Friday, November 28, 2008

And we will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger - those who attempt to poison and destroy my countrymen!!!

November 26, '08 Mumbai around 2200 hrs IST

it's happened again...& in a manner that has left us speechless! in a way that hasn't happened before!
innocent ppl...innocent bystanders...innocent tourists...why? why?!
our defence-forces hve responded with force, tact and bravery...even as i type this, they hve nearly cleaned up the act...but at a price. there hve been martyrs among the elite forces, heaps of innocent casualties - both among the indian civilians & the foreign tourists...bystanders n hostages. prominent landmarks of the city damaged n scarred beyond anything, but negligible compared to the loss of HUMAN LIVES!
THIS IS UTTER DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIVES....this cant go on!
u know...it provides me with a desire...with a initiative which i would like to see take shape! with such terror incidents becoming a sporadic part of our lives, as Prannoy Roy put it - we must sacrifice sumthing to make our lives more secure. the thought i had was - along the lines of Israel, a compulsory military conscription for all the citizens of india....age no bar till 40! a year or 2 dedicated to the nation...to make us more trained for emergencies, to act for the benefit of the nation, to make us -on a collective whole- a nation much more trained and equipped to handle and respond to such acts better!
our industries and corporate world must act as a support to this. employees who come away must be paid a small retainership fee to sustain/ support the person thru the year or 2 that he/ she dedicates to the nation!
as with myself, i see a lot of anger among reasonable ppl...and dat is never a good sign! u can go on prodding a sleeping dragon only til a certain point...but as a lot of the newspersons are saying..."we need to stop being just resilient, rather become responsive"...eliminate all and every risks to your lives, to the lives of innocent civilians and to the threat of freedom!
we must react...but we must keep our heads about us. we shud not fuel rumors, we shud not taint ppl of any faith/ community/ religion just becos of some individuals, we shud not indulge in mob mentality. even as others mite start losing their wits about u, we shud try n keep ours...really difficult (god forbid) if u see ur near and dear ones as a victim of any sort...may God gives us the strength!
my anger within me makes me feel that if i were granted a wish, i wud hve wished i was a part of the NSG or MARCOS or the Indian Army rite at this moment and be a part of the encounter operation...& that if ever i am in such a position, i may not think twice before squeezing the trigger...
prayers for the departed, salute to the defence & paramilitary forces and the martyrs and hope for my countrymen...
and cudnt help adding this line - wherever those bastards may be from, whoever they mite be - screw their happines and fcuk them to hell & back!!
Jai Hind.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

I'm a Mo-Bro!

well...learnt 1 more great thing from the aussies, a custom which's gud enuff to carry back home with the other good 'uns!

it's Movember!!!

as the month of november was approaching, i cud hear my mates all around talkin off growing a moustache-donation for a shave-movember...goin on & goin forth! all i cud gather was u dont shave ur moustache in november (& assumed i misheard november as movember), and before knowing anything else of the rest - bang! i joined the bandwagon of not shaving my moustache!

and somedays prior...nrabouts mid-nov, i thot to me'self - dat i really dunno the reason i'm growing this bristle growth on my upper lip! and that's when i sought...and upon seeking did i discover!

wat a novelty thru an atypical aussie irreverant custom!

movember is the 'the month formerly known as november' in which u dont shave ur mo (aussie slang for ur moustache)! and why? b'cos u pledge not to shave til the end of month, and ur friends...oops - mates around u contribute money to your cause to sponsor ur moustache shaving at the end of the month! all the money dat is contributed against ur name, is donated to a cause for men's health research n prevention every year! this year - it's going to the prostate cancer reseacrh, prevention and cure society...

pls chk this link for further info
http://www.movember.com.au/

i was surprsied to know dat there are well laid down rules and customs associated with it, unaware of which all i jumped headlong into it!

but as they say - it's never too late to make amends! so instead of just sporting a moustache jus' for the heck of it, now i'm a proper registered member of Movember 2008 of Australia, n am proud of muhself mate...so there!!

this here is the official badge of being a part of this movement and hve already been gifted a shaving set and a free ticket to the gran parté (the party which marks the end of movember) for having more than a certain mark of contributions made against my name!

needless to say it's itching as hell, and if not for this pledge - i wud hve shaved it away long back! but some colleagues around me hve provided the much needed enthu by their unshirking attitude in following up this custom. as knowing myself - am a sucker to try out most new things....and when i saw an opportunity to give back to the land a li'l in return for all the gud time that i'm havin here....why not mate?!


it's also a custom to splash ur 'Mo progress' snaps at regular intervals...so thereby i post mine most recent ones!

if any of you readers perchance read this before Nov 30, ure welcome to add to the cause by ur contributions. just click on this link:
https://www.movember.com/au/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=2183971&country=au

else u can follow the instructions in this mo-card and do so too!

if it's beyond nov 30, look fwd to ur contribution nxt yr around mate...or mebbe u can participate urself!

one more good custom added to my kitty bag of 'things to carry back home'!

cheers,