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Isn’t practise right here instead of practice ? Spell checker thinks otherwise.
Recently, there Salman Khan shot for a public awareness campaign for hit and run victims. My imagination is better, so yeah, I am serious.
On Saturday, Salman Khan shot for a public awareness ad to evoke kindness and responsibility towards hit-and-run victims.
Our source said, “The ad talks about how people just ignore those who are in distress on roads when hit by someone. It shows a man hit by a vehicle who is left to die.”
Now before you get all preachy about one practising what one preaches, personally, I am fine as long as people don’t practise what they preach and don’t preach what they practise. That would just be disastrous.
Imagine Varun Gandhi out on the streets with a nail-cutter (nail-cutter is the most optimum solution when you want to cut hands and you also claim non-violence is your religion) with Maneka Gandhi running behind him making sure her natkhat (naughty) Kaanha doesn’t hurt any animals; or Raj Thackeray outside the comfort of his air-conditioned home; or M. Karunanidhi tottering with a Friendship bracelet for BFF Prabhakaran; or Manmohan Singh doing ..well I don’t know .. no one ever lets let him speak. I don’t even know what he stands for.
The only exception here is L.K. Advani who claims he is strong.
You bet he is.
On a completely unrelated note, do you have any idea how big the Babri Masjid was ?
Amidst fears that I was a sexist bloke, there was a recent comment urging me to also have a Dudette of the Week title. This has prompted me to come out with a defense for not doing so until now, lest I might alienate the female readership.
First, let us analyze the women in Indian politics. There are essentially three major players. Since all of them are accomplished politicians, it would be unfair to list them by seniority. So in decreasing order of weight, they are J. Jayalalitha, Mayawati and Mamta Bannerjee. Oh and before we proceed, a wag of three of my fingers to them for not marrying until now. With an already skewed sex ratio in the country, such gem of women marrying can only help the cause.
With J. Jayalalitha, no one really cares about her right now. She isn’t in power, no one knows whether she is in the NDA or UPA and her weight trainer is yet to be fired for negligence of duty. Mayawati doesn’t make stupid statements; they mostly fall into the dangerous category (only Raj Thackeray has the dubious distinction of maintaining a fine balance between the two categories).
About Mamta Bannerjee, well, what fun is it in calling a spade a spade ? Apparently, earlier sonograms show her foot in her mouth when she was a foetus.
Then there is the eternal beti Priyanka Gandhi, whose only real claim to infame seems to be wanting to prove in any way possible (ah .. the engineering memories) that Rahul Gandhi is qualified to be PM. Since the qualifications are a measly soundness of mind, we don’t really need you … oh … wait … sorry .. yeah we still need proof.
Lastly, there is Pratibha Patil who I prefer to think doesn’t exist just like ghosts. Incidentally, she thinks otherwise, both about herself and ghosts.
Hence, for want of deserving candidates, the Dudette of the Week title is at present unclaimed and up for grabs (I always wanted to use this cliché).
But in this analysis we are also missing a basic point. When there are men out there making far more funnier and WTF statements, to quote Deepikaji from the Nirma Super ad, “To koi yeh kyun le, woh na le ?”.
So just admit it women, men are better than you !
Also check out this post about the top 10 women politicians of India.
This is a continuation of the Dude of the Week post from yesterday where the Dude of this week went on a indefinite hunger strike for 6 hours. A friend points out the picture from the article :
Did the guy just sleep for 6 hours and call off the strike ???
Unknown to most Indians, a worthy leader has achieved the record for the fastest indefinite hunger strike in history for an even worthier cause.
The leader in question, who incidentally is also the Dude of this week, is Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who went on a hunger strike for 6 ….. hours.
In a sudden move, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi drove to the Anna Samadhi at 5.50 am on Monday and went on an indefinite fast, which he later called off past noon.
“Due to heavy pressure by the UPA government, the Sri Lankan security council met today and has decided to stop all offensive operations. Now the Lankan army will be used only for humanitarian purposes. The fast ends now, come and celebrate with me,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President claims that only hostages are being freed and the operation against the LTTE would continue.
With this development, can we please urge Mr. Karunanidhi to resume the fast ?
The whole reaction of the political arena in Tamil Nadu to the Sri Lankan crisis has been a big joke, and by that definition, the aforementioned leader emerges as the biggest joker. I am more interested in finding how many people actually buy into the phony arguments and sentiments of the DMK and AIADMK. Not to forget that open condoning of the LTTE and Prabhakaran should ideally invite legal action.
The Sri Lankan crisis is, at this moment, a humanitarian crisis. The LTTE, while fighting for a cause (which might be worthy or not is not the point), had become a nuisance for the entire South Asia and every country has a right to get rid of its troublemakers; the fact that we do not do it is no ground for expecting the same from others.
If the Dalai Lama is still treated as a guest of India, it is for a reason. I quite hope any government stops pandering to the needs of political jokers; unfortunately, it is election time so I cannot blame the government either.
Which brings me to the earlier question.
How many people in Tamil Nadu actually care about the Lankan crisis over their already troubled lives with an economic depression that is looming overhead ? The answer can be found in this recent article and isn’t too unexpected.
Quite ironically, this might be the first news you CAN use.
This is one of the most heartening news pieces I have read in recent times which dispels myths related to aamras (Aamras is a Marathi word loosely translated as ‘mango pulp’ and true to its word, it is a preparation of mango pulp, milk and sugar blended together).
Myth 1 – It is fattening
Fact: One mango is only about 60 calories! It contains no cholesterol or saturated fat. It only contains about 0.6 grams of total fat.Myth 2 – It is acidic
Fact: Mango is only acidic if it is combined with milk. Have mango on its own as a little meal itself. Do not mix it with anything.Myth 3 – It contains sugar, so it increases weight
Fact: Mango contains natural sugars which is needed for body metabolism and does not increase weight.Myth 4 – Creates heat in the body
Fact: Mango is a summer food for a reason. If it was heaty, it would not be available in the summer in the first place. Nature is aware of seasons.
I am pretty sure I have spread some cheer by sharing these facts. For readers who aren’t related to Maharashtra, you might never understand the euphoria surrounding aamras. In a nutshell, it wouldn’t be incorrect to state that people eagerly look forward to the 40+ degree summer heat just for aamras.
Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that weddings are called off in Pune because of .. wait for it .. aamras.
Just before the ceremony could begin, the Botaljis demanded that their relatives be served ‘aamras’. The Bhises expressed their inability to do so, saying that the menu for the occasion had been decided by both sides a long time back and that ‘aamras’ was not to be on the fare. They said it was too late to arrange for the ‘aamras’ now.
However, the Botaljis refused to budge, leading to a dispute between the two sides. The Botaljis walked out of the marriage-hall even as the Bhises made repeated pleas against the cancellation of the wedding.
This is an old news piece but one that I will never forget. Its reference always comes up in any conversation related to aamras.
Yes, this is the 500th post on this blog. I don’t really have any content for this post; but posts on occasions do not need any content, I hear.
This is not an achievement, just a milestone. I would be quite stupid if I said that it was my achievement. There is no way I would have continued writing without you, the readers. So a *sincere* thanks to all readers and *sincere* appreciation for readers who took the pains to comment and engage in debates or discussions (and insults too). On that note, a wag of my finger to spam commenters, who think they know me better than myself (in whatever sense you want to interpret it).
If you have anything to say about the writing, I’ll myself admit upfront that I have a long way to go when it comes to writing. Every second sentence I write makes me realize this. But the quest to improve continues. I also rarely proof-read. I am in way too much of a hurry to click on the ‘Publish’ button.
Among other facts, I still can’t reply when someone asks, “So what do you write about ?”. Others give better answers for me than I do. This fact should also answer why you find music related posts, movie reviews and personal stuff here. Some people do not like it, some do; I just write.
In spite of all this, the blog functions because of the readers, so if I may quote Mr. Amar (not Singh) :
“Aap gyaani hai, daani hai, antaryaami hai, bohot bade swami hai. Shaktimaan hai, buddhimaan hai, balki main to yeh kehta hoon ki aap purush hi nahi. Aap mahapurush hai”.
So I would like to end with with a great saying.
Or maybe not, as I don’t know any.
All I can say is keep visiting.
Regards,
Kumari Mayawati in a recent campaign :
Voicing her prime ministerial ambitions, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mawayati has said that a ‘Dalit’s daughter’ should be made the prime minister to ensure the uplift of the backward and minority communities in the country.
“If you make a Dalit’s daughter the Prime Minister, then UP will be famous in the entire world. If the BSP comes to power at the Centre, UP will occupy a special place,” she said.
This sums up everything that I find wrong with Mayawati as a potential Prime Minister. Her reason for wanting to be the PM never goes beyond the fact that she is a Dalit (and it would be cool, not historic or constructive, for a Dalit to be the PM, I assume). No community would be uplifted just by making a member the Prime Minister. All this is excluding the corruption charges and the huge disparity between the ‘development’ of her party members and the general poor whom she claims to represent and work for.
(Why does she keep repeating Dalit’s daughter ? She could just use Dalit if that helps her cause.)
It is obviously debatable how much better the other candidates are on similar scales, but this was about Mayawati. If Advani plays divisive politics, so does Mayawati, do does the Congress. It is only that the BJP’s brand of divisive politics is more likely to lead to killings; to put it very bluntly.
On that note, I do think that Narendra Modi as a Prime Minister in the future might be an interesting option (background music : ‘orch hit‘ tone; the one at the end of soaps). I hope to write about it in detail sometime in the near future.
For people outside Maharashtra .. on second thoughts, even for citizens of Maharashtra, this is the newly appointed Congress Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.
This was his reaction when asked if he had any message for party high command Sonia Gandhi.
Okay just kidding.
But with the decision of the election commission to apply ink to the middle finger instead of the usual index finger, such photographs are to be found aplenty.
The Akshay Kumar incident doesn’t seem so vulgar now, does it ?
Image Courtesy : Times of India.
If you remember, I had recently written a post about Indians at the Golden Gate bridge.
A reader from London (okay fine, a friend, but a reader sounds so much more cooler) writes in :
“We have something similar here called the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Desis go as far as the cab takes them and take their Orkut snaps. As for the waking part, they are happy seeing it from the parking lot.”
Either my posts have a universal nature or universally, desis have the same nature.
Again, if you are offended and are seriously contemplating using a spare shoe, let me clarify that I do not mean to offend, I just make observations.
If you still go ahead, I would prefer a complete pair .. color preferably white.
I read of this strange happening in Karnataka during the second phase of the polls :
Hundreds of voters in six Lok Sabha constituencies kept away from polling booths in Karnataka on Thursday to protest against non-implementation of development works.
“Nil voting was reported in over a dozen polling booths in some parliamentary constituencies for non-implementation of development works, including building roads, bridges, borewells for drinking water and other amenities in their respective areas,” state chief electoral officer M N Vidyashankar told reporters.
This combined with the recent debate on the 49-O clause (of negative voting) brings me to an interesting point.
If at all any reforms are needed, instead of negative voting, I tend to think that a lower limit on the voter turnout to disqualify candidates would be a better option (something like if lower than 25% vote, the election would be declared null in the constituency and candidates debarred from future elections or subjected to 1 month of Himesh songs). It combines some important points :
1. Negative voting does not give a voice to the people who do not vote. Since each individual’s opinion should be counted, in case of a lower cap, the people who do not turn up will be assumed to support no candidate sufficiently enough to proactively get out and vote for them.
2. It gives candidates the impetus to urge the electorate to vote; thus the onus falls on the candidates and not on the election commission or the voters themselves.
3. It is must easier to not vote rather than go to the booth and select an option. Laziness, as we all know, is a national pastime (plus a boycott bodes well with our history, thereby preserving our culture and tradition, if I may add).
4. Maoist/terrorist attacks are most common at people who get out to vote. It might be easier to have re-elections in a select few constituencies with far tighter security.
Either way, I am not sure if 49-O or the above clause should be added; it gives people the drive to not gather information about candidates and their respective manifestos, thereby not actively being a part of the democratic process.
I encourage a debate on this topic. Do write in with points I may have misread or missed.
