er..That birth is Reserved!!!

TAP TAP!!TAP TAP!!…A strong smell of jasmine filled my nasal cavity as my shoulder was poked back into consciousness. She spoke in a foreign tongue, was 6 times my size and I could tell she wasn’t happy about something by the way she was vigorously shaking her hands and pointing at something. ‘Ladies!’ she said. I obliged and found myself seated 3 rows behind her.

TAP TAP!!TAP TAP!!.. ‘Not again!’ I thought to myself as I looked up to find a big burly man, again seemingly angrily, pointing at something! ‘SC/ST’ it said. Once again I obliged. 15 minutes and ‘O(ther)BCs’ , ‘E(conomically)BCs, ‘S(ocially)BCs’, ‘N(ot)R(eally)BCs’, ‘P(roud2be)BCs’ and ‘ W(anna)BCs’ later I found myself crammed in a minuscule standing area with a ‘Gazillion’ other unlucky souls staring at the sign ‘GENERAL’!!

As I looked at the comfortably seated BCs..er..Backward Classes I though to myself ‘What makes them more deserving of that berth than me?their birth?!!!’

Ofcourse things weren’t always like this. Reservation was started keeping very noble ideals in mind!..Make everyone equal. Its ironic how we intend to make People Equal by telling them that They’re Not!!!

What is worse is that policymakers are threatening to legislate this practice into private institutions and boardrooms!Manmohan Singh stressing on the need for reservation in Private Sector companies and some obscure American senator(pardon my ignorance) suggesting reservation in the boardroom for Women. Yes! That's right..Give every Man a reason to question every Woman Executives abilities and success by saying ‘She’s only here cause she’s a woman!’..WOW!What a way to deal with Gender Bias…er..NOT!!!

Homeward Bound (back to India i mean). Now you have to know that Something Somewhere is wrong with your policy if people are fighting to be called Backward?! (Gujjar agitation anyone?)..So we’re trying to reduce the number of ‘Backward People’ by increasing the Number of People we call ‘Backward’?!!..*Clap Clap*

Rajasthan (after adding 5% quota for the Gujjars) has now reached a figure of 68% reservation. But it still comes 2nd to Tamil Nadu with its 69% reservation that is applicable to an astounding 87% of the population!!!So we are giving rights to some people by taking them away from others?

Now don’t get me wrong! I'm not 100% against reservation. But it should be restricted to tickets (Not election tickets!) and educational institutions (only for people who cannot genuinely afford them..strain out the Creamy Layer!!!). That’s right! I don’t believe caste based reservation should be needed in the Government! If you’re telling me that after SIXTY TWO years of independence we haven’t been able to sensitize our population…

Well then the only thing Backward….is the way in which we are headed!!!

Hy-Pre-Active!!!

We live in fast times. Things happen faster. We want them to happen faster. '30 minutes nai to free'. Some come to us way before we actually deserve them(not the pizza)..Try fame for example.Or before they are ready(could be the pizza..but NO)

Thanks to media hype/PR/simply knowing the people who know the people who know the right people. We're seeing a new phenomenon..A breed called the Hype(e)-go-Lucky!
While there is seemingly no pejorative touch the term, there are some problems.
Individuals/Organizations who become too big too fast are unlikey to succeed in the long run because - the 'big'ness is built on a foundation of Hype. They find it hard to sustain after the intial buzz!Or Sometimes, we(the people) change our minds. Just ask the Backstreet Boys!!


Exhibit A - Barack Obama!!

A 48 year old man, with no significant political achievements became the first black president of the united states. Be that as it may, he already has more titles published about him than the Clinton Couple despite their far richer political experience. Most Indian politicians are lucky to have a single book written about them!

While he was busy achieving Iconic Status some remained skeptical. And rightly so.
For the mandate he commanded one would have expected him to come out roaring YES WE CAN!Instead, it's a little louder than a whimper. His bailout plan is far from potent. Just ask Mr.Paul Krugman. His HealthCare plan is likely to come out a cropper by the time the Centrists and Right Wingers are done with it! No significant changes in Iraq/Afghanistan either.

Somehow the Charisma on the basis of which he won the election doesnt seem enough at the moment!

Is he worth his salt? So far not so good Mr.President.


