The seer

Every time India and Pakistan play a cricket match, it creates a lot of excitement and tension. Winning the game becomes almost mandatory, and a loss is not taken lightly. This feeling rises out of the hostility we have towards each other and is mutual. The Pakistani people feel the same about us. So why this hostile feeling? Have the two countries been enemies throughout history? No, everyone knows that until the 1940’s we were together in one piece and fighting against a common enemy, the British. Our purpose was the same – freedom from foreign rule. But then we wanted freedom from each other. And so came the partition. The Partition of India has been and is still the most widely discussed, most sensitive topic to both the countries. This topic also brings back cruel memories for many people. When Independent India was partitioned, about 14.5 million people crossed the new borders hoping a safe future. Of them about 7.2 million Muslims went to Pakistan and about an equal number of Hindus and Sikhs came to India. But it was not a safe transformation for all, about 12.5 million people were displaced as a result of the partition, religious riots broke at different parts of the country, several hundred thousands of people lost their lives. Many women lost their dignity and lives and thousands of children orphaned, and all this because of whom. Mohammed Ali Jinnah the father of Pakistan is the man blamed in India. Some have even written books blaming Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel. So who should be blamed for creating this huge mess. And who does history point to. We should not take history for as it is. Afterall all history are mere interpretations of men.

Rather than put the blame on someone, I wholeheartedly put the whole blame on something else – Religion. You might say that it is men who corrupt religion and wreck havoc in its name. But why is religion so easily corruptible. As an Agnostic Atheist, I cannot digest the fact that something as pathetic as religion would divide the hearts of people and most of all a country. I have always believed that religion is more of a personal choice, more like a particular colored shirt I choose to wear. But the fact is that religion means much to a whole lot of people. And this ‘much’ is what creates intolerance toward’s someone else’s beliefs or religion. The same question has been asked so many times, but still I ask this one more time - If all religions lead to one God, why do people fight over the same God.

Mahatma Gandhi said of partition.”My whole soul rebels against the idea that Hinduism and Islam represent two antagonistic cultures and doctrines. To assent to such a doctrine is for me a denial of God.” I only wish that he had been more adamant in his opposition to the partition.

So can there be peace between India and Pakistan? If Yes, when? If no, then what? My answer would be Yes. But the question ‘when’ cannot be answered. Because it takes the collective efforts of both the nations to bring peace and Pakistan in its current form is ripping apart. This is a real concern not only for the people of Pakistan but also for us. An unstable Pakistan is not in India’s interest. Pakistan is already a mockery of democracy with the ISI calling the shots and aiding terrorism in India and abroad. The Indian intelligence has to come with ways to help Pakistan return to true democracy. May be then the hands of ISI can be tied for ever. But how did Pakistan become what it is now? Pakistan has always been a tool used by big powers to keep a check on India. When India has close relations with the erstwhile soviet union, the USA provided Pakistan with millions of dollars of aid, and huge amount of weapons to confront us. Then it was China which sold to Pakistan all it needed to fight us. It was only because of these foreign powers that Pakistan is now a nuclear power.

And then there is Kashmir, I often think that if there was no partition in the first place, there wouldn’t have been a Kashmir issue. Sometimes I dream that India and Pakistan would unite and we will once again be undivided by borders, religion and undivided in our hearts.

Like Andy Duffrene would say in the shawshank redemption ‘Hope is a good thing, may be the best of the things.’ I keep my hopes alive.

Yes, I say. I feel legalizing prostitution is best way to save women from it. Prostitution is one of worst forms of exploitation women endure and why it could not be eradicated all this time is because it is not legal. We dont know where this happens, we dont know the people involved. It is a huge business that thrives in hidden locations of our country.

Legalizing it will bring everything in sight. When I say legalize, the purpose of it should be to eradicate it & not let it thrive. An effective system can be formed to get rid of middlemen or pimps, since they are the main cause for luring innocent women in to this profession. Legalizing it will help save child sex workers & women who are forced into this profession.

When the women involved in the profession dont have to shy away from police, they will be able to ask for help, speak out against any form of aggression. A separate committee can be formed under the womens development ministry to take care of their concerns, get to know the women involved in the profession, offer counseling to take alternate professions and education about Sexually transmitted diseases.

Existing laws let go of prostitutes and middlemen with a fine. Once legalized, laws with strict punishment should be enforced against those in the profession without a valid license, those who force others in to the profession, maximum punishment for those involving children in the profession.

Prostitution should not just be approached directly but also indirectly. The other reason why prostitution thrives, is our taboo minded approach to sex. Our cultural & religious beliefs about sex have to be broken and a more rational approach should be cultivated through education.

Since, what we dont want to talk about in the light, we seek in the dark.

What was the reason that Independent India was divided in 1947 to create a separate country of Pakistan? The answer is Religion.

