Go Crazy..Write a Blog

               My blogging cycle works like this: An idea occupies my mind, I get obsessed with the idea, pour it out in my blog and then torture dozens of my poor friends to read it and forcefully make them say it is good. Then laziness prevails for few months before the cycle begins all over again.

                Today was one such day when the cycle should have begun. I had a couple of ideas in mind that I had to write about when I, fatefully, asked my bro for his opinion. He came up with the idea of me, not him, writing stories/posts on my blog and publishing it as a collection. His logic was if Chetan Bhagat and Amish can do it, why can’t I? I am also a Tech+MBA. But I am more of an analyst than a creative thinker, for which my bro came up with the catchphrase of the day,” If you dont try, you will never know what you are capable of”. Then began a deeply intellectual conversation that would put Raghuram Rajan and Albert Einstein to shame.

                So what follows is an initial list of what all one can write in a blog. 

The “Awwww.. How Romantic” Type:

                This series would have stories like “How I almost fell in love”. This is especially for people like who never fell in love but would somehow try to exaggerate every flirt of his into a looonngg and romantic love story, like the day a girl asked me if she had lost weight and I told her the truth. There can also be stories like “Why I never fell in love”, but this is for those guys who have been dumped by more than half a dozen girls. The focus should be on showing that you are above petty things like love, that you are more focused on your career or that girls are stupid.

The  “Fail!! Fail!!.” Series

                These posts can have titles something like “Falling in Love is no easy business” which is especially for those people who have always been ready to fall in love but no girl even registered his existence or every girl considered him a brotherly friend. This would be primarily because of getting tongue-struck in front of girls or the inability to stop talking the truth. Another post can be “Be a man and start crying” which is for those souls who pour out their feelings on blog because no one listens to them. Being drunk is a prerequisite for this. There is a breed of shameless men who just don’t realize the “Fail!! Fail!!” moment and carry on life as always. This can be titled, “Fallen down..no sand in moustache”. You need to be proud of your moustache to completely appreciate the title.

                For people who are screwed/insulted/failed/embarrassed in whatever they do, there is a special idea which can be named, “Hit me above the belt, please”.

The “appo, naan than out aa?” series: Roughly translates to “I am screwed, my friends are not“

                This is especially for MBAs who use none of what they studied in their work (“MBA is empty business”) or imagine they actually apply their learning (“6 reasons why you need to do an MBA”). There is also a very small breed of MBAs who work in factories wearing uniforms and are jealous of everyone else. This is for them-“Uniformed MBA in a techie world”. One common thing among all these is that these people realize that their friends without MBA have achieved more than them. 

 The “Go crazy.. Write a Blog” series:

                Finally there is this type of post that one can write called the “Go Crazy.. Write a Blog” where you write shit about nothing and waste a few mins of everyone’s life reading it, like I just did.

                Well, my brother had to go shopping, else I would have written a book on a 100 more ideas.

                Any praises (hopeless scenario) or any brickbats for this blog post are reserved exclusively for my bro.

Western hypocrisy and the forgotten people of Syria

              Power, you know, is a curious disease. It makes you feel virtuous, urges you to use that power, selectively, on imaginary threats, encourages you to build more power and more importantly makes you think you are superior to others and that you have the right to intervene in the lives of others. The United States of America is afflicted by such a disease. This contagious disease originated from the UK and France, past superpowers and faltering economies who still wish to think they are powerful. These self proclaimed Guardians of the World see no use for the designated Guardian, the United Nations, in running the affairs of the world.

                We are of course talking about Syria, a country torn due to a mismanaged version of the mismanaged Arab Spring. It is being destroyed from within and outside, with rebels being aided by the Western and allied powers and the government supported by Russia and Iran. Education system is dead, economy has collapsed, inflation has shot up, hospitals are destroyed and government mechanisms do not exist anymore.

                Compare the following two quotes.

"When you start talking about chemical weapons, in a country that has the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world, where over time, their control over chemical weapons may erode, where they're allied to known terrorist organizations that, in the past, have targeted the United States, then there is a prospect, a possibility, in which chemical weapons that can have devastating effects could be directed at us. And we want to make sure that that does not happen.”