Exhibit B - Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Captiain Courageous and King Midas rolled into one! Or so they say. Taking nothing away from the achievements of the Indian Cricket Team. We have to remember that hes leading a side that he inherited, a-la Ricky Ponting of Australia. Mahi's (I despise that name..but thats just me :P) real test as a leader is yet to come! But we have still promoted him to Demi-God status. His fan following, according to some publications, is comparable to that of Sachin Tendulkar. That is an insult to the Great Man.
Why? HYPE! He already has the most number of lucrative ad contracts(thats why most people play cricket anyway ;))

Media generates the Hype. We lap it up!
Hold it right there!Convenient!Blame the media!

Q)Why do they create and sell us this Hype?
Ans) Look into a Mirror!Yes you..The One with the puzzled look!...and without it too!

Here clutter, there clutter everywhere clutter clutter!! We're spoilt for choice and constantly seek new avenues to break the monotony. In a bid to catch our attention. 'Products'(quality unassured) are packaged attractively, sometimes deceptively and thrust onto us to get their 15 Seconds of Fame!We buy it! Most recede into oblivion after this..Shiney uh..who?ja?

We move from 'flavour' to 'flavour' because variety is the spice of life!!!Now, its just a slice of life!
Every other day something new promises to Hit our world with a Bang. More often than not. It hits the Earth with a Thud!!!

Butt OffCourse!!

No...this post has nothing to do with the Gluteus Maximus..

Puff Puff..*COUGH COUGH*.. the thick smoke clears over the 'sutta' shops as the rain clouds gather over those who are regulars at these 'establishments'.
Come 2nd October(a dry day!! :( ), the union health minister Ramadoss has promised to make good on his promise to Kick Butt...er..make you kick that butt!.

The tobacco industry has been a controversial one since The Readers Digest ,in the 1950s, published a scientific study about the harmful effects of nicotine. Disaster Management on the part of some companies gave birth to a profession that feeds many people across the world today.PR..some PR agencies still have a frequent flyers' pass to the inside of courts in the United States..but thats another story..

Over the last few years..Mr.Ramadoss has taken it upon himself to rid India of this evil.or so it seems...ofcourse ITC under Mr.Deveshwar has tried to diversify itself against such a HIT(no pun intended).

First came the ban on smoking in public places. ButtOffCourse..that remained largely on paper.. Then in a bid to run out dead n decaying tobacco companies like GTC..the finance ministry raised the levy on non filtered 'suttas'..ask the common man in MP how much that hit them.. All this move did is give impetus to the gray and fake market cigarettes..the contents of some of which are questionable to say the very least..Over the years this industry has amassed it self to more than a tenth of the market..which is HUGE and Dangerous!... Not such a great move minister.

Another interesting thing to note is that in the immediate aftermath of such decisions, announcements, price hikes and other such deterrents. Sales go through the roof.. After all the only thing that can cushion a blow of the increase in cigarette prices is...you guessed it right..a 'sutta' :)...

The latest move aims to restrict smoking to homes-only if the lady of the house gives her consent- and maybe those last bastions of hope for dragtakers..the local sutta shop..
How successful will it actually be??.....

Phew...Im stepping out to exercise my butt...er...legs..anyone care to join me?!
:P

I get knocked down.........but i get up again!!!!

Resilience, Tenacity, Perseverance.. Yep they are wonderful traits. No!!really!!..they are...Just ask the drinker-ers..The extra ER is where these people will land up anyway.

Now i know what CHUMBAWABA(such a name can only be the result of 'some' drink-er-ing) had in mind..How many times have u heard people saying 'O god!!im never drinking again!'..and surprise surprise where do you meet them again?..in the BAR!!..ofcourse the fact that you are there again doesn say much for you(or in this case..me..) either.

I dont understand people who claim to consume as much as DIAGEO's daily outpour and really can only take as much as single bottle of highly diluted alcohol..U get my point. If not..please leave this page...

I also dont understand people who dont know when to stop..U have to be as dense as some of the contestants of reality shows to miss the signs.Thats what Ace of Base sang about!!..These people are like...
1 tequila 2 tequila 3 tequila..floor..door..BANG!!..Take this man to a bed!..

Ofcourse given the human race's insatiable appetite for competition. We have boozards who have a higher density than the afore mentioned types. The ones who are either too stupid,retarded,cool,moronic,idiotic,more retarded,insane,drunk,crazy,macho, further retarding...ive run out of adjectives to fill this glass...o yes!..and retarded!.to know, admit, deduce, infer, calculate, determine, ascertain, concede, realize that they are drunk..and o yes...retarded!!!..they follow the algorithm..
1 tequila 2 tequila 3 tequila..floor..door..oops!! almost missed the first step!!phew!!im sober..walk..car..sit...drive..lilavati hospital!!...

