SRM turns moral Police!!!

I just got the shock of my life. When I typed www.orkut.com in my college library Internet , I got the following message- "Request denied by SRM college" Category- "People and Dating.

I proceeded to check other social sites like hi-fi and friendster and they too were blocked. Giving up on them, I tried to download exam papers for campus interview of an I.T company only to find that these were blocked under the category "Job Search and Career Development".

What has gotten into the college managment's mind?? Are they trying to create a mini-China in our campus or replaying Orwell's cult novel "1984". Whatever it is, It is absolutely not fair. At a time when the whole blogging community in India got together and got the ban on blogspot revoked, why does SRM want to go the other way?

Suddenly everyone is an enemy of fun. I strongly protest against this totally uncalled for college sponsored censorship on free speech and plan to write a letter to the principal against this. Lets see what happens.

Wonder Woman....

I got tagged by Velu.....

As long as I can remember, I was a latch-key child. I came back from school to an empty home, taking the key from the neighbors. I used to hate being alone from 2 to 6 till my parents came back. The eerie silence (This was a time before cable T.V became ubiquitous), the empty rooms used to drive me crazy. I wondered why my mom had to go to work, when all my friends mom's stayed at home and took care of them. But as I grew up, I started understanding the real reason behind my mom going to work was me. It was to provide me with a better life and fulfill the stupid luxuries I demanded, without having the slightest idea whether we could afford them or not.

I can remember her average workday. She had to get up before 5 in the morning and ensure I had my tiffin ready before I left at 7:00 .Anyone who has experienced a Delhi winter morning will definitely agree what a daunting task that is. She herself had to leave for office at 9:00 from where she returned at 6PM. That is a gruelling 13 hour non-stop workday. And even after that there was not much rest for her as she had to prepare dinner. I confess to not having helped her in the kitchen even once in the 17 years I lived with my parents.

As I look back on my childhood years, I realize how inappreciative me and my dad were of my mom. There were no small gestures, no surprise gifts, no hugs, nothing. Infact I was the harshest critic of my mom's cooking, often calling it bland and tasteless. After eating in hotels for the fourth straight year now, I can safely say that her cooking was the best I have and will ever get to taste. Even after all this, I have never heard my mom complain. Ya, there was the occasional grumble against my dad, but never anything against me.

A salute to you, MOM, for doing everything you have done for me.

I tag everyone on my blogs I read list. I hope this time, there is a better response to it..:-)

Blogspot off the hook!!!

The government has finally come to its senses. The ban on blogspot has been lifted. But some of us whose ISP does not support sub domain blocking will continue to be unable to access blogspot.

This is a direct violation of the freedom of expression given to us by the constitution. The government should have taken some concrete steps to end terrorism after the blasts. But instead, the only response it could come up with, was the banning of blogs to prevent people from discussing about the blogs and quell the rising anger. Preposterous....

The government conveniently forgot the constructive role blogs play in disseminating information after a tragedy. A blog about the tsunami received 2 million hits a day after the tsunami struck and was very helpful to the friends and relatives of the affected people. It was also featured on the google homepage. People were not able to access a similar page about the mumbai blasts because of the ban.

The government should come to its senses and allow the other blogging websites to resume their services too. We cannot allow ourselves to emulate Pakistan, Iran and China where blogging is already banned.

Kill the Bastards...

A few hours back, serial blasts took place in Mumbai. 7 Blasts have been reported, 5 of them in Mumbai's perpetually crowded local trains. Official figures cite the death toll as 138 but it could be far far more than that. Rail services have been stopped and many telephone networks are also not functioning. Following the bomb blasts, New Delhi has been put on red alert. Earlier today, there were bomb blasts in Jammu and Kashmir killing 8 people.

Let's face it, we cannot wish terrorism away. We cannot simply close our eyes and pray that this disease in society will be cured by itself. NO, we have to take affirmative action. The best form of defense is offence. It is about time this adage is put to practice. There are two main root causes of terrorism in India, the Islamic fundamentalists and the Naxalites. Hindu fundamentalism is also present to a certain extent with the RSS and Shiv sena at the forefront. The government should now understand that putting terrorist organizations in the banned list to cut their funding, will not dissolve the organization. The terrorists will simply reinvent themselves with a different name and continue their activities.

Terrorists cannot be reasoned with. India has been trying to call them to the dialogue table for 60 years now,but to no avail. These people spend months at indoctrination camps before being given combat training. They are brain-washed and hatred is drilled into their heads. Violence becomes an addiction for them and killing a hobby. Since the politicians enjoy Z-class security, their obvious targets are the general public. People who care more about vegetable prices than the foreign policy, people who work 10-12 hours a day, so that they can lead a comfortable life after 58. Is it fair that these people are blown apart by some deranged psychopath who claims that he is working for his god?

Since it is obvious that everyone cannot be given security, we have to choose the next option- To kill the terrorists. No mercy, no ethics, no conscience. Smoke em out and destroy. 138 families were orphaned today. For many of them, the sole earning member of their family would have died and their future looking bleak. Today them, tomorrow it could be one of us. After 9/11, 7/7, today's 7/11 was the most cowardly act these terrorists could commit. If they are so brave, so valiant, why don't they lead a charge against the army and try to win, instead of targeting people who can't defend themselves.

Debut Effort....

I am a first timer in this tagging business.....so no criticizing... :-))

Desired Celebrity- Elvis Presley

Whenever I am feeling low and down, I always listen to Elvis songs to pep me up. Elvis was born in 1935 and his first exposure to music was gospel music. He moved on to sing rhythm and Blues, Rock and Roll, country music. He was the highest paid entertainer in the world before he reached the age of 30 and even today tops the list of highest earning dead celebrities. Elvis was more than just a rock star. He was the voice of a generation.

Want to do this someday- Bungee Jumping

I always wanted to throw myself off a high cliff with nothing but a thin rubber rope attached on which my whole life depends. The very idea is extremely appealing. The adrenaline rush it would give will be immense....













A Place I would love to visit: Las Vegas

I would love to visit Las Vegas in the near future. The glitz, glamour, endless night life....Gambling in a casino, getting drunk in the best pubs in the world. That would be the life...

Random favorite: Jeffrey Archer

Jeffrey Archer is my favorite author. I love his way of writing. The twists and turns in the story are like what happen in a Bollywood films. And in almost every novel, there is a major twist in the tale in the last line. Most Loved novels: Kane and Abel, Not a penny more, not a penny less.

I was Tagged by Prithz :

Wonderful blog....go read it everyone...here is a picture...With my limited computer knowledge, this is the best I could manage...

Finally, I tag everyone on my 'blogs I read' list.....

The countdown begins

Only two more days to go. The FIFA world cup finals are just around the corner. It is the 'Les Bleus' V/s the 'Azzuris'. 194 teams, 847 matches and it all comes down to this. The winner takes all, the greatest footballing glory on earth and a chance to be in the history books for ever.

I lost quite a bit of interest in the world cup after Argentina and Brazil were defeated. History was against these two teams. No South American team had ever won on European soil before and vice Versa. Hopefully, I will get to see a Brazil V/s Argentina final in the next world cup. The reason I like Brazil and Argentina so much is that they are obsessed with soccer, just like we are with cricket. These countries have a lot of economic problems, high inflation, high unemployment and they use soccer to forget all their problems and enjoy. As a sports psychologist puts it, "The average Argentinean loses 5-0 in life everyday, so this 1-0 win is a kind of revenge for him, a way to get back at the developed world." No wonder, Maradona is treated like God there.

Coming back to the finals, It will be very hard to predict the winner. For France they key players will be Zidanne and Henry. Italy's attack will be spearheaded by the indefatigable Luca Toni. The match will no doubt be a treat to watch. If it comes down to a penalty shoot-out, then god save the player who messes up. Remember the Colombian who was shot dead after scoring an own goal....

Making a mockery of CAT....

CAT is supposed to be the toughest MBA entrance exam in the world. The cliche often used is "The only thing predictable about CAT is that it is unpredictable." The time given is hardly enough to do half of the quesions given and the toughest task is to pick out the really easy ones and do them leaving the difficult ones. Easier said than done.....

So, when I went to give my first mock CAT last week, I knew it would show what level I am at. It pretty much did. I didn't even touch the double digit marks in Quant and DI.....pathetic. My parents would kill me if they saw my marks. 2/50 in quants and 5 in DI. The only respectable one was verbal in which I scored 22. What was even more surprising was that this pathetic total was 89 percentile. God knows how that happened.

So, preparing for my next mock CAT, now...I hope I fare better in this one.

Brazil OUT

This has to be the most depressing news of the season. Brazil is out of the world cup. Now, who will stop Germany?