Saturday, July 23, 2011

Fear


Morning wakes up
Beautiful, as always, but my dream goes…
I tie laces together for a race that never stops

Afternoon rises
Swells and bloats
Nothing better to win, no matter what the costs

Evening drops
The sunset into the lap of a trembling sea
I return to a shelter, plotting for tomorrow’s race, my place to be

Former soul
Stops talking to me, and I come to like the silence
So close to something, I understand the distance to everything else

In between
The decay shows up
I try to look somewhere else, a blindness I embrace

Because I fear
I still have so much to lose
In this lonely place, in this falling and failing world

"Tomorrow"


Whenever I listen to this song, I am touched by all that we can be, forgive others for their erratic behaviour, their ignorance and their bitterness. I am sure that time heals everything, and tomorrow, they will be back. Back to the love and promise that life holds.


This song has a lot of religious sentiment about it, it speaks of resurrection, as if Bono's asking Jesus to come back tomorrow, to heal the wounds and the scars. It is a song of hope.

On a personal note, he is known to have written the song after the death of his mother.

The music is quintessential U2, it starts off without a structured tune, the bagpiper leads the way and the violent beats of the guitar and drums take over mid-way. Bono, wanders off from the tune, marking a spontaneous and a sentimental departure.

Lyrics:
Won't you come back tomorrow?
Won't you come back tomorrow?
Won't you come back tomorrow?
Can I sleep tonight?

Outside
Somebody's outside
Somebody's knocking at the door
There's a black car parked
At the side of the road
Don't go to the door
Don't go to the door

I'm going out
I'm going outside mother
I'm going out there

Won't you be back tomorrow?
Won't you be back tomorrow?
Will you be back tomorrow?

Who broke the window?
Who broke down the door?
Who tore the gutter?
And who was he for?
Who healed the wounds?
Who heals the scars?

Open the door
Open the door

Won't you come back tomorrow?
Won't you be back tomorrow?
Will you be back tomorrow?
Can I sleep tonight?

Cause I want you...I...I want you...I really...I...I want...I...I...
I want you to be back tomorrow!
I want you to be back tomorrow!
Will you be back tomorrow?

La...la...la...la...la...la...

Won't you be back tomorrow?
Won't you be back tomorrow?
Will you be back tomorrow?
Open up, open up
To the lamb of God
To the love of he who made
The blind to see you
He's coming back
He's coming back
I believe it
Jesus come back

I'm gonna be there
I'm gonna be there mother
I'm gonna be there mother
I'm going out there

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Corruption, Downfall and Death: A Brave New World?


Toll’s 18 today (as of now) and approximately 130 people are injured. Considering the blasts occurred during the peak hours, the perpetrators estimated a much bigger number of casualties, and intended the roads to be decorated with deeper shades of crimson. In a way, they failed: (with due respect to the families of the victims) the impact could have been much bigger. And in a way, they succeeded: People once again were reminded of how fragile and insignificant their lives are.

Our government's formal reaction:
P. Chidambaram, Home Minister: “This is not the failure of intelligence.” 
R.R. Patil, State Home Minsiter: “Avoiding such attacks is a challenge for the Government.”

People stood by each other, helping, reaching out to everyone who needed help.  

Couple of months ago, I was reading a book on Naxalite violence in India. The book offered to explain who these people are exactly, and by far, why they did what they did. It said that Naxalites often used violence as a means or a part of their “tactics” in making themselves heard.

I wondered what could motivate a person or a group of persons to resort to violence to make them heard. Just how feasible is violence as a tactic? Logically, it is. People always stand up and notice casualties. But morally, and humanly speaking, it is not.

On our planet, every single day, children, men and women are evaporated, disabled for the rest of their lives. What for? Is there any kind of socialism, democratic premise or capitalism that should be presented on a pyre of innocent victims? Is it worth it? For oil? Diamonds? Gold?

When I heard that one of the bombs in Mumbai was planted near a school, a feeling of chill swept over me. Causing harm to children who don’t even choose the kind of government to rule, is saddening, to say the least. What could make a group of religious fanatics or self-proclaimed “soldiers of god” do that?

Even when Kasab was sentenced to death, I failed to see how this was a victory for the Indian government, much less for the Indian people or even the Judiciary. Kids like Kasab would do anything for a square meal or even the welfare of their own families. We need to go after the people, the outfits who target children and minds like Kasab and justify killing in the name of religion or a deity. The extent of brainwash is so great that these kids might even come to enjoy killing.

