eating and giving one a feeling of deep satisfaction and pride that but for those lengthy lessons by my mom, I would have been doing the same irritating stuffs in the party today.

Those puzzled moments when she forces her child to read newspapers, watch informative channels on the TV and yells on him when she finds him spending time with the comics or cartoon network. One questions himself what difference does it make to her even if I know about the world or not, anyways by no means I intend to run this country or this world 20 years down the line. But her intentions get clear only when 20 years later ones friends and colleagues struggle to develop a reading habit and come to you asking for tips to develop it.

And last but not the least her spying on every phone call her child is involved in, showing displeasure of the strongest magnitude on the very idea of her child using a mobile phone, giving special attention to all her child's opposite gender friends, literally making the child feel that he is a suspect of a CID probe. But only to realize much later that mothers are only worried about her child not getting into wrong company and there by taking some bad decision eventually spoiling ones life.

We may go on to entice hundreds and thousands of such instances to embrace the greatness of mothers but we will still fail to measure the depth of her heart and selflessness of her love towards her child. No wonder mothers are the epitome of sacrifice who can go on to any extent to ensure the well being and success of their children without seeking any repayment incentives unlike anybody else. Howsoever selfish a child may be, whatsoever cruelty he subjects her too and which-soever necessity he abstains her from, even then in her magnanimous heart, the imbibed feeling of selfless love, care and protection for her child remains as strong as ever. So be it Mother Teresa, be it Mother India, be it Mother Earth or be it our biological Mother there is no denying the fact that human race is blessed to have a well wisher, a true philosopher, a selfless guide and a god sent angel in the form of MOTHER. That is why people from all walks of life love and respect their mothers so highly and can go on to any extent to abide by them, no wonder the tempers scorch so high when somebody swears or abuses by someones mothers name:)

So Mother's Day or No Mother's Day, till the time this planet exist and even beyond that Mothers will always remain to stay on the highest pedestal, irrespective of the rankings, irrespective of the nationalities and irrespective of the atrocities subjected to them.

Happy Mother's Day!

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Heartthrob KASAB!

Whoa, Whatta melodramatic week it was! Firecrackers across the streets of Mumbai and people distributing sweets across many parts of the country, effigies of Kasab burned all across and some people even celebrating the day as the Dussera day symbolically treating the death sentence as the death of last of the 10 heads of Raavan ( some TRP hungry news channel also aired a program comparing this new age Raavan with an upcoming bollywood Maniratnam flick Raavan -- DAMN, nobody can stop them or beat their imagination power ). Government patting its own back by repeatedly reminding the media about this being the fastest trial in the history of Indian Judiciary and they have done a good job since 26/11 as there have not been any major terror attacks since then. Public prosecutor Mr Nikam himself trying to cash in on this tumultuous moment to grab the maximum attention he can by using out of the box literary pearls like Killing Machine, Blood Thirsty Demon, Barbarian Butcher and what not. The human right activists who were jobless for a while also got something to cheer about and a cause again which can give them some media bytes - 'death penalty is unconstitutional; only God can take life', amazing Gandhian philosophy but I still wonder where were these philosophers and their philosophies on and after 26/11, probably they were silent then because everybody was singing the same tune at that time. Some weak hearted people, probably Karan Johar and SRK fans, also felt bad about Kasab breaking down after the sentencing and shedding tears, their point being spare a thought for the young guy who is tolerating all this alone against a 130 crore plus strong nation. Even the police officials were quick to do their maths and they came up with some staggering statistics that over last 15 months they have intercepted and diffused three possible attempts of a bomb attack on and around the cell where Kasab is housed in, I wonder why are these news briefs coming in now and not at the times when these failed attacks actually happened,because anyways such a news item would have garnered as much attention even at those times, probably because of a fear of intelligence breach or may be nothing of this sort ever happened. All in all a state of total confusion where all the cats and dogs have come out of their hideouts to enjoy and claim credit in this supposed moment of celebration.

Now if we talk about the main protagonist of this entire drama, Ajmal Kasab, we can pile up volumes on him. Firstly the dreaded militant brazenly killed hundreds of innocent people, then unfortunately for him got caught alive and then he started the act of toying around with the Indian judicial system, thanks to his alround training that even taught him the ways to handle a possible interrogation. To start off with he refused to have a lawyer as he was well aware that unless the suspect has a lawyer he can't be tried in the court of law, there after buckling under the tremendous pressure and large no. of proofs against him, he accepted his crime, then he went on to take a U turn saying that he is a minor so he can't be tried in the court and should be set free, then he came up with the version that he has never accepted his crime and he was forced to do so by the authorities but the most hilarious counter argument which he presented was, he came to India 10 days prior to 26/11 by the Samjhauta Express to watch Bollywood movies and he was arrested by the police for no offence while he was ambling around in the Juhu Chowpati. GOD! This one was so hilarious that even the judge can't stop his smile when this argument came up. But eventually what happened after several hearings and recording the accounts of scores of eye witnesses was quite expected. The man well and truly deserved the biggest punishment possible in the state of law because certainly those innocent lives can't be brought back but at least the man who was a party in this gruesome crime can definitely be made to experience a part of that pain which those innocent people might have suffered and their innocent families will experience for ever.

