tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34093808194790786772024-03-09T08:14:27.067+11:00Nita's nitpickingsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-44576599912461960722010-01-05T18:23:00.002+11:002010-01-05T18:31:10.973+11:00Where's the end to this madness?Another day, and another attack on an Indian student in Melbourne which eventually led to his death, stares us in the face. Both the Australian government and the Australian Federal Police are in incessant denial that these attacks are NOT racially provoked. I for one believe, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, then it MUST indeed be a duck. The surrealism really beggars belief! Just how many innocent people of Indian origin must be ruthlessly attacked or even succumb to their injuries before the government perks it's ears up and begins to listen? My opinion on this is the families of each of the victims that were subjected to these attacks, must be refunded their entire course-fees and encouraged to leave Australia with immediate effect. However, that's not about to happen, so let me just leave it to this post.<br /><br />I'm truly appalled at the lackadaisical attitude adopted by the Australian government in this respect. I do not believe that the perpetrators will be caught soon enough. Even if they are, what's the point? The policy of capital punishment is non-existent in Australia, furthermore even if the guilty party or parties were punished; they'd be let out within a fraction of the time for good behaviour or by quoting the "Fair-go" policy. Truly disgusting might I say. At this moment, I shall spare a few minutes to keep the distressed families in my thoughts and prayers. May the good lord provide them solace and even better, closure by way of these mindless punks indulging in these cowardly acts the harshest of punishments.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-86626025743590918682010-01-03T01:11:00.002+11:002010-01-03T01:19:56.197+11:00Hello world in 2010Hello world,<br /><br />I just looked at the timeline of my posts and realised it's been nearly a year since I posted anything of value on my blog. I must admit I'm guilty of neglecting my blogging skills(or lack of thereof). My life has been consumed with work, and nothing of note during weekends... and that's the god awful truth. I wish things were a bit different though; which is why I've decided to take it upon myself to become more active on the blogging scene. So here's a promise I hope to keep for as long as I can.<br /><br />In the last 8 months(since I've blogged), a lot of things have happened in my life; I had to switch two jobs out of compulsion, saw my ego slip and slide during the GFC and the subsequent inopportune timing of my redundancy and then to the prospect of going into Christmas 2009 without a job. Thankfully, my guardian angels(whoever you are, thank you) and powers that be up in the sky, decided to take pity on my plight and got me back on track. I'm now much relieved, that I have a job that keeps me on my toes 9 to 5 on weekdays and helps me realise the value of weekends; when I can catch up on lost sleep; laze around doing nothing or better still, burn little holes in my pockets whenever something worth buying catches my fancy.<br /><br />I've been in the mood for a long post for quite some time. However, I find that without an occasional kick on the bum, I am hardly motivated to do stuff like this lately. As a goodwill gesture, I finally came up with the decision to gift my guitar to an old friend... seeing as I couldn't be bothered to collect it from him after years of safe-keeping by the latter. I feel it will be most useful in his hands and that he will take good care of it. As for me, well, I guess if I'm that bored, I just might go out and get myself a new guitar sometime in the near future. For all these things to happen however, I need to move to a new place... preferably someplace bigger and better. I've got home-ownership on my mind this year, and hopefully that ambition will bear fruit as long as I engage in frugality and maximise my savings.<br /><br />Gosh, what a long personal post! I shall stop for now... so until next time, it's ciao from my end.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-9799352529965503262008-05-22T22:56:00.002+10:002008-05-22T23:04:17.172+10:00Microsoft and Monopoly - Made for each otherHello world,<br /><br />I'm back after a while with a new post; with my own take surrounding the hype generated by Microsoft's keenness to take over Yahoo Inc. Firstly, I oppose it vehemently(you might think who the hell I am, since I'm not even a shareholder, let alone a key stakeholder of Yahoo Inc) but this is an outsider's perspective. I might have got my facts mixed up so please all readers; correct me if I'm wrong.<br /><br />Its taken close to 6 odd years for Microsoft to come out with a new product targeting the next generation of Operating Systems. When they finally did, Vista resulted... to be honest, the one time that I interacted with Vista, the only thing I found alluring about it was the eye-candy it presented. System resources were hogged like never before; doing a simple "System restore" felt like playing "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego" all over again; but with a colourful GUI. As if that weren't enough; I have come across more "above-average" techno-savvy people who prefer XP to Vista(myself included)... and wouldn't mind paying full-price for a registered copy of XP even if Vista came pre-installed with my new laptop.