Hvn't read any of Chetan Bhagat's bestsellers, but been reading his weekly column in Times of India for a while, and am quite impressed; though he isn't a seasoned political commentator, he writes on national affairs, without the clichés usually thrown in by the political humbugs in the country. The guy writes with wit, wisdom and sarcasm and makes telling comments. Some gems from his today's piece, "The Telengana Effect..
"An endearing, almost cute trait of Indians is that we never really lose hope. We always feel a messiah, or a great grand scheme will soon come and deliver us from our woes.. with amazing powers and kill the evils (demons).
It is perhaps due to this gullibility that many of us feel the latest sure-shot solution to the miserable common man's life in India is a new state! A new state. Not good leaders, not even new leaders, not new criteria for voting such governance over caste, not an end to identity prejudice.. we will simply solve all our jobs, inflation, power, water, safety, health and education problems with one magic solution – a new state! It's another cute, hilarious trait of Indians.
However, what we have started now with Telangana is something so harmful, vile and terrible, we will all regret it in times to come if we don't check it now.
INDIANS ARE PREJUDICED. MANY OF US INDIANS FEEL THEIR COMMUNITY, RELIGION/CASTE IS SOMEHOW SUPERIOR TO OTHERS. WE ALSO FEEL A LEADER FROM OUR OWN KIND WILL HAVE MORE EMPATHY TOWAREDS US.
(Me: The last point is the crux of all our problems.. We vote for our caste-man; not just at elections, but for everything, everywhere else, too. Merit be damned. One sees no salvation for this country).
Tongue very much in cheek..
A clever commits no commits no MINOR blunders…!
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From the world of science…
Fenugreek (methi leaves) helps reduce cholesterol level, especially that of the low density lipoprotein (bad cholesterol).
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Chewing gum can relieve heart burn because it stimulates the production of saliva, which is an acid buffer and facilitates better digestion.
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Weird world…
Diving guide tries 'Spiderman-style' smooch on shark, gets bitten…
A diving guide has been taking tourists out on Elbow Reef off Key Largo, Florida for years, allowing them to interact with the reef's wildlife including a 300-pound nurse shark.
Dave Marcel would often kiss the sharks to show tourists that they are not aggressive and love being petted. However, recently, one of the sharks, just didn't respect Marcel's love enough. Instead of passively receiving the kiss, the shark bit down with all its 500 razor-sharp teeth. The shark bite was caught on camera and aired on Discovery Channel as per of this year's 'Shark Week'. Marcel's key mistake was flipping the shark upside down before planting a smooth – something he hadn't done before. He didn't realize that with the shark's eyes situated on top of its head, it wouldn't see him and would assume he was being fed fish.
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Pig expert writes diary 8 times size of War and Peace…
Dorset: A retired pig consultant has logged every detail of his life in Britain's biggest personal diary. 83-year-old John Gadd's journal spans 66 years and contains four million words on 21,000pages in 151 volumes that weigh half a ton. The epic tome also includes 33,000 photos, newspaper cuts and wine labels. The record is 8 times the size of War and Peace, four and a half times bigger than the Complete Works of Shakespeare and three times longer than Samuel Pepys' diaries.
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One lakh apply for 'one-way ticket' to Mars to never return…
Washington: The Marks One project by NASA which aims to colonize Marks beginning in 2022 has reportedly revealed that more than one lakh (100,000) people are eager to join the project in a bid to visit the red planet, but do not want to come back. People have applied for a one-way trip to the planet hoping to be chosen to spend the rest of their lives on the unchartered territory.
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Communist China faces scare of 'ghost cities'
Beijing: It's a rare government statement about 'ghost' or empty cities in China; it indicates that it is a scare that authorities across the country are now facing – but hoping to overcome. The National Development and Reform Commission has sad that the country now has an "oversupply" of cities as a result of which many hate remained empty.
(Me: How one wishes India had such 'ghost' cities. Thing are exactly the opposite: people have no shelter in any part of the country..).
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The cry of racial profiling and discrimination by people in countries they migrate to..
One often comes across news in India of how the other countries practise racial profiling discriminating against migrants, but doesn't understand what the ballyhoo is all about.
Poor and not-so poor leave the relative physical security their home countries offer and migrate to another country, purely to eke out a living – job, any job – for bread for themselves and their families back home. So, if you are a man or a woman with SOME common sense you have got to forgo or give up your customs and practices that are in conflict with the local laws as these laws have been drafted after due thought by experts and taken into the country's statue book after much deliberation by members of various political parties in their law-making body, the Parliament. The migrants cannot expect that their personal beliefs, customs and traditions should take precedence over the laws of land.
As it is, migrants are not so very welcome in host countries and if they continue to make unreasonable demands, the migrants would only needlessly needle the local populace and antagonize them leading to a severe backlash grievously hurting their own cause.
The age-old saying, "Discretion and judiciousness is better part of valour", still holds good.