But the role of our Government, Judiciary and Police has been quite interesting. Government on one hand is thumping its chest by boasting on a fact that they have been very resolute to finish this case as soon as possible, they have also been claiming that they won't let any other 26/11 type attack happen again on our land and by record so far they have been quite successful in their agenda. But they certainly don't deserve any credit for all this as these things are the bare minimums which are expected out of them, so if you are just meeting expectations you certainly don't deserve golden medallions, you only deserve them when you consistently exceed expectations for that they have to adopt a zero tolerance model which US has adopted post 9/11 and have been amazingly successful in their execution. Same is the scenario with our Judiciary and Police, they are overwhelmed with the fact that they have corroborated truck load of evidence against Kasab and have gone down to an extent of filing pettiest of charges against him like entering the railway platform without a ticket, driving a vehicle without a driving license and other such interesting charges. On the face of it such things definitely seem rosy and praise worthy but what value they hold when there is a high possibility that the accused can go on to live for at least 10 more years thanks to a long queue of 50 similar convicts who are waiting for the same punishment. And if we go by our Judiciary's past track record, that 10 year wait won't be a distant reality which in turn will gift the accused a far more luxurious life in the jail as compared to his dismal life style in Faridkot (his home town). Another shocking decision was the acquittal of other two Indian origin accused who were charged with being the co-conspirators in the 26/11 attacks. Though being a lay man we aren't aware of the nittygritties of their involvement but otherwise too our police and judiciary haven't found any Indian accomplices in this plot. And to believe that this dreaded attack was plotted without an involvement of any local help is impossible. Howsoever advanced technology and armory these militant groups might use, but their being successful or unsuccessful largely depends on the local help they gather and use. So by being blind about the miscreants on our own land and by blaming everything on our neighbors the police and the judiciary is doing no good to the long term treatment of this deadly threat.

There have been quite a few strong voices advocating a life imprisonment for the accused rather than the capital punishment citing reasons like human rights and the fact that a life imprisonment would be a more torturous punishment than a death sentence. But a life imprisonment would mean a jail term of 14 years, by that time the accused would be only 37 years old and can plead for the end of his term and by law if he is granted that, what is the guarantee that he will be a changed man? And will that be justice for all those innocent families who will suffer with this trauma for ever? Certainly NOT! Leave apart the life imprisonment aspect, even if our judiciary goes on to award him the death sentence, the pace at which the things move in our country the picture seems quite bleak. Not only will it make a big hole in the government's pocket which has already spent Rs 35 crore on Kasab's security and still spending Rs 2 Lakh every day but it will also pose threats like bargaining Kasab's release in lieu of some hijacked innocent contingent as it happened in Kandahar few years back. So its imperative and prudent in the interest of our nation that Kasab's execution is done on a fast track otherwise it won't be farce to say that Kasab who has been our media's heartthrob for months now will turn out into a bigger headache for our nation and very soon into a Heart thorn!

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From an Inland Letter to Twitter!

I still remember those summer vacation holidays when I used to visit my maternal grandpa's place with my mom for two months and I my mom used to make me write letters to my Dad asking about his where abouts and normal routine, who in turn returned the favor by replying back.Though it was more of a writing practice for me but practically that was the only feasible medium to interact and contact ones out station friends and relatives. As making trunk calls to talk was a herculean task in itself and calls in those days were made only to convey occasions of births, deaths and marriages, as telephonic conversation was an expensive affair and telephone per say was a rare commodity and it was more of an item of luxury rather than an item of necessity. But things evolved at a brisk pace and we are staring a situation where telephones have rather almost gone extinct and are well and truly outnumbered by mobile phones. Also the cost of a phone conversation has gone down to such an extent that the only scheme left with the mobile operators is to pay the customer for using their services:). But fortunately options galore and we have hundreds of mediums to interact and network all across the globe, thanks to the concept of Social Networking!

With the advent of technology and globalization we have heck lot of options to communicate with our friends and relatives. The growth of internet has made our lives very convenient and easy, there was a time when one of the few social networking options on the internet other than emailing happened to be chat on the yahoo messenger. Infact it was rage among my friend circle, we used to go to internet cafes, paid 50-60 bucks per hour just to chat on the yahoo messenger. The concept of chatting across different rooms was too alluring, I basically went on to chat with few of my out station cousins and friends but most of my adventurous friends tried their luck in all the chat rooms like Friends, Love, Sex etc categorized across various cities and countries. And trust me it used to be the talking point in the school too, somebody boasting about his American girl friend whom he as supposedly proposed and wooed over the American chat room, somebody bragging about a holiday in singapore, thanks to the promise made by her new found friend in the Singapore chat room, some rather self proclaimed practical ones happy with the notion of a Delhite girlfriend, thanks to the Delhi chat room and last but not the least some really adventurous ones boasting about growing up into an adult pro by virtue of a video chat, courtesy his Australian strip model friend. Oh, those were the days when things moved really fast, slowly we graduated to some other similar social networking sites too but no sooner that boredom started to creep in, there entered google with a supposedly new concept in the form of Orkut. And Orkut pushed in a fresh breeze in our fun deprived lives. Orkut provided us a platform to not only regroup and chat with old friends but also gave us an opportunity to find new friends through our friend's network, and a variety of other new options like sharing pictures, flashing our favorite videos, giving a brief about ourselves and writing and recieving testimonials much in the school time slam book style. So being in the orkut was THE thing and those who weren't the part of this bandwagon were seen with a tinge of doubt.

