Why Obama would be better for India....

With less than a week to go for the mother of all presidential races, the air is thick with speculation of who will be the next president of the USA. If we go by most polls, Obama has a significant lead but certainly not a decisive one. Though the race is primarily about who will be the commander in charge of America for the next four years, it will also decide on America's relationship with many other nations including India.

I have been an Obama supporter since day 1(ya i know...i have no business supporting anyone one of the candidates...but its just that way..). Obama, to me, represents a resurgent African American community that is fully integrated into American society and is ready to take on anyone, without playing the race card for evoking sympathy. Obama has never campaigned on the platform of race which clearly reflects his confidence on his own credentials. Contrast this with the race situation 4 decades back and u will surely agree with me that African American community has come a long way since then.

Ok i am digressing now. Coming back to the point, i feel that Obama would be a better choice as president from India's perspective than McCain. The reasons are aplenty. I will make a brief mention of a couple of those reasons.

1. India-Top Priority....Obama mentioned in an recent interview that India will be a top priority as far as foreign affairs is concerned. We can trust Obama's words to a reasonable extent because of the general opinion in the US that China has become too big for its own sake and that its growing economic and political clout might shadow that of the US in the coming decades. There is bi partisan support for creating a counter weight in the region. With a little push from the developed countries(lead from the forefront by the US), India could prove to be just that. So India has a greater chance of improving, or should i say upgrading, ties with the US with Obama at the helm.

2.Pakistan.....Obama has promised to reduce military aid to Pakistan drastically(read cut off). As we all know, Pak hasn't been using the money for fighting terror rather it was utilising it for better preparing itself against a possible confrontation with India. This action, as clearly pointed out by Obama, is destabilising the region more. Obama has also promised that he will go after militants hiding in Pak's North West Frontier Province(wooohoooo!) without waiting for Pakistan approval. Obama is clear about one thing..America's number one enemy( coincidentally India's too) is Osama Bin Laden...Its him that America has to hunt down. And stop draining American dollars on a quagmire that is Iraq.

I do understand that Obama has made statements in favour of restricting outsourcing. But we have to understand something here. Outsourcing is an emotive an issue as reservation is in India. No American politician can afford to say that he supports outsourcing and hope to win the race to the white house. The Obama plan says that the tax breaks will be transferred to companies that keep jobs in the US. Off course this will cut into the profit margins of these companies and consequently might lead to some setback to employers here. We MIGHT see some retrenchment on the low skilled labour front( ie..BPOs) . But that should be it.

But somehow i feel that Obama might bark about this issue but wont bite..because many economist agree that outsourcing is more beneficial to the outsourcing country than it is to the country at receiving end. Moreover with the kind of freedom American enterprises have been enjoying all these years, the least we can expect from these big corporations is a violent (not MNS style though) protest against any legislation that curtails their lateral movement.

Freedom of Speech?

I am sure that u guys have been watching the news coverage on Raj Thackeray's provocative speeches and the consequent rampage his supporters went on against North Indians appearing for Railway exams in Mumbai. Appalled and distraught, i just hoped that the long arm of the law , at least this time, will put him behind bars for good. As it turned out, he is out on bail again, free to speak his mind, ready to play with fire and stroke up linguistic passions...all at the state's cost. (8000 state police men were put on duty on the day of Raj's arrest to prevent any untoward incident...imagine that 8000...to me that sounds more like the entire population of a cluster of small villages..what a drain of resources...)

Now i don't wish to debate whether the gag orders on this man in particular is long overdue..because if u are double minded on that, then u r taking the issue of free speech too far. What appalls me is the state of society. Why have we become like this. Who is responsible for the rise for extremist(like Raj) into mainstream political scenario. How do u tackle pests like Raj without according him too much media attention. How do we sensitise our people to shun outfits like MNS and whats the threshold limit for a total black out of a organisation. How should the media react to gross violators like Raj

As usual we have more questions than we have answers. I do agree that this protecting the Marathi manoo and the likes are all about political posturing than it is about anything else. Our politicians will take a long time to wake up, address and debate the real issues like creating employment, reviving the farming sector etc. Until then they will be harping on totally irrelevant issues( to the common man that is) but politically sensitive ones...