<br /><br />The reason for my vent is this; Microsoft hasn't got the guts to admit that what they have here is a "all brawn, no brain" product; and instead of using their research department to vastly improve their product; are on a major buying spree... of all those open-source flunkies who've brought out these really funky applications, interfaces and the like. Its like "if we can't do better, let's buy 'em".<br /><br />10 odd years ago it was anti-trust; now its monopoly... this new tactic seems to be a new strategy devised by the powers that be at Microsoft to try and show the world who's top-dog! Well, it sucks with a capital "S". I hope Yahoo don't give in to the temptation and end up giving up their stake... it would be a sad day for Open-source technology if that happened.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-7788872896220736722008-05-06T20:10:00.002+10:002008-05-06T20:21:55.674+10:00All that hoopla about "Go Green"Australia's recent push to encourage the average citizen's active participation in fighting climate-change and environmentally sustainable activities is admirable among other things. However, this movement is also rearing in our own backyard, a few people that swear by "go-green" and what not to the point that they're becoming huge annoyances as well. My daily demand for a heart-starter(known in plain-speak as coffee) in a plastic cup is looked up on with disappointment and within seconds, accusations are abound as to how many trees or whatever it took to manufacture that cup and how by adding to my pile of previous plastic cups I'm worsening the current state of the environment and defeating the purpose of "global warming reduction". I'm like ... "Dude, if you want to be that aware of the environment, park your car at home, take a couple of buses and trains and get to work!", why you raining on my parade?" Seriously, people like that disgust me to the core! I challenge these people to stop using their heaters, air-cons and even their cars... all of which are pollutants of the highest order in different ways. Would they choose to dump their existing vehicles and go for hybrid cars which although readily available in Australia, are quite of reach of most people given their mid 30 grand price-tag? And they talk!!!<br /><br />Let me tell you; I have nothing against the movement to "go-green" , au contraire; if someone told me that it was in the best interests of the whole universe to say stop eating chicken, I would... seriously I would! This is despite the fact that I love chicken and go weak in the knees when someone presents it to me in any cooked form! I believe each person is an environmentalist in his/her own deluded way; but you can't be environmentally concious in one way, and blissfully unaware and trigger-happy another... it doesn't work that way!<br /><br />So here's my humble request to all you wanna-be and nouveau environmentalists(you guys are just as artificial as the nouveau riche!)... lay off and keep your "partial" views to yourself; I know how to save this planet from emissions in my own special way!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-1843453349651304352008-03-12T18:54:00.000+11:002008-03-12T19:05:19.988+11:00Is this really an Indian miracle?Here in Australia, we have SBS, a free-to-air television channel that airs provocative documentaries and showcases very thought-provoking issues in the world of politics and a wide variety of subjects close to us. I like this channel immensely particularly because of the content of art movies aired ever so regularly.<br /><br />One of the more regular shows on this channel is called "the cutting edge" and yesterday's edition showcased the boom in the Indian economy... which is now the topic of discussion on my latest post. The episode was titled "The Indian miracle?" and had former BBC Newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy, a second generation British-Indian traveling to parts of Mumbai, Delhi and the state of Punjab to present the two extremes of this so-called "economic boom" that India today is so obsessed with conveying in all forms of media to the world.<br /><br />A few things left me really sad, and in fact at the end of the programme, I actually cried; and the two scenes that really left me in that state were the part where farmers in the rural areas were resorting to suicide, unable to pay their debts and leaving grieving and heartbroken family members. The second, was in fact the penultimate scene in the episode. It was the scene where a multi-storeyed building was being constructed and the workers there had set up tents because they had nowhere else to go... and they showed a woman speaking to the reporters saying "everyone wants to be like rich people, live in houses like these... but this tent is all that I can hope for... I can at least dream for something like this in my dreams; as it doesn't cost to dream now does it?".<br /><br />I'm yet to recover from that sadness; and among many other things it brought to light so many anomalies that exist in our Indian culture today. I saw in shock and horror how people were narrating incidents where their application for a home was rejected on grounds that they were Muslim? When oh when did we learn to become so intolerant?<br /><br />Last but not the least, I wish Krishnan hadn't presented this episode; I have great difficulty in accepting that he was the best person for the job; a second generation Indian who has seen nothing of this poverty and squalor cannot present any passion when delivering a cutting-edge documentary like this.