tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44172037517686055512018-03-06T19:08:28.800+05:30Story of InkInked Stories.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-12119302013786272392013-02-14T22:51:00.002+05:302016-11-01T16:43:17.361+05:30The Last Runner - a Cricket Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />It was night and the crescent lit it very dimly, but enough to engulf it with its warmth. He did not know how long he had been running, he did not know what was the reason behind it nor did he know why his legs did not hurt even after running for so long but he had been running and running; running the perimeter of the ‘Mecca of Cricket.’ How much ever he tried to get to the pitch, he could not; all his efforts were be pushed against the pitch. A sweat of fear and disappointment rain across his temple then ran another one and another one. He began sweating profusely, with every drop of sweat lost his hope of getting to the pitch.<br /><br />He opened his eyes; he was back to his world, it was a nightmare. He got up to drink some water but his legs trembled. Maybe because of running for an eternity but then it was just a dream. Maybe they were trembling off fear or of disappointment but I guess, it was the failure of never reaching to the pitch.<br /><br />It was not the first time that he had that dream; he had had that dream even before. Years passed and he kept having that dream at perfect times – before every important finals and it badly affected his performance. The critics discovered that they had a voice and could speak against him too; after all he was not The God, but only a human. He started getting paranoid, he wanted to know what that dream meant, why it kept coming again and again, why they were screwing his career. He consulted astrologers; all the Potliwalas, Neers, Srivastavas, and they all said in unison, “An injury is approaching, and a day would come when you’d not be able to reach the pitch that you love so much.” Months passed by and that dream kept his nights busy, he even discovered their pattern and would know when it would come. And there, came the injury that was predicted, he was home ridden. The critics discovered that they could now even shout at him, he was after all, no God.<br /><br />‘Darling, I think I should retire, I am no longer the same,’ he said to his wife one day.<br />‘Why do you think so, honey? You have more time than anyone can even think of.’<br />He then told her about his dream and what the astrologers had said. When he finished, she started laughing uncontrollably. Annoyed, he asked her the reason behind her laughter on his life’s greatest annoyance.<br />‘And you believe those astrologers?’ She asked, trying her best to control her laughter. And all he could do was to give her a blank look.<br />‘They call themselves astrologers and yet can’t tell what a simple dream means! How pity!’ She exclaimed. ‘It does not mean that your end is near, it just means that you’d play longer than anyone you know, longer than your teammates.’<br />‘Then what about me never able to reach to the pitch?’<br />‘You would just be sad that you teammates couldn’t survive as long as you,’ she looked into his eyes. ‘It is not your fault that they can’t play as long as you. It is not your fault that they don’t have your passion. It is not your fault they don’t love the game as much as you do. It is not your fault that you are the only one who sees such dreams.’<br />‘Then why is it always the Lords and not anywhere else?’<br />‘Which is the ground that you revere the most?’<br />‘Lords.’<br />And she gave him a ‘See! I know it all look.’<br /><br />A voice within him rose, it gave him the motivation; he started practicing again. With each day he grew fitter and stronger. He returned to the pitch and every time the leather kissed his willow it was hit hard enough to his reach critics’ mouths. He scored runs like never before, he won like never before. Years passed by, his teammates retired, his competitors retired but he kept playing strongly. Few wrinkles appeared on his face, his reflexes slowed but he never stopped, he changed his techniques to overcome his lapses. That is a mark of a great player; he changes his own self rather than changing the opponent.<br /><br />He is yet to thank her for that day after all, that is what soulmates are for. He still gets that dream and but now it does not scare him. Instead, it inspires him; inspires him to play even better, it acts as a reminder that he is yet to stand tall in the Lords. After all, there is something that even the Gods need to do themselves.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="the last runner a cricket story (Sachin Tendulkar)" border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KyvQ7E-aE4A/UR0ck-2rxBI/AAAAAAAAAjU/ZOyVLD-pR6I/s320/TendulkarBatting.jpg" title="the last runner a cricket story (Sachin Tendulkar)" width="256" /></div>Previously published on <a href="https://write-short-stories.quora.com/The-Last-Runner" target="_blank">Quora</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/rahul-pandey/the-last-runner-a-cricket-story/451495568220264" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-12450122600907839972013-01-26T17:50:00.000+05:302013-01-29T14:16:05.065+05:30(Kshitij) क्षितिज<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Poem in English also provided.</span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="kshitij-horizon" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FD3MtFhabgA/UQPQ1zbsoLI/AAAAAAAAAjE/CH4MWjj1leI/s1600/kshitij-horizon.jpg" title="kshitij- horizon" /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><b npdkey="hceqwxcx0.tkj1bvcfk09"><span style="font-size: large;">क्षितिज</span></b><br /><b npdkey="hceqwxcx0.tkj1bvcfk09"><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;">समन्दर किनारे था मैं खड़ा,</span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">देख रहा था नीला आसमां|</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">समन्दर ने तब मुझसे कहा,</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">"हे मनू, किस लिए तुम यहाँ?"</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">"मैं उसे देखने आया यहाँ,</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">जो है हर जगह,</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">वह, जिस में है सूरज समाया,</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">जिस से मिला तुम्हे यह रंग अपना|"</span></div><a name='more'></a></div><div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">विचलित होकर उसने मुझे रोका,</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">"अगर है महान तुम्हारा आसमां,</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">तो क्यों नहीं मिलने आता तुम से,</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">क्यूँ है वह पराया तुम से?"</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">"हे समन्दर, मैं आया हूँ देखने उस क्षितिज को,</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">जो मिल नहीं सक्ता मनुष्य को|</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">जहाँ वह आसमां तुम से है मिलता,</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">जहाँ वह महान आसमां तुम में है समाता|"</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Samandar kinare tha main khada,</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Dekh raha tha neela aasmaan.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Samandar ne tab mujh se kahan,</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">"He Manu, kis liye tum yahan?"</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div><div style="text-align: left;">"Main usse dekhne aaya yahan,</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">jo hai har jagah.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Woh, jis mein hai suraj samaya,</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Jis se mila tumhe ye rang apna."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Vichalit hokar usne mujhe roka,</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">"Agar hai mahan tumhara aasma,</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">To kyu nahi milne aata tumse,</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Kyun hai woh paraya tum se."</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">"He Samadar, main aaya hoon dekhne us kshitij ko,</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">jo mil nahi sakta manushya ko,</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Jahan woh aasmaan tum se hai milta,</div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;">Jahan who mahan aasmaan tum mein hai samata."</div></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-54317035826851381062012-11-11T21:12:00.000+05:302012-11-13T13:56:15.479+05:30A detailed book review of The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FkOVj9UKhiw/UJ_GGVxqlNI/AAAAAAAAAhg/l2JDRB8mpT8/s1600/blog-Rahul0043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A detailed book review of The Bankter by Ravi Subramanian" border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FkOVj9UKhiw/UJ_GGVxqlNI/AAAAAAAAAhg/l2JDRB8mpT8/s320/blog-Rahul0043.jpg" title="A detailed book review of The Bankter by Ravi Subramanian" width="204" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian</td></tr></tbody></table><b><br /></b><b>Syncopy, er Synopsis :P</b><br /><b><br /></b>The book begins with three parallel stories and then in the mid-way is left with two stories. The parallel stories are that of Joseph Braganza in Angola, Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) in Mumbai, and Krishna Memon in Devikulam, Kerala. Braganza, a CIA agent, is trading Blood Diamonds in Angola. Corporate Politics are in action in GB2. Menon is against a Nuclear Power Plant in his region because of a promise he promised to his son who died as the aftermath of the Chernobyl Accident.<br />In the book, Braganza is not talked much about and gets lost somewhere in the mid-way, but that is for a reason.<br /><br />GB2 is where most of the plot unfolds. Vikram, Tanuja, Zinaida, Harshita and Raymond are the characters that I think should be noteworthy. Vikram is the head of Retail Banking, Tanuja – the head of HR, Zinaida (a bombshell!) and Harshita are the Relationship Managers in Bandra Branch, Raymond works in compliance department, the one that keeps in check the ethics or the wrong doings in the banks. The plot unfolds after most of the characters are introduced. The problem begins with an alleged accident of a cashier by the name of Pranesh. But then things come back to normal, it’s an accident after all, no? The plot or rather the problem begins when Zinaida opens an account (with Vikram’s indirect reference) of Asia Logistics. As it draws in huge amounts of money from abroad and withdraws money within different branches across India, the compliance officer, Raymond finds it fishy but he is asked to keep quiet as the account is from someone who knows Vikram. Initially he keeps quiet but he does not give up on it. Harshita along with her husband gets murdered in Vienna, Austria. Raymond finds out something the very next day and hence wants to contact Indrani, CEO of GB2 but as she is busy it does not happen. And, next, he is found dead with a suicide note.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />Enter Karan Panjabi, a reporter in TOI. Our protagonist is a friend of Raymond. Raymond was able to tell him that there was something fishy within the bank before dying. Karan then goes to Indrani and offers to help her solve the murders of the employees because he Raymond was his friend and the he might get a scoop in to the scam. Indrani agrees on the condition that the name of the bank won’t be depicted in a bad way. Karan, then with help of some employees from the bank, completely unfolds the plot and the crime.<br /><br />Krishan Menon is against the Nuclear Power Plant in Devikulam because the government has overlooked the safety of a million people in the vicinity. His movement gets noticed when Jayakumar a social worker get involved. But something goes wrong; Jayakumar is there for his own selfish reasons.<br />Who is the culprit in GB2? What is the crime? What has Menon got to do with the plot? What happens to Joseph Braganza? What is the end? To get answers to all of them, read the book. (Buy from <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/the-bankster-8129120488/p/itmddehgcsy2bydc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Flipkart</a> and <a href="http://www.homeshop18.com/bankster/author:ravi-subramanian/isbn:9788129120489/books/fiction/product:30284122/cid:10534/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Homeshop18</a>)<br /><br /><b>My say</b><br /><b><br /></b>I must say that I did not expect such book from an Indian author. Some of recent times’ authors are to be blamed and even Subramanian, himself, is to be blamed for this. It is not that I am accusing India authors of writing poor but I have never heard Indian authors of writing thrillers and I had previously read ‘If God was a Banker’ by Subramanian which was okay. But this book is one of the best I have read in recent times by any Indian author. The plot is almost flawless (mostly technical) and the stories, although parallel, seamlessly merge to form the plot. You might not find the banking ethics and norms new if you have read ‘If god was a banker.’ But the characters seem a bit weak. We don’t know much about Panjabi other than his corporate history and that he is an intelligent investigator. The only character who had been depicted satisfactorily is Zinaida, her character is enough to give one wet dreams :P But I was a bit happy with Raymond’s character. You can feel him if you imagine to be in his place. That is why Raymond is my favourite character in my book. Other thing to take a note of is the description. At the beginning, everything is described in detail, and at the end the description is less, at least that is what I felt. The plot is majorly based in Mumbai and you can easily make out the places mentioned.<br /><br />The author wrote the book for a wider audience, an audience that does not read thrillers. That is why the plot is simple, and it is explained in detail in the end. Nonetheless, the plot is written is such a way that there seems a possibility in reality. And I would say that it is a successful attempt.<br /><br /><b>Rating</b><br /><br />Hardcore thriller readers might not enjoy that much but worth a read for them. Someone who has never read thriller or does not read thrillers should read it straight away It is a good book. Hope to read more such books from Subramanian. And yes, I’d try to read the other banking thrillers by him.<br /><br /></div>This review is a part of the <a href="http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews" target="_blank"> Book Reviews Program </a> at <a href="http://www.blogadda.com/">BlogAdda.com </a>. Participate now to get free books!<br /><br />Contact Ravi Subramanian<br /><br /><br /><ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px; line-height: 21.81818199157715px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em;"><li style="line-height: 21.81818199157715px; margin: 0px 0px 3px;">Website: <a href="http://www.ravisubramanian.in/index.asp" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;" target="_blank">http://www.ravisubramanian.in/index.asp</a></li><li style="line-height: 21.81818199157715px; margin: 0px 0px 3px;">Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Authorravisubramanian" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/Authorravisubramanian</a></li><li style="line-height: 21.81818199157715px; margin: 0px 0px 3px;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/SubramanianRavi" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/SubramanianRavi</a></li><li style="line-height: 21.81818199157715px; margin: 0px 0px 3px;">Slideshare: <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/authorravisubramanian" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;" target="_blank">http://www.slideshare.net/authorravisubramanian</a></li><li style="line-height: 21.81818199157715px; margin: 0px 0px 3px;">Youtube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/AuthorRavi" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21.81818199157715px;" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/AuthorRavi</a></li></ul></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-73090093793653078932012-08-19T11:48:00.003+05:302012-08-24T21:49:59.330+05:30Who is our Gandhi?