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Jaishree Menon Rescue

2011-06-04T03:46:00.001-07:00

I think I should end my life. My daughter is exploited by her own biological father . no police no womens commission able to do justice.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyJAISHREE MENON
jaishreemenon

Father abuses own daughter. The mother @jaishreemenon speaks out, but sounds utterly helpless. #fury Attn @ndtv @htTweetsless than a minute ago via Twitter for Android Favorite Retweet ReplySabbah Haji
imsabbah

@imsabbah this is disgusting, numb and enraged @jaishreemenon please listen @BDUTTless than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet Replynighat dad
nighatdad

@nighatdad @imsabbah @jaishreemenon just saw this. following upless than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Replybarkha dutt
BDUTT

@BDUTT Could u help?? RT @jaishreemenon I think I should end my life. My daughter is exploited by her own biological father . no police.....less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplySreedevi B
Sreedevi_B

@Sreedevi_B hello @jaishreemenon your tweet has us all worried and alarmed. How can we help. you can write to me . barkha@ndtv.comless than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Replybarkha dutt
BDUTT

@ikaveri Oh! Shit! Read the tweet. Want to reach her @BDUTT @jaishreemenonless than a minute ago via UberSocial Favorite Retweet ReplyJoy D
Joydas

@ikaveri Anyone has any way to reach her? Anyway, Let me trace her. I live nearby @jaishreemenonless than a minute ago via UberSocial Favorite Retweet ReplyJoy D
Joydas

@BDUTT I live quite nearby. Leaving now, Going to Kharghar Police Station @LMAATHUR @ikaveri @jaishreemenonless than a minute ago via UberSocial Favorite Retweet ReplyJoy D
Joydas

@monikamanchanda @polgrim @venkatananth I m reaching there in 10 mins. Almost there @jaishreemenonless than a minute ago via UberSocial Favorite Retweet ReplyJoy D
Joydas

@kiranmanral @priyankac19 @autumnshade @BDUTT @ikaveri @lmaathur I am at Kharghar now. First trying to trace the address in sector 19less than a minute ago via UberSocial Favorite Retweet ReplyJoy D
Joydas

@BDUTT I am at the House. Police also reached. Having a talk @ikaveri @madversityless than a minute ago via UberSocial Favorite Retweet ReplyJoy D
Joydas

@SachinKalbag I called Khargar police station from kolkata not reporters ok. I got a call from Midday :=) thinking I'm a relative *OUCH*less than a minute ago via Mobile Web Favorite Retweet Replykvenugopalmenon
kvenugopalmenon

@BDUTT Seems this is wrong house. There is ua menon in this building. Went in, police also came, even searched houseless than a minute ago via UberSocial Favorite Retweet ReplyJoy D
Joydas

@BDUTT O.K. Yes. It is same house. There is a Kid. His mother is out. First thing first, the Lady (his mother) is fine. Gone out to workless than a minute ago via UberSocial Favorite Retweet ReplyJoy D
Joydas

Reached Jayshree at work. Talking to her on phoneless than a minute ago via UberSocial Favorite Retweet ReplyJoy D
Joydas

Talked with the Lady. She is fine. But yes, needs help. Am meeting her later at nite. Sounded Calmless than a minute ago via UberSocial Favorite Retweet ReplyJoy D
Joydas

1) Jaishree is safe. Her daughter is okay too. So is her son.less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet ReplySachin Kalbag
SachinKalbag

2) The police have unearthed several details in the case, but of an extremely personal nature. So I am not going to post them here.less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet ReplySachin Kalbag
SachinKalbag

Thank god @jaishreemenon is safe and sound ! Phewless than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet Replybarkha dutt
BDUTT

no fairytale

2010-02-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

I wrote this poem long ago and published it on Poem Hunter and forgot about it. A very dear friend of mine who always encourages me to write dug it up from the Internet and made a surprise comment where the poem was posted. Here it is, for the readers of pagedIN. Tell me what you think about it.

no fairytale

you are on another island, tonight.

we sat around of the fire,
all huddled together like a bundle of innocent dreams,
and grandma told the long tale of a prince,
[she was always so conveniently long about stories]
who climbed the mountains and crossed the seas
to reach where his princes was.
the wind blew softly on us and we could feel the heat of the wood burning, on our glowing, eager faces.

as here, years after, i sit on my terrace tonight and gaze into the starless night,
i wish i had a white horse,
a silver sword
and a magic mirror in which i could bring up your face.
i wish i could fly and be invisible and do everything i may need to be with you,
right now.

[when a young man is incapable of any heroism, the nights are cursed to bleed.]

How Men's Movements are better than Feminist Movements?

2010-01-31T20:18:00.000-08:00

When I wrote my previous post, I thought who ever read it were going to disagree with me than agree. However, I found both men and woman in agreement with the rhetoric of 'real gender equality' to a great extend than I expected. Men who read it were in total agreement. Women who read it at least said they understood how I felt. And one of my students [He Blogs Here!] found it amusing that I am talking about 'Real Gender Equality' and left me a scrap on my Orkut Profile. Nevertheless, he could understand the seriousness of the issue that formed the basis of my post and pointed me to a Movement taking shape across the world.

Men, do not think that you are alone if you are feeling 'Gender Equality Laws' discriminate against the male of the species. AIMRAW [Association for International Men's Rights Activism and Welfare] is a conglomerate of men's right activists that works hard to eliminate misandry. AIMRAW recently organized a get together in Bangalore and wrote an Open Letter to Indian MPs to show their concerns about the political reflection of discrimination against men - Reservation for Women in Elections!

Let us get that straight first. We are talking about 33% reservation for women when it comes to elections. What does it mean? 33% of the constituencies are going to be reserved for women, if a Bill to that effect is passed in the Indian Parliament. And that simply means that men of those reserved constituencies are going to be denied an opportunity to contest in elections. If that Bill is passed, it is going to be a gross violation of the democratic rights of an Indian Citizen based on Gender. And it is going to be an appalling Human Rights Violation as it is based on gender. AIMRAW is not against women contesting in elections. It says, Political Parties must field more female candidates if they want to empower women. Going ahead to mutilate and subvert the concept of equality as provided by the Constitution of India to empower women is like 'doing an open heart surgery for a piles patient.'

And guess what, there are men across the world who feel that 'Gender Equality Laws' are highly unfavourable to men. Dowry Laws and Divorce Laws, across the world, provide more protection to women than men. There are men who face constant legal and social harassment because of these laws. Domestic Violence against men are rampant, though they go unnoticed. In the whole Tiger Woods Episode people were more eager to talk about his extra-marital affair than the Domestic Violence that led to the accident. Both men and women face Domestic Violence and Harassment, but law provides protection only to women. Taking the one-sided Gender Equality Laws and the Men's Movements across the world into consideration, I thought it is going to be interesting to try and see how Men's Movements and Feminist Movements differ!

Wikipedia defines feminism as "a political, cultural or economic movement aimed at establishing equal rights and legal protection for women." But that is far from the truth. A right understanding about the History of Feminism across the world will tell us that Feminism always focused on Female Domination than Equality. They methodically worked towards planting pro-women and anti-men laws in the legal system, which are sexist to a great extend. They filled the world with literature that aims at subverting any notion of 'real gender equality' And right from the time of Plato [Hope you know his story], good men have always suffered at their hands.

Look at the feminist slogans. 'Boys are boys! Girls are fun!' 'Boys don't cry!' Feminist have worked it out in such a way that people look at men as these unfeeling, uncultured, barbaric beasts who are out there to destroy the female species. Feminists always talk about domination and not co-existence, guised as the idea equality.

Look at the feminist idea about extra-marital affairs. When men cheat or are emotionally unfaithful, they raise such a hue and cry, saying men do that because they are beasts. What do they say when women are emotionally or physically unfaithful? They downplay it. They downplay it saying, 'Oh you know! Her husband was uncaring! She has emotional needs! Blah, Blah Blah!' I have come across at least ten popular Indian Feminist Writers, Kamala Das for example, trying to justify extra-marital affairs by women and vociferous about the sin of male extra-marital affairs.

Now, look at the Men's Movements across the world. We do not find them talking about domination over women. We find them talking about co-existence. AIMRAW, for example, is not against women contesting in elections. They are only against subverting the idea of equality in the name of Reservation for Women. Most of the Men's Movements that I have come across promote 'co-existence'. They promote men who are responsible, men who are caring and men who can be role-models to their children. Unlike Feminism, Men's Movements are not about unreasonable female bashing.

Let me conclude giving you one more example of the discrimination that men face. All of us know that International Women's Day is on March 8. We celebrate it. Let me ask you, how many of you know that there is also an International Men's Day? How many of you know that it is on November 19?

The question of real gender equality

2010-01-23T21:17:00.000-08:00

I do not know if what I am going to tell you is practised all over India, but it is a very prevalent practice in South India. I do not know if it is practised every where in South India, but I am sure it is in most of Kerala and some of Karnataka. And it is a practice that pisses me off, a practice I consider as an insult and injustice to men. It is a practice that always makes me feel it is time we reconsidered and redefined our notions of 'gender equality'.

The other day, I was watching Nandan Nilekani's ideas for the future of India. Nilekani was talking about the evolution of Ideas in India, on TED. He said there are four kinds of ideas: [a] Ideas that have arrived. [b] Ideas in Progress [c] Ideas in Conflict, and [d] Ideas in Anticipation. It was a great short, sweet and thought provoking speech, except for the fact that Nilekani missed out two crucial things. One, he simply ignored the idea of Agriculture. Given his IT background, it is understandable that he forgets food. Two, he missed out on the 'fifth' set of ideas - Ideas that are taken for granted. One of those ideas that are taken for granted [and hugely one-sided] is the idea of 'Gender Equality.' The practice that I am going to tell you about is a by-product of our skewed understanding of Gender Equality. The section of society that must be in conflict with that idea of Gender Equality is brainwashed over a long period of time into believing that it is blasphemous to be in conflict with that idea.

What am I talking about? Well, I am talking about a privilege South Indian Women have been enjoying since time immemorial - reserved seats in buses! I am talking about 'Ladies Only' seats! 'Ladies Only' seats are something I grew up with.One finds at least nine seats reserved for women in Indian Buses. And it is written all over that it is a 'crime' for men to use a 'Ladies Only' Seat. The Bus Conductor can rip your head off if he finds you using one. A woman can skin you alive in public if she finds you sitting on one that is absolutely her birth right.

The other day, evening, I was travelling from Udupi to Mangalore. It was a hard day and I was very tired. I just wanted to plop on a seat and catch some sleep in the one and a half hour it took the bus driver to take me to Mangalore. I got into the bus to find that most of the seats in the bus were occupied. Only the first 'Ladies Only' seat was empty. There were at least one woman occupying the other four 'Ladies Only' Seats. And there were at least one woman occupying the other 'General Seats' in the bus. There was a woman next to every vacant seat on that bus, except the first 'Ladies Only' seat. As I was planning to take a nap and obviously did not want to fall all over any woman co-passenger, I chose to take the vacant 'Ladies Only' Seat. I did that hoping the next passenger to come would be a male and sit next to me and the women who come would next take the 'Ladies Only' seats behind me. I sat and the bus conductor came screaming. How could you ever think of sitting on a 'Ladies Only' Seat? The hell was breaking lose in the bus. I tried to defend my 'honour' pointing out the women who were occupying the'General Seats'. If one of them could use the 'Ladies Only' Seats, I could sit comfortably where she was sitting and not bother anybody in the process. However, it turned out that the women could sit where they chose to sit and I had to, annoyed, take another bus that left Udupi half an hour later.

'Right to Equality' is a Fundamental Right according to Articles 14 to 18 of Indian Constitution. And Article 15 discusses 'Social Equality and Equal Access to Public Areas." As I read on, I find that it is a highly pro-female right. It talks about Indian Woman's right to access more than it talks about Indian Citizen's Right to Access to Public Areas. And it is probably based on this Fundamental Right, five seats are reserved in South Indian buses for women.

I talked to a female friend of mine about the way seats are reserved in Buses for women. She enlightened me, giving me the reasons why we must reserve seats for women in Buses. Women are the weaker sex, she tells me. And it is not fair to ask women to travel standing for obvious health related issues like pregnancy and menstruation.