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-29991719672115309152008-02-26T19:22:00.000+11:002008-02-26T19:45:28.799+11:00Blow hot, blow cold, the summer of cricket down underAs if the recent "alleged racist" remark against Andrew Symonds stinking up the "gentleman's game" wasn't enough, here's another one that's causing more blood to curdle and more tongues to experience bitter after-tastes. This time, its the hoopla surrounding Mahendra Singh Dhoni's gloves during the recent one-dayer between Australia and India. Such a hue and cry's been raised about its legitimacy that I said to myself that I have to vent my spleen on this issue.<br /><br />It appears that all these years of playing cricket with the English have made the Australian cricket team play the role of "whingers" to the tee... why, I would say they're doing a bloody good job of overtaking the English as "champion whingers"! Even if the gloves didn't conform to ICC standard, there was no need to raise a stink on it.<br /><br />Where in the ICC rule book does it say that a batsman can embed a ping-pong ball in his gloves when going out to bat? This "according to the state level coaches" here in Australia is a tried and tested method and that requires no sanctions imposed on it. Is that right? If I'm not mistaken, it was this very ping-pong ball that gave Adam Gilchrist the ability to play a match-winning knock and single-handedly win the world cup final against Sri Lanka in 2007.<br /><br />When the Sri Lankans raised concerns on this technique, out came the swords in defence of the Aussies; and as has been the case all the time, the Aussies got away with it scot-free; and Gilly got away with applause, accolades and a whole applecart of laurels. The poor Sri Lankans were left in the dark(literally) to lick their wounds. When quoting the darn rule-book, CA(Cricket Australia) should remember that what's good for the goose is good enough for the gander too... and what the hell is ICC looking at? Don't you guys know what a ping-pong ball is?<br /><br />To me, all this "he said this, he said that" really is part of a bigger phenomenon. Australia are getting to see a new, young Indian team, with men who won't take nonsense from anyone; be it in India or overseas; and the Aussies' already super-inflated "street-fighter pride" ego, is being given a thorough pasting in their own backyard... and that for them, is hard as nails to digest.<br /><br />Grow up Ponting and Co; you might be the best cricket team in the world; but you're no super-humans... and if you can't take the chance of having a taste of your own medicine; don't bother coming to India with the confidence that Indian fans won't boo you; so put up & shut up.. or PISS OFF!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-81575646748960797402008-02-04T19:23:00.000+11:002008-02-06T12:42:01.116+11:00So what exactly is a "Fair Go" ?Hello world,<br /><br />Its been a while since my last post, but here I am, with yet another of my nitpickings. In case , many of you don't know, Australia is a country that strongly believes in the concept of "Fair go", which means, no matter what race, creed or kind, you are entitled to a chance to prosper or redeem yourself; whichever comes first.<br /><br />Which brings me to the latest case in point; the one involving former terrorism supporter David Hicks. As if it weren't shameful enough that Australia allowed him to go scot-free after a 9 month sentence, there's talk of his taking on university studies(sure to be funded by Australian tax payers). As the days pass, people are actually beginning to sympathise with him and insist that he's been given a raw deal and therefore, must be given a "<strong><em>Fair go</em></strong>". The focus of my post here is an article published on yahoo7.com.au written by <a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/080204/21/15qbw.html">Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop</a>. The article emphasises quite a few times that David Hicks was just someone who went on a genuine mission and got involved with the wrong people.<br /><br />May I take the liberty to remind readers of the Mohammed Haneef case which not so long ago, took up major headline space. May I also remind readers, that his involvement in the so-called "attempted terrorism" acts came into light merely on the basis that his relatives were plotting unspeakable acts 11000 miles away from Australia, in the United Kingdom. Yet, while David Hicks gets the royal "fair go" treatment, someone like Mohammed Haneef gets his visa back subject to a million pending enquiries.<br /><br />The essential difference here is this... Haneef was a victim of circumstances; the old adage of "God gave us relatives; thank the good God we can choose our friends", could not be further from the truth. Haneef couldn't help having relatives with radical ideas any more than he could being a devout Muslim. Even today, I'm sure he carries the ghost of those ghastly accusations. India despite being a great country still criminally stigmatises families and individuals who've been in the news for the wrong reasons(even if it wasn't their fault). Its a curse that Indians must learn to live with; and to my knowledge the only escape can be seeking greener pastures elsewhere. Can the same be said of David Hicks ? He knew very well where he was going; what his mission was; and yet, chose to involve himself in the wrong type of company. Sorry, but at this juncture, I have no sympathy for the man... and I doubt if I ever will. To think that his slice of "fair go" will come out of my hard-earned money that goes in to tax curdles my blood to unprecedented levels.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-24571427161803860912008-01-08T20:52:00.000+11:002008-01-09T21:46:22.306+11:00Of racism and other demonsI'm not going to be the first to blog my thoughts on the recent controversy that's dogged International Cricket. As a recent Australian citizen but primarily an Indian(sorry, can't help it; you can take a person out of India but not India out of a person), I feel there's a lot left to be desired with the way the Australian team's faux pas has been handled.