Corners in Government buildings declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites

As per the latest developments on WhatsApp, India's leading rumour news broadcasting service, the corners in various commercial complexes and Government buildings in India have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This was confirmed when this reporter received a message that read "Good News! All the corners in the commercial complexes and Government buildings in India have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites for their unique red coloured spit patterns. Proud to be an Indian! Pass on the message if you truly love your country!"

One of the unique pieces of art. Image source : This page

Pandu Hawaldar (name changed for no particular reason), a security guard at National Bank of India seemed visibly elated. "I am proud that my efforts have finally borne fruits. I have been spitting all over this place for years creating various unique patterns, but no one ever noticed. This news however is a testimony to the contributions that I and others like me have made to this country. Achchhe din are finally here. I would like to thank Manikchand and Goa for making this possible. Now I can retire happily”.

When asked about the importance of this news, Mr. Puranik, an official of Archaeological Survey of India said, “This is really great! The heritage of our country is finally being recognized at a global level. We have been preserving this art for many years. It is worth noticing that there are millions of such spit patterns and each pattern is unique. The 1444 unique pillars of Ranakpur temple in Rajasthan seem nothing in comparison to this. We are planning to hold workshops to educate people about various ways of spitting so that this art is not lost to modernisation”.

“This is a sign of Unity in Diversity and Communal Harmony that our Government has been working on for past 60 years. People from all strata including the rich and poor, businessmen and farmers, Hindus, Muslims and Dalits, everyone has participated in this. But the current ruling party is trying to destroy this rich heritage in the name of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. The installation of photos of various Gods and Goddesses at many such corners in the name of cleanliness is actually a plot to promote Hinduism and divide the nation on communal lines”, said an angry senior member of the opposition party on condition of anonymity.

Taking cue from this development, various municipal corporations in India were contemplating to suggest the pothole ridden roads for the World Heritage tag. “Even we have preserved the pot holes for ages. Why should they not be considered? We have to hurry up before the Government destroys them in the name of development”, said a municipal commissioner of a metro city, with a hint of urgency.

Meanwhile, no UNESCO officials were available for comments. But this is insignificant as WhatsApp has been officially accepted as a credible source of information.

P.S. This article can be found on Faking News here.

Growth

There are a few plants planted in my window. Since this is the flowering season, I thought about taking pictures of the flowers, from bud to full bloom. Here are the pics.

HIBISCUS

ROSE

Flawed Patiala House

Writing after a very long time...7months!! Did not have anything interesting to write, and since I no more watch serials, the Hindi Serial Loopholes thread is dead.

Anyways, just to keep the blog alive, I am writing about "Patiala House", a movie I watched recently. The story is quite typically Bollywood shtyle. The protagonist, Akshay Kumar who plays Parghat Singh Kahlon a.k.a. Gattu is a budding cricketer who is a British citizen of Indian origin. His father Gurtej Kahlon a.k.a. Bauji (played by Rishi Kapoor) does not want him to play for England and hence Gattu leaves his dreams and starts working in their shop. 17 years later, however, he shows the courage to fulfill his dreams defying Bauji's orders when he gets a second chance (at the age of 34!!) to play for England in T20 championships.The movie ends on a happy note.

Most Bollywood movies are seriously flawed, but most people do not notice them, or worse, no one cares. But as I said, I am writing this just to keep the blog alive and there was no other topic.

So...Bauji is miffed with the whites due to their attitude towars Indians in UK. He organizes many agitations for Indians' rights. Gattu is quite happily playing cricket with as well as against whites in Inter school competitions. Bauji is Ok with that. But when he gets a chance to play for the country (England), Bauji prohibits it!!! Goron ke nahi khelenga! Come on!! Getting a place in the National team should be a thing of pride for the Indians. Bauji's ideology seems flawed. He was fighting for the rights of Indian's and now when his son is getting respect and recognition, he turns it down. And suppose he is against the country itself, why the hell is he staying there!!

Secondly, all other youngsters in the family (seriously, the family was so huge, I couldn't understand who's who!) are miffed with Gattu, since he has set an example by sacrificing his dreams and they all have to do the same. They accuse him of not showing courage (and they themselves are quite silent, not agitating at all :-|). When Gattu gets a second chance, they want him to show courage and go for it. Now, courage should have meant standing against Bauji and expressing his wish and dreams. But no! Instead, all of them help him to go for his dreams, without Bauji knowing. They do all sorts of stuff...cutting TV cable, changing the photos in newspaper, renaming Gattu as Kaali, so that Bauji does not know!! How was this supposed to help!! Those people wanted Gattu to speak up against Bauji so that even they could fulfill their dreams. How did the priority change to just allow Gattu to fulfill his and this, when they all disliked him! But luckily enough, Bauji knows the truth and then Gattu shows courage and then all is well.

Anyways, I believe most people must have not realized these flaws. Overall, the movie was OK. And much much better than Nikhil Advani's previous venture CC2C.

Aren't we Lucky??

We feel sad when we get lower increments. We get angry when caught in traffic jams. We feel jealous when we see someone in an Audi when we ourselves are driving a 2-wheeler or a small car. We feel forgotten when some close friends forget our birthdays. We always complain with life. I often do.

But sometimes when I am alone, with no work to do, I ask myself, am I really sad? Is my life really worth complaining? Then I realize, I am in fact far more lucky than most people. All you people reading this post are very lucky. We have decent incomes. We have decent dwellings to leave. We can buy as many clothes as we want. We get multiple meals each day. We can spend hundreds or even thousands just for fun. We can pursue or hobbies. We got (or are getting) good education. We have most modern amenities.We have someone to care for us. Someone to share our happiness. Someone to share our sorrows.

There are crores of people out there who don't know how they'll sail through the day. How they'll get even one meal. A single roti is a satisfying food for them. People are happy even if they get old, soiled clothes to wear. They call a tin shed as their home. Be it rains, be it cold, be it hot, people stay on footpaths, on railway platforms, on bus-stops. A single Rs. 10/- note is like a huge amount for them.

There are so many kids out there, who want to study, who want to play, who want to wear nice clothes, who want to eat sweets, who want to live their lives, but are working day and night, supporting their families,...supporting themselves.

There are so many people out there, who are in a constant threat of wars, of terrorism. They cant say if they'll see see the light of the day tomorrow. They don't know if they'll see their kids grow.

There are so many people out there who are handicapped, who cannot see the beautiful colors of life, who cannot hear the melodious sound of nature and of people, who cannot move on their own, who are always dependent on others for their daily chores, who are just counting their days in some hospitals.

There are so many people out there, who have been left alone by their families, who have been tricked into giving away their entire fortunes, who have lost their near and dear ones in accidents, in riots, in earthquakes, in floods.

There is so much sorrow out there.

When I think about all this, I feel that I am infact very very lucky. We all are. We are very much blessed. Our lives will be a lot better if we think of it from this perspective. So, always when you are sad, or are feeling very low, think of all that's happening in the world and ask yourself, Aren't we lucky?

Quota

Disclaimer: These are just my views. People may or may not agree. Please do not get into comment-fights with me.

Whenever the admission season comes, this issue bugs me - QUOTA.
Does quota system really help? Is giving reservations based on caste truly a tool for social upliftment?

Quota, according to me, infact makes people lazy. You get admission through quota, you can get jobs through quota, your kids get admission through quota...and so on. Isn't this ease of getting things a deterrent for true progress?

Is it so that people from some particular castes have lesser brains compared to others? Why are the cut-offs made so low for them? It really pains when one sees a brilliant student from Open category not getting admission to a particular institute just because of a couple of marks' difference and another who obviously is not so good in academics getting the admission with a much lesser score. Such people are also generally from well-to-do families who do not need such benefits, but get them just because the system allows them to. There are also concessions in fees given, even if it is clearly visible that the person is rich enough to afford the education. A deserving candidate from open category, however, wont get such benefits even if he really needs them. A simple caste certificate gives you access to host of benefits whether or not you need them. Merit and true need have no place in our system

Women's quota is somewhat better than caste based quota. However, just having a quota does not address the issue of women empowerment. Awareness amongst the masses, especially rural and slum-dwellers, is needed to achieve the desired effect. But I don't know whether the Government is really doing so.

Quota these days is just a tool for generating vote banks. The vision that Ambedkar had has totally been spoilt by the politicians. I had read an interesting observation somewhere. If the quota system indeed helps in social upliftment of backward classes, 50 years (2 generations) should have been enough and so the quota system should be abolished. And, if the people have still not made a progress, the quota system is flawed and it should be abolished. However, our leaders are not brave enough to make such a bold decision. Even if they are brave, they are aware that they'll lose major vote-banks. This may eventually lead to the opposition rising to power and the quota system being re-introduced by them. So why bother? Let the system stay.

It is no wonder that people prefer moving abroad to make life easier for them and their kids rather than stay here and fight against quota. Who knows, there may be just 15-20% seats remaining for the Open category, a few years down the line. And mind you, this 15-20% wont be "reserved" for Open category, but open for all.
The quota system is really spoiling our nation and its younger generations.

Hindi Serial Loophole 4 : Do Hanso ka Joda

Serial: Do Hanso ka Joda
Channel: NDTV Imagine
Timing: 9.30-10.00pm
Summary: There is a rich family staying jointly in a palatial home. There are two daughters of similar age in that family. The mother of one marries her off to a very ordinary, poor guy who she thinks is very good at heart. The mother of the other marries her off to a rich guy, just by looking at his money, not caring about his nature. The story revolves around the lives of the 2 cousin sisters.
Loophole: The husband of one of the daughters returns home from office. When he comes home, we can clearly see that it is very sunny. We can even see dark shadows of the persons and the size of the shadow was enough to prove that it was just after noon. As he comes home, he asks his wife to bring water for him and then goes to to the terrace. When the wife comes with the glass of water, he is looking somewhere. The wife immediately understands that he is looking at the sunset. Both praise the beauty of the sunset, and indeed we are shown the setting sun. But it is still quite sunny on the terrace. :P
Ever heard of 2 suns?

Bollywood kinda scene...contd

Since I had already posted a scene from the TV serial "Rehne hai teri palkon ki chaaon mein", I thought of posting this one, which shows us how strong women are. Coincidently, the scene was aired on the same day as the women's bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha :P

For new-comers, the current hero of this story is the elder brother of the heroine's dead husband. He had recently saved her from a villain. The description of the scene can be found here on my blog.

Now, the villain has returned after escaping from the prison. In serials, its very easy to do so. Don't ask for an explanation. He calls up on the LANDLINE at her residence. Now, of all the members (there are atleast 10) of the family, luckily the heroine picks up the phone. I don't understand how the villain was confident hat the heroine will pick up the phone, but fine, she picks up the phone. The villain threatens to kill the hero, if the heroine does not agree to meet him (i.e the villain) at 12 midnight at the back door of the Durga temple. Now, the heroine is frightened. How will the hero, who had recently managed to enter the den of the villain and had single handedly beaten up all his armed men, stand up against ONE man?

Meanwhile, the villain is already at the temple, where a samuhik vivaah has been arranged, the hero being the chief guest. The villain is loitering around there, with a cloth held in his hand hiding one of his cheeks. What a great disguise to escape from the police!!! The heroine also comes in disguise. Now, since its already past 12, the villain decides to shoot at the hero. However, the heroine, who is just around a 100 feet away manages to come in between, before the bullet arrives, and hooray!!! our hero is saved. But what did you think, the heroine will die of the bullet injury? Do you think the fairer sex is so week? Forget dying, she manages to stand up, and when the villain (whom the police have already caught again) starts narrating false stories, she even slaps him hard. And what does our hero do? Take her to the hospital? NO. He takes her to the Durga temple and declares his love for her and they return home happily.

Hats off to the Bharatiya naari of Indian television!!!