"Pakistan - Riding a Tiger"

‘Pakistan is only taking half measures in the fight against terrorism. Pakistan is paying the price for not heeding our advice,’ Mr Chidambaram(PC, our Home Minister) said. ‘Unless you dismantle terror, one day or the other you'll be hurt,’ he told Pakistan. ‘We have put enormous pressure on Pakistan, but the response is in Pakistan's hands... They have not gone the whole distance to dismantle terror infrastructure. We advised them that it is not enough if they nab one or two people whom they suspect to be the masterminds.’

Kudos to our Home Minister, I am glad we are, finally, talking how we should have been talking all the time. May I add my own aphorism on the subject, "Jo doosron ke liye gaddah khodta hai wohi usme girata hain(Those who dig a grave for others end up falling in it themselves.)". This is after a longtime that I find pride in our Home Minister and Foriegn minister. On the other hand I had expected a lot more from Zardari, a person who lost his wife to Terrorism. He is the living proof that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Banning his opponent from contesting elections, treating LeT, JeM, Taliban, etc with kid gloves are not the ways expected of a person who is a victim of terrorism. Under his leadership Pakistan is leading a way of speak and counter-speak.

That said, my sympathies with the police personnel who lost their lives in the lahore attack.

Arguments lately

Lately, I've been embroiled in, sometimes heated, arguments, with one person in particular, on various subjects. The three subjects of arguments are as follows:
1. Whether Renuka Chaudhary's war cry "Pub-Bharo" was in good taste or not. I was obviously in favor of it :) But I have solid reasons, mind you.
2. Whether wizard based technologies should be the way forward. I am more in favor of "control" in my tech stuff so A-to-Z wizard based stuff is not for me. I need the element of control that ties ends together or I don't feel in control. And it is the case, if you want to do something out of the way of the wizard technologies, you end up scratching your heads.
3. Whether Sachin Tendulkar is god. I admit that I went through a phase where I used to think that India had no chance of winning when his wicket fell. But I am well past that phase. In fact, though I like the cricket the new team plays under Dhoni, I am no longer a fan of cricket! I fail to understand how a person who was so very inconsistent on the field be termed the God of Cricket! When I was young and impressionable there is no dearth of times when he has let me down by giving his wicket away.

Believe it or not: This chart works!

Just discovered this chart according to chinese lunar calendar which predicts the gender of your baby pretty accurately. Please note that this is posted here not as a gender selector for "ishq par waqt ta zor kab raha hai....ha...ha...ha"
http://www.thelaboroflove.com/chart/cal.html

I have checked this chart for my boys and myself too and it accurately predicted my sex..i mean gender :)

Red Indian Vs. White man

Red Indian Chief 'Two Eagles' was asked by a white government official,
'You have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his
technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he's
done.'

The Chief nodded in agreement.

The official continued, 'Considering all these events, in your opinion,
where did the white man go wrong?'

The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then
calmly replied.
'When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty
buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water. Women did all the work, Medicine man
free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex.'

Then the chief leaned back and smiled. 'Only white man dumb enough to think
he could improve a system like that.'

Why we love children

Ashok Chakra awards

Yesterday, I was watching our Republic Day proceedings on the TV and when it was the turn of our President to give away the Ashok Chakra awards, the highest recognition to our nation's heroes during peacetime, a few thoughts struck me:
1. All the awards were being accepted by the widows of the heroes.
2. Why is it being given to the 3 police-men who got ambushed and killed? How come they are placed on the same pedestal as those who valiantly fought the enemies before laying down their lives?
3. If the 3 policemen who were ambushed to death deserved the award, why don't all the policemen who lost their lives in the 26/11 attacks too deserve the awards? Were the lives of the policemen of lower grade not worth the lives of these policemen?
4. Was it because these 3 men were in media's glare and were painted as heroes by the media that they ended up with the awards?

I think that our government has bungled badly in this case. It still can make amends by granting the awards to the rest of the policemen who laid down their lives in the attack.

Moral policing, a growing menace

Q: What's the difference between Karnataka and Maharashtra?
A: They have a spanking new set of CM and deputy-CM.

And I think it's time we had a new one. Rest, I see only similarities between KN and MH. They have regionalism against north-indians. Here, in karnataka there is regionalism against tamils and north-indians, for now. They have moral-policing where they go around chasing paki nationals back home or changing sweet shop names. Here we have moral-policing goons chasing and molesting girls who visit pubs.

When terrorists struck Mumbai on 26/11 there was a huge hue and cry that we are so angry with our government, our neighbors, etc. And we did do something about it. We held vigils and vented our anger. And our anger was seen and was acted upon.

I appreciated media then and I appreciate media now for taking up the cause for the girls in Mangalore who got molested by moral-police. But why must it always be the media who tries to bring justice by their own means. Why don't we take out vigils to show our strenght and displeasure at all such acts? I am sure all those who came out for vigil after mumbai attacks would be of the opinion that this act must be condemned and protested against. But what makes them come out for one issue and not the other? Well, I guess somebody needs to mobilize them out of their houses. It would be a nice idea to have a portal where people can register to be told when a peaceful protest is being planned. Then they can come to that location with their posters and markers and what not. Maybe, the media can also be part of the list of members who will be tuned into the happenings of that site. Wonder what people think of this idea!