What I'm Reading This Summer.

1. A Short History of Nearly Everything- Bill Bryson

2. Half The Sky- Nicholas D. Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn.

3. For Whom The Bell Tolls- Ernest Hemingway

4. Choke- Chuck Palahnuik

5. One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest- Ken Kesey

Books from widely disparate sections of literature...Happiness. :)

What are you reading? :)

Crazy Baba.

So, the people at the Centre are dinosaurs in the real sense of the word. Ancient, yet terrifying in the power they wield. Baba Ramdev, a man I singularly detest, was unceremoniously kicked out of a peaceful(huh, I say blackmail) protest in New Delhi. Of course, the way the government acted had its flaws; even Baba Ramdev is allowed to say as he wishes, this being a democracy. Why 5000 jawans had to be at that venue in the middle of the night shooting tear gas and gun shells with equal prowess at innocents is beyond my comprehension. 


But, TOI says something interesting in its timeline of events this morning.
11.15 p.m.: Centre's emissary reaches Ramdev with letter assuring a law to declare black money a national asset. Messenger keeps his mobile on so the government can listen in to Ramdev and his aides. The conversation convinces them Ramdev will not wind up his protest.


My question is: Why didn't he just wind up his entire fast and associated shenanigans at 11.15 then? Isn't that what he wanted? In my mind, if any innocents were injured, this crazy Baba is as much to blame as the brutes leashed by the government. It only goes to prove Baba's political agenda.


Frankly, all these references to the Jallianwallah Bagh and Emergency only make me laugh.


Interesting Tidbit: His balance sheet from last year states assets of Rs. 1162 crores.
Just saying.


The fantastic Lawrence Lessing famously said "A time is marked not so much by ideas that are argued about as by ideas that are taken for granted. The character of an era hangs upon what needs no defense. Power runs with ideas that only the crazy would draw into doubt. The "taken for granted" is the test of sanity; "what everyone knows" is the line between us and them.
This means that sometimes a society gets stuck. Sometimes these unquestioned ideas interfere, as the cost of questioning becomes too great. In these times, the hardest task for social or political activists is to find a way to get people to wonder again about what we all believe is true. The challenge is to sow doubt."


And it's so true, isn't it?
We're stuck with ideas of being a glamorous democracy, when the reality is a case of disillusionment.
As for the legal drinking age now being 25, the only guy I feel for is 24-year old Kingfisher scion Sid Mallya. :D

30 Day Song Challenge: A Song That You Know All The Words To.

"Love Will Keep Us Alive" by The Eagles.
Also, Bookends, Hotel California and With or Without You.

I first heard this song on my dear aunt's mp3 player, on a boring ride back to the suburbs from South Bombay. I've heard it countless times since, and I start humming the song invariably every time I listen to it. It's perfect listening on a breezy raining evening like this.
:)

Upping The Ante.

If the world knew as much about genocide as they do about Glee characters, the world would be a better place.

If people were as passionate about child rights as they are about catching Hangover 2, I would respect them more.

If students with strong political opinions and great communication skills actually used their knowledge to do something for society, rather than just participate in MUNs to create impressive resumes, I would respect them more.

If people would just get their asses off Twitter and their mouths off Cappuccinos, and really do something rather than idly commenting on superficial realities, my generation could really do something great with their lives. Because they aren't dumb. They're just lazy and unmotivated.  And that is what gets to me.

Of course, everyone has different priorities, and I don't expect anyone to have the same expectations from life as I do. The fact that people are too lazy to make their own life "priority" is the issue of contention.

The rains are here.
Slums are being flooded, women are being abused in brothels and children are dying as we speak.
It really is time to get out of that comfortable sofa cushion, and do something with your life.

I know for a fact, that I wouldn't want a BMW to be the legacy I leave behind.

Bloggers of the World, Answer Please.

Fellow bloggers, I need your help.
It's a stupid question, but I have to ask. :|

How do you create a link to your blog?
For example, if I click your picture on my Followers box, this big box opens up where there's a link to your blog or profile at the very least.
How do you do that?

