This was the day of Budget and I was keyed up. Don’t think it had anything to do with the major aspects of the national budget or economy. My sole concern was about the change in prices of one commodity in particular: Cigarettes. All our finance ministers have this wicked habit of raising the taxes of cancer sticks, and being a smoker it sorely affects my personal budget for the year round.
Thank fully, this year, the proposals left out filtered cigarettes and concentrated on non filtered ones. Let the poor suffer. ….!
This is the year of elections in India and the proposals were mild and benign. The main thrust seems to be again on globalization, there is a heated debate on whether this is good for the people in general. From my point of view Mr. Chidambaram has done a fair job of it. There is little option at present. Once we are in the stream we need to swim with it. There is a lull in the economy and another green revolution might be a good idea to cope with it, the experts say, and I can say nothing against it.
In the mean time I am hoping that the state budget will also go easy on my brand of cigarettes!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Weeding them out
Baji, meaning Harbajan Singh the Indian cricketer, has a habit of creating news it appears! The poor Aussie team views him as a real trouble maker nowadays. Isn’t this surprising, coming from, you know whom!
A few years back some teams could get away with whatever they did on the field. Sledging was the pet name used to describe this sort of impeccable behavior. Most of the Asian teams, supposedly containing gentleman players, had to bear the brunt of this ‘orderly’ conduct. Now that the others are retaliating in the same manner, these teams are seeing red allover.
The present Aussie team has one non Caucasian player, and he is being used to get back at other teams, stating that the opposing teams are making snide racial remarks against this six foot three inch giant. What a turn about! The matters have come to such a pass that another mammoth Aussie, Mathew Hayden a great friend of Symonds, again the insulted player in another such incident has openly challenged Ishant Sharma the Indian pacer for a “bout” in the boxing ring. The pacifistic Indians have really come a long way I must say to have irked the sedate Aussie into proposing mortal combat!
Mr. Hayden is said to have described Baji as a weed of some sort. The ICC, true to form, mildly reprimanded him for using such endearing terms in public. The Cricket Australia was better. They soundly admonished him to keep his thoughts to himself in future. The culprit looked distraught too, with stubble of two days on his very sensitive face!
A few years back some teams could get away with whatever they did on the field. Sledging was the pet name used to describe this sort of impeccable behavior. Most of the Asian teams, supposedly containing gentleman players, had to bear the brunt of this ‘orderly’ conduct. Now that the others are retaliating in the same manner, these teams are seeing red allover.
The present Aussie team has one non Caucasian player, and he is being used to get back at other teams, stating that the opposing teams are making snide racial remarks against this six foot three inch giant. What a turn about! The matters have come to such a pass that another mammoth Aussie, Mathew Hayden a great friend of Symonds, again the insulted player in another such incident has openly challenged Ishant Sharma the Indian pacer for a “bout” in the boxing ring. The pacifistic Indians have really come a long way I must say to have irked the sedate Aussie into proposing mortal combat!
Mr. Hayden is said to have described Baji as a weed of some sort. The ICC, true to form, mildly reprimanded him for using such endearing terms in public. The Cricket Australia was better. They soundly admonished him to keep his thoughts to himself in future. The culprit looked distraught too, with stubble of two days on his very sensitive face!
Money or your life
There is this guy I know; in fact I worked with him. Beneath the veneer of sophistication the guy was an utter rogue. Getting on with years has not had any discernible effect on the guy. He is somewhat like Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello. Anything good in others rattled him. He can not sleep or eat till he has done something to undermine it in someway. Perhaps everyone is like that somewhat. We have strict scales to measure others but we rarely use it on ourselves.
This guy, a father, drove his single daughter to the career of a nun. Did I say career? The words just came to my mind out of nowhere. I shall let them stand I think. Any way, the thing is, this veritable monster, told her that he would not be able to cough up money to marry her off. He was willing to offer a donation to the church to make her a nun, the amount being considerably smaller. The guy had enough savings to see her well settled in life. The racket of making money by lending it out in small sums for unbelievable rates of interest had ruined him. He was drunk with money.
