The Spawn of Menaka

During his vitriolic speech against Muslims, Varun has shown why his grandmother thought so less of his mother. After trying many different ways to showcase herself has inheriting the Gandhi family name, she picked up on animal rights. She ran far with it. Now the fools who swallowed that story should rethink. This is a woman who could not teach her spawn, Varun, to love his fellow human beings.

Both the woman and her spawn are bound by their common hatred. Their ideals are neither Gandhian nor Indian.

The Bastards of Manu.

These last two weeks saw repeated attacks on our freedom by these self-styled custodians of our culture. Who gave these bastards the right to dictate how I should express my culture? I did not. So I call that filth Muthalik of Ram Sene, a bastard and raise questions on his origins, his parents, his mother, his sister, everything that he holds dear.

No, I will not apologize for the words I choose for him. He has impinged on my rights. He does not know me or own me. How dare he do that to anyone? Why shouldn't I insult his parents? The first line of any child's education is his parents. It is said that do not teach a child about religion for it will blind him to faith later in life.

I wish these people could have stayed in country ruled by an absolute monarch. I did. I helped me appreciate the freedoms enshrined in our constitution. But the constitution is not worth the paper it is written on unless our people are civilized enough to appreciate it. The Muthaliks, Advanis, Modis etc in our country are not. They have been raised in their homes on a steady diet of us against them. Sent to RSS schools across the nation, the us among them invariably becomes a smaller and select group.

There are Muslim scholars who will ask you to read the Quran to understand that Islam is peace loving religion. That is so. I have read the Quran and know about Islam's history. However, Islam has had a violent start and growth. There are constant references in the Quran to infidels. This forms the fodder for the most ardent among them to raise against people of other faiths. Its history and such references, are the anger that drives the Osamas. And once you go down that path there is no stopping it - its terror does not even spare fellow Muslims.

The Bible and Christianity's origin is just as violent. There was a period of intolerance, injustice and misuse of the name of god. But over the ages, the quiet majority have slowly spoken up. Gone are the ages of inquisition. Christian institutions are respected around the world. Their priests are respected for their service and advice. Islam must do the same if it wants to survive to the next century. And it must do it fast. Mass media did not exist in the middle ages. It does now. People can see and make up their own mind. There are movements in Egypt and Turkey for reform. Humanity does not need religion to teach it kindness, good living and love. Some systems, we are born with, others we learn from our parents, and the rest from what we see around us and from our religious denomination.

I feel a great sadness and anger when I see the "religion" and culture from which I draw my faith being used in similar manner to assault people for personal gain. These single and depraved assholes, men who used to fester in the streets, are now in the halls of power. Coming elections will show if we Indians are uncivilized as these bastards of Manu.

PS :- Manu is the reference Manusmrithi. An aberration in history of Hindu thought. Its only aim seems to have been to somehow maintain status quo of the writers during a time of change in ancient India.

How far are you willing to go for your dream?

This is actually a review of a movie. The second one back to back. I just wanted to pick out one of the best scenes from another great movie "Gattaca". There is a scene in it that I have watched over and over again. The scene contains the theme and the heart of this really good flick.

How far would you be willing to go to achieve you dreams? How much of yourself are you willing to loose?

Movie is set in a future of designer babies. Every child is an offspring of what is best in each of his parents. Genetically transmitted diseases such as heart problems, diabetes etc are non-existent. Further, the state is able to use the genetic information to decide who would be better sportsman, a scientist or an astronaut. Into this mix is our hero Vincent, who is not genetically designed and is born with a weak heart. His dream is to go to space. But this is impossible. The state would not allow him to enter into the space program with his weak heart. His brother, correct in every genetic sense makes it to be a policeman. Vincent runs away from home to fulfill his dream. He gets help from another would be astronaut, who is confined to his wheel chair as a result of an accident. Together, they pull an impersonation so that Vincent can enter the space program. Story continues, the deadline for the launch approaches. There is a murder at the space center. The brother comes to investigate and catches the murderer. But there is one person, he has not been able to interview throughout his investigation, who has avoided him - Vincent.

The brothers meet. The policeman understands the fraud that Vincent is pulling. The two argue. Vincent tells him that he is no less of a man because of his genetic makeup. Vincent reminds his brother of the day when he had to rescue him during a swimming contest. The dare was to see who can swim out the farthest before turning back. Vincent had always lost, except for that last time. He won and also had to rescue his brother. It was after this incident that Vincent left home.

The two decide on a rematch. Once more they swim way out to the sea. Vincent is not stopping and keeps going further. His brother is exhausted and unable to swim more.