Agreed! It is not fair to ask a pregnant woman or a menstruating woman to travel standing, given the condition of our roads. Yes, please go ahead and reserve more seats for such women. I have no issue with that. But I seriously have an issue when people tell me, as it happens in Kerala, that these seats are reserved to prevent men from groping and feeling up a female co-passenger. Since my friend is a female with a right state of mind, she did not give me that reason. And I have no issues with the Government reserving seats for women in buses on health grounds.

That brings me to the question: Does this mean that men have no health issues which make them eligible to travel sitting? Talking to my friend, I realized we have this wrong notion that the other seats in any bus is meant for male. Give me a break! Those are 'General Seats'. Any body can sit there, irrespective of gender. But what about when there is a rush in the bus and women are occupying the 'General Seats' and a sick man boards a bus? Shouldn't he have a seat reserved for him?

I am sick and tired of this 'weaker fair sex' thing. I am hundred percent sure that a man will die of heart attack if he is asked to endure the kind of pain a woman undergoes when she is giving birth to a baby and yet they call women 'weaker sex'. I am always of the opinion that if there is something called a 'weaker sex', both sexes are equally weaker. And it is a pity, every law on equality is highly gender biased and pro-women.

And nobody dares to talk about it. Men obviously don't talk about it because we are brainwashed into believing that 'women are the weaker sex'. When ever women talk about 'gender equality' they talk about their dominance than equality. It is not fair.

I have no issues if you reserve 33% of whatever privilege available in India for women. All that I am asking is to reserve an equal portion for men too to make the concept of equality fair and meaningful. Go ahead and reserve five seats for women in buses. But please make sure that you have five "Men Only" Seats as you have 'Ladies Only' seats.

Update: I realized I made a mistake while giving you the number of seats. It is actually, the first four three-seaters reserved for women. And I sat in the first vacent three-seater.

Ego-surfing: What is in a name?

2010-01-14T07:34:00.000-08:00

".... That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

In my case, this excessively quoted Shakespearean words of wisdom is often forgotten when I introduce myself to people. Some of them try their best to hide a frowning forehead when they ask me whatever on earth my name means. Some of them wonder if my name is another unfortunate product of the hilariously notorious Mallayali habit of creating an acronym for a name out of the parents' name. They wonder if my dad's name is Solomon and my mom's name is Jolly, if you know what I mean. No, my dad's name is John and my mom's name is not Jolly. My Family History goes that my name is a clever contraction [that's what my dad always thought] of the proud phrase, 'Son of John Varughese'. That was as far as I could go earlier, trying to explain the meaning and background of my name.

My brother is a clever guy. My dad gave him a name, as weird as mine, when he was born. Unlike me, he did not like it. He was too patient a guy to reveal his dislike and raise hell at home. So he waited till he was old enough to go to school. The first thing he did on his first day at school was to walk up to the teacher as she was marking attendance and tell her he wanted his name to be changed to something else. He got that done telling the teacher the name on her register was his 'pet name' and his official name was something else. He was clever enough to get his name changed to what he liked before it would become officially difficult to change it. Since I did not have the kind of 'long-term vision' he had, here I am, always trying to convince people that my name has a meaning.

What is in a name? Well, looks like psychologists think Shakespeare is wrong. According to Cleveland Evans, a psychology professor at Bellevue University "Your name is one of the main anchors for your self-concept." According to me, your name is also one thing based on which others form their first impression about you. I always wonder how my name sounds to other people. And I always used to think my name is special and unique because nobody else has it. I remember how angry I was when one of my uncles christened his son after me because he liked my name. I was angry because he just thoughtlessly destroyed the uniqueness and rarity of my name. Now there were more than one 'Sojo' at home whenever my uncle's family came home or we visited them. I remember being confused about who is calling who.

Confusions at home apart, I lived most of my life thinking that I have a very rare name. I didn't know I was about to be proved wrong by a failed actor turned poker player turned film director from Los Angeles, CA USA. Watching "Google Me", by Jim Killeen , the Director in question, made me curious enough to send me on a late night ego-surfing trip on Google and changed my idea of my name forever.

Jim Killeen, like many of the wannabe actors, came to Hollywood when he was very young. He could act in a couple of films. To survive what turned out to be an unsuccessful acting career, Jim Killeen launched a company that offered chair massages for poker players in Casinos. Frustrated and in late 30s, Jim wanted to do something that would leave his mark in the world. He typed 'Jim Killeen" into the Google Search Bar to find out what the world says about him.

What Jim found on the web changed the rest of his life. He found at least 25 different Jim Killeens in the Google Results. And an idea struck him. How about meeting the Killeens living around the world to know what kind of life they lead? How about making a Documentary Film based on that theme?

Jim, with the help of his friend and employee Jeannie Roshar, set out on an incredible journey of reaching out to those people and figuring out if they had anything in common. They launched the project in 2006. However, many Killeens did not agree to be filmed or interviewed. And Jim had to finally settle for interviewing 6 Killeens.

Jim met the Killeens. One of them was a Parish Priest from Ireland who thought the purpose of life was to love one another and to love God. The second one was a retired Police Officer from New York who thought the purpose of life was to reproduce and to keep the world going. The third one was a sexual swinger and a tranny chaser from Denver, who also liked playing poker, who just couldn't tell what the purpose of life was. The fourth one was the Vice-president of a company in Mississippi who believed the purpose of life was to serve others. The fifth one was the CEO of a Community Health Service in Australia, who thought the purpose in life was to practice what you believe in. The sixth one was a Traffic Engineer from Scotland who believed his purpose in life was to be the best person for his family. And then we have Jim, who has the saddest story among the Killeens, who believes the purpose of life is to leave meaningful marks in the world. And Jim will seriously be leaving his mark in the world. He made a beautiful film that is fun to watch and thought provoking. And when the Killeens met in the City of Killeen in Texas, USA on its 125^th Founding Day, the Mayor of the City renamed the Founding Day as 'Jim Killeen Day'

Watch Google Me by Jim Killeen

Now, that made me go on an ego-surf myself, using Google. What did I find? In Slovenian Language, Sojo means Soybean. [I used Google Translation to figure that out] Again, Sojo is a Java Framwork that converts JavaBeans in a simplified representation. Sojo is pronounced as SOE-ho in Spanish and it is the name [Louis Sojo] of a baseball player. Sojo is also the name of a private Japanese University. And then there is a guitarist called Arno Sojo. Sojo is also an FM Radio Station in US. There is a marketing and brand management company called Sojo in Georgia. There is a processed food company called Sojo Foods in Washington. Toba Sojo was a Japanese Buddhist priest and painter. Emilio Sojo was a Venezuelan Musician. If you live in Korea, Sojo is an alcoholic beverage. [Just kidding, don't trust Urban Dictionary and don't go around asking for Sojo in Korea. :P]

It makes me happy to know that my name is associated with so many good things in the world. Perhaps it is the dash of narcissism in me that makes me invest a lot of emotional energy on my name. Freud would call it cathexis. No wonder I am a blogger. All of us, bloggers are narcissists and we cathect on blogging because we love ourselves a lot more than we would love anyone else. Er, I don't mind doing that as long as it makes me feel good.

Okie! Have you ever googled your name to see how it looks online? Have you ever gone on ego-surfing like I did? What did you come across? Let me know, I would love to know.

Is news reporting more important than saving a life?

2010-01-12T05:35:00.000-08:00

When Shruti [so did Venky and Narendra] had responded to my last post on the cold-blooded murder of Sub Inspector Vetrivel, she raised a pertinent question: "Is telecasting a news [story] more important than saving a life?" Now, I know that the question was not directed at me expecting an answer. It was a question to challenge the Mainstream Media, infamous for their insatiable appetite for scoop and sensationalism. However, the question got me thinking!

Kevin Carter was a South African Photojournalist and a member of Bang Bang Club, which courageously exposed the morbidity and brutality of South African Apartheid. In March 1993, Kevin shot a photograph, while he was in Sudan, which won him the much acclaimed Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography and made him famous world over. That was the photograph of a Sudanese girl, crawling to a feeding center. Kevin knew instinctively that this moment could stir the whole world into action. As Kevin was getting ready with the camera a vulture landed right behind his subject, waiting for the moment of death. He clicked the photograph and waited for the bird to fly away. When the bird did not, he chased it away. He sat under a tree depressed, watching her struggle and smoking a cigarette. As he was sitting there, Kevin later claimed, he was talking to God.

Sure, the photograph caught the world's attention. It won Kevin the Pulitzer Prize in 1994. However, Kevin faced fierce criticism for abandoning the child.St. Petersburg Times wrote: "The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering, might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene." However, defending Kevin, Greg Sebastian Marinovich, another South African photojournalist wrote: "His job as a journalist to show the plight of the Sudanese had been completed, exceeded, in fact. The bottom line was that Lifeline Sudan had not flown in Kevin and João to pick up or feed children - they were flown in to show the worst of the famine and generate publicity."

What Greg said about Kevin is exactly what I would like to say about the unknown armature photographer who shot the plight of dying Vetrivel. He did not shoot it for fame and we do not know him. He shot it to show us the shamefully thoughtless and unsympathetic face of Indian Politics. I think I can see why no one tried to help Vetrivel. Perhaps, they were worried that this was the doing of one or the other Underworld Dons of Tamilnadu and they did not want to get into their hit list by helping an enemy of the Underworld.. And I think, the photographer helped us rethink about what politics, politicians and democracy should mean to all of us.

It was not the job of the journalist to help the dying man. That would be a form of Media Activism. His job was to show us that the people on the ground did not do their job and he did that well. On any given day, I would prefer media not getting into activist mode. Because Media Activism and Media Trials can make us go blind. Media Activism and Media Trials promote prejudices. As I said in my comment to Shruti, Media is a mirror and I prefer the mirror to stay that way and reflect. I would seriously like it if media kept going after their scoops and sensational stories than getting into philanthropy mode. As a citizen, that would help me think about and redefine my own role in the society. The bottom line is, telecasting that news was more important than saving his life if it made us rethink how we need to deal with our democracy.

We deserve our leaders (Blog-a-ton 6)

2010-01-08T14:44:00.001-08:00

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 6; the sixth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

It is late night. It is dark. I am sitting on the terrace of my apartment block as I key in this. I am in a terrible state of mind. When I get ready for Blog-a-Ton 6 I am supposed to be excited as usual, thinking about the number of people who are going to visit pagedIN from tomorrow, the number of comments that I are on my way. But I am not that excited today.

I was getting my post for Blog-a-Ton 6 ready in the evening. I wanted to try and see how the word ‘writer’s block’ evolved. I was putting together my post and was on the third paragraph when TweetDeck brought up a shocking news and a graphic video clip along with it, from @ndtv. In a clear case of mistaken identity, a Tamilnadu Police Officer was brutally murdered in Thirunelveli. More pathetic and brutal than the murder itself was the attitude of the two Ministers and top-notch Government Officers who stood there, watching a helpless man bleed to death. It seems that the ministers never bothered to get out of their car and it took eight minutes for the Collector to get out and call an ambulance. The government convoy waited next to the dying man for twenty minutes, for the ambulance to arrive. I was shocked. I was angry. I was agitated. I was disillusioned. I felt terrible. I forgot Blog-a-Ton. I forgot Writer’s Block. The image of a dying man, with no one to help him next to a fleet of white cars was all I could think of. Shame on you India, I thought. Shame on you Indian democracy, I thought.
I can understand why no one got out of the cars to help this man for the first eight minutes. Our times are really bad. The police had to make sure that this was not a ploy to harm the VIPs in the cars for security reasons. I can really understand why they waited for eight minutes before getting out to find what was happening. But, after that? When there were at least five to eight cars at the place, they waited for an ambulance to arrive. Leaders who are elected to serve the people, two of them, were at the spot and they never bothered to get out, they never ordered the policemen to rush the victim to the hospital.
Where are we heading to? How meaningful is a democracy of this sort, if the leaders do not have even the sensibility to help a man dying right in front of their eyes? Whom can we blame? My mind was reeling with questions on questions, when all of a sudden I remembered a situation I witnessed a few months ago.
I was in Kerala, in my hometown. I had to go to another city for something very important and I was walking to the bus terminal. It was afternoon and the sun was blazing. As I was walking, I noticed an old man struggling by the wayside. Everyone who passed by him never bothered to stop and take a look at what was happening. They just passed him by as though nothing was going on. I was on the opposite side of the road. I noticed that his face was covered in blood. He was an old man. He was trying to get up on his feet and it sure looked like he was not going to. And the City Hospital was a few feet away from there, where he was lying. What did I do?
I wanted to help him. But was he a drunkard? Or was he attacked by someone and were I going to end up in trouble if I went ahead and helped him? Or did he really need help? And why would I be bothered when no one around seemed to be bothered? I was going to be there only for a day or two and I didn’t want to end up in trouble, called to the court as a witness for things like that. I could have drawn the attention of the people around to that old man and told them I thought that man was in trouble and needed help. I could have run to the hospital and informed the Emergency Ward about the man dying [I wish he was not] right in front of their hospital. What did I do? I did nothing, I walked away.
Now as I sit to judge the elected representatives to tell them they don’t deserve to be our leaders, the dying man I did not help stands there, laughing at me. When I tell them how shamelessly inhuman they are, he shows me my own inhuman tendencies. I cannot judge them. They are my leaders because I deserve them. We are living in the most insensitive era of history. We just do not care. How can I expect my leaders to be sensitive, when I am not? “Be the change you want to see!”, the shadow of the frail half-naked man who lived and died for Indians whispers in my ears.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Shashi Tharoor spotted playing on Twitter

