Flourish Bhagat Singh, in the land of Mahatma Gandhi

May 13, 2008: A series of six explosions tore through Jaipur, a popular tourist destination in the Rajasthan state in western India, killing 63 people and injuring more than 150.

July 25, 2008: Seven blasts in quick succession across the south Indian tech city of Bangalore killed one and injured more than 150 people.

July 26, 2008: Serial blasts in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad killed 45 people and injured more than 150. A group calling itself Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility.

Sept. 13, 2008: Five bomb blasts in New Delhi's popular shopping centers left 21 people dead and more than 100 injured. The Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility.

Sept. 27, 2008: A blast in a New Delhi flower market left one dead.

Oct. 30, 2008: Thirteen bomb blasts in India's northeastern state of Assam and three other towns left at least 61 people dead more than 300 injured.

Nov. 26, 2008: Terrorists attack the financial hub of the country, Mumbai. This was a co-ordinated strike by terrorists that were carried out at multiple locations to create maximum impact. 125 killed, more than 350 injured.

(Source: Wall Street journal)

 

Seven attacks across the length and breath of the country in the last 11 months. That averages to nearly one attack every 45 days.

This country does not have a Taliban that runs amock with assault rifles and RPG's. This is not Iraq where fundamentalist forces place road-side bombs for fun.... what is going on with this country?.

What a wonderful Prime Minister we have?. He comes on national TV to condemn the bombings?. Who cares for your condemnation when it took you two hours to convene an emergency meeting?. What was he doing for this 2 hours?... waiting for hot water to take bath?

Nearly three hours for the NSG commando's to be deployed, only for them to find that they don't have any building plans of the 2 Hotels or any person on ground for a briefing. The same mistake was commited during the Kandahar Hijacking, yet we seem to have not learnt anything from that.

What the !@#$ is the Home Minister for?... He claims that there was no credible intelligence. These terrorist were not using AK-47's, they were running on around with HK MP5 variants. You don't simply go to a market and buy an MP5 rifle!. Some guy spends 50,00 bucks buying provisions and no body raises any eyebrow?. Does seriously expect me to believe that some bloke spending 50,000 rupees buying provisions at your "friendly" local supermarket is normal in this country? What is the excuse?... that he thought this bloke was buying stuff for a whole bloody apartment complex?

I feel frustrated and helpless at what is happening. It is sad that in the land of Mahatma Gandhi, one is looking towards Bhagat Singh for inspiration in such times of distress.

Do Grown Up Men Cry?

Some people might disagree with the title, atleast give me benefit of the doubt cos i do "look" grown up!. Don't i?

I've never been the emotional guy... i wouldn't care a damn about what happens around me!. But there are days when even the "i don't care" guy has to sit and take notice of what is happening around him.

7 years ago, i moved out of my house into the student hostel. That was the first time i was staying in a place i din't know, sharing a room with someone i met 4 hours ago!. There was nobody to talk to and i wasn't so well off to afford a mobile phone to call my parents every so often. I cried that night... cried so much that i ran out of tears (blame it on the hot summer!). 

17 days ago, i saw my sweetheart walk into immigration check (with a broker hand & struggling with her backpack!) and i felt this really empty feeling in my stomach. A restlessness that i later found out was because i was going to miss her company for a longtime, knowing that i can't meet her for lunch or dinner whenever we wanted to, couldn't rent a car and drive down to wherever we wanted to (save the jokes about my driving skills for later!) or just look at her face and tell myself.. damn how did i end up with such a beautiful girl!.

But yes, i do look forward to going home... family is the only thing one has at birth and death!. So make sure you keep it safe.... till you die.

The Seatbelt - Use it!

Dear Inventor of the Seatbelt,

I owe you my life. Your obscure invention saved my life and the love of my life.

I wish you are alive, i would definitely like to thank you in person.

Regards,

A fortunate accident victim

Now, thats an open letter to the inventor of the seat belt. Thanks to him, i survived this crash!.

Figure-an a paaatha friend a cut pannuvanga!

"Figure a paatha friend a cut pannuvanga"

Heard this before?. People from chennai or fans of Vivek or madhavan would have definitely heard this. For those completely unaware of what i am talking, the literal translation of what i quoted is "When you see a figure (babe, bombshell, gilma, gilfans, girl, beauty...etc), you cut your friends"

Guys often use this phrase when one of their friends has found a girlfriend and stops coming out with his old friends. This has always been associated with guys, not sure why though!. But i would like to modify this and make it more gender neutral!.. I prefer to call it

"Figure-an a paaatha friend a cut pannuvanga", where figure-an refers to a male character rather than the sterotyped female character!

Candle in the winds