Epilogue - South Asian basket cases..

epilogue
-noun.

1.
a concluding part added to a literary work, as a novel.
2.
a speech, usually in verse, delivered by one of the actors after the conclusion of a play.
3.
the person speaking this.

The definition of the word lies above.
I refer to the noun, as in definition 1 throughout this post. I am also doing definition 3.
And it is a reference to a "play" if you will, after its conclusion...

Its been over 72 hours since Benazir Bhutto was slain. Bullets, bombs or a car lever - it doesn't matter. A woman, an ex-PM, a person fighting to maintain her father's legacy in the country of her origin is dead.
The repurcussions of red-letter days, or historical events are always to be seen in perspective. It is important to not get swayed by tear-jerking montages, pithy platitudes, and fake tributes - by the like of Barkha Dutt and Karan Thapar on their respective channels. Heck in fact 24x7 can now be renamed, the Bhutto channel.
The woman was PM at one of the times India almost went to war with her country. Her legacy of going soft on the Taliban has cost both America and India dearly, but the biggest price has been paid by the Pakistanis themselves. If she is dead, she is dead for a reason - if you play with fire, you ought to get burnt sometime. Whether she deserved death for it is debatable, but the bastard love-child (Taliban) has turned judge, jury and executioner - so its not a decision for us to make anymore.
While we in India usher in 2008, with trips to shopping malls, talking of the sensex reaching 20k, and talk about India's nanotech policy, Pakistan, the rogue-basket-amputee limb of India is being eaten away by the very maggots that created her in the first place.
I have no remorse or sadness on the ex-PM's death. Hers has been a legacy of death in India, either directly or indirectly, and for that she has paid the ultimate price. It is Nawaz Sharif's turn up next, and possibly Musharraf's after that. Very well - this country is ripe for American intervention, and I'd be a banner holder for American troops on her soil. They are best suited to protect its nukes from the mullahs and fanatics, and they indeed should do that as soon as possible.
There is talk of her 19 year old son succeeding her. Probably we in India are not that sycophantic. And it apparently says so in her-will. It is her legacy to her people. To be led by an immature 19-year old. It is her legacy to the people to be led by her family, even if it means paying the ultimate price herself.. The family name must go on!

What ails this fragile heart?

I am by the sea-shore...
I beseech the calm ocean - ye of strong under-currents to swallow me. I yearn for an end to this life. I do not call it death. Death is silent. Death is in the passing of the earthly being. I crave not for the decimation of this earthly body.

What do you say of a man who wish he'er never born?

This is a day of achievements I am not very proud of.
I have accomplished all my life's goals.. (strange feelings leap from the chasm that would be my heart)
I feel as empty as I was when I'd set out to achieve them!
I've strained every nerve, every sinew of my now fatigued ageing body, in search for the highest levels of accomplishment.
Here I stand at the top, lone victor I truly am!
Yet I feel vanquished.

The dichotomy of my existence
The duality of my existence
The paradox of my existence

I cry
but the tears are dry
I weep
yet the sadness is locked within
My penance
My penance has no meaning
All around there is joy
But I am still so numb
Inside me a million stream of tears flow
But I am still so numb
I am dead
But I am still so numb

Chaos and World Order

Some, maybe you the reader, would like to think there is a lot of chaos in the world. Your observation may be based on the assumption that anarchy, lack of self-determined governance, access to the country's own resources, lack of free speech and demonstration, and absence of legal franchise leads to the conclusion that most of the free world is not quite free. And then there are those who believe we are better off than people were, say 100 years ago. It depends on which country you are from, and it is quite possible that any one of these observations might be true.
What has not changed, is my observation that while we may over certain periods be "better off" than we were at some other time, we as a race of people are just not well off altogether.
The reason, which I propose to highlight, as root cause of all our problems, is quite shocking and something which would make you shrug in disbelief.
A peep into your high school physics tells you that the most natural state for a particle with a lot of energy is to lose that additional energy and go down to a more balanced natural state. As with your simple electronics gadgets where a potential difference leads to a charge migration, it is but human nature to violently resist being in a high energy state. You can define this kind of energy, as potential energy - a form of energy you get in springs which are happy in their most natural, and relaxed state - however when wound, suppressed under external influence, it gets tighter and tighter, beyond which it snaps and goes back to its original state. If wound too tight, it could break or implode.
We need to make similar decisions about us as a race - we have far continued living in viciously violent socities - and the only reason we are that way is because we have been tightly wound - bound by laws, rules, regulations, emotions & religion. Human beings were successful in their evolution not because of structure but primarily due to the lack of it - when we have a problem to solve, we evolve - something like this is not out of place in today's socities, but our roles have become so straight-jacketed that it doesn't allow for radical thinking.
The best form of society, if given a chance, would be one where we are not bound by laws - death will initially takes its toll, but we would survive - knowing the survival of the species depends on our ability to work together - but for this we need to break down the artificial barriers of today's society. In other words, we need to go back to where we started from...