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I was researching something and ‘page jumping’ I landed to the Wikipedia entry of Gandhiji’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi" target="_blank">Assassination</a>. I was shocked by some of the mentioned facts, do read the Wiki Entry. On that page I read that a certain incident was modified a bit in the Gandhi – the movie. So out of curiosity I opened the movie and started fast forwarding the movie and I landed on the Dharasana Satyagraha. I saw the entire incident and it literally brought tears to my eyes. How can you take a blow that can potentially kill you? Forget about avenging for the blow, you don't even think about avenging. Patriotism at its proudest moment.<br /><br />That scene made me wonder at my existence in <em>my</em> country. Am I a blot? Am I a burden? Am I someone who has done nothing for <em>my</em> country? The politicians come up with Jinnah inspired conspiracies and create vote banks for their own <em>needs</em>. I don’t want to talk about the scams done by <em>our</em> government in the recent years; the government and the opposition are not different, they are the same side of a coin. One is striving to <em>be</em> a government and the other <em>wants</em> to form a government. Its not the scams that is talking us down. It’s our hatred for scams, our thinking that is taking us down.<br /><br />A friend commented, of my Facebook profile, to my <a href="http://pswmusings.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-greatest-indian-ever.html" target="_blank">last post</a> saying that Gandhian principles are not relevant today. Seeing that Dharasana protest I have realised that Gandhian principles are not ineffective or obsolete they are, just, not implemented properly. As Gandhi said that Satyagraha is very difficult to observe. Satyagraha is non violence, patience, loving our enemy, perseverance and much more.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /> Take Baba Ramdev’s so called movement against black money. He observed fast for some days as if it was some festive fast. He offered free food to the ones who went there in his support, isn’t free food, in a country where majority are poor, a good tactic to gain support? When he was shifted to some stadium, our insane media interviewed some of Ramdev’s supporters. Some of them came up with, “Hum baba ka poora support karte hain, hum <strong>baba k liye</strong> jail bhi jane ko taiyar hain.” [we support baba’s movement and we have no issues if, for baba’s sake the authorities imprison us in jail.] Some came up with better statements, “Hum baba ka support kate hain, hum <strong>desh k liye</strong> jail bhi jane ko taiya hain.” In a country where the youth is a majority and it has not yet seen any major patriotic movement, it is a proud thing to say, “I was imprisoned for my country’s sake,” and to say it on national television is something that even Indian Idol contestants don’t have the privilege of. What they don’t realise is that in the independence struggle the jails were real, the police and forces were real, their attacks, beatings and tortures were real. Moreover baba’s supporters were not jailed they were detained for a day. Its like, “Kahan Raja Bhoj aur kahan Ganguteili.” Its an insult to the innumerable Indians who sacrificed for our freedom. Lets now bring Baba Ramdev to the spotlight. What were his demands? One was to bring black money back to India? Is it a specific demand telling what steps to be taken in order to bring black money back to India? No, it was a broad one. ‘Bring black money back’ is as good as ‘Finish Corruption.’ Moreover, Baba Ramdev got TRP, political mileage and sympathies of the people, en masse, enough to sell more of his ayurvedic products like medicines, shampoos, toothpastes, etc. – monetary gain for him. And we all know that no serious action would be taken against him or his supporters, of course till don’t do any thing weird, as the government was under serious pressure, criticism and watch.<br /><br />On 3rd June this year, Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare, observed a one day fast. One day fast? Seriously was is it? A one night stand with Satyagraha? Or was is their ‘Ravivar ka Fast’ to strengthen the ‘Sun’ in their horoscope? A planet that, those babas say, is important for a person having a political aspiration.<br />Since the start of Anna Hazare’s indefinite hunger strike in April, 2011, I was against his movement, as it was claimed that Lokpal would finish majority, if not all, of the corruption; and I totally don’t buy that argument – corruption is not an activity, it is a culture and it takes decades to change a culture. But his second act in August, 2011 did garner some support from me. [A brilliant article on my thoughts about all of <a href="http://newsthatmattersnot.com/2011/08/a-seven-pointer-not-in-support-of-anna-for-a-change.html" target="_blank">it</a>.] Moreover Anna’s movement was based on support from the media, on the urban population; most of it happened in Jantar Mantar; but even today the real and most of India lives in rural areas.<br /><br />The most disappointing aspect of Anna’s movement was that he gave up very soon. Satyagraha is not giving up soon. Gandhiji returned back to Indian in 1915, his first Satyagraha was in Champaran, a place that <em>I</em> have not seen in maps, in 1918. And our Independence happened in 1947. Do some basic maths and see how long did it take. Our Anna got tired in just a couple of years. Tsk tsk, Gandhian principles are not inapplicable in modern world, its that we are implementing it incorrectly. Some of us, for nation’s glory, some for personal glory. So who is our Gandhi? Sadly the only Gandhi we have is in our wallets, he controls all of us including our politicians. By the way, wanna finish corruption? Then love thy enemy.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-64972556018828764182012-08-16T23:00:00.000+05:302016-11-01T16:48:11.554+05:30The Greatest Indian ever<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BxA7blNZXdU/UC0vodUNpkI/AAAAAAAAAeY/W-_elPZ-EHU/s1600/greatest-indian-after-gandhi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="the-greatest-indian-after-gandhi" border="0" height="193" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BxA7blNZXdU/UC0vodUNpkI/AAAAAAAAAeY/W-_elPZ-EHU/s200/greatest-indian-after-gandhi.jpg" title="the-greatest-indian-after-gandhi" width="200" /></a></div>N. B. This is an emotional post that you may not find emotional. You have been warned! Okay now proceed.<br /><br />History Channel came up with the results of the, "<a href="http://www.historyindia.com/TGI/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Greatest Indian after Gandhi</a>" survey (its Gandhi and not Ghandi.) But why was Gandhi excluded from the survey? Gandhi always travelled third class then why was he given a special treatment here? In fact, he is given a special treatment everywhere. All of that started, tragically, after his tragical death. And is he truly the Greatest Indian <em>ever</em>? <br /><br />What about Aryabhatta? Aryabhatta invented the zero. Zero, a magical number that when added or subtracted takes you to nowhere; when multiplied, it takes away all that you have; when divided by it, gives you everything that you ever wanted. A number that, while you are reading this piece of mastery, is being ripped apart by your processor a million times in a second, and by the time you finish reading this, it would have been tickled a stunning 1000,000,000,000 times. Processors are everywhere today, imagine a world without zeros. You'd have imagined a world without zero only when you’d have got a big zero in your test. Bhaskaracharya's work on calculus predicates Newton and Leibtniz by over half a millennium. If I go on writing, this post would never finish.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />What about the great rulers? The Maurya kings – Chandragupta, who stopped Alexander the Great, a king who has ‘Great’ tagged with his name; Ashoka, who was even greater than Chadragupta. The Gupta kings – Samudra Gupta and Vikramaditya. Aryabhatta and the great Kalidas worked in Vikramaditya's time. What about the Mughals? Babur once owned the Kohinoor valued enough to feed all of the world for one and a half day (source: some documentary on NGC.) Yeah I know what you are thinking, "Go and rob it off from the British Crown and sell it!" Akbar needs no explanation. Shah Jahan built so many monuments that even after four and a half centuries later, his monuments bring pride to us and more importantly, provide livelihood to innumerable sculptors, guides, and the tourism industry. I could go on but…<br /><br />Gandhi's gift to us are Independence, Khadi and Satyagraha. Independence - that resulted in India, East Pakistan and West Pakistan (both as one Pakistan) and hundreds of Princely States. Had there not been a Gujarati, referred to as a Sardar, I don't know what would have been my nationality today but I am sure that I would not have been Indian. Khadi. What does it mean? Cotton? Or even better Homemade Cotton? No. It means nationalism, love for one's own country, using products made our countrymen, we very well know what has happened to it now. As of writing this I have a Chinese watch on my wrist, and America made shorts. But that was bound to happen in globalized world, ain’t it? *Satyagraha – a magical thing whose existence, even today after many decades, is unbelievable for me. The asterisk there is not a typo. "* Applicable only if applied with a hundred percent dedication, and straight from the heart, otherwise it is not applicable onto Indians, it won’t be effective." It is not a Satyagraha when you flee off in a woman's clothes or when you fast for a couple of days. It is easy to fast for a couple of days – just eat strategically and prepare yourselves for some days and you are ready to fast. In fact, if this becomes a trend I might try it out and write a 'Dummy's guide to fasting.' He has made a place on something that he despised the most – money – Currency Notes. We have forgotten his principles, his values and morals. Today MC and BC are said as if one is remembering the Gods (Atheists stay out of this.) Just promise to strip if a team wins a tournament that has the participation of only ten nations out of over two hundred and you become a national phenomenon. I have nothing against it but one should not tell a lie, and the one should not make someone a national phenomenon only because they have never seen a nude woman, which is not true. You need not show your middle finger to the crowd or abuse the out-going player in the name of patriotism and uncontrolled anger. Roadies have become the youth icons. Fools don't realise that one need not be young and abuse in order to be a youth icon. If Gandhi was the greatest ever then why have we forgotten the true Gandhi? And what about the only Gandhi with us? No not Tushar Gandhi and no, not Sonia Gandhi either. I am talking about... no not even Rahul Gandhi. We come out on streets when he fights against corruption but would we support him in his movement to ban alcohol? Double standards. You would say that you'd support what you find right. It is not about YOU or what you feel, it is about morality and truth.<br /><br />Greatness of a person or any nation can be decided by the events and the acts that one remembers. Now, man, unlike the storage infrastructures of cloud computing, does not have a memory that never fades. What can be done? Yup, we can record all of it. But for a thousands of years old civilisation what you'd do? Is it possible to collect every single piece of document? And how you'd recover the annals that were lost in floods, quakes, fires, and destroyed by the Kings from other dynasties who dethroned the others. What about the civilisational activities that happened in Pakistan and Afghanistan? The present Pakistan had been the epicentre of the Indian Civilisation for millennia. Much of the development of our civilisation also happened in Afghanistan. It is a no-brainer as to from where the Hindukush Mountain ranges in Afghanistan got their name from. Most of the above must have got lost or could not be entered into the annals. You can not just become a thousands of years old civilisation without any great men, and innumerable of them could not make it to the present history books. What about that man in Tipu Sultan's R&D department who invented Rockets that were used in wars? Any mention of him? What about the others? What about the architects who planned the city of Mohen jodaro, advanced even for present day cities? We have had Chanakya, Rajendra Chola, Krishna Deva Rai, the Rajputana Kings, The Great Shivaji, and many other kings who have given us legacies that we, so much feel proud of. No King, who united the entire country, had mass media of communication. For them a news to reach took days and weeks. Gandhi had the advantage of being able to get into the records in one of the best possible manner - newspapers, radios, radios, photographs and even documentaries. <br /><br />So who is the <i>only</i> Greatest Indian in a thousands of years old civilisation? Even if you dedicate your entire life in studying ‘The Great Indian History’ you would not come to a conclusion. And even if do you consider Gandhi the Greatest ever Indian then please keep him alive in your heart and actions. I am not asking you to follow his footsteps but try to follow his principles in the best possible way your heart can do. Don’t abuse or disrespect your enemies. “<em>Remember you are what you make of your enemies</em>.” Don’t waste the resources. Don’t break rules. Tiny bits would take you ahead and make you a better person That’s all folks. Its your (and even my) call now.<br /><br />PS. I thought of giving Wikipedia links to some of the men above but I don’t want to over do it. And most importantly it would never finish.<br /><br />PPS. The last quote was by me. :P<br /><br />PPPS. If you have read and reached till here then express your feelings in the comments.<br /><br />PPPPS. I love adding Post post … Scripts. :P<br /><br />PPPPPS. Edit: I saw the finalists for the Greatest Indian. And it's name should have been 'The Greatest Indian of the Twentieth Century.'<br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-86023395139288433932012-08-09T12:47:00.000+05:302016-11-01T16:44:57.190+05:30Women should adhere to our culture and wear sarees<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />We came up with notices asking <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ranchi-posters-warn-women-of-acid-attack-for-wearing-jeans/1/212134.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">women to shed jeans.</a> Read on.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5wLYPZ731KI/UCNh4CyDFzI/AAAAAAAAAeI/gLNiZbqj684/s1600/Acid-Attack-Posters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Acid Attack Poster" border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5wLYPZ731KI/UCNh4CyDFzI/AAAAAAAAAeI/gLNiZbqj684/s1600/Acid-Attack-Posters.jpg" title="Acid Attack Poster" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>I believe a woman should wear a saree.<br />It does not matter,<br />Whether you agree or disagree.<br />And I do not want you yo take this as a chatter.<br />But before it is made a decree,<br />We men need to solve our matter.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a>Before making woman a kaidi,<br />We should wear a dhoti and khadi.<br />We need to follow our tradition,<br />Only then should women be made subject to our sedition.<br />We need to stop insulting our women,<br />Everytime we say MC or BC to our men.<br /><br />We need to stop j**king off and fantasizing about,<br />The neighbouring Aunty who, once in a day, comes out.<br />We need to stop behaving like wolves - hooting and whistling,<br />We need to stop behaving like criminals - raping and molesting.<br />We need to stop treating her as a slave and a labourer,<br />And start behaving her as an equal partner.<br /><br />If above is adhered by us,<br />Women would ever be cautious,<br />She would always wear a saree,<br />Even if it reveals more of her body.