But as with the mobile phones, no. of internet connections at home started to increase to an extent that now everybody has an private internet connection at home,consequently no. of social networking sites also plummeted. And people started to get bored with Orkut as they found other avenues like Facebook more interesting, as FB not only provided them with all the features of Orkut but also drafted in various games and interesting tests on its console too, keeping the fickle minded young generation roped in and virtually killing Orkut's business to an extent that now if you are still on Orkut and you don't have an account on FB, people behave as if there is something wrong with you. But none of the networking sites has excited me more than Twitter. Its simply one of the most powerful concept in the social networking arena, it not only provides you with an opportunity to express your views,share photos and connect to your friends but it also gives you an exciting opportunity to follow, explore and peep into the lives of the celebrities whom you have been adoring for years. Following superstars like SRK, Deepika, Warnie, Tharoor,Priyanka, Rajdeep Sardesai, Yuvraj to name a few and knowing their daily lives and plans through their tweets is an interesting and a delicious concept. And these superstars sharing their photos, upcoming plans and views on various matters is really something which was a matter of imagination before this powerful platform hit the scene. Twitter has gone on to to become such a powerful medium that even the news agencies have deployed special personnels to keep a track on the celebrity tweets to give them masala news. The power of a 140 character tweet can be ascertained by a simple fact that it led to the downfall of stalwarts like Tharoor and Modi. But for a common man like me who is a non celebrity the options on twitter aren't that many because the celebrities almost tweet things like 'Off to GYM' & 'Back from loo' and garner rave reviews for each of these tweets. But who the hell will care if I tweet anything like ' Had a good day in Office' or for that matter anythng. So what purpose it holds for me other than following these high profile celebrities and superstars, though even that is quite a boon considering the avenues this tool has opened. But yeah I feel something innovative can be done for the non celebrity class too, in the language of twitter world, for the cattle class too:).

Though the modes of networking have come a long way in last 30 years or so with each one of us having their own moments of joys and remarkable memories attached to them but there is still lots to come and these networking tools will scale newer heights in future too but one thing is for sure everybody is equal here, with equal rights to express ones views and use the medium to express oneself so no one expects or demands a special status neither any one gets it. There's no Taliban, no Pramod Muthalik, no Mulayam Singh either, to ask for a ban on computers and English. No MNS to demand you tweet or talk only in Marathi. At the most you may find a bot that offers you sex and then gives you a virus instead. We have truly come a long way from an Inland letter to Twitter, still miles to go!

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The Ooooos & Aaaaahs of IPL!

There is no doubt in the fact that in a short span of 3 years IPL has become the big daddy of entertainment. Even the likes of saas bahu fame Ekta Kapoor, Ramayana fame Ramanand Sagars and Mahabharata fame Chopras haven’t been able to capture the attention and imagination of the entire nation to such an extent. On the face of it the full credit should go to Mr Lalit Modi, the manner in which the man has commercialized, globalised and spiced up the boring white uniform sport invented by the Englishmen is absolutely commendable. The management and marketing gurus can write volumes on the mega successful phenomena of this man and to a good extent he truly deserves all this credit too. But when the fans are happy, franchise owners are happy, players are not complaining, media is minting money every season courtesy IPL, then why this fracas all of a sudden? Simply because one can never afford to mess with the Government and expect to go away cheaply. And seeds for this mess were sown last year itself when Mr Modi went against the Union Home Minister, Mr Chidambaram’s advice to slightly postpone and reschedule the IPL-2 because of the security issues due to the general elections at the same time. And logically too, general elections in the largest democracy on the planet is a far more important exercise than a sporting event. But Mr Modi went against the government with the backing of his cash rich parent body BCCI, whose financial might is potent enough to tackle any obstacle and scheduled the event in South Africa in just 15 days short notice. He garnered heaps of praise from all corners for his exemplary man-management skills and outstanding organizing abilities but this was all at the expense of a confrontation and a cold war with the reining government. But who cared, at least Modi didn’t, as he was basking in the glory of super successful staging of IPL-2. If this wasn’t enough, this year too he took one of the union minister ( Mr Shashi Tharoor) head on. Now whether Tharoor was right or not is a different debate altogether but it gave the wounded government an excellent opportunity to go hammers and tongs against Modi. Uproar in Parliament, Ignominy in media and unrest among fellow government ministers forced the government to oust Tharoor, but this for sure was a strategic move to tame the violent storm because per credentials Tharoor was far too qualified a minister to be expelled for such charges when the government have already seated corrupt heavy weights like Laloo, Mulayam and Maya for ages. So in all probability Tharoor will be back in the ministry in say 6 months time but this episode has well and truly exposed the manipulative ways of Modi and BCCI.

Not only this drama has raised questions on ministers like Pawar and Patel but it has also exposed the financial irregularities in various high budget deals. Though Modi has been defiant on all these charges right from the start, but the manner in which the I–T department has made startling revelations about possible rigging during the bidding process, benami stakes in various franchises and also prospective betting and match fixing activities, it has well and truly shaken the confidence of a common man who has been following cricket from years and idolizing the players to limits.The charges of bid rigging and benami stake, though illegal, do not actually impact a cricket fan to such an extent as the charges of betting and match fixing do. The match fixing episode of 1999-2000 left such a deep scar in the minds of the most avid cricket followers that the very thought of match fixing makes one feel dejected with the game. And watching some of the matches in the IPL one actually feels that they are fixed, because top class players dropping easiest of catches, teams losing matches from situations of impeccable strength and batsmen getting out in the most unimaginable ways is actually too hard to digest. But at the same time one feels when players of the reputation of Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar are involved, there can’t be elements of match fixing in this tournament, but at times it’s even hard to console oneself inspite of these gentlemen playing the game. This certainly was the case when Mumbai fielders dropped dollies and Pollard was kept waiting in the dressing room till the penultimate over in the Finals. But again I consoled myself saying that it wasn’t fixed, may be the giant Pollard was fighting the bugs of loose motions that time and hence a delay in sending him to batJ. Whatever be it, a thorough inquiry against all such claims is definitely required, because this tournament is not only involving lots of moolah but it also involves the faith and belief of thousands of fans, which is priceless!