A "match" made in heaven...

So the two tennis greats, from two slightly overlapping eras squared off in Seoul this week in terrible conditions. Sampras, the 14 time championship winner, all of 36 squared off against his 25 year old opponent, and top-dog of the day Roger Federer.
It is terrible heartache to take sides in such a match. Both guys are champs in their own right, and they have squared off just a few times in their actual professional careers almost 4 years ago, with Sampras on the verge or retiring, and Roger's stars were on the ascendance.
Although Federer did manage to beat Sampras in two sets straight, you have to hand it to Sampras - he has been out of touch for a while now. But what is so great about the match is probably not the match that either played itself. In fact, it probably was never the epic it was made out to be. But to see both players on court square off against each other was an amazing feeling - both players are clean - with very little emotion to show on court (although I'd say Federer is more prone to show off his frustration when things are not going his way, but that doesn't happen too often!), and have excellent all-round games unlike some other one dimensional characters (big serves, or clay court specialists). Rafa is amazing too because the clay court takes a horrendous amount of stamina to last on - but then he needs to start winning something other than the French Open each year to get to Roger's level.
Its a shame the two couldn't play each other more often during Sampras' professional career. That way we wouldn't have had to sigh and say "If only he were a little younger, he'd have given Roger a run for his money". Sampras was my tennis hero - and still is - but to me Roger is the epitome of everything that a coaching video manual translated on to the tennis court means... He has a shot for any and every situation - and he rips it like nobody else I've ever seen (Rafa is close...) - I don't even think God comes close to that perfection.. And he has warned his opponents, that he is going to get only better!! God have mercy on his opponents on the tour - its a lot easier than competing against him!!

White in skin, not in deed..

"Get fair!" screams another racist advert on the telly..
A fair lass, who was fair initially, and was touched up with a dash of eyelash/mascara, applies a magical cream for 7 nights religiously, and then finds her visual appeal return - CAUTION - you need to be cute/hot/fair and a combination of all three to qualify as a model for the ad. The incredulous ad actually may translate into gullible buyers, and looking by the revenue-ad cycle I guess it does!!

One of the famous quotes
"Its not how you look on the outside, its how you are on the inside" - by someone ugly...

Its not good enough if you look good or have a good body - its equally important, screams the racist ad, that you are FAIR! Remember, white = pure, black = evil.

We've been servants of FAIR masters, long before the Brits set up shop in slum-hole Calcutta. Its bad enough we have a flaccid self-image concomitant with under-achievers and people with severe image issues. We need to look FAIR as well. 90% of the brown skinned population is a huge market for the racist pandering multinationals to tap.
Black is beautiful - brown is beautiful - white is pale, a euphemism for cold, dark dank winters.
We need to break the mental shackles of such cheap gimmickery. There is a lot to do to make us white - on the inside - and when that is done, it will shine through a whole lot better than any hundred rupee fairness cream can ever do.

As the author of this piece, I would like to claim that I'm neither black, nor white. I like the Chinese analogy of race - God (or General Mao for all I care) was baking biscuits (not cookies, the american kind) - some of them turned black because they were overdone, some were white because they were undercooked, and some turned brown because God just didn't get the time right. The yellow ones were the golden ones, and were just right!
A thought for the day perhaps..

WANTED : A used workhorse!

As my search for a good vehicle continues, I meander down the lane of buying a used car. I'm quite tired of hearing the pros of a new vehicle - but quite frankly unless you are buying anything less than a mercedes/ferrari/hayabusa or any other "lifestyle" vehicle - it simply doesn't matter how much cash you spend on it - you own a vehicle that everyone else owns, and the damn thing depreciates faster than a randy american chicks reputation after prom night.
So I've narrowed my search down to a diesel workhorse - a Palio from FIAT to be precise - simply because I want lower running costs, and of course a really low investment cost for the next 2-3 years. While the Getzes and Swifts are within my reach, I don't want to whittle away a few grands just for the fresh smell of a new car - I just need a cheap and safe mode of transport.
So if I can actually get one in the near future I'd be happy with it - or else I'll have to go throught the harrowing torture of buying and maintaining an expensive vehicle, which does the same thing that any used vehicle does at half its price. There are issues though - my knowledge of diesel engines to be precise are pretty much text-book bound - I know the working parts of them, their compression ratios, their rpm's, issues with fuel quality, and the pitfalls of a rattling engine during higher revs etc etc. And the fact that the Fiat Palio Diesel is a defunct vehicle in this country. But then how many cars can boast of a 1.9L engine, and a 13 kmph mileage on a liter of diesel? Thats almost twice the mileage to an equivalent petrol chugger. Impressive!
I'm not impressed with any other diesel power plants in the country. The fiestas are out of my reach for the moment - and are quite and overkill. I hope the search for this vehicle ends well, because quite frankly I've been quite appalled with the 2 vehicles I've seen today!

