Mumbai Mayhem

I was talking to a friend of mine the day after the pandemonium in Mumbai...For one who is staying so far away from home, to be so frustrated and pissed off should be an eye opener to all of us here in India. Here is what he had to say about the whole thing, in an email to all of our friends.....I couldn't have put it in a better way.

Hi Guys,

I am the last person to initiate mails like this, but I guess I have reached a saturation point too.

What happened in Mumbai, was barbaric, gruesome, etc etc. Feel free to insert whatever adjectives you want to use here. All of them have been heard before at some point in time. Once again a group claims responsibility, once again our politicians will play the blame game, and after a month or so, it is up to resilient Indians to pick themselves up, because face it, we are stronger than this right?

Stop me if you have heard this before.

Once again we claim to have evidence of foul play, as we have had after every blast so far. If there is evidence of foul play, then act on it for heaven's sake. I mean come on...how many times are we going to wave classified information in people's faces, but never actually reveal it, or act on it. How many times do we need to refresh the same scenario before it actually hits home?

I hate George Bush, hate his policies and many other things. But even I find it harder and harder to criticize him on National security. For all his faults, as insanely screwed up his policies are(Iraq, Iran), he kept this country safe. It makes me sick to think how many attacks we have to go through before our politicians just get together on this issue. It started out in Mumbai 2 years ago, played visiting circus in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Delhi, etc, and we have come full circle again to Mumbai. How many mini 9/11s, or for that matter 26/11s, do we have to face before our politicians clean up their act? Six hours to mobilize the NSG? Are you fucking kidding me?

My faith in politics was lost after the Ahmedabad blasts, when we had the leader of one party blaming the government for carrying out blasts to distract attention from a voting scam. Where else would you find a government getting blamed for bomb blasts, instead of banding together to fight the menace? Is the very thought of political harmony for a common cause so alien a concept for them? Are they really that self-centered? As far as politicians go, that was my breaking point, and I find it difficult to trust any politician anymore.

But just this once, I hope they don't drop the ball. They owe it to us not to. They can go back to their corruption, bribery, bitching after they sort this out, and I will never ever raise a finger at them again. This is above petty politics such as faith and religion...it is national. It is against the country, not the religions that make up the country. One would have to think whether the same thing could have happened if our politicians weren't so busy trying to outdo each other over shitty stuff.

I honestly don't know what I plan to achieve through this, other than vent my frustrations. If this gets forwarded enough, I just hope it eventually reaches someone related to anyone at all with the power to do something about this. Probably someone's uncle, relative, family friend...someone connected with politics, media, etc. I know this sounds hollow and stupid, but it beats sitting helpless. We all seem to be getting good at just sitting around feeling helpless without actually venturing to do anything about it. I have a sister working in India. Every time there is a blast anywhere, I can't help but feel that she is never more than a hand's length away from hurt. So yes, this is personal too. I am usually the first person to disregard emails like this, but even I feel compelled to just say something. Please guys, pass this around. I can only hope that it eventually strikes home somewhere.

WAKE THE F*** UP!!!

I am not a regular blogger, so whatever I mention here must be of some significance, which is why what you are about to read has been posted.

At some point of time in everyone's life, there is ONE person whom you meet, get to know, fall for and then decide to spend the rest of your life with. The realization dawned upon me about a month ago, and I've been spending most of my free time trying to figure out how exactly to go about putting across my thought(s) to her. Frantic searches for the right ring (with a great deal of help from two friends of mine), setting up the location for THE moment - trust me, it is hard work - all done in three weeks time.

The day when i was gonna pop the question(last Saturday), everything seemed fine. There were a few hiccups in between, thanks to my over-thinking n over-analyzing self which made me feel that today might not be right. To add to that, it started raining heavily and the setup could not be completed in time. My train of thought was going beyond top gear and into overdrive, so much so that I walked straight into a glass door and earned myself a deep cut just above my left eye!! I told myself to calm down and stay that way, no matter how hard it might be.