But the Modus Operandi of BCCI in cleaning out all the slush seems quite vague and the reasoning which they are giving to support their initiatives is even weirder. Firstly if they wanted to expel Modi, why were they waiting till the end of the tourney? They could have done that then and there, hence clearing exhibiting their impotency to handle the mega event on their own even at that juncture. Secondly BCCI has been time and again cribbing that they were not aware of all these financial irregularities and Mr Modi always kept them in the dark. So what were the other 12 members of the governing council members doing for the last 3 years? They were certainly not governing so either they were just sleeping around and warming the benches or they were also equal partners in crime and at the time of crisis, making Mr Modi the scapegoat. And thirdly the probe committee which they have formulated comprises of only the internal members, so unless there is an external, independent prober involved how can we trust the authenticity of the probe? All it will result in will be putting on all the charges on Modi and giving a clean chit to all the other governing council members, which in itself is a mockery of the entire process. I am not defending Mr Modi nor am I a big fan of Mr Lalit Modi but I am definetly a big fan of Indian Cricket and that’s why I am worried.

Though Mr Modi has managed the IPL in a great way and deserves full marks for his work but as a matter of fact if he payed a tax of Rs 8 lakhs 3 years back and is now paying a tax of a whopping 11 crores, then there is certainly something fishy, because he is not remunerated so heavily for his services to account for such a tax hike. So all it indicates is some wrong doing, leave apart those private jets and yachts which he has bought in this period. All these financial manipulations are apart from the arrogant and rash behavior and godly tantrums he has been throwing from last 3 years, behaving as if he isn’t just the IPL commissioner but also the whole sole proprietor of the entire country itself. With such an attitude his downfall was just a matter of time, and all his extraordinary people skills and organizing capabilities were bound to go down the drain. And for those who believed IPL can not survive without Mr Modi shouldn’t worry at all, because nobody in this world is indispensable and everybody is irreplaceable for sure, howsoever capable and efficient he/she may be. And for those who are demanding for a ban on IPL, forget it guys! Howsoever furious the government may be with Mr Modi, they can never ban IPL as it is generating a revenue of over 1000 crores every year for them in the form of tax. So by no means they will impose a ban on such lucrative machinery. All we can hope is a thorough cleansing of IPL so that our favorite sport remains our favorite and clean by all means!

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Cash Lies & IPL!

Hundreds dead and thousands homeless due to a deadly storm in Bengal, around a million stranded at various airports in Europe due to volcanic eruption hampering the air travel courtesy mammoth smoke clouds, 76 families still grief struck after the Dantewada Maoist massacre, but who cares, at least the media hardly does when they have a super bonanza news bomb in the form of Tharoor, Modi and IPL sandwiched in one, to cover. Though this incident hardly affects the common man or the socioeconomic growth of our country, it certainly provides an impetus to the economic growth of the print and electronic media. And when you have the deadly threesome in the form of cash and glamour rich IPL, overtly flamboyant and loud mouthed Lalit Modi and the most technology versed and controversy prone politician of recent times, Shashi Tharoor involved in this saga, it certainly can’t get spicier than this, perfect mix for a wholesome entertainment.

Now the entities involved in this tussle which revolves around Kochi franchise’s bid are real heavy weights. On one hand we have the prolific author, columnist, journalist, human rights advocate, peacekeeper, former UN under secretary general and current minister of states for external affairs, the ever so charming and eloquent Mr Shashi Tharoor who has been alleged with charges of having a private relationship with one of the co owners of the Kochi franchisee and using his ministerial power to help the bidders to win the cash rich mega deal and in turn get benefited himself through that private friend’s channel. Expectedly so Mr Tharoor has denied all such charges and played the Kerala card, saying that he was just mentoring the bidders for the sake of his native state’s socioeconomic development, the confidence and finesse with which Mr Tharoor is defending himself and keeping across his point seems quite convincing but on the face of it, when so much of moolah is involved it is hard to believe that somebody can actually do just mentorship with no monetary gains in mind. In spite of Mr Tharoor’s stainless past record and a prolific career so far, in terms of academic and professional successes, if found guilty he should definitely be sacked and reprimanded. But if the tide turns other way round, the government will make life hell for the IPL commissioner (already started with the I-T raids), because the charges of bribing and rigging the auction process in favor of some other cities (read Ahmadabad) for whatever long term goals and reasons, if proven, might actually prove very detrimental for not only him but also for BCCI and other franchises. So the battle seems equally poised all in the favor of gossip and glitter starved media. But what is astounding is the interest media is showing in the minister’s personal life, I say let him have hundred’s of wives and thousand’s of private friends, is it really our business??? And how come all of a sudden a minister being involved in cricket in addition to his ministerial duties has become such an irking thing for the media and the people, how about Mr Sharad Pawar, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mr Arun Jaitly, Mr Narendra Modi and dozens of other ministers who are heading the various state cricket associations??? Why are we not using the same yardstick, just because the person involved in the row is a technology savvy, fluent English speaking, one of the most educated and promising Indian politician, a dashing gentleman who has had a three decade long career in the International Public Services. Absolutely unfair, illogical and insane!

The other participant in this row is the world’s 19^th most powerful sports administrator who has supposedly given birth to the biggest sporting phenomenon of recent times in the form of IPL and has done absolutely nothing wrong up to this day, the man himself Mr Lalit Modi. Mr Modi has been commendable in his efforts and vision which has transpired into a globally successful sporting phenomena praised and hailed by all. The success which IPL has achieved in just 3 years in terms of viewer ship and revenue generation is truly commendable, it has already surpassed the age old English Premier League in these terms and only steps away from the numero uno American Basketball League. The IPL not only provides unmatched entertainment to its audience but it also pays the biggest pay cheques to the players involved and one should not ignore the opportunity it provides to the not so known local talent to rub shoulders with the cricketing greats and learn the nuances of international cricket which otherwise they would have never learned by just playing for there home cities and states, all there lives. Though a good majority of cricket followers(including me) still believe this is not the real cricket infact it is not all cricket, its all entertainment and money making exercise, because real cricket has always been and will always be Test Cricket, but this in itself is a different debate altogether. However, a considerable amount of credit for this mega successful venture should definitely go to Mr Modi, because but for his vibrant, shrewd and visionary efforts this wouldn’t have been possible, but mind it only a considerable credit because Mr Modi is not the only one who is handling and managing the entire circus, he is just a representative appointed by BCCI which is the actual parent body behind this. But it seems Mr Modi has forgotten this fact and has started considering himself a larger than life figure that can do anything, lock horns with anybody (home minister last year and external affairs minister this year) and is irreplaceable for eternity. The sooner Mr Modi realizes the fact that he is just a representative of a much larger setup, the better it will be for him and for the IPL.