2010-01-03T07:58:00.001-08:00

@ShashoTharoor playing # Twitronym with indian Tweeple

It was fun following Shashi Tharoor on Twitter today. Probably the Minister of States (External Affairs) got bored during Prime Minister’s Science Speech and the later meeting with KPCC leaders today and he started retweeting from ÜberTwitter what his fans on Twitter were tweeting him. It all started in the morning with Tharoor tweeting the acronyms, CURIE and INSPIRE, trying to establish how smart we Indians, including the Prime Minister, are with acronyms. PM’s ‘science speech’ featured INSPIRE (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) and CURIE (Consolidation of University Research, Innovation &Excellence). Tharoor’s followers on Twitter got inspired and started tweeting all possible expansions of Shashi, Tharoor and Twitter. Tharoor inaugurated the game, expanding Twitter as “Thoughts Which I Think That Everyone (should) Read” Followers followed suit, expanding Twitter, eulogizing Tharoor in every possible way. Soon some one re-christened acronym, in true Twitter Spirit, as #Twiteronym and rest is history. [Or should I say the rest is Twitry!]

Here are some samples of the retweets:

Thanks Viki! RT @viki0510: @ShashiTharooralternate acronym for TWITTER- Tharoor Wants India To Take Effective Responsibility

No comment on this acronymn! RT @vasanthpai: @ShashiTharoor or THAROOR WRITING INCESSANTLY TO THREATEN ESTABLISHMENT's RIGIDITY?

Will try to live up2this! RT @sgudey: @ShashiTharoor DearMinister,SHASHI - Smart and Hardworking Administrator Showering Hope for India(ns)

Even better!! RT @sarathvk: @ShashiTharoorTharoor's Wisdom In Tiny Texts Endlessly Reported :P

Good advice! RT @raghavsarathy: @ShashiTharoor (S)shouldn't (H)he (A)also (S)sit at (H)home (I)idle , if unwell. :-) My attempt

RT @amrith10: @ShashiTharoor TWITTER: Twitter- Where Innocent Tweets're Twisted Endlessly Round

Flattered! RT @arun4: @ShashiTharoorTWITTER = Tharoor Wins Indians Through Technology, Erudition & Reason.

I keep meaning to stop these RTs but good ones keep coming in! RT @MadHuman: #TWITronym The Web Invention That Tharoor Employs Regularly

Initially, I could not simply accept a Minister wasting valuable public-paid time to engage in silly games on Twitter. And I tweeted: “@ShashiTharoor is playing acronym with Indian tweeple. Cool way to engage citizens. (smiles)” On second thought, I realized I should appreciate what Tharoor was doing. For an ordinary citizen like me, Ministers are people who avoid anything ‘cattle class"’, travel in air conditioned cars, sleep in air conditioned rooms and never available without previous appointments except during elections. And here is a Minister interacting (even if that means he was playing playing ‘inky pinky ponky’) with at least the people who have the luxury of using Twitter. Not bad I thought. All work and no play makes jack a dull boy. At least he is spending quality time with Indian Tweeple, if not Indian People, one way or the other.
Update: Title changed! From @ShashiTharoor playing #Twitronym with Indian Tweeple :)

Where should the 3 Idiots vs FPS Row lead Hollywood?

2010-01-02T12:54:00.001-08:00

Chetan Bhagat has finally realized that there is no point in going back and forth making allegations and announced his decision on his blog not to talk about the issue again. However, I think it is a good exercise and in the interest of everyone to try and figure out where all this should lead Hollywood to.
Before we go further, you might be interested in taking a look at the arguments and counterarguments that made into headlines big time after the release of 3 Idiots, a film based on Chetan’s first novel, Five Point Someone.

Chetan’s Arguments	VC Team’s Counterarguments
Chetan argues, with the support of his Fan Mails, more than 70% of the film is directly from FPS, though the film makers claim 3 Idiots is only 2 to 5 % inspired by the book.	A site called thefourthidiot.com, launched by Amit Jotwani, lists out at least 25 ways in which the film is different from the book.
Chetan said he was hurt and shocked to see that the film makers did not give him due credit in the film.	VC Team claimed that they gave Chetan the credit due to him as per the contract the Production House had entered into with Chetan.
Chetan claims that he was never shown the final script	Hungama.com interviewed Chetan before the release of the film and during the interview he tells us Raju Hirani narrated the script to him more than once.
Chetan claims that he was never shown the film before it was released.	Hirani claims that when he tried to contact Chetan when the final print arrived, he was in Hongkong. And Chetan had seen the film during Premiere.

Chetan concluded the sale of FPS Rights to VC Films four years ago and that was his first Film Right Sale. Both Chetan and VC Films entered into a contract, which said “It shall be obligatory on the part of the producer to accord credit to the author in the rolling credits of any audio-visual moving image software (of any format or form in any media or medium) produced by the Producer in terms of the exercise and the execution of the rights herein granted as under – Based on the Novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat.” Rolling credits? Have you heard of rolling credits? A film has only Opening Credits and Closing Credits. There is nothing like Rolling Credits. Even if there is, it is a technique film editors use to render credits. Chetan has a clear case in favour of him here because the term “Rolling Credits” in the contract is not defined and is misleading. Credits can roll in the beginning or end of a film, depending on what the director decides. And the contract does not tell us when exactly the director would want the credit to roll. I know that line of argument sounds childish to you. But a good lawyer can make it sound valid in court, with the help of a language expert.
Let us accept that “Rolling Credits” indeed meant “Closing Credits”. Chetan can again argue that he accepted that thinking only 2 to 5 % is taken from the book and rest of it is VC Film’s own doing. We all know what VC Films was trying to feed us before the film released. They were claiming that the film is completely different from the book. After I watched it, I am sure I can give 50 examples for why the film is ripped straight off from the book, against “thefourthidiot’s” 25 examples for why the film is not the book. Just because you add a few subplots to the original plot, splash a little colour and add a couple of songs do not mean that a story is original. And everyone knows what Closing Credits mean to Indian Audience. Closing Credits is a time when we get ready to leave the Movie Hall. Chetan clearly deserved an Opening Credit and what VC did was a clear violation of Copyright Laws.
You may argue Chetan did not object about credits when Hirani “narrated” the script to him several times. Give me a break! Do you know the difference between hearing a ‘narrated’ script and ‘reading the final script’? We do not know what script Hirani narrated to Chetan. We will never know because Chetan is not going to talk about it anymore. We will also never know if Chetan made it to the Premiere of the Film. I hope Hirani has tickets to show that Chetan travelled from Hongkong to India for the Premiere. Otherwise, that will not be considered in court.
It is very evident that VC Films, with the help of AAmir Khan and Hirani, is trying to take our attention away from the key issue. The issue here is “Credits”. Everyone knows that Chetan was not given due credit. Like Vikas Swarup was given credit for his Q&A in Slumdog Millionaire. If VC Films can figure out what Swarup’s Credit in Slumdog Millionaire meant, they will understand what Chetan is talking about.
I am sure we would not have heard about Swarup if an Indian Film Maker produced Slumdog Millionaire. We heard about Swarup because there is a Writer’s Guild in Hollywood and they would have sued Danny Boyle’s ass had he not given Swarup his due credit. And that is exactly what we lack in Bollywood, a Writer’s Guild. I think the FPS vs 3 Idiots Row should lead us there. Chetan should think of using his advocacy charms to woo the Bollywood Writers, get them together and form a Writer’s Guild in India.
Update: Just like I thought. Chetan confirmed today [Jan 5, 2010] that he did not read the final script. It was only narrated to him. Now, there is a big difference between reading the script and hearing the script.

Tehelka Exposed: An unfair subscription model!

2009-12-27T03:01:00.000-08:00

In the Information Era, Media creates memes. And Mainstream Media controls the circulation of memes. It is only once in a while the not-so-mainstream counterparts of Media Giants get to control the center stage and have their say in how we use our memes. In India, the 21^st Century began with a News Portal called Tehelka appearing out of the blue, flinging "sting operation" and "match fixing" to our direction. Suddenly, that was the only news for sometime. India was impressed, so was I. With Fallen Heroes, the paperback from Buffalo Books that catapulted Tehelka into the radar of our fickle byte-sized social attention, the phrase "sting operation" became synonymous to "Investigative Journalism" Tarun Tejpal was all of a sudden a name everyone knew and a name many trusted.

In 2000, Tehelka made many of us glad that the overpaid heroes of a useless game got what they deserved. In 2001, they shocked us again. On March 13, 2001, Tarun wrote, "In comparison, Fallen Heroes was a cake walk...In the final count, Fallen Heroes was only about being cheated of some entertainment; Operation West End is about being cheated of your nationalism." The Shady Defense Deals that Tehelka brought to light made people conceive them as the torchbearers of truth and social commitment. It was after Operation West End and in 2001, I became a regular Tehelka Reader.

In 2007, as India was slowly recovering from Gujarat 2002, Tehelka shocked us again, coming out with a series of spy cam video footages that exposed how Narendra Modi knew the plan for the Riot and how he gave the Rioters three days to do whatever they wanted. Though the timing of the report was highly criticized as it was released just in time for Gujarat Elections, Tehelka reiterated its image in the minds of Indian Reading Public as a Socially Committed, Impartial and Courageous Media Group that stood for truth and justice.

As Media Giants were busy finding new ways to force-feed Indian Readers with the excess of Page 3 Journalism, Tehelka was trying its best to project itself as a Team of Public Interest Journalists. In 2009, Tehelka took its popular walk through "the glitzy world Tehelka failed to get its head around" with Nisha Susan. Nisha wrote:"The magazine sometimes seems like the healthy vegetable that you ought to eat, but don’t want to, when all around are bowls of mango and chocolate ice-cream", projecting Tehelka as the only hope in an otherwise hopeless world of Epicurean-inspired Journalism.

To suit my Indian Psyche that strongly believes Politicians and Journalists are Social Workers and not Capitalist Professionals who are out there to make some money, Tehelka projected its image as a newspaper that never compromised Social Responsibility to Commercial Survival. Tarun and Co did successfully socialize the Educated Indian Middle Class and made them believe that if you are modern, intelligent and progressive you would sure regularly read Tehelka. Now that the brand is successfully built, looks like Tehelka has finally decided to go the Capitalist Way and make money which ever way they can.

I think it is Chairman Mao who said, "I don't care if the cat is black or white as long as it catches mice." After I took a look at Tehelka's Subscription Form, I felt even Tehelka is going in that direction of not bothering how they do it as long as it brings money in. [Click to enlarge the image] What am I talking about? I am talking about something that many of us will not bother about as we fill up the Subscription Form in case we decide to avail Tehelka's attractive offer of saving 41% on a 3 year subscription and getting a free "Messenger Bag"

Take a closer look at the Subscription Form and you will know Tehelka asks for information that are not actually required to become a Subscriber. What is the actual information a Publisher requires from a buyer? Your name , address to where the product must be shipped and the payment details. But look at Tehelka's Subscription Form: they would also like to know your education, monthly income and occupation. And after they ask all that, right there in fine print you will find a sentence, if you have a perfect 20:20 Vision. It goes like this: "If you prefer that we do not share your personal details for other promotional schemes, please tick the box."

