On (the obligatory nature of) charity.

Random chance is neither fair, nor unfair. No one has a moral obligation to compensate for it. Why must charity be forced upon a person, or he be ostracized for not following suit because he finds it to be an absurd ideal? The privileged aren't automatically indebted to the universe, and the underprivileged don't get a karmic trust fund. If one chooses to subscribe to such fancies out of selflessness, goodwill or guilt, then it is entirely a matter of belief. By all means, one is free go ahead and rid oneself of the perceived debt or obligation he finds himself carrying(the question of perceptual error notwithstanding). One needn't waste empathy on a generalization as gross as a specie. If you give to those you take from, are not frivolous with your compassion, and your unfaltering devotion lies with the few things and people you pledge it to, for reasons more logical than the basis of blanket-term charity; then you must, at the very least, be spared the quasi-self righteousness. Constancy of purpose over moral convenience, always.

General Observations: Jan Lokpal Bill Protests.

For years I've been saying that nearly every public scandal rolled out by the dozen is further proof that we're actually living in a totalitarian state masquerading as a democracy. For years, I have also been saying that our classes and masses are so ridden with misanthropy and apathy that if there is ever a need for another freedom struggle, there is no way that the people would rise to the occasion and justify what they gained the last time around. In the course of merely 24 hours, I've found myself proved right and wrong. The best part being, that the evidence is indubitable. Our government, by way of dishing out absolute nonsense, expecting it to be gobbled up by flaccid minds, calling the previously much-lauded Gandhian manner of protest "unconstitutional", and launching illegal arrests and mud-slinging campaigns, has stirred up such great sentiment and rage among the people, that pro-Gandhian ideology or not, they are united in their anti-corruption motivations and outrage towards the appalling behavior of the government. One can't help but compare the state of things with the recent riots a few thousand kilometres away, partly a result of the same social apathy and misanthropy, but the addition of decadent moral values. How differently things pan out, in a "developed" nation as opposed to a stagnated "developing" one. United in anarchy or united in rage, the masses can indeed make things happen. And after a very long time, they know it.  

Of Wormy Apples.

This week, Apple overtook Microsoft to become the most valuable firm in the tech rat-race. The Wall Street marks it as the end of an era, where the most significant technological product of our age no longer sits on a desk. Instead, it dangles from belt clips on low-waist jeans. To put it succinctly, I am not happy.

I am convinced that if there is any one cause worthy of a third World War, it has to be the PC vs. Mac debate. Seriously speaking, Archduke was a joke in comparison. Poke any random Apple fanboy in the slightest of ways, and they burst into a spectacular fire-and-lights display of livid rage and righteous indignation. Sure, it comes in neat packaging. Sure, it has its pros. Sure, it is a snazzy and expensive version of Shiny Computing Box for Dummies. But from where I look at it, the cons easily outnumber the pros. In fact, they punch them into a pulp, dribble them, and throw them right out the window and into the trash.

Why I hate Apple:

1. Proprietary software taken to the extreme. License upon license, copyright upon copyright.

I run three different photo-editing programs, each with a diverse set of features as per requirement. Same goes for all media applications. How does one break out of the stifling bounds of the iLife package?

2. Zero room for customization.

3. Restricted access to OS kernel.

Every Windows user worth his salt loves DOS. Any Linux user's life depends on it. An apple user, is left to his own devices.

4. Zero flexibility in tweaking and programming.

5. Extremely limited software portability.

6. Zero-portability of software developed on the system itself.

7. Annoyingly long list of incompatible hardware and peripherals.

8. Coming to iTunes. Now, can someone please explain to me why I would want to use a software that insists on copying my music files into an entirely new non-virtual library of its own? Memory is a precious thing. Considering that I store about 60 GB of music on my system, there is no way I'd choke it up with double copies. Also, the iTunes library is not organized in any coherent fashion, so the original folders on disk cannot be done without either. Add to it the misery of its bland, pasty interface and no thematic customization options available. Not to mention, having to download an wide array of additional software to deal with the fact that it does not support wma audio and to convert all video to mp4. Compare with Windows or Linux, where all you need is an internet connection to download easily available codecs and plugins, apart from the fairly comprehensive range of supported formats.

9. By far, the only reason iTunes even exists is so that the world's iPods can be put to use. Of course Apple has every reason to try and make sure that it doesn't work with anything else. Throw in those $30 pieces of scrap wool they call iPod socks and every other over-priced accessory Apple markets just because the iPod does, and always will, sell. The things they get away with shock me. Really.

