Close Encounters of the Corrupt Kind

Background

You need a Sarkaari Document. You research about it on the internet. Find that the necessary items for getting the paper in the due process may not be feasible or are too troublesome to get. In a fix. So you try to use a shortcut i.e. an agent to do your bidding. And the agent takes you for a ride. Guess - Pretty familiar story.

Event

So there was I in a similar situation. A document was required but not very urgently. So thought why not get it made. Having done some research on it, tried to go and get it. But given the conditions and paperwork involved, thought about using an agent to do the job. Unfortunately, dealing with the agent started to prove nearly as cumbersome and painful as the one which was being avoided. Dealing with the agent and an advocat whom the agent had brought in contact was enough to make anyone wish to break their own head. Finally went directly to the government office itself. And found a very helpful person who directed us to the right place, which turned out to be quite different from the one which the agent-advocat duo was sending us to.
Went to the said office. Spoke directly to the person concerned. Most documents were found to be in order. And the government official gave the alternate routes for the remaining ones. Though some persuasion, in the form of few Reserve Bank certifcates helped the cause. The final documentation was put in process and my Sarkaari paper was on the way.

Learnings

• Sarkaari work is not that complicated. If you have the correct documentation.
• Try avoiding agents as much as possible. If nothing else they just increase the corruption index and money involved.
• Do NOT pay the agent any advance. And if you do take a receipt.
• Government officials are helpful. Only try finding the relevant one beforehand.
• A few Reserve Bank certificates can make the system move very rapidly.
• Advocats can lie at your face without even blinking an eye. Probably get the training in college itself?
• Corruption as a form of governance is highly efficient.

The Indian Olympic Dream

This post has been published on Sportskeeda

Cometh the Olympics and an Indian sports fan starts thinking. Are these the breakthrough Games for our sportspersons? Should we have hope for a few medals (not many, 2-3 would suffice). After all given our track record (we have fewer medals (20) than the number of Olympics (24) held), hope becomes a dangerous thing. So dire is our record that we even celebrate our near-misses (e.g PT Usha, Milkha Singh etc.)

Barcelona 92 was the first Games I remember watching. Those were the days when our sole medal hopes resided with the Hockey team. Other sports were being represented only for participation sake. The Indian contingent returned bare handed. Over the course of the next 4 Games (Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and Beijing), the situation changed a bit. Hockey was no longer considered to be our medal hope. And with the team failing to even qualify for Beijing, the once powerful Indian Hockey had reached its nadir. Though the team has qualified for the London Games, no one is expecting any miracles from them.

 

Leander Paes winning the Tennis bronze in Atlanta added a new sport to our Olympics Hopeful list. But the hope hasn't converted into a reality since then. Paes & Bhupathi losing the bronze medal playoff in 2004 was the closest that India has been to a medal. This time there are 7 Indian players in the fray. However, the selection fiasco and the players ego clashes have lead to pretty low expectations from them.

 

Sydney 2000 was the first games were India actually had realistic medal hopes in more than one discipline. Karnam Malleswari winning the Bronze in women's weightlifting added Weightlifting to the Great Indian Olympic Medal Hope category. Over the years since, a series of doping scandals has rocket Indian weightlifting. And hence, there aren't any realistic medal hopes from the 2 weightlifters. Sydney 2000 also announced the arrival of Indian Boxing. Gurcharan Singh lost in the quarter-finals after a very close bout (tied on points) but his exploits probably paved the way for the bigger ones to come in Beijing. The biggest heartbreak was in Hockey with a last minute goal conceded against Poland destroyed our semi-final chances.

 

Jaspal Rana's exploits in the Asian & Commonwealth Games had made Shooting a realistic medal hope. However it was Rajyavardhan Rathore who gave us our 1st ever shooting medal with a silver in Athens. Since then a medal from the Shooters have become a realistic expectation rather than any wishful thinking. Athens saw the heartbreak in Mens Doubles Tennis, while Anju George's leap was just a little short in the Long Jump.

 

Beijing 2008 saw an Indian contingent without Hockey. But this was the Games were the Indian dream started soaring. We had our first ever individual gold through Abhinav Bindra. Bronze medals in Boxing (Vijender) and Wrestling (Sushil) took the tally to 3, the highest ever. It was probably beyond what the normal Indian fan could handle. There were medals but what was more heartening was there were even more performers who were getting close to the medal category. Saina Nehwal in badminton, Akhil & Jitender in Boxing, Gagan Narang in Shooting - the Indian fan was looking forward to more and more medals.

 

Now we are ready for London 2012. What do these Games hold for India? Can we dream of some unprecedented success? Can we have hope of more medals? The answer is yes. Economic analysts from Goldman Sachs have said that India are likely to come up with 5 medals including 2 Golds. If true, then this would be 25% of India's total medal tally till date. Certainly quite an improvement.

 

So where do I think (rather hope) the Indian medals are coming from? Well here are my medal expectations (discipline wise)

• Archery - 2 - Women's Team & Deepika in indiviudal, the Men also have an outside chance
• Athletics - 0 - Krishna Poonia should reach the finals in Discus Throw
• Badminton - 1 - Saina Nehwal in singles has a good chance, others not that realistic
• Boxing - 2 - out of 7 in Men's (Vijender & Shiva Thapa) + 1 - Mary Kom in women's. There could be others as well
• Hockey - 0 - Don't expect the Indian team to go past the Group Stage, could realistically hope for 3rd place in Groups stage at best.
• Shooting - 2 - Gagan Narang & Ronjan Sodhi, though more can be expected from the likes of Bindra & Manavjit Sandhu
• Tennis - 0 - Should have been a great big hope with Men's & Mixed Doubles but given the selection controversies not having much hopes there
• Wrestling - 1 - the flag-bearer Sushil Kumar is the one, the others may also throw up a pleasant surprise or two
• Judo, Rowing, Swimming, Table Tennis, Weightlifting - Nil, No great hopes of anything special though given the level of awareness Indians have about these disciplines, qualification for the Games itself should be considered a big achievement. 

So in summary, a total of 9 medals (give or take a couple) is what I am realistically hoping for.

 

Well as they say, we should hope for the best and if it comes to the worst, we can always quote Baron Pierre de Coubertin and say "Participation is more important than winning" while singing "हम होंगे कामयाब एक दिन"

 

Bombay

Mother of cities to me,

For I was born in her gate,

Between the palms and the sea,

Where the world-end steamers wait.

These are the words used by Kipling to describe his birth-place, the city of Bombay (now known as Mumbai). A city which has been my, well, can't really describe it as my "home", but my place of residence for over four years now. I am no Kipling (or anything even remotely close), but reading these lines today, made me think.

• How do you get attached to a place?
• Is it because you have lived there?
• You have friends there?
• You have fond memories of the place?
• Do you associate it with some of the best events in your life (maybe without having actually lived there)?
• And does the attachment actually take place after you have left the place (Kipling left Bombay at the age of five)?
• Isn't this more a kind of longing than any actual sense of belonging?

Pretty philosophical questions. And I don't know if I should even try answering them. All I know is all these four years of staying in this city , I haven't yet been able to consider Bombay as "home".

Maybe time will bring some change.

A Snaky Encounter

The arrival of rains is a welcome relief from the summer heat. But for a few creatures its just the opposite. Their homes gets flooded and they have no option but to take refuge in unknown areas, where their arrival is certainly not welcome. Had a brief encounter with such a fellow. I am talking about snakes here. Thankfully it was, what can be best described as an uneventful event. 

The snake (a small cobra) had wandered in through the many cable ducts into the office conference room. It was spotted (by a colleague, who raised an alarm). Both managed to scare off each other with no damage being done. More people were brought onto the scene. The captured snake enjoyed its brief moment in the limelight being clicked by all and sundry (yours truly, becoming the official cameraman). Then it was taken away (Where, is another mystery)

Now comes the interesting part. Yours truly successfully caught the snake (in his camera phone). Being a smartphone  user, immediate steps were taken for mass circulation. Photograph mailed around the office colleagues, where the grapevine had already circulated the news of the cobra's presence. Also instagrammed it (without any actual instagramming, if you get what i mean). The instagram connected to the twitter feed, so the picture got circulated further (with a little description). And a couple of hours later, I had a wildlife photographer following my twitter feed. (Interesting!)

Now, I can say, "Urban Wildlife Photography" is my hobby. (Pic below.)

So now the poor cobra has been blogged too (After having been Instagrammed, Tweeted, Mailed & Facebooked)

Time

Time - Why do you keep running away? I have

• unexecuted plans,
• books waiting to be read, 
• movies and TV series downloaded not yet seen,
• ideas for blog posts which do not reach even the draft stage,
• a newspaper which goes into the thrash unread,
• unvisited places,
• all because of time running away

But the battle against time seems forlorn and hopeless, yet to fight it is what makes me human.

Satyamev Jayate

Satyamev Jayate - Truth  Alone Triumphs

This was the new show going to be aired on a lazy summer Sunday morning. The show had an air of mystery about it. Touted as a reality show, with a big name anchor, being simulcast also on DD-National. Promos gave the feel of a travel show. But overall the content was a rather well-kept mystery. All in all enough to have drawn one's attention to the show.

So Sunday morning, there was me and my wife plonked in front of the TV. A few minutes into the show and the picture became clear. This was more of a talk show with focus on the social issues facing India (a good idea in itself) with "female foeticide" being the issue discussed in this episode. A few more minutes down the line, it became too depressing to watch for us. And we switched channels, watched some meaningless stuff and went on with the Sunday activities.

But the story doesn't end here. Sometime later in the evening, while doing more channel surfing, we caught up with the repeat telecast on Star Pravah (the marathi channel). There was a different segment going on. We watched it, talked about it and then moved on to other things.

Makes us sound like people who think it is the others problems. But herein lies the impact of this show. We found ourselves talking on the subject of "female foeticide" quite a few times during the day. Discussed the film "Matrubhoomi" which had also covered this harsh reality about a village without women. Satyamev Jayate and female foeticide were the key discussion points on facebook and twitter all day. So yes, the impact has been there.

Now that the issue is out in the open, and people are talking about it, what is the next step? After all, we do like to outrage over a lot of things. And a declining gender ratio wasn't any new topic. There was a text poll conducted to ask Rajasthan Government to set up a fast-track court to tackle "female foeticide". I texted "Y" to the number (5782711). But I am cynical about how the thing works out. I don't think there is anyone out there, who would vote a "No". Many will vote a "Yes", and most won't care. But the question remains, can a SMS campaign make a government setup a fast-track court?

And as for the individual effort, I texted the "Y". Thought about the subject, talked about it, and am absolutely sure, I wouldn't be interested in knowing the gender of the future kid. But is that all that one can think about at an indivdual level.

The show certainly raised questions. And uncomfortable ones at that. And public awareness on an unconfortable issue was also raised. The desire to have a boy child and the murder of the girl child. But what about the solution. I don't know the solution but it certainly won't be through an SMS campaign or internet outrage.

P.S. A twisted thought - Female foeticide will most certainly reduce the population in a few years with less and less females. Maybe an indirect population control method.

Happyness in the Busyness of Life

Life is a live thing. It doesn't stop for you, it doesn't pause for you to catch a breath, it just runs along. You either fall away, fade away or keep abreast of it. Life is busy, there is work, there are commitments, there are targets, submissions. So many happenings that the chief reason for life is forgotten -Yourself and Your Happyness.

In this busyness of life, the only saving grace can be the MOMENTS. The moments which live on in your memory, the moments you cherish and the moments which take your breath away. And mostly these are the moments which just happen not the ones which are planned. 

Keep stealing these Moments and your Pursuit of Happyness will be fulfilled. 

And you can understand only once you have experienced one. :D

Rolling & Coasting

Emotions & Feelings - Probably the most complex thing in the whole universe - And what makes us "HUMAN"

Fun can go away with a little wrongly timed, misinterpreted word and a heavy weight can lift with another. Happiness brings tears while you can smile through pain. Unsaid thoughts can eat from inside, while a simple note heals.

But when has a journey without any bumps been fun :)

The Inhuman Humans

Statutory Warning - Some gruesome details to follow. So if cant stand blood and gore, please stop reading the post right now.

Still reading. All right. Do not complain that I didn't warn you.

Sometime last week, at 3 in the night, I suddenly find myself awake. Wonder why. The answer comes in a few seconds. A sharp pain in the lower right jaw. Cause unknown. Recedes a bit after an hour or so, followed by  fitful sleep.

Dentist visited. Cause found to be wisdom tooth trying to butt into its neighour. Neighour tooth protests and defends its turf. This showdown leads to pain. Painkillers taken. An OPG done which confirms need for extraction [Aside - I liked the earlier description - Dental Panoramic Radiograph].

Extraction scheduled. Now for the gory part.

4 injections deep into the mouth. Drilling of part of the tooth. The gum cut with a blade. Pliers used in an attempt to pull it out. Attempt fails, so part of bone cut into. Then tooth pulled off with pliers. Ends with 2 sutures inside the  mouth. All this while the mouth is pulled as wide as possible and all sorts of dangerous items are put in (Syringes, drills, blades, pliers, sucker pipe, cotton wool, dentist's fingers, needle, thread).

An hour long procedure. Me is numbed, swollen, slurred speech and exhausted. While the dentist pleased with successfully handling a bit off complex case like this. And I was proudly shown the extracted, bloodied tooth as well.

In conclusion - Doctors/Dentists are healers (the pain is quite under control) but they cant be humans.

P.S. - One positive side of the procedure - Ice cream - loads of it.

Always

Sherlock Holmes to Bon Jovi via Severus Snape.

3 characters totally unrelated.
1st one - A Fictional detective (though there are many convinced he does exist)
2nd one - one of the biggest pop stars on this planet
3rd one - the most enigmatic fictional character ever created (IMO)

Now how did I get connect this trio?

I was watching Sherlock (the BBC series). Its a modernized take on the Arthur Conan Doyle creation set in the 21st century. (In my opinion a simply Bloody Brilliant one). Now while watching the series realized that Benedict Cumberbatch (the actor portraying Holmes) sounded pretty familiar. In fact he sounded like Alan Rickman's portrayal of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies. 

Did some Google research on the subject. Landed up on a set of videos where Benedict Cumberbatch was actually mimicking Alan Rickman. Also found that I wasn't the only one who found the voices similar. Check this combo video)

Related videos sent me into the Harry Potter World. Lots of fan made videos on Severus Snape. A few on Snape's love for Lily Evans which were a compilation of scenes from across the Potter movies. The background track playing was Bon Jovi's Always. A catchy sound track with lyrics which seemed to have been written for this story. (Funny how I had this song in my music collection for years but never listened to it). 

And since then this has become my favorite number.

P.S. Found this interesting line as well: "Dear Romeo, this is how you die for your love, Regards, Severus".