Being Undan

I am a hardcore fan of Calvin and Hobbes. The kid with an attitude and a talking tiger made me laugh out all my stress many times.
Just came across this one and I just could not control myself. Thought I would share it with you guys… It beautifully portrays the dilemma of a cartoonist waiting for inspiration. And the mixing of the cartoonist himself and the character with a peculiar interest to know the benefits of the game adds to the fun.

You can find more about Calvin and Hobbes at these links…

http://www.simplych.com/comics.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/wa/zzaran/calvin.html

Looks like Mumbaikar is getting restless again. Heavy rains in some parts of Mumbai has already drawn attention and fear to common man. Reports are already flowing in about a number of deaths because of flooding in some areas. Memories of 26th July 2005 is getting fresh in their thoughts.. and as usual media morons are celebrating this “event” too with celebrity discussions and moody video clippings. I hope the rains will stop soon and no more lives would be lost.

Worst thing is that the Mumbai Administration has proved once again that all promises are made only in paper. When are we going to get the “real freedom” from all these corrupt politics and burocracy? And media is celebrating “where and why the goverment is failing?”... but I think we also need to think something here…

I saw a small “public awareness video” in a theatre recently. The message of the video was to keep our city clean. What do we do after consuming a softdrink or a packed fast-food item? We just throw the plastic packing away on the road or wherever we feel comfortable. We are so callous that we do not even bother to think about what are the possible consequences to what we are doing. Ever thought what would happen if all these plastic waste is blocking all the exit points of drainage system of the city?.....

Now you know How does the rain water gets clogged….

My friend, Think before jumping up and down your couch shouting slogans about the Administration… The goverment needs our help to resolve such issues… It is our duty more than courtesy to keep our city clean. If we are not caring for our city or country, who else will?

I know that some countries does punish people for littering the public places. In INDIA, you are free to throw things away in the road, chew pan and spit anywhere, pee on road sides….Do you think “freedom” means this? This is not freedom.. this is exploitation of freedom.

I agree that the Authorities must provide public toilets and other things like dust bins everywhere for us to do this… But can’t we start following the rules at least whenever and wherever we could do it?.. I have seen people peeing all around the public toilets in many places..( Wonder why they can’t do it inside toilets ) ..and those places smell like helll… I have noticed this phenomenon mostly in Bus stands.

So.. Let’s make it a practice to look for a dust bin whenever you get an urge to throw something on the road. It is one of those small and easy things we could do to make a big difference. Lets start keeping our country clean…..

I am back. Two very unfortunate events got me back to blogging. Events which made me cry..yell..shout.. whatever..

First thing is that my close friend Biju S Balan put an end to his life. He was someone very close to my heart. We were in close loop from college days. I do not know why he took such a decision to end his life. He was truly one of a kind and I am sure gonna miss him a lot. I am out words…

Second, the bomb blasts in Mumbai Trains… Time after time, evil minds are trying to kill the spirit of people by doing such brutal attacks. Kashmir, Delhi, Mumbai….many places.. many people… were killed or injured. They are trying to make us afraid. They are trying to make us believe that we are insecure in this country. It is in their cruel minds that to shake the roots of this country, they must make the poor majority of the people feel afraid to work….to speak…. to commute…They always attack crowds. They target women and children whenever possible. They always stabs us from the back like cowards. But I would like to tell them something…. Something which I want to shout to their ugly faces…..

We are not afraid. You are actually making us more stronger in our fight against you. You are making us more vigilant against your people. Our weapon is called the “Spirit of Life”. It enables us to go ahead no matter what happens. It gives us courage to fight your evil minds. Eventually, We are going to win. It takes more than bombs and bullets to destroy INDIA.

Once my life was shifted outside Kerala, I was not too keen on celebrating festivals like Onam,Vishu etc etc. It was a result of the fast  metro-lifestyle and work related commitments.
But this year, I celebrated Vishu ( New Year for Keralites -14th April) like never before!. I joined my brother and sister ( She came all the way from Kerala to Mumbai for this ! ) at my brother’s home. I was so busy goofing around with children. We enjoyed “kani” at home, exchanged new year gifts, prepared a kerala style meal, went out for some shopping in the evening etc etc.

I was realising that how much I had missed in the past. I was wasting my time around the daily robotic life in metros.
Next few days , we roamed around Mumbai to visit Gateway of India, Fashion Street, Boating…... I clicked some nice pictures too. I will upload them to Gallery soon.

Something very bad happened. I never thought something like this would happen in Mumbai again. Now that it had happened, I am sure it could happen again. That’s what I am really worried about.