As the saying goes being successful is not everything, handling success is far more important and you can never become greater than the cause which has made you great. Howsoever great a player Sir Sachin Tendulkar may be, he can never become greater than the game itself, howsoever great a musician Mr A R Rahman may be, he can never become greater than the music itself and howsoever great an actor Mr Amitabh Bachchan may be, he can never become greater than the art itself and the reason these wonderful people have maintained themselves at the pinnacle for so long is because they have handled success with lot of humility and respect and have never misused it, so how can Mr Modi break this law of nature and go against it? The sooner Mr Modi learns this, longer will be his relationship with success. And dishonesty, manipulation, arrogance and greed can never help one succeed for ever, be it Modi or be it Tharoor!

Post Script: With the mounting pressure from all corners Shashi Tharoor resigns, his private friend Sunanda Pushkar also surrenders her stake in the franchise and the noose tightens up on Lalit Modi, BCCI all set to axe him.

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Why MBA, still a MYSTERY!

It was not that I always wanted to be an MBA, thanks to my aimless perspective about life, where my only aim used to be enjoying the present and hoping that things will somehow fall in place in future. But somehow a stage came during the second year of my engineering that most of my friends and colleagues started taking a call about their future plans post engineering. Some aimed at cracking the exams like GATE to pursue a career in the advanced technology side, some aimed to prepare for the IAS exams to build a career in the administrative services, some aimed at doing an MBA from one of the premier institutes of the country, some targeted a career in sports and consequently representing the state and the country in various sporting events, some were focused to get a job by the time they leave the college and work for one of the top IT company and some just relaxed with the prospects of continuing their family business. Amidst all this I was in a fix, that where do I fit in?

So I started introspecting myself against each of these probable career options. The very first alternative was cracking the GATE exam to do a post graduation in Advanced Technology, now for me this was the last option thanks to my excellent hate relationship with the technical subjects during my graduation. I hated the various theorems, formulas and laws more than I hated India losing to Pakistan in a cricket match, so this was out rightly out casted. The next alternative was to build a career in administrative services by cracking the IAS exams, but this wasn’t my forte either as I was never the one who can sit at a place and keep on cramming volumes of those boring stuffs, so this was also omitted immediately. Next on the list was to excel in a sport and pursue it as a career, though I was very interested in sports but certainly I was prudent enough to realize that I don’t have the skills to invest my time to pursue it as a career so this avenue was also closed. Another deadly alternative was to join a top IT firm and to kick start my career as a software engineer, but my poor track record in C++, JAVA and VB exams was not backing me up for this one either, infact the very thoughts of dbms_outputs, cins and couts sent shivers down my spinal cord and the only credit against my name in the world of programming and software was executing that ‘ HELLO WORLD’ program in C++, even that I couldn’t execute without 3-4 errors, so with this inglorious background and lack of interest I never stood a chance in this world either. Another luxurious alternative was to get into a business, but unfortunately I didn’t belong to a business background so I can’t even afford to think of these lines. So amidst also these rejected opportunities the only innocuous alternative which remained was that of aiming for an MBA from one of the premier institutes of the country. I have also heard that you need not be a geek to do well in MBA entrance exams, neither you need to cram huge volumes of boring study materials and nor you need to write those deadly C++ or JAVA codesJ. All you need is some decent command over the English language, a fairly decent comfort level with numbers and a comfort level to speak in front of a group of people. And naturally I fell for this option, as I found all the eligibility criterions matching my not so bright academic and carefree lifestyle. But very soon I realized that it wasn’t about just clearing those aptitude tests or solving those tricky puzzles or having a good reading speed complimented by a good vocabulary. You should also be very clear in your thought process about many other things too, like where do you see yourself 5 years down the line, which stream you want to pursue your managerial career in, what about your engineering skills and last but not the least WHY MBA?

At that point the answer to Why MBA was something like – ‘Since by the virtue of my graduation in engineering I have already developed an analytical mind, so I want to use my analytical abilities to take managerial level decisions and help in the growth and development of the organization of which I am a part of, and this I can achieve only by the medium of a good MBA.’ Certainly it was not at all convincing and it also sounded highly dramatical but the search for the right answer to Why MBA was still on! Somehow I couldn’t get through a good MBA college by the end of my graduation so I have to adopt the most dreaded path of working for an IT company, but the desire to do an MBA was still on, so was the search for the elusive question Why MBA. This time around I tried to refine my answer and moulded it into something like – ‘Having had a flavor of the corporate world by working for one of the pioneers in the IT industry as a software engineer, I would like to take my learning’s and insight as a technical person to the next level and pursue a career as an decision making entity. And what other way to climb this corporate ladder faster than by doing an MBA from one of the best B- Schools in the country.’ Though I wasn’t pretty convinced with this answer either, as I personally found it as highly theatrical but somehow it clicked and I went on to get an admission in one of the best B- Schools of the nation but the quest for the perfect answer for Why MBA was still on. I was myself not sure about Why MBA even during my MBA course. Then came a time during the placements where my friends told me that being a lateral candidate the first question one faces is Why MBA when you were already amidst a promising career working for your previous firm. So the hunt for the right answer started all over again, this time I ended up with this one – ‘Since I have already had the taste of technical side of things, I would like to use my technical experience in combination with the functional knowledge I have gained during my MBA program and become a domain/functional expert and facilitate in the logical and efficient decision making in the organization.’ Probably this one was a new concept for the recruiters too and hence they roped me in. Lucky again!