<br /><br />To enlighten reader(s) of a few statistics:<br />Glenn Mcgrath, was one of the most prolific wicket-taking bowlers of recent times. He was besides that, also a prolific sledger. I'm going to give in to the temptation of narrating a few of his many on-field indiscretions:<br /><ul><li>Fined for spitting at a player of the opposing side when an appeal was turned down.</li><li>Lost his temper when his innuendo of "how's Lara in bed" backfired on him when Ramnaresh Sarwan of West Indiies responded with "how should I know, ask your wife!" The reason ? his wife was suffering from Cancer and that thinned his blood.</li><li>Got back in proper measure when he asked former Zimbabwe player Eddo Brandes "hey Eddo, howcomes you're so fat" mocking his batting style and his portly gait. Eddo's response ? " Because everytime I f*** your wife, she gives me a biscuit!"</li></ul><p>Oh and did I mention Mr Andrew Stevenson, author of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/a-class-act-opinions-differ/2008/01/04/1198950076545.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2">this</a> article, Glenn doesn't know what the insides of a University lecture hall look like, lived in a trailer park van when trying his luck breaking into the Australian team. Oh dear! I just insulted to a legend of a player! Well guess what ? Stuff your "Aussieness" up your A***! He is but one statistic .... and I have no problems citing more; and let me tell you... amongst us educated Indians, such credentials hardly, I mean <strong>hardly</strong> even make for an "educated" person; Australian or otherwise. Do we then, as Indians judge him on that ? No Way! </p><p>Here's <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/01/05/1198950126564.html">another</a> article written by a David Sygall which only makes me say ask: <strong><em>Dude do you even know</em></strong> the meaning of the word "boor" ? As far as boorishness goes, I don't think it gets any better than Merv Hughes standing next to the late Hansie Cronje, letting out a fart and telling him to hit that for six after being hit for boundaries all over the park. Oh, and did I mention that Merv Hughes is on the selection committee for Cricket Australia ?</p><p>And now on to Ricky Ponting; he has the gall to stand his ground and say "My integrity has been questioned!". May I ask how someone who does not even possess an iota of what that adjective means, can make such a claim ? This man, ducked at a Srinath bouncer a few years ago, and when the latter out of sportsmanship asked if he was alright; got the response "go and f***ing bowl". </p><p>Australia has for too long got away with anything and everything under the sun. To be honest, the only people standing in groups and supporting what they've done so far are their own team-mates... and ofcourse former cricketers of the likes of the depression-prone Michael Slater, the Chappell geriatrics, Bill "Irritant" Lawry and other former cricketers. A case of "birds of a feather" more like. </p><p>Yes bastard is a term of endearment in Australia; no its not ideal to call someone of Indian origin that...because the term has a literal meaning and sentiment attached with Indian culture. This however, does not mean that I subscribe to what happened in Mumbai with the "monkey" chants. I know this much for sure; Harbhajan has an irritating personality at times; but racially abuse someone ? No, its not possible... and Mike Proctor, himself being South African and all too familiar with the "R" word should know better than to take Symonds's team-mates words as prima facie evidence when basic common-sense will reveal that in times of dire situation, no matter what your head says, you will stand up for your team-mates because you're not representing yourself or your mate, but a collective whole called "Australia". In the light that neither umpires heard a thing nor did the stump mikes pick up anything, how is "word-of-mouth" evidence even admissible let alone believable ?</p><p>I can tell you that despite having lived in Australia for nearly 5 years, I am not unfamiliar with racism. In fact, the incident of June 2003 is still fresh in my memory. Hungry, tired and unwilling to cook a meal after a long day at uni, I got out of the bus two stations before my destination to grab a quick bite at a leading fast-food joint. After being consistently overlooked for service despite having arrived a good 10 minutes before a couple of elderly gents of Caucasian appearance, I was finally asked what I wanted; only to get what looked more like bones and entrails rather than pieces of chicken. When I made a mild fuss about it (hell I was entitled to; I was a student afterall; and at the time every penny I spent was precious), the guy serving me muttered under his breath "f***ing choco...". As soon as I heard that, I spat out "What did you just call me ? Listen to me you f***ing white bandicoot, NOBODY CALLS ME A CHOCO... as for my order, why don't you just shove it up your sorry a*** ?" and stormed out. I was still hungry, $6 poorer but I had proved a point; that no one was going to get away with making racist jibes at me. So dear all(and this includes my colleagues at my workplace), please don't give me that sob-story 'bout "Oh I feel so sorry for Symonds, how does he cope with all this crap ?" and try to make me feel guilty about being of Indian origin and supporting my cricket team. </p><p>Like many Indians overseas and in India, I don't know what the final outcome of all this will be. All I know is this; if there's any team that needs to be closely scrutinised; its Australia. Someone's got to stop their verbal juggernaut and give it straight back to them. We did; and you know what else ? Even in the worst case scenario that BCCI ends up coughing out a few millions to reimburse lost businesses, the world will finally come to terms with the fact that Australians are not invincible. And I'm glad that Amrutha despite being a mellow cricket fan, supports my fury on this issue.