<br />But at least she'd live with dignity,<br />For eternity.<br /><br />Update: Food for thought: <a href="http://www.quora.com/Indian-Culture/Do-Indian-men-lack-respect-for-women">http://www.quora.com/Indian-Culture/Do-Indian-men-lack-respect-for-women</a><br /><div><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-68654011109278625582012-08-06T13:51:00.002+05:302016-11-01T16:48:46.211+05:30Tears that are not tears [Fiction]<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q52rq1XIixc/UB-HmQ9Vo4I/AAAAAAAAAd4/4vPRRwSTw4A/s1600/tears.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q52rq1XIixc/UB-HmQ9Vo4I/AAAAAAAAAd4/4vPRRwSTw4A/s320/tears.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>"O! Lord, King of the Kings..." began the poet.<br />...<br />...<br />"O learned poet," the king said after he finished. "What is your name?"<br />"Ravidas, My Lord."<br />"Ravidas be given fifty gold coins."<br />The King was so much pepped up, had Ravidas recited his poem again, he would have attacked the nearest King.<br />"Next."<br />Two men and a woman stood before him.<br />"Please begin," requested the King.<br />"My Annadata, (अन्नदाता and not Anna-data,) I am Righu and this is Suhasini, we both love each other and want to get married but her father is against it."<br />"Why is it so?" the King looked at the old man.<br />"The worshipped, I bow to thee. I have my concerns for my daughter," began the old man. "He is a blacksmith, a caste lower than ours, a caste that our society forbids to get our children married to. Over and above, he does not earn much then how would he keep my daughter happy? How would he satisfy her needs?"<br />"But isn't love above everything else, My King? Isn't love enough to satisfy one's needs and desires, My King?" countered the young man.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />Love! The two were sitting under the shade of the banyan, looking into the other's eyes as the cool breeze brushed their hairs.<br />"Don't stare at me like this, you freak me out." she said turning his head away.<br />"Why?" he asked, unable to stop his laughter. "I love looking into your eyes."<br />"I don't know, but tell me," she asked inquisitively, "Why do you do this?"<br />"My Love, in your eyes I see <i>your love for me.</i>"<br />"Is it? Then describe it for me," she ordered excitedly.<br />"In your eyes, I see endless oceans."<br />"You mean, I have tear glands that, like the oceans, have endless waters with salt?" she said dis heartedly, and a drop of tear rolled out.<br />"See! You have started crying," he said laughing out loud. "I wonder, how many oceans you would fill on the day when I would embrace the Yamraja."<br />She wiped her tears and slapped him hard. That was the hardest slap he had ever received.<br />"Ouch! That must have hurt your palms, let me see them," and he reached for her palms.<br />Another drop of tear came out. He wiped them.<br />"My Love, you did not let me finish." Silence. "In your eyes I see vast endless oceans. Your love for me is endless like the oceans. Your love is deep like the oceans. Like the oceans, your love for me would never die."<br />Another drop of tear came out.<br />"But when I see your dark eyes, I only see my reflection, nothing else. Don't you love me?"<br />"That is my love for you. The endless oceans of love contained within your eyes are just tiny dots within the infinite darkness of my eyes."<br />She realised what he had just said and started crying, her lips met his. They were inseparable...<br /><br />"My Lord, My Lord." <i>Even the rulers have to be dragged back to the reality.</i><br />"Love is above everything," repeated the King. "Rajpurohitji, make arrangements for these two love birds' marriage, I would attend it. Treasurer, give them a hundred and one gold coins to begin their new life."<br /><br /><i>Her</i> tears rolled down on his cheeks and he embraced her. They were inseparable unless he wished to. Even after being separated she was still with him, she embraced him every time he cried, after all his DHARA of tears was RADHA spelt backwards. (धारा of tears was राधा spelt backwards.)<br /><br />That's all folks. Happy Birthday to Kanha. Happy Janmashtami to you. I hope you'd rob Makhan from your neighbours.<br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-51609411325620175932012-07-19T15:30:00.000+05:302016-11-01T16:51:27.179+05:30You are destined to dream [Fiction]<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FSE9UK5PSDM/UAfW-g8eWzI/AAAAAAAAAVM/oN0umxkPK34/s1600/we-are-destined-to-dream-SuperNova-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="You are destined to dream" border="0" height="226" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FSE9UK5PSDM/UAfW-g8eWzI/AAAAAAAAAVM/oN0umxkPK34/s320/we-are-destined-to-dream-SuperNova-2.jpg" title="You are destined to dream" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Supernova</td></tr></tbody></table>Mohan was sitting on the roof-top of his friend's house, reading The Alchemist. It was <i>his</i> first vacation in years. The sky was cloudy, the clouds as dark as they could be at that time of the year; the cool Atlantic breeze brought with it the smell of the salt contained in the sweat of the fishermen. He read, "... the most important is that you have succeeded in discovering your destiny..." Pause. "What is destiny? What are dreams?" he quizzed and stopped.<br /><br /><div>As a kid, Mohan always loved gazing at the stars, the power-cuts had made it easier. Then one day he came across a word called 'Astronaut.' "I would become an astronaut. What better than reaching the stars." He used to say. This happened even before Kalpana Chawla happened. Then one day a new girl came to his class. Her name was Vibha. For him (and many others) she was more beautiful than a Super Nova, her eyes as dark as a black hole. Whenever he saw them he used to get drawn into them only to get lost forever. As fate would have it, she sucked at Maths and Computers and he was a sucker for the same. <i>Teaching</i> those subjects made him a <i>student</i> of those subjects. By the time he completed his schooling he became an ace programmer and had gotten a scholarship to Stanford. He promised that he would propose Vibha after he graduated. At Stanford he spent all of his time coding applications and websites. He won many Hackathons. He never got out of his dorm except to attend classes and to eat. In fact, he had not even <i>explored</i> his hostel completely. The only place that he had ever explored was the sky.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />The clouds thundered and brought him back to reality. He smirked. He thought about his destiny,about what his dream was. If everything went as it ought to be then he would be a graduate next year, start a company on Artificial Intelligence, become a millionaire and even a billionaire; never to return India. But he was still not satisfied with with this explanation. He looked at the horizon. <i>Fishermen</i> were returning back after months.<br />"Whether we like it or not; whether it is beautiful or not; whether it is as we have planned, or in most cases, not planned; we are destined to die." he thought. "But death can not be our destiny, it <i>just</i> marks the <i>end of our journey</i> to our destiny. I dreamt of becoming an astronaut, then about proposing Vibha but what has become of my dreams? In a year I would be a computer engineer. I <i>won't</i> propose Vibha." That was it? He was cursing himself for buying that book, the only book that he ever tried to read and swore not to read any book again. He was still in doubts. "Dreams." he repeated and closed his eyes. He heard a familiar voice calling him. It was Vibha's voice.<br /><br />"Wake up Grandpa. Its Five O' clock. You said that you would tell me about the Hazare Revolution and <i>your</i> role in it."</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-77773290496176364082012-06-25T21:01:00.011+05:302016-11-01T16:49:56.817+05:30My first love letter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Raj was sitting in his cubicle, his office was under chaos. It was a month-end and targets were to be met. Raj was not in panic but he was nervous. He had his own reasons for that. He pulled out a letter that was lying in his drawer, for over a week now. As he read it, droplets of sweat surfaced on his forehead. He had some unfinished work to do.<br /><br /><blockquote>Dear Menaka,<br /><br />I can not forget that day,<br />I saw you first.<br />You made me go astray,<br />My heart got filled with lust...<br /><br />The wind brought with it, a scent.<br />It was not any perfume but an odour.<br />I turned to see its owner.<br />Only to fine an angel.</blockquote>...<br /><br />Raj lifted his head over his cubicle. She was on the phone. She had been laughing and chatting for the last twenty minutes. "Who would that be?", thought Raj, anoyed.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />...<br /><blockquote>Your black eyes, lovely.<br />To me, dearly.<br />They take me to the heavens.<br />The atheist in me started believing in The Creator.<br />'Cause you were no ordinary creation.<br /><br />Whenever I see your curves,<br />I lose control of my nerves.<br />At each and every inch I would gaze,<br />At times with a crazy rage.<br />Thoughts never lecherous,<br />Only desirous.</blockquote>...<br /><br />Raj lifted his head again, only to see the same.<br /><br />...<br /><blockquote>Your heart as pure as,<br />Distilled water.<br />Your heart as innocent as,<br />A baby daughter.<br /><br />My Love for you,<br />Would never end.<br />My Love for you,<br />Would ever tend,<br />And ever defend.<br /><br />Although I could not rhyme,<br />This poem perfectly.<br />But I promise to rhyme,<br />Our lives effortlessly.<br />Wishing to be yours soon,<br />Raj.</blockquote>Raj lifted his head again to see the same disappointing scene.<br />He read the letter again, and again, and again. Finally his patience gave up. He stood up and went into her office. She ended her call.<br />He broke the silence, finally, "This is for you."<br />She took the letter and kept it on the table and said, " Good, will ask Meera to go through it before it goes into print."<br />"OK Ma'am. Thank you Ma'am."</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-13109461647733664512012-05-20T12:47:00.006+05:302016-11-01T18:22:49.582+05:30Aamir Khan to make an episode on SRK fiasco on Satyameva Jayate [Satire]<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5744511169421551906" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7AK-PjdJtSU/T7iaeQ2iqSI/AAAAAAAAASs/mOQe6uoGZiI/s320/disappointed-aamir-khan.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 145px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 214px;" /><strong>Mumbai:</strong> On Sunday, <em>the Khan of ‘<a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-01-01/news/27579406_1_chetan-bhagat-aamir-khan-film" target="_blank">truth</a>’</em> came out with a statement that has shocked the entire Bollywood. Aamir Khan in a press conference said, “I would like to make an episode on the <a href="http://life.rahulpandey.net/2012/05/finally-mca-says-sorry-to-srk.html" target="_blank"">Shahrukh incident that happened in Wankhede</a> that night.” When a reporter asked if it wasn’t a bit bizarre to make an episode on <em>Security Men getting abused by a star </em>as stars are known for <a href="http://www.koimoi.com/bollywood-news/salman-khan-shah-rukh-khan-saif-8-slap-happy-bollywood-stars/" target="_blank" title="Indian Celebrities Slapping">slapping</a>, drinking, <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_saif-ali-khan-says-he-was-assaulted-by-nose-he-broke_1653679" target="_blank">slapping</a>, driving recklessly, <a href="http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/celebrity/salman-khan-slaps-fan-at-anil-kapoor-s-birthday-bash_78431.htm" target="_blank">slapping</a>, exposing their valuable assets, <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/govinda-slaps-man-while-shooting-for-film/262297/" target="_blank">slapping</a> and organizing Swayamvars [Swayamvars? Seriously?] To this Aamir replied, “My sympathies are with all the people who get abused by our community [Does he belong to the community? :P] but the episode would not be on the security men getting abused but it would be on a <em>Star getting abused</em>. Shahrukh, a star, was assaulted by them, now that <strong>is</strong> a rarity.” This spread uneasiness in the entire room.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />Aamir further explained, “Look, as you all might have seen, I hope so, my episode on CSA, where we talked in much depth about how the children are abused sexually, there is another form of abuse that the children face more often – physical abuse. Children are beaten to death by their unforgiving teachers, punished in scorching heat and made to run till they faint. Despite all of these cruelties the teacher still escapes by just saying that he was preparing a future leader or Olympian. This is not right. And when Shahrukh stood up for the <em>children when they were manhandled</em>, you guys started blasting at him! Shahrukh has brought our attention to an important issue that our ‘creative team’ completely missed out. And as far as use of the abusive language,<br /><table style="display: inline; float: left; width: 225px;"> <tbody><tr> <td width="223"><img align="left" alt="SRK blocking the security guy at Wankhede" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E6TblgvDHHw/T7eGKcMIhgI/AAAAAAAAASA/1-R5fw4ZdlA/s200/srk-stadium.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none;" title="SRK blocking the security guy at Wankhede" /></td></tr><tr> <td width="223"><br /><div align="center">SRK blocking the security<br />from children!</div></td></tr></tbody></table>improper behavior of Shahrukh on the Security personnel is concerned, how many of you don’t abuse [in your thoughts] these men when one of these stops your bikes and cars with a devilish grim and asks for some money in the name of security? And that security is not from terrorists but from themselves!! How many of did not cry foul after 26/11 about the poor security being provided? [they even provide security??] How many of you feel optimistic when you go to police station for complaining or getting yourselves verified for the passport? How many of you think that they are doing a good job maintaining law and order in the state? I doubt any of you would raise your hands. But when one security guy who “tries” to maintain law and order in an <em>almost empty stadium after a match</em>, manhandles children and faces some resistance, you all start supporting him, saying <strong>laws are equal for everyone</strong> and start praising the standards of law and order and <strong>security in the stadium</strong>! Had laws been equal then A. Raja would have been playing 20 (Interrogative) Questions with his potential neighbour A. Kasab. If that is the level of security provided in the stadium then I request the government to allow people to build their houses in Wankhede on the account of security! Else it is of no use staying in a city where security conditions are better in stadia than on the streets.” This left everybody dumbstruck.<br /><br />When our reporter took this statement to the ACP, Mumbai Police [not the CID. :P] He said that he would be able to comment on this issue only after he sees the video footage of Aamir Khan’s press conference.<br />Our sources say that the MCA, after knowing, is feeling like a guy who got dumped for protecting his girlfriend’s best friend.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-50426749294302425272012-05-19T17:25:00.002+05:302016-11-01T18:23:12.199+05:30Finally MCA says sorry to SRK<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img align="left" alt="srk-stadium" height="171" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5744207363658253826" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E6TblgvDHHw/T7eGKcMIhgI/AAAAAAAAASA/1-R5fw4ZdlA/s200/srk-stadium.