Punishing one single Kasab is not the solution: we just can't stop there and wash our hands off the bigger problem. (To come to think of it, I wonder what kind of rendezvous the government is having with him still.) He’s just a means towards a chilling end. We need to cure the root cause of the problem. There has to be a systematic combat of people who think killing innocent people in any name is justified. To solve the macro, one has to go micro.

When the judgment was passed, people, for some reason, rejoiced. Worse, they were relieved. I voiced my opinion and I was accused of sympathizing with Kasab. A part of the accusation was right; I was sympathizing, but not with Kasab, but with my own people. Kasab was still in jail, wasn’t he, when the Triple Blasts happened in Mumbai, 72 hours back?

When the train blasts occurred on 11 July, 2006, about 209 people were killed and more than 700 were injured. What did we learn from this incident? That the perpetrators knew the pulse of the city; where to attack to gain our attention. And they did.

After 5 years, we are still vulnerable in the local trains. There are no security checks, there is no sufficient number of police men to guard compartments or conduct proper vigilance. What has the State Government done since that day to ensure that train traveling is safe?

Yes, there are CCTV units installed all around CST station. But personally, I have trouble believing that someone is watching over them, interpreting “intelligence” and that I am safe in a train. It’s a risk I take for my bread and butter, like everyone else.

People lost their lives, for nothing. People who survived these blasts, luckily, are hit by the trauma. Aren’t we all? Time has showed that people will stand by people, but what about the government? Home Minister P. Chidambaram concluded the formal Press Conference barely three hours after the fateful incident by saying, “Okay now… I have to get back to Delhi…”

Our State Home Minister is publicly saying what a challenge it is for the State Government to prevent terror. So I am to understand that these attacks will be a part of my daily life? Or will you start by installing CCTVs and being more intelligent with security checks? Will you accept the challenge?

We’ll accommodate people, we’ll tweet, we’ll write articles and blogs, we’ll donate blood. And we’ll suffer and stand up again. Whether the world salutes us or not for whatever spirit, we’ll take our chances. We've got to survive. Till such time mine or my neighbour's  luck runs out.

Earlier I used to discuss with my father and friends about the quality infrastructure, lack of roads and bridges in the city, the country. I feel I was naïve to think of such luxurious thoughts, because  today I talk to them with a thought looming in the background, can we make it back home in one piece?

In November 2010, Outlook carried a cover story about the Niira Radia controversy. I know, we have all read about it and frankly we are all tired of hearing and reading about scams. It’s amazing to know how easily we can get used to stuff that is so unacceptable. This fears me; because we cannot get used to bomb-blasts – anywhere on the planet. Romanticists would argue that death is anyway a part of our lives. So, is that it?

Anyway, about the article, the opening sentences were remarkable: India, the republic, is for sale. You could buy anything, any one, all you need is money. Everything can be sold – from berths in the cabinet ministry to natural resources, anywhere in the country – at the right price.

If this was not shocking enough, our favourite idols like Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi were also heard trading democracy. Now Barkha Dutt needs no introduction. I used to consider her in the same league as Kalpana Chawla, women, and most importantly, human beings who made us proud, and reminded us to be better than ourselves. When I read Dutt’s statements where she said that her interactions with Radia were a part of journalists’ duties, I hurried to read the actual transcripts – hoping, that she was correct. And I was disappointed. Couple of days back, a lawyer on Twitter stated that she wanted to become like Dutt. That is such a big compliment. I always thought that being a hero entailed an awful lot of responsibility.

Our heroes are selling the nation, our government is slandering the likes of Ramdev and Anna Hazare (who try to help people as much as possible), our government cannot safeguard us against the categorical break-down of morality at Wall Street (What happened at Wall Street had little to do with money. It was a failure at a very basic level – that of morality). 

Closer home, we’re not getting any better. Right from the economic downfall, to corruption, we are facing all of it. I know I have written a pretty lengthy blog post about all this, but am afraid that’s just too many words and too little meaning.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Mumbai targeted once again - Triple Blasts

When I received a phone call from Delhi about Mumbai blasts, at around 7 PM, yesterday, I didn't believe it. Instead of asking my parents to switch on the News Channels, I went on the Internet. The results showed up. My heart sank, it was true. Once again, the common man paid the price.

Even as am writing this, the death toll is rising; the latest being 22 people dead and around 131 people injured, out of which 26 have been discharged on account of minor injuries. The State Government has offered INR 5 lacs ( approx. $11,235 USD) to the families of the victims who have lost their lives. Home Minister P. Chidambaram categorically stated that there was no failure of "Intelligence" and "Intelligence" is being gathered every second, every day, but the State Police had nothing to be suspicious about.

