On Reservation!!

A friend had just forwarded this mail, am pasting it here as I found it hilarious.

MAY BE THE FUTURE IS LIKE THIS:-

Sun is rising as usual in the east .I’m standing here outside the school, waiting for my 10 yr kid. He studies is class 2.Only this year he could get admission into the school. For the last 5 yrs admissions were closed for the general category students. School bell rings. I can see a lot of happy children coming out of the gate, I waited for half an hour and my kid came at last after other children. General students are not allowed to cross the gate unless other OBC/SC/ST students have crossed the gates. OBC/SC/ST fathers drive away their children in classy cars. But I have to walk back home with my kid a 5km stretch. I lost my car some years back when Govt. came with a rule that general people have to deposit a tax equal to cost of their cars .Failing which I had to sell the car. As far as buses are concerned, the seats in buses are reserved for OBC/SC/ST .So no place there also.

After walking some 5km in scorching heat I finally reached home. It was Wednesday ... shit , no electricity. Every mon, wed, thu, sat is power cut in the houses of General category population .So that SC/ST/OBC can be uplifted by providing them with every opportunity and in that consideration electricity is an important factor.

Its 10:00 pm in night no electricity at home. Its very hot inside the four walls of home .So i dare to step out in park with my wife and kid. I seated myself with my family on a secluded bench in garden. It was hardly 5 min .. a guard came to us strolling in the park. He asked me what caste you belong to. I said with some hesitation .. G..General. He asked me to pay a fine of Rs.200 and get out of the park.

My Fault...
The bench i was sitting on was meant for again the SC/ST/OBC . for their upliftment
peace of mind is on essential things. So govt came with this decision to Reserve benches for them. Kudos to them...

Its early in the morning ...the newspaper wala just knocked the door. I took the newspaper and started reading ..,its independence day . I never used to forget this days some 20 yrs back. My kid hardly knows what 15th august is ,because I never told him any stories of greatness of our country or anything related to country. I don't feel like telling him the failures after freedom.

On front page of newspaper, in a corner their is a news about a OBC member getting 6 months imprisonment in "BAL SUDHAR GRAHA" from a juvenile court for murdering and raping a six year old girl .Yes the rules have been amended ,since the last 5 years. The Culprit was a 25 year old OBC so age relaxation was provided for trial of crime. So he was taken to juvenile court, since there is an age relaxation for OBC/SC/ST.

About 11 am some one gave me the BAD news about demise of one of my neighbor and friend Mr. Mehta. I went to his house for condolence next day ,his body was lying there still rotting in the heat. I asked his son about the Cremation .His son told me
" Many reserved category have died yesterday so we are not getting entry to cremation ground " . This rule is the latest from Govt. Where the seats in cremation ground will be reserved for SC/ST/OBC for their upliftment.


Finally next day Mehta ji was cremated could see sun setting through the Flames burning a liberated Body, liberated from caste n creed. I was surprised sun still sets in the west? It was about 9 pm , I was about to sleep in my bed my son came to me with innocence in his eyes , inquisitively he asked me the question what is reservation?

I asked me where u listened that. he suddenly burst in tears .. I asked him to keep..quiet But I could listen through his sobs "mujhe bhi reservation chahiye (I too want reservation)".
How can I convince him it’s no other toy in the market I can get for him? He kept crying that night, claiming many of "his classmates have got reservation".
To make him quiet I said ok, I’ll buy you reservation at your next B'day.

Bye Bye India

Interesting story, maybe our future. :D.

Fannaaaaaaaed!

Last 2 weeks have been horrendous with regards to watching movie in India. First it was Da Vinci Code and now Fanna. For Da Vinci Code it was said that as citizens they have freedom to raise their voice if they find something inapt - its their democratic right. Now Fanna is banned in Gujrat - reason - Aamir Khan raised his voice during the Narmada Dam issue against BJP. Is'nt Aamir a citizen of India? Or just because he is a celebrity he does'nt have the freedom of speech?

I have always detested Narendra Modi and his atrocious policies. World recognises India as the biggest democratic setup, which I am proud of, but suddenly I have realised that it is no longer a democracy. Its more of despotism in a democratic setup. Leaders are becoming dictators rather than representatives elected by the people and for the people.

