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.

KILL THE ANT.....REAR THE GRASSSHOPPER!

NOTIFICATION - i have not composed this piece of article. In light of the recent 'quota system' thought of by the brains in the Indian Government, this is an awesome article i came across! I would call posting it here as 'Appreciative Plagiarism'!! :-)

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

CLASSICAL VERSION...
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks that the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasShopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

MODERN VERSION.....

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance)

Opposition MP's stage a walkout.Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

The Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Finally, Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley. 100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ...
As a result of losing a lot of hard working ants and feeding the grasshoppers, India is still a developing country..... .

Bangalore tending to Kolkata?

One more dispute....one more Bandh! Total city-shutdown....school, colleges & even MNCs shut down for the day.

Seems familiar to Calcuttans? Not just Calcutta anymore......'cos this is happening right here in namma Bengaluru!!

Peeved at not getting the demanded quota of Cauvery water from the tribunal, and salt upon injury added by Mr Karunanidhi managing to secure a relatively favorable decision for arch-rivals (at least w.r.t. the cauvery issue) TN....the pro-Kannad organizations have decided to shut the city down for 12 staright hours to protest this injustice!!

What have the Pro-Kannad organisations decided upon doing?

• Decided to stop all vehicular traffic on all major roads from 0600-1800 hrs....fetching discomfort to the Bangalorean junta will teach the tribunal a lesson!
• Down all shutters....close all shops.....shut down all business - When they lose money...they will know how it feels! (Still undecide as to who the 'they' being referred to is......)
• Ban all Tamil channesl of the cable TV network (Now theTamilians will know what it is to mess with us!!!)
• Not enough. Let's ban all Non-Kannad channels from the cable TV network on the bandh day (Now even the rest of the world will know what it is to mess with us!!)
• Shout slogans against the govt for allowing the Tribunal to give such a verdict against them (so what if none of the govts in the last 17 years couyld not get a decision in favor of themselves!!)
• Shut down the pulse of the city!

So how is Bangalore dealing with this?
Very well i must say....and like Calcuttans, even Bangaloreans have learned not to look a gift horse in the mouth and take full advantage of a weekday off! Thus is their planning -

• Residents of nearby places like Chennai, Hydbd & Cochin had fled back home on fri evenig, ths ensuring a 3-day stay at home....
• B'loreans thronged the dvd parlors, stocking up on movie fare to last through the day. My roomies & i hve picked up Munich, The Prestige, Aastha & Divorzio all'Italiana to last us thru the day....
• The liquor shops also saw a heavier than usual traffice, with pppl stocking up on the spirit-quotient too. I myself spent 20 mins standing at the queue at Foodworld to pay fot the beers that i had picked up (including the new Haywards Stout)......come'on guyz - where else do u get to pay for booze by Sodexho coupons?!
• Maggi...the life-saver....went fast off the shelf for bachelors like us. A search for the new Rice Maagi yielded no results! :-(
• All TN registerd vehicles were hidden out of sight (come'on....remember)
• Friends were called over on sunday evening to partake of the beer and the bakar!!
• Last heard all Non-kannad states (including Tamilians) would be leading their usual lives, and even getting to watch all their TV channels on the Cable Tv network
• As to how life_during_bandh was......gotta wait till we spend it.

Still wondering though....who are they trying to register their protest with?