10. The continual updates and releases of fairly useless thingamajigs like Safari. Not to mention the massive download sizes. Nothing eats up computer memory faster than Quicktime, iTunes and Safari put together. The 3 harbingers of a processor's doom.

11. Simply said, a Mac dumbs you down. If someday they took over the world, a major part of the joy of using a computer would be lost. In order to use a system to its full potential, one has to dig deep and explore its innards.

12. The marketing, the pretentiousness of the "Mac lifestyle", the brand tag, the overwhelming smarminess of the Mac vs. PC advertisements(which, by the way, are so erroneous that I don't even know where to start). 

I haven't even gotten into the technicalities. But there's this to compensate.

Truth be told, if a Mac is a smarmy college punk, and Windows is a rotund bespectacled geek, Linux is the tattooed biker on a mean set of wheels.

So upon coming upon this little piece of news, I exhibited some major distress symptoms. Within 2 days, it was time for extreme measures. Since then, I have downloaded and installed Ubuntu on my laptop and my desktop, and gotten rid of iTunes altogether. I chose Ubuntu, because it works on a philosophy that is essentially the polar opposite of everything Apple stands for. And 3 days on, I am waaaaaaay beyond satisfied with it. The thrill of working in an entirely new environment, and learning to work hardcore on a system is thoroughly refreshing. It is completely customizable, is very "hands-on", offers an exhausting number of options with open-source software, and yet remains surprisingly intuitive. Not to mention, its media players synchronize perfectly with iPods and have far more features than anything Apple could come up with. The only limitation I see so far is that internet connectivity is crucial to its functioning. Aside from that, the GUI interface through Compiz is to die for. One even begins to love the overzealous autoconfig after a while. Much love to open source.

P.S. The reason why Apple is :"virus-free" and "spyware-free" is because the most virulent of malware are designed to attack the Windows OS, owning to the popularity of windows. It is relatively "bug-free" because it only works with a limited set of hardware components. Unlike Windows, with which you pretty much throw it all in and make it work Needless to say, I wait eagerly for the tables to turn. Something tells me, it won't be long.

My EXCITEMENT knows no bounds!

India WON the KABADDI WORLD CUP!!! Woohooh! Streamers and party-horns and celebrations galore! TAKE THAT, IPL! And all of those people who have been flooding my Facebook homepage with regular, instantaneous updates about every single occurrence on and off the crease: IN YOUR FACE! Haha! 

Fact times three:

1. My heartiest congratulations to Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik on their blessed holy wedlock. You two deserve every bit of having to spend the rest of your lives chained to each other.

2. My obsession with Kat Von D is getting waaaaay out of hand. I need help. Pronto. 

3. A WiFi-enabled home should henceforth be counted as one of the few simple pleasures in life. Also, Airtel IPTV is working very well towards eliminating my long-standing hatred for what the world calls "Television". Which goes to say, that it's turning me into a hopeless invalid who streams TLC and the History Channel all day.  

 This would be the first time in recorded history when I've punctuated a sentence with three exclamation marks, and threw in a few more on top.Darn it! I knew I should have saved some firecrackers from Diwali.

Of Earthworms and the MNS Connect.

An andolan against North Indians? A controversy out of not referring to Bombay by its colloquial(and rather crass-sounding) name?

And now, an outright disruption of a state assembly session because Azmi took the oath in THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE OF INDIA! What next? Work permits to work in Maharashtra? Seriously? Last I checked, Maharashtra was a state. A part of India. Not a separate country.

I find Raj Thackeray too ridiculous to pass a serious comment on. I would merely choose to sneeze in his general direction. Sons of the Soil. Yeah, right. As is evident, earthworms have far more to their credit.

(Pretty little thing spotted on college campus. Prettier than Thackeray, at any rate. It's a caterpillar, after all.)

Brave New World.

Tell me this doesn't remind you of Huxley.

Tell me you don't see a hint of 1984.
Tell me dystopia is a myth.

Go ahead. Tell me.


P.S. Yes, that would indeed be China's National Day parade. And yes, I know the differences between totalitarianism and communism.


I also know the one similarity. That, my friend, would be the deal breaker.

Happy Independence Day, India.

January 7, 2009. India Gate, New Delhi.

Congratulations on 62 years of self-governance.

It's always better to be doing your own thing, than to have your fate decided by the whims of another. Particularly when the interests of "another" show mutual exclusion from your own. Even if the resultant mess may be somewhat harder to deal with, subterfuge is always to the rescue.