"Iraq has chemical and biological weapons, that Saddam has continued to produce them, that he has existing and active plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons, which could be active within 45 minutes. . .and that he is actively trying to acquire nuclear weapons capability”

            Don’t they sound very similar and very similarly far-fetched? The second was from the speech given by Tony Blair to the British people to justify the Iraq War and the first was by Barack Obama. Yes, the only Nobel Peace Prize Winner to head a country that owns as many nuclear weapons, fighter planes and warships that all other countries combined. The Peace Prize laureate also abandoned a country they invaded with the most absurd of claims, is planning to abandon the next and lost their Ambassador in another misstep in a third.

It was actually fascinating to observe how “evidence” of chemical use by Syrian government flowed from “traces” to “mostly credible” to “undeniable” over a couple of weeks. The evidence is anyways based on Israel’s intelligence, questionable sources amongst the rebels and the fact the UN officials were too late to reach the spot. Interestingly, Al-Qaeda is fighting with the rebels as is the USA. Till recently, Al-Qaeda was Enemy No.1 for the US, but now has apparently been usurped by the Hezbollah.

So, what are the less absurd reasons that US has now to attack Syria?  

•  Syria has violated the Chemicals Use convention which it never ratified anyway
• Syrian weapons will land into the hands of people who may hurt United States and its allies. This obviously means Israel, but no-one seems to remind the President that Al-Qaeda can also end up controlling the weapons
• Iran will become more powerful, an obvious paranoia that Israel is obsessed with
• The President’s ego is at stake. Syria has refused to heed his warning, it has to be punished. Well, yeah, Obama is the presiding deity of Syria
• The UN Security Council motion will be vetoed by Russia and China, which, in essence, means they won’t be deceived like with the Libyan Resolution

And what are the reasons quoted by the US politicians and media against US unilateral military action? 

•   American soldiers’ life will be at stake. John Kerry has this wise solution that we will bomb Syria from our safe Nuclear warships stationed all across the Mediterranean Saudi Peninsula 
•  This is an action without a plan
•  Will put tremendous stress on the US economy
•  We do not have UK to share our burden
•  But McCain takes the cake here. He says that the action is not hawkish enough, that the attacks have to be heavier, more disproportionate

        Did any of you here notice that Syrian people, their well being or their wishes have not been mentioned in the entire discourse at all? At best, it appears as a footnote.

What is the plan of action? What will happen after you destroy the chemical weapons? What if Iran gets involved in the War? What do the people of Syria want? What about the rebels? What after Assad? Do we have any plan for the Syrian people’s health or education? What about Democracy in Syria? What are the lessons from Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya?

There are no answers to these. Actually, the western powers act as if these questions don’t exist at all.

             Amidst all this, two questions arise. If a couple of countries can assume control of the world, what is the United Nations for? If the IBSA countries have to rise above the current level of emerging nations, what is their role in these conflicts? Does it end with statements like “exercise caution” and “adhere to people’s aspirations”?

              

           Well, as I said, Power is a curious disease. Rome, Greece, Spain, the Papacy, Britain and USA have behaved the same way. 100 years hence, when China or some other country rules the world, I am afraid they will behave the way. History repeats itself.

When (and if) the BJP comes to Power...

            I am of the firm opinion that the BJP and Congress are right now engaged in an epic battle – the battle of mediocrity. While Congress is trying their best to become the worst ruling party ever with all their blunders (forget it, I am not even mentioning them), the BJP has given them tough competition by being the worst opposition party ever, matching the Congress on every scale possible. So come 2014, the fortunes of the country would more or less be decided by such dependable and trustworthy characters like Mulayam, Mayawati, Mamata and Jayalalitha.

            But, with all the hype and hoopla around Modi, assuming the BJP comes to power, I have some apprehensions.

            Will Veer Savarkar statues start mushrooming in the country? Will Veer Savarkar and Hindu Nationalism again become part of the Indian Independence Struggle in the history syllabi of schools? Will the chapter on Indian festivals fail to mention a single Muslim festival?

            Will Bajrang Dal, Sri Ram Sena and all the other fringe groups of RSS gain some prominence? Will anti-Valentine’s day threats and other such social policing become prevalent? And will police, of course, remain as silent as ever?