There used to be a time when Tobacco Companies used to write "Smoking is Injurious to Health" in typefaces no one could read. Why? It was meant to be not noticed. Exactly, anything in fine print is meant to be not noticed. So is Tehelka's option for you to opt out of promotional schemes. I am hundred percent sure that 50% of people who fill up that Subscription Form is not going to Opt Out not because they do not want to Opt Out but because either they have not read that line or because they are not aware of the implications of that line.

What does that line mean? Nothing is mentioned about how they are going to share my personal details. So I am assuming that Tehelka is going to sell my information to Direct Marketing Companies so that they can pitch their products based on my education, income and occupation. This means, if I subscribe to Tehelka and forget to tick Opting Out of Promotional Schemes, I am going to be bombarded with Promotional Calls.

A month back, I got a call from some Company in Chennai. It was a promotional call. They wanted to sell me a CD that claimed to teach me how to make "Good PowerPoint Presentations" What surprised me was the fact that they knew what I was, where I was and what I do for a living. I don't know how and from where they got these details. They wouldn't tell me. All that I know is, once in a week different people from the same company call me to convince me to buy a 2500 INR worth CD for 1500 INR. They do not care if I am busy or not, they do not care if I am in the middle of some urgent work related stress. And you just cannot slam the phone down because some how you have got it into your mind that it is impolite to slam the phone down.

Coming back to Tehelka and their Opt Out Option, I don't seriously know why my information has to be shared with someone. I am questioning the ethics that shaped this business model for Tehelka. Being a socially responsible, pro-people Media Company, they should be concerned about sharing the information that I give them with someone else. They are people who blow the whistle on unhealthy, illegal and anti-social practices. What guarantee do they have that the information they share is going to responsible people? What guarantee do they have the people with whom they share my personal details wouldn't sell it to some one else who may misuse it?

Tehelka asks for my email address and phone number. Does sharing also mean that they are going to share my phone number and email address? If they share my phone number and email address, what guarantee do I have that it will not end up in the hands of spammers and scammers? Does Tehelka know that doing this so called sharing, they are going to encourage the most heinous online practice called "Email Harvesting"? Or"Phone Number Harvesting"? Or "Address harvesting"?

Why do Tehelka give you an option to opt out? Now, they know that most of us are not going to tick that box because most of us do not know what it implies. Later, if something goes wrong and someone goes to Court and if the Court finds out that Tehelka is the source of information, they can play safe showing that the customer agreed that the details could be shared. If everything works out right, since Subscription information is bound to be authentic, Tehelka can make some money selling my details. Tehelka knows no one will talk about this shady business because, in India we are yet to be hit by large scale scams that involve "Information Harvesting" and people are not very much aware.

We are Indians, so is our English! So what?

2009-12-16T20:46:00.001-08:00

I am pissed off! Well, I am an Indian right? So, like any normal Indian, I am supposed to have no sense of humour and I cannot LOL and ROTFL, as Blogadda would like me to, when I see someone make fun of something most of us Indians do, for which Americans and British should be really thanking us. I am talking about the take on Indian English in a Blog Post that Blogadda picked as their Tangy Tuesday Pick.
I don’t deny the prominence of English across the world. I don’t have any problem with that. In fact, I use English as much as I use Malayalam or Kannada or Tulu or Tamil, when need arises. I blog in English as I used to in Malayalam. And sometimes there are days when I speak nothing other than English. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t want anything to do with the Mother-tongue Fanatics who vehemently oppose any other language than their own. I perfectly understand that the currency of a language is attached to the economy of a country and we cannot help but use the language that gets us food. I can live with the fact that at present, in India, English gets me better food than any other language. But that doesn’t give any one the right to say I must use that language the way British or Americans would like me to use it.

I cannot understand why! Americans speak English the way they want and it is American English. And we have Australian English and no one seems to have any problem with that. I watch movies that Hollywood churns out and I see men and women who have Latin American or Chinese English Accent and way of using English being given lead roles and projected as ‘sexy’ and fit-to-be-admired. But when it comes to Indians speaking in English NRIs seem to have an issue with it. I just cannot understand why!
You are right, I meant Non-resident Indians! NRIs always seem to have issues with anything that is Indian. So do many of the so called Indian Sahibs and Memsahibs, new generation and old! We don’t speak good English. Our roads are not so great and are dirty. Our slums are the worse places on earth. Our cloths are so sad! Look at USA, they say. Look at England! Look at the Western Countries! Why can’t we be for a moment like Western Countries, at least for a moment, they ask! I would say it is the very thing that makes them ask these questions that puts our country in a position that does not allow us to think and act like Westerners do. The two key differences between a Westerner and an Indian? One, they are proud of their culture and we are not. Two, if there is something that they are not proud about in their culture, they are willing to correct it but we are not.
I remember our former president, APJ Abdul Kalam. He used to talk about his Vision of India in 2020. I can vaguely recall something he said once during a speech [correct me if I am wrong] as he was elucidating his India Vision 2020. He pointed out something that is obviously wrong with most of us Indians, NRIs included. If we are in USA, or Singapore or any foreign country for that matter, we don’t spit on the road. We don’t throw our garbage anywhere we please. We stick to their traffic rules. The moment we are back in India, the moment we step out of that plane, we become the same old Indians again. We do everything we wouldn’t be doing if we were in another country. I think that is the key issue we should be talking about. We should be talking about why we don’t care about India the way we would other countries. The peripheral aspects like language and cleanliness will take care of its own when we start caring about the idea of India and when we are proud about the fact that we are Indians.
I am pissed off! No, don’t get me wrong. It is not about the author. It is about what she wrote, and what made her write what she wrote! It is about what makes the thousands of NRIs and Indian Sahibs and Memsahibs LOL and ROTFL about India!

Tears of Love

2009-12-13T03:42:00.001-08:00

"Tears of Love" is a poem by one of my very good friends, Donna Grace Jose. Donna is not a Blogger and I am not sure if you are going to read what Donna writes any time soon because she does not believe in publishing what she writes. It was by chance that I came across a few poems written by Donna and I really liked them them moment I read them. I tried to convince Donna to start writing a blog, but unfortunately she did not agree. Finally, after so many arguments and counter-arguments, Donna allowed me to publish "Tears of Love."

"Tears of Love" has Donna's signature and style on it. I would like to proudly present you "Tears of Love" by Donna Grace Jose, the first guest post on pagedIN. I am glad that the first guest post is a beautiful poem like "Tears of Love"

Tears of Love

i cry now,
for those times
for those faces
i miss

do they know,
my tears for them?

its a river now,
an endless river,
which will keep on flowing

cry...

Written by: Donna Grace Jose

Why I hate going to Bangalore!

2009-12-07T05:28:00.000-08:00

Please don't be offended, Bangalore is one place I just cannot stand. I hate going to Bangalore, though I have to go there at least once in a month because my job demands it. No, I don't hate Bangalore because I hate the hustle and bustle of the city and I am a romantic at heart. I prefer to live in a city at any given point of time and I have no romantic notions what so ever attached to where I live. I can eat anywhere, sleep anywhere!

Then, why do I hate going to Bangalore? I hate going to Bangalore for only one reason.That one reason is the city's auto rickshaw or three-wheeler (tuk-tuk,trishaw, auto, rick, autorick or rickshaw in popular parlance¹) Drivers. Yes, I hate going to the City of Bangalore because of it's rick drivers. They give me the feeling that they are the most unreasonable lot to tread the face of the earth!

I often try and compare the Bangalore Rick Drivers to the Mangalore Rick Drivers. I am always pleased with the later than the former. Rick Drivers of Bangalore can simply rob you in daylight if they sense that you are new to the place. They will either take you round and round the City before they reach you where you are supposed to reach or they will charge you double of what it actually costs to reach where you want to reach. So the first question they ask you when you tell them where you want to go is usually going to be about a landmark only the people who live in that City are familiar with. If you fail that test of identifying the landmark as accurately as the fellow expects you to, be sure that you will be taken for a ride!

I used to always end up hating Bangalore more when ever I went there, officially or unofficially. My Bangalore Dekho Rick Ride is a very popular joke among my colleagues in Bangalore. My Head Quarters was in Indiranagar till a couple of weeks ago and God alone, if he is up there, knows the kind of mess I used to end up because of Bangalore Rick Drivers every time I visited HQ. I was just getting familiar with the place and out of the blue, as though fate would want me live with an eternal hatred for Bangalore, my HQ is relocated to a place in Bangalore I haven't even heard of. With that, I am sure, my Bangalore Dekho Rick Rides are back to square on again.

When the same me is in Mangalore and catch a Rick to reach somewhere, I always feel I should touch the feet of the driver and pray. They, Mangalore Rick Drivers, are such saints, you know. They always run on meter, even if you are not from Mangalore. They never charge you more than what you read on meter. They charge you one and a half or double the fee only if you are travelling late night. They will never take you round and round the City. I always end up thinking that we should do a Rick Driver Exchange Programme between Mangalore and Bangalore.

No, I am not kidding. I think it is high time the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike guys did something about this. Bangalore is one place in India to where all the world come. It is their first impression of the City which decides how they behave there. And Rick Drivers are one group of people who directly deal with most of us who come to Bangalore and how we treat Bangalore depends on how they treat us. They should either stop granting new permits [I don't know if that is done] so that City does not overflow with Ricks and the Drivers don't behave like a wild pack of hounds who are forced to share a tiny piece of meat, if you know what I mean. Or they should teach their Drivers that they have some civic responsibility.

I am sure most of you have heard of Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Temple, and been there. It is a Shaiva Temple, manged by a Jain Royal Family, two and a half hours away from Mangalore. I had the privilege of associating with the Temple Management for an assignment when I was working with the HR Department of one of their Colleges. The assignment was to train the rick drivers of Dharmasthala on civic sense and responsibility.

What was the logic behind training the rick drivers? Thousands of people visit the temple in a year. And their usual mode of transport once they reach Dharmasthala is provided by these rick drivers. The Temple Management rightly understood that the people who visit the place carry their first impressions back to where they came from and these impressions are going to be created by people at the grassroots who directly deal with the pilgrims, like let us say rick drivers.They saw one way out to save the Temple Town from badly behaving [Not as bad as Bangalore, mind you!] drivers and street vendors - train them about how to behave with people!

So I am not joking when I say Bangalore Mahanagara Palike should train their rick drivers on Civic Sense and Responsibility. Or people like me will have to live hating the thought of going to Bangalore!

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_rickshaw
Image: http://img.alibaba.com/photo/10824019/Auto_Rickshaw.jpg

All in a day's work

2009-12-05T01:54:00.000-08:00

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 5; the fifth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton

Hang Murphy for saying, anything that can possibly go wrong, does! I always used to believe that things that can go wrong or goes wrong may all of a sudden go right given a chance and enough faith and patience, sometimes at the last moment. And it used to be that way, often!

I remember being kicked out [Ya, you heard it right! Kicked out!] of a very low-paid 'it-is-my-benevolence-you-are-here' job in a lesser-known College in Karnataka, only to find I myself placed in a well-paid and exciting job, in a week, in a well-known college in Karnataka. I was asked to leave the place at a time when there was no vacancies in Colleges where I lived and after I turned down a couple of good offers a week before my management-reserves-the-right-not-to-state-reasons dismissal. In a week's time, I got a better job and that too because I was half an hour late for an interview I was supposed to attend in the first place. The Dismissal and the Late Coming could have proved Murphy right. But life thought otherwise!

I remember reaching the Mangalore Railway Station once, barely in time because of a sudden roadblock, only to find the moving train. That Train was to Trivandrum and I had to reach the place early next morning or I was doomed because I had a client waiting there expecting my arrival and an event scheduled which depended entirely on my arrival. The roadblock could have proved Murphy right. But life thought otherwise! It was all in slow motion and counted frame by frame, in milliseconds. I did not miss that train.

With everything that I believed, Murphy tried to prove me wrong day before yesterday. He tried to prove, hang him for trying to prove the truth, that anything that can possibly go wrong, does!

It was a very normal day, day before yesterday, until evening! We usually leave office at 6.00 pm or 6.30 pm in the evening. So rest of my colleagues left office as usual. It was 7.00 pm and I was waiting for my colleague who worked as a freelancer for us to come and collect a couple of important documents. After my colleague left, I sat for some more time to check emails. It started raining all of a sudden and I thought I better leave. I went around closing the windows and doors.