All these came out after he retired. What we knew was the guy was dangerous and was best left alone. Even then he managed to make others miserable. It was an art with him, creating trouble for others out of nowhere. He also had some students in this form of art. They are still prospering.
I had always doubted my judgment regarding him, though I had definite reasons to believe otherwise. When these things came out I was sort of relieved, for my revulsion for the guy was extreme and it was mostly based on my personal reactions.
Perhaps there is some truth in gut feelings.
This guy, a father, drove his single daughter to the career of a nun. Did I say career? The words just came to my mind out of nowhere. I shall let them stand I think. Any way, the thing is, this veritable monster, told her that he would not be able to cough up money to marry her off. He was willing to offer a donation to the church to make her a nun, the amount being considerably smaller. The guy had enough savings to see her well settled in life. The racket of making money by lending it out in small sums for unbelievable rates of interest had ruined him. He was drunk with money.
All these came out after he retired. What we knew was the guy was dangerous and was best left alone. Even then he managed to make others miserable. It was an art with him, creating trouble for others out of nowhere. He also had some students in this form of art. They are still prospering.
I had always doubted my judgment regarding him, though I had definite reasons to believe otherwise. When these things came out I was sort of relieved, for my revulsion for the guy was extreme and it was mostly based on my personal reactions.
Perhaps there is some truth in gut feelings.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
What you believe is what you get
A Sunday is not much fun if you are sitting at home, trying to learn some new and boring stuff that you have to. The stuff I was to learn was …. Well the less said the better .
I was itching to go out, but I could not... To complicate matters further, there was this game on TV, which I very much wanted to watch. Luckily, the guys I was rooting for, they caved in early and made a mess of the game. They were never going to win it. Everything considered, this was the meanest Sunday I have had for a quarter of a century.
Changing channel I TV, I caught this guy living inside a block of ice for some length of time, it seems. No doubt the guy is making good money out of it, but still, what in the hell is the purpose of pulling such stunts. He says he wants to stretch the limits of his endurance and go farther than anybody else. Well he has gone farther, there can be hardly any doubt about it, and made absolute idiots of us all. It is not even good drama sometimes, though he is doing his best to make it grander every time. His histrionic repertoire is also good. Living inside blocks of ice indeed! Do not the Eskimos do it all the time, in the Igloos that is, that too in very much sub zero temperatures! What does this guy take us for!
Agreed, magic is make belief, there is an element of wonder watching a good magician going through his tricks. We all would like to go beyond the laws of nature and do such amazing things. Its fun to watch a magician and it brings out the child in us. But when you are fed real trash like this, well it goofs us. Good luck with making money buddy, but pull real stunts.
I was itching to go out, but I could not... To complicate matters further, there was this game on TV, which I very much wanted to watch. Luckily, the guys I was rooting for, they caved in early and made a mess of the game. They were never going to win it. Everything considered, this was the meanest Sunday I have had for a quarter of a century.
Changing channel I TV, I caught this guy living inside a block of ice for some length of time, it seems. No doubt the guy is making good money out of it, but still, what in the hell is the purpose of pulling such stunts. He says he wants to stretch the limits of his endurance and go farther than anybody else. Well he has gone farther, there can be hardly any doubt about it, and made absolute idiots of us all. It is not even good drama sometimes, though he is doing his best to make it grander every time. His histrionic repertoire is also good. Living inside blocks of ice indeed! Do not the Eskimos do it all the time, in the Igloos that is, that too in very much sub zero temperatures! What does this guy take us for!
Agreed, magic is make belief, there is an element of wonder watching a good magician going through his tricks. We all would like to go beyond the laws of nature and do such amazing things. Its fun to watch a magician and it brings out the child in us. But when you are fed real trash like this, well it goofs us. Good luck with making money buddy, but pull real stunts.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Be a Budha
No, don’t jump into conclusions, I am as Hindu as they come. I like the elaborate rituals, the hundreds of sects, the thousands of deities, the unashamed and (un)healthy materialism of the Hindu, and the lofty philosophy we have generated in the deep distant past. The last particularly, for who could have uttered such breath taking poetry that gives you the goose pimples whenever you come across them , as
“It was neither unreal nor real
It existed and it existed not”
That friends, is the zenith of imagination. You could not cross that line. Try it and you would soon find out for yourselves.