While our political class gets is sense right(and this might take years), what tickles me is why we are allowing them to talk their mind. As we know its hard to get anybody pinned down on accounts of violation of free speech. A token arrest at the max is the only thing these errant politicians have to face. A bail is waiting for them and the cases filed against them go on for years and years and only serve to keep government lawyers busy. Now if this is all it takes to gain a lot of political mileage, why wouldn't any politician do it. It makes perfect political sense, corner the extremists among the masses while u make these provocative speeches and cry foul of political vendetta when u get arrested and serve a 1 day "jail term"...

It is widely accepted that if the general public tends to ignore a certain issue or a school of thought, then the chances of political leaders taking it up will be extremely low. Raj was talking(blabbering?) what he was talking bcos there were a sizeable no. of people who turned up for his rallies and probably an even greater number who sat at home and followed his speeches through the print and electronic media. Now i say if we drain politicians of these kind of listeners/ followers/ supporters then chances of them championing these "causes" would certainly reduce.

This is what i propose...a serious discourse on free speech across the nation with people from every spectrum of life participating and chipping in. A consensus cant be that difficult to reach bcos after all every one would want to live in a peaceful society and hence would propose ideas that propagate peace. .so tell me whether u agree with me..is it time we showed our political class how we want them to behave ..how we want them to take up sensitive issues...how we want them to tackle problems to eradicate them and not just pay lip service...IS IT TIME WE SHOWED THEM THE WAY?

Tagged...:)

I have been tagged by my blog friend Preethi The tag: Two questions in each category answer them and then tag your friends from the blog-o-sphere. (Simple enough right) Leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and you are all set.

Your oldest memories

1.On a serious note...

Date : May 1994
Place : Singapore Airport



There i was, standing at the majestic foyer of Singapore Airport's 2nd terminal. I was almost 9 years of age then and i had just undertook my first flight journey. Somehow i wasnt feeling comfortable at all. The air conditioning system in the flight had been overpowering and what could poor little me do other than to shiver..oh god, i could still remember one of my uncles rubbing my thighs to make me feel warm... or may be my uneasiness emanated from the fact that i was in an alien country, knowing little english and having to blend into a system that was totally new to me..

There i was...on a journey that would influence my life forever and impact my decisions even to date.. excited about the future and too young to understand the consequences i would have to face for the actions i undertook... too short sighted to see that the glitzy lights of Singapore were glamourous only for the night and from then onwards i was there on a mission...an academic mission to be precise, to continue my studies from where i left off in india..puzzling as it may sound i did go to singapore to continue my education after finishing 4th standard in India(pardon me if i made it sound like "degree"..bcos thats what normal people do...lol..)

As they say the rest is history..i stayed there for about 10 yrs..the period was a rather tough one with lots of hurdles to overcome.. and i was back in india to pursue my professional education in may 2004...for the record...i thank all those who made my stay possible there and promise to live up to ur expectations..:)

2. On the lighter side...

place & date: same as above



i was exiting the airplane and making my way to customs..no no i wasnt doing it alone..dont worry...i had some pleasant looking female companions (though i couldnt really differenciate between the good and the ugly ones then)to get me thru the all the intimidating immigration procedures...the embarrassing moment came when we had to enter a box like thing and the doors closed after that..the box zoomed up ...i had never seen those before and was curious to know what they were...

i just spurted out my curiosity without even considering what kind of response it will attract from them. I still cringe when I think about how they stared at me after I had blurted out my mind. It was as if they were wondering whether i had been in a civilization at all. Then both of them just looked at each other and giggled till they handed me over to my guardian. Over the course of time I realized that those “boxes” were called elevators and that their primary purpose was to transport people vertically…:)

3.What were u doing ten years ago?
I was about to complete grade 7(called Secondary 1 in that part of the world)…Secondary school(grades 7 to 10) was a welcome change from the rather restrictive environment of Primary School(grades 1 to 6)..We were introduced to an array of subjects as opposed to primary school where it was the usual Languages, Mathematics and science subjects that ruled the roost. Basically I had more fun in class..Interaction with neighbours was, for once, encouraged. I made some good friends in Secondary with whom I am in touch till date..