Friends came over to party that evening. Drinks all around and people were having a good time. I downed 6 beers, and I wasn't buzzed even slightly, probably because of all the anxiety/excitement/butterflies/etc., I kept slipping out of the room to check whether it stopped raining so that i can set things up. Finally at about 11pm, the skies cleared and i was good to go. Didnt have time for a major operation, so i kept it simple. A small table in the center of the terrace, with 12 scented candles and the ring in the centre. The wind was still strong, so I had to curl my arms around the table to keep the candles from going off. My brother sneaked up on me and was laughing his a** off when he saw what I was doing. Gave him a look, and told him to send her upstairs.

Moments later, i saw her walk through the door. I could literally feel my heart thumping away. She walked towards me and asked "what is this?". I stood up, looked her in the eye and then got confused - damn, which knee is it? I knelt on my right knee, took her hands in mine and asked her, while she stood there with her eyes and mouth wide open, "Will you marry me?" She was still in shock and didnt say anything for a few seconds. I shook her hand slightly and then she said, "Of course, YES". She put forth her right hand, unknowingly, and asked if it was the correct one! I took her left hand, slid the ring on her ringfinger and was really happy to see that it fit well (considering that the size was based completely on assumptions). I gave her a hug, and I didnt wanna let go. I kept asking her later if she liked what I did, and everytime she said "It was perfect". The ring - well, she loves it.

By far, the best moment in my life. :)

P.S.: Haven't used the f word even once. Am I proud of myself or what!!

About time I got to writing something here, this page is like a year and a half old now!! The net speed is something like the run rate of Holland in Test match cricket, so no use attempting to download the latest games off my Steam account. Thought I'd rather fill this page up with something.

Been living the life of the average joe for the most part of this year - Work for 10 hours on weekdays, hope to have a good time with friends and family over the weekend etc., etc.,. I guess the monotoneity of this routine gets to a person pretty soon. The idea of trying out something different is like a splinter in my brain, driving me mad.(Thanks for the simile, Morpheus).

The gym seemed like a great place to vent out all the frustration, but there is only so much that the human body can take. Instructors thought I went mad when I told them I wanted to try out the 300 workout for a change! Sensing that I won't be helped in that regard, I thought it'd be best to ask them for some high intensity advice.

For the times when me ain't around a pullup bar or a bench with weights, PC games seem to be the best bet. Again, my 3 year old laptop doesn't have enough juice for the games of today. Books are a person's best friend at such times. Considering my habit of finishing whatever I start reading, I need to devote atleast 4-5 hours for that purpose. Instead, I end up sleeping coz most of the reading material that I get my hands on is the tried and tested stuff. Books are no longer how they used to be. Sometimes I feel its better off reading technical books on distributed computing, AI and game programming coz they make so much more sense than anything else.

Hanging out with friends is possible only when the times when we are free coincide. Even that seems like a distant dream. The occassional visit of a friend from out of town is a reason for excitement, atleast that way people do take out time to meet up. Otherwise, there are friends who live pretty close by, but its been ages since we've met, thanks to conflicting schedules. Frequent meet ups also can get monotonous, so its looked at as something to be done once in a while, so the time spent is well worth it.

Coming to music and movies, the good stuff gets dished out once in a friggin blue moon. Its hard for one to listen to the likes of Lamb of God, Tool and Dark Tranquility, and expect everyone else to be as good. Plus, Chris Nolan, Guy Ritchie and Tarantino types need some time off to work on their ideas. To settle for the ordinary when you have seen/heard the best is really not possible, so boredom kicks in easy.

As of now, I'm cursing the technicians for not fixing my bandwidth problem, otherwise I would have been killing terrorists in a game of Counter Strike right now. Instead I am here, doing something I never thought I would take time out for. Now that I am bored of this too, I'm think I'm gonna watch Himesh Reshammiya make a fool of himself by trying to act and laugh my ass off over it.

Later! (it could be sooner, if I get bored of laughing at stupidity).