To prove Murphy right, I decided I would close the two doors to my Office Room last and then lock the main door. Now, my Office Room has two doors. One opens to the balcony. One opens to the Main Office Hall. Both remained open, as I went around closing other doors and windows. As I was closing the other doors, I heard one of the doors to my Office Room bang shut. I did not really bother about it at that point of time because I thought it was the door to the balcony. I checked all the other windows and doors, taking my own sweet time, and then came back to pick my bag from my Office Room and leave.

I came back and saw the door to my office room shut. I turned the knob and pushed the door. It wouldn't budge. When the door banged shut, the lock got jammed. I tried to open it using the key I had. The key turned and clicked but the door would not open. Then, the alarm rang in my head - Sweetheart, the door to the balcony is open! Oh! My Goodness! The Door to the Balcony is Open!

It was 9 pm by the time I got exhausted trying all the tricks I had up my sleeves to cajole the door to open, cursing Murphy every time I tried something. I tried using the key. I tried easing the lock with the oil I had in the Office kitchen. I tried to open it with a screw driver. Nothing worked. I tried calling our carpenter and the guy would not pick up his phone. And it was still raining.

Finally, I decided to let my colleagues know and sleep in the Office. Luckily for me, we have a guest room in our Office and I decided to spend the rest of the night there. Call the carpenter in the morning and fix the thing. That was the only option left.

Getting a carpenter or a plumber to come when you need him the most is next to impossible. We tried all morning yesterday and all the carpenters in Mangalore are busy when you really need them. First, our carpenter said he would come at 10.00 am. Then he said, he would come at 2.00 pm. Then he said, he would come at 6.00 pm. When I made my last and final do-it-or-hang-yourself call at 6 pm because he did not turn up, he was all honey candy and promised me he would send his apprentice at 10.00 am today morning. Do you know what that means? I am spending the rest of my life in the Office Guest Room till the carpenter comes and gets the damn door open! Till then, it is gona be all till-the-carpenter-repairs- the-door work, instead of all in a days work!

I am trying my best to find reasons to prove Murphy wrong again, I hate losing. I think the door got jammed with a purpose, for good. In fact, if the door never got jammed I would have never participated in Blog-a-Ton 5! I had no clue what to write about "All in a day's work!" Look at me, now that the door got jammed and I am endlessly waiting for the carpenter to come to my rescue, I got something to write about. At least about "all till-the-carpenter-repairs- the-door work", if not about "All in a day's work!"

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

UPDATE: Thank God! I could catch hold of a carpenter and get the door right. My wait to get home is finally over. The guy is sitting here sipping a hot cup of tea after the job, as I am typing this!

What will a lot of TV do to your kid?

2009-11-27T22:34:00.001-08:00

My friend has this technique to calm her naughty four year old son down – turn the TV on and give him the Remote Control. She does this so that she can have some peace at home, when he is around. When our little guy is in a good mood, all hell break lose at home. Papers and books fly around. Bottles of water colours are splashed on the walls of the house. When he is in a bad mood, there is absolute havoc again. He screams and stomps. Breaks anything that comes on his way. To top it, this stay-at-home mom got hundred other things to manage. The easy way out is to turn on the tube and let the little guy watch his favourite Pogo and Mister Bean.

Another friend of mine turns the tube on for his kid for a different reason. Both, he and his wife are so scared about letting this little one out of their studio apartment on the fourth floor. What if she falls down and scrape her knee? What if somebody hurts her? What if she is kidnapped? When ever she says she wants to go out and play, they switch the TV on. She watches Cartoon Network and Pogo and forgets her friends playing down there in the parking lot. The parents are relieved their five year old daughter is safe in here, happily watching her favourite characters flash on the screen.

There is one more thing in common with both these parents. They want their children to grow up happy, smart and strong. What do they do to achieve that goal? Every month they buy a neat packet of one of these so called energy drinks. Boost, Horlics, Complan – you name it. TV commercials on energy drinks and memory enhancers are their favourites. And like many parents out there, they assume that drinking a cup of energy drink every day will make the child grow into a champ, magically. However, the truth is, even if energy drinks can do something about children growing up, tube can kill what the drink proposes to do.

I stumbled upon this article as I was reading Great Myth Conceptions by Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki. The book is about some 52 misconceptions we generally have. Dr. Karl sets out to clear them, explaining each myth scientifically. One of them is the myth that children grow gradually. He says, children grow in spurts. A child may grow overnight and then may not grow for some time at all. In a study conducted by Pensalvania University and Virginia Helath Science Centre, some children did not grow at all for 63 days and then suddenly ‘spurt up to 25 mm’. ‘They found periods of non-growth varying from 2 and 28 days, with growth spurts from 8 to 16 mm’.

In the same article, Dr. Karl also explains a research by Menzies Research Institute. ‘The institute looked at 130 boys, aged 16 and 17 years for a period of six weeks during winter. If the boys watched TV for less than one hour a day, they grew 7.5 mm.If they watched TV for two to three hours a day, they grew a lesser amount – only 2.5 mm. And if they watched more than four hours of TV, they stopped growing entirely during the six week window.’

What is the scientific reason behind this? They say Vitamin D is highly essential for children to grow. Vitamin D is required for bones to grow. And sunlight is a great source of Vitamin D. So when you shut a child in his room and switch on the TV for him, there is no chance for him to get his share of Vitamin D. Sure, they can get enough Vitamin D by eating deep-sea fish like salmons. But why spend a lot of money buying fish when you get plenty of Vitamin D for free from nature?

I hope parents who try and force their children to watch TV, will take note of this before they turn them into useless 'dwarf' couch potatoes!

Why women wear red?

2009-11-23T09:14:00.001-08:00

I often, at least once a month, travel by Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation long distance buses from Mangalore to Bangalore and back. Now, though we have 6518 Mangalore to Bangalore Yesvantpur Express, I prefer the good old KSRTC semi-sleeper buses. I prefer KSRTC buses for the simple reason that though they call 6518 an Express, it does not run quite like an Express. It travels perhaps slower than a snail, so slow that sometimes you think you can walk to Bangalore with the train.

Most of my friends who go to and come back from Bangalore travel either by train or by Sleeper Buses. I don’t like travelling to Bangalore in those sleeper buses for two reasons. First, I don’t want to get battered up like egg in milk by the time I reach Bangalore. Two, it is suffocating and claustrophobic in those sleeper bunkers. So I stick to KSRTC semi-sleepers, now and forever, if I ever want to go Bangalore.

Now, why am I telling you about my travel habits?

If I need to travel more than six to seven hours to reach the place I want to reach I try my best to catch a night bus that will reach me where I want to reach early in the morning. I travel by night service buses if I want to go Bangalore too. And it was during one of these journeys I began to notice a pattern, a pattern which I first thought was silly. I started taking it seriously after I realized that the pattern keeps emerging every time I travel at night, by bus or train. The thing is, I come across at least one woman wearing red during most of my night journeys. And most of them are women travelling alone. In other words, every time I travel at night I come across at least one mostly single female co-passenger wearing red. And I started wondering why!

You notice a woman wearing a red dress during one of your journeys. And where I come from you cannot, under any just pretence, walk up to the lady and ask her: “Hi Miss! Would you care to tell me why you are in red today?!” A tight “Slap” would be the answer if you happened to ask that question to one of those highly liberated Indian women, who is also likely to be a Shobha De fan. A frightened flinch would be the answer if you happened to ask it to one of those girls who haven’t yet understood the meaning of being a feminist. And if the woman is a Blank Noise reader, you are sure to have the bus redirected to a police station and a picture of you approaching the poor, clueless, helpless dame plastered all over their site with an “I didn’t ask for it” caption. So when I have this urge to ask this lady in red today why she is in red, I push my seat back and go to sleep.

But you know what, certain questions don’t go away that easily. And I happened to get my one and only chance a couple of weeks ago as I was travelling from Mangalore to my home town in 6630 Malabar Express. Fortunately, I did not have a reservation and I hopped into a reservation compartment hoping that I could convince the TTR to give me a berth. Now, to me it looks like TTRs are the only bunch of bureaucrats in India who are not corrupted. They just won’t budge and let you inside a reservation compartment if you do not have a reserved ticket even if you are willing to push wads of cash into their hands. There is no ‘under the table"’ business when it come to an Indian TTR and I think that is because they don’t have tables on Indian Trains.

Where was I? Ya, I hopped into 6630, into a reservation compartment and sat where I found a vacant seat, waiting for the TTR to come and give me a seat or kick me out. Usually, Malabar Express is a long waiting list train and it is idiotic to travel by that train without a reservation. But, this was not one of those neatly pre-planned journeys and I had no way I could reserve a ticket. The train started moving. As I sat there, browsing through the magazine I bought a few minutes ago from the Newspaper Stand at the Railway Station, waiting for my future to unfold, I heard a sweet voice: “Could you please tell me how I go to the Ladies’ Compartment?”

Oh No! Damsel in Distress!! I looked up to see a young girl, dressed in red. Yes, single female, travelling alone, dressed in red! She had a big bag on her shoulder and a confused look in her eyes. “The train started moving and I did not have time to locate the Ladies’ Compartment and I hopped in! Is there some way I could go there?” She asked me.

“I am not sure if you can get into the Ladies’ Compartment from a Reserved Compartment as the connecting door usually remains locked. May be you can get down at the next station and get into the Ladies Compartment.” On second thought, I said, pointing to the seat opposite mine, “Or, why don’t you take a seat! May be when the TTR comes you can ask him for a berth. Even i am not travelling reserved.”

She took her seat and we got into talking mode. She relaxed a bit when she came to know that I was going to the same place as she was. The TTR came and I did not have to beg much as there was a woman with me. [Point noted, make sure you take a woman along with you if you are travelling unreserved in Indian Railways.] Both of us got a berth each to sleep – Side Upper and Side Lower. As usual, woman got the better part of the bargain and we decided that I took the Side Upper and she took the Side Lower.

There was still time to grab something for dinner and then go to sleep. We got to know each other a little more better. Finally, after I was convinced that she was neither a feminist nor prudish, I decided to ask her the precious little question that had been troubling me for quite sometime. To me she sounded like a normal girl, so I decided to ask: “Why do women wear red when they travel?” I actually wanted to ask her: “Why do single women who travel alone prefer to wear red?” But I did not, in an attempt not to overdo my curiosity.

“You mean…?” She had a funny look on her face as she looked at her dress and said: “Oh this” and laughed.

“Yes, this” I said: “And I usually come across at least one woman wearing red when I travel and I always wonder why!”

“Um, I don’t know. I just grabbed this as I was in a hurry and did not think about the colour. Is there something wrong with red?” She shrugged.

“Um, no! Just asked. In case you had a reason, that would be very interesting!” You know what, you should not ask two things to a woman. You should not ask her about her age. And you should not ask her to reveal the secrets of her wardrobe and accessories. If you liked what she is wearing, just tell her: “Oh! You look splendid in this!” and that is it. You must not press her for details. She just would not say! I should have thought about that before I asked. We moved on to another topic.

Now, certain questions don’t go away that easily! Today I read a write up that appeared in Science Daily. Two psychologists from the University of Rochester published their study in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2008. That was the first time colour psychology was scientifically documented. According to the study, men find women more attractive in red than in any other colour. Andrew Elliot and Daniela Niesta did five experiments to prove their hypothesis. They measured men’s response to women in pictures framed by different boarders, including red. They measured men’s response to the same woman dressed in red and blue and asked how much money the men were willing to spend on each woman if they had to go out with her on a date. And they finally concluded that red has an aphrodisiac effect on men. Perhaps, the female of our species sensed this much before Andrew and Daniela did.

Now you probably understand why they have the women in Baywatch clad in red bikinis. Or why female monkeys paint their face red. And may be, that is perhaps the same reason why I come across women clad in red every time I travel. At least one of them. They look fabulous in red and you sure take note of them when they are in red.

“I want a wife, not a boss!”