30 Day Song Challenge: A Song That Reminds You Of Someone

The Blue's Clues theme song, you know that amazing kiddie show that used to come on Nick?
It instantly reminds me of my little sister, whose face still lights up when she listens to it. :)

Untangling The Web # 3: The Best 100 Opening Lines From Books / Life / Stylist Magazine

The Best 100 Opening Lines From Books / Life / Stylist Magazine

It's a brilliant compilation of the best first lines from much loved books. :)

Definitely check this out!

And lament the fact that Eat Pray Love is on the list.

And Rebecca is not.

30 Day Song Challenge: A Song That Makes You Sad.

Jeff Buckley's sensuous cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah', is a song that moves me and often springs a tear from my eyes. Cohen's lyrics are beautifully well-crafted and masterfully intricate, and most of the lyrics are poetically open to interpretation. But Jeff completely blew the song out of the water with this cover. The beautiful singer-songwriter that he was, he added an engaging new dimension to Cohen's composition.
Although the Christian word Hallelujah is typically homage to the one up above, I think Buckley's rendition is a homage to love, life and loss. I have often listened to this song in the middle of the night trying to make sense of the world around me, only to be comforted by his warm enveloping voice.

Thank you, Jeff for exploring life's grey areas with unforgettable eloquence.
I'm unimaginably sorry you drowned in the blue.

30 Day Song Challenge: A Song That Makes You Happy.

The Hall & Oates classic, 'You Make My Dreams Come True', is my go-to song when I want to just laugh, dance and sing out loud!
Find me one person who doesn't like this song, and I shall seek him out and kill him.
No matter what mood I'm in, this always lifts my spirits. And I do a mean birdie dance to its tune. :D

All Things Detestable.

Anachronistic advertisements. 

Coke minus the fizz.

Tangled earphone wires/laptop chargers.

Food in airplanes.

Bad photographs.

A fifty plus air-hostess. 

Tattoos of stars, something in Urdu or something as generic.

Ex-best friends. 

Small talk.

Crows.

Cottage cheese.

90210.

People who exceed the time limit during a presentation.

Farmville requests.

Facebook notifications, in general.

Twitter. Narcissism Unlimited.

Hip hop and rap music.

Astonishingly loud children in restaurants, elevators and theaters.

Healthy food. Purely because not much of it is tasty.

Unreasonably expensive public transport and the way the government increases petrol prices at random intervals. It always catches me by surprise, and burns a huge hole in my pocket. 

That Josh Groban song 'You Raised Me Up' which EVERY aspiring singer on a reality show would have tried to reproduce. It isn't even a good song.

Your spelled as you're. And vice versa.

wRiting lyk dis on Facebook.

Saying LOL or OMG in real life.

Incorrect grammar.

People who post really personal stuff on their blogs, and then feel that people have pre-conceived notions about them.

Taking books or movies too seriously.

Parents who make their children learn Chinese, because it is 'the language of the future'.

Parents who drill in the whole IIT-IIM thing into their kids.

People who live their whole lives thinking they have 'potential' because their mom said so.

How my hair gets so tangled up when travelling in an auto that when I comb them later, they make that scary static-filled-I-am-going-to-break-and-leave-you-bald noise.

The times I lose at Scrabble.

The guy who writes crap but calls himself an 'entertainment writer' and not a 'serious writer' to cover up for aforementioned crap writing. Then the same guy regularly writes 600 word editorials in Times of India. Should we assume that you want to be taken for a fool there as well? 

Read: Chetan Bhagat.

Plagiarists who hire a legal team to sue anyone who brings up blatant plagiarism on charges of defamation. All the attempts at rationalizing stealing music are listen up, FAIL.

Read: Pritam

Sentences peppered unnecessarily with swear words.

Racism.

Sexual harassment.

Women being used as weapons of war in regions around the world.

Encounter killings.

Closed cases.

Lack of ambition.

Damn, I hate a lot of stuff.