Though the most honest and true answer to Why MBA which has come across my mind has been – ‘ To earn more money in less timeJ’ But on a serious note somehow I am still searching that perfect answer for Why MBA, which has irked me for years now. Though the answers I have found and formed at various stages have more often than not worked for me practically but the chase for the really satisfying answer is still on.I have even asked the expert tutors at various MBA coaching institutes but the answer they have given me every time has been that - 'It's subjective from person to person, one can't have a generalized answer for this one', may be they are right but I have always believed that even they don't know a perfect answer for this one, hence this round and round gyaanJ Alas, but if the college teachers and the company HRs come to know the fact that the answer to that question which they asked me while selecting me was a made up one and not the honest one, I will for surely lose both my MBA degree and the offer letter and will be forced to contemplate on the one of the 6-7 possible alternatives I was pondering upon during my engineering days all over again. So till the time I don’t get the perfect answer for this mysterious question, it’s better to satiate the desire for Why MBA by answering it simply by Why not MBA:)

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Red Menace leaves the Government Red faced!

133 killings in J&K by militants in last one year including both civilians and security personnel, 30 out of which have been in 2010. Grave isn’t it? Now compare it against 908 killings by naxals over the same period, 132 out of which are in 2010 only. Horrendous and Outrageous! But do we get a feel of these atrocities by the actions of our government and media, certainly NOT. It seems our government’s only objective is to outclass Pakistan in front of the self proclaimed school head master US and prove to the entire world that we are saints and Pakistan is a thug. But do we even care that we are facing even more severe threats internally which are proving out to be far more detrimental to the peace and order of our country than the external ones. So at this crucial juncture what do we expect from our Home Minister to do? A.)Condemn B.)Strongly Condemn C.) Buy a New Lungi D.) Debate Naxal Ideology E.)Blame it on opposition. I am sure it can’t be anything other than this. And same is the case with our 24 hours live media, they showcase and telecast only those things which are of more economic relevance to them and are more glamorous and sensational in nature, they hardly owe a moral responsibility towards the well being of our nation.

The rate at which the Red Menace of Naxals and Maoists is rising all across our nation is baffling. They have already established a high degree of revenue generating efficacy across 223 districts (in a total of 636 Districts in the country), moreover they also enjoy a significant disruptive dominance in 2000 Police Station jurisdictions (out of a total of over 14,000 Police Stations in the country). But the biggest cause of concern are the sources from which these groups assimilate funds to execute their operations. According to sources the Maoists annually extort up to INR 20 billion across India by targeting road contractors, contractors for forest products like tendu patta, bamboo and wood. Apart from this they have also struck deals with poachers, smugglers, liquor and timber runner in the forests, which constitute a major revenue generating machinery for them. The most astounding of all the facts and sources of their income is the amount they generate by levying tax on small enterprises such as spinning mills, beedi units, rice and flour mills, grocery, medical, cigarette and liquor shops, and private doctors, and these weak and not so influential victims pay the tax amount as if it has been imposed on them as an article of constitution of India. If all this was not enough,even the cash rich iron and coal mining companies also periodically donate large sums of money to these menacing outfits, all for their own smooth operations and survival. Another major source of funding for maoists is the cultivation of opium and cannabis(gaanja), which is strictly illegal as per the framework of Indian legislature but certainly not so under the naxal regime. There are also strong speculations that these naxal groups also receive big time financial help from the biggest corporate houses of the nation too, as these companies are big players in the metals, mining, steel and manufacturing sectors which are heavily dependent on the mineral rich belts of jungle, being ruled by these maoists. All this has strengthen the naxal outfits to such might that they can now bring many sectors of the Indian economy to their knees, but they are going rather slowly to fully prepare themselves for the worst possible onslaught from the government. The audacity and the brazenness with which these Maoist and Naxal groups are flourishing in over 40,000 square kilometers of land which includes 20 out of 28 states of India is alarming and in a sense they have established a full fledged parallel government of their own, no wonder they are bravely aiming to throw away the government of India by 2050. And you can rightly think so when your annual turnover of Rs 1500 crore is worth more than the that of companies like Exide and Hindustan Motors. Whoaaa that's a really powerful Maoist empire!

Now the boiling question is that what are the ideologies of these mercurial groups which has shaken the roots of the Indian government but even than the government is in a fix to go out full throttle against them or not? It is claimed that the principle on which these groups operate is by conducting people's war to install a people's government via a New Democracy Revolution. They profess to retain the tactics of Marxist and Lenin of rejecting parliamentary democracy and capturing political power through protracted armed struggle based on guerrilla warfare. This strategy entails building up of bases in rural and remote areas and transforming them first into guerrilla zones and then as "liberated zones", besides the area wise seizure and encircling cities. They strongly condemn and denounce the ideology of globalization and have repeatedly warned the state and central government to stop permitting the mining and steel industry players to set up their plants in the tribal areas to exploit the natural might and in turn lives of the innocent people of that region. Since the Maoists derive their principles from its predecessor Communist Party of India (Marxist - Leninist) People's War and have been formed constitutionally by the merger of the former and the Maoist Communist Center of India, it has probably made life tough for the government to take any concrete and strict action against them.

