Filed under: Rants
The much abused term, the spirit of Mumbai, is what one hears all the time from every tom, dick and harry who is not involved in the incident. Politician ABC said that the reaction was a slap on the face of terrorism and the “spirit of mumbai” showed that terror can never work.. Actor XYZ said the “spirit of mumbai” was shown in how the people got into trains the day after the blast.. Anchor DEF of NDTV says the “spirit of mumbai” was at work again as the city bounced back to life and the sensex went up showing that terror never works.. Okay, replace terror with rainfall of a mind boggling size or whatever else and the refrain in the same, the spirit of mumbai.. Usually uttered by someone who (a) will never ride a train in their lives (b) will never be stuck in rain or will never have rain water getting into their 23rd floor penthouses.. Does the man on the street say this, nein, no, nyet, nahin, non, and whatever else.. That is the because, the poor sucker has to make the trip by the train the next day or he wont have roti, kapda or makaan left.. And of course, there is the sense of fatalism that jo hona hain, hoga ab ham ka kare.. And while the spirit of mumbai makes good copy, it would be nice if the friggin’ government could sit up and improve the infrastructure, intelligence, security instead of sitting on their rear ends and going on about the spirit of mumbai.. Which is a very good way of not doing anything and then praising the people for doing stuff in spite of the lack of stuff..
Kewl, the other thought that strikes moi is that isnt that spirit there in every indian – IISc did recover admirably from the shoot out last year, varanasi did equally well to recover from the bomb blast, etc.. Yeah Annavaru’s death kept us home for a day, but then meena tai’s statue desecration kept mumbai home for a day.. So even stevens.. Me guess is that is the “ispirit of the indian” or as the hindi news buggers will put it “bharatiya ispirit” that keeps us going.. More like methanol spirit to me this ispirit, will just get us killed.. Well, doing some freudian or jungian or whatever psycho analysis available, I guess it is the fatalistic attitude of the Indian that keeps us going.. Our history and mythology is strewn with enough instances of losers who lose and then lose more than their fair share and keep their mouths shut, allowing them to be raped even more.. As our famouse politicians are doing so right now, as our ever so friendly neighbours are doing and ever so whoever the f&@% cares to do..
Well, we also have our fair share of hawks who would love to have the 2 Corps or the 3 Corps or whatever else to move on rawalpindi and screw the pakistanian jugular, but then in all likelihood these armchair generals arent the ones that are going to be at the lead of the 2 corps or whoever else.. It is going to be some unfortuntate but brave and patriotic young officer who will.. Probably at an age where I was sitting and trying to get the angst of working for a bitchy boss out, the officer would be leading a squad of equally unfortunate but brave and patriotic young men across the border to kill and maim or be killed and maimed by a bunch of unfortunate but brave and patriotic young men, just because their nationalities are different or worse still because the religion is different.. And all because a bunch of superannuated jackasses cant agree on things or because a bunch of equally assinine and religion crazed fups want to kill and prove they are the biggest mfs in the world.. I am starting to hate war and the religious terrorists even more..
And of course, big daddy of the world and small uncle of the mid east are equally bad.. Some 2000 odd poor american soldiers have been fatalities in a war not of their making.. Now Israel, who I used think of as the little kid with really big balls in a meanie neighbourhood and liked them for that, is showing that they are no better than the neighbourhood bully with bombing beirut and lebanon crazy.. Is that right?? I can understand bombing PLA strongholds, Hezbollah strongholds, but bombing the city of beirut which has a bunch of civilians of all nationalities because the Hez guys might be there is a bit over the top..
Kewl, how do we stop this terrorism, me thinks we cant, not in a world which lives on hatred and divisiveness, in a world populated by leaders who are more interested in self glory and bloodshed, in a world where religion, caste and community are defining factors of a person, in a world where human life is cheap, in a world where might is right.. So there, yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye tho kya hai..
Anyways, all this began because I read an article in India today.. Blame that magazine..
Filed under: Rants
Ah,
Our good friend, the PC, i.e, our esteemed and respected Finance Minister has been upto it again..After shafting the salaried tax paying class (the only lot that actually pays more than required) in 2005 by introducing various new scatter brained policies like the fringe benefit tax and reducing benefits otherwise, he shafted us more by increasing service tax to 12.24% in 2006.. I mean i pay 12.24% tax on the mobile bill, on the credit card late payment fees, on the movie tix, on the processing fees for the home loan, the processing fees for the car loan and shit like that.. If i rolled in cash (as in physical notes), I wouldnt have to pay any of these.. well, friggin’ unfair right.. Anyways, as per news reports, he has been upto it again.. the form 2F which purportedly replaces the SARAL.. I thought the friggin idea was to ensure more people paid tax.. if i have to sit and friggin’ figure out my f-ing cashflows for the year, I would be doing only that for the f-ing year.. I am an individual, as long as I have paid tax as per TDS and pay tax on my capital gains which I do because i am a friggin’ dunderhead, I shd be allowed to spend my moolah on whatever i choose as long as it is not nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction (unless i am enrolling in Vandana Luthra CC, which is destruction of mass of a different kind), so why the f shd i give my cashflows.. I believe it is a violation of my civil rights.. I get shafted by having to pay a tax on every godammned thing that is there.. I also now get shafted by having to lay my friggin’ life bare in front of the taxman.. why why..
Anyways, if this UPA government is going to continue for long, I think a lot of us should contemplate emigration.. As such it looks like with reservations, my son who is unfortunate enough to be a pure bred brahmin will have to obtain 98% plus to do his BA..On top of it, i presume, 80% of his earnings will go towards lining the coffers of the f-all government at the centre.. Hmm, i wonder where all that tax i pay goes.. can the fin min provide a detailed cashflow as to use of my tax payments, i mean, my individual contribution to the nation, I wonder..
I also read that petrol prices are going up.. Bangalore is going to be at Rs 55 per litre.. that is a friggin’ dollar and 25 odd cents at current rates for one tenth of a gallon of gas.. And i believe it is because the beloved Karnataka government charges only 28% sales tax plus some 8% entry tax or some such shit.. And i keep wondering why the Bangalore roads are so shitty..
Well, that was my rant for the day.. i will be back..
Filed under: General
It had rained the day before. It was six in the morning. Mist hung over the city like a wet blanket on some boisterous elements. The silence was shattered by the thud of the paper landing on the porch. “Fifteen dead in blast” screamed the headlines. I should know, I was there. Yes, the past tense, is what you would have to use for me now. He was such a gem of a guy, a fantastic colleague, a good husband and doting father and other such accolades will flow in. A different matter that they wouldnt have been able to put together even a six sq cm piece of my ~22,000 sqcm body for my wife, kids and colleagues to see. All I would be is an empty urn.