The three blasts occurred at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and near Dadar Station. Mumbai is callously famous for being crowded: it has more population than two Scandinavian countries combined; but these three places are more crowded, relatively speaking. The timing also has a lot to do with the proposed effect: the blasts occurred within a time window of 10-15 mins, from 18:55 hrs to 19:15 hrs. This is the "peak" time in Mumbai, meaning, the time where commuters are traveling back to home from work. Whosoever planned these attacks very well knew what this could mean. Also one of the bombs, I think it was the one in Dadar area, was placed close to a School. Children leave school at around 6 PM every day.

Lot of people offered support right from updating statuses in Twitter and FaceBook to actually being on the scene of the accident and helping injured people to ambulances and vans. The newspapers today are ... filled with disturbing images.

The State Government and the Home Ministry are yet to identify the perpetrator of these attacks; meaning we are clueless as of now. Indian Mujahideen (IM) is the prime suspect, though. DNA (Newspaper) stated that Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal from Karnataka head the IM group. Intelligence reports that the brothers are hiding in Bangladesh. A Central Intelligence Officer stated that after 26/ 11 attacks (Blasts in Mumbai local trains, casualties of about 164, and more than 300 injured) and increased pressure from both US and India, Pakistan banned LeT (Lashkar e Taiba) but the LeT didn't stop working; they merely regrouped under Jamaat ud Dawa. Both Jamaat ud Dawa and IM are religious-cum- terror outfits in the country. You can get more accurate and updated information on various news portals.

Most of the people in Mumbai are shocked and angry that yet another attack has been directed at the largest populated city and the commercial capital in the country. The Home Minister stated that the attacks were not aimed at foreign nationals, but only at common people, hence the tourists had nothing to be afraid of. He also mentioned that most of the lanes in Zaveri Bazaar are very small, and so it was not possible to conduct rescue operations smoothly. Poor infrastructure is not the fault of the common man, Mr. Home Minister.

Please register at www.bloodaid.com to help the victims with timely blood donations.

In India, it is a norm to blame Pakistani outfits in case of any "terror attacks". Communal tension and riots may be fuelled because of this perception. Hence the Government has appealed to the citizens to stay calm.

Some of the people are counting their blessings as the estimated damage of the attack was not as damaging as the earlier attacks on the Taj (26/ 11) and the Mumbai train blasts. Even though the explosives were improvised, the intensity was still mediocre, relatively speaking. This means that the perpetrators might plan another attack, hence the city is on high alert.

For P. Chidambaram's Press disclosure please see the videos below.




Please note that the objective of this blog post is to provide information and basic deductive premises, and not to perpetrate or fuel any tension or hurt the sentiments of any person. 

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Travelogue - Delhi

Here are a couple of pictures I took from my BlackBerry phone during the trip to the Capital. I forgot to carry my camera along - I know, an unforgivable sin. But then, this trip was meant to be official and really really short: 72 hours or less. Hours gave away to days, and I discovered I was in love with the city. So I decided to explore just a little more and compromised with my BB camera. Obviously, the end results aren't too great. But I still hope I captured something beautiful about Delhi. And while returning back, I watched RAMAYANA on the flight and now I finally know who was Sugreev and Bali. Very educational trip.



From the moment I landed, lush green colour bedazzled me. Sheila Dixit has done an amazing job. Some said she amassed close to INR 52,000 crore of personal wealth during the "beautification" but Delhi-ites seem to be satisfied. Corrupt leaders - who can act for the welfare of people - will do, they said. Can't comment on that. Politics aside, the monsoons were just flirting with the City 10 days back. Loved the weather, especially on the day when me and Shruti wandered off to India Gate right after my meeting. And yes, I mistakenly called the "Rickshaw" a "Tonga". I don't know why I did that. LOL



Another one of my funny misadventures included the time when I asked a high profile commando looking guy who comprised of the security at one of those posh bungalows at Janpath, "Where's Gateway of India?"
I asked Delhi cops for walking directions from CP to IndiaGate, and they were insistent on knowing why I wanted to walk. I insisted I wanted to walk and then they smiled and gave me the directions. Saw plenty of women smoking bidis. Guys were the same as they were 20 months back: gelled to death, loud and waterfalls of vanity flowing through them (Try imagining that in a Dali painting!). Exceptions are always there, of course!