2009-11-12T12:34:00.001-08:00

There is only one disadvantage if you are as old as I am, still not married and live in India – people are constantly bothered about you being single! These days people talk to me as though it is a crime to be my age and not yet married. Everybody wants to know when I am getting married! When I go to my hometown once in a long while and meet a neighbour, that is always the first question. When old batch mates pop up in G-talk or FB Chat after a long time, that is always the second question. When old students meet me, again after a long time on Face Book or Orkut, that is always the third question. In all the five or six job interviews I had faced, that was always the concluding question. They ask me, so, when are you planning to get married? It has become a usual question in all the usual conversations to the extend that now I have developed this habit of wondering what is wrong when someone does not include that million dollar question about marriage in a conversation. It is as though all the married people in the world are scheming against me to lure me to bite the same bait they swallowed unwittingly hook line and sinker years ago. It is as though the not-eligible-to-be-married-yet are wondering when will he or she be eligible for ‘the question’ they throw at me and they are wondering when I am going to ask them back the same thing, if you know what I mean.

I always face the question with a very understanding smile though I am irritated to the core and the first thing I want to say is,”It is none of your business!”. Initially, I used to respond saying, “Er, may be in two or three years!” only to get back, “Oh Gosh, two or three years? Isn’t that such a long time?” Then I developed this habit of shrugging the question off with an I don’t care look, saying, “Well, what is the hurry? Let me get settled first!” only to get back the pearls of wisdom as though I am so naive to think about future, “You know what, if you wait to get settled for such important things in life, blah blah blah…” The other day I was travelling and I learned a new way of fending off this most vital question in a bachelor’s life. Hereafter, if someone asks me when I am getting married, I am going to look straight into their eyes or if they are on chat followed by a “:D” say: “Well buddy, give me one good reason to…”

Ya, I wanted to tell you from where and how I learned to respond to the million dollar question this way. I was travelling back to Mangalore from my hometown in Kerala in a night bus, hoping to reach Kannur in time to catch the early morning train. And there was this guy sitting next to me. Once the lights were switched off he took his cell phone out to engage in an I-am-so-tough conversation with someone. Initially, I thought he was talking to his subordinate as the language was so business like. Eventually, it turned out that he was talking to his wife. I guess the response from the other end was not very pleasing as his was not. He was probably receiving tit for tat. He got into this screaming mode as the conversation progressed. Towards the end of that ugly conversation he suddenly said the classic statement that got me into thinking mode and brought me a new life saving answer for all those inquisitive minds. He said: “I want a wife, not a boss!” The moment I heard the statement, I realized that though I am not married my idea about marriage is right. I always think marriage is the only debate in the world where both the sides are equally right and equally wrong.

When I was a college student, one usual debate topic was “Love Marriage Vs Arranged Marriage.” You don’t get to see that topic in circulation any more. May be that is because, over the years people have come to realize that, be it love or arranged, a marriage that is born to doom always will and it is only a matter of time. If that is the case, then why hurry?

A friend of mine, who got married a few years ago, was telling me how she thought marriage was something special and an out of this world experience. She felt everything was going to change magically right from the wedding day. She is married for the last five years. In retrospect, she told me a couple of days ago, how contrary to her expectations nothing much changed, nothing magical had happened. Now, please don’t misunderstand her. They are a normal Indian married couple who love and respect each other. She was just telling me how melodramatic her idea of marriage was. She told me: “Now I realize that marriage is just that one day! Rest of the life is as usual!” If that is the case, then why hurry?

What is wrong with William and Chetan?

2009-11-01T07:18:00.000-08:00

A post by fellow-blogger Shubhadeep Sarkar, titled 'Bhagat-ism et al' is what prompted me to write this. "Bhagat-ism et al" is Sarkar's impression of Chetan Bhagat, probably after reading his "3 Mistakes of My Life". I am picking a few sentences from the post to show you what exactly nudged me to write this.

Sarkar writes: "I have never been a big fan of Chetan. His style of writing is one of the worst ones for a freak like me who prefers Shakespeare to Sheldon on any given day. ..... I hate reading books and watching movies that contain slangs (especially the 4-lettered words). They are not "Literature" and books that are not a part of "Literature" come in the domain of "Trash". Five point someone, One Night @ The Call Center and The 3 Mistakes of my Life; all come in the latter one."

The post reflects a general tendency among many of us to write off popular fiction as 'trash' for one reason or the other. Sarkar just points a finger at one among them - use of language. He seems not to like the idea of writers using swear words or taboo words when they write. He is of the opinion that such books do not qualify to be literature. I disagree!

Shakespeare is considered to be the epitome of all that qualifies to be English Literature. He is, for most of us, even for people who have not read him at least once, a perfect example of all that literature needs to be. However, I consider Shakespeare as a profitable business. Anything with the name of Shakespeare sells. Britain considers him as one of her successful exports, since people love to adorn their home libraries with things that are even remotely connected with Shakespeare.In India, English Literature begins with Shakespeare. That is what Shakespeare is, a best selling name! Jonathan Bate, British Scholar says: "There was a strong sense that if Britain was a great modern state, as Rome was in ancient times, it must have a canon of classic British literature, as the Romans had their Horace, Ovid and Virgil. As part of establishing high culture in Britain, Shakespeare became the national poet." If Shakespeare is a literary giant today, that is simply because Britain could discover the selling point in Shakespeare.

I am not trying to undermine the literary contributions of Shakespeare when I say this. He was just a successful playwright of his time and nothing more. His scripts sold and they sold because of the very same reason that makes Chetan the most successful Indian Writer of our times. As Sarkar accepts, Chetan sells because he knows his audience and writes in a language many can relate to. Shakespeare ran his shows houseful for the same reason. He knew his audience and wrote in a language even the commonest among them could relate to.

In fact, Shakespeare was nationally accepted as a great poet in Britain only 100 years after his death. During the times of Shakespeare, like in Bollywood or Hollywood today, a writer never enjoyed any popularity. The script, after it was written, belonged to the Theater Company that bought it. Sometimes, a script would be written and rewritten by several different writers to make it suitable to the stage. Experts believe that the reason why Shakespeare survived was because he allowed Theater Companies to alter his work at their will. In other words, writing was a business where Shakespare was concerned. He survived and made money as long as he wrote and the Theater Companies were willing to buy what he wrote. After they bought it, it did not belong to Shakespeare. Any one who understands the way script writing happens Bollywood or Hollywood would understand the way things worked in Elizabethan Theater.

Anglo-Indian writer Sam Sterling said once: "I think if Shakespeare was alive he would be writing for Bollywood films." And I think, if Shakespeare was alive today none of us would have considered him as a literary giant. We would have written him off as someone who writes "trash." if we think using taboo words when one writes disqualifies his work from being considered literature. If you ever get a chance to buy "A dictionary of Shakespeare's sexual puns and their significance" by Frankie Rubinstein, never miss it. It is a reference guide to the hundreds of taboo words Shakespeare used in his plays. It is a 350 page book.

Let me give you a few examples from the dictionary:

In The Merry Wives of Windsor Act II, Scene ii, Line 285, we read "I will use her as the key of the cuckoldly rogue's coffer; and there's my harvest-home". Now, the word key is not the key as in Key and Lock. It is a lewd reference to Crossed Keys, a famous 15 Century brothel. To turn the key meant to have sex. There is another reference to the same word in Henry VI. Henry VI is cuckolded by Margret and is described as "Poor key-cold figure of a holy king!".

In Cymbeline, Act III, Scene v, Line 148, Cloten says "I'll knock her back, foot her home again. She hath despised me rejoicingly, and I'll be merry in my revenge." The word knock is not the knock as in beat up. It is Colten's lecherous way of saying he will have his lustful revenge on the lady.

In Troilus and Cressida, Act I, Scene iii, Line 162, Agamemnon says: " At this fusty stuff The large Achilles, on his press'd bed lolling" Here lolling means to engage in sexually dubious activity.

Now, these are just three words Shakespeare used in some of his plays with explicit sexual connotations. Why did he use them? The same reason why Bhagat uses his 'fucks' and 'shits'. Shakespeare used them to give his audience an idea about the character in a way they would comprehend.

In Chetan Bhagat's novels we are talking about 21^st Century Indian Kids. 'Fucks' and 'Shits' are words they extensively use. When you write about them and when they speak in your novels, you cannot help but use the language that they use to be realistic. For Chetan to be considered 'trash' for using 'four-letter words' extensively in his novels, Shakespeare must be considered 'trash' first as his plays overflow with the use of slangs and sexual puns. Which ever way, Shakespeare wrote in the language of the common people of his time. The reason why it sounds great to us is because we have no clue about the language of the common people of those days.

I think we must overcome this general notion of canonized literature to appreciate a work of art in all its glory. Anything that is canonized and taught in Universities and their Language Departments is not the only Literature. Novels and Poems get canonized more for political reasons than literary.

I also think that we Indians must break free of this idea that anything that cannot be understood is great! This is beautifully reflected in our choice of 'great literature' as well as 'great films'. This is exactly the reason why we have two streams of creativity in our country. We have one group of creative people who are 'award winners', who make stuff that not many Indians can relate to. We have another group of people who are considered to be disgraceful by the intelligentsia because they write or make things that people love to read or watch. Chetan belongs to the second category.

However, I don't think writers like Chetan requires the approval of the intelligentsia to be a great writer. Contrary to what our academic world tries to impress up on us, literature is a business. As Gray Taylor, the American English Professor puts it: "If you believe that Shakespeare's words have survived because they were written by a great poet and playwright, you're wrong. His words have survived because someone put them into pieces of type, set those into forms, pressed those inked forms into sheets of paper and sewed those sheets together in a particular order. And because someone else bought them." In spite of the idealism we attach to the profession of writing, writers are in the business of entertaining people. They are as successful as their ability to relate to their audience. They are successful as long as people buy them.

In short, there is nothing wrong with William and Chetan. If there is something wrong, it is in the way we perceive literature and art.

Image from www.dkimages.com

Life after Death: When I finally die…!

2009-10-27T12:08:00.001-07:00

I presume, death and afterlife appear to be very fascinating and sometimes scary to most of us as we have no clue what is going to be after that. We often try to make sense of the phenomenon of death and the life after and it always comes to us shrouded in mystery. That is probably the reason why we have endless number of ghost stories and films on death and afterlife. And I am sure that is the reason why religion still survives in 21^st Century, even though it is already time for it to be dead and long gone.

This post is because of one of my students. It seems she got her death date checked and found out how many years she is going to live and what she is going to be when she reincarnates. It seems she is going to be an okapi in her next birth. She wanted me to find out when I’ll die and what I’ll be if I am lucky enough to be born again. According to Death Date, the site from where my student found out all these key information about her future, I have only 731911079 seconds left to live and still counting down. In years and months, I have 23 years, 2 months and 9 days left to live! And you know what, I’ll be an ostrich when I am born next.

Ostrich is such a dumb bird and I will never want to be that if the Man up there wants me to come back a second time to earth. The last time I went to Black Thunder, the chlorine smelling and the most unimaginatively designed Water Theme Park in Tamilnadu, I saw this bird. I am not sure if it was an Emu or an Ostrich. But I know it really really looked dumb. And oh my God, to think of all those stories about the stupid ostrich that buries its head in the sand every time it comes across an enemy! Troubled by the thought of becoming one among the dumbest birds ever to walk on earth next time, I set out to see if there is some way I can change what is going to be.

Things I found out were not very comforting. People with a religious bent of mind scared the hell out of me with stories about heaven and hell. Different religions decide who goes to heaven or hell based on different criteria. That is, the thing you do that takes you to heaven according to one religion may end you up in hell according to another. And it is better if I don’t talk about reincarnation at all. The one or two religions that talk a bit about reincarnation give me the freedom to chose what I’ll be next time based on what I do with my life now. Sadly, none of them tell me what exactly to do to become what. I wish any of them could tell me what to do not to become an ostrich.

Unfortunately, these parapsychologists too, though you expect them to be a little more smarter than priests, got different but not very convincing stories to tell about life after death. Stories from people who came back to life after death. The thing is, all of them differ based on the belief system of the people who described their near death experiences. Some of them became the double of their physical self who could see what was happening around them. Some of them passed through a dark tunnel towards a source of light. Some of them saw two angels coming over and carrying them across the street. Some of them saw their dead relatives in white dress descending to welcome them to the other world.