            Will terrorism increase? And when there is a terrorist attack, will it be responded with unnecessary anti-Muslim sentiment?

            What will happen to India Pakistan relations? The next time a border skirmish happens, will we build forces along the border and threaten disproportionately and needlessly?

            Will Hindu festival rallies increase and clog traffic? Will similar rallies of other religions be rejected permissions?

Will Gujarat riot cases and other encounter cases suddenly end? And will Sikh riot cases reopen?

Will the dream of Lokpal be crushed permanently? There is no way a strong Lokpal is going to be created with NaMo on top, after all the drama in his state.

            After Congress bored us to death with hundreds of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru schemes, yojanas and missions, will it now be the turn of Sardar Valabhbhai Patel and AB Vajpayee schemes?

            The list goes on. But, thinking about it, if better roads are built, corruption is reduced, manual scavenging is stopped, economy improves equitably, diseases are tackled, essential services are delivered efficiently, I wouldn’t actually be unhappy with BJP. The trade-off between the concerns and the benefits, I hope, works to the country’s betterment.

Will Mankind ever learn?

          

            Look at this child. Has some snack and looks around trying to find out if someone would help him. Now what happened moments later? He was shot at gun point. Not once, but 5 times. Why? Just because he was Velupillai Prabhakaran’s son. The kid, sent with some bodyguards to surrender, as per international media, was shot dead after his bodyguards were executed right in front of his eyes.

          I wonder if this is the lowest Man can steep down to. The worst I can think of doing to this kid is to cut him off from his current world, raise him under supervision and make sure his father’s streaks never raise in him. Killing him? Impossible. Then I think of the Delhi gang-rape victim. Is this what has come to Mankind? How could he be so savage?

          Next I wonder, if Man was always so. Has he done this before? Does he repent it? Does he get punished for it? Does he ever learn from his mistakes?

          The earliest I can think of, when children and babies were killed for power, is from our own puranas, where Kamsa killed 6 babies of his sister, though no proof exists to attest this claim. From then on, there are so many examples of Man doing anything for power – son killing father, father killing son, brothers killing each other – anyone who comes in their way for power. Most importantly, the heirs to the throne were never left off. They were always killed, be it 16 year olds or 6 month olds. 

                Every time a powerful army conquers a neighbouring state, rapes have been known to happen. Right from Troy till the Sri Lankan War, rapes have been the most common factor among all wars. Though women were not expected to fight, though men were not expected to capture and rape women, they did. They always did.

                In the last 300 years, in one of the most shameful episodes of modern human history, blacks from Africa have been held as slaves and have also been raped. Jews were raped and jewish children killed by Nazis. Serbian War involved mass rape and killings. Pol Pot of Cambodia, the man who destroyed the dreams of an entire generation of Cambodians, raped women and killed children.

                Now, was India any better? India has had more than its own share of patricides, fratricides and the likes, and rapes by conquering armies in its history. In more recent times, partition was one of the worst times for women and children. All sides to the party, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, raped and killed, even children. Indian army has been accused of rape in Kashmir, North east and in Sri Lanka. Some even go on to say that, if not for our Army’s off-field crimes, Rajiv Gandhi would still be alive. Add Gujarat 2002, Mumbai 1993 and the various other events to this. Rape existed forever. Children have been killed always.

          So have any of the above men ever been punished. Very very rarely. Kamsa was, armies were never, unless they lost, when their women would anyways be raped. The winning, more powerful armies were never punished. Pol Pot died 20 years after he ran away, peacefully. Partition crimes were never punished, though all sides were horribly affected. Army refuses to allow normal courts to try even sexual crimes. They want that covered under AFSPA as well. Will someone in Sri Lanka pay for it? I am not hopeful.

          But then, there is this new alarming trend that shows that Man can indeed plunge lower and lower than we can imagine him to. Rape of children. I am not sure if Man has always been like this. It cant get any worse than this. But I wont be surprised if Man indeed gets worse than this.

Man is, has always been and will always be a cruel, brutal animal. One without remorse, one which doesn’t learn from its mistakes. One which plunges lower and lower.