A remarkable thing that happened in Delhi was that I visited Indira Gandhi Memorial for the first time. I clicked a lot of pictures there; and I was struck with the glamour, dedication and the flaw of Indira Gandhi  l. I'll blog about it later.

For all the pictures of this trip, click here.

So I must have wandered for two days inside the City, and then I went up further North to Uttar Pradesh in a village called Partapur. Another I am going to include the details about that trip and pictures in another post. So long! :)

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Law, Justice & Morality: The Neeraj Grover Case

Last night, an acquaintance asked me, "Do you think the Court's ruling in the Neeraj Grover case was a fair decision?"


This post is inspired by that question. Hollywood will tell you time and again that Law and Justice were two different things. Demi Moore and Tom Cruise argued about it in the classic 'A Few Good Men'. Erin Brockovich did that, too. This sad thought is more than fiction. And these films were based on true stories.


The Neeraj Grover case is a perfect case in point. Going by the legalities, it is the correct decision. Has justice been served? Perhaps not. What most people miss is that the verdict can be challenged. Even the judge who pronounced it would have hoped for that. Then perhaps the evidence can be more direct and substantial, after carrying out a more detailed investigation. Trying on circumstantial evidence, as opposed to direct evidence, is always tricky, and often disappointing.


My acquaintance further argued if showing those "gruesome" pictures in the media was fair; and that Maria Susairaj was equally guilty, so why was she released. 


There's an unspoken horror in seeing a human personality reduced to huge chunks of flesh. Dexter's TRP rides on that. So it is a safe way to secure national antipathy towards criminals.


Maria Susairaj cannot be counted in the same league as her fiancé, Emily Jerome, because she did not commit the "act" of murder. She helped her fiancé get rid of the evidence; she was protecting him. That's another thing. She helped her lover get rid of the evidence. She also spent three years in jail. Maria Susairaj can be accused of cheating on her fiancé, betrayal, having a corrupt moral compass, obstruction of justice, but she can't be charged with murder. 

Why was Emily Jerome sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and not death or imprisonment for life?

This was not a premeditated murder, hence he wasn't charged under S. 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Instead, the court convicted Jerome under section 304 (Part I) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Now that's quite a mouthful for people who don't know the law. And I can't help but quote section 304 to everyone: 
(Sorry, but this is interesting.)


[...] Or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine, or with both, if the act is done with the knowledge that it is likely to cause death ,but without any intention to cause death, or to cause such bodily injury as is likely to cause death.
 
So Jerome did not intend to kill Neeraj. This changes everything. 

Maria Susairaj is a  Kannada actress (well the news papers are certainly saying so). She comes to Mumbai to try her luck in Bollywood. She met TV producer Neeraj Grover, and in her own words she admitted to her lover, Emily Jerome, that he had a crush on her, albeit she didn't feel the same way for Grover. Now this is discomforting to Jerome. In this age where trust is just a scary word and the reason for 80% of insecurity in our lives, Jerome is not too happy with the equation, but decides to support Susairaj's decision of moving to Mumbai, anyway.

She shifts to an apartment in Malad. Neeraj shows up at her place, one night. Maria lets him in. Jerome, who's in the Naval Base in Kochi, calls her up casually. He probably hears a male voice in the background and asks Maria what's going on. She tells him that Neeraj is here to help her with her moving in the apartment. Jerome's uncomfortable, but insists that she shouldn't allow Neeraj to stay the night. Maria says she won't. But she does.

Early that morning, Jerome shows up at her apartment, much to Maria's surprise and Neeraj's shock. Jerome finds Neeraj naked in his girlfriend's apartment, with whom he hopes to get engaged in two months. Both men argue, and in a fit of rage, Jerome ends up stabbing Neeraj. 

Detailed version of the last moments leading up to this murder are here.

It is important to know the reason for a crime. That is what distinguishes people: their innermost selves, their fear, their perception. And this is a crude reflection of society, its values and its culture. This is an age where morality has broken down. The same break down has caused the global financial crisis. If a woman is in love with a man, and supposed to be engaged with him, how would she justify sleeping with another man. Notwithstanding the fact that in Bollywood sexual lobbying is a passport to success. 

May be there are men who would remain calm when they catch their women with a naked man. May be.

But Jerome's crime was an act of passion. 

And am not trying to justify or protect or thrash Maria or Jerome or Grover.

It is not just about murder, but the reason behind it as well. Today we see moral breakdown everywhere. It's OK to be greedy, to have casual sex, to pretend to be in love when its lust. The result will be gruesome. The society has to pay the price for what it warrants.