So what is the tolerance limit of our government? Does the lives of those 100s of slain Jawaans and innocent people count for nothing? Gone are the days when these groups were fighting for their cause by modes of rallies and speeches, they have adopted a much deadlier path of mass genocide now which is beyond the combating power of paramilitary and police forces. They have strengthened themselves to such dangerous levels that it needs a full fledged flushing treatment from the Indian Army itself. The government can not just rely on solving this massive problem by means of dialogs because the wait is leading into more and more blood. Hence it is high time that the government deploys best of our armed men and ammunitions to counter this RED threat. And if the government can spend crores of money to provide full proof security to the likes of Ajmal Kasab, it can certainly spend a portion of it for the safety and security of its own citizens. Otherwise that day won't be far, when these terror outfits actually overthrow the Indian Government.

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The Curious Case of Miss Mirza!

I have been a very big fan of Sania Mirza, for as long as I can remember, but this fan following has always been due to her off the court attics and never been due to her on field brilliance. She has this excellent knack of being in the news every now and then, though most of the reasons are not so celebratory ones. As when ever we see a news item on Sania Mirza its either about her 1st or 2nd round exit from a tennis tournament or about her another 15-20 places drop in the world rankings or about her new found injury. Apart from her first few months in the international circuit I have never seen or come across a news item on her talking about her accomplishments or technical brilliance in the field of tennis. But luckily for her and not so luckily for few other deserving sporting stars she has received much more than what she deserves, both from the media and from our nation in terms of support and accolades.Because if talk of some other non-cricketing sporting prospects like Saina Nehwal, Vijender Singh or Abhinav Bindra, they have given us many more instances of national pride and glory, but unfortunately they haven't recieved their due from us in terms of encouragement and support. If we leave apart all of them and just consider Saina Nehwal, the young lass has done marvelously well for herself and for our nation in whatever little time she has spent on the badminton court at this tender age. She stands tall at a world ranking of no. 5 and still raring to climb the last few steps of the international ladder but when it comes to the backing and support from the media and the nation she lags behind by miles in comparison to Miss Mirza whose world ranking is 92 at this point in time, but yes, such is the irony and misery in the world of sports and entertainment.

So what I don't understand is a fact that, what is all the hoopla surrounding Ms Mirza's marriage with ex Pakistani cricket player and captain Shoaib Malik, all about? Ex player, because this not so gentle man is currently serving a one year ban on the grounds of indiscipline and poor performance, imposed by Pakistan Cricket board. As usual Ms Mirza has successfully grabbed all the headlines in last 2-3 days and will continue to do so for next fortnight or so, till her post wedding reception at Lahore or Dubai gets over in the most royal and media frenzy fashion. But the funny thing is that ,a section of our country is utterly furious about this wedding, and the likes of Bajrang Dal and some other extremist groups have even taken this marriage as an insult of our nation and gone on record to say things like, we won't let this marriage take place on this holy hindu land, as if this is the first time a cross border marital phenomena is taking place in history of mankind and these outfits are the legal adjudicators of all the marriages taking place in our country or their self proclaimed hindu land.Adding to the funnier side, few of my friends who have themselves been huge fan of Sania Madam, have turned into her biggest critics overnight, venting out their anger vociferously citing that can't she find a good lad in this country of 130 crores people that she had to select one from our not so favorite neighbor, now these guys are behaving as if Miss Mirza has dated all of them full time and all of a sudden decided to dump them all without giving any genuine reason, for marrying Mr Malik:). Now much to media's pleasure Mr Malik's credentials haven't been so good either, he has already married and dumped a Hyderabadi girl, Ayesha in 2002-2005, for alleged reasons of that girl having put on lot of weight (hahahahhaha). Goodness me, I don't know from which corners do these media guys get these stories, but this is what they want, infact I believe they would have been even happier if Mr Malik had a child or two with her ex wife or ex- bollywood flame Sayali Bhagat, too. That would have given them the luxury to twist and turn the story with a much larger ferocity.

But the mood in Pakistan is not so numb as it is in our side, infact as per the daily Jung newspaper of Pakistan, people out there are quiet happy with this story and they have even started celebrating this partnership already, rejoicing as if they have finally snatched Kashmir from India:). Infact with the volatile mood swings and behavior of our neighbors we shouldn't be surprised if the Pakistan Cricket Board lifts away the one year ban from Malik for having done their nation so proud by hooking up, Miss India fame Sania Mirza, as a symbol of a psychological victory over there arch rivals.And we shouldn't be surprised if Malik takes this opportunity of coming to India as a double gain scheme where he not only gets married to Sania over his week long visit but also manages to play a few games in the cash rich IPL-3, I guess after the Sania feather on their cap the Pakistan Government won't stop him from taking part in IPL-3, forgetting the embarrassing snub which Pakistani players received few months back in the IPL auction:). But the problem he might face will be that which franchisee will rope him in? In the present form I am sure only Kings X1 Punjab will take him in gleefully, hoping that he helps them break there losing streak:).

But what infuriated me the most is the manner in which Sania Mirza addressed the media to testify the rumors about her marriage, literally bashing them up saying 'this is not a India Pakistan joint political statement that you guys are so edgy about and don't worry I will keep on playing tennis for India till atleast 2012 olympics'. GOD! I just want to ask who the heck is really worried about you not playing for India now on because nobody cares about a 92 ranked player playing for his/her country or not and on the contrary never so for a person who is in the limelight more so for the losing reasons rather than the winning ones. With all due respect to your personal life, added with all the good wishes for a bright and a joyous married life, I as a common man and your big fan would just like to reinforce a fact that you are fortunate enough to garner so many eye balls and unprecedented attention from this super sporting nation because you are not the one who actually deserves all this, there are scores of others who are the real contender of this attention and support, so if you can't live up to our support and expectation, kindly don't mar them with your arrogance. Agreed that you are 100% correct that people should respect your privacy and not poke there noses in your personal life, as everybody has the right to live his or her life on his or her own terms. But if there are still doubts about the fact that why people admire her so much, let me clarify its certainly not her tennis skills that they admire rather it's her out of the box nose rings, super trendy spectacle glass frames, ultra mini skirts and those well toned thighs which have made them her big fans. Wish she can win a handful fans by virtue of her on field excellence too much like the likes of Paes' and Bhupathis, who have been doing this consistently for last 15 years or so.

