Jihad of different sorts

NO war is justified.

there are only 'avoidable' and 'less avoidable'.

     I've never been a supporter of wars, a fact that has endeared Mr. Obama to me . Indeed, i might've been the first one to predict he'd become the POTUS(At that time he was third in line for Democratic candidacy,behind Hilary and what-was -his-name?)

     My hatred for the Islamic jihadists can only be equaled by my disgust at Hindu nationalists. I don't hate them for their deeds(which's not not to say their deeds are pardonable), but for the cause for which they are fighting. I can not understand how a human being can fail to pay any sort of respect to the personal freedom, emotions or for that matter, the right to personal safety of a fellow being. But what i feel or think is of no consequence.

   Ok ,i know what you are all thinking. We all share the same feelings and thoughts, but what's new here? Well, i'm here to talk about a war which i think is somewhat justified or at least for a better cause. Fellows, i'm talking about Naxalism.

I believe i've grabbed your attention now.

    India is past sixty and within another ten, it is prophesied to be among the top three. Go to hell with these stats. Where is the progress? I am talking about real,tangible,solid progress. Such a progress shouldn't be measured with GDP rates alone. A nation's progress has to be measured as the progress its poorest man has achieved. There has nothing been happening in that strata of life. India's slums look the same,feel the same and smell the same. The ministers keep blabbering about NREGS,food for everyone etc. But if there was food for everyone, job for everyone, how exactly do you explain the huge number of recruits the maoist movement has absorbed in the past few years.

     Naxalites are active across approximately 220 districts in twenty states of India accounting for about 40 percent of India's geographical area(wikipedia). Now these are some numbers to be reckoned with. Even people from higher echelons of society have joined this struggle(call it jihad- it deserves the name). these people are not fighting for their religion, nor for their race nor with jingoist sentiments, they only ask their fair share of bread. If the govt. can not provide these basic necessities, i daresay they are fighting a long and tiresome battle.

     Ever heard of Kobad Ghandy? He is a chartered accountant trained from London who has taken up the task of fighting the authorities and  terminal cancer with the same spirit. Many such stories can be heard if you knew where to listen to.

      And these people have got style too. I remember watching 'Taking of Pelham 123' and wondering if such a thing is possible. These people reenacted the scene in the Rajdhani Express, which i believe is India's fastest train. Cheers man! i loved it......

      So what's this thing got to do in my blog , a place where i keep telling myself and others of how ordinary a person i am. Ok, i will be frank, my course gets over next April and i do not have any immediate plans. So Mr. Mao Zedong or whoever it is, just let me know when you are having your next recruitment sessions, i will come with my certificates........but one moment, do you take in people with standing supplies?

confessions of a second last bencher.

"This is Nibin"- that was my classmate(of 4 years) introducing me to her mother at her sister's marriage.

Though i quickly recovered to dismiss it as a slip of her tongue., the fact just lingered in my mind.

I don't remotely look like Nibin,at least i hope so...(i'm just joking,he's not all that bad..). Maybe we are of the same height,i can't think of anything else..

     Did she really think i was Nibin? Well,for one thing, i just don't care.

Maybe she really did.

where was i all these years? Ok, i was hiding behind taller necks and random commotions.

 i am the second last bencher.

why second last?why not last?

For one thing,last is much more cooler,infinitely more noticeable.

I came to classes almost regularly and pretended i was taking notes  while all that time,i was getting better at pencil sketches..... I wonder if any professor knows my name, anyway nobody is going to notice if i bunk my classes for a whole semester. 

if being invisible is an art, you  are talking to Mr. Michaelangelo..(Next time i will try to come up with something better....)

oh my pathetic brain is not helping me any more....this is the third time in two days i have tried to complete this thing.

hey all, good-riddance!

a slightly different onam........

life's just curious. 

All these years,onam was just onam.....i mean there was nothing unusual....

It was all about the vacation....the 10 days with the least care in the world....

but wow! this time something really happened....

got license, got a new mobille(atlast upgraded from my 1600-there was no other way,the BL5C batterry was looking 10 months pregnant)

and guess what! got my first supply....

u didn't understand? k,supply is the short form for supplymentary which means i failed in a paper.....

what a change! what a slide!

haven't reported the news at home.....

yeah there's still time for all that....

And by the way,i invite you all for my funeral(which will duly happen after i announce the results....)

all of you, kindly pray for my soul........

Amen!

potential bullshits....