Today

1.Your first thought in the morning….

“WHEN WILL I GET MY CALL LETTER FROM WIPRO”…The caps should amply reflect my desperation and my frustration with wipro…I will not dwelve into this further as it is self-explanatory and also because of the fact that I do not wish to feel depressed during this Diwali…

2.If u build a time capsule what will it contain
A computer with broadband connection, newspapers and magazines covering politics and economics, lots of food,

3.This year
Has been an eventful one. I completed a project which many people ridiculed from the very beginning, something even our own staff adviser washed his hands off and at one point even indirectly told us to abandon.
I graduated from SASTRA University..Obtained my driver’s license… Turned to blogging to kill time and pleased that I did..always wanted to pour out my mind and what better platform to do so than blogs…

Future...

1.What do u see urself doing 14 years now?
I would 37 plus then…should be married by and having a couple of kids(?? Sorry had to state this…societal obligation..) and trying to strike work life balance ....Hope i would still be blogging then, in touch with my friends i made till now...

Vicky's Sis Wedding

Yesterday I had a great get together with my friends (read Wipro et al placed Sastra students who are vetti) on the occasion of my friend Vignesh’s sister’s marriage. The timing could’t have been better for the meet. With all our “other” friends toiling it out in their training programs, here we were chatting away as if there was nothing much to do in life and that Wipro would draft us in tomorrow.

The day started with me waking up at 5 in the morning (or was it 5 15)...Hmmm...Don’t know how many times I snoozed the alarm in my cell phone. Nevertheless my mother said she was profusely thankful to the wedding as a whole, as there was no way in hell that I woke up that early in morning on any other given day. After a hurried completion of all the necessary facial modifications followed by a soothing hot water bath, I was all set to rock and roll.

Just when I thought all was going well, this time it was the time that presented the shocker. Ah spot on! Classic Palaniappan’s life…nothing goes well...even if it seemingly does then something will pop out at the last minute and spoil the party. A quick glance at the clock…6 30 am … I clearly realized that I am not going to make it on time for the Muhurtam which had been fixed to be around 7 in the morning, which was just half an hour away.

My father, as always, took pity on me and gracefully agreed to drop me off at the Ramji Mahal, the venue of the wedding. The foyer of the building didn't even remotely resemble the picture that i had conjured up in my mind. A few kids were playing with balloons and vehicles were parked at the side. But somehow that festive spirit was missing or so i thought till i climbed up the stairs...

The air was thick with expectation. The stage was flooded with lights from video cameras, the stage wall adorned with huge drawings of a godly couple(couldn't really make out who they were but my gut feeling was that it was Perumal and his wife)..Closed circuit television sets were placed at strategic points in the hall. Streamers were hanging down at the sides of the hall and finally i was convinced that i was at the right place at the right time..

Scanning the assemblage i spotted my friend Sri Ram lazing at the back. With relief i zoomed my way to him and eased myself into the scheme of things. Within minutes i was surrounded by a sea of friends and we were catching up with old times. Sea of nostalgia hit me over the course of time and i was pretty pleased that i had made the rather strenuous effort of waking up so early...:)


After a tasty and filling breakfast, we made our way back to the marriage hall and anxiously waited for THE moment. The TVs were of great help as we couldn't jostle our way to the front of the stage to get a view of the marriage proceedings. The iyer(priest) got charged up suddenly and then it was as if everything was on auto pilot. The nadasuram people made that characteristic noises and then Mapillai tied the thali.

Handshakes and congratulatory sounds flew in the air. It was as if utopia had been established! (i always thought that it was all over when two families decide that they are going to get into an alliance!) And then it was all over. A couple had tied the knot for the rest of their lives...:)

LONG LIVE THE COUPLE!!!

Prank Message!

A couple of days back i decided to send some prank messages to my friends who are eagerly awaiting,if not more, call letters from Wipro. I picked my good friend G to be the recipient of my prank message, whom i presumed would be the most vulnerable to fall for the message.