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0 10px 10px 0;" title="srk-stadium" width="240" /><br /><strong>Mumbai:</strong> MCA in a press statement on Saturday said that it is sorry for what happened with SRK. “We apologize to SRK for the events that have developed over the last couple of days. The treatment wasn’t meant for him and we lift the ban that we imposed on SRK with immediate effect. He can come with anyone, even Aamir Khan and Salman Khan, and watch a match in Wankhede.” It further said, “All of the treatment that SRK received was in reality intended for KRK. KRK has been the culprit for the fiasco. The way he tweets about BCCI, our parent body, with all the C***** and M***** we thought of teaching him a lesson. And as far as SRK is concerned, SRK, for his <strong>affinity</strong> towards controversies got in the middle of all of this. We are extremely sorry for this. As far has KRK is concerned we ban him from entering Wankhede for his entire “life-term”. [! (?)] We might even be forced to take legal actions if he does not stop tweeting abusively.”<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />When our reporter contacted KRK for his comments on the statement he said, “B******** I tweet abusively? What the F*** do they do? Don’t they F*** around with cricket? Saale, M******** they tell me that I tweet abusively. How the f*** do those m************ say this to me? This is ***… [Our Reported disconnected]” And our reporter got his answer.<br />Our sources caught up with some of the BCCI members for their comments on this statement. One member on account of secrecy said, “In fact we thank SRK that the MCA, at SRK’s cost, created a furor over this tragic incident. This fiasco has shifted the focus of the audience from <a href="http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CGcQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftimesofindia.indiatimes.com%2Fsports%2Fcricket%2Fipl-2012%2Fnews%2FBCCI-suspends-5-cricketers-for-IPL-spot-fixing%2Farticleshow%2F13156492.cms&ei=OIu3T-zTAojOrQfNj8XTBw&usg=AFQjCNGr80y1-ZVbOblJ8M7H2OVdybyn1Q&sig2=7XdQl6w4TLx9jcXo3oL_ew">Spot Fixing</a> which is good. We don’t want to damage our <em>image</em> for the IPL. Lalit Modi has already done enough damage to IPL’s image. [what??] As far as KRK is concerned let him do the talking.” When asked about the Luke Pomersbach arrest. He said, “Again, we thank him for this.”<br />In this whole issue, SRK has come out as the true G.One that he was in the movie. People across the country are hailing him for this. They are shouting in chorus “SATYAMEVA JAYATE” [!! Aamir Khan ref :P]</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-79075947630512290642012-04-28T18:37:00.002+05:302016-11-01T16:54:36.232+05:30Mortal Kombat-Submission [Sarcassm]<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Mortal Kombat was a ‘<em>lovely</em>’ game wasn’t it? I don’t know as I never played it. Whether you played it or not should not concern you as this post is about anything but that game. Well, this post is about the dreaded <em>ritual</em> (ah! I love this word 'ritual', say it loudly R-I-T-U-A-L) that every engineering student has to go through. Yes I am talking about the Term End Submissions. Yes most of you who are reading this would have cringed at a mere thought of it. That is the charisma of submissions.<br /><br />You are given something to write, you find what you have, then there some worms who solve and write them and thus become the need of everyone, you copy what you understand, the rest is written or rather drawn the same way as it was written by them. By the time the submissions finish, the original ‘manuscript’ reduces by 3% “file on file copy,” making the total reduction to 42% in all and at times it is 57%. (the numbers have been obtained after analyzing and processing a set of data into Wolfram Alpha!) Then the issue arises whether you got your file signed in time or not. If not, then I am sorry for you, you will be executed in front of everyone and your last wish, even, will not be fulfilled! If yes, then you are the envy of the ones who will never see the end of the tunnel with you. And you are subject to abuse – verbally, mentally and … no not physically but <em>monetarily</em>. You will be tortured to such an extent that you’d think of getting rid of your file (but no one has the guts to do so) and falling into the line. Thus the entire ritual is one lot (actually many lots as they <em>resurface</em> every semester.) of a torture that we <em>innocent</em> students are subjected or injected (you choose or suggest) to.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1D5iMsM7cD4/T5cPz-yFz9I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/IOgk8-c9a2w/s1600/submission.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5735070036180455378" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1D5iMsM7cD4/T5cPz-yFz9I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/IOgk8-c9a2w/s400/submission.png" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 234px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 235px;" /></a>What are the advantages of submissions? Many advantages. Students get to write, write, write (although it does not guarantee that every single letter would be right, right, right.) The professors get to harass the students on silly things such as “this diagram is not proper,” “irrelevant diagram,” “where is this question? … Then where is that question.” “You have not written everything.” “This is assignment and not Amul skimmed milk that you have to skim it.” And the killer of all, “Who wrote this for you. This is not your handwriting!” (He is wrong but we all know he said the truth :P) As per on of my lecturers a Submission is that one day in semester that is <em><strong>her</strong></em> day. She can make us do anything (of course not literally, we are a more harassing lot! :P) Submissions are what are keeping the stationary industry sustaining as we engineering students seldom write, even in exams!!<br />And now the part that would charge you up – the disadvantages. Well it hurts the environment because we write 500+ pages of cr@p every semester. Even Chetan Bhagat books do less harm to the environment. It wastes resources like trees (in form of pages,) electricity (we <em>even</em> write at night,) money (who buy for the stationary and fuel expenses for the transportation of files from one bot to another (yeah reCaptcha not implemented! :P) energy of the students and most importantly <strong>time</strong>, once lost it can not be regained. Imagine how many Facebook comments and likes had been made or Counter Strike or Crysis or NFS hours would have been saved or how many movies would have been watched had there not been any submission. Even the relationships get affected. Guys don’t get enough time to chat with their gals (and we all know how much demanding are gals!) One important point to note: There <strike>is </strike>was a fact I read in Navneet books, Writing once is as good as reading thrice. (Now you know why they sell or sold so much!?) But that is true only when a student writes with full concentration with the “intent” of learning. But we write while listening to ‘Anarkali Disco Chali’ and discussing which was more enticing – ‘Chikni Chameli’ or ‘Sheila.’ Thus it totally kills that Navneet’s idea. Moreover, Personally I have always objected to writing to memorize. Are we in class 3? Even in class 3 I didn’t liked this idea.<br />The only concept of submissions that I support of is viva. At least I am supportive of something. That’s all folks ! (courtesy Loony Toons)<br />Share some of your submissions accidents in the comments.<br />Next Post on how I got my engineering screwed up! but that would be posted on the first Sunday of June as I got some exams to screw in May :P</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-61630355754711270442012-04-02T19:44:00.001+05:302016-11-01T18:01:01.546+05:30Times have changed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Remember about the fan pages on facebook “I grew up in the 90s” and “80s?” Yeah this is 2010s and time is one of the many things that keep ‘<em>constantly</em> changing’ – whether for good or for good of bad, no body knows. What is certain is that it keeps changing. Enough of philosophy now to point. I just returned from one of my childhood friends’ house. We watched “Step Up 3” and then I returned as he had pack as he had to go to Gandhinagar where he works. All well, isn’t it? Well, it wasn’t like this always.<br /><h2> Rewind to year 1998</h2>When I first met him. He and his brother were playing cricket and I was waiting for papa to come and pick me up. I went to them and asked if I could join them, they said yes and the only thing I remember after that is that his brother and I were busy chasing for the ball hit by him. It was not a pleasant experience back then but today I do cherish it. I was never a good batsman, never scored more than 40; never a fielder, saved a four but by that time the batsman had run four runs; never a blower, was easy to hit but yes I did take “crucial” wickets as I could turn the ball. <strong>Keyword: Cricket</strong><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><strong></strong><br /><h2> Flash Forward to some years later</h2>Video games were the recreational stuffs that were brought out from the closets only after the annual exams and were dished out after the summer vacations. We used to play and compete with each other (he and his bother; my neighbours.) My favourite game was Road Fighter (sorry Mario not you because I could never save your princess.) You can not call me a pro video gamer. <strong>Keyword: Video Games</strong><br /><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-IwgTJM3Joyo/T3mz9NpkkMI/AAAAAAAAAG8/4LnG8BN98Uw/s1600-h/423663_10150724159232930_767902929_1.jpg"><img alt="Mario" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-V_WfW6jPmMA/T3m0GZfFCBI/AAAAAAAAAHE/LmbzXooti7Q/423663_10150724159232930_767902929_1%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="590" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Why I never saved the princess?" width="462" /></a> <br /><h5> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Why I never saved your Princess, Mario!</span></h5><h2> Flash Forward to high school</h2>Then came computers. We used to play games on computer. My favourite came was NFS SE2. I was good, in fact very good at it. In summers we used to go swimming (computers never took the back seat) till I got allergic to the water and he got struck down by board exams. Yes I used to accompany his brother but it is not that fun being an escort! Then I had another friend who had a big backyard (front yard actually because it was in the front!) and we used to play cricket with our classmates. We even played with those leather balls and it scared the batsman and fielder in me! (Yeah I know I was never a batsman or fielder but when the batsmen get out Zaheer Khan has to bat too ;P) <strong>Keyword Computer and Cricket and Chess</strong> (I haven’t forgotten about chess, it was a part)<br /><h2> Flash Forward a little</h2>I stopped playing computer games because the environmentalist in me rose from its sleep. Whenever I used to visit them, I used to be a kibitzer and play little.<br /><h2> Fast Forward a little more and Present Day</h2>The visits became strange as we used to do nothing just watch TV. It still happens the same and I miss the good ol’ days. I miss cricket, chess, games, chatting, etc. It has become monotonous. I go, I ask about his work, extract some information from it (seems formal, :/) take some data from his laptop, watch movies. Interaction has taken a back seat. I miss the Summer of ‘99. We were kids back then.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-25012895333000401562012-02-09T10:00:00.001+05:302016-11-01T18:04:25.696+05:30The Most Corrupt Man of India Commits Suicide<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>New Delhi:</b> In not so strange circumstances, LOLu Kaput, 64, a resident of Karol Baug was found dead in his own villa. The post mortem report confirms that it was a suicide and Kaput died of drug overdose. Its not the suicide that has caught everyone’s attention in the Maximum Crime Capital but its the letter that was found with Kaput. It said, as reported by Bikhra Butt, that Kaput claimed himself to be the most corrupted man ever on the planet.<br /><br />The exact copy of the letter is quoted below:<br /><blockquote>Not so Dear World, </blockquote><blockquote>I am committing a suicide because I am sick of all these ‘India Against Corruption’ movement taken up by Anna Hazare. And I blame Anna Hazare and his Team Anna entirely but up to a greater extent. I had hopes and trust in the government (that’s why I voted for them) but the agitation had shaken the hopes and trust. I had trust in the opposition but as always the opposition has been useless, for both Anna and me.<br /><br />What will happen if corruption gets uprooted? Will there be roads everywhere? Will everyone be treated equally? Will reservation be abolished? Will the Patels ever get women (girls) to marry? Will scams like Satyam stop? No, na? Then why the hell is everyone after this <em>bloody</em> Lokpal? </blockquote><blockquote>Why does everyone ought to have problem if I travel without tickets every single time and never get caught. I even pity the fools who get caught. Pretty dumb. Why do I have to pay 5 rupees for a ticket from Karol Baug to Shastri Nagar, I don’t even know what the exact fare is! India is a free nation, then why can’t the ticket and and everything else be free? I am sick of all their things and principles. </blockquote><blockquote>I very well know that this Lokpal “will not finish” corruption but its the agitation that's driving me crazy. I am in the same situation like Anna – he knows that HIS Lokpal will never get passed but is still fighting. </blockquote><blockquote>My final message for the world: people – get back to work, Anna – someone please give him McD’s or Sodexho’s free meal pass, he gravely needs them. Kiran Bedi and your <em>ghunghat </em>act – You acted like a buffoon and called your act as a game changer. Pity. Pity. Pity. You not only insulted the politicians but our entire corrupt clan. We don’t work under the table or behind the screens to save our faces as you meant, it is our style, we like the way it is and has been. Why don’t blame Batman even though he comes out in… (not underwear you dirty mind!) … night? No? Because it is his style and we all love him. </blockquote><blockquote>Finally I leave behind my autobiography for the world to learn something from it. Yamraj be ready here I come!! </blockquote><blockquote>Your corruptly, </blockquote><blockquote>LOLu Kaput</blockquote>Regarding his autobiography, our sources have said that the government is planning to include it in the curriculum of high school students so that the people, especially the GenNext can realise that the government is not as corrupt as it seems. And shockingly even the opposition has agreed to this ‘<em>initiative.’</em><br /><em><br /></em><br />Meanwhile some people whom “<em>we</em>” would not like to name had submitted his name to the Guinness Book of World Records. But they rejected it citing that he is dead. UN has decided to change World Anti-Corruption Day to his death day! (Soniaji can now have peaceful nights.) What are your views regarding this? Send them in the comments and they’ll be published here.<br /><br />P. S. For the sitting ducks: Soniaji's birthday is on World Anti Corruption Day</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-20812374778870430812011-05-18T10:00:00.003+05:302016-11-01T18:23:27.917+05:30Osama bin Laden's auto biography to be published<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hdtHNllNE3g/TcZIjQgFKaI/AAAAAAAAAGI/igHdjckZc_o/s1600/OSAMA_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hdtHNllNE3g/TcZIjQgFKaI/AAAAAAAAAGI/igHdjckZc_o/s320/OSAMA_final.jpg" width="246" /></a><b>Islamabad.</b> Al Qaeda Publications, the publishing house founded by Osama bin Laden, has announced through a statement that it would publish Osama bin Laden’s auto biography written by Osama himself! (Oh! And I thought George Bush wrote Osama’s ‘auto biography’ :P) and the first copy would be sent to The Oval Office (for people wondering, it is President of USA’s office) for free. Previously Al Qaeda Publications created storms by publishing books such as ‘Jihad for terrorists’ – the special version of jihad for new recruits in Al Qaeda, ‘Hijacking for dummies’ and ‘Learn suicide bombing and jihad in 72 hrs’.