"that's a bullshit", she'd say

with eyes shut so close that

it almost shuts out the twinkle in it....

"almost", i said....

her nose'd quiver and turn a rosy shade

and lips'd reveal what the eyelids hid....

and that made my day, my life...

and i went in seach of 'potential bullshits'..... :)

my brain got swine flu

atleast it feels like it

sorry,i shouldn't be joking about it(swine flu...,i mean)

but seminar came really like a barking bolt out of a really blue sky.....

it wasn't supposed to be until after onam

but suddenly it's this wednesday.

and it seems australia is losing Ashes.... i know you're with England(even i am!), but the sympathy factor is forcing me to wish for an Aussie turnaround....

and sunday's Kutty's housewarming. So that means just one day remains for collection of data, typing report, preparing presentation........

and i went for 10th reunion. It was just gr8....... loved each moment(hey satheerthyaa,.......love you for reading this!)

and i wrote 2 essays for college magazine- one on slumdog and the other on 377(wrote against slumdog and..... for homosexuality)..... random topics,they weren't really my choice. But i am ok with the outputs.....

And i'm loving my new******** Windows 7***********(keep it away from Basil!)

a wrong turn!

i don't get angry easily.......i know that and most people who know me knows that too...

some say this to me as if it's really a bad thing.....

but i was angry the other day.

no, angry is such a benign word-i was infuriated...

so would you....., you might even have slapped him.

no i didn't.

do i regret it? sometimes i do.......

It was the all important license day.

and i was prepared.......even to fail.

that wouldn't have been a miracle(if i failed), i hardly took my 'H' without hitting the iron bars...and the only 2 wheeler i can handle properly is , unfortunately a cycle.....

but still i was game.

don't know about other parts of the world, but here i had to reach chalakkudy(almost 1 hr drive from my home) before 5 in the morning. so that means i got ready by 3:45.

and the only vehicle that was available at that ridiculous time was an auto riksha sponsored by our driving school, it was driven by Mr. Freddy who later went on to lose the driving test...

and it didn't have a head light, so 2 mobiles had to serve that purpose...

the journey was event less if you don't count being stopped by a police jeep on the middle of the  N.H. as an event......

and we reached there around 4:45 and believe me, we weren't the first!

so the next few hours we spent contemplating the moment when the all important Vehicle Inspector would arrive. In between,we also took trials on the car and on the bike.... and to my surprise,i was doing considerably better that day....

and soon it was 9'0 clock and there he was.....

and the queue got shorter pretty soon and it was my turn....

Mr. Inspector just glanced into my papers and said" hey boy,your date is not today......it's on 6th"

i wasn't worried....surely there must be some confusion. I only had to clear it. And there he was- Binoy chettan, my driving teacher.....he'll surely do something.

He did nothing.

He said there was some confusion,and yeah it was his mistake.... I'll have to come again on thursday. That was monday and i was going back to Kottayam the same evening. So to come back on wednesday eve and take my test on thursday and retuning that same evening was not something i'd planned for.

And there he was (Mr. Binoy) grinning as if it was a regular mistake that could happen to anyone....

i should have slapped him, instead i merely said"will call you later"....and went back home.

i know i should have slapped him.......

PS :i didn't take the test on thursday, i will do it some time during the onam vacation...

Retrospection time

3 years have passed like nothing,just one more left...

and then I'm out of my college

and what remains will be a degree certificate and a marklist that's already too stained for my taste.....

i knew i wasn't the worst,i know still i'm not......

I hate to think of it, even less to admit but i've indeed become an average if i was ever better....

There is no spark left, if there ever was...

I could've never imagined that i would turn out to be like this. If someone had lend me a time machine in the past and i'd seen the present me,i'd have bet on my library that it's not me(and that's saying something).......

People have started talking about the other option...but i don't even have a single one.

The lowest point came when i called Naseef the other day and he was talking about GATE coaching(oh my god, Naseef!)...He might've been joking but the mere fact that he'd heard of them shocked me...Hey Neeraj, not everything in this world is as it used to be...

And Aswin has already completed GRE training, i don't get how people still want to continue with this thing even after 4 years of crap...

More and more are going for MBA coaching- Alen, Anand,Bastian,....

To be frank, that seems the best of options unless you aren't ambitious like Prajin. He's having his IAS dreams. Okay,best of luck!

The worst thing that can happen to anyone is not knowing what he truly wants. I know my dad will agree to anything but i don't have an answer when he asks what....

I hope i can take a decision soon

hasta la vista :)