Culture? Really?

A friend of mine read my post on my solitary trip to Kodaikanal and buzzed me despondently.

Ive always wanted to go on a trip alone!

so why dont you do it?

Im quite chicken.

huh? why?

hmm, maybe I should learn some self defence or get a gun licence.Then id feel safe.

I thought it was a really sad commentary on the state of our nation when a woman feels unsafe to such an extent that she would want to get a gun to go for a vacation. And its not even a remotely exaggerated reaction. It is the fact of life right now considering the state of affairs.

Everyday you have one or the other group of people coming up with violent actions in all parts of the country. And who do they target? The easy targets.

A 17 year old girl and a fellow commuter were pulled down from a bus, pushed into an auto and taken to a lonely place where both were beaten up. The crime? The girl was speaking to the guy who happened to be muslim.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Now_Ram_Sena_targets_CPM_MLAs_daughter_friend/articleshow/4089589.cms

And this is becoming a visible case with a few of the psychos being arrested, because in their misplaced and basically crazy thirst for notoriety and compensating for their inferiority complexes they picked on a girl who was a sitting MLAs daughter. So there is a whole hoopla around it and there may even be some action. But think about it - for one girl attacked without reason or rhyme and turning out to be an MLAs daughter, there must be thousands across the country who could be abused and assaulted with no reprisals every single day.

If that were not enough it seems now that people have come up with the idea that to be acknowledged as a political power to reckon with the only thing that works is to target a community / action / gender / location and pour heaps of vitriol on them in speeches to paid mobs. And then to follow this up with mob actions to cement the words. And as is the wont of bullies, the person targetted would always be the lowest guy in the food chain. As if he did not have enough problems of his own, now hes on the easy-to-hit list of all these marginal parties that have no chance in hell of ever getting their 15 minutes of fame through decent, good activities.

So you take the Marathi Manoos era in Mumbai where taxi drivers from North India were beaten up. If you have any conviction (and balls) why dont you dare to target someone who has the clout to hit back.Why do you have to target those who have become used to drinking up abuse and staying quiet. Actions like these dont show conviction, it just shows that youre bullies. And without conviction noone can gain respect from anyone.

Similarly, these bullies have decided that to target women behind the pitiful excuse of protecting the Indian culture is the easy thing to do to get headlines for a week,and then spend the rest of their useless insecure lives by terrorizing their small area of influence basking in the clout they created. Whether it be the Mangalore incident where five-five pseudo-Indian hooligans chased down and hit women in pubs - and what Indian culture fetes five men ganging up on a woman and beating her? - or this new one that happened on Friday in Bangalore:

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Now,+pub+hoppers+attacked+in+Bangalore&artid=PFfa8x72|io=&SectionID=Qz/kHVp9tEs=&MainSectionID=Qz/kHVp9tEs=&SEO=Kerala+CPM+MLA;+C+H+Kunhambu;+assault;+Revathy,wom&SectionName=UOaHCPTTmuP3XGzZRCAUTQ==

And now the call to ban Valentines day. I mean its just exasperating how such people are even allowed to live in decent society. They have chosen, one after the other, easy targets and gone about doing their dirty acts. And now they want to attack teenagers and kids just having some harmless fun. Yes, it may be a western concept but really is it really something that would affect and obliterate the Indian culture which has stood the test of time for thousands of years and was one of the most open hearted to newer people and customs? Are two kids surreptiously holding hands (or kissing or making out- we do have one of the fastest growing populations in the world - are we really in a position to say that sex is not part of our culture?)with a blush of joy as they stroll around really going shake the roots of our culture? Does India really need weak bullies to protect herself?

A Rainy "Knight's" Tale...

Hehe, I thought I'd come up with a profound and intellectual post to commemorate 50 posts on this astounding blog. Instead, I heard an incident from a friend that I just HAD to share! Its hilarious AND has a moral to it! (yeah, yeah, I know, to better mankind is a responsibility that falls upon great men like me. And then its upto us to shoulder up to this immense load, forget our own discomfort and make our sacrifice for the betterment of the human race...).

Warning: Certain details of the below story have been subjected to prose-license to improve overall impact.

Moving on, heres the scene...

Delhi, that Goddess of all cities...
Late night, say around 1 in the night...
Torrential rains lashing the city. Brilliant flashes of lightening...
Two old friends sitting on stairs leading upto one's house. Nostalgia hangs clearly in the air...
The glow from the cigarette one of them is smoking flickers, brightens, flickers again and then dies out...
Both look up with a start.Both are transported back from the ethereal campus of DCE that they were talking about, to the current cigarette less state they are in...

Two choices, abort the conversation (Afterall one of them has a flight to catch in the morning). The sensible thing to do, you'd say.