<br /><span id="goog_1086074143"><br /></span><span id="goog_1086074144"></span><br /><span id="goog_627794685"></span><span id="goog_627794686"></span><span id="goog_1318960483"></span><span id="goog_1318960484"></span>Book is supposed to be titled – My Experiments with Terrorism. The tag line would be – “Journey from an engineer to the father of international terrorism.” Some of the chapters are titled – irLaden – the chosen one, Joy of WTC, Bush and Me, Terrorism and Bush, How to fool a Bush by hiding behind a Pakistani Bush, My hideout – Chamber of Secrets, Terrorising in an Entrepreneur style, Managing a terrorist organisation. Personal chapters would be – the joy of having 24 kids and agonies of bringing them up, pros and cons of having a beard.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"></div>The book would be published in Arabic, Urdu and English. The money earned through the sales would be used for charity that is for funding other non-profit terrorist organisations. Thus considering this to be a threat, United Nations issued circulars to all the member nations to allow book's piracy and make its piracy legal. Thus Osama’s auto biography has become the first book whose piracy has been legalised! And out of nowhere Julian Assange has promised the world to publish the book on Wikileaks before the Hard Copy comes out!<br /><br />PS. I am lucky for the world as I previously wrote “<a href="http://pswmusings.blogspot.com/2010/12/osama-bin-laden-opens-twitter-account.html">Osama bin Laden opens a Twitter Account</a>” and after few months he is dead. Looks like he didn't take me seriously! :P<br /><br />PPS. I have written this post to celebrate Osama's death (if you'd like to say that way!) and don't want to hurt anyone's (doesn't include terrorists!) sentiments.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-74813802273103226482011-04-09T17:48:00.001+05:302016-11-01T18:05:42.875+05:30It isn't victory but the dawn of a new struggle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Into what the majority of the nation witnessed, considering the age of the population, was the first major Gandhian Revolution. The whole nation went behind the government, madly, for drafting, introducing and passing the Lokpal Bill. But is Lokpal Bill what we would have desired for? Is Lokpal what Anna Hazare desires for? All right, everyone wants a corruption free India and thus everyone would go on registering complaints against every corrupt in - government, police, judiciary, and the politicians. But then can you imagine the amount of work Lokpal might have to handle? I may sound cynical here but I am not, after all its always 'FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION.'<br /><br />I fear that most of the smaller corruption cases may not be filed by us. For example, most of the people reading this would have been charged 30 Rupees for Caller Tune even though they didn't ask for it. But how many have filed a complaint in The Consumer Forum? Thinking that the expense would be more than what was deducted. Similarly as well as not so similarly, how many would file a complaint against the Traffic Policeman who wanted a bribe or 50 Rupees because they were not wearing a helmet; or would complain against their college's administration for not taking any strict action for bunking classes; or against the parents who allow their 11-12 year olds to ride bikes and mopeds causing a threat to their as well as others safety; or against the driver who took the left turn without using the side indicator, or for honking in silent zone; or against the principal of the college who asked donations from them for admitting their children even though they got 35% marks; or ... the list would never end. The thing is that there is an other form of corruption that the Lokpal cant address. Lets fight with it too. We have already diluted the aspirations of our founding fathers, lets not dilute the hopes of the Gandhi (not Rahul or Sonia :p) who's still with us and fighting for us.<br /><br />P. S. I have kept this post short as I know that people prefer retweeting and liking to reading such posts and please comment to share your views on this.<br /><br />P. P. S. If you liked this post then please share it on the social networking platforms that you are present on (read Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, etc.). I know that you may be tired of retweeting and liking and updating all of this but then...<br /><br />P. P. P. S. I leave with a link to Nehru's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryst_with_destiny">Tryst with Destiny</a> (Wikipedia link :D). Do read it.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-90978703296736132262011-01-09T10:00:00.021+05:302016-11-01T18:23:46.407+05:30When the phamous make resolutions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Update: </b>This post was featured in paper.li the twitter newspaper in the hilarious and #satire tag on 10-1-2011. This is my second consecutive post to be featured in http://paper.li As it is a paper and changes every day I took a snap shot and uploaded it on Blog's <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-PSW-Musings/153915417986538" target="_blank" title="opens in new tab"><u>fanpage</u></a>. You can see the snapshot <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=350290&id=153915417986538" target="_blank" title="opens in new tab">here</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=167134693331277&set=a.163824923662254.37523.153915417986538" target="_blank" title="opens in new tab">here.</a><br /><br /><blockquote>Resolutions at the start of the year are to be broken and made again at the year end. - Me</blockquote><br /><img border="0" src="http://www.wordstream.com/images/screenshots/ppc-seo-resolutions.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" />The year 2010 has ended only to stay in our memories - for some it would be for good reasons and for some it would be for bad reasons. More than half of the globe's making resolutions so...<br /><br />here are some of the New Year Resolutions (most of which will not break) that some of the phamous and inphamous people might have made.<br /><br />The world begins with love and ends with money ;) Money is everything and hence I pour my love to and we begin with the richest Indian. Don't agree with me on the money part? Then make some donations in my PayPal account so that I can buy a domain for this blog. :p<br /><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WVN-YAbWcx0/TSjnUhSLZYI/AAAAAAAAAEk/lkLaWQl6zcA/s200/Dhirubhai+Ambani-Anil+Ambani-Mukesh+Ambani.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="136" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good ol' days</td></tr></tbody></table><b>Mukesh Ambani:</b> Enough of this fight with Anil, now its time to stop. I will gift Anil, a house larger than mine on this Diwali, (if you call that a house), in Manhattan. :)<br /><br /><b>Anil Ambani:</b> Everything that is big should be mine, even the richest Indian is my BEEIG Brother and Big B is my friend; hence this year I will buy out everything that is big - Big Boss, Big Brother, big.com, etc. But I will not buy Big Bazaar as it is bigger than my Big Companies and for it I'll have to take loan from Mukeshbhai. :(<br /><br /><b>Kokilaben Ambani</b>: Aa Chokarao nu kaik karvu padshe. (Something must be done with the boys.)<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WVN-YAbWcx0/TSjmDy2Dc_I/AAAAAAAAAEg/pevYtirHl40/s1600/justin.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We all Love you</td></tr></tbody></table><b>Justin Beiber:</b> I am the <a href="http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/03/23/twitter-business-lessons-from-justin-bieber" target="_blank">most</a> followed person on Twitter after Lady Gaga and will even surpass her in a few months. Twitter had to <a href="http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/17/justin-bieber-fans-outsmart-twitter/" target="_blank">remove</a> my name from list of trending topics as it was there for months.I have nine times more fans on FaceBook than Mark Zuckerbeg himself. Moreover I am still 16. But still Time magazine chose Mark Zuckerberg as the person of the year, even Julian Assange (or Sachin) would have been fine. Hence I'll make sure that I am Time's person of the year 2011. (this one was <i>inspired</i> from @fakingnews.)<br /><br /><b>Mark Zuckerberg:</b> Thankgod that <a href="http://www.facebook.com/randiz" target="_blank">Randi</a> forwarded this message from the future (what? future?) to me - "Once Mark Zuckerberg was hospitalized . . . why . . . coz Rajnikant poked him on facebook." Now I must find out who the hell is Rajnikant. Bing does not reveal much and I can not use Google because of the on going war with them, moreover I did not find any account of Rajnikant on facebook. I wish I hadn't fought with the Big G. Until I figure out how can Rajnikant poke me so dangerously I will not use FaceBook.<b></b><br /><br /><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WVN-YAbWcx0/TSjxzRnKj6I/AAAAAAAAAEo/O_Dq435cYX8/s1600/mms_manjul.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://stonecityllc.info/cartoons/" target="_blank" title="opens in new tab">Img by Manjul</a></td></tr></tbody></table><b><strike>His Majesty</strike> Manmohan Singh:</b> This year I will concentrate all my Pawars (Powers) in decreasing the food inflation especially Onion. To hell with 2G, Aadarsh scam. Let Madamji and Pranab Babu deal with them.<br /><br /><b>BJP, INC and other political parties:</b> Just follow what has been done in the past - corruption, corruption, corruption, ... and blame someone for it- and do nothing else.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>Surma Bhopali:</b> Win the Indian Idol nothing else.<br /><br /><b>Kalmadi - Raja Duo:</b> Get a Permanent Passport (if there is such thing) in China and Pakistan, they love people who make scams worth lakhs of crores of rupees of hard earned money paid in taxes by the <i>aam aadmi</i> in India.<br /><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WVN-YAbWcx0/TSjkL5Zm4WI/AAAAAAAAAEc/YIcEOkDLp2k/s200/Sheila-dixit.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheila Dikshit will make sure<br />this never happens with her</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td> <td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Shelia Dikshit:</b> With the help of Kalmadi and Raja I will produce a remake of Dabangg and Tees Mar Khan both combined in one. The item song will be Munni Ki Jawaani so that everyone forgets Sheila ki Jawani - I should no more be badnam, the CWG are enough for me.<br /><br /><b>Shera (The <strike>Common</strike> Kalmadi's Wealth Games' Mascot):</b> Kalmadi and Co. laundered all the money and they didn't think of me and my clan - the national animal of India, the mascot of CWG. :( Hence this year I will raise money for the Save the Tiger (Not Tiger Woods) Campaign. By the way I have still not understood how a guy sitting in Chennai will "Save the tiger" by just taking a <a href="http://tiger.ndtv.com/" target="_blank">pledge</a>. Every school kid says pledge every day and considers all Indians as his brothers and sisters but still marries the girl next door.<br /><br /><b>AajTak and India TV:</b> This year we will take the level of reporting to deeper levels - reporting levels lower than Mariana Trench. (If you didn't get it then ask someone wise to explain it to you :p).<br /><br /><b>Big Boss:</b> I will invest all the earnings of previous four seasons and in the next season to invite the forgotten <i>holy celebs</i> such as Paris Hiton, Lindsay Lohan, Madonna, Britney Spears, JLo. If Pamela can do it when all these would definitely break all records. And the Indian celebs like Tabbu, Manisha Koirala, Priety Zinta, and many others for the sake of Indian <i>Ness</i>.<br /><br /><b>Raj Thackeray:</b> Start a campaign to rename Maharashtra to 'Jai Maharashtra', this way all of world would praise Maharashtra willingly or unwilling. Jai Maharashtra.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WVN-YAbWcx0/TSj0XJOL9aI/AAAAAAAAAEs/2TyepzKVVfQ/s200/daulat+ki+beti.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inspiration behind Credit Card Mala<br /><a href="http://cartoonistsatish.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="opens in new tab">Img by Satish Acharya</a></td></tr></tbody></table><b><strike>Mahamahim</strike> Mayawati Bhenji:</b> Wear a Gucci designed Garland, or a Roberto Cavalli - if he demands more, made entirely of Citibank's fraudulent credit cards. Nothing beats credit cards when it comes to shirnking money without diminishing its value<br /><br /><b>Aamir Khan:</b> I will make sure that after the success of Dhobi Ghat, just like 3idiots, all the credit is given to me, not even to Kiran. And Prateik's name should appear in the rolling credits only.<br /><br /><b>Osama bin Laden:</b> Make my <a href="http://pswmusings.blogspot.com/2010/12/osama-bin-laden-opens-twitter-account.html" target="_blank">this</a> article true. ;)<br /><br />Now how can you forget me? I will post twice a month. That's it and I expect this resolution to break somewhere near March or April ;)<br /><br />Share your opinions regarding the above and what are/were your resolutions? And when do you expect them to break?</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-12111446367853326292010-12-27T10:00:00.016+05:302016-11-01T18:22:04.587+05:30Osama bin Laden opens a Twitter account<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Update: </b>This post was featured in paper.li the twitter newspaper in the hilarious tag on 28-12-2010. As it is a paper and changes every day I took a snap shot and uploaded it on Blog's <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-PSW-Musings/153915417986538" target="_blank" title="opens in new tab"><u>fanpage</u></a>. You can see the snapshot <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=163824950328918&set=a.163824923662254.37523.153915417986538" target="_blank" title="opens in new tab"><u>here.</u></a><br /><br /><b>Twitterverse.</b> The whole world was shocked or rather terrorized when the most wanted man on the earth (no not Mark Zuckerberg) Osama bin Laden opened a twitter account. The account soon came to notice as soon as it was verified within minutes of creation, making it the 'fastest verified account'. The first tweet that he made was:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VizIrBQwA8w/SIa3aAc1eRI/AAAAAAAADNc/BOrSovzF2ik/s200/osama-bin-laden1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" width="148" /></div><div align="left"><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> @BarackObama wassup dude?</div><br />This stirred the White House and CIA took the access of the President of the United States of America’s account of the fear that it would <i>crash something</i> on the President's laptop computer. When contacted Twitter Inc. about this, they said that the account is really of bin Laden. As a result, the Pentagon sprung to action and asked Twitter Inc. to close down the account. But Twitter Inc. refused to do so saying it was against was against company's policy and user’s rights. This statement divided the media world into two: one saying that Twitter was too frightened to delete the account and other saying that it was following company’s policies. Thus legal action was taken against Twitter Inc and the owners as a result of which the owners had to take asylum in Sweden and even transfer their severs to Sweden. When the government of America came to know about this they blocked bin Laden’s twitter account. This created a wave of disappointment amongst the social activists. “What if he is a terrorist, he too has human rights, and the right to open and use a twitter account,” president of Association of Online Losers (AOL) Hu Man said.<br /><br />The Tweets also revealed the location through the location feature of twitter which showed the location to be Los Angeles (LA). This made the White House even tensed. "We are into investigation whether the coordinates are real or work of some proxies," Head of anti-Laden squad Ted ji said with a constipated expression on his face. The quality of tweets varied from threatening to inspirational to humane making everyone wonder had he gone nuts!