I am not going to bother writing anything responsible on this page. Why?..Well...er....Ouch!!MY head!!! I swear..Im never drinking again!!!!!!!!!!

****THUD!!!!!!****

Lights...Cameras....SMILE PLEASE!!!

A blinding flash..followed by a cacophonous symphony..Then a ~CLICK CLICK~ and another blinding flash..The process repeats!NO!! You are not front seat spectators at "the war on terror debacle"-now showing at Iraq (my opinion on that is another story). Welcome to a Generation 2.0 gathering!!

People who know me would expect me to be the last person to touch upon this otherwise frivolous subject.Once again, welcome to the photo-shoot culture..
When Alhazan (incidentally an iraqi) first conceptualized a camera..and Alexander Graham Bell(lets discredit the controversy over the invention of the telephone for now!) materialized the telephone. Neither predicted that their offsprings would one day be joined in a not-so-holy matrimony..THE CAMERA PHONE!!

Before i proceed let me clarify that..Yes!I do carry a camera phone!(Atleast thats what they told me it was!. I doubt the authenticity of both these claims). And i have nothing personal against it! I have never been candidly captured embarrassingly in anything but a good old nap on the books!!(Engineers you know what i mean!).

My only 'bone' with the device is the permanently attached phalange(for all those who did that afore mentioned embarrassing activity in biology classes..the finger bone) that tenses up and depresses under the following situations. The person is alone!The person is standing, sitting, looking up,down, to the left and right!...Person is not alone!!..All 'not alone persons are alive','not alive','inebriated','not inebriated' etc etc etc etc and etc...i cant possibly cover all cases but you get the point!..If not..Please leave this page!!

Ofcourse i could be completely in thinking that the purpose of a camera is to capture the moments!! But..for them to be captured they have to be created first! Which brings me back to generation 2.0. of which i am an extremely proud member!

Meet us at a get together(Im covering only our 'photo-maniac' qualities in this post). The people you see frantically emerging from a converging swarm of bellowing screamers are ones who have the menial task of clicking!..and the rest of us..well..the swarm!..

What bothers me is that in our desire to create one material still frame that will be embossed in our minds, we lose(not loose as many people seem to insist) invaluable time which may have actually created that magic!!


So please..less smiles for the cameras!! More for the times!!!
*CURTAIN CALL*-*APPLAUSE*

ALL....THAT...c..aaaaaaaaaaaa..t!!!!

The smoke clears. CZJ RZ and RG end their CHICAGO number with a final step and the words that are definitive of many things in life...ALL...THAT...JAAAAZZZZZZ!!!!

With just a fortnight to go for 18th November. A date that sends chills down the spines of Indias myriad graduating/graduated cohorts. Its interesting to note how people undermine the value of an mba by saying- they are preparing for cat-. Ask 90% of them what an mba entails!..Not many will have an answer...atleast not a satisfactory one!

The ceaseless arguments continue..work ex or not?..A level school or not?..India or abroad?..
Sitting on the sidelines and watching many of my colleagues toil, sweat, slog, burn the oil- i think i've run out of adjectives - for a mere 150minutes, i cant help but chuckle.. In the process many of them overlook the more important aspects scoring a seat!!..I will not get into those- they are better left for the cliched "How to bell the cat"s, "How to ace/race the cat"s bla bla type of pages.

MockCats, ShockCats, TalkCats, WalkCats, DogCats...i dont think the feline family has had as many words prefixed to its parent species(doggy style) as over the last seven years!.Look around..You see people learning ALL THATs CAT..people stopping at THATS ALL ...CAT(remember porky pig!) and people condemning themselves to CAT..THATs ALL!!..

At twenty, with hopefully a secure job in a field that i have no interest, you would think that the last thing i should be doing is walking away from the cat!..But i belong to a strange generation..save a few...nobody really knows what they want from life!...Can say the same for previous generations too..whether we admit it or not..Gerontocracy drives us more than we know..Most people today know what they do not want to do!..Im no different..except i also know what i want to do..eventually...But i will reveal that some other time!

Lack Of Information- or half baked knowledge- something we all are afflicted by- is often more dangerous..Someone has said - the danger with pursuing a career passionately is intimate knowledge of its ugly side..and if it still appeals to you.Its yours..-
Im taking my time.. But someday i will have THAT JAZZZ!!!