The only thing which comes anywhere near is the Tao te Ching
Yes, I like to roll in this shit we call religion in India, with all its nuances, its drawbacks, its incomprehensible inanities, but when I think of a man the only person comes to my mind is Goutama , the enlightened, the Budha!
To me, He is the only one, the real man, the only one who could be called man. There never was one like him and unfortunately there never would be one such as him.
In him passion had turned into deep compassion, no I am not trying to rhyme. He is the one, I tell you , follow him and you will feel it for yourself. I am not suggesting you turn a Budhist in the religious sense of the word, no that would be suicide. It is not the infrastructure that matters in the matters of the mind.
Like he said kindly “ Be a light unto yourself”
“It was neither unreal nor real
It existed and it existed not”
That friends, is the zenith of imagination. You could not cross that line. Try it and you would soon find out for yourselves.
The only thing which comes anywhere near is the Tao te Ching
Yes, I like to roll in this shit we call religion in India, with all its nuances, its drawbacks, its incomprehensible inanities, but when I think of a man the only person comes to my mind is Goutama , the enlightened, the Budha!
To me, He is the only one, the real man, the only one who could be called man. There never was one like him and unfortunately there never would be one such as him.
In him passion had turned into deep compassion, no I am not trying to rhyme. He is the one, I tell you , follow him and you will feel it for yourself. I am not suggesting you turn a Budhist in the religious sense of the word, no that would be suicide. It is not the infrastructure that matters in the matters of the mind.
Like he said kindly “ Be a light unto yourself”
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
February
Its only the middle of February, and its already stifling in these parts. The heat is sufferable, but the humidity, it saps you off your vital forces. It drenches you down. Oh I know, there is an obvious error in syntax above. Yet there are things which can not be expressed in a normal manner, for we have no words to describe them. We just have to do with what we have…….Perhaps it’s again the effect of February, totally enervating even to think up of lucky words to express yourself!
Well, it’s also in February that ennui again sort of sets in. The expectations of starting afresh, taking up new battles, braving old problems with new vigor, being resolute……….. everything slowly disperses in to the tedium of our dull lives. We begin to realize at last that this is no new year, it’s the old year twice, thrice, and umpteen times over.
Oh, don’t worry. I have not turned a pessimist all of a sudden. But this climate sort of hunts you down, clamps you to your baser selves. It does not permit you to fly high.
Well, who needs soar for that matter? What is wrong with what we have at the present moment? Nothing whatsoever! Yet there is something, isn’t there. Some gnawing doubt that something is not right, something should be much better than that there is!
I could be wrong, but am I? What do you think?
Well, it’s also in February that ennui again sort of sets in. The expectations of starting afresh, taking up new battles, braving old problems with new vigor, being resolute……….. everything slowly disperses in to the tedium of our dull lives. We begin to realize at last that this is no new year, it’s the old year twice, thrice, and umpteen times over.
Oh, don’t worry. I have not turned a pessimist all of a sudden. But this climate sort of hunts you down, clamps you to your baser selves. It does not permit you to fly high.
Well, who needs soar for that matter? What is wrong with what we have at the present moment? Nothing whatsoever! Yet there is something, isn’t there. Some gnawing doubt that something is not right, something should be much better than that there is!
I could be wrong, but am I? What do you think?
Monday, February 18, 2008
Everything is in words
Words, no doubt, are dangerous . They tend to assume newer meanings, as the time goes by. Alas, even the author of Wasteland felt this, not everything can be laid to waste, it seems, no, not words really….. It’s obvious where they gain their nourishment from, from us Mon ami, as Hercule Poirot might have said, from us and our poor little lives. ……..
Elementary, Hastings, elementary.
You see, not everything is lived on the outside. Life, as my Ma used to say, is very internalized, and life is lived in the wilderness of words, and words tend to assume new meanings!
The First World Spokesman tells the Third World “ There is a price to pay for development” He is about to drive a community elsewhere to build a pleasure- haunt for wealthy tourists. I am not debating the issue, I am merely placing some words for your evaluation. The “1st World” the “3rd World ” ( How many are there?) the “Development” (What is that?) the “Price” ( Your freedom? Your peace of mind? What?)