<br /><br />I managed to interview bin Laden on twitter, risking my Twitter Account! Following is what transpired.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span><span style="color: red;">:</span><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden</span> hello sir!</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> hello.</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings:</span> <span style="color: blue;">@irLaden</span> why did you open the account?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> if @BarackObama can have it then why not me?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings:</span><span style="color: blue;"> @irLaden</span> why did you choose irLaden as your handle? You could have got any account.</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> I really like the I R Baboon character in the cartoon I am Weasel. It looks very much like me.</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings:</span> <span style="color: blue;">@irLaden</span> are you going to open account in FB or any other site?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> Never on FB (Prophet Cartoon Fiasco). We are even planning an online jehad on FB.</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> But my PR is thinking of an account on youtube. So that there can be original tapes of mine, no need to verify the authenticity.</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings:</span> <span style="color: blue;">@irLaden</span> your tweets reveal your location. Aren't you concerned that Washington will hunt you down?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden: </span><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> Mind your words. No one hunts me down, I am the Hunter.</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings </span>No i am not scared. The location is of my iPad and not mine.</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings:</span> <span style="color: blue;">@irLaden</span> You have an iPad? how did you get that?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> I even have an iPhone. Who would refuse to give me anything?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> I have important things to do than talking about iPads </blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings:</span> <span style="color: blue;">@irLaden</span> What are your future plans?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> I have only one plan - Terrorize. And marrying my Typist.</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings:</span> <span style="color: blue;">@irLaden</span> Is the typist male?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> hey i am a Woo-man. Better watch your words.</blockquote><blockquote>(The typist repiled personally)</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings:</span> <span style="color: blue;">@irLaden</span> you have employed a woman?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span><span style="color: red;"> @PSWmusings</span> we have a strict 50% quota for women. Half or which are for personal interests ;)</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> In future we are thinking of raising the quota to 70% and retire all the male jehadis</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings:</span> <span style="color: blue;">@irLaden </span>what would you tell about other Terror groups?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden:</span> <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> No comments </blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings:</span> <span style="color: blue;">@irLaden</span> Thank you for you interview. Any message for the world?</blockquote><blockquote><span style="color: blue;">@irLaden</span>: <span style="color: red;">@PSWmusings</span> ha ha ha ha ha...</blockquote>Now there are reports of other terrorists thinking of opening accounts on various social networking site minus Facebook.<br /><br />You might also read another hilarious post by me on Osama titled: <a href="http://pswmusings.blogspot.com/2011/05/osama-bin-ladens-auto-biography-to-be.html">Osama bin Laden's auto biography to be published</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-63128591780589522132010-08-28T10:00:00.002+05:302012-04-25T01:51:59.036+05:30The Indian EducationI was going to call this post ‘Why did I opt for Engineering?’ but as the post progressed I realised that it is not only about that but also about ‘the Indian Education’. Mind well, I haven’t <i>forgotten</i> to add ‘system’ at the end of ‘the Indian Education’. This post is not about the general blah blah about the state of Indian Education System but something else.<br /><br />Many times when I see a kid going to school I think of what would be his fate. The various questions were, ‘Would he be able to complete his schooling?’ I have seen a few kids who are not able to complete their school even till the metric (tenth standard). The reasons being: money or that the child was a girl. The next questions that come to my mind are: What stream would he opt for? What options does he have? What his parents will <i>force</i> him to opt for? And depending upon his stream selection what undergraduate programme (UGP) he would opt or would be <b>forced</b><i> to</i> opt? And would he join the same profession that he studied in UGP? Too many questions, but these must be answered. Why? For that child’s sake who has read Robert Frost’s ‘<a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Road_Not_Taken" title="You will be redirected to wikisource">The Road Not Taken</a>’ but isn’t yet experienced enough to decide his road. For the parent who cares and loves his child the most and thus for the child’s betterment moulds him into what he (parent) considers to be the best. Let me tell you how I answered those questions but first what do people think of education.<br /><br />Education today is looked upon as something that helps you to earn your livelihood or at the best get a Merc parked in your garage (for those over qualified ones), and something that helps in decreasing the illiteracy rate. It is just figures displayed in your passbook and the Govt. census, larger the better, and everyone’s interested with those figures even if Maths is the most hated subject on this planet. No one today, considers Education as something that adds morals and values to life. People today know how to get into IITs, perform an open heart but don’t know how to behave publicly, stand in a queue to get forms for same IITs or use the urinals. Moral Science is a subject that can decide whether Neha will come first or not and whether Pappu will pass or not. <i>“It does not matter if you know the Pythagoras Theorem or even Einstein’s Relativity. Your Education will remain incomplete if it doesn’t teach you to love, respect and care for others.”</i> Having said above I am no exception to it, in fact no body is, except those Sages in the Himalayas. But I have learnt some morals and values.<br /><br /><blockquote><i>“Education is a social process. Education is growth; it is not a preparation for life but life itself.”</i> – FaceBook Status update by a friend</blockquote><br /><a name='more'></a><br />Let’s begin with my admission into the Junior KG. It was the only English medium KG in the town and I was denied admission into the English Medium as the seats were full and moreover my father was not an employee of the company that run the school. Reservations. Thus began my battle with the <b>QUOTA</b> system. My parents were told to get me admitted in the Gujarati Medium. Imagine reading this post in Gujarati! But some how my parents managed to get me into the English Medium. Thus I entered the Education System. Till High School every thing was fine. Money was not a problem as far as my education was concerned.<br /><br /> Coming to the point:<br /><br />Many children don’t get admissions just because of these reservations or <i>scarcity</i> of seats or <i>money</i>.<br />When I was a kid I wanted to become an Astronaut as I enjoyed gazing at the stars which I do even today. Later as a teenager, when computer was introduced I changed it to a software programmer. Though I didn’t know how software is written and whether coding is my thing or not but what I knew was that I was very good at computers. Thus in Higher Secondary, I selected the Science stream and then got admission into Computer Science. Everything’s fine, isn’t it? Consider this: As a kid I didn’t know how to become an astronaut. Small kids don’t know what aeronautics is all about. Had I known it then I may have opted for Aeronautical Engineering. Even in the High School I knew about few professions. Doctors, Engineers, CAs, Pilots were the main professions that were known to me. And I selected Engineering for above and below reasons. When I completed twelfth standard, my interested in Economics grew but then it was too late to pursue UGP in Economics and moreover I didn’t knew which college to go for and my parents would have discouraged me. My mother said me to opt for Mech Engg. but as computers were my passion I said NO to her. People have much less knowledge about the scope of different the streams and ask their children to opt for what they <b>feel</b> is the best. ‘If you have good marks then opt for Science or else Commerce,’ is the thumb rule in India. If a student with 94% marks opts for commerce then it becomes Shocking News for his school and neighbourhood. But what nobody realises is that every stream requires brain and hard work.<br /><br />Coming to the point: There are no student counsellors in schools. The key thing here is: To have knowledge about different professions; to follow your passion and to have determination; to have the courage to say NO to your parents. If you are good at painting then join an Arts college even you get 90%. If your father does not allow then tell him, ‘M. F. Hussein has a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Bentley in his garage and purchased a Bugatti Veyron in cash so, money won’t be a problem’. If he says, ‘everyone can not become M. F. Hussein’ then reply him back, ‘I don’t wont to become M. F. Hussein, I want to become [put your name here].’<br /><br />After graduating comes the time you earn some money or to put it in better word pursue your passion further. But your passion may change by that time. “<i>You can only choose the path and work for it, ultimately life decides what becomes of you”.</i> There many IITians who become IIMites. But the end line is:<i> “Always follow your passion with full determination and leave the rest to life.”</i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-70727713474481746572010-08-22T10:00:00.004+05:302012-04-03T18:56:07.053+05:30Tera Emotional AtyacharNote: This post has been rated PG13 by the author.<br /><br />Recently I was surfing Television channels (and you thought I only surf the net :p) and none of the 160+ channels had anything interesting to show. Sony – as usual, ACP Pradyuman was on air. So I settled on UTV Bindass as Emotional Atyachar season 2 (EA2) was about to start. Their tag line goes as “This time think twice”. It was a repeat telecast. The show uses terms such as: Lead – the one who goes to the EA people <s>pretending</s> stating to love the suspect and wants to check the loyalty of the <i>poor</i> suspect after doubting its loyalty; suspect – a person whose privacy will be invaded upon the request by the Lead, whose izzat (honour) will be defamed and in the end who will be grilled (interrogated) along with abuses by the Lead. I think it was the first episode of Season 2. Ajay Devgan and Imran Hashmi were inducted into the crew of EA2 (haven’t I used the word ‘inducted’ beautifully as if they were inducted into the Hall of Fame? Oh! I love my writing ;) lol) as they were promoting their movie ‘Once Upon a Time…’<br /><br />The episode begins with a boy (man) being the Lead who wants to test the loyalty of his GF. As the episode progresses Ajay asks the EA2 crew to spy the boy (Lead) as he <s>smelt</s> felt something fishy about the boy. Meanwhile EA team sent a Male Model to woo the girl (woman). She fell into the trap and thus she failed the loyalty test. But the test doesn’t end here as regular episodes. Kahani Mein Twist! (Twist in the story!). The boy too had another GF (call her GF2 and the suspect GF as GF1). So on the final day the boy was showed footages that declared that GF1 was not loyal to him. Then began the grilling part. The boy questioned GF1 with the tadka (abuses) and she added more of tadka to it. And to add to the excitement (as you might have expected) GF2 came and then both the GFs started grilling the boy. ‘Shikari Khud Shikar Ban Gaya!’ (‘The Predator became the Prey!’). Thus the episode ended.<br /><a name='more'></a>Well and good? But I was not satisfied by the story. Consider this: the boy had two GFs so he would <b>come</b> on TV if he tests any of his GFs, here GF1 which he did. GF 2 would automatically come to know of his cheating when she would watch the TV. And the probability of her watching him and his GF1 on TV is high as this episode would be repeated again and again for a week and given our <s>respectable</s> News Channels, the clippings would be aired on them too. So no one would do such mistake. Even Giovanni Jacopo Casanova wouldn’t have tried this! So I think there is some fishy here.<br /><br />The second thing that I dislike is the <u>way they sensor abuses</u>. Some words such as bastard and some Hindi gaalis that the Oxford dictionary <b>doesn’t include as Vulgar</b> are too censored to sensationalise. They insert the beep in such a manner that you cannot hear the complete word but make out what the word was. The (commercial) breaks showed a sneak peek of the next episode where a woman said <i>bastard</i> to the grilled and defamed Suspect. Here they inserted a beep but you can figure out that the word was Bastard and they blurred her lips, as the Americans do, so you that you can not lip read what she said. Now, they didn’t blur the lips of the abusers in the episode that I watched that had abuses ranging from mothers to sisters which are far more offensive than the previously mentioned ‘bastard’. Moreover I would like to say that the beeps make viewing unpleasant so either they shouldn’t use beeps or stop the people from using <i>beeping</i> words/languages. The later cannot be implemented as the Social Activists would then campaign for the support of ‘Freedom of speech and Expression!’ so they should think of the first.<br /><br />The third thing that I found <u>a bit wrong</u> was that the model that they used to woo the girl presented himself as a rich guy who took the girl to expensive places. Anyone would choose a rich and handsome guy instead of a guy working in some Chetan Bhagat’s Call Centre. You may say that love is blind but in this 21st century love is blind only if it’s happening in a five star hotel. Moreover its nature selectivity rule also coming in; animals select the best possible and here when you have the best <i>coming on its own</i> then who would remain <i>loyal</i>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-77998562599863318152010-08-15T10:00:00.001+05:302013-01-17T04:02:39.027+05:30A Nation of Aspirations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">India. What struck you when you read the first word of this post? Something that is patriotic and makes you feel proud as it is posted on the Indian Independence Day? Or something that’s pessimistic and makes you feel ashamed? The first thing that strikes me is that India is a <i><u>free</u></i> nation. Free – a simple four-letter f word that took a lot of sacrifice, and time to get <i>prefixed</i> to the word <i>nation.</i> India is a young nation – the population is young and the youth needs to fulfil the dreams of our founders (you may call them freedom fighters) who struggled so that the future generations would breathe a <i>free</i> air. When India got her much awaited and deserved freedom she was a poor, illiterate and a divided (Pakistan was created from her) nation and had many problems but with the passing of every decade she has risen up and still has a long way to go. <br /><br />Well, India as nation is not just a big, in fact very big, piece of land that has the second most concentration of humans in the world. It is more than that. I would not be wrong if I say India has every thing that a Bollywood film should have or to be correct it is the other way round. India as nation is constituted by Indians, their history, their present and their future, and much more.