I also found out that most of these people who claimed to have experienced heaven, experienced it the way they wanted heaven to be. For example, a musician experienced heaven or what ever that was he was taken to as a place filled with music. I read about a woman who experienced heaven as a place full of flowers. I remembered the squirrel in Ice Age, the animated film, who dies and goes to a heaven full of walnuts. But do not think that I am satisfied with the explanation parapsychologists provide me. Beautiful and fancying the idea of death presented by parapsychologists may seem, it bothers me further because they do not address my ostrich issue. They don’t tell me how I can not become that bird.

However, they give me a freedom that religion does not give me. They give me a freedom to interpret my death and afterlife the way I want to. If they can accept these hundreds of tales people tell them about death , they can accept my theory of death as well. So to avoid the humiliation of becoming an ostrich next time I am born, I here by propose my theory of my death. I hereby declare that I am suppose to die like a light bulb blows out, glimmer once and I am gone! No doubles. No dead relatives. No black tunnel with a light at the end. No angels to carry me across the street. And no heaven and hell I need to bother about. And no ostrich friends in next life. I would like to die and be like I am in that deep state of sleep, knowing nothing. Otherwise, I better be born as a human being in my next life too. Let the Man up there make his choice!

Off the Topic

I would like to thank Priyan for considering me a friend and giving me this award.

I would like to give away this award to a few people whom I like reading: Aativas, Pramoda, Ajay Nair, Pra, Vipul, Swapna

Is Barack Obama really a Muslim?

2009-10-19T14:15:00.001-07:00

Barack Hussein Obama – that is the official name of the recent Nobel Laureate for peace from USA.Yes, I am talking about Barack Obama, American President! Hussein is a Muslim name to Americans as well as Indians. If Barack Obama is really Barack Hussein Obama, then is he really a Muslim? I was curious!
I was curious only for one reason. America appears, thanks to Bush Administration, to the rest of the world as people who hate Muslims. Every war that the American Government had led or is leading in 21^st Century was or is against a Muslim Country. To know that, right after Mr. Bush Jr., America elected a Muslim President is of course a curious thing.

I was reading the October 2009 Issue of Businessworld yesterday evening, when I chanced upon a write up by Mr. Omkar Goswami on Nobel Prize for Peace. Goswami, like me, thinks that Obama got this award too early. It was while reading this write up I noticed that the 44^th President of America is really Barack Hussein Obama!
Smear campaigns are usual in politics, especially so during elections. Even things we don’t usually bother much about in normal life are brought up and scandalized. When Obama was facing the American Electorate, smear emails were doing rounds online telling American People that Obama is actually a Muslim and he was hiding it. Daniel Pipes, an American Political Commentator, kind of led the campaign. He wrote on his website and on The Jerusalem Post that Obama is a Muslim, converted to Christianity.
Pipes claimed that Obama had a Muslim upbringing. Now, why would that concern Americans? Was Pipes worried America is going to soften up on their Muslim targets once Obama is elected President? In fact, Pipes was always against America attacking Muslim countries like Iraq. He was worried because according to Muslim Religion any convert from Islam to other religions is a murtadd (apostate) and must be executed. He wondered if this is going to increase the tension between America and Muslim Countries.
As history goes, Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham married Barack Hussein Obama Sr. She was actually an atheist, Christian on records. He was also an atheist, Muslim on records. Later, after Obama was born, Ann divorced Barack because he had another wife and child. She, then, fell in love with Lolo Soetoro and married him. Lolo was also a non-practising Muslim. When the family moved to Jakarta, Obama Jr. was sent to both Catholic and Muslim Schools and on school records he was enrolled as a Muslim. Pipes claims that his childhood friends remember young Obama going to the mosque.
Obama denies this. He says his mother brought him up and not his father or step-father. He says he is a practising Christian. His “spokesman Robert Gibbs issued a statement explaining that Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian."
Now, we know that the smear campaign was not successful and Obama is the President. That smear campaign was a two-edged sword, as any religious fundamentalist scandal is. On one side, it would provoke Christians if they felt that Obama is a Muslim and he was hiding that all along. On the other side, it would provoke Muslims if they felt that Obama is a Muslim converted to Christianity. Americans could never agree to an Atheist becoming a President, given their pseudo-liberal worldview. Catch 22? Which ever way it went, the smear campaigners who tried to cash in on Pipes’ concerns saw a win win. I am happy that they did not win!
Which ever way, Obama always surprises me like he is the destiny’s child. First, he surprised me by being the first Black American to be elected President of USA. Then, I was surprised to learn that he is a Mixed President, born to a white mother and a black father. Now, he surprises me by being a Mixed President again, born to a Christian turned Atheist and a Muslim turned Atheist. I take this as a sign, sign of a better world to come where we will no more be racially, religiously or linguistically fundamentalist. Obama is indeed a sign of the change we want to see! Now I don’t, unlike what I felt a few days ago, really mind the Nobel Prize for Peace 2009 went to this man! It is destiny!

Image from http://www.danielpipes.org/pics/new/large/509.jpg [Barack Obama at School]

The story of his marriage!

2009-10-17T22:11:00.001-07:00

This is the third time about Chetan Bhagat on pagedIN. My first post was on him, excited about the revelation I suddenly had after reading 3 Mistakes for the first time. My second post on Chetan happened as I was writing and rewriting my version of Indian Dream for Blog-a-ton 3^rdand I found a pattern emerging out of his celebrated trilogy. And this post is, obviously after reading 2 States,the story of my marriage, the recently released wannabe blockbuster from Chetan Bhagat and about a handful of revelations I had about the writer and the book as I was reading it.

Revelation 1
I think I know why Chetan had resigned from his promising career as a Banker before he released 2 States. They would have fired him any way for not being politically correct by loving his job, focusing on his career, adoring his company and sucking up to his boss. Krish Malhotra, the lead character, is an IMMA graduated trainee in Citi Bank and Chetan utilizes this role of the character as an opportunity to vent his rage on MNC bankers and banking. He goes to such an extend that after reading the novel no sane person would ever trust MNC Bankers with his money. He indirectly proposes, in spite of their bureaucratic insipidity and archaic rigidity, traditional Indian Banks are the best because they are less show off and less mindless business and more about keeping customer's money safe.It is Krish’s well-paid job in a multinational bank versus Krish’s father-in-law Swamynathan’s dull job in a traditional Indian Bank. It is mutual funds and share markets versus fixed deposits. You will know what I mean when you read the novel.
Revelation 2
I am from Mangalore. Mangalore is a place where you always get to see the two sides of the coin they fondly call Youngistan, as reflected in the novel. As I was reading the novel and I reached the place where Krish goes out with the girl his mother tries to fix him up with, it suddenly occurred to me that this is a generation of Indians I am so familiar with and I always get to see in Mangalore. Not that I belong to that generation of Indians who eat in McDonald’s and drink in Barista. But I see them every where in Mangalore. Middle-class kids who, like Dolly in the novel, become anglicized the moment they step into one of these eat-outs good for their ambiance and not so great when it comes to nourishment. Once they are back home they are these middle-class Indian kids again, who never miss the evening prayer like Ananya Swaminathan, Krish’s girlfriend. Chetan captures this trend among 21^st Century Indian Youth, as skilfully as it is possible only by him. He makes fun of the identity crisis among 20-somethings, caught within the luring web of liberalization and globalization.
Revelation 3
The 20-somethings of India are probably confused about their partially anglicized identity. But that does not mean that they have no clue where they are going and needs the adults to choose for them. In fact, they reason things out better than adults and are much more practical and less snobbish. Krish and Ananya braves the bad weather to make sure that they get what they want. We get to see two love affairs juxtaposed so that we understand the difference. Do you remember the love affair Krish had with Prof. Cherian’s daughter Neha in Five point some one? Krish did not have the guts to face when his dad and Neha’s dad were against their marriage. 10 years ago, Neha and Krish or Ananya and Krish would have had only a single option: elope! Not any more! Krish decides that he is not ready to end up like the lead character in one of the Hindi films with a similar plot!
Revelation 4
Reading Chetan is like reading a blog! Why do I think so? One, most of what he writes is autobiographical. Two, he uses language in a similar way I have observed some of the seasoned and talented bloggers among us do. His language reminds me of some of our popular bloggers! No, I think so not just because he uses ‘fucks’ and ‘shits’ elaborately when he writes. It is also because he uses a straight forward language, using similar linguistic gimmicks bloggers use to make their posts appealing!
Of course, the novel is about two people from two ends of India falling in love and trying to get married. A boy from Punjab and a girl from Tamilnadu. And an obvious plot because the story is happening in India – both the boy and the girl have to woo each other’s families to get married with their consent. It is not as easy as you think to overcome thousands of years of racial and linguistics and cultural biases. The book can also be called a study of two cultures.
If you have the habit of giggling or smiling to yourself as you read sensible jokes, 2 States provides you with a lot of opportunities to do so. If your eyes have the habit of welling up the moment you see emotional stuff in Bollywood films, the books brings you several things you can sniff and whimper about for a while. In short, 2 States is a fabulous read!
A Quote from the Novel, that sounded so true:

I came home and sat in front of the TV. For dysfunctional families, television is the biggest boon. Without this electronic glue, millions of Indian families will fall apart.

Image from http://www.ewebbuddy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/2states_bookcover.jpg

Bookmarked | Issue 1

2009-10-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

pagedIN is my attempt to document what I read online or offline. It is about how I, as an average Indian reader, look at authors and pages. I try and express what I think about the books, blogs or news I read.

I try and read as many blogs as possible every day. Some of the bloggers do really come up with great posts. BOOKMARKED is my attempt to list some posts I really liked reading. I hope eventually this will help people who visit my blog to read some real good posts.

Here is the first issue of Bookmarked:

Blog: Times Changing
Author: aativas
Post: Building Bridges
Thought after Reading: A post about the author's visit to one of the villages in Orissa. It urges us to open our eyes and look around and see the stark realities of Rural India.
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Blog: Enter the freak's think tank!
Author: Venky
Post: Conquering Mt Semester
Thought after Reading: It is exam time for some bloggers. And that is the time one feels like doing everything else other than studying. That is the time when creative juices flow the most. Venky and his exam blues are fun to read! I smiled to myself when I read his comparison of success and failure!
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Blog: Aj's Take
Author: Ajai Ravi Kesavan
Post: Blogger - Trying to get Traffic to my blog!
Thought after Reading: There is nothing a blogger likes other than reading comments from the readers. Ajai's post punches right in the midriff of certain undesirable trends that haunt the blogosphere [when it comes to commenting, yeh] , which no one can change. He gives you a workaround!
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Blog: Maverick Misfit
Author: Guria
Post: Bittersweet
Thought after Reading: It is one of those usual tales of love. However you cannot read it without a lump in your throat.
My Rating: ★★★★☆

Blog: BlogAdda
Author: Andrea Mcleod [Guest Author]
Post: Educating the poor is an investment in India's Future
Thought after Reading: What are we going to do this Festival of Lights? Waste our hard earned money on crackers and sweets? Andrea suggests a new way of celebrating this Festival of Lights – help poor children get an education! It is sure going to be an investment in India’s Future!
My Rating:★★★☆☆

Blog: Petals
Author: Swapna Raghu Sanand
Post: Tales of Housework
Thought after Reading: Where I come from, they say, cooking is the key to a successful marriage where a woman is concerned. Swapna explores the cultural differences about that notion!
My Rating:★★★★☆

Blog: If I sang out of tune
Author: Ajay
Post: The Ageing Beaver
Thought after Reading: The author, like a seasoned craftsman, plays with the imagery of 'crossword puzzle' and an "ageing man" to show us how things are falling apart. Posts like this one does not happen every day!
My Rating: ★★★★★

Blog: Hits and Misses

Author: Shruti

Post: Pride

Thought after Reading: It is a simple tale. However, you will never know what the author is up to till you reach the end to read one of the most shocking climaxes I have ever read so far.

My Rating:★★★★☆

Are Indian Government and our leaders weaklings?

2009-10-14T14:18:00.001-07:00

Our Prime Minister, Mr. Manmohan Singh, had visited Arunachal Pradesh on October 3, 2009 and addressed an election rally, in the wake of 2009 Assembly Elections there.He was there to campaign for elections and not to talk about Indio-China Border Dispute. He never said a word about the dispute while he was there. However, the Chinese did not seem to quite like his visit and their Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu issued a statement ten days after the visit, saying: "We demand the Indian side address China's serious concerns and not trigger disturbance in the disputed region so as to facilitate the healthy development of China-India relations. China is strongly dissatisfied with the visit to the disputed region by the Indian leader disregarding China's serious concerns.”