And because list-posts leave very little room for BS,

Things I love about India :

1. Diversity. A blinding, overwhelming extent of it. Geographical, cultural, linguistic, religious, communal, and economical.

2. The very prevalent amalgamation of the aforementioned diversity. It is, in effect, an explosion of colors far more than you would ever find on the world's most expansive palette.

3. Having the right to make your own choices and live by them.
India is a country that doesn't tell you to be something she wants you to be. There is no code to be followed, no stringent norms to adhere to. Society here, gives you a taste of everything you may want. From anarchy and chaos, to a communist sense of order. India, imposes no expectations.

4. One doesn't have to be filthy rich(by global standards) to have a taste of the good life. Through the practice of which, one quickly learns what it entails. Boredom.

5. The fact that when you're sitting in a cafe with a group of friends, odds are that each one of them speaks a different language at home. Yet, if you ever get them to bring it to the table, each one would be understood perfectly by all. (Try it. It happens.)

6. Opportunity. The nation makes no pretenses about the dog-eat-dog philosophy. Fight for your life, and get it. In a place where law is more about working your way around it, it's the only fair game to play. And growing up in such an environment, if you make the slightest of efforts, gives you a rock solid sense of judgment. Needless to mention, a certain degree of savoir-faire.

7. The people. Melodramatic and theatrical. Completely OTT, mostly harmless. Usually annoying, but ever-present. I doubt if the extent of inter-personal interaction we have here is paralleled anywhere else in the world. You learn to hate them with a vengeance, but once in an odd while, they surprise you. In a good way.

8. The tangible heritage. Epics, mythology, beautiful monuments (temples, dargahs, sarais, tombs, stupas, churches, etc), ancient crafts kept alive by modern artisans(regional paintings, sculptures, etc), various schools of music(Carnatic, Hindustani, Sufi, etc) , dances and martial arts. No point in extending the list. I might as well make an Indi-pedia out of it.

9. Spicy food. Praise the Lord for chillies and garlic!


Things that will eventually drive me out of here :

1. Decadence. It's like a disease. Or weeds. Penetrating every inch of existence, every aspect of being. Slowly corroding everything it touches. Till it all begins to resemble red, blood-stained scraps of metal.

2. Gender Oppression. No matter what fate you are born to, no matter what you do, it's there. Whether you choose to bend under it's weight, or fight against it, it is a crucial part of your existence. You live through life feeling either violated, or having to fight it every step along the way. But it never goes away. As a child, you're lucky to be loved and wanted. And are asked to be thankful for that fact. Thankful for what? For being loved despite being a girl? DESPITE? You grow up feeling intimidated. Scared. Inhibited. Locked up in a cage for your own safety. Because it's a big, bad world out there. As a woman, you are treated like a piece of meat dangling on a hook. With no respect, no honor, and no voice. You yell, you shout. But even a million voices shouting with you are drowned out by a roar. The deafening roar that bears down on you with the gravity that reality brings with itself.

3. The deplorable state of the education system.
With no credit given to actual learning, original thought is suppressed all over. Mug-and-regurgitate. No research involved.

4. Nepotism and the power of political influence.

5. The widespread resistance to learning. I know exactly what I mean by this, but don't want to put it in words.

6. Disregard for the value of human life and time.

7. The clearly laid out outlines of public morality, present only for the purpose of keeping up appearances.

8. An assent(and absurdly, a preference) for mediocrity.

9. An ineffectual government.

10. The need to get more out of life. Much more than what 3,287,590 km² of land and 1/6th of the world's population has to offer.

To conclude, some things are and some things are not. That doesn't mean that they can't be better.
Thank you for your time.

Now go fly kites.

Giggles, Guffaws, Beer and Obama-mania.

Webcomic courtesy xkcd.

Jokes apart, I'm a big fan. I'm still completely and rapturously in awe of Obama. And considering a man who can be a talker as smooth as THIS, for the love of brilliant oratory(if nothing else), allow him the odd foot-in-mouth for once!

What's more? The president settles a scandal over jugs of ale!
I mean, this just escapes comprehension. The Harvard professor(Mr. Gates) , the cop(Mr. Crowley) and the Prez himself, bonding over beer like a bunch of college jocks, in all their post-minor-fist-fight glory. In the rose garden at the White House. That, my friends, is something truly amazing.

Sometimes, I Think.

That libertarians exist in power only so that anarchists and authoritarians can peacefully bludgeon each other to death.

Governance is a pitiful excuse for ordered chaos.
Yes, I know that's an oxymoron.