What was the reason for the demolition of Babri masjid? What was the reason for Gujarat riots, the Kandhamal riots? The killing of kashmiri pandits? The endless terrorist attacks? The reason that casteism exists & existed for thousand’s of years? What is the reason for all this hatred & killing happening in this world? The answer again for all these is religion.

And what purpose does religion serve–God.

So should I blame God for all this unholiness. I say no. Because God is such a poor creature, something whose name, perverted humans created and used to do all this atrocity. God is so weak that it was powerless to stop these perverts from committing atrocities in its name.

And the reason God is so helpless is because God does not even have the slightest clue of what’s happening in this world. Because God is nothing more than a fragment of human imagination.

I cannot imagine the courage of this man.

A lot is at stake in this phase 5 of lok sabha elections. Since most pre-polls suggest that no single party is going to get a clear majority, the 40 seats in Tamilnadu and pondicherry will be crucial in deciding the ruling government. The current mood in tamilnadu seems to be against the ruling Congress-DMK alliance because of their insensitiveness to the plight of the srilankan tamils. While the Srilankan tamil issue would not be the deciding factor like most political pandits say, I’m sure it will be a crucial factor which will affect a considerable percent of votes.

The DMK’s actions and assurances about the srilankan tamils issue has been confusing and did not help create any hope that the war in srilanka will come to an end. Karunanidhi, a master politician did try lot of tricks but most seem to have backfired on him. He initially threatened to withdraw support for the UPA government, then he promised that the UPA government will make the srilankan governement announce a ceasefire, he even staged a fast between breakfast and lunch which only added insult to injury. All his words and actions seemed to prove that he is not being true to the tamil cause. His desparate actions also seem to suggest that he fears a defeat in this election.

The congress government at the center has been the most unkind to the srilankan plight. They have not taken one concrete action or step to force the srilankan government to implement a ceasefire. The sending of envoys and foreign secretaries has been just for the sake of sending someone. Now the congress has realised that it will face a tough time in Tamilnadu this elections and seems to be silently wooing the AIADMK for a post poll alliance.

The AIADMK wants to take advantage of this mood and get the votes of that sizeable portion. Jayalalitha’s proclamation that she will fight for a separate Eelam has completely taken me by surprise. I really doubt her sincerity to saving the srilankan plight.  If she gets a clear majority after the polls, I think she might  support the congress, if they openly ask for her support. I dont know what her alliance partners MDMK and PMK who have been quite firece in the sriliankan issue would do after the polls.

BJP will mot make much of an impression, though candidates like Thirunavukarasar and Ela ganesan will make an impression.

The DMDK on the other hand seems to be silently playing the spoiler role. He does not own any tv channels and because of this reason his voices have been mostly unheard. The question is whose win will Vijaykanth spoil?

I have exercised my adult francise at exactly 3.30 pm today. I mean I just cast my vote. The polling center was just the next street and I went there with my parents. Saw about 10 policemen with weapons gaurding the booth. There were about 4 polling stations/rooms in the booth. There weren’t many people around casting their vote, I think most would have cast theirs in the morning before the sun started spitting fire. Entered the booth, got my voter ID verified, the inkmark was then applied in my index finger and then walked ahead to cast my vote in the Electronic voting machine. Pressed the button next to my chosen candidate and it gave a long beep sound.

This is the second time I’m voting in a EVM, the last time I voted in the 2004 elections and the candidate I voted lost the elections. I’m not sure what’s gonna happen this time.

Kamal Haasan’s interview at the time his movie Virumaandi was due release. The movie was originally named sandiyar and faced legal problems and protests from certain political parties.

I have watched this interview so many times and its never boring. Everyword Kamal says is so funny and so true.

Music composed and sung by A.R.Rahman and lyrics by Vaali.

ps: for those who know the tamil lyrics, the english subs can be a bit annoying.

The trip to kozhikode was very satisfying. Though the real purpose was to attend an interview at NIT calicut, the next day I spent at the Tusharagiri waterfalls was the best. My interview was on April 08, 2009 and my friend Vijay was accompanying me.

My train West coast Express was scheduled to depart at 11.30 am and we almost missed it by 5 minutes, thanks to the MRTS train from tidel park that tested our patience. The journey was not at all boring, considering my friend vijay whom I consider an extreme extrovert. Taking fun of people in the train and the chicken briyani that I brought along made sure time sped fast. We reached Kozhikode station at 1.00 am and set to look for a room despite advices that it’s not that safe to go around this time. Luckily we got a room in Hotel calicut heritage with the help of an auto driver and I got ready for my interview. The interview was good if not great and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I actually thought that the interview would get over before 1 or 2 pm in the afternoon, but it stretched to almost 7.00 pm. Unluckily I was the last candidate in that batch. We had to wrap our plans to kappad beach and decided to hit kozhikode beach which was just 3 kms away. We decided to have food at a very good restaurant whose name i dont remember, it was just opposite the beach and they serve, Arabian, chinese and traditional food.