Are you God Fearing?

Its a very queer sounding phrase.. And I don't think I've quite heard it outside south India, let alone India!

Am I god fearing? Absolutely not!!!

I would like to think I am God loving - but I am not that either - I'm not a complete agnostic, and I'm quite selfish if and when I ever turn to God. But then that's about it. I love the sanctity, the purity, and dignity of the rituals which are so much a traditional part of my community. I do it, not out of love/fear of God - but I see it as a long lost link to my traditional orthodox past. And I don't lose any part of my individuality in doing it - sometime it makes me feel like I belong, and I think sometimes I do crave that acceptance having been a nomadic mutt in my upbringing.

So do I fear God, for he may smite me from the heavens above? No - I don't fear Him - I fear taxes, credit card bills, and the mad-cap drivers of bangalore and the occassional bad-hair day, yes - but not God...

I think He is very deceiving in his design - its like the mob boss you've jilted by doing business with someone else. He gags you & brings you to his lair - and then he never touches you - but he conjures up all these beautiful ways of killing you and your family.. and you weep - you beg for forgiveness, and you swear a life-long loyalty to him lest anything ever happen to your progeny. And after a lot of humming and hawing he gives you the reprieve.. and a harsh warning - you go back counting you lucky stars. True power lies in the catch and release technique - if God were to smite every sinner, the earth would be a very desolate place. And considering christianity's take on original sin, we'd all be out before the first ball was bowled!

Most blog writers are annoying - addendum..

I just got a new perspective on the - purpose of blogs - apparently a blog is meant for losers to talk about their rather "exciting" lives..
Now lets evaluate as to what constitutes an exciting life
1) Drinking chai at barristas/cafe coffee day/mocha
2) Bitching about colleagues because you don't get along with them/ they are too cool for you
3) Bitching just for the sake of it..
4) Stuff you did during the day (not very different from the life of most other people anyway)..
So to me if this is all the content you have, and about a million people blog about the same topics, you just seem to get me to press shift + delete onto the great limbo of blogosphere hell. If you make it an interesting read with apt phrase usages, witty quips or wodehousian language constructs, you just score a lot of points with discerning readers like me..
Remember you are unique just like everyone else. In the paradoxical irony, lies salvation for your trite blogs. Spice it up a bit - apply a little thought to it - or atleast develop a thought process that would produce blogs worth reading!

Most Blog Writers are Annoying..

When I started Randomly Coherent, blogging was at its infancy.

There is no 'subtle' difference between normal, essay-like writing or story-telling - and the farce that is the blogger's weapon of choice - utter chaos, random gibberish and sentences which absolutely do not lead to any sane logical conclusion.

There are very few serious bloggers - and they, more often that not, use succinct language constructs and of course blog about serious topics, and try to drive home a point. Subtlety, maybe the occassional quip are the icing on the cake - not the cake itself (ever had a cake made out of cherries and frosting?).

Trouble is when people try to force you to read their blogs. I'm always on the lookout for a fresh perspective, and a new point of view in the digital world. But when horrendously structured sentences, with no logical link between them pass off as a "let me rant and rave here" blog, well, it really irritates me - give me something worthwhile to read. DaVinci or Picasso did'nt draw doodles on canvas. But then not every blog is a digital picasso. And probably it shouldn't be. But what it can do is inform, maybe educate, or titillate. Whatever the intent, the means to do them should always be the same - well-structured and to the point. Remember, when you try to get to someone, if you start rambling they are probably going to punch you in the face (rare), doze off (popular!) or just shake their head/s (indian elephant syndrome).

And I will stop my blog right here - anything more and I know I'd lose my audience. So blog freely, but blog responsibly.

Quote from the most famous son of Yorkshire (in India atleast), Geoffery Boycott, aka Boycs:
"That blog is utter rubbish... My mom could blog better"