<br /><br />As India progressed, the mindset of Indians has also changed. Gone are the Gandhian days and thought. Gandhiji was once the most powerful man on the earth and a man who every Indian knew of. Even today he is the most seen face in India. Where? Money Bills (notes). But when it comes to popularity Shah Rukh Khan is more popular than Gandhiji. SRK will attract more TRP that Gandhiji. From a man who helped India achieve her Independence, today he is someone who helped Munnabhai get his girlfriend. Such is the irony of this nation. It is one of the cost at which India has progressed.<br /><br />When you talk about a nation then I would like to say that <b>‘A country is not for the citizens but citizens are for the country’</b>. John F. Kennedy rightly said, “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” When you talk about us – Indians we are a group of different kind of people living together. The DNA of the people living in different regions is different than the other. For example, you can easily recognise who is a South Indian, who is a North Indian and who is from North East by a mere glimpse. Many a times you'd even differentiate a Gujarati from a Bengali, a Marathi from a Bihari, etc. <b>But</b> we still are an integrated nation with brotherhood. There may be disputes – Naxalites, the Kashmir issue, etc. but with time, they will fade out. The fresh issue (dispute) is about the Marathi Manoos. To whom do <s>Bombay</s> Mumbai and the whole of Maharashtra belong? And the answer the Netas give is Marathis. Isn’t the question itself wrong? “<i>Kisne kaha ki <s>Mumbai</s> Bombay aur Maharashtra Marathioon k jaagir hain?” (“Who said the <s>Mumbai</s> Bombay and Maharashtra belongs to Marathis”).</i> The Netas should know that Bombay and Maharashtra don’t belong to the Marathis but Marathis belong to them and on a larger picture to India. And there is a lot of difference between the above two statements. But I believe that with time these politicians and their divisive ideologies will fade out.<br /><br />What do you need to fulfil a nation’s aspirations? I think its Money and Quality Man power. When you talk about a nation’s development then the first thing that is considered is the <i>economy</i>. “<i>Paisa hain to koi sawal nahi pooche gaa aur agar paisa nahi hain to koi poochta bhi nahi” (“If you have money then nobody will doubt you but if you don’t have money then nobody asks for you”).</i> Today we are a nation whose GDP growth rate displays alarming figures for rest of the world. The economy is growing at supersonic pace if not lightning. Significant Indians are on Forbes annual list of top 100 Billionaires. But if there is so much money then why is India still a <b>Nation of Aspirations? </b>Is the money equally available to everyone? It would not have taken a second for you to say that the answer is NO. There are men who earn 6000 rupees in a month and men who earn 6000 rupees in 60 seconds. India is one of the few nations where there are people in large numbers: who <b>don’t</b> dream of a Ferrari as they have one; who dream of owing a Ferrari, as they don’t have one; who <b>never</b> dream of owning a Ferrari as they are busy to struggling to earn their food for the day. And I believe that these thick lines of divide will become thin but can not completely vanish as I read somewhere <i>“Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it is just the opposite.</i> <i>”</i> So any kind of economy cannot completely erase the monetary division. But one must consider that the poor are the people that help in keeping India’s Global Carbon Footprints low. <u>Poverty <i>forces</i> you to completely use and reuse the available resources.</u> Thus the poor, the middle class and ‘the class’ contribute to the economic development of the nation but only their share is different and what they get back is also different.<br /><br />The next thing that comes is Quality Man Power. Quality and Man Power are two different things and when you combine them then you get what is one of the pillars for a nation’s development. India is the second most populous nation and so there is no shortage of man power. But quality is the main concern. The basic problem that one might tell is that the quality people work for other nations and want to earn their deserved worth money. I too believe that <i>money</i> again is a factor affecting this migration. The quality of life, health, education, infrastructure, and law and order are major concerns. What can be done? The answer lies in the word Aspiration. The more we aspire to become a better nation to live the more we will solve these problems. It is the same aspiration that is spreading a discontent for the government that is led by the same man who brought the economic reforms in the nation in 1991 that helped us to aspire even more.<br /><br />You would say that I am burdening you with a guilt to work or do something for the nation but isn’t it worth it. <b><i>But don’t aspirations burden you to work for them</i></b>? Bal Gangadhar Tilak said, “Freedom is my birth right and I shall <u>achieve</u> it.” The Indians before Aug 15, 1947 weren’t born free but you were born free. You need not strive to achieve freedom, you already have it. No one can take it from you. When you do something for your nation, you do it for the people of your nation. The living standards would improve but you don’t need to do it forcefully. But I believe that every Indian has an inner calling but it just needs to be heard. And I can hope that this post would help you hear the inner calling in you. And by the way ‘Happy Independence Day’. Jai Hind!<br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-79568187039488746692010-08-07T10:00:00.000+05:302013-01-17T03:59:38.584+05:30How I wrote 'Indian Actors in Sherlock Holmes 2'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hope you must have enjoyed reading the <u><a href="http://www.storyofink.com/2010/08/indian-actors-in-sherlock-holmes-2_01.html" target="_blank">previous post on Sherlock Holmes</a>.</u> I thought that I should mention how I got the inspiration of that post, shouldn’t I? No? Then stop reading this. Others can continue. But before I write about that I would write how I wrote this post or else you’ll find one more follow up posts! <br /><br />I am writing this post instead of watching 3idiots. See! Movies do bring out the creativity in you. All the lights in the room are switched off; the brightness of the monitor is less than fifty per cent, I am an environmentalist too. Then there’s a dizzy smell of tobacco coming with the winds through the window that will diffuse in the air by the time this is written. I hate smokers. Hmmm… thinking what to write… … … oh yes, I am using Chetan Bhagat’s ‘2 States’ as my mouse pad. And trust me <i>cheap</i> books do not make a good mouse pads. :( Alright enough of rambling now back to the point.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">-------------------------------------</div><br />I was going to include this post in the previous post but as it (previous post) was <s>lengthy, too lengthy</s> torturous for you, I thought to spare you all from it (this post). <br /><br />It seems to me as if this happened days ago. Well, this did happen a couple of days ago. ;) It was one of those lazy days and I had done nothing till the afternoon and then I decided to <i>bathe</i> and not <i>take bath,</i> as we Indians normally do say it. And thus I got my Eureka moment inside the bathroom. No one would argue if I say that bathrooms are one of the places that spill ideas, and it all began with Archimedes; so take your time inside. I still have no idea that from where this Sherlock Holmes thing came in my mind. Well, I didn’t come out shouting Eureka! Eureka! <u>Ideas are like ‘Jack in the Box’ – they pop out of your brain just when you don’t expect them to come out.</u> So always keep a pen and a pad or a mobile to note them when they pop out. But given my drenched conditions, the thought of writing every thing in the bathroom was not viable. So I stayed inside and developed the story. Thus after thirty minutes I was out with the draft. Initially, I had different actors in mind but to make it pleasurable to read – for me if not for you – I didn’t include them. A few actors were included while writing the post. The final draft was read again and again and again and … you must have got it. After many corrections and changes finally I hit ctrl+S for the final time and it was put up on the blog to be read, read again and again and … No! Not again because no one would read that lengthy <u><a href="http://www.storyofink.com/2010/08/indian-actors-in-sherlock-holmes-2_01.html" target="_blank">post</a></u> again and again. Enough! Now I’ll stop. Hope you enjoyed reading the previous post. Will continue to put such posts further.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-68957379949497526502010-08-01T10:00:00.003+05:302013-01-17T03:40:31.714+05:30Indian Actors in Sherlock Holmes 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Many would have seen Sherlock Homes – the movie, and enjoyed it. Robert Downey, Jr’s acting and Guy Ritchie’s direction was praiseworthy. After the movie, the producers and the director decided to make another one. But unluckily, Robert Downey, Jr broke his back (while performing a stunt) and the doctors said that he won’t be able to act for the next four months. As the producers were in a hurry to make the film, they asked Guy Ritchie to find someone else. Now most of the (good) Hollywood actors were busy and did not have dates for the film. Hence, Guy Ritchie had to resort to seek someone outside the Hollywood. Now as one of the producers was an Indian (yes, Indians too have started producing Hollywood movies!), he insisted Guy Ritchie to look for an Indian actor. Thus, Guy Ritchie called a press conference and stated that the next Sherlock Holmes would be from India. The very next day he was in India and the first people to meet him or rather gheraoed (surrounded) him were from the news channel – India TV! Please forgive me for calling ‘India TV’ a news channel. Anyways, they (India TV) started picking the probable for you know what. Then came people form the channel that had previously done shows like ‘<i>Wannabe’s Swayamvar’ (A competition in the ancient ages to select a groom for the princess; here selection of groom/bride for the bride/groom), ‘Desi Girls’</i> (wasn’t the Swayamvar enough for us?) and some <i>Cheerleaders recruiting</i> show. They asked Guy Ritchie to make his <i>‘quest for the actor’</i> into a Reality Show. Finally, to make for the expenses in <i>‘the quest’</i>, a multi million dollar rupee contract was signed. Finally, invitations were sent to many actors for the selection/audition. The selection processes were – first, the written test, then screen test and viva, finally public voting. Yes public voting – no reality show is complete without voting.<br /><br /><b>Stage one: The Written test</b> <br /><br />Written test? Well NDTV Imagine’s argument was that the actor should know about Sherlock Holmes and it would bring down the number of actors. Apart from the superstars, others included Dev Anand (who would let go the chance of becoming the next Sherlock Holmes), Boman Irani, Imran Hashmi, Arshad Warshi, Tusshar Kapoor, etc. etc.<br /><br />During the test, Shahid was caught copying from SRK and got ‘minus five’ on his sheet. After the test, the actors started discussing the answers. “Which paper set? D? Mine too. What is the ans of fifth que? C? I knew it! Damn it! :(” If there was a dispute then they would ask SRK.<br /><br />‘You’ll top the test. After all you have hosted KBC.’ Hrithik said to SRK.<br />‘Then I should too top the test.’ said a firm voice from behind.<br />‘Who said that? Amit Sir! O yes you too will top the test, no doubt about it.’<br />‘Where is Aamir? Did he come?’ Big B said.<br />‘Yes, and as usual after the test he ran off.’<br />Big B shook his head in disappointment.<br /><br />Results were out after five days and final ten were declared. SRK and Big B got full marks. But there was one surprise or rather shock, the tenth name was – Rakhi Sawant! Oh my god! The media raided Rakhi Sawant and asked demanded that she reveal how did she get inside. She said that Munnabhai MBBS was the inspiration for her and declared, “Sab ko <i>dikha</i> dungi, hilake dikha dungi.” (“I will show/prove and shock everyone.”) NDTV Imagine contacted her and <i>tried to </i>explain her that only male actors were eligible and this made her looked like a child who did not get his lollipop.<br /><br />‘What if I get my sex changed? O God, O Jesus, I desperately want this role.’ (Yeah, I know, what the …)<br />‘But Madam we don’t have that much time’ and the phone disconnected.<br /><br />Imran Hashmi replaced Rakhi purely based on marks.<br /><br /><b>After all this the media report was as follows:</b><br /><br />‘Big B, SRK, <strike>Action</strike> Comedy Kumar, the Perfectionist, Sallu Mian (Mia if you are uncomfortable with Mian), Junior AB, the Naak (Nose), the Serial Kisser, Rajnikant and ACP Pradyuman are the final ten finalists of the show ‘Main Banungaa Sherlock Holmes’ (I will become Sherlock Holmes). The only disappointment was Hrithik who could not make it to the final ten. Big B said it was all because of KBC – season 1 and 2 and SRK said it was KBC 3 and Paanchvi Pass. Aamir Khan was not satisfied with his marks and demanded that his mark sheet be assessed again. “All my answers were correct still I have got one mark less than Shahrukh. Moreover, I should have got one extra mark for good handwriting as I had PERFECTLY encircled all the circles.” Junior AB gave all the credit to his daddy for taking his tuition and giving extra notes. Rajnikant said it was the blessings of his fans that he cleared the test. All the other actors said it was their hard work. The Screen Test and the viva will be held on Wednesday.’<br /><br /><b>Stage two: Screen Test and Viva</b><br /><br />The screen test was supposed to begin at 0900hrs but nobody was seen. Everyone came late and the reason given by all was that they were actors and actors arrive late. Sigh! In the screen test, AB was rejected on the grounds of poor acting and Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan on the basis of overacting or rather overreacting. When Big B got to know about the exclusion of his <i>son</i> he went to the judges and started arguing. The judges – Guy Ritchie, some Hollywood biggie, and Karan Johar! – threatened to remove him too if he argued any more. Thus, he became quite.<br /><br />Next were the vivas. Judges rejected Imram Hashmi on his serial kissing background. They were concerned what would happen if he started kissing Dr. Watson (Jude Law). Everyone shivered at this thought.<br /><br />Himesh Reshamiya entered next.<br /><br />‘So Himesh tell us about you,’ the judges said.<br />’I am a born actor and I can act, sing, and compose the soundtrack for your movie. A three-in-one package at the price of one. JAI MATADI LETS ROCK!!!’<br />‘You are <i>selling</i> yourself?’<br />‘Who <i>doesn’t</i> in this industry?’<br />‘Yeah, that’s right,’ all the judges agreed.<br />‘I even have a suggestion.’<br />‘And what’s that?’ Karan asked.<br />‘I will sniff the clues with my nose.’<br />‘Nose?’ Guy Ritchie not believing what he just heard.<br />‘Yes, it’s lucky for me.’<br />‘Next.’<br />‘No wait.’<br /><br />Then SRK entered.<br /><br />‘So you are Shahrukh Khan, huh?’ Guy said.<br />‘Well, actually, he is the King Khan, the King of Bollywood, the Badshaah, for having acted as a <i>detective</i> (he emphasised the word detective) in the same movie…’<br /> ‘Stop it, Karan.’ SRK ordered.<br />‘…the SRK, the King of the hearts, owner of KKR…’<br />‘Stop it, Karan.’<br />‘…the richest superstar of India, the most famous Bollywood celebrity…’<br />‘I SAID, STOP IT, KARAN.’<br />‘OK. OK.’