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-46976022692580513432007-10-13T10:18:00.000+10:002007-10-13T10:30:52.495+10:00The Haneef controversy continuesFor those of us who know about Dr. Haneef Mohammed's case, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/we-got-it-wrong-on-haneef/2007/10/12/1191696181083.html">here's</a> some latest news on how his case was handled. The last line of this article reads that Haneef is still fighting to get his visa back. In all honesty, I ask, "Why" ? Why does he want to come back to Australia, a country that has seemingly needlessly shamed and blamed him for being a culpable accessory to terrorism related crimes ? Assume that after all that's said and done, he is afterall granted his visa back... what then ? Will he continue to command the same kind of respect and adoration(however great or little it might have been) in Australia ?<br /><br />I speak as an Indian and let me tell you, if you've fallen from grace(even once, and even if you're not at fault), the tag of a "has-been-charged" continues to follow you wherever you go, in whatever you do. People close their minds to the real person in you and ostracise you in every step of the way. I don't say this is the kind of treatment that Haneef will get in Australia; au contraire... this country is the land of opportunity, where everyone gets a fair go. Yet, I can't help but feel that somehow Haneef is belittling himself by wanting to come back and contribute to Australia's medical workforce and offer his services after the way he's been treated.<br /><br />At my workplace, the general consensus was, "ofcourse, he wants to work here; he can earn in dollars which when compared to the rupee is far more!"! Hmm, valid point; but is that all there is to it ? Nowhere in these past few months has any mention been made about his family situation in terms of lifestyle or status of living. If, for his sake, he isn't really in dire financial need, I really feel he should be looking for greener pastures elsewhere... but not here in Australia, where his reputation has been unfairly tainted.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-35596813383495221192007-09-29T22:18:00.000+10:002007-09-29T22:28:58.663+10:00A piece of my mind - RepriseAlright... the whole "reprise" thing is getting slightly out of hand but to lay my own blogging demons to rest, I figured it was time to add finishing touches to a post I had added a long time ago. My gripe is not with the writer of the article "The truth about earning in dollars". Why, its not even about how mellifluously describes the contrasting mind-sets of NRI's versus Immigrants. My "I welcome constructive criticism" threshold is tested by the following sentence which I've quoted from her article. For those of you interested, <a href="http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/apr/11rashmi.htm"><span style="color:#ff0000;">here's</span></a> the link once again, and the section in question is titled "Hope floats". To quote what she's written here: <strong><em>"The real appeal of 'foreign' lies for those who graduate from the second and third rung institutes. Job mil jayega but not one with fast enough growth or large enough goodies. "</em></strong><br /><strong><em></em></strong><br />Exactly what is she trying to insinuate by that statement ? That graduates who're either unlucky enough not to graduate from Ivy league institutions or don't have enough brain-power are the ones that end up seeking greener pastures abroad ? I disagree; vehemently that too. Need she be reminded, that several of these so-called IITians and IIM graduates, have also chosen to go abroad, in the interest of furthering their quest for academic knowledge and career enhancements? They have made foreign shores their home... I dare her to ask just how many of these in their current state of affairs would like to return to India ? Words like "I miss mum's home-made this and that" wax nostalgia, sentiment and all the gooey cheesy emotion that one gets to feed on in abundance in bollywood and hollywood movies alike. Sorry, neither are they good excuses, nor do they justify their defending themselves from being labelled "hypocrites".Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-4240548971718707632007-09-27T08:53:00.000+10:002007-10-02T22:05:22.160+10:00Cricketers and their lives! Oh gloria in excelsisAlright folks... India has won the inaugural Twenty20 world cup championship. Hip Hip Hooray to that! Now that they're back on home turf, and justifiably deserving of heroes' welcome, let's put certain things into perspective. Nearly every player that went to South Africa as an Indian representative(even Agarkar, who did Jackshit for the most part!) is walking with really fat pockets in their trousers. May I ask what for ? Dad says "beta, they're cricketers... not degree holders or qualified like you and your friends are... what they have now is what will stand them in good stead in the future... just 10 years... what more do they have after that?".