We decided to try our some Arabian food and ordered a plate of Khuboos and Chicken shawarma. Khuboos is made with maida and is thicker than a naan but softer than a roti. It has a wafer like thick layer in the middle and thin layers of maida on the outside. We choose Chicken shawarma despite warnings from the waiter that it’s non spicy dish. Eaten with mayonnaise, it turned out to be quite good. Then we ordered a plate of Garimeen, a large fish fried with its fins, parottas and a plate of garlic chicken. We ended with a 4 scoop icecream called titanic. All this costed Rs 350. Quite cheap, considering this might have costed the double in Chennai.

Next day was the trip to Tusharagiri waterfalls. We missed our direct bus @6.00 am and had to travel by 4 buses and a jeep. We came to know that there is a hotel just outside the entrance that is famous for its non vegetarian dishes especially duck and rabbit. We placed an order for a duck gravy @Rs350 and hit the falls. There are three falls, falls1 is most easily accessible but you have to climb up the hills to get to the other falls. We got  Santo thomas as our guide. Its better to have a guide if you are planning to visit the falls up the hills. We took a bath in the falls1, the water pouring down the hill was fantastic and clean. But the water that’s stagnating nearby is dirty and infested. It seemed that not many people bath in the falls1 and the rock under the falls was very slippery. After almost an hour under the falls, we decided to climb to falls2, climbing the hills with a large bag on my back was very tiresome, only if I had found a safe place to leave the luggage.

Under the falls

The view up the hills and everywhere we travelled was green and blue to the eyes. No wonder they call Kerala ‘God’s own country’. Our return train to chennai was at 8.00 pm and we wanted to reach the station atleast by 6.00 pm.

We hit the hotel anxious and also doubtful if we would be able to digest the 1.5 kg duck we were promised. But we disappointed when the duck we were served was less than half a kg. we asked Robin at the hotel who explained that this was left after cleaning the duck. We started the feast, though with a slight disappointment. I was tasting duck for the first time and was kinda doubtful how it would taste, but it tasted great with roti. We actually wanted to have more of it. Then we ordered a duck omlette and a kerala meals which tasted super great with fish gravy.

Yin-yang turkeys

We also wanted to hold a duck for a photograph and Robin asked to try catching one ourselves. So began the duck chase. With, all the ducks running around, I finally caught one and we exchanged poses with the duck. We were supposed to the hold the duck by its neck and it was really scared and was screaming making sounds like donald & daffy, which made me feel kinda bad.

The duck Hunter

With the help of Santo thomas we got a jeep to Adivaram from where we got a direct bus to KSRTC. We bought some alwa’s and chips @ pallayam and got into the train ontime.

The only thing that was missing was time, there were so many places to visit and we just didn’t have the time. We could not afford time for our camel ride in the beach, an ayurvedic massage and a boat ride in the back waters. May be we should plan another trip for atleast 4-5 days. Another good thing about this trip was that we made quite some friends. The advantage of having an extrovert as a friend is that you would either end up meeting some old friend of his or you will make new ones easily. We met Farooq a bus conducter from trichy who knew Vijay’s friend. We made friends with Santo thomas, who promised to make arrangements for an accomodation the next time we visit, we got the Phone numbers of Robin and the jeep driver who were all so down to earth. And if you can mix some cheta’s and o’s in your talk you can get faster replies from everyone.

I have uploaded some of the photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/seer321/Kozhikode

I do want to go there another time with a lot of friends.

No matter how much I think that I’m a human being, the most intelligent and rational species in this planet, I cannot forego  the thought that I’m just another organism with a DNA coded in alternative A-T-C-G’s. It would have been so great only if the dualism philosophy of mind were true. heck!, dreams might be pleasing your senses but reality always hits you hard on the face.

Now answer this. Why do you eat?, because you feel hungry. why do you feel hungry?, because your body needs food. Why does your body need food?, because it has been coded that way. Your body needs food to convert it to energy and muscles and carry over all the vital processes needed for living.  To make you eat that food you are made to feel hungry. Your body might continue to live without food but your mind cannot live in hunger, the feeling is overwhelming.

So why does our genetic code force us to do things that keeps us alive?

Now consider another feeling, love. In love I’m including all physical, sexual attrations and infatuations. Why do we fall in love? to answer this question we ask the question what happens if we dont fall in love. If a person does not fall in love or marry like humans do there is no way he/she is going to reproduce the next generation. One practical example are the panda’s who are on the verge of extinction because they are not mating often. If we dont fall in love all life will become extinct. While you can look at love as something too personal, it’s gets to the truth that it’s just another genetic code in your dna, so that you just dont live and die but leave behind another generation. so why do we fall in love? because we have been programmed to do so.

Love is only the dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species.
-W. Somerset Maugham

So is this our purpose, to live and make more beings to live. Is this what nature wants us to do or is this the only way nature can live itself. No living species has lived against the wishes of nature and has survived only by adapting itself. Except for us humans who change things the way we wish.

I just dont know what nature’s got for us in the future.