I am not residing in Gujrat, but tomorrow it may happen at my place, if a prominent personality goes against the government. I believe that like me there are many who want to watch Fanna (afterall its an Aamir movie and Kajol is acting after a long time) in Gujrat. I mean who is Narendra Modi or for that matter BJP to ban the movie? Who gave them the rights to ban a movie because of personal animosity?

I have the feeling that its the failure of democracy, when a common man like me does'nt have the right to watch a movie, because the dictator is against it. One of my friend says that India will be a failed country by 2025, could'nt agree more with him. I think 2025 is a long way to go, with the leaders like Narendra Modi, Arjun Singh, Laloo, etc - list is endless, India will be a failed setup by 2015.

Da Vinci Code - Who cares!! :p

I have always hated the idea of censorship. Like once Aamir Khan said, 'In an ideal world there should not be censorship, cos this world is not ideal so theatre will have censorship'. Da Vinci Code- a fantastic book (As people told me, I read the first page and got bored, never tried to read it again :p), is an international book-seller (how can someone fool so many ppl - it has to have something in it). A movie I cant wait to watch (Tom Hanks) and all we're getting from these so called beaureaucrats is this "We need to see it first before the film can release" - simply nonsense. I mean really who died and made them the saviours of the world.

And looks like our tolerance levels are just dropping by the day. Water, Fire, earth every time an issue is raised there are some "event managers" who're just not willing to let a new perspective shine thru. Riots, protests - why cant we just come to terms with the fact that some people might just think different from the way we do - Is that really so difficult? Another question which rises in my mind, are Indian christians bigger christians than the west? Should vatican be moved to somewhere in Kerela or rather Goa (I dunno where the pope in India sits - my appologies)?

Such a cliche' I realise but "The Earth is Flat" story. Are we really as closed minded to not see another perspective? Or worse are we so weak that we're not able convince them that they might not want to see something new but some of us do.

I want watch this film. I wanna know what it is all about, what I have missed by not reading the book (like I did when Harry Potter came, when LOTR came - I never read them, but watched the movie). Like Ron howard says if you think it's going to hurt your sentiment dont watch it, why dun ppl understand that? I hear some of them saying that India is secular country and ppl have right to protest, but I also know that there is freedom of speech and media.

But lets get rid of this black blanket strategy of ours and understand that no one can shove anything down our throats if we dont want to savour it, just because you watch something, see something and listen to something dosnt mean you have to buy the idea? On the hindsight it gives you a chance to understand that you have the power to have a perspective. How are you supposed to break out of that shell, if you never see another side? How can you have make choices, if you have nothing to choose from?

Purists Night Out..!!

Paris - the city of romance is staging the dream finale of UEFA CL. The match brings together two of club football's most attractive teams with the newly-crowned Spanish champions Barcelona who eliminated the clubs like AC Milan, Chelsea on their road to Paris, while Arsenal's progress to their first European Champion Clubs' Cup showpiece has been most notable for a record-breaking ten successive clean sheets and the elimination of Real Madrid CF, Juventus and Villarreal CF.
Its gonna be one final to remember for a long long time and will surely be clash of titans. Its not only Barcelona vs Arsenal, its also Ronaldhino vs Henry. Me betting on Barcelona and Ronaldhino to take the prizes, but just pray that its exciting.

Captain in waiting!

On saturday evening, I was home witnessing one of the best soccer match in the history of FA cup. It was the finals, which according to the pundits of the game was a piece of cake finale for Liverpool FC. WHU's reaching final was a surprise, but it was one triller of a match, setup with an own goal from Carragher and the other a blunder from Reina. WHU were 2-0 up by the 30th minute. Then came some stunning strikes from the captain in waiting for England, Steven GERRARD. One pass from him made it easy for Cisse, then one goal from him levelled the match. But the best came in the 91st minute. It was a stunning strike, considering the distance from which he struck, the power in the shot and the time of the match. Gerrard certainly rocks and I think one man England will surely look forward in WC'06. Hope he scores many matches for Liverpool and England.
Wanted to let people know that my interest in F1 this season has deceased, considering my car Mclaren is a piece of shit and is unable to give Kimi a podium finish.