<br /><br />Hmm... food for thought; valid point made by my father. However, does it still warrant such criminal expenditure ? Don't forget, we are a cricket-worshipping and demonising nation. There's no grey shades here; its just one extreme to another. In my opinion, these incentives do little to motivate them; infact its just spoiling them rotten. One match, and Rohit Sharma is the toast of the town; I mean come on... instead of encouraging him to go further, higher and better and work even harder to breakthrough in to the National side, the cricketing powers that be shower him with cash, creed and the whole enchilada.<br /><br />At this point I'm really interested in finding out how BCCI will react after India's performance against Australia in the home one-day series. Its 10pm at night and I've just seen the dismal score that defines India's performance at Kochi's one day. Nice one... all that adrenalin pumping and teeth-gritting by Sreesanth just went to the cleaners. Jesussssssss... what a calamity!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-24552519588881890342007-09-15T17:01:00.000+10:002007-09-15T17:15:30.642+10:00Oh lucky country! Where are all the good idols ?This post is about my newly adopted country, Australia; a land that's been referred to as the "Lucky country" oh so many times. Its the land of plenty, with temperate climate, multi-cultural atmosphere; a thriving and sustainable economy and most of all, the land where sport resides in practically everyone's blood. Oh, but one moment! Granted sport is widely followed and talked about over here, but I have reservations about the people who serve this land of plenty in whatever sport it is that they represent.<br /><br />Three days ago, such a hoopla was raised about Australia's shock defeat at the hands of the "ultimate" minnows Zimbabwe in a game of "twenty-20 cricket". For those who're not familiar with the concept, its a cricket match involving two teams that bat 20 overs a side; scoring runs with shots created more out of madness than out of skill. Ok, so they lost one game; it was a good wake-up call... but why the fuss ? Every darn newspaper, even the 20 odd page free newspaper "MX" distributed freely in the underground stations of Town-hall, Wynyard and other stations that make up the holy grail of the "city circle" line screamed "shame!" as the title for their shocking defeat.<br /><br />Which makes me wonder; for a land which has consistently proved to have a better annual per capita income of superpowers like UK or even the USA, and where many of the unsung heroes are scientists, doctors and the lot who work tirelessly to bring about ways to cure 21st century's prime scourge; CANCER, it sure attaches a great deal more importance to a lame game of childlike cricket. If only it would stop at that... here we have kids being drilled with the importance of inculcating sport into their mundane lives idolizing footy (the rough, gruff and rowdy version which is more popularly known as rugby) stars. Who are these people afterall ?Well, for the most part, in a different time and under different circumstances, atleast 60% would be spending atleast a year in a Juvenile detention centre for attention deficit problems, coupled with history of abuse, violence and the lot. In other words; boofheads! Yes, these are the people that the kids here idolize... only to be crushed at the discovery of several skeletons that have found their way out of these so-called "legends" ' closets. Most notable in recent times, is the startling admission of drug-taking by Andrew Johns, arguably the best player to have graced Rugby League's haven.<br /><br />Just what lessons do these people teach today's kids ? From what I can see, not a lot I would say. Why is this nation so obssessed with sport to the point that kids would rather choose footy stars as their inspiration as opposed to the unsung heroes who use their intellect, wisdom and years of research and learning to put to good use for the common good of humanity. Where, oh and why have these heroes not got what they justifiably deserve ?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-46849670677835134372007-09-07T17:19:00.000+10:002007-09-15T17:01:28.619+10:00The path to the stairs of success - A repriseIt gave me great pleasure to see my friend <a href="http://varshinirao.blogspot.com/">Amrutha's</a> thoughts on the article link that was posted on one of my previous posts. At the same time, I was horrified to read in print, the heartache she suffered throughout her schooldays with teachers passing the sort of comments that they did about her.<br /><br />I sincerely hope that someday, Amri gets to show them in proper measure what a grave mistake they made uttering those knife-edged words and hurting her pride and confidence. Well, as they say, what goes around comes around and I wish that all those horrible teachers get back three-fold what they bestowed upon her.<br /><br />Anyways, on to the focal point of my post which has been long overdue. In many ways, my school life was a complete antithesis of Amri's. For the most part of my school life, I was in the top 3 or atleast in the top 5 always. Math was a favourite subject of mine; and albiet having a few miserable years, trying to get trignometry and algebra off my back, I think I did pretty well to bounce back towards the end. However, education-wise I do have a few regrets. Although, the good lord has been kind to bestow me with a great job, a great position of respect and a career that's the envy of quite a few, I do believe that I have made a few tactical errors of judgement in my life. The first and foremost would be my inertia in tapping the "US boom" in the late 90's. At the time, everyone was spending day and night working hard to get into an Ivy-league university and brag to one and all about his/her achievement of having secured admission into a college of repute. I on the other hand, chose to lead a completely laid-back lifestyle; swept through my under-graduation days, getting just about "above-average" marks(would you believe I actually did commerce?") and making up for lost time in terms of extra-curricular activities. I will never forget my days in school where I was always overlooked as a potential prize-winning contestant for music competitions; and music was and still is, the love of my life! I made up for that fabulously in college; winning every music competition I ever participated in(beating Stella time and time again tasted sooooo sweet!!!. No offence WCCites, you guys just stick together...but we Ethirajians are just perpetual winners... HELL YEAH!).