<br />‘Hmmm... Next. You are through to the next round,’ Guy said, being impressed.<br /><br />Suddenly cyclonic winds started blowing. The table started receding backwards, everything was haywire.<br />‘What the…’ Guy was interrupted.<br />‘Illa illa something in Tamil.’<br />‘Yanna Racala. You Mind it, mind it, mind it.’ Echoed.<br />Needless to say who had entered.<br />‘What is this?’ Guy fumed.<br />‘Wherever Rajni goes, he goes in style.’ Rajnikant clarified and wore his glasses – his signature. Swoof.<br />‘Why there was no STYLE in the screenings?’ Karan inquired.<br />‘Well, in this downturn, I am <i>low on budget</i>.’ Everyone started laughing.<br />After a few negotiations, Rajni too was selected.<br /><br />Next was Aamir Khan.<br />‘I am THE P-e-r-f-e-c-t-i-o-n-i-s-t,’ Aamir declared.<br /><i>‘I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can achieve, perfection is God’s business.’</i> Guy quoted.<br />‘We don’t want demigods here.’ Guy clarified.<br />‘Wait, wait, I am not the perfectionist, I too make mistakes. Please don’t’ reject me. What will I answer when people would say Shahrukh got selected and I didn’t?’ Aamir said in damage control mode.<br />‘Then what about ‘Life is not a race?’’<br />‘That was all rubbish; life is a race for all those struggling for survival and greatness and fame.’<br />‘Aall iss well. Aall iss well.’ Aamir repeated to himself and thumped his heart gently.<br />‘Nothing iss well. Nothing iss well. Next.’<br />‘Wait. It’s the marketing and PR that make my movies a hit. It has nothing to do with my so called acting.’<br />‘All right, you go to the next round purely on the basis of your marketing strategies.’<br />Relieved Aamir said thank you and moved out.<br /><br />Next was Shivaji Satam.<br />‘You shake and move your fingers unnecessarily,’ Guy complained.<br />‘Sir, it is my signature and it also reminds me that I am the ACP, I have to instruct others, though I don’t know whether ACP stands for ‘Assistant Commissioner of Police’ or ‘Additional commissioner of Police’. It looks cool when you see a detective moving his hand while discussing clues, doesn’t it?’ Shivaji said while shaking and moving his hands.<br />‘You don’t have experience in different types of roles.’<br />‘It is true but isn’t this hunt for an actor who would play a detective?’<br />‘O yes, you are right.’<br />‘Next, you are through to the next round.’<br /><br />Big B was also selected.<br /><br /><b>Full Page ads on TOI and the Hindu appeared:</b><br /><br />SRK, Big B, Aamir Khan, Rajnikant and Shivaji Satam enter the final round of ‘Main Banungaa Sherlock Holmes’. Voting begins from Tuesday.<br /><br />To vote for SRK, sms ‘KKKiran’ to 57575.<br /><br />To vote for Big B, sms ‘KBC4’ to 57575.<br /><br />To vote for Aamir Khan, sms ‘AwardLess’ to 57575.<br /><br />To vote for Rajnikant, sms ‘sunglasses’ to 57575.<br /><br />To vote for Shivaji, sms ‘CIDPJs’ to 57575.<br /><br />Remember your every vote will count so keep <strike>counting</strike> voting. Voting lines are opened till next Saturday. Till then keep voting.’<br /><br />The day for declaring the final results arrived. Everyone was eager for the results. Our favourite news channels brought pundits to predict who would win. Someone said it would be Shivaji, the others said SRK; a few said Big B. South Indian pundits said Rajni. Now, how can we forget the greatest oracle of all time – Paul the octopus? Five glass boxes, with photos of the finalists on each, with food in them were dipped in his aquarium. But he didn’t select anyone and kept roaming near the wall. Everyone felt that Paul took his retirement and was in no mood to select the winner. :(<br /><br />The ‘Decision Night’ arrived. Chennai’s Cricket stadium – M. A. Chidambaram was selected as the venue. Prices of the tickets were sky-high. The event started. Skits were performed by the finalists. Item numbers were performed by SRK, Big B, Shivaji – yes the ACP. Just imagine ACP dancing with item girls. Then it was time for performance of the night. Shakira come on the stage and started lip-synching and dancing ‘Hips don’t lie.’ This sent an electric wave across the crowd. “I’m starting to feel it’s right…” the crowd went mad because out of nowhere Rajni appeared on the stage and started dancing along with Shakira. One per cent of the crowd fainted when he started shaking his hips. Do not know whether it was the excitement or the shock. Anyways the dance ended and the host announced that it was time for the results, the producers and Guy came on the stage. Guy took the envelope in his hand and said, ‘the winner is…’ the crowd shouted RAJNI. ‘We’ll find out after a break.’ And the crowd booed. The break ended. Guy announced, ‘the winner is…’ and pointed his finger to the crowd. The crowd shouted RAJNI. SRK, Big B, Shivaji and Aamir put their head down in dismay. Rajni waved his hand and came forward. But Guy said, ‘it is not you’ and again pointed his finger to the crowd. It took one minute for thirty cameramen to figure out to whom he pointed! And Robert Downey, Jr, was coming towards to stage. Guy said, ‘by the time we selected anyone from you, Robert became fit. So we said why not select Robert then?’ A furious Rajni roared, ‘I will sue you for this.’ Guy replied calmly, ‘You should have read the contract properly. Line five of page six, written in <i>font size 5</i>, says, ‘We can select anyone to be Sherlock Holmes.’’<br /><br />And thus ended, the quest for the next Sherlock Holmes. It ended from where it began – Robert, if it didn’t strike you. Again, Paul was right. It was not his fault if the people did not keep glass box with Robert’s photo in the aquarium. Paul baba ki Jai ho! <br /><br /><b>P. S.:</b> I have not yet seen the movie Sherlock Holmes.<br /><br /><b>P. P. S.:</b> This post is a work of fiction (for those of you who still didn't get it) and has been written only for entertainment and nothing else. You do not need see the movie to read the post! All the characters are real but the incidents are fictitious. Before any of the actors sue me on the charges of defamation, I would like to clarify that 1) I have no grievances with any of you and 2) I do not have any money for the lawsuit.<br /><br /><b>P. P. P. S.:</b> Rajni PJs were not trending when this was posted. Thus it clearly proves that I can foresee the future. ;)<br /><br /><b>P.P.P.P.S. </b>R.I.P. Octopus Paul</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-54367602631733478182010-07-11T10:00:00.001+05:302013-01-17T02:21:06.103+05:30The Bandh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Anything that’s political whether it be the election, development, the civil nuclear deal or any thing else has the aam aadmi (the common man) at its centre. But when it comes to execution the aam aadmi remains aam and is not considered. The case of ‘Price Rise’ and the bandh is not any different. For the past many months the issue of price rise is a major concern for most of the India.<br /><br />All the measures taken by the government to curb the price rise have been ineffective. And like any dumb ass might have figured it out, the Opposition too figured it out and thought of doing something for the aam aadmi. After performing some permutations and combinations they settled at ‘The Bandh’. Bandh – a sort of movement in which someone (with good influence over the mass) asks the mass to stop their work, business and any other commercial activity and sit at home as if some cricket match is on air. So 5-July-2010 was selected for the bandh.<br /><br />THE D-DAY<br /><br />On the day of the bandh, the party leaders and the party workers of the NDA and the LEFTovers (the Left and the rest of the opposition parties) came out on the streets. The party workers blocked all the traffic in major cities and went to all the major public transport junctions – bus stations, metro stations, railway stations – and tried to prevent people from boarding the same. There were many workers on the streets which I think are those (unemployed people) that the parties bring from the nearby villages in larger numbers and pay them cheap money to join their movement. The police caught some of the leaders as well the party workers and put them behind the bars. All of the leaders and most of the workers were released in the evening because the police was too sluggish to charge them and submit all the charge sheets in the court. Schools and colleges were closed or had to be closed in most of the major cities. Everything was back to normal in the evening with the Opposition citing victory in the bandh and the government citing victory by saying the bandh was ineffective. The Opposition tried to fool us or rather themselves by claiming that the people on the roads were the aam aadmi who came out to support them. What they don’t realise is that how can the aam aadmi who doesn’t even come out to vote can come out to support them in the bandh?<br /><br /><b>Here are some of the salient, disgusting, shameful, violent, etc. features and incidents of the Bandh:</b><br /><ul><li>Around 100 buses of BEST were vandalized. </li><li>Some of the Shiv Shainiks even tried to burn a seat in a local train (which would have burnt the entire bogie and then the train) in Mumbai but thanks to the police they were not able to do so.</li><li>Bar Girls were called on the streets in Patna to bring people on the streets.</li><li>At various places public properties were vandalized.</li><li>At many cities (Bhopal, Mumbai, etc.) party workers roamed in the city on bikes shouting slogans “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” as if they were doing anything for the nation.</li><li>At Borivali railway station a party worker slapped a man to prevent him from boarding the train and the man couldn’t do anything.</li><li>Effigies of PM and of ‘price rise represented as a devil’ were burnt (which didn’t solve the problem of price rise and resulted to pollution).</li><li>86 flights were cancelled in Mumbai due to the Bandh which caused inconvenience to the travellers. </li><li>Many trains were cancelled.</li></ul>But what was the outcome of the bandh? What was gained from it? From aam aadmi‘s perspective – nothing. The rest did gain something from it. The Opposition - media coverage. The press – huge TRPs. The television channels also gained some more TRPs. The students – holiday.<br /><br /><b>Now the economical analysis:</b><br /><ul><li>The economy suffered a loss of about 13,000 cr INR. (The GDP of India is about 5 million crores in a year, so each day’s loss comes out to be 13k cr INR). </li><li>Trading in ‘The Bombay Stock Exchange’ (BSE) was only 42% of the regular trading days.</li><li>The Railways and Shipping Industries 100cr each.</li><li>Transportation 50cr.</li><li>Public properties worth millions were destroyed. </li></ul>Who will pay for these loses? Of course it has to be the aam aadmi again, who will pay these. The businesses and the shopkeepers would redeem their losses from the aam aadmi only. Won’t the compensation of these losses further result to Price Rise – the cause of this bandh? What about that labourer, whose family gets it food from his daily wage, who didn’t get his wage due to the bandh? Even L. K. Advani, one of the most respectable leader of the Opposition, said,”The prices won’t come down but we observed the bandh so that anyone may not tell us that ‘you did nothing.’” Absurdity and insanity at its best! Who was victorious and who was the looser? Well, I cant say about the former but the later, as always, is the aam aadmi.<br /><br />P. S. All the above facts and figures are taken from various news papers and channels.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4417203751768605551.post-17322780292367429952010-05-08T22:30:00.003+05:302013-01-17T02:17:52.454+05:30My first Haircut of 2010<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Disclaimer</b><br /><br />All the persons, <s>incidents</s> accidents, and the ‘<i>emotional atyachar</i>’ mentioned are true, real and exist or existed (the incidents) to the best of my knowledge, and I bear complete responsibility for them, in the real world. And their co-relation with any of you is not possible, at least in this universe. If this happens, then stop reading this and contact me immediately as it may be dangerous for you. If not then continue reading this as it was written to be read and read again!<br /><br /><b>Dedicated to all the mothers of the world that God sent for us</b><br /><br /><b>Prologue</b><br /><br />Since childhood I always used to cut my hairs whenever <s>they grew long</s>, mummy used to tell me to. She used to tell to keep my hairs – you guessed it right – short, very short and I being an *obedient* son used to follow her instructions obediently. In fact, I was known in my class for keeping short hairs. Later, when I grew up, my hatred for haircuts grew with me but I found the benefit of keeping short hairs – shorter the hairs the later you need to cut them. So keeping short hairs was a win-win situation for both of us given that I cut my hairs <em>once every two months.</em><br /><br /><b>Who: </b>Me<br /><br /><b>What: </b>My First Hair cut of 2010<br /><br /><b>When: </b>29th of April, 2010<br /><br /><b>Where: </b>The Barber’s shop<br /><br /><b>Why: </b>Because, first my hairs had grown too long and secondly but most importantly because of mummy.<br /><br /><b>How: </b>Contact my barber for as to how he cut my hair.<br /><br /><b>Part 1</b><br /><br />I had my hair cut on 30th Dec 2009, just before the semester exams. Now no haircuts till Feb. Came March and I was not at home where I usually have my haircut, so I escaped March. Came April and the signs of long hairs started surfacing, a few started asking about my hair. After the mid-semester exams, I was supposed to get back to home, which I did.<br /><br /><b>The Big Day</b><br /><br />While on the way in train, I was hoping that, ‘Mummy should not come to receive me’ because if she would then I would reach home beheaded. ;) And she didn’t, papa came to pick me up. But to my utter disappointment he didn’t recognize me as he had never seen me with so long hairs and what happens with me always – whenever anyone looks me after a long time I always look thinner to him. When I returned home, as <s>expected mummy would say that my hairs were too long,</s> unexpected mummy said, “Go get your hairs cut”. I mean I had just arrived. So I said, “I have just come today and I will cut them tomorrow” but she was adamant even God himself would not have been able to persuade her. Then papa also started saying to get my hairs cut. Every twenty minutes mummy would shout and say to get my hairs cut and any good boy from a good and respectable family would always obey his parents and began with all the lectures on *sanskar*. Papa would also join her and emphasize it. Surprisingly and miraculously, I survived till evening (about four hours).<br /><br /><b>End of Part 1</b><br /><br /><b>Part 2</b><br /><br />Then the housemaid came, the final nail on my hairs’ coffin, and she too joined the crowd rebelling against me, and added that I look like – gulp – a girl. Finally, I bowed down. Everyone was happy relieved. And when I was about to go mummy said to cut moustache also. Well weren’t the hairs enough? Finally, I also agreed upon that. Got my hairs cut. When I returned home mummy said how good I look and I <s>blushed</s> got angry because whenever she would look at me she would say how good I look. You cannot live with peace even after you have had a haircut. There is no way out when it comes to all the mothers. Well this was the story of my first haircut of the year 2010.<br /><br /><b>The End</b><br /><br />It is up to you to decide whether the end was a happy one or not.<br /><br />This should have been posted immediately but as I was *enjoying* (friends forgive me for this) my life without Facebook I postponed this and now luckily this is going to be posted near Mother’s day.<br /><br /> Feedback awaited.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><br/>© 2010 - 2013 Story of Ink. The content on <a href="http://storyofink.com/">Story of Ink</a> and any of its pages is copyrighted to <a href="http://rahulpandey.net" target="_blank">Rahul Pandey</a> and may not be reproduced on other website or any where in any format.</div>Rahul Pandeynoreply@blogger.com1