Idealism or Not?

This post might be my attempt to be "intellectual" or something like that, cuz I usually don't pen down such serious thoughts. Most of them are more about specific incidents and not about a general idea or concept.

But anyways, this incident got me thinking... has idealism finished its term. I mean is it passe? Or are we morally/socially so corrupt that we have no ideals, and any sort of moral/ethical act seems to be a burden on us.

Consider this... a student is caught cheating in an end semester examination and he's given an F grade (ie he is failed in that course) PLUS he is also given a "semester drop" (ie suspended for one whole semester)!! Don't you think that giving the F grade was punishment enough? I mean how many times are you supposed to punish a person for one act.

I probably feel that a semester drop is too big a punishment cuz I feel that cheating is not such a big crime. Probably that's cuz of the inherent level of corruption in me. I probably accept corruption to some level. It's like a de-facto standard. It's part of the system. Anyone not corrupt upto that level is a menace for the system.

For example, if, in an exam I ask my neighbour for help - and he denies it. He's breaking the system. I'll be displeased with him. Kya, behen chod, satyawadi harishchand bana firta hai! That's exactly what I'd say.

I won't come back from the examination and think, Fuck man, I was wrong - I should not have asked him for assistance during the exam! I'm certainly not going to do that!!

Now, where am I wrong. How many people can I (or you) find who do not cheat! Hell, I mean how many professors can "cross their hearts and hope to die" and swear that they did not cheat during their student days! What makes them take this path of rigid ideology once they earn their PhD's and become professors. I'm sure even during their PhD thesis they must've machaod some fraud

That somehow bring me back to my "intellectual" point - has ideology lived its life? Is it over? Is it dead?

What do you think?

Veer-Zaara

Veer-Zaara=One big headache, not to forget the 4 hours 10 mins (3 hours 30 mins movie + 40 min travelling) waste of time!!

Pathetic movie... how can a person do the same thing over and over and over again... and have the audience lap it up every fucking time! I'm talking about Shahrukh "I-Took-Only-One-Acting-Class" Khan. He SUCKS!

I was told, infact fooled into believing that the music was superb! "You'll like the songs even more after you watch the movie." Here's my take on the music - Belch!! C'mon Yash Chopra - can you please perturb your formula a wee bit more - every bloody movie has to follow the same format- one song for the credits, one song falling-in-love sequence, one song my-country-my-motherland, one song during the judaai, probably one qawaali or sufi song for the deewana crazy about his/her lost love. That's bloody it! Same thing in each and every movie. And barring one or two songs, you wont even remember the rest. And those two are played over and over again throughout the movie - probably that's why you'll come out humming them!

Story.... okay, here goes - two idiots - get their life screwed... royally! Twenty-two years of it to be precise... and all the other Hindu-Muslim, Hindustan-Pakistan shit was thrown in to give this much beaten dead horse some life (LOVE STORIES - that's what I'm talking about)! Take a load of this:

"Tumhaare mulk mein saare bete aise hi hote hain kya"
"Woh to nahin bata sakta... lekin saari maaein aapke jaisi hi hoti hain"

And you get the idea, loads of such humaara mulk, tumhaara mulk, adosi mulk, padosi mulk, throw in some tears, correction buckets full of tears and you have Veer Zaara there!

Serve hot, followed with an aspirin.... dont say I didnt warn you!

Good parts:
1. Amitabh Bacchan
2. The female who played Shabbo
3. Rani Mukherjee

Oh, I almost forgot - Hema Malini - you SUCKED! Go take some acting classes!

Peace
Nandz.

Encounters with the RSS: The Ancient, Medieval and Modern History Episode

[This is series of posts which started off with this and then followed by this. Keep coming back for more!!]

Okay, now after about 30-40 mins of furious debate with an RSS/BJP/VHP/Bajrang Dal hardliner if you're still in your senses and have not fainted due to the sheer incomprehensibilty of simple logic exhibited by an otherwise sane person (oooh - that was a Looong phrase), I'm sure the conversation would shape up something like this:

RSS: The problem is that we Hindus are too tolerant. Now enough is enough. We have to reply back. We have to fight back!
You: Tolerant? Tolerant to what?
RSS: To Muslim atrocities!
You: What? Has any Muslim ever done anything to you?
RSS: Ha! Don't forget history. Those who say that we should forget the history and look towards the future are condemned to repeat it. [Ed: Oh btw, this is an oft repeated statement. To save you from the sheer boredom of reading it again and again just try to think that I wrote this out, say, about 10 times in this convesation :-)]
You: Okay, so tell me the History Mr. Historian, what have - you a PhD in Indian history or something? [Ed: Uh-oh! Wrong question - now you're DOOMED!]
RSS: Gandhi was a bloody chutiya. He was anti-Hindu and always appeased Muslims. He supported the Khilafat movement which had nothing to do with the Indian freedom movement. He supported the Muslim League. And look what they did in the end. They wanted Pakistan. Gandhi and Nehru both agreed. The bloody muslim bastards. If we dont act they will take away all our land...
You: Whoa, whoa whoa! Calm down buddy! One issue at a time. Okay, so Muslims demanded Pakistan. Those were the Muslims 50 years back!! Are they here now?
RSS: Yes! These Indian muslims - jis thaali mein khaate hain, usi thaali mein chhed karte hain - whenever India loses a match against Pakistan they burst crackers. Muslims are anti-nationals. They are anti-Hindu.
You: Dude! I said ONE ISSUE AT A TIME! Being a hindu and being a nationalist is not the same thing. But that comes later. First of all - have you seen any Muslim bursting crackers?
RSS: Er..... um..... my friend lives near a muslim dominated area and he told me that he heard some crackers being burst in the recent India-Pakistan match. And I'm pretty sure that he won't lie to me. [Okay. If the guy is balls enough he might say that he had seen muslims bursting crackers himself]
You: Okay! Is that a friend from your good ol' neighbourhood RSS shaakha?
RSS: Yes! He is Shri Tanveer Pogadia. He is a noble man. He does a lot of social work, infact he even went to so-and-so relief camp in some far-flung area of the country on his own money....
[Let me add, the guy actually might say, that he himself has seen the crackers bursting, and then you wouldn't be able to say much. I too have heard these rumours (RUMOURS - if you missed it the last time)]
You: Great! Just my point. Believe that Pogadia guy and do what he says. Exaclty what he wants.
RSS: No! The muslims have been doing that to Hindus for centuries. Ab Hindu samaaj ko jaagna hai! We must unite. We must answer back. Ab bahut ho chuka Enough is enough.
You: Owwwwkay! So, for some atrocities and political moves taken by muslims centuries ago you'll crucify the muslims living in India, today! Great logic buddy! Tell that Pogadia guy that his speeches really work! Idiots like you stop thinking when they listen to him!
RSS: Blah, blooh, bleeh, blah [Ed: You can safely switch your ears off. Nothing even remotely sensible from this point onwards]

Quoting from another of many RSS propaganda texts going around:

We have lost Afghanistan (for your kind information it was a part of India), we have lost Lahore, we have lost Bangladesh, we have lost our Sindhu river, Kashmir is having big questions mark and let me say that we have lost it as well because Hindus have been thrown out of Kashmir. Now what we are going to loose next?

Where they get this notion that Afghanistan was part of India (with reference to whatever that word meant centuries ago), I fail to comprehend. Check out Wikipedia for the history - and let me know if you find something to that tune.

The second thing is, the Hindutva brigade says that Muslims are anti-nationals and that they dont belong here. Then they say that we (India - the Hindu nation, which they proclaim it to be) - are losing Muslim dominated land, like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir, etc. Dudes! Stick to one stand. Either we are NOT a Hindu nation OR Muslim dominated land does not belong to us! You cannot have your cake and eat it too!

And puhleeeaase, spare us the long drawn sermons on your twisted Indian history. It puts us in a state of historia ;-)

Encounters with the RSS: The Social Organization Episode

[This is the first part of my series of posts which started off due to this.]

Talk about RSS feeding communal rot to the masses and blame them for propogating their shitty Hindutva agenda and this is what will ensue:

The RSS is a Social Organization
RSS: How can you even say such things about the RSS? You have no right to comment about the RSS if you dont know what it does?
You: Okay, so what is it that you guys do?
RSS: The RSS is a social organization. We do N number of things - lot many things.
You: Like?
RSS: Like, we were the ones to reach Bhuj first and start the relief camps and that too on our own money. And then the relief during the recent Bihar floods...
You: Oh great! Kudos to RSS. You guys are the real heroes.
RSS: Yes, that's what. But the media never reports these good deeds of ours. They simply want to malign RSS.
You: So why dont you tell people about what you do - why dont you start your own publicity and let people know that you are nice people and not bigots that you are made out to be.
RSS: But that would be like pushing your own agenda. We dont want to do that. We want to work silently - without the fanfare - so that people dont join us for name an glamour.

[Okay, you might just want to hit him with - "So, isn't ranting and raving about Hindutva, pushing your own propaganda?" But wait, not yet! We'll come to that]

You: Oh! That's really noble of you. So, why is the Ayodhya temple so imporant for RSS then? I mean you can do your good work without the temple as well.
RSS: No! That's the epitome of Hindu devotion to Ram. We have to build that temple... [blah blah blah]
You: But that will cause riots, as it already has. And causing riots should not be the aim for such a good organization like you.
RSS: No. The Musilims should vacate the masjid peacefully - it was ours. The foreigners came and broke the temple - the statues are still liying inside - you can go see them for yourself.
You: Did you see them?
RSS: No! But everyone knows. It's common knowledge.
You: Ok, so who built the mosque?
RSS: [Now, the guy gets confused! Exepect anything from Akbar, Jahangir, Aurangzed, Mohammed, Salman, Pathan, Irfan, etc]
You: Oh, great! You know a lot of history!
RSS: Yes! The Muslims should give us that land back - it is holy for us, it is the birthplace of Ram. The Muslim rulers have destroyed so many temples. Now we shall take them back. They should vacate them peacefully or else we shall have to snatch them. We dont want fights/riots but they should not force us! [blah blah blah...]
You: But hey! I thought you were a social organization. Not some Temple Building Authority. I'm confused! And why are you worried about temples of all things. Go work for the poor and downtrodden.
RSS: No! But Hindus have been tolerant for too long. Now the water is up to our noses....
You: Hey, hey! I thought you were a social organization - not a Hindu organization.
RSS: No! We're not a Hindu organization. We're not VHP. We're a social organization.
You: Okay, so how many Muslims are there in RSS.
RSS: [er... er....] The Imam of XYZ, the Jamam of ABC, etc. etc.
You: Okay, so when did they come in RSS?
RSS: Very recently. Didn't you read the news?
You: I thought so. Muslims joining RSS should make news!!

[I could go on an on.... but basically I think you got the point. Within moments the "do-gooder" attitude goes to the dogs - all that's left is the Hindutva crap - more on that in the next episode]

Hindutva Propaganda = Disease!

[I started off writing this as one single post - but in the end it's becoming so damn HUGE that I've planned to split it up into parts]

The Students' Film Society (SFS) had recently organized a mini film festival called Vikalp. It screened some rare (mostly unreleased and un-certified) documentaries, two of which have really got me thinking. Both of them were on very sensitive issues and the reaction of certain sects of the audience has actually disturbed me.

The first movie was "Men in the Tree" - a movie on RSS - how they recruit, the way they organize, the "education/knowledge" that they impart to their swayamsevaks, and basically how they organize and mastermind riots (especially the demolition of the Babri Masjid).

The second movie, "The Final Solution" - was a movie on the Godhra riots. It had people (mostly Muslims) talking about the way they were brutally killed, hacked, burnt, raped by the Hindus hand in hand with the Gujarat police. Apart from other things the director had actually followed Modi on his Gaurav Yatra trail, and it made me almost puke when I heard him proclaiming that there had been no riots in Gujarat and all this is just a concoction of the "enemies of Gujarat" (Congress) to mar the BJP's and the states image!! Further on, the bastard went on to proclaim that "all this" (whatever it was) - was just a reaction to what "they" did to the karsevaks in the Sabarmati Express! He was actually justifying the riots. And then, clipping of the VHP propaganda VCDs which showed footage of the burning train and the funeral rites of the victims with a marquee (scrolling text) which read something to the effect - "These are the karsevaks that had been brutally burnt/murdered by Islamic terrorists in the name of Jihaad!"

I could go on an on about what the movie uncovered - the way the BJP/RSS bastards were clearly instigating gatherings and spreading communal disharmony - but that would be in vain - all of us know that politicians are the scum of the earth. The are mother fucking bastards!

But what disturbed me more was the reaction of the audience, students from IIT Kanpur - the so-called "cream of the nation" - the intellectuals of the country. After the RSS movie people actually got up and started shouting and giving useless arguments.

The auditorium was turning into a catfight - so the SFS folks shut down the audi and asked everyone to continue the discussion outside. So I ended up "discussing" with an RSS hardliner outside the auditorium for a complete 1 hour or so.

[Their (RSS bigots) pscyhe is so damn botched up that reproducing each argument verbatim would take up so much of my blog space that I think I'll need to put each of them as separate posts.]

I'm back!

For all those who thought this blog was dead - Beware! For I Am Back! Muahahahaha...

I've not been blogging much since I got back from Korea - neither did I have the time, nor the computer to do it. Yes! It's true - I've been without a computer for almost two years now. It's surprising for me as well. I used to be this hardcore computer addict - all the time on the computer - trying to buils some Open Source application or the other. But the phase is over. And it's for the better. Without the comp I've suddenly got so much to do!

Anyways - right now installing Gentoo on one of the Gymkhana servers. It's been on Redhat - and it sucks! Redhat makes the machine so damn sluggish. There's another server machine I have on Gentoo and its rock stable AND it's blazing fast. If you're planning to do a server, go in for Gentoo. Just make sure you tone down the optimization flags and dont go in for experimental ~x86 stuff or something.

I'll be back with more :-)

!!!

It's 4:30 in the morning and now I've read it ALL!

Kenya town kills 500 pigs for mating with dogs
NAIROBI: A Kenyan mayor ordered more than 500 pigs to be shot dead because they were mating with stray dogs, the East African Standard reported on Friday.

A squad of town council guards moved from estate to estate shooting pigs roaming free in Nyahururu town, 150 km north of the capital Nairobi.

Town mayor Muritu Karumba said he ordered Thursday's cull to avoid an outbreak of disease caused by the pigs and dogs mating, which he said broke the laws of nature and "caused unnecessary commotion".

But the unfortunate pigs' owners immediately cried foul, claiming collusion between Nyahururu's authorities and the town's bacon traders to cut competition in pork supplies.

From here.

Can pigs and dogs actually do this?!

You've spun your last web, Spider-Man.

Last week I watched Spider-Man.... TWO! Gawd... what came over me. Watching Spider-Man 2, after having endured the first one two freaking times!

Well, I'm a sucker for movies in the hall, and this one too was in the hall. And I'm dead sorry for that! 7400 Wons (~Rs 296) down the drain.

I'm not going to give you any warning about spoilers, cuz the movie aint got no story at all. Any kid would've guessed the story even before those buggers thought of making a sequel! And this movie is not about a story - it's about getting the kids to the theater and clapping in glee every time Spider-Man saves the world... and it's idiots like me who getted pulled along!

What's it about? The usual... another experiment which would change the face of humanity gets out of hand, another mad scientist ends up becoming the new monster villain. Doctavious (I think) - that's what they called this one. He's got four HUGE arms with super-duper-extra-hollywood-style aritfical intelligence, attached right to his spine. And these arms are mean. They can think, and they can scheme monstrous plans to destroy the world.... Muahahahaha - you didnt see that coming, now did you?

During a demonstration of a controlled nuclear fusion reaction one smart ass reporter asks - "Sir, if these arms have such advanced AI capabilities what's stopping them from controlling you?" Smart one lady. I'm sure you were a guest artist on the sets! That's where the "Inhibitor Chip" comes in. A blue LED attached to the arms which stops them from controlling Doctavious.

If you cant guess what happens next... well, go audition for a Hollywood or something!

Scriptwriter #1: Hey dude! It's just like the last movie. A new Sci-fi monster which Spidey's gotta cream.
Scriptwriter #2: Yeah, you're right man! The boss wont pay us nothin' for this shit!
Scriptwriter #1: What should we do now?
Scriptwriter #2: Hmmm... let me think.... how about throwing a love-angle to this story. Spidey want Mary Jane but cant get her cuz he's got to save the world. So he STOPS saving the world to get the love of his life!
Scriptwriter #1: Yeah dude! That's fucking awesome. And then he starts losing his powers cuz he ain't got no love in his life. Y'know love is the greatest power and shit!
Scriptwriter #2: Yeah man! And then we can throw in a big lecture by his Aunt which we can recycle at the very end of the movie along with all the other dialogues just before the climax. That's like so cool!
Scriptwriter #1: Yeah! And then Doctavious kidnaps Mary Jane just when she's about to kiss Parker to find out whether he's Spidey. You know - like kiss and tell. And that way we can put in links to Spidey Part One as well.
Scriptwriter #2: And you know man! Kirsten's got great tits. We'll make sure she doesnt wear a bra in that scene so we can see her nipples right till the end of the movie man!
Scriptwriter #1: Yeah! And then Spidey will get all fired up and all, and gets his Super Spider(tm) power back and beats the shit outta Doctavious.
Scriptwriter #2: And yeah, just to make sure that people know they're watching a sequel we'll put in the revenge shit too. Like Osbourne wants to avenge his father's death and makes a deal with Doctavious. Give me Spidey for one big ass ball of Titanium to destroy the world! How cool is that?
Scriptwriter #1: Man! We ROCK! Wanna pull another joint?

You still want to watch it?!

Another role developed...

Hi guys - I'm back :-D

Had another role developed. I'm slowly getting better. Check out these pics - if you dont believe me. Three good shots in one role - that's progress!


The Ring



Terrace Stairs


Staircase

Comments? Critique?

One more post coming up!!

C E N S O R S H I P

The South Korean government has restricted access to many blog sites (blogspot.com, blogs.com, blogcity.com, etc) in an effort to restrict the South Koreans from viewing the Kim Seon Il beheading video. So I'm not able to access by own blog from here. Though I can create and edit posts (blogger.com is not banned), I can not access my blog.

Until this changes I might not be able to follow up comments.... so please bear with me.