<br /><br />In the midst of all this, the motivation to work a little extra harder, just got swept under the carpet and lo behold, after under-graduation, I didn't have the foggiest idea as to what to do in life! All I knew was that I wanted to work... anywhere, doing anything(as long as it was decent and by honest means ofcourse!) and be independent. That feeling was to evade me for a long time; too long I would say. By the time I had completed a few computer courses, what was the dotcom boom, suddenly turned to bust and there I was, twiddling my thumbs wondering what I could do. I will never forget the struggles I went through for something as trivial as finding if need be an unpaid internship to gain some work experience.<br /><br />I don't know if my life would've been different if I had chosen to spend day and night cramming in Physics, Chemistry and then writing the IIT-JEE or equivalent exams, getting into an Engineering college and passing out with a B.E or a B.Tech. I don't even know if choosing to do an MBA at say, an IIM or equivalent institution would've changed the course of my career. One thing that I will say however is this; in order to be wholistically happy, one should NEVER forget where she/he's been before. A few years ago, I lamented at the fact that there were some people who never had to move a finger and life sorted itself out for them in a jiffy and here I was planning everything meticulously, only to find it fall in a big heap.<br /><br />Today, I really value everything I've got; however much or little it might be. It's taught me patience, humility and most of all, empathy! I just hope the embedded link to the article titled as above but written before, will teach people to pat themselves on the back every once in a while, and tell themselves to be proud of whatever they've achieved.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-42274634355771220412007-08-12T12:09:00.000+10:002007-08-31T21:59:27.079+10:00Sicko- the untold storiesThis weekend, I put myself through the pleasure of watching Michael Moore's latest mockumentary titled "Sicko". Apart from lavishing it with all the praise that is justfiably due to a director of Moore's class, it nevertheless left me asking more questions than answers.<br /><br />First of all, what struck me as "tres" surprising was the way the NHS in the UK was eulogized for its services to the people in the "less than have" category. yes, its true, the NHS does endeavour to cater to the sections of society that have little or no means of funding their medical costs. However, it begged several questions: one of the most prominent ones being, "ok, if the NHS is so good, why are people complaining about it?". Then it struck me, "oh that's right... this is about the good aspects of the NHS remember"? how convenient! which is fair enough... afterall for a yankee to compare apples with oranges, he would no doubt have to peel out layer by layer, the benefits of eating an orange versus an apple.<br /><br />The objective of my post is not to deny Moore his kudos... it is infact a word of caution to all the people who have watched it and think "any healthcare system is better than the US'", that even European nations have plenty of demons to contend with as far as healthcare is concerned.<br /><br />I have heard several horror stories of how people get their case-files mishandled, charged the sun and the moon for services and diagnosis which are more often than not easily avoidable, when seeking healthcare via the NHS... and this includes people in the "don't have" category as well. The hospitals are dirty, there's little no funding, and it is subject to so many politically and morally logic-defying anomalies that one would think in this day and age, getting sick is the ultimate crime to commit. The irony is, the NHS admits they're understaffed, under-funded and the whole lot... yet, there are cases of several cases of doctors( new and experienced) who come from non - European countries who are given such a short end of the stick because they're visa nationals. Now I'm not naming countries here; people who can relate to this post know which specific areas I'm talking about. I really wonder what the UK has lined up for itself; agreeing to hire all and sundry who come from Europe claiming to be doctors while really promising ones without European passports to boot, struggle to find a foothold in the UK. I am yet to hear of similar anomalies with people I know who live in other countries such as Canada or France; whose healthcare systems were also bases for comparison in "Sicko". However, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind, that there are bound to be inconsistencies with the way the systems there work as well.<br /><br />All in all, it was worth a good view... but I find it extremely difficult to agree that there is such a thing as a perfect healthcare system which caters to each and everyone's needs.