These words are not what they seem, are they? They weave a web of such intricate psychic design that some are caught in them unawares and believe in them implicitly to have no responses other than those expected by their designers. Or am I wrong?
Would you respond?
Elementary, Hastings, elementary.
You see, not everything is lived on the outside. Life, as my Ma used to say, is very internalized, and life is lived in the wilderness of words, and words tend to assume new meanings!
The First World Spokesman tells the Third World “ There is a price to pay for development” He is about to drive a community elsewhere to build a pleasure- haunt for wealthy tourists. I am not debating the issue, I am merely placing some words for your evaluation. The “1st World” the “3rd World ” ( How many are there?) the “Development” (What is that?) the “Price” ( Your freedom? Your peace of mind? What?)
These words are not what they seem, are they? They weave a web of such intricate psychic design that some are caught in them unawares and believe in them implicitly to have no responses other than those expected by their designers. Or am I wrong?
Would you respond?
Sunday, February 17, 2008
The Quanta of feelings
Its tough, coming down from lofty hieghts, from the rarefied regions of pure and pristine contemplation. Yet, I have decided to do it. To your dismay , did you murmur? Do not lose hope, for its a fact that I knew Einstein somewhat, yet, did he know me? Well , was he not allways a little forgetful of things ? Any way ,more of it in later installments . Now about the hard and true facts of life.
.
There are mundane things like roads in this part of the world, as opposed to music and flights of fancy, if you know what I mean. Just venture out on the road here, if you dare, you are immediately in the terror zone. Be careful, for losing your life is one thing, losing your prestige with it is just …. Well you know what!.
On this fateful day I was goimg dead slow on beatifully pitted road , avoiding many pitfalls, just by sheer luck and the good deeds of my ancestors, ( this is India man, we dont let our dear departed merely be.!)
it was then Einstein came to me in the guise of a piece of granite, flying towards me on a trajectory which
suggested the existense of Gravitational force on our globe. Well the force did act on my calf in a very painful manner. Yet I survived the attack by reducing the velocity of the bike to nil in the nick of time. The energy as well as the mass of the blow felt was just terrible, I tell you, just terrible.
I felt a giant upward heave from the primordial matter that was inside of me , everything was pulsating and oscillating within.At any moment new matter would have been created. I was contemplating murder and meyhem. Then Einstien appeared out of nowhere and explained some finer points of his incomplete unified theory to me. It seems that what matters is not the actuall facts themselves, but the perspective in which we view them! I must tell you my perspective remained the same even after his soothing words and would probably remain the same. I still have violence in my mind, and would like to fry every damn soul responsible for the roads as well as everything else. But to what avail? Tell us friends, to what avail!. Does anybody have any suggestions? Let me know.
.
There are mundane things like roads in this part of the world, as opposed to music and flights of fancy, if you know what I mean. Just venture out on the road here, if you dare, you are immediately in the terror zone. Be careful, for losing your life is one thing, losing your prestige with it is just …. Well you know what!.
On this fateful day I was goimg dead slow on beatifully pitted road , avoiding many pitfalls, just by sheer luck and the good deeds of my ancestors, ( this is India man, we dont let our dear departed merely be.!)
it was then Einstein came to me in the guise of a piece of granite, flying towards me on a trajectory which
suggested the existense of Gravitational force on our globe. Well the force did act on my calf in a very painful manner. Yet I survived the attack by reducing the velocity of the bike to nil in the nick of time. The energy as well as the mass of the blow felt was just terrible, I tell you, just terrible.
I felt a giant upward heave from the primordial matter that was inside of me , everything was pulsating and oscillating within.At any moment new matter would have been created. I was contemplating murder and meyhem. Then Einstien appeared out of nowhere and explained some finer points of his incomplete unified theory to me. It seems that what matters is not the actuall facts themselves, but the perspective in which we view them! I must tell you my perspective remained the same even after his soothing words and would probably remain the same. I still have violence in my mind, and would like to fry every damn soul responsible for the roads as well as everything else. But to what avail? Tell us friends, to what avail!. Does anybody have any suggestions? Let me know.
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