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Temptation Thrills but often Kills!

The Oxford Dictionary defines the word 'Temptation' as 'the desire to have or do something that you should avoid' but I believe and define 'Temptation' as the most tempting thing in life. It seems a weird statement but it holds very true in the real life. I have succumbed to it umpteen number of times, rather it is so god damn hard to resist that I succumb to it every single day somehow or the other. In-fact I believe every individual who wants to live his life even to the slightest bit succumbs to this addictive element and repents to some extent or the other. But who the heck cares for those punishing repayments or even gives them a distant thought, its all about enjoying those sumptuous temptations with a belief that what ever be the aftermaths, I will some how and any how manage it dude, so why to let these finger licking alluring opportunities pass by;).And thence starts a fun filled roller coaster ride in this materialistic world full of illusionary temptations.

That temptation of using the credit card to avail the end of season sale against a strong promise to oneself about not using the credit card by any means to curb on the splurging and consolidate my savings every month. But the greedy mind overpowers such ambitious thoughts with justifications like what difference will it make if I spend just 10% of my salary on my luxuries? Am I not worth even such elementary things? Am I working so damn hard just to deposit all my money in the bank? Will I carry all the amount I am saving by living so miserably to heaven, once I die? Obviously NOT, so let me use it one last time. The satisfaction of these preposterous shopping is immense, but it lasts only till the time the credit card bill arrives, because there after you spend the entire time scratching your head trying to figure out the ways through which you can manage the sum to be paid back. Wish I would have never enrolled for a credit card and had some brains to act sensiblyL.

That temptation to wipe off that heavy chocolate bar at midnight just moments before sleeping, inspite of a stern warning from the dentist and mom about the high risk of tooth decay, which are already in a bad state and surviving by means of root canals and cosmetic fillings. But all these preachings are overcome by an inner voice which says ‘ o come on boy, eating it just once can not result in a bacterial attack all of a sudden and thereby eventually decaying my all so innocent teeth’. And the mind succumbs to this temptation and the far fetched consequences are very much on the lines of those preachings which seemed so irritating and hilariously foolish earlier. Wish I would have let go that monstrous chocolate bar and adhered to those golden preachingsL.

That temptation to sleep for just 10 minutes, hours before a scaring college exam, and the argument behind this short nap being that ‘it will refresh me to new levels and I would be able to concentrate better and anyways what difference a 10 minute nap will make when I am smart enough to make up for this time’. But what eventually happens is that you wake up just minutes before the start of the exam and you are on the mercy of either your neighbor or entirely on your luck, praying that only those stuff comes in the exam paper that I have read. But the outcome invariably happens to be other way round, and either the entire exam paper seems to be an out of course stuff or you are caught red handed trying to cheat from your neighbor. Wish I wouldn’t have slept last night and crammed something usefulL.

That temptation to adore, glance and literally scan an X-Ray of every passing irresistible girl, while you are on a date with your girl friend. At such times the harder one tries not to get distracted, the more these beautiful bombs hover around you. And every single time your girl friend catches you red handed, stealing a glance of those beautiful innocent angels. As an aftermath you have to do the damage control by gifting the hitler in your life with the most expensive gifts and lying at length about their goodness and beauty. Wish I could have resisted myself for those few momentsL.

That temptation to eat few spoonfuls of rice at dinner when you are already fighting to reduce that apparently visible tummy. But the rationale which one puts behind this is that 4 or 5 spoonfuls of rice won’t inflate my tummy even by a millimeter and hence why to let this delicious curry get wasted when these few grains of rice can solve the dual purpose of finishing both the curry and the rice at the same time, and anyways one should not waste food in these times of high inflation. But what eventually happens is, in an attempt to not waste that rice for the sake of mankind, one puts on double MRF tyres around his waist as an apparent symbol of obesity. Wish I could have just thought of myself and not about the entire mankind before feeding myself with those oodles of riceL.

That temptation to join a 5 star gym after seeing a Salman Khan movie, which tempts you to flaunt a physique much like the superstar himself. Forcing you to splurge quite a lot of money on enrolment in the gym, buying an expensive track suit and a branded sports shoe costing not less than 3000 bucks. But one month down the line the enthusiasm and the desire to flaunt a Salman Khan physique dies down and you find yourself either sleeping around or feeding yourself with high calorie stuff at your gym hours, the expensive track suits becomes an item of your storage closet and the 3000 bucks sports shoe makes you feel guilty every Friday when you put them on for the casual dressing day in office. Wish I shouldn’t have watched that movie or I should have applied my brains before getting carried away and making fool of myselfL.

That temptation to procrastinate some vital work in office and push it off for tomorrow in lieu of going home early to watch those awe inspiring IPL matches has back fired hundred out of hundred times. Such fanciful thoughts are either butchered by the just in time email from the onsite manager delegating an urgent task minutes before my pack up time or they are eclipsed by those over stretched status calls from the business clients sitting in US. I wonder why the most critical issues crop up on the days of most critical cricket match of the season. Probably the business clients purposefully disrupt the processes on these days so that they can watch these matches at ease at our expense. Wish I could have studied and worked a little harder to be in the shoes of those autocratic managers L.

On one hand our life seems so deliciously attractive amidst such alluring temptations but on the other hand the very moment you fell into these traps, the misery begins. But I still believe the fun lies in prudently falling in these traps and enjoying these temptations to the fullest even if these moments of joy are short lived because when the saints of the stature of Swami Nityanand can't resist the temptations of life, we are even more mortals to resist them, but we should never succumb to these temptations at the expense our moralitiesJ!

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