Indian Writers - I: Jahnavi Barua

It has been pretty long since I wrote and indeed, its been long since I read any Indian author's offering. A few audacious choices and the vagaries of the book queue at the British council has left me with an assortment of philosophical books to read.

I'm absolutely in no mood to read philosophy - specially after the energy sapping "What is good?" or something to that effect. Hence, I decided to rummage through my cupboard for the books that I had bought but not read, and out came "Next Door" a set of short stories by Jahnavi Barua.

The stories breathe Assam; not surprising since the author is from there. The stories are also nice and heart tugging, with lot of focus on the extremist movement, the way the people lead their lives and most important, the references to the Brahmaputra - the more you read the more you want to go to Assam.

Thanks Jahnavi - I've never been to the North East, will commence with your state sometime :)

Proud to be from Palakkad

Palakkad is going to be India's 1st total electrified district.

Here's hoping that this doesn't end up as a mere statistical record, but acts as a catalyst for rapid economic growth :-)

Comments on Indian Railways - 'Then and Thenner'

A story of the Indian Railways

In 1909 Gandhi said about the railways that they -

“accentuate the evil nature of man. Bad men fulfil their designs with greater rapidity.”

This changed in 1947 to

“Trains cannot be run for charity,”

This report also delightfully speaks about the subsidy culture -

Indian politicians are addicted to a tax-and-subsidy regime of bewildering complexity, and deterred from tampering with it by a crowded electoral timetable. The Mohan report, for example, estimated that 15% of Indian railway passengers, many of them railway workers, were enjoying discounted fares. Among the 42 categories of people listed as eligible for concessions are students, boy scouts, the elderly, the very poor, war widows, nurses, journalists and some “persons taking part in mountaineering expeditions”. Even some sorts of freight—fruit and vegetables and salt, for example—are subsidised.

What concessions have you used in rail travel? अपुन has used only इश्तुदेंट concession :)

The day... the music died...

Big blow for music listeners all over India; The End of Worldspace

Just when it was gaining in popularity.........

Hard to take; I'm going to be depressed :(

Even harder to understand is the logic of the new buyers, Liberty Media. They say,

Media reports on the internet speculate that Liberty Media sees better opportunities in Latin America and other markets and would therefore like to deploy the WorldSpace satellites to target those markets rather than in India.

C'mon guys, your revenues from Telugu/Tamil/Malayalam/Kannada/Carnatic/Hindustani/Hindi channel listeners is going to be profitable. I do not know what the assumptions of your business model were before you arrived at this decision.

Review, reconsider, rewind; PLEASE

PS: But, what Worldspace did to many of its customers - the suppression of information and renewal of subscriptions at a time like this is plain vanilla cheating!

Third Person

Sometimes I just want to step out of my body and observe what happens in my world from the point of view of an impartial observer.

What would I see?

1. Would I enjoy hearing my own PJs?
2. Would I like the sight of my own frame? Seeing it in a mirror is different, mind you
3. Would I like the sound of my own voice?
4. Would I like to touch my own skin and enjoy that touch?

Such questions race through my mind specially while traveling alone in the bus to office/elsewhere.Right now, such a possibility seems bizarre - possible only through the realm of a camcorder/whatever new gadget has taken its place. 

In the meantime I guess there is this, Bleach! The way Shinigami (death gods) are able to come out of a faux body... :D

Belated Happy Birthday, Bloody Mary

Supposedly, this year is the 75th birth anniversary of the Bloody Mary. Read about it here.

Considering that 75th anniversaries are called diamond anniversaries, maybe all bloody marys served this year should be served in a diamond mug/cup/whatever container.

Two serious questions though:

1) Is there a record of the first bloody mary made?

2) Is it such a loved/popular drink to be celebrating its 75th anniversary?

I personally don't like it!

Maoists: Exterminate or Educate?

'Red rage' has become a common headline in the newspapers for the past 3-4 days. Maosists in central India (Chattisgarh and Maharashtra (Vidharba) to be precise) have sent shockwaves throughout the country.

In Chattisgarh, they abducted a policeman Mr. Francis Indwar and brutally beheaded him; and threw the body on a highway. The rage over that incident was yet to settle down; when they struck in Gadchiroli by ambushing a police party and massacaring a alrge number of policemen.

The body count apart, these incidents would definitely have sent a chill down the spine of the security forces posted in these areas. There are already rumblings about government apathy.

The incidents are shocking. Its time to adopt a 3 pronged approach to battled the Maoists. One, hammer them like the Lankan army did to the LTTE; and two swiftly incorporate them into the mainstream, and third, DO NOT EXPLOIT POOR FARMERS AND TRIBALS MERCILESSLY!