No wonder.

Truth Hurts?

"Parliamentarians on Wednesday demanded that TV reality show Sach Ka Saamna be banned, terming its content as against Indian values and morality."
Source : India Today

"NEW DELHI: Hours after the furor in Rajya Sabha over the reality show 'Sach Ka Saamna' broadcast by Star Plus, the government on Wednesday issued a show cause notice to the TV channel.
Source : The Times Of India

The TV show in question is an Indian spin-off of the American one "The Moment of Truth". It features participants being hooked up to a polygraph machine and asked questions about their lives, which may vary from being slightly embarrassing to highly controversial. And as long as their answers tally with the results of the lie-detector test, they move on to win greater sums of money. So yes, there have been disclosures tantamount to people admitting to peeing in a public swimming pool and cheating on their spouses. Ordinary people, that are exactly what our society is made of.

By no means do I think the show deserves applause. I personally hold the opinion that this trend of large-scale dirty-laundry washing is just plain tacky. But this is what this multi-million dollar industry of reality TV churns all the moolah out of. Voyeurism sells. Period.

And this is what society is about. People making personal choices regarding their lifestyle. And instead of cowering under a guise of dutiful adherence to what is considered "decent", if they have it in them to unapologetically speak about it, then so be it. No one has any business telling them what they should or should not do. It's a free country.

Having said that, I wonder what caused Mr. Maini to file a public interest litigation in this regard. Does he really think that a shroud of feigned sanctimony does not amount to hypocrisy? Would he rather have people pretend to be pious little heaps of virtuous jackshit, while their days and nights remain tales of culpable damnation? Or rather, what he likes to call "culpable damnation" in his view of things. Is the concept of Indian morality so vague and non-existent, that it needs pretense to support itself? Is it so fragile that they can't hold its own in the face of true-to-life fact?

The way I see it, any purported sense of values that completely excludes facts of urban existence is, in effect, nothing more than play-act. So, what character do you want to be?

By The Way.

There are days when you come across news that fascinates you beyond rhyme and reason. This, my friends, would be a novel instance.
"Bovine burps are the cause of 3/4th of the world's net methane emission." (Source : Reuters)

Methane, as in, the extremely potent greenhouse gas.
I am amazed. I have no words left at all. Screw the Kyoto Protocol, all we need are genetically modified cows that burp less. Yey!

The Week That Was.

Delhi is melting.
No mincing words here. With temperatures shooting to 45.3 degrees C and still rising, with no hope of respite on the horizon, things look pretty grim. It's HOT! To top it all, the city is also experiencing unprecedented levels of load shedding. And what does the BSES attribute a 25% difference in demand and supply of power? Delayed monsoons. No hydroelectricity. Burn baby burn.

So, drawing an outline here. The country that lauds itself as the next superpower, as an emerging center of economic and infrastructural development and one that is supposedly on the fast-track to absolute excellence and glory and blah blah blah.. is unable to meet one-fourth of the power requirement in its CAPITAL! Because, apparently we still depend on seasonal rainfall to keep the country up and running. That's world class technological development for you.

That's not all. Water supply is also down and out. People are getting murdered over disputes centered entirely on a bucketful of water. Rare, exotic animals in wildlife reserves are dying of dehydration, because there is just no water at all.

India. The country with such immense geographical diversity, with every possible variety of terrain, with all these rivers, a relatively significant forest cover, astounding reserves of natural resources and minerals. With a population that, with adequate planning, can be harnessed as a vast pool of cheap and efficient labor. Sheer luck and random chance has been more than favorable to the county. And yet.

Confessions of a Parabolic Anarchist.

Why I did not VOTE.

Do you think that I am ignorant? Do you think that I do not understand the permutations, ramifications, or its importance? Do you think that I consider my vote inconsequential to the bigger picture? Or do you think I'm just plain lazy?

I am none of the above. I am an educated individual with a conscience, and deep concern for her country. I am one who, on turning 18, wielded her voter ID card with pride. I am one who waited years to have a say in the working of things. I am one who believes that every vote counts.

I stand for certain things. I have ideals and objectives that I will not compromise upon.
Here is what I stand for :

• I will not vote for a party that bases its manifesto entirely on populist agenda.
  
• I will not vote for a party that intends to impose reservations on the private sector.
• I will not vote for a party that has lost the vision to look ahead, in its efforts to drag the past along.
• I will not vote for a party that draws all of its propaganda on communal lines.
• I will not vote for a party that promises so much, that if it ever even considered taking itself seriously, it would be crushed under its own weight.
  