So, Of course they decide to pick up the car and go hunt for a fag(er...cigarette).


And now the real story begins -

So these two guys are cruising along the road in search for the elusive cigarette and they see a weird scene infront of their eyes.

A hot-little-girl-in-a-little-hot-dress brushing off water from her self while a bike lies sprawled on the ground and a guy having a heated quarrel with a cyclist. The girl asks the guy (presumably [hopefully] her brother) to desist. The guy acquiesces.

The protaganists (My friends), eyes popping out of their heads (did I mention the hot-little-girl-in-a-little-hot-dress?), parked their car, got out with their most macho swagger.

"Is something the matter? Need any help?" (Aimed at guy, eyes strictly on the hot-little-girl-in-a-little-hot-dress)

"No, we're fine, just a small accident. No problem. Thanks"

"Hmm..ok..bye"

Both climb into the car and move...slowly. The car seems to be resisting all attempts on the drivers part to accelerate. Both look towards each other, understanding shining in their eyes like a bright streak of lightening on a amavasya night (no-moon night, for want of a better english translation). This is too much like destiny. Straight out of a movie. A damsel in distress, how could the knights just leave her like that, lonely, forlorn, a tear in the eye. It just isn't what knights in shiny armours do, it just isn't cricket!

So the car, accepting the acceleration much more heartily than before, took a screeching U-turn. Racing back to the place where destiny was waiting for them with open arms and a joyous heart (Ok, a little explanation about a question that must be breeding in your mind - why was there no competition within the protagonists, even when the prize is so desirable, i.e. hot-little-girl-in-a-little-hot-dress. One of them has already found his destiny and is engaged to be married. So his role was of the loyal sidekick, the supporter who draws together and helps the hero overcome all odds to reach his destiny, i.e. hot-little-girl-in-a-little-hot-dress).

eeehhhnnnhhh, the car screeched to a halt. What was that?!!

Let us recollect the scene as our hero and his loyal sidekick had left sometime, nay, a few moments ago. The hot-little-girl-in-a-little-hot-dress, the potential brother, sprawled bike and a fast receding cyclist.

AND now:

Two cars with 2 to 3 guys each parked around the bike as the brother-figure tries to start it. All of them vying with each other to 'help' the hot-little-girl-in-a-little-hot-dress 's brother/boyfriend start the bike!

HEHE, our heroes took a deep breath and proceeded again on their quest for a cigarette...

MORAL: If you come across a hot-little-girl-in-a-little-hot-dress needing help, DO NOT let the opportunity go! There are always another 3-4 guys waiting around the corner to steal your 'destiny'!!

:)

PS: My lips are sealed about the identity of the protagonists!

When life resembles fiction...almost...

There is a rather popular publication (very popular in hostels of engineering colleges and other predominantly male bastions) that compiles together communication between the editorial team of a popular (though expensive) magazine and the general populace and presents it in the form of blue-bound book with frequent re-prints. Generally, the veracity of the contents of this tome is extremely suspect, but as strongly true is the inherent readability and eye-catching style of writing employed in these. This genre of books, apart from being extremely popular with adolescent/young readers, also does a good job of igniting the imagination of the readers wherein they tend to day-dream a lot even when they are engaged in the rather regular and mundane activities of normal existence.

However, as time passes, the day dreams die a slow death, not painful or particularly troublesome, but just a slow death - after all, the readers are reasonably rational people with the innate ability to differentiate between fact and fiction.

And then, sometimes, years after the day dreams have whimpered out of existence, facts and fiction re-engage in the agonising turmoil that makes you think - was there any truth in all the blue books that you've ever read? Afterall, if I can be faced with a prospect like this, i'm sure sufficient such incidents would be happening the world over to fill up hundreds of such books.

I don't want to reveal more here. I just want to say that it was a rather scary, hopeful, nervous, expectant, moral-battling, going-with-the-flow type of oxy-moronic scenario. And when it fizzled out, I wasn't sure if there was more relief or more disappointment.

A few things that I got out of this (as an advisor closely related to the 'incident' said- "there's no downside!")

* I realised that for all the chest thumping I do, when the crux of a game changing phenomenon approaches, I'm about as confident as I was before the Social Sciences board exam in class 10. Which is not at all.

* My value system is quite strongly ingrained. It makes me think, for the first time, that certain things I haven't done till now may have been because I, at a sub-conscious level, did not want to do them, rather than a lack of opportunity.

* My moral scheme is nowhere as strong as my parents/immediate family may want it to be.

* I bought something I've never bought before for the first time in my life. And it was not even close to how tough/weird I thought it would be. It was actually a lot of fun!!

PS: People who know more details about this incident; I would really appreciate it if you could desist any comments with specifics. I'll be forced to delete those comments. (yes, I mean you PS!)