What Am I

The other day during a journey we halted for a while and when asked for a proper place for defecation, we were disappointed and disgusted at the place, and yet they were charging money to use that place. It may not come out as a surprise to many, but many of us in India still wash our shit with our hands!! We are just too ashamed to discuss about it. How many of us tried different and innovative techniques to try and use water instead of paper to perform the daily duty. But that's not the agenda of the blog. Wiki has a very good page about it ( Human_feces ) We have a belief that whenever we come out of toilet, it is really important to wash our feet. While, yes there is emphasis to wash our hands but we are specifically asked to wash our feet since misfortune may follow un-washed feet. Nothing was said about the hands part!!!! I was going through this article today which said that 60% of the open defecation of the world is in India due to various reasons ( fixing...

North Dakota has seen an increasing trends in various kinds of violence. Drug abuse, domestic violence and various other crimes have seen an upsurge in the recent years, albeit it still is below the country's average. Now, why am I suddenly writing about North Dakota?? This is one state, which has seen a sudden rise in shale gas production, which has more than doubled in a span of a small time. It now has one of the largest proven reserves and is expected to play a strong role in making US, the leading natural gas producer. The new oil & gas has produced lot of jobs, especially in mining, oil & gas technicians and various other jobs and suddenly the unemployment opportunities have become a thing of the past. While I was going through a movie, I realized that many places across the world, which have seen a sudden upsurge in wealth have become some of the most insecure places. For example, m any countries in Africa, Central & Latin America, Middle East, Central ...

The topic continues to intrigue me. Honestly I continue to not understand it at all. As a boy from south India, where any open discussion regarding the biology of a woman is considered taboo, it took me quite a while to realize what exactly is it. Since then, it's been a confused topic for me. We, do follow this tradition of keeping women separate during the mensus stage. I did ask why, never got a valid explanation. No one at home complained about it. But things aren't as straight forward as they seem.  It is one of the traditions/rituals unknown, and appear to be un-called for. I am still looking for answers. It is not a philosophical journey. But it is another case where I should fight on behalf of ....!!  I've started asking questions. It is one of those instances where I think it is wrong, yet I hope it is correct. Wiki has some answers, read some interesting blogs ( Menstruation perspective ), but am not entirely convinced either ways. (Or do I not w...

It is clear that Mr. Narendra Modi is the next PM candidate. And if all the dirty politics are kept away and if Mr. Gandhi remains the PM candidate, then in every likelihood the perception is that Mr. Narendra Modi will be the next PM. But, what if Mr. Gandhi is not nominated as the PM candidate? Then, who should that person be who can be nominated from the congress party that can stand the personality of Mr. Modi and has a cleaner image. In the recent past, while congress/ gandhi family has been running the show, the face of the nation i.e. the PM has always been an academician or a shrewd politician, which isn't the trait of the gandhi clan. Hence, even this time the PM candidate may be a person most likely with exemplary clean image and a well rounded and grounded personality. Imagine this! What if the next PM candidate from Congress party is Mr. Nandan Nilekani. He is amazing, excellent credentials and can appease all the youth. And, because he doesn't have the poli...

I remembered a beautiful carnatic classical rendition "Raghu Vamsa Sudhambudi" This is a song, praising Lord Ram, who belongs to "Raghu" family hoping that he would bring all the good luck and charm.  The song sets the tempo for further course of action and is a hope that the Raghu Ram will take care of the reins and lead every one ashore.  Hope Mr. Raghu Ram can do so. If you did not already get my intentions. This is a request and praise of Mr. RaghuRam Rajan who is the next RBI director. Not that the earlier chairman Mr. Subbarao did anything bad, it is just a hope that Mr. Raghuram rajan will be able to better handle the government and make it understand it's work better. This was a simple blog requesting the almighty (RBI chairman, I guess holds the key for a lot of activities) to bring a shape to the country. He will have to break the lock of Chidambaram and unshackle the country's growth potential.  Otherwise most of us will end up doing nothi...

When all that matters is, what will happen the next day. When you know the inevitable When you know the eventuality cannot be stopped When you know you are going to lose an identity When you know your voice is unheard When you know your days are counted When you know your next morning will be split When you know your next drop of water will have to be fought for When you know the decision may never give an option to look back When you know that you will be forced to pay for the visit which we believed was common ancestral property When you know that the days of bilingual talk are over and the pride in staying together ceases to exist All this, when I know that no anguish matters any more! I wish that I did not know!!

In our place, after the end of meals, betel leaf and nuts are given which earmarks the complete closure of the meal. After this the person who was hosting his role is officially considered complete. He would not care what happens later. So, the phrase above means that "we've extended the betel leaf, our role is over, now you may go to dogs!!" This is the stand of Congress. Hell bent on splitting my state, for a desire of meeting the short term objectives of one elections and later they will decide about the way forward. How will the states compete, what are the aspirations of people, what will happen to the resources sharing? What benefit does it actually create to the state .. Nothing seems to be a matter of concern to the Congress party. Once a party of unification, Congress has siphoned off itself as a party with a track record of splitting the states. I am not sure, what is fun that congress is deriving out of it. We cannot afford so many states. Every one kno...