Microsoft vs Google

These days in the computer biz two companies are buzzing bigtime. Microsoft (who made working on computer user friendly) and Google (who made everything on the internet just a search engine away).
Its the modern mahabharat, or I would brand it as World War III, where the two giants are fighting to prove their supremacy in this computer age. MS is pumping billions of dollars on advertising of Windows and Word to keep us trapped in a world where everybody else also uses Windows and Word.
On the other hand, Googleplex have been running an innovation a minute machine which is gaining the appreciation of common man, day in day out. Products known to us like gmail, orkut, gtalk, gearth, froogle (leave apart google the search engine) are innovation of sorts, but products lesser known and in their BETA phases like Writely and numsum are there to stay till internet is replaced. Whatsmore, there's always a buzz surrounding everything Google does, without Google spending a dime on any sort of marketing/advertising unlike the fellow competitors.
No doubt, Microsoft has been doing the catch up and falling further behind. Probably, are trying to play the windows game in a google economy.
Its so much fun to be sitting here, working on Windows platform and posting on a Google product. I don't know who will have the last laugh, but us (customers) will surely be benefited in this war for global software supremacy.

Url Changed..!!

Hello guys. Due to some blogger issues, I have changed my url from previous one. I have managed to place some of my recent posts in this url.

Livin' on a Prayer!!

I am hoping that history repeats again, and like last year Kimi will rule in Barcelona. Inshahallah!!

F1 update - Nurburgring, Germany!!

F1's back on track this weekend at Mclaren's home. I hope Alonso's statement comes true like it did in San Marino. I hope Mclaren comes up with a potent car to challenge him. All the best Mclaren, Go Kimi Go!!..

Latest bigtime CONTROVERSY... Reservations in India!!

In the knowledge-based economy, people with right kind of skill-set will be able to make through and the need is to give underprivileged people the wings by giving knowledge, adding skills and right aptitude rather than providing them the crutches of reservation. Reservation in prestigious institutions is one of the means and not the only means to blend a commitment to excellence with a commitment to equity. I am of the firm belief that this move generates acrimony and promotes divisive tendencies among those who are able to make through and who were left even though they had better track record.
Already much damage has been done to the nation by the Mandalisation. Getting admission in reputed institutions is more difficult in India as compared to even best institutions elsewhere in any developed nation if we observe the ratio of candidates selected vis-à-vis number of candidates appearing in the test. Infact its much easier to study abroad, as the reputation of the university will be better than IIM's/IIT's at the global level and the entrance is far easier. Which is one of the prime reasons why some of the deserving students are moving out of India for a better quality of education at a lesser entrance fight.
On the one hand, one is coming through the ardent process of selection whereas on the other, someone is given the place just because of his/her affiliation or belongingness to a particular class. If this is allowed then the purpose of providing access is achieved but the pursuit of excellence will suffer. Merit-cum-means scheme can better serve the purpose of excellence even among underprivileged sections of the society.
In addition to this, the emphasis should be on their primary and secondary education, provision of interest-free educational loans, quality coaching institutions which train them to compete and also provision of the platform where they meet their role models who have made it even though facing same hardships. Even though it may be termed as weak form of affirmative action but at least it provides an equal opportunity to compete and has moral justification also. And if further reservation is asked for then the political establishment is asking for doing another wrong to correct the wrong done in the past. Moreover, in the name of affirmative action, reservation creates a stigma of undeservedness, whether or not it is deserved. By giving people what they deserve as individuals, rather than as members of groups we show respect for their inherent worth. Otherwise it promotes mediocrity and resentment.
We have IIMs and IITs which have established themselves as global brand and these institutions are expected to promote meritocracy and not mediocrity as these institutions are trend-setters for other institutions in the country. The need is to maintain status quo of these institutions as institutions of excellence rather than eroding their basic standards.

Crazy WI cricket team

In one of my previous post, I had written about captaining the WI cricket team is a joke. Just read another article to prove my point. :D

Kaavya Viswanathan..!!

Thruout the weekend was busy reading a novel "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life" and yes the controversies are very much true, the novel is plagurised from "Sloppy Firsts (read it long time back)".