India's satellite launch - A good idea?

This is proof that Indians are very, very intelligent (don't mind the failure). ISRO is really ahead when compared to other developing countries. Sadly, although India excels in having great minds and powerful technologies, they fail in maintaining the basic needs of a population.

India loses Rs 24,000cr annually due to lack of toilets, hygiene: World Bank

Try asking the old man sitting on the side of the road, "What do you want for Christmas?"

I'm pretty sure the answer will not be a new geosynchronous communications satellite for the country. Odds are he would want a better quality of life for his family.

This is just an opinion. Comments are welcomed.

I hate driving in Bangalore at night.

Two words.

HIGH BEAMS

Sometimes I wish the Second Amendment is applicable here so that I could shoot these fucking headlamps out.

All of them.

Loving this place?

First of all, I would like to apologize for not updating this blog often. It’s not because I have a lot of work to do (which I do have, really), but it’s because I don’t really know how to express my thoughts. I gotta admit, I’m not much of a writer. More of a thinker. Which is why, the only audience that listens to me everyday is myself.

I know, it sounds pathetic.

So, where were we?

Oh, yes. The people.

Since my last post was a tad too much on the negativity of things, this post is about… no, wait. That’d be a spoiler - and I hate spoilers. Please, continue reading.

The more time I spend living among the people of Bangalore, the more I try to understand them. Their struggles, their joys, and their love for this country. It’s admirable. I cannot lie to myself and say that I fully comprehend how they feel. I have no idea how it feels like to grow up in a developing country. Just the mere absence of a cartoon channel to look forward to watching after a day’s hard work at school back in the days might rip the sanity from me. I was spoiled.

It’s things like these, or, should I say, it’s the absence of things like these that make the people of India grow up to make a name for themselves. There are so many great achievements obtained by them. I don’t need to give a list. You do the research yourself.

Sadly, it is my humble opinion that they are now not trying as hard as they did before. Most of them have forgotten to continue to push forward. Try to prove me wrong. I reckon that if they had not paused their efforts or taken development lightly, they would have reached the same level as the leading countries of today. It might be their education system. Might be the way their republic government handles things. Might be their mentality, and the pools of piss on the walls. Might be all three of them, or more. Who knows?

But one thing’s definite. The beadledom is not working. And until the circuitry is fixed, the system will continue to BSOD itself, damage its internal components, and finally combust due to an electrical leak. I pray hard that that fiasco will not happen.

Oh, here is a thread created by a user, allegedly an Indian him/herself, complaining about India.

http://www.qatarliving.com/node/1335626

And please do read this neat post on healing India back.

http://vikramvgarg.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/10-things-you-can-do-to-make-india-a-better-republic/

I’ll leave you at that.

Let me tell you what I think about India.

It's a great country. Really.

Really?

Yeah.

You see, the environment here is great. No doubt about that. It might not be the type of 'great' that defines more successful and wealthy cities, like Copenhagen, Zurich, Geneva, New York, and the likes. What's great about cities in India is..

Okay, I'm not gonna lie.

Having spent almost two years now in one of the top ten richest, highest consuming and 'most aware' cities in India (whatever that means), and occasionally visited the other cities on that list, I have come to the conclusion that, well, things could be so much more better here. Common infrastructures could be improved, management of sewage could be enhanced, supply of resources could be much more decent, quality of life could be restored, amongst other things. I really am, saddened by the fact that there isn't much action done by the government to thwart the dreadful condition that India has been in.

Oh, am I one to talk.

I know, I am of no real importance to this country. To the locals, I'm just another investor, doing business in this country. I can't change the way their government works. I can't change the traits of their lives drastically. I can't even vote. All I can do is complain, or just keep quiet and pretend that nothing bad happens here.

"But what's so bad about India?", you may ask.

What's so bad about it? Let me see…

Chapter 1. The people.

Fantas-tic. The people here are fantaaas-tic. Really.

Yes, they really are, if they somehow learn about common moral values.

I'm not saying every citizen of India's a jackass, no. Some of the friends I have here are quite awesome. In fact, there are so many intelligent Indian engineers, inventors and such. But I'm addressing to how the general public behaves, either with one another or with foreigners. How they convey their ethical judgments.