• I will not vote for a party that actually intends to drag India back to the proverbial dark ages, because it believes that technology leads to unemployment.
• I will not vote for a party that promises decentralization of power, towards a "free", "socialist" India. What you really mean is a communist farce with little or no rights to the individual.

The above conditions rule out the INC, BJP, BSP, SP, CPI, CPIM, and any others you may care to add. Speaking in terms of the United Progressive Alliance, or the National Democratic Alliance would not change the context.

Yes. I have seen it all happen. I patiently sat through all of those speeches, tirades and charades. I've diligently read every single party manifesto, and pondered over each consequence. I am also aware of Article 49-0 and the concept of negative voting.
I am angry.

I want to see my country prosper. I want poverty, hunger, illiteracy, terrorism, insurgency, casteism, communal friction, discrimination, gender inequality, and corruption to be a thing of the past. I don't want to feel unsafe traveling alone because I am not trained in the martial arts. I want to be able to use public transport without having to prepare myself mentally for whatever it entails. I don't want to spend an hour going through the crime-reporting section of the newspaper everyday, purely because of its sheer length. Most importantly, the next time I step outside of my house, I don't want to fear never coming back.

So, will you still call me ignorant, uneducated, naive, stupid and lazy?
Yes. I am an idealist. I am proud to be one, and will never make an apology for it. And I am angry. So excuse me while I seethe in my anger and take the John Galt approach to things.
Thank you.

More on Dehumanization..

...of a different sort.

Individualism, as imperative as it is, is gradually fading away. The worst part is, that this is not in the face of oppression. Society is inadvertently drawing itself to homogeneity. People have become less of individuals, and more of mass-produced tin-cans, with very little about themselves to call their own. It's not collectivism. It is the lack of a well defined sense of self. It is the refusal to acknowledge its importance. Popular media does little more than attempt to give the situation a rosy tint. At any rate, it's making things worse. Hollow stereotypes everywhere you look. With no solid ground to stand on.

I ask you, what makes a person? The clothes they wear, the way they look, how they live, the places they go to? Or, the way they think. Their sense of judgment, and the things it it based on. Their beliefs, moral premises, and the justification for their arguments. The school of thought they adhere to, their reasons for doing so. The rationality of all these reasons, arguments and justifications.

"Individual" is a beautiful word.
Be yourself. Not because your favorite brand or band tells you to.

Of This & That. and more...

The Congress intends to impose reservation quotas on the private sector.
Fabulous. If things weren't in the dickiest state possible already, there's always a way to make it worse. There goes my first vote down the proverbial drain. Come to think of it, the only reason I voted for the Congress is because I had to cherry pick the best of the worst. Sort of like rummaging through garbage to pick out the cleanest piece of junk. Sadly, "cleanest" doesn't quite cut it anymore. Sadder, I didn't see this coming. Saddest, is the fact that I was made aware of Article 49-O about 3 months too late. Politics in India is a dire, depressing scenario. *sighs*

In other news, "A brilliant burst of gamma rays killed most of the creatures on Earth some 440 million years ago, and researchers say, a similar celestial catastrophe could happen again."
Oh.. really? You mean, in addition to the geomagnetic inversion of the planet's magnetic field that is expected to cause momentary direct exposure to cosmic rays, hence reducing all life forms to the equivalent of roast duck? Or maybe the 12 asteroids that were supposed to do the big "CRASH, BOOM, BANG" between the year 2002 and 2009? Or how about the man-made black-hole that would sprout out of the Large Hadron Collider, engulfing all of the world into it? (Detour : The whole thing has more to do with the Higgs Boson, aka The God Particle. Note the irony ;)
And a smattering of Mayan myth, perhaps? (I'm sure the History Channel dudes got a real kick out of the whole thing.) About how, on December 21 2012, the Sun would align itself to the geometric center of the galaxy, bringing about the end of the earth, or at least bringing about the return of Queztacoatl. Add the long-count-calender-hocus-pocus, and you have one of the most talked about documentaries ever aired on prime time. (Detour #2 : Queztacoatl is said to be the most kickass-est, "supreme lord of all things" kinda god in Aztec mythology. **Most importantly, he is also the one credited for single-handedly inventing chocolate!)

Moving on, I am reminded of the something in the news a few years ago. Millions of dollars poured into research for the creation of genetically modified square watermelons. Justification? They fit better into refrigerators. I will leave you to draw your conclusions.

Hell hath no fury,
Like men of science gone loony.