We know that China has been claiming that Arunachal belongs to them. We know that they do not respect McMohan Line, a line agreed to by British India and Tibet as part of 1914 Simla Accord. We know that the said border region was the reason why China fought with India 40 years ago. We are constantly worried about the news that China is engaged in military manoeuvres in Tibet, along our border and that our Government seems to be doing nothing about it. And now we know that China did not like that Indian PM visited Arunachal Pradesh, they had openly stated it and the news is all over the place.
The comments I saw in Times of India, in response to a news story on the issue is what made me write this post. I could see a general tendency among the people who commented to blame that Indian Government and Indian Leaders are afraid of China. I would like to show you a few comments that made me wonder, are Indian Government and our leaders weaklings that they cannot move a finger against China and answer their arrogance in the same coin?

However, while Chinese diplomacy is proactive, ours is purely defensive. How else, we have never objected to developments taking place in Chine-occupied areas of Arunachal Pradesh or that part of Jammu & Kashmir ceded by Pakistan to China? There is need to raise voice over the actions taking place in Pak-occupied Kashmir and the areas ceded by Pakistan to China, as and when necessary, loudly and clearly, when we claim that the entire Arunachal Pradesh and J & K (including occupied by Chinese and Pakistan )are integral parts of India. P.S.Lally,New Delhi on TOI

India doesn't make any noise when Pakistani leaders visit POK.It simply means that either we are too meek or the Chinese are too aggressive. Pankaj, Delhi on TOI

Indian Govt is unusually quiet when it comes to Chinese provocations. So unless they are totally at a loss for policy right now, there is certainly something going on in the background which none of us know about. Shrikant,Noida on TOI

China & Pakistan knows well that India can be bullied and Govt. Of India would not have guts to respond like the Israel does for its territorial integrity.The weakness, real or perceived, of Indian Government is the cause of all the problems.The state governments are pulling central Govt. down.Its shame on our part of so called democracy. Manu,Calgary on TOI

Well, these are some sample comments I wanted you to take a look at in case you did not want to read the news story before you finish reading my post. These and most of them, at least 90% of the comments, point to a single assumption: Indiedan Government is weak willed! Is that really true?
I think when we need to read this Chinese outburst between the lines. Now, Ma Zhaoxu made the statement only after ten days of the visit. PM’s visit was not a secret and Chinese did not react either before or immediately after the visit. This, read along with the Chinese PM’s invitation on October 14, 2009 to Indian PM to discuss India-China differences during the ASEN Meetings, is evidence enough that China is in fact playing to the home crowd. Our President, Ms. Pratibha Patil visited Tawang, the most disputed area, on April 2, 2009 and the Chinese did not say a word against it. Now that the Assembly Elections were happening in Arunachal Pradesh and the Indian PM could peacefully address an Election Rally there had pissed the Chinese off. The do not like democratic process and they probably wanted to save their face at home ground.
Now, I know that does not answer the question! What do you suggest Indian Government should have done? Go to war with China for issuing a statement?Ask them to get out of POK? Tell them, we care like hell about what they feel about Arunachal Pradesh? I think emotional reaction is a sign of bad understanding of foreign policy. I also think the Indian Government has done enough to make the Chinese Government understand that Arunachal Pradesh is ours.
We are a democracy. [It is very sad that some people attack and blame everything on democracy the moment something goes wrong] And the Arunachal Elections were answer enough to China, were I am concerned. The fact that almost 70% of the people came out to vote during this election itself tells China that people of Arunachal Pradesh is in solidarity with India. What other good answer do they need? If Indian Government could make that possible, if they could make 70% of the people vote, to me that Government is good enough.
Indian Air Force has already made it clear that we were purposefully not reacting to the Chinese Military Exercises along our border, in Tibet. It is, at least for now, internationally accepted that, Tibet is under China. It is not our concern right now, what they do in their country. Our concern is if we are strengthening our side of the border and I think our military is just doing that. IAF vice chief Air Marshal P K Barbora makes it very clear that we are upgrading our Advanced Landing Grounds, improving Air Force Infrastructure along the border, acquiring more Akash Surface-to-Air Missile Suadrons etc.
To me India follows a gentlemanly foreign policy! And that will do us good in the long run.Till then we will watch China’s frustrated and funny foreign policy gimmicks while we are getting ready for the worst! You must notice that Indian PM did not say a word about the border dispute during his visit to Arunachal and after it. He also has not responded to the Chinese Statement about his visit to Arunachal! Do not think it is because he is afraid of China?!
There are three ways to respond when a dog barks at you. One, run away. Two, pelt a stone at it. Three, just stand there and stare it down! I think, Indian PM is staring the Chinese down!

Update:
As I finished writing this post, Hindu reported that “ India has called upon China to stop developmental activities in areas illegally occupied by Pakistan.” Are you, tit-for-tat guys, happy now?

Obama, Nobel Prize for Peace & Pygmalion Effect!

2009-10-09T12:13:00.001-07:00

I was not at all surprised [don’t believe me!] as I read the news this evening! US President, Barack Obama wins the Nobel Prize for Peace 2009. Nobel Prize Committee says it decided to honour Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." And the man is in the serious business of dealing with the world for not even over ten months and do not have even a single diplomatic success to his credit till now. The news reminded me of Pygmalion Effect.

Pygmalion Effect or Rosenthal Effect is a simple theory. It says, if you place greater expectations on people they perform better. In other words, if you keep telling a man that he is good, he will try to be as good as possible by him. Or at least appear to you to be so! [Wives, take note please!] Whoever is in the Committee that decides the Nobel Prize for Peace are real great fans of Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, who wrote a report on Pygmalion Effect at length. Perhaps, they think that the award will make Obama more serious about peace and keep his promises as he is awarded ‘more for promise than achievement’ Call the man an Angel of Peace and he will eventually become an Angel of Peace, what an idea sirji!
I do not attach great value to Nobel Prize for Peace. To me it is an award that was never awarded to the greatest icon of peace ever to walk on this earth – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhiji was nominated in for Nobel Prize for Peace in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and 1948. Jacob Worm-Müller, wrote in his report about Gandhi in 1937, “He is a freedom fighter and a dictator, an idealist and a nationalist. He is frequently a Christ, but then, suddenly, an ordinary politician." Later in 1947, when Gandhiji was nominated, it was rejected based on a report from Reuters in The Times on September 27, 1947, which quoted him saying: “if there was no other way of securing justice from Pakistan and if Pakistan persistently refused to see its proved error and continued to minimise it, the Indian Union Government would have to go to war against it.” In 1948, he was not given the award because, “Gandhi did not belong to an organisation, he left no property behind and no will” and there was no one eligible to receive the prize money.
I feel, four times the Nobel Prize for Peace Committee was prejudiced or wrong about Gandhi. In 1937, it was probably Jacob Worm-Müller’s respect for Great Britain doing the reporting. In 1947, he was partially quoted. The fact was, Reuters did not report the part where he added he had no place " in a new order where they wanted an army, a navy, an air force and what not". In 1948, of course for the fifth , they did not have any choice as Gandhiji had outgrown Nobel Prize.

This brings us back to Barack Obama. I can see no other reason than Pygmalion Effect that got Obama this honour. Obama is humbly surprised at this gesture by the Nobel Prize Committe. He said in reply to the announcement, "I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments but rather an affirmation of American leadership. I will accept this award as a call to action." I hope this will make Obama act on his promises. I also wish the Nobel Prize Committee had this idea during the last American President’s first year in Office. No offence meant to Obama, they could have awarded George Bush with Nobel Prize for Peace during his first year in Office and we could have avoided Afghanistan and Iraq. This would have made Obama’s call for action a little more easier to handle.
Coincidentally, I am reading Obama’s Dreams from My Father. I bought the book yesterday. I grabbed the book as I came home from work today and I was on the third page when I got this urge to get online. And the Nobel Prize for Peace was the first news I saw. Sure, he writes well and appears to be a very interesting read. I am reading the part where Obama’s aunt Jane calls him from Nairobi to inform him that his father is killed in a car accident. The news triggers his memories about his father, as he is ‘trying to measure his loss’. And the book, I guess, goes on to tell us how the dreams from his father made him the Barack Obama that he is today. No offence meant to the human being in Obama again, I think, like Louisa Thomas of News Week, that he should have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature instead to make it sound a little more acceptable. Sadly, Nobel Prize for Literature is given for an ‘accumulated body of work written over a lifetime, not to single books, and that rules out Obama”
I wonder what else being American President can do to a person in 21^st Century.!

What happens when a girl falls from the sky?

2009-10-07T13:16:00.001-07:00

What happens when a girl falls from the sky? I am not sure yet. From what I hear, many disturbing questions are going to be asked.
Are you wondering what I am talking about? I’ll tell you. But before I do that, let me tell you something else: we are living in a world that thinks, people who are a lot different from what the rest of us are do not have the right to dream, the right to live. That is why we poke fun at midgets. That is why we don’t consider trannies as ordinary human beings. And that is why question marks and exclamation marks appear right on our foreheads when we come across someone with a different hair or skin colour than what we are used to. In short, most of us are snobbish.

Now, let me tell you about the girl who fell from the sky! “Girl who fell from the sky". Well, that is the name of a novel, winner of the 2008 Bellwether Prize for Fiction. [For the benefit of the reader, “the prize is awarded to a previously unpublished novel representing excellence in this genre.”] I have no clue what the novel is about apart from what is written on the author’s website because it is slated to be published in February 2010. Heidi W. Durrow wrote the novel. It is who the author is what makes the novel a significant one.
America is as racially biased a society as India, in spite of their presumed liberal outlook. If we are bothered about caste and language here in India, they are bothered about colour. Blacks and Whites. Heidi’s life is significant because she is a mixture of both, she is grey. She calls herself a ‘mixed chick’. She is the only daughter of an “African-American enlisted Air Force man and a white Danish woman.” And when she was 11, they moved to “a racially divided town” She writes in her bio:

What are you? I remember people started asking me that question on a pretty regular basis when I was about 11 and we moved to a racially divided town. At first I thought the question gave me license to tell my life story. "I'm the best speller and I'm best in my class at multiplication all the way through the 12s. I love to run—really fast. And my favorite color is blue. I'm also someone who likes to write poems." I soon learned that what people wanted to know was: why do you look like you do? Why do you have curly brown hair and light brown skin and blue eyes?

And Heidi wrote a novel, with her life at the backdrop. As I read from her website:

This debut novel tells the story of Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I. who becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy.With her strict African American grandmother as her new guardian, Rachel moves to a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring mixed attention her way. Growing up in the 1980s, she learns to swallow her overwhelming grief and confronts her identity as a biracial young woman in a world that wants to see her as either black or white.

America is ruled by an Mixed President now, Obama. He is the son of a black African father and a white American mother. But that doesn’t change a thing in USA or anywhere in the world. It is in human nature to be snobbish. Heidi’s story reminded me about the hundreds of years of caste system in my own country, India. I remembered the time when I was in the University and the opening question when you met someone there for the first time was about your caste.
I remembered a friend who was surprised when I said i have no clue what my caste is, when I told him that where I come from Christians do not have caste. I am from Kerala and today I know that even the so called casteless religions entertain subtle caste biases that are strong enough to last another century and Kerala is not an exception. Just that I was lucky to be born in a family that did not care about such things and to live in a neighbourhood that was not as openly biased as the rest of the world. I said, ‘not openly biased’ for a reason. I said that because, today I know, looking back, a lot of snobbishness was kept under wrap. I suddenly remembered the only mixed marriage to happen in my village then and how people used to look down upon the family of the girl because she fell in love with and married a lower caste man. Yes, people were nice and less snobbish as long as everyone kept to their own cocoons. I never realized something was seriously wrong until someone had tried to break that cocoon.
I am imagining Heidi living in India. No offence meant to anyone of us, she would have hardly survived emotionally to write the novel. Where she lived, it was just that people were curious about her skin colour and blue eyes. Up here in India, people would have abhorred her because her mother married a lower caste man. Her parents would have found it very difficult to marry her off because of the social stigma of mixed marriage. We are still bothered about the purity of our blood and scared of religion, aren’t we?

The image is taken from Heidi's Blog. The Amazon Book Order link is a Pre-Order Link. The book is scheduled to be released in February 2010