I like to sit down, and observe people. Just look at the surroundings. Breathe in the chaos and calamities that occur to my right and left. I see a motorist stopping at the traffic lights, because the light has turned to yellow, indicating caution and decelerate. He slows down to a stop, and just before reaching the white lines, a loud horn blared. A white Maruti comes along the road, continuing to speed, even if the lights' about to change to red. Maybe a husband is driving his agonizing wife who's about to deliver, I think to myself. The lights change before the Maruti was able to proceed so the driver applied brakes immediately. The front bumper and the hind tire of the TVS XL connected for a moment, and the motorist is pushed forward.

Ah, this is bad.

The driver steps out of his car and without batting an eyelid yells at the surprised motorist. I'll leave the rest to your understanding and imagination. I'll just tell you that the motorist was poorer by a few hundred rupees that day.

Sigh… Oh, what? Why didn't I go to help?

You see, here, if you're driving a car, you will never be at fault for a collision with a motorcycle. Caste, they say. It's because my junk is larger than your junk. I've even witnessed a motorist slamming into a Mahindra Scorpio VLX because the driver suddenly brakes in the middle of the road. Might be due to an accidental early release of his clutch or something. The motorist was suffering from bruises, trauma, and lost a couple hundred rupees (might be thousands, I didn't go and ask, but I definitely saw pieces of blue paper denoting 100 being handed to the driver).

But I don't blame them. The people of India, I mean. I would definitely be pissed to know that my prized baby that cost me 10 lakhs was injured. The way I see it, things like this would never happen if they got a better quality of life.

"What? You rammed my car? Gee, it's okay man, it was my fault. Never mind the dent, I got some funds to repair that. You look awful though. Here, let me help you."

***

I was queuing up the other day to pay my electric bills at the fucked up BESCOM center. After waiting for 3-4 minutes, it was finally my turn. A burly man comes out of nowhere and cuts me. I was more surprised than angry, and it took me a while to build up my anger. By the time, he was already finished paying.

In Bangalore - well, I don't know about other cities, but, in Bangalore, most people don't understand the importance of queuing. To them, whoever can approach the counter first will have the rights to be served next. Not all of the people do that, mind you, but you can always count on one person to behave barbarically in a long line. The rule is, patience is worthless.

The quandaries don't stop there. But I will stop typing for now, for my belly is aching for some awesome Pepper Chicken Masala. I will continue later, when I have the time.

P/S: This post bug you much? Then fire away your flames at the comment box.

Fuck BESCOM

I'm writing this post frantically, trying to make it before my UPS dies. It's been a couple of weeks in since BESCOM's latest fucked up episode.

I wonder what the hell is wrong with Bangalore's power supply system. Do they turn off the power because they assume we won't miss it a bit? Don't they realize that there might be some people out there who are facing life and death situations at the hours they decide to cut the powers? Not to mention the absurd rates they imply towards end users. Ridiculous.

Oh, and by the way, I had to wait for the power to be online again to publish this post. Not because my UPS is shitty, but because the blackouts are so frequent that my UPS can't recharge itself properly. Fuck you, BESCOM. Fuck you.

It's drizzle season again!

Hello, Bangalore

Clearly, this is my first post in the blog, so I would like to welcome all readers.

The topic for today is, yeah, as above.

I have always loved Bangalore for its weather, one unattainable back home where I live, in the west. Everything about the atmosphere here is just nice.

It's not too hot, not too cold. Temperature usually fluctuates from 59.54°F to 96.8°F, which is marvelous. Even in the secondary rainy season, I can hang my clothes out to dry, although it usually takes them two days to do so. But it's better than hanging em inside.

So, as the South-West monsoon season approaches us, the usual cycle manifests. You wake up to a shivery morning; fine rain attacks when you least expect it; massive puddles of rainwater appear in the middle of the road, drenching pedestrians; everybody lowers the fan speed; and you get to sleep in a lovely chill environment. I love it, as much as I love the summer here.

About the puddles though, I've read in the newspaper recently of a poor girl who died due to drowning, because she mistook the depth of a 'puddle'. Turns out it was no puddle, but a quagmire with some sort of hole under it. Poor damsel.

Alright, so leave me a comment below if you have your own thoughts about the drizzle mizzle in Bangalore. I'd be happy to hear them.