I picked up my cell phone and carefully worded my message. "i have got it da" . The message had to hazy but still attract attention. I sent it to G and as an insurance cover forwarded the same message to Ramu, knowing fully well that the probability of him falling for it was in exact contrast to that of G.

The initial minutes of waiting were tense, in fact even nail biting. This was my first attempt at trying to con someone and i didn't want to start off on a losing note! My eyes refused to stray away from the phone screen. The steady buildup of adrenaline was inching towards the threshold limit and there was only one event that could stop the accrual.

"GRRRR GRRRRR" off went the phone and i fumbled to grab it so as to view the number. My face sulked as i saw some strange number flashing on the screen, as if i needed some bloke from some corner of Tamil nadu asking me "Andipatti ah"..(frankly i never understood the logic behind asking the location of a mobile bcos the number doesnt change despite being carried around...hell that why its called a mobile!)

On pressing down the accept button, i was in for a sweet surprise. It was him!

G: "Dai machan unnaku vanthiricha"(Have you got it?)

Me:"Loosu...how long will u take da"

G:"Sollu da(Tell me)"

Me:"Yes da i got it"

G: "What is the date and where have we been posted?"

Me:"dai i got the current supply back da!"

G: "@#$%%#@"

After the phone call i narrated the whole incident to my mother and we had a good laugh over it...:)

Prank Message!

A couple of days back i decided to send some prank messages to my friends who are eagerly awaiting,if not more, call letters from Wipro. I picked my good friend G to be the recipient of my prank message, whom i presumed would be the most vulnerable to fall for message.

I picked up my cell phone and carefully worded my message. "i have got it da" . The message had to hazy but still attract attention. I sent it to gandee and as an insurance cover forwarded the same message to Ramu, knowing fully well that this guy the probability of him falling for it was in exact contrast to that of Gandee.

The initial minutes of waiting were tense, in fact even nail biting. This was my first attempt at trying to con some one and i didn't want to start off on a losing note! My eyes refused to stray away from the phone screen. The steady buildup of adrenaline was inching towards the threshold limit and there was only one event that could stop the accrual.

"GRRRR GRRRRR" off went the phone and i fumbled to grab it so as to view the number. My face sulked as i saw some strange number flashing on the screen, as if i needed some bloke from some corner of Tamil nadu asking me "Andipatti ah"..(frankly i never understood the logic behind asking the location of a mobile bcos the number doesnt change despite being carried around...hell that why its called a mobile!)

On pressing down the accept button, i was in for a sweet surprise.

G: "Dai machan unnaku vanthiricha(Have you got it?)"

Me:"Loosu...how long will u take da"

G:"Sollu da(Tell me)"

Me:"Yes da i got it"

G: "What is the date and where have we been posted?"

Me:"dai i got the current supply back da"

G: "@#$%%#@"

Me: "haha ...."

Saroja...watchable..(with minor spoilers)

Hi all,

Just minutes after i woke up,rather reluctantly at around 12 30 in the afternoon, i received a call from my friend/neighbour inquiring my desire to accompany him to the movie Saroja. Needless to say, i got animated and commenced my preparations for the impromptu outing.

We managed to get the tickets with considerable ease and were quite stunned by the turnout. It was Sunday afternoon all right but for a movie with a not so impressive star cast and a relatively new director the turnout itself spoke volumes about the visual treat that was impending.

The movie moved rather slowly for the first twenty minutes or so centering mainly on the lives of the quartet, who's misadventures form the rest of the movie. The director was creative enough to bring in seemingly unrelated events and rope them together to make a movie out of them..

Premji Amaren starts to tickle your funny bones from his very first scene. His style of comedy is so different from the comedy doyens of the industry and its refreshing to see some one try something different and get acclaimed for it. Charan comes across as a typical middle aged man with mid life blues and certainly many married men watching the movie would have found something in his character they can relate they can relate to..let it be the way he tries to lie his way out, how he tries to get cosy with his wife or even when he is frantically trying refuse his friends' suggestions ,quoting his married status as an excuse,that he should try to have as much fun as possible.

