Racism : A slur or a blur?

Abstract:

Many of who know me personally will share a thought that i am a person who happens to have a view on everything under the sun. My parents spotted this irritable quality in me when i was a kid in primary school. Though being an obedient student i would often get into arguments with my teachers. My questions mostly were Why does this happen so/ Why not this?.

Teachers who were calm, mature and knowledgeable often answered my doubts, but more often than not the retort would be “It is because it is and we have been following it for ages”, “Why do you have to ask such stupid doubts and make a fool out of yourself” and my mom’s favorite “If you touch fire, you shall burn your finger. People who are wise take it as wisdom or caution and others challenge it and get their fingers burnt”. Even at a young age I had this indifference towards others opinion’s about me and it has stuck on.

I argued that the quote symbolized ignorance more than arrogance, but my answers were always muted by their expression of anguish. It always beats me why i could never argue when my mom looks upon me disappointingly; it is the single greatest defense i have ever known. It insulates her from hearing my arguments by having this impregnable veil.

I have this urge of pouncing on any controversial subject and rant about it and get it accepted. I find many blogs and writers harping on such subjects to boost their readership. As my blogs are hardly being read and because i am incapable of promoting them, i have decided to turn over a new leaf in my post’s attitude. My previous blogs have been of that nature and thanks to Rajiv and my mom i am attempting a blog on a more neutral tone.



It all happened today, my team leader [Chinese] returned from pune after overseeing a project. When i asked him how did he find pune, he folded his hands and shook his head sideways saying in a heavily accented Hindi “ Behut Achha Hai”. I had this ambivalent emotion running through me, was he mocking me and my country? Or has he really loved his time at pune? Many a times we come across a situation when we meet a person on train or flight. If you’re new found friend turns out to be worth talking up to, an eventual question arises between the two “Where are you from”?

And if we had been remotely close to that place which the other person says that they hail from, we say things like “Yeah i have been to Chennai, nice beach, big dosa’s , women with flowers on their head etc… It strikes a chord doesn’t it? If the other person turns out to be a sport, we would go ahead to statements like “Ah that place has choc- a-bloc traffic, the police are horrible and politicians are noisy bastards with their placards and advertisements etc…” Even in this case one manages to strike a sense of companionship with the other despite the acrid criticism and this conversation acts as an ice-breaker.

But when we hear the same or read about anything disgraceful about our country, region [i choose to ignore religion, as it’s a different ball game altogether] we unite. In the enthusiasm to stand up and get counted, we fail to hear “our” voices. Our opinions are overshadowed by insecurity and we blend in with the mass idea. We start to crib vehemently and write posts and to demonstrate our feeling. We support Facebook pages like “We need 100,000 people to like this page to oppose this cause” etc…I hear people saying that one has to defend one’s pride, and if we chose not to we are a disgrace to our creed/ country.

What about guys like me, who have an opinion for everything? Who feel that one should not be allowed to subterfuge one’s patriotism to play dice to some marketing gimmick or a politician’s way to leverage his ulterior motives. Are we the black sheep's? Why are we accused of being non-patriotic snubs? It’s funny to see that many a time the original culprit is let go scot free and the person who ignores to comment or react on this is ostracized.

My personal belief is that “All humans are racists by nature” and racism cannot be abolished. However tolerance can be nurtured. If one traces the aboriginal traces of mankind. They were Africans, later they migrated to various parts of the world [Excuse my ignorance, if i am amiss]. Due to the climate, food and other factor’s ones color changed. The gene’s kicked in and we had various races of people all around. Everyone wanted some kind of protection, identity and hence formed groups/races were found on various factors such as beliefs, color, profession etc…Race was discovered to preserve one’s identity and conflicts began when they became insecure about their existence or wanted to demonstrate their superiority.

The ground for hatred based on races is very brittle; it’s our manifestations and vivid interpretations which bring out the worst in us.

Racists are those who feel other races are inferior or evil compared to theirs. There can be only two kinds of people who are not racists, one who mock all and others who treat everyone as the same without any disparity. The latter is harder to find and more hard to follow. I feel i fall in the first category; i find it really amusing to see various people up in arms for the slightest of slander. My choice to express it aloud depends on the repurcussions that i might have to face.

This reminds me of a quote from Madagascar when a zebra says to other

“Brother, you are different from others. They are black skinned with white stripes and you are white skinned with black stripes”.

Sums up the case with us humans, we are a funny lot. Laugh on it and go easy on the violence part. I hate this part of conclusion, where one has to sum up their thoughts and justify their post by quoting some famous quotes. And stamp their authority with a signature. I am no different, but i chose not to summarize anything here. My blog and thoughts are abstract and i tend to keep it that way.

I love quoting quotes. Apart from making one sound wise, it also sums up what you feel to say and lends credibility. So much for the no-cliché-post eh? Heh.

Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands it.

-Albert Einstein.

CPR : Life is a funny business!

After a cathartic post i wanted to write something funny, you know. It is my thing, I think i can be funny in a way to entertain myself.

CPR stands for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, phew its quite a “mouth-full” trust me. I was inducted to my new job by being requested to attend a CPR seminar by a memo. Whenever i read a mail from my boss, my first reaction is “Shit, i hope i am not fired”, because gulf is a place where there are unlimited possibilities for getting fired , killed or jailed in any order.Anyways the notice was to all the new recruits to attend a compulsory CPR training program and complete certification in order to follow the norms of some accreditation.

I went to the meeting and the guy introduced himself as Mr.XYZ khan from Pakistan. He pronounced it in a very British way which only i found funny and my colleagues sat agape at his “diction”. He asked every one to introduce themselves to the crowd and we were sitting in a circle, its a shape i hate the most.

/* Digression Alert*/

I mean first its a shape very difficult to draw and i always had problems in the parade which we presented to our GUEST on independence day. It was a grotesque sight to be honest .Fifty odd sweaty fat kids sitting and standing up to the beats to form an alphabet on the ground soiling our clothes.Why the flip does it have to be that difficult, how the blip is it creative? I shall address these profound questions some time later.

Returning to the part, we were asked to be seated in chairs which was in a circular shape and it faintly reminded me of rehab programs which i heard about from the news, so much for feeling like a celebrity in your first job eh. Heh. He noticed that the group comprised mostly of east Asians , a couple of Arabs and 3 Indians. He pointed at us saying, oh! you are from India. I love bollywood and shahrukh khan[My colleague smiled, i was left confused]. Should i feel less threatened ? /* Insert anti-paki jokes here*/.

Its the thing that xenophobic people do when they meet strangers, Oh you are from Tamilnadu? I once went to bangalore, bhery nishe glimate. Yes everything below madhya pradesh is south India, you ignorant twat. They say the most abstruse of things and expect us to agree with them. I asked my mom about why we do it and she said it was human-bonding. She has the simplest of answers to the most difficult of questions. Respect.

Sorry for the digression, now to the act. There was a projector and he began explaining us the nuances of CPR .Whenever any one asked any questions “Excuse me Mr.XYZ, he would retort sharply. Dr. XYZ “ and the poor chap would tremble and forget his question. The session was informative, but i got bored in the end when he went on to explain how important it is to be aware of CPR and the benefits it can give to humanity and crap. I wonder why people get such hard on when they make others believe that their job is very crucial to the society. While I was trying to curb my yawn, he promptly caught it .And in a cocky tone announced “ I guess our friend Mr. Dhanesh is feeling sleepy, i retorted in a micro second. “No, sir just bored that’s all”.

No canned laughter again, only glances of torpor. I don’t know how i had the guts to say it out loud.I guess I'm at my best behavior and intellect when i am half asleep.

We were asked to practice our theory on a mannequin which i honestly found repulsive and i guess i was the only one who found posing your derriere to the guys behind you while p[h]umping to save the victim as funny. Life is such a serious business you see. DIGRESSION ALERT!.I see humor in the simplest of things, one needn’t be as smart as Wodehouse. For example when you are in a train look at the person opposite to you gyrating to the movement of the train , shaking in a rhythm. I always fail to stifle my laughter and the co-passengers instead of being upset in turn are very kind to me. I guess they thought that I was “special”.

My turn came up and i finished it in a jiffy and next to me was a woman in her 50’s who beat the crap out of the mannequin while trying to resuscitate, she would make a good Indian actress [read overacting] or a very bad wrestler. Not in my seven lives would i want to be resuscitated by that woman. We were given refreshments at the end of the session.I thought i had enough content to mock the crap out of the event. But i was in for more treat.The funniest part of the presentation lost its charm as it was given to us in pamphlet , which served two purposes. Cultural enlightenment and approach towards CPR in Arab environment.

The pamphlet was well done with small caricatures and silly cartoons and signs which make the most educated look retarded, it was a huge list i choose to share only the ones that i recollect.

1. One may never approach a woman to perform CPR, if you are not their direct relative.

2. You may need consult of the child’s parents before performing a CPR.

3. At any cost you should not unveil the lady of her veil if she is down with a cardiac arrest.

4. One needs to convince that they are trained in CPR[I can hardly ask for directions in Arabic].

4. If you are at a scene of accident on the highway, DO NOT APPROACH THE VICTIMS UNTIL THE POLICE ARRIVE. Your position can be misconstrued and you bear the risk of getting arrested .

5. It is a criminal offense if you ignore any of the above mentioned stipulations.

Canned laughter again.

Super league

EDULIX-Dhanesh@LB pwd:Patviera4

same for Edulix InfoBank





Super league
Real madrid's newly appointed president Perez has suggested the idea of holding
a super league.So that the top 4 teams compete in a regular fashion like,
national leagues. This would certainly earn more dough, but isn't it milking the cow to its blood
What would teams like hull city, wigan do under such heavy competition

Football would be reduced to a farce, cut throat competition. Inflated ego's and wages would spurn up
This is an apocalyptic threat to the democracy.

It seem's perez's has finally realised that his fallacy of re-building galacticos 2 would incur
stratospheric money.
The logic is simple real contends with barca only 2 times in la liga, and in CL, it all depends upon the draw
AS CL is a one time affair it gives and oppurtunity for a smaller team to walk away with a silverware

Where as Leagues are matter's of pure brawn. All the best players playing in the top 4 league, the viewership
of other matches are restricted to their sporadic fan's.

Apart from coverage such teams fail to attract lucrative sponsor to feed their ambition.


I personally am not a glory hunter.But look at what ronaldo's tag of 80m
has done!! players like valencia are being bought for 18m.
And Intermilan has quoted zlatan for 90m!!
U could buy newcastle united with that amount of money!

Sanity is taking a backseat !
Thats all for now

UNTITLED

*************************UNTITLED*************************

Well here is a blog and it’s called untitled, because I am feeling really banal. It’s been quite a while since I wrote a blog, and the more I keep procrastinating it the more guilty I feel for all the imaginary senile entities who miss out on reading my blog.

Well currently I am basking in sarcasm; I think it’s the flavor of the season. When I was growing up I always looked for moment’s that had a touch of irony to it. Like people closing their eyes in front of GOD, after standing for hours in queues. I connect with people who are sick of hospitals. They crib that seeing so many sick people makes them sick. But isn’t the case with religious places?


I agree that praying is purgative in nature. But then why don’t people feel that such places too harbor a lot of negative vibe.
People making deal's with GOD, carrying troubled faces of facing god. IT may be because they are guilty, or that’s the reason why they close their eyes. Of course there are times when it’s amazing to visit a religious people sans the people.
Enough of being an iconoclast!


Moving over to office life, I never thought I would be the person who would bitch about work life. I am a strong believer that sarcasm and irony are that two things which help to introspect better. The corporate jargon always ebbs out sarcasm.

For example if your superior feel’s that your work is not up to the mark, they don’t give a piece of their mind. Rather they “Empathize” with you with statement’s like” You look like you are going to need some help in there”. I would rather face it, rather than waiting for them to say some stuff buried in Euphuism.

I guess I’m addicted to the confused smile I get from people, when I point out an act of irony taking place around :).[I have placed a smiley coz i think it might help you smile,to sense that im taking efforts to sound funny,though im failing to]
It makes me more boring than I ve sounded from my blog.

…Damn the blog does feel like a drag when I read it. But for once I don’t want to edit the content over again, trying to sound funnier or intelligent. There is an ambivalent emotion surrounding me when I complete my blog. The thought that I have to trouble the people to read my blog is very discomforting. And then expect a “well done” from them is just the icing on the cake.

But I love the attention, of whatever I earn either positive or negative. I guess I have learned to take criticism on the cheek. SO this post should be a litmus test to that.

Till my next blog stay safe n sound [pun intended]:)

13.14.36...ticking [analog]

My Experiments with Micro Blogging

12.25.27 …. And not ticking [digital]

A slew of thoughts are entering my mind. Brouhaha over the New Year celebrations, resolutions, digs at razzies, mourn over the dead,light candles.Sadly optimism is not brimming . Dedicating pages to tarot card predictions of which breed of puppy would a certain celeb buy,in order to make his career more successful.

I have just woken. maddona is on [beautiful stranger] on I tunes. Madge is vintage :)

MEMENTO- GHAJINI- CHAOS

Sticky notes up the wall, uhm no…er…well….

I am trying to post all the thoughts which are in my mind in a span of 15 minutes and trying hard not to push anything under the carpet.

Recent killing of an PWD Engineer who allegedly was killed because of a spat. All for refusing funds to aid a minister’s birthday “Bash”. She sure did paint the town red. News from a “Trusted” resource reports a yet another news station.

P.S Both the quoted words are humble metaphors for euphuism.

I turned on the TV. Switched on to MTV Roadies 6.0. My verdict, the show is utterly banal, especially the auditioning part. Well is not audition a word commonly associated with acting?

The best part about this and other Reality shows is the incessant cussing that is generously sprinkled over it. I am not a big fan of irony, but does it not the reality tv[staged] actually portray real life. The censorship of curses and violence, it echoes our real life scenario of angst being snubbed and toned down,not necessarily the right stuff. We are a mutilated lot anyways.

P.S I don’t believe in doomsday. Recession is a more convenient option.

Khairlangi bhotmange ‘s massacre was not a case of caustic caste outrage,but a violent result of an petty village dispute, some politician reports.

Well the Viagra which hitler consumed did not work, so he culled another million jew’s[Might be actually true].

Did I not start by stating iam “Experimenting” with a micro blog??

Well the air quotes be damned.

Stay safe

DARK KNIGHT
-movie review

Well this is one of the finest movie i have ever seen...Adjectives fail to describe the level of creativity and profoundness the movie has put forward..
Well the review is sorta late...its not ur usual spandex wearing super hero saving your city...well in a case it is...but the screen play is brilliant...that's what makes a movie...Story as the legend has it,from DC comic factory has churned out year after year...their array of impeccable graphic comics..some thing i would kill for...still would...Its a sequel to Batman Begins...which i did not understand much...but this appeals a lot more...Brilliant back ground score...especially the siren track..so simple yet nerve popping..multi faceted scenes depicting various crunch scenes in a small time frame...Nolan deserves a standing applause....kudos.....

When you have a cast of the likes of ledger,bale,freeman...not to mention
Eckhart
you have a potboiler...but this movie just exceeded my expectations by a light year...

Some points regarding ledgers role and why he is about to attain cult status...and recognition

1.We have seen a lot of super heroes..what is their motive to do good...Being a good samaritian...etc...the aura of correctness, making their city a safe place...kill their own demons...reasons which could be sabotaged simply by threatening them...also their motive was strong which is why i feel they win
but look at joker...he has nothing to be threatened on, no money,nothin..pure evil...honest at it..thats what clicks

2.Giving a perspective of being good...the basic purpose why heroes win are...because they have the will to do good irrespective of their image...[spider man]..but nolan twists by giving a reality check on whats good and whats evil..Eckhart's role mirrors why!!

3.Sanity sucks..i once used to claim...i had no idea...this would be the soul of joker...he gives u the chills with his presence,crude dark humour and charm...and over shadows bale n eckhart's stellar performances....

4.Both joker and batman have each other's lives in their hands...but don't kill off each other...this made me wonder..there exists a darker side to batman...as joker says...u let 5 ppl die..as u waited...even for a person like me...it is cold...wow!!!the expression on ledgers face priceless...SFX..is out of this world...it made up for the lack of nudity though..lol...

Every generation has a movie to claim as being the best of their era...especially when they graduate...Pulp fiction,godfather and taxi driver were my dad's..
The Dark Knight is one helluva movie ill root all my life...simply stellar....

Quote's-> YOU COMPLETE ME[thank god they din have meg ryan in it]
->Why So Serious?
->When the chips are down........
->"The world is cruel and the only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Fair"


It's better to burn out rather fade away-Kurt Kobain..
holds true to u ledger!!!!

Dhanesh's Verdict-4.5/5

Trekking experience to Jeevdahn 14-15..june

Plans were on the roll for a trek to jeevdhan and Nanaghat at trekking hotspot in the hill town of ghatghar 5 hour's from kalyan..It is easily accessible by bus.You have to reach for a junction called junnar which acts as a gateway to the hilly villages nearby.u can either wait for a bus whose frequency is low or hitch a ride on a jeep, to the destination at a nominal fee..doh so much for the info thingy....!!
----------------------14/06/08---------------------
I left home at 9pm grumbling that i was bout to miss two days of euro extravaganza.But the trip ahead had more thrills to give..So caught up vishal en route to the station.Vishal known for changing his hair style every now and then :P,now sported a takla look..a la Mike myers..lol

Reached VT station around 11.30..waitin for the last train to kalyan..caught up with Prash and Chandan,who btw still maintain that they are just friends:P.The latter being the guide to the trek..has a impeccable track of climbing..Well tats all for today

***********15/06/08*************
Reached kalyan in the wee hours.Saurabh,pravesh and rajiv were waiting for us ova there..saurabh,vishal,pravesh were the nube's..Chandan explained the task ahead..regarding the climb etc..saurabh sprang up..and we all joined..to nibble away some snacks..reason being..to lighten our bags..talk bout not carrying excess baggage..[ok i have to stop being funny..i can read ur mind:P]
We roamed all around the filthy station for a brief rest as the bus we had to board had a good 5 hours..we roamed and roamed..gettin kicked out everywhere..it was 3 am btw!!Then saurabh gave the idea of checking out to a local lodge outside the stn..The lodge reminded me of the Jab We Met..thingy..:D..The attendant quoted an big sum..which we declined..bargains were futile..i guess..ppl comin here rarely do bargain..And not to mention we were 7 guys..so by the wildest stretch of their imagination the "odds" were against us:P

Then we slogged around in the filthier bus stn..called up seiok..went over his place at 4am!!His mom got the shock of her life im sure..when she saw us lazing around on the couch clearly making ourselves at home,only uninvited!!

After the bumpy ride..read a 3hr ride to junnar..which i kept saying as juinagar...1 piece of advice..if ur heading there..do take some along who can speak marathi..very fluently..or else ull be taken for a ride.

Now the fun part..we reached the foothills of the village..called ghatghar..boy what a sight it was far from the cacophony of the city,here in lies a place untouched by technology..k..no more poetry..:P
We contacted the head of the village called pansare..[easy 2 rem with monty panesar]our ratto marofying skills were very much in touch..we started our trek uphill with a lad guiding us named dinesh!we went on n on..as the elevation got higher the gorge was gettin deeper and deeper..saurabh needed cheering,and we were more than willing to help..When we were at quite a distance up..we saw a group stranded on a peak!!They screamed for help..dinesh..waved them and showed the way..so far so good..well not!!
Rains started u could actually see how the clouds hit the mountain and break into showers..it was a sight to behold..we came across a 40feet wall which we had to ascend..With an aid of a rope..pravesh and me did in a jifyy..mean while others waited..it could be done one at a time only!!then showers garnered pace and wind..blowing us to the edge ..the lost group had reached our place finally...braving the unchartered route..when saurabh attempted to climb,his jeans not to mention his weight were a huge problem..ev1 was trying to get him across..coz there is no way back!!sight was getting dimmer..me n prav completely amazed at the position were in were shouting our lungs off!!screaming cussing..mocking the one's beneath us..we had no idea bout their status..which we then knew after chan started shouting to shut the F up!:P...
When he climbed up..it was an easier task..the hitch in climbing the wall was that..one had to hold the minute holes in it which were infested with crabs!!one bite then u had to kiss ur life a bitter goodbye..
The climb was on jeevdhan...
We were about to go into the fort..a shed of sorts up the peak..when we entered..it the stench was unbearable,dust filled with faeces strewn around..it was nt the place we expected to be in..A stark contrast was the view outside..breathtaking would be a humble description..A reality check of man Vs nature..[doh no poetry sry again..:P]
Then the descent started and i have never seen..death so close..the descent was mind numbingly long..and add to it the rocks slippery..
every person had to shout his ass off to say which rock not to rest on..our guide was trembling in cold..we gave our wind cheaters and gloves..only pravesh was in his actual clothes..some guts that guy has got..The winds got heavier by the second..we were actually climbing down a strong rivulet!!hitch more and more crabs..!!we had to hurry coz dinesh was breaking down..mean while the other group where clicking away happily..i was the chosen one to wait for them!!i shouted my lungs off..to make them hurry..Other wise i kept quite..loving each and every second of this mayhem..dinesh told never has he seen such strong rains in 6 years..my quest for the adventure was turnin in2 a reality!!
We ascended down..drinking the water from the rivulets..purest form of water tasted heaven..see teh pics..
Finally we were down..something we talked our way down.how prav refused to talk in hindi and gave sound bytes like "Whatever man","Guy's do something whacky for the pics",inspite of chan n prash's presence :P..saurabh sentimentally refusing to eat anythin up there as a contribution to others help in bringing him up n down safely..!!rajiv was exasperated,for a guy who never had any athletic activity..he did good..but chan thot other way..the bantering increased as the whine's got louder...meanwhile i got bored..and did what im good at..munch and munch..i got accolades from saurabh from whom i was fast taking up the place of hogger..!!Then retire for the nite..food at the village heads place..fresh potato's smashed and chappati's..tasted heavenly...we retired for the nite at a temple..the route from the home to temple was glittered by fire-flies..no streetlights also was the roof of the hut cum temple..dj'ing us sans the music to sleep..nature was at its best:)...
16/06
i had a tough time sleeping..my back begged for mercy..in the middle of the night i felt a small noise..of a dog nearing the door..grumping..i tried to shoo it away..and woke up every1 screaming to the hilt!!jeez such scared fellas....and i was christened[i have 2 stop words associated with this for once:P]another nick..following dhani,chheesez and now shoo-shoo..then we left around 8.30 in the morning..reached junnor..junction after paying off 500+200[for the 7 of us] to villager n dinesh..paltry sum compared to what we blow off..everyday..The route from junnor to kalyan was breathtaking..3 hrs..the driver is an hero negotiating the turns with reckless speed..it was a must that every1 had to be seated..but me n rajiv came standing as there was no place..to sit..then we came back to kalyan..the filthy old reality of concrete jungle had replaced the tranquility and serenity of nature!![doh i keep repeating my self not to be poetic or funny..i fail:P]hope every1 does a trek in their vacation it is tiring as hell but the experience is worth it..tc..