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-21867755059326172822007-07-20T19:57:00.000+10:002007-08-15T20:57:27.835+10:00Conditional Customer Service - Indian IshtyleThe motivation for this post came from my recent "transit" experience at Kuala Lumpur International airport where I was waiting for my connecting flight back to Sydney.<br /><br />Unable to resist the urge of nature's call, I made my way to the nearest ladies toilet; "oh so conveniently" placed right next to the smokers lounge! Anyways, wanting not to waste any more time, I proceeded to go right in when I met this lady who looked like she worked there as a cleaner. You guessed it, she was definitely Indian... the gold earrings and the large red bindi were more than enough clues for me to realise I could strike a conversation with her by saying "hello" in our common language; TAMIL. She ended up following me, all the time asking if I was from Malaysia and how it was that I spoke such good tamil.<br /><br />She noticed my hesitation to use one of the cubicles as it was wet all over. "Nevermind, I'll sort it for you", she said and let her mop do the talking as within a matter of seconds, the wet floor was transformed into a dry one! "Relief!!!" was the word that came into mind as I went about accomplishing my task and clearing the mental block in my brain!lol.<br /><br />As I walked out after washing up, I saw the cleaner lady standing at the doorstep asking me unabashedly in Tamil "Enna gift onnum illingla ? translated thus-->erm... wot about a gift?. I thought to myself "what do I give a woman who lives and work in Malaysia? besides, its not as if I asked her to do anything for me!" I figured giving her 10 ringits(which is all I had) would make her use the mop on me rather than the floor, I sheepishly said , "I haven't got enough local currency, let me get some and I'll be back!"<br /><br />Ofcourse, i didn't make it back ...but here's the point... why is it that everywhere we go, once we're looked upon as Non residents or residents of more developed countries, that people from the subcontinent in low-class jobs automatically assume that customer service = remuneration in return ? afterall, was she not doing what she was being paid to do ? why should I on account of knowing fluent tamil and chatting her up (what, for like 2 seconds) pay her for her services when I never invoked them in the first place ?<br /><br />I can't seem to get over the incident somehow; because in opinion I feel very strongly that it reflects very badly upon Indian culture long reknown for their unconditional hospitality.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-19169225112010816842007-07-20T19:46:00.000+10:002007-07-20T19:53:34.015+10:00The curse of the chips!Hello world! I'm back from :<br />1. yet another sabbatical from blogging<br />2. a whirlwind trip to the UK<br /><br />So you might ask now... what kind of a title is that for a blog post ? well, its about my newly found hatred for "chips" ... or french fries as they used to be known! in the 14 days that i spent in the UK, nearly everything I ate came with chips... and try hard as I might have, I just couldn't get away from them! Now that I'm back to reality-world and the winter in sydney, the urge to grab a quick bite in order to escape the drudgery of cooking accompanies with it the ominous task of accepting that a "quick" meal will be accompanied by... you guessed it! CHIPS!!!<br /><br />I can now officially say, hand on my heart...I HATE CHIPS! in fact, walking into the office cafeteria and merely glancing at chips makes my knees tremble, my stomach rumble and most of all, GRUMBLE GRUMBLE GRUMBLE. I'm going to use this post as a genuine and humble appeal to one and all... PLEASE DON'T EVER SERVE ME CHIPS!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-69740089735077381452007-06-13T09:54:00.000+10:002007-06-13T09:57:32.930+10:00The path to the stairs of success<div>Here's an interesting article that caught my eye today. I'm really tempted to substantiate on this article with my own experiences but my work commitments prevail over personal desire so I will continue later. For now, <a href="http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2007/jun/12marks.htm">here</a> it is. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-46273272405175913162007-04-29T10:16:00.000+10:002007-04-29T10:20:32.871+10:00Obituary for a cricket fanAlright... its official; Nita the effervescent and "erstwhile hopeful" cricket fan died peacefully at 10:17am Australian Eastern Standard Time. Cause of death : a 3rd world cup win by Australia.<br /><br />Let me, take the opportunity of eulogizing Nita the cricket fan for her fervour and deep sense of passion for the game as an Indian. Her antics will be sorely missed and she will always be remembered for her (in)famous couch jumping incident where she nearly fell upon her dog when India won a thriller from the jaws of defeat a couple of years ago!<br /><br />So long Nita the cricket fan, hope you lead a peaceful afterlife. Goodbye and good luck!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-70569867572299630142007-03-25T17:25:00.000+10:002007-06-11T19:51:45.370+10:00The day Indian cricket died a horrible death!I'm back after a long hiatus... its been more than 3 months since I added a post in. Given the the current circumstances, I thought it best to write an obituary about the black day of gloom that befell upon every hot-blooded Indian cricket fan.<br /><br />India's now "most definite" exit from the world cup has now ignited new events and rumours. Crazy fans were seen shedding crocodile tears as they carried 10 players on stretchers to demