Terror strikes bangalore!

As the people of this IT hub of India were slowing getting into yet another weekend frenzy, 9 blasts rocks the city. Not because of the destruction it caused, just because of the sheer panic followed. 2 people have died so far, many are injured.

I was just finishing my lunch when one of my friends from Kerala just called up and told me that there is a bomb blast just a few miles away from where I was having my lunch. Soon the news of more fresh blasts followed. We rushed back to office and stayed there till the picture became clear as to how many and where all the blasts occurred.

Looking at the nature of the blasts, it is quite obvious that whoever has done it didn't mean to cause so much of destruction and loss of human lives. They have used jellattine sticks where in usually RDX is used in such attacks. But one thing is sure, they were successful in creating panic for entire Bangalorean's ... jam packed road where people flee their workplace and head home to be with their loved one's.... jammed telephone lines.... damn it was scary indeed.

Serial blasts are nothing new to India, where in our north borders are always subjected to infiltrations by terrorists and naxals whose sole motto is to bring more bad news to us. Pakistan hosts so many terrorist camps and so does Bangladesh... Nepal and China gives their support to the Maoist rebels on our northern states.

When would these idiots learn that borders are never a separation, rather a meeting point of two different culture... When would they realize, its the same color for blood, its the same kind of love that exists in the other side. In fact if India could use the money what we use to protect our borders for something good, we would've been a much better country by now.
Guess my Muslim brothers and Sisters - mislead by those clerics who don't know what Qur-an says would realize the true value of life one day....

Transformations – The husband

So here I am, looking at the big heap of clothes which I just managed to wash the other day, the messy dressing table, TV screen looks distorted with dust, washed plates yet to reach the shelf, all those bills piling up in my purse, the decent looking floor now that my SIL managed to clean today, the CD’s overdue from the library …. Just wondering what would be my state if my dear honey is not back home in few months :)

We all go through transformations in our lifetime… from the innocent child to the naughty childhood. The daring teenage, the confused 20’s and the settled 30’s and the matured forty… and so on. But I would love to look these transformation from a different perspective. The son-husband-father chain.

I would say the transmission from the son – or say bachelor – to a responsible husband was the most exhaustive of all. Its like two raw piece of metals of different gener bolted together – each having its own characteristics or say two big blocks of rocks with sharp edges put to a revolving container. As a bachelor, you have your own choices, or as a son you depend on your parents or only support them.

The initial days will be so excruciating with lots of fresh painful friction marks when two entities and their characteristics meet for the first time. But as we keep going, it gets softer, leaving a permanent mark which smoothens the ride and we loose those sharp edges to get into a much comfortable shape. This must be the same thing happening to any new couple, they were raised in different families, under different culture, nurtured themselves in their own point of views. But as we get to realise what your loved one likes to see you doing, or hate to see you doing, the transformation of a scot free bachelor to a responsible husband begins. It’s a struggle no doubt, but its one battle which worth fighting for.

I was the most carefree, daring and the silliest of the spoiled brat breed, caring for no one (apart from a very few) and listening to no one :) Infact I still get the glimpses of those characteristics – but the very thought of my angels hold me back again and again. That’s what transformations do to you :) Being away from them for more than a week, I can see those old characteristics of being a lazy ass here and their, but no sign of the old wild beast in the :) I can feel the pain of holding back myself, but I do enjoy it :) - confession of a transformed human!

Christianity and Luxury

I’ve been a rebel throughout my life and guess its going to be that way. I feel sorry for my friends who thought (hoped) that it will be a different story after my marriage J I won’t deny the fact that I’ve started thinking a bit more than I used to after the marriage before I take a decision. Yet, this poor soul of Walker can’t just hold back his tongue when I see things like what I am going to scribble down below.

If you just take a trip to my state Kerala – the southern tip of India – you would certainly come across a lot of big beautiful churches. Many of them are so beautiful that the moment you enter you will be mesmerized by the sheer luxury on which the church has built on. Such is the amount of money used to build churches in Kerala these days that people call them the architectural wonders!!!

For walker, however, these things are just a well built –feast for the eyes – mega structures. Not a place for worship and neither can you feels the divine presence of the Almighty. Walker would also like to look at it from a different perspective; which is the social justice aspect of it.
I always felt – still feel that most of the religions are misinterpreted to such an extend that the founder of those religions would shoot himself/herself if happened to visit earth again. It’s not Christian to build such luxurious mansions for worship when your brother/sister is dying out in the street out of huger. And many more who is struggling to support the medical expenditure for their loved ones. It’s a social injustice to spend so much when there are millions homeless.

Jesus – whom I am a follower is, had send out a clear message when he said “If you have anything two, give one to those who don’t have any”. And it’s a shame that the followers of Jesus Christ spend so much on building a place to worship him. Height of insanity one may presume.
Do you really need a place to worship – will be another subject for a debate as he himself had said “if two or more people gather in my name, I will be there”. He was never particular in what set-up people should gather. Most of his teachings were out there in public… not behind closed doors. So for whom are you building these luxuries for? The very term called luxury must not be associated with a Christian – after all he don’t reside in something which is made up of wood or stone, he lives in our heart!!!!

Forbidden GOD's

Well... I was just about to write a blog on the rotten eggs in Catholic church... but with the latest developments in my state where more than two "Swamiji's" have been arrested for various charges ranging from cheating, fraud, molesting minor girls, adultery, making porn videos .... you name it. Its not the above charges which pisses me off here, its the mask he wore - of that of a social worker and the divine stature. He was considered as one of the "Chosen one" or say "The Godman" by many of his disciples. Only now most of them realize that the person they worshipped for sometime now is nothing but a hardcore criminal :)

I believe, with these arrests the Kerala police have just uncovered the tip of the iceberg where in many of such "holinesses" is still at large. The power such people posses - not the divine by the money power - is so humongous that even the top official don't dare to interfere in their businesses many a times - that too even when they know what happens backstage is illegal. So many of such GOD's are still looting/taking advantage of the common man. I wouldn't dare to name many of them, they are world renown and their reach is far more than one might imagine.

But who makes these GOD's - I would say we the common man always likes to see miracles happen... or lets say we just love the mystery part of it. And many a times people approach such people to get things done - let it be a broken relationship, financial problems ... people just take it for granted that these people have the answer for all these problems. Only if WE stand up and do things which we are supposed to do - if we got a problem - try to solve it yourself than just seeking for shortcuts - we can keep such people away.

But alas .... To err is Human :)

Monkey Business!

India Victorious! The much hyped or lets say controversial series of cricket has just got its much awaited due, this time for a change it’s the Indian team who drank the champagne. This series was at the headlines of all news channels and papers for more than two months now for all good and wrong reason which happened on both off the field and on the field.

It all started when Indian team got more than half a dozen wrong decisions from the umpire Steve Bucknor and co in the Sydney test The so called team of underdogs – the Indians – took it as a challenge and looked as if they were just waiting to be irked by the madness of Aussies. They might have just saved the test series, but they couldn’t survive the onslaught of the revived and youthful Indian team when it mattered in the one day series. This was just a bit more than what can be chewed for the mighty Aussie ego!

What makes this victory even sweeter than chocolate fudge is that the less experienced team could brush aside all the controversies lurking around them – big enough to bring down their morale and self-esteem to the lowest barriers. It was rather interesting to see both Aussie media and the senior most players in their team trying to target certain players in Indian team – who they thought would post the biggest threat to their throne. The last such incident being Hayden calling Harbhajan as a “weed”. Where it all did start? Is it the Indians only to be blamed for this entire hullabaloo? If we just try to recollect a bit, it was the Aussie bowler Glen Macgrath who asked the West Indies player Chanderpol how did the dick of Lara tastes! He got the answer he deserved as he returned the favor saying “You better go ask your wife about it” Some one please tell me, does this meet the criterion of being an international athlete by any standards?

Aussies team by no means was considered the best behaved or well mannered both on and off the field. This became more visible and evident ever since Ponting took the charge as the captain of the team. He has just managed to bring the team to a level where they would do just about anything to win a match and now its their newspapers who crib that its just a game not a war. What a shame!. The sight of Symonds trying to get a hurt batsman out while the later was literally gasping for air lying on the floor wouldn’t leave a good impression for any cricket enthusiast – unless it’s an Aussie

Australia has mastered the trick of sledging and eventually pulling the other players into controversies and on the eyes of the mighty ICC. Most of the times the initiator gets away and the one answers had to drink the sore wine. It is same with the case of Harbhajan calling Symonds a “Monkey”. If the powerful BCC of India hadn’t intervened, the poor soul would’ve come under the hammer of ICC. My view on this is that if the Aussies are complaining of being ill treated – whether its players or the spectators – it’s because they started this trend. If a non-Aussie player is retaliating, 99% of the times it would’ve been initiated by an Aussie player.

What it does is to spoil the spirit of this game which is more like a religion to an average Indian and the sponsors makes the profit out of all these clamor because of publicity it brings. It will all just become a silly monkey business!

Eve did it!

When eve lured Adam to eat the forbidden fruit in Eden garden, little did she know that she was committing a big mistake which would change the fate of the entire female gender! Accused of tempting the “poor Adam” to eat the remaining of the fruit, she was at the receiving of God’s fury. Bible says “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

My intention is not to debate over whether it was from then that woman started suffering from men. But seems like the Christian religion still would love to believe that story. In one of my previous blog I had explained my feeling towards the sexual discrimination in Muslim society and being unbiased, I believe that I shall highlight similar story in my religion as well.

First question, when was the last time a nun was considered as a Pop? The very word Pop itself is genderized that one can’t even imagine a lady Pop! Forget Pop, how bout a lady bishop or lets say a lady priest? None to my knowledge, if there is one, let me know, I will be happy to believe that! So from Eden till now, the power resides in the hand of men, not woman in Christian religion

I hail from a village where 95% of the people are Christian and till date it remains the same way as well. So during my primary education in my native, many nuns had taught me and till sometime I was under the assumption that nuns are made to be teach us onlyJ Occasional visits to hospital also meant that I also recognized nursing as one of their expertise. As I grew up I realized they run many institutes for poor and suffering as well.

How many priest have u seen attending to the poor and sick till date? Very few, infact u can count them in your fingers. It’s such a rare sight that if any priests have done that would’ve become a saint! So my point is, male priests enjoy the very basic human rights such as freedom to choose, freedom to speak etc… where in the lives of these sisters are often spent in hospital wards, drab convent rooms or within the gates of a school. I won’t argue it’s the same everywhere, but it’s the story in Kerala atleast.

They are not supposed to spend a night outside their convent, they are not supposed to keep cash with them and they are not even allowed to attend celebrations such as marriage. They are supposed to cover their hair with scarf and their entire attire though would look holy, must be really uncomfortable. But for heaven sake, Why? We often talk about Father and his Son – where is the mother?

Why they are not allowed to administer a holy mass? If priests have committed their life, so does them! Proclaim me guilty of blasphemy, but tell me – If it was the disobedience of Eve which expelled us from Eden, isn’t it because of Mother Mary’s acceptance which gave us Jesus? Or will u still point your finger and shout – Eve did it!!

The forbidden fruit!

“I would kill the nun or priest who ever come to my sight first” – yelled one of my sweet friends; who I am sure would read this and shoot me off this earth. She had a valid reason to be annoyed with them and I won’t blame her a bit too. There was an incident where a housewife got pregnant while her husband was away for more than an year – something which needs some explanation – which led to the point where the culprit was none other than their parish priest. “Questioning” him further just led to more such findings around that small town. This never became news as the “Church” intervened and covered up the story nicely to have it not come out in the newspapers.

It’s been a hot debate for quite sometime now as whether Christian priests must be allowed to marry or not. Many such recent incidents of sexual harassment / misuse / illegal encounters where priests were actively involved points nowhere else either. I personally never felt that having a wife would ever de-grade the dignity of being a priest or would ever restrict a him from performing his social duties.

Infact, it would make more sense if he preaches us about the married life – if he is married. Because it’s so easy to preach but preaching from one’s own experience would add more value to it. At times when I listen them preaching as to how to lead a peaceful family life, I just couldn’t stop wondering how the hell would he know what is a family life. One might argue that they’ve been taught on this subject for many years, but believe me that would be pretty much same as learning swimming by correspondence course!

Yes I do agree that getting married might never make one less kinky (out of my own personal experience one can say .. ha ha), but at least they don’t hunt down innocent people or kids for God’s sake As they themselves say many a times, they too are humans then why does the Church expect them to behave like an angel? What they do ultimately is to expose their vulnerable side of emotions to the public by giving them more opportunities and expect them to overcome that in a more “angelic” way forgetting the fact that they too are just humans with flesh and blood.

Disclaimer: I never said that all the priests succumb to such scenarios, but would rather put it as 50:50. And its not just about immoral traffic, but anything which a priests are forbidden from doing. Let it be money or power – they are all never meant to be associated with this profession. And I never said that all priests should be married, but if one feels that it’s the only alternative for them not to commit anything illegal or say sin in their vocabulary, why not? After all, eve did eat the forbidden fruit isn’t it ?

Pitty my Tummy!!

It was about 5 months back… when I realized that its getting difficult for me to tie my shoe laces while sitting on a chair – as me why, Just because I had few pounds of fat obstructing my upper body to bend down further for this noble cause J. Then came a scenario where I felt climbing few stairs gives me almost a heart attack and forget about running, I couldn’t even jog few yards…

I used to be fit as a tiger back in my native (haven’t seen one for a long time now… thanks to the poachers, you can find them only in animal planet show of discovery now). I used be a bowler for our cricket team, a right wing defender for our football club and occasionally played the role of a lifter for our volleyball team as well. There was hardly any day without some sports or games or atleast swimming. – may be one of the reason why people won’t lend me money – as I am difficult to catch – that was a poor joke, please excuse!

When I came to Bangalore about 9 years back and even when I got a job, which demanded nothing from my body - except for the useless brain, I used to have some sort of exercise (you dare not think naughty) or atleast a bit of roaming around on friends places.

It all began when I quit my bachelorhood to marry my love whom I’ve been dating (in Indian slang – loving) for about 6 yrs then. This made me look for an apartment with all the facilities which was never a concern before as I used to share a room with another 4 bachelor friends. My wife is a pretty good cook, and stopping smoking meant I could taste food better. This plus not much exercise (yes, you may think naughty now - but that don't burn out too much of calories does it? I mean - james bond still look healthy) I was slowly, but steadily gaining weight.
I found it not an issue, as I was very lean looking guy when got married, but by the time I realized that fat has started accumulating on certain parts of the body, it was too late. I had atleast a two inch think fat tire around my belly and my cheek started looking like its invading my eyes. And finally the inevitable happened – I was diagnosed for having bad cholesterol above the permissible limit.

It was then – that I realized I better do something about it or become a BHM ( if ladies can be called a Big Beautiful Woman, why not Big Handsome Man? – come on lets talk about equality here ). I joined a gym and has finally started to look like person than a fat pig and guess what, I could finally figure out my six packs down there, with few visible, which went missing about 3 years back… may be one day – if I feel too kinky, I would post a picture of it…. Patience is virtue

Dirty Bangalore – Jaywalkers

When I first ride my scooty in Bangalore, I felt as if I am driving through an obstacle course for mountain biking. No, it was not stones which were the obstacle here; it was the two legged animals called humans (apart from four legged animals such as dogs trying to find their tail in the middle of the road or cows – which will be strategically positioned in a narrow road or hair pin bends). As the population of this IT capital of India is booming like the petrol price, I can’t see any relief in the future as well.
Zebra lines are just a decoration in the road and waste of money and human effort. Or may be it’s meant for the Zebra’s to cross as the name suggests! And you blame us for sounding our hones! It’s practically impossible not to sound your horn and get to office/home without hitting someone – yes I mean it. Why can’t God give us one more ear? The one’s which are provided to us by default is already occupied by cell phones or headphones… I knew God was the culprit!
Walkways are for street vendors and to stick/place advertisements or even for some “bird watching”. It’s not for walking for sure. Result, people here are forced to walk on the road. Yes, I meant “WALK” as it might sound quite scary for my readers in US or any other place on earth where the definition for commute is to reach the destination in one piece. It’s by pure luck and God’s blessings that I am still alive – and now you know why we Indian’s have so many Gods J
You hit a pedestrian (a modest term in India for Jaywalkers) here and you are finished!. Owning a car or a bike is against the ethics for those who don’t have one, so you got to be punished. No, our system doesn’t care how much you pay for your vehicle insurance or road taxes (if you call it a road). The moment you own a vehicle of any form, you have unknowingly signed an agreement to be bulldozed and yeh, you are a petty Boorshwa!
It doesn’t matter if they jump in front your car or bike, you must have been over speeding or your breaks must not be working. (The standard is that you should stop a vehicle which is traveling at the speed of 25 miles an hour – which is the maximum you can drive in Bangalore city – in .0000025 seconds) or you should be an escape artist J
They might give u an impression that they are crossing the road forward, but Alas… they are just practicing moon walking …. ask MJ and he will tell you. Usually kids are protected by their parents who hold them behind their arms, but not in Bangalore. Kids education is very expensive here, so it’s the other way around. And yes, the moment you hit a kid, just pray that there is a fire engine just around the corner, because people would suddenly feel chilly and would just light up your car J

Living Gods

We often pray to many Gods – for many a reason. But do you really remember the first time you prayed? Just to refresh your memory, your first prayer was when you were born to this earth and reason was to feel the warmth and comfort of your mom.

Many of us don’t realize this, but for me, my parents are my Gods… Yes, they are humans like anyone else, still they love me for what I am, they do forgive when ever I hurt them and they are still willing to do what they can to keep me happy. If I am not wrong, isn’t it the same we expect from our Gods too?

I realized the volume of their love with one incident… It was during my collage days. There was a jaundice outbreak in our collage and many of the students were leaving to their hometown fearing the worst. I some home felt reluctant to leave as I didn’t feel any sort of uneasiness with my health. Days passed by and it came to a situation when our collage was on the verge of a shutdown since the number of absentees were too high.

One fine day during our post lunch session, I felt something really funny about my health. I was feeling kinda dizzy that my eyes were closing off while the lecturer was staring at my face J As one hour passed, I couldn’t hang on anymore and I decided to call it a day and head for home… I gathered my stuff still feeling the unusual tiredness and somehow managed to drag myself to the buss station. I couldn’t stand anymore and I sat down on the floor till the bus arrived. Once reaching my village bus stop, I felt as if I would fall down and struggled my way up to my home. After a quick snack I went to bed telling mom that I am not feeling well and won’t be joining them for dinner.

Next day when I woke up, I just realized that I hardly have any strength to even stand up and while passing my urine I just noticed the coloration and soon informed my mom who is a retired nurse. With a pale look in her face she just told me “Son, I afraid you’ve got jaundice” We arranged a taxi and reached hospital in a flash just to realize that it has reached advanced stage and because of a strange condition of my lever, the symptoms were not shown early enough. My parents frantically looked out for a better hospital and they finally managed to ship me to PVS Hospital Kochin which is a best in our state for Gastro-Entrology. The doctors could only give my parents a 50:50 chance for my survival and from there onwards, I haven’t seen my parents without tears in their eyes for two weeks… They were doing anything which is possible by a human being to keep me happy.

One such incident is when I told them that I feel like eating Chapathi with Egg Curry. I didn’t realize that the same day there was a strike going on and almost all the shops were closed in the town… still, my dad being a heart patient, walked almost 4 miles to get me the stuff and this time it was my eyes which was filled with tears … By God’s grace – which I am sure was granted due to my parent’s prayer, I got out without any permanent damage with the help of Ayurveda, and from then till now, I have made a conscious effort o keep them happy and have succeeded to an extend J

Many a times, we tend to forget what our parents have done for us and tend to ignore them as we wade through our busy life and suddenly one day you realize – especially when we become a parent – that how much they have sacrificed for your happiness and well being. But many a times it will be too late by then… that you won’t be able to tell them that “Mom, Dad I love you…” That’s my Dad and Mom in the picture, and I thank GOD for giving my the biggest gift I could ever have… though I am not worthy of it… the living GOD’s - my parents!!

Shame on you Mumbai!

I couldn’t just believe my eyes when most of the prime news channels of India aired the horrific scenes of two young gals being molested by a mob of hooligans at New Year night. This is when the cops where just located a few hundred meters away. Looking at the photographs shown, my first reaction was “what the hell…” and then it became more of a curiosity to think what might have made this gentle looking faces to do such a heinous act of sexual frustration. I just don’t believe that the effect of alcohol might have made them do it. Why didn’t they go and attack a police station instead if that was the case? They knew the gals were outnumbered and they had their plans cut out.

In one of my earlier blog, I have mentioned the importance of sexual education at a young age, which even now our government is not willing to implement, putting the blame on parties like BJP, VHP who think themselves as the “culture police”. Where were these guys when the dignity of these helpless gals taken for a ride? If one would’ve been educated well enough on sex, I am sure they would also know how to respect it.

Most of our young generation is enclosed in a frame which the society has set for them. It is almost impossible and unrealistic to think that they adhere to the rules even when it would look from outside that they are. In my young age, the only access to porno was video cassettes which were rarely available in remote locations in the city. Now, with just a click of a button you could get it from Internet and easily available CD’s. Most of the music video’s being aired often resembles the sex positions mentioned in the famous book of Kamasutra.

My point is, our young generations watch a lot, most often the disfigured versions, and they get more frustrated as there is no medium to let it go. It’s high time we re-draw the line of control and take correct steps. It might not come from top; instead we can start it from our home.
And No, it doesn’t mean that I am perfect by any means. I used to watch porno and I have my shares of fantasies and is still kinky when it comes to sex. But I will never let it rule me, neither would I ever attack a woman to let my sexual frustration go. For those who don’t know me, I have a fantastic wife and a cute little daughter… so I speak from experience… lolls…thanks for reading.