"Vincent, Vincent, where is the shore? We are too far out"

"You want to quit?"

"We are too far out!!"

"You want to quit?"

"No!!"

.....

"Vincent. How are you doing this? How have you done any of this?!"

"You want to know how I am doing it? This is how I did it. I never saved anything for the swim back!!"

Apocalypto

Another Mel Gibson directed movie. And again, he courted controversy with some groups over his portrayal of ancient Mayans. It is pretty good movie. I wont say great. Great movies are those you watch again and again. I wont be watching this anytime soon. Well except for the scenes with Dalia Hernández (pictured above). There is much violence in this movie. If you can stomach it, you got yourself a decent movie about a different time, set in a primitive and alien culture. In a broad sense it is a story about love, courage and resilience. But there is much happening in the background, you tend to miss out on the storyline till movie ends.

I was told that there is a lot of action in this movie. I did not find much in terms of action. I found more of violence. I know it sounds strange. For example I found "Last of the Mohicans" to be more action packed and contain less violence. I guess what I am saying is there is less in terms of synchronized fighting with an accompanying background score, which would had us in the groove. With movies like Transporter series or Wesley Snipes' or Jackie Chan's, you come out of the theatre feeling you can throw a punch. You don't feel the same with all the beheading and pulling out of hearts from live men.

BJP's answer to the terror attacks

They have lot of ideas these guys. They must have. They are the poster child for all domestic and international terror groups. They demolished the Babri Masjid. They maimed and killed in Gujarat. This is what every terror recruiting agent uses to motivate and send out its men.

Before the Mumbai attacks, they went on and on about protecting motorcycle riding and bat wielding "Sadhvi". That lost them the election in 3 states and voter allegiance. In his speech in Parliament, Advani said - "it is our loss not the congress's win". He got that right.

You cannot play save the Hindu terrorist card during elections. That is hitting too close to home for any Hindu. Babri Masjid - Ram Janmbhumi combine, Hindu marginalisation, yeah, it got them the votes in the outset. Public view is - Yes to Ram Temple, yes to our traditions. Oh the demolition? That was not us. That was bad politicians or hoodlums. Not us. "Ali Bhai, don't look at me like that. I have been your neighbour for years. It was not me." Asking the public to support "Sadhvi" led terrorists? No!! That is definitely not us. For a party that has built itself on the basis on Hindu revivalist ideology, they seem to lack understanding of the basic philosophy which has kept Hinduism alive despite its million plus gods!! This philosophy is written into our history, our upbringing and our blood. It is the acceptance that life is about finding our way to god. And that includes all paths.

Nothing can break and destroy this country more than home grown terror like that which is led by BJP's ideology or regionalism like Raj Thackerays or that idiot Bhukari out at Jama Masjid etc. Let the government fight Pakistan to prevent attacks from across the border. We need to tell our terrorists "enough is enough" and make sure they get the picture in words or bricks.

Better to have been loved...

This posted has been moved.

Bangalore's "CITY" tag

Is Bangalore a city? This is an open question to all of us. Do you feel like you are in a city?

Things that put the "scoff" in Bangalore city,

1. No rapid transport system. It takes 45 mins to journey from Andheri to Churchgate, a distance of 20+ kms. It takes a bloody hour to reach Majestic from outer ring road, a distance of between 8-12 kms.

2. Pray that our Chief Minister is able to source and buy power for us. We have daily power outages for 2 hours plus.

3. We have water shortages in a place where it rains every other month and then some.

4. We don't have a night life. Bars and restaurants close by 11.30. If you still want to hang out late night beware of "nakabandi".

5. Dancing is not allowed. There are no discotheques.

6. You cant find a cheap hotel in the city around Rs. 500/-. Yes, there are a couple but thats' only in Shivaji Nagar.

7. If you are waiting for a bus after 9.30. Prepare for a frustrating 2 hour wait and journey back home. Finding buses at that "late an hour" is difficult.

8. If you are relying on returning by auto after 9.30, get ready to be fucked by CITU card carrying autowallas.

9. Bangalore is a pricey. Most other cities are pricey only when in comes to accommodation. Bangalore is pricey in terms of food, shelter and travel. I have traveled by auto, suburban train and auto again to reach home in Mumbai for less than Rs.30 at 1 am.

10. One of the reasons for the higher price is cost of fuel. We pay more for our fuel then any other city in India.

Is Bangalore is city? Based on population size, may be. But it is a dumb idea to put so many people in place which is not geared to meet their needs.