Charan's younger brother Vaibhav is the typical macho hero (or at least looks like one..)that u find in any Tamil movie but again this is where Venkat Prabhu shows his class and casts him as one who is recovering from love failure..Vaibhav's friend Shiva is the flamboyant opportunist who makes his living by acting in (much dreaded)soaps.

The gang sets out to Hyderabad to watch a cricket match and this is where all the action starts. The excitement quotient picks up gradually and reaches its peak,naturally, towards the end of the movie. But never does the comedy track lose its intensity..if its Premji then some one else chips in to give u another reason to have a laugh.

I couldn't really find obvious loopholes in the screenplay, or may its just me. Some of the fight sequences could have been filmed with more light as it keeps you wondering who is bashing up who! The songs had a modernish tone to them and the screen choreography(apart from one song) was pleasant. Unfortunately, i could never bring myself to hum even one of the songs..somehow the lyrics got drowned in background music..moreover i could swear i heard a woman whisper to her friend that she found some of the dance moves in one of songs, in the second half of the movie, vulgar..and i did kind of agree with her to some extent..


I would certainly recommend this movie to those who are contemplating on what to watch in the theatres in the coming days.

SHOCKING!!!

Hi All,

I am angry..umm actually flagrant if that is sufficient to express my scorn for the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit..how could she have said that..how can a leader in such a lofty position make a nincompoop statement..it shocked the guts out of me..

For those who have been not watched the news, allow me to enlighten you. A tv journo was murdered in the wee hours of the Monday morning while she was driving back from work. The incident was initially believed to be an accident but after the initial reports came out, an FIR was filed for murder.

Now these kind of incidents are nothing new in our country and certainly a daily occurrence in the national capital(!) and Soumya's work could have placed her
directly in the line of fire. Being Indian citizens, we have reconciled to the fact that we are not entitled to safe environments and that if we don't hole ourselves up after six in the evening then "we are at our own risk". Now what has come as shocker is the bureaucratic apathy for these incidents..When asked about this gruesome incident, this is what Delhi cm had to say.."all alone at the time of the night..is adventurous on her part"

The statement evoked outrage among the masses with many questioning whether a CM can and should have made such a statement. Now a number of questions arise

1. Is it a government stand that women cannot be alone at certain part of the day/night.

2. Would women being alone be classified as dangerous/adventurous and hence the law of the land not applicable in those cases..isn't this tantamount to giving a license to the baddies..

3. Is the CM trying her hand at moral policing..esp with Delhi state assembly elections around the corner she probably figured that she could corner some conservative votes by trying to play moral police...

The police department is at its vintage best and till now has no clue or whatsoever to who are perpetrators of this heinous crime.Lets all hope for an obfuscation free investigation and trial for this hard working woman who was "too adventurous"

Attacks on religious instituitions are also TERRORISM!!!

HI All,

I am sure u have heard/read/listened/seen news relating to the attacks on religious institutions in Orissa and Karnataka...No doubt the incident appalled me but it made me sit up and ask myself something...should we just view these incidents as religious intolerance alone or should we tag something more sinister to it..

i was watching a show on one of the domestic news channels the other day and a speaker pointed out that if the Delhi blasts were acts of terrorism then so are the church attacks..this immediately struck a chord with me..

no body has a set definition for terrorism. but we commonly accept that killing of innocent civilians by anyone by any method as terrorism..having said this somehow strangely we tend to associate terrorism with a certain religion and restrict ourselves to bomb blasts and the likes as incidents of terror...

now there is an obvious contradiction to how we define terrorism and how we actually perceive it....why is this the case..isint killing people just because they are subscribers of different ideologies equal to the mindless acts of terror that we have been witnessing in our cities recently...our politicians while prescribing tough laws for "terrorism" somehow (may be conveniently) dont have an solution for putting a full stop to attacks on religious institutions...why dont they club these incidents with the conventional "terrorism" and propose draconian laws for all of these dastardly acts..

we know all too well that the roots causes of terrorism are hatred and deprivation..these attacks are sowing the seeds of terrorism and if this continues in any form or format then our future generations would be fighting extremism all over india..and we wouldnt have anybody else but ourselves to blame for our predicament then...