On the day of Holi, some people living in a society ( like 8-10 buildings in a single compound) poured colour on a person from another society. People living in these two societies used to have arguments earlier regarding acquisition of land etc. Unfortunately some crooked minds thought that this incident could be used for abusing the others. A group of people attacked the other society with stones and firearms. Situation got even worse when the other people also started their revenge. Result : 3 people died.

Next day, the issue grew to some level I never thought about. An entire area was under this riot. The issue between two societies had become a riot between two communities ! in one day. Lots more people got seriously injured and 8 people were killed. Even the police stations were under attack. No it was not between Muslims and Hindus as it was earlier. This was between two communities in Hindu religion itself. If it was between Muslims and Hindus, probably I would not be alive to write this.

However, the government got into action. They enforced curfew in our area. Within 2-3 days everything returned to normal. But still some questions remain.

Why people just jump into these kind of extreme measures everytime for such silly reasons? Who is playing with relligion and community sentiments? In a city like Mumbai, why do people behave like animals?

Oh… Even animals won’t do such things.

Check this out !

A couple met with an accident while they were on a long trip.Some villagers helped them to recover fast and resume their trip. While coming back the next day, they decided to thank the good samaritans and unfortunately gets killed in another accident. At the same spot !

Hard to believe? well… you have to !

More info here

My friend Joseph has written in his blog about the protests and media hype that is going across India regading the visit of Mr. George W Bush. This is my opinion, reply, argument.. whatever.

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I think there is something wrong with these “protesters”. They are the people who actually makes up the hype for GWB’s visit to India. Nowadays it has become a tradition for these “soldiers of culture” to protest against anything and everything!

If the protest is because of what his stand was against Taliban and IRAQ, here is my personal opinion.

1. Taliban was the worst form of Islam extremism. It needed an end. Remember one Indian aircraft was hijacked and illegally flown above Packistan and landed in Kabul?. That day we saw what terrorism means. It is not just smuggling things in and out of Inida. It is not just killing some people with bombs. It becomes even worse when they start to play and negotiate with lives. When they start to take the freedom away from us. What we did when our Parliament was attacked? We arrested a few people and found that there was certain extremist groups behind the same. Then? . Like always, we slowed down. We left the case as it is. Where is the people who sent the bombers. Who gave them bombs and guns? Who funded them? There are endless cases like this. Our polititians are not interested in finding out all this. American did. And they reacted. Where is Taliban now?.




2. IRAQ was a “big mistake” from GWB’s words itself. And it is not only the president’s order to attack IRAQ. If I am not wrong, USA has a senate which can even “veto” it’s president over the decisions. So why they kept silent. What about the allies of USA in this war?. Be it power politics or tactics, you cannot blame GWB alone.

GWB’s visit can be a “show” for the media and they will try to get the most out of it. But the protester’s words are “just adding to the fun” for this media morons. They are not actually going to show GWB that most of India does not want to see him here.

GWB has a great tolerance to critics. He is facing it in his own country itself. It is not a new thing to him and his party. This is not going to make any difference at all.

I do not see any harm in his coming to India. It would actually bring in more world attention to India in regards to business and politics. It will give our people a chance to express our stand in many global issues today.

USA is not an enemy of India. They are providing us cutting edge technology, thousands of jobs (where our govermnets just promise jobs!) and support in many other areas.

My questions is, then why we need to protest? You are welcome, Mr. Bush.

I remember there was a story for us to study in english when I was in school. It was about a man who sleeps for some 20 years and wakes up one fine day morning to find out the amazing differences happened. I do not remember the exact story but I am sure I enjoyed it very much that time.

Now, After so many years when I get some time to sit back and relax in between my robotic work schedule, I feel like that character in the old story. I am missing so many things. I feel amazed when a friend tells me that he passed an exam. That is definitley not because I think he is not good in learning, but I never knew that he was preparing for an exam! . I feel ashamed. I am not getting enough time to spend with my family and friends. I am not blaming it. It is a fact that my job keeps me away from my friends and family.

I am working nearly about 12-14 hours a day. It’s not that I do not like what I do. I do love my job. I love the freedom that I get at my workplace. I like my collegues. But I still need to find some time which I can spend with my Family and Friends. Biju asked me why I am not updating my blog. I told him that I do not get enough time. He said he keeps checking my blog for updates. I realised what I was doing wrong. I am a failure in keeping things going. I start up things with great enthusiasm and then fail to keep it up.

I know it irritates most of my friends that I just go “offline” sometimes. Sometimes I do not mail or call them for months. They had already expressed this to me many a time. This is a public apology to all of you guys.

Thank you very much for bearing my horrible behaviour. Thank you very much for still keeping me in your address books. Thank you very much for still considering me as your friend. Thanks for everything.

I feel good now.