Friday 25 November 2011

'Holier than thou'

Most of us Indians hate our politicians. We choose them to represent us because we have no better alternative. And we believe that it is only due to the checks and balances in the Constitution that our country hasn't turned into a mental asylum with no one in charge.

So when Sharad Pawar, widely believed to be a not-so-clean politician, who is now in charge of Agriculture, gets slapped by a person suffering from mental disorders, most of us are happy in our hearts. 'He has done what we wished to do but couldn't.' is the thought that is buried in most of our hearts.

Anna Hazare just happened to say it a bit louder and clearer when he asked if Pawar had received only a slap. The condemnation that followed stating that violence is not allowed in the Constitution makes me wonder if this is the same person who had advocated public flogging of people found consuming alcoholic drinks. Now, is flogging non-violence?

The 'holier-than-thou' attitude of both the activists and the politicians make me sick. The truth is that there are clean politicians as well as dirty ones, just as there are clean and dirty activists. We tend to concentrate on politicians as they wield considerable power and are always in public view.

Even, we, the people of India, have our own vices. Our own secrets, that we hide from all. No one is really holy. Each individual is an angel and a devil to varying degrees at different times.

So asking if the Minister received just a slap, even if it was meant to be a joke, shows a lack of respect for the rules of what may be called 'good behaviour'. If the people are so annoyed with Pawar, they have the right to vote him out in the next election or file cases against him in the courts. Slapping him or making sick jokes are not the solutions.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Indian English

I had the shock of a lifetime when an Army Officer told me that in Army, officers usually speak among themselves in English and to their subordinates in Hindi. The ghost of the long dead and buried British empire has not yet let go of the Army men (and women).
Same goes for much of the Government of India.

While the English spoken by most of the Army officers was impeccable, I must say that quite a lot of us (including me) twist the language to suit our needs. So we have dates of exams that are 'preponed' rather than 'advanced'. We 'write' the exams rather than 'take' them. And we use 'ji', 'da' and similar suffixes to introduce inequality and hierarchy in an egalitarian language in which 'I' stands(?) supreme. So we use 'Gandhiji' while others know only of 'Gandhi'. We are hero-worshipping, messiah seeking, dynasty loving  sycophants, after all!

But the funniest versions of Indian English are the ones  you get when you speak to certain customer care executives. Had a chance to speak with such a person one of these days. I'm still in shock.

My dear CC execs, I don't mind your accent. We are not native speakers and speaking correct English is really a tall task. But, can't you at least speak a bit slowly and more clearly when you know that your accent is a bit difficult for others to understand? Speaking as if you have just finished two bottles of Jack Daniels is no way to show that you care for the customers of your company.

A Few Regrets

Sitting at home with nothing to do is one of my worst nightmares. And I'm going through one of them. I tried everything from reading books to listening to songs but none of them seems to work this time. Newspapers are still full of pathetic news after the great Indian 2G scam. There is no really good news anywhere. All is gloom and doom.

The TV channels seem to be repeating the movies and serials again and again and again. Anyway, I could never stand the latter. And I'm currently a law abidiing citizen who doesn't download movies and now even songs from the internet.

The Project Gutenberg sometimes acts as a relief. I have completed the Sherlock Holmes collection for the fiftieth time. Read Wodehouse's Jeeves stories at least ten times. Unfortunately I do not seem to be fascinated by any other book.

Bram Stoker's Dracula usually cheers me up. But after reading about The Twilight, I have lost all interest in vampires and werewolves. I used to love Pride and Prejudice but now it no longer excites me. Asimov's sci-fi is what I want but I cannot get. It may be available in the Public Liibrary but I feel too lazy to go there and actually get a membership. I need a Gazetted Officer's signature to get a membership. Now, how pathetic is that?

So I try to make do with the liitle collection I have of Pottekkad's travelogues (now branded as racist for his portrayal of the Africans), a book full of superstitious stories called 'Aitihyamala', Thakazhi's 'Enippadikal' and O.Henry's short story collection.

But more often than not, I'm surfing the internet, hoping to find something that would make my day - a good story, a really funny joke or a friend who has enough time to chat with me. I'm feeling incredibly lonely.

But then, it's just for a month. Then, again I will have lots to study, friends to talk to, passages to curse and exams to take.

Waiting for those days.

Monday 7 November 2011

Meeting Friends Again

It has been a long time since I have met any of my friends from college. First it was the job at Pune and then it was the CS Mains examination. With just one month left to go, my heart is full of regret that I've been to busy to meet my friends in spite of my joblessness.

Met Joe and Ranju after a long time today. Joe has just returned from the US. So it was a truly great meeting - catching up with the news, gossipping, cracking the old 'tech' jokes and just talking about 'who is what and where'.

It almost felt like old times when we would spend endless hours talking absloute nonsense while sipping the sharjah shakes. Only we have grown a bit more serious though each of us has tried to maintain or even unconsciously maintained her childishness in spite of the lectures on the need for maturity.

Joe reached on time for the first time in her life. So Ranju will henceforth be called 'inajnar'! :P

I am left to wonder, 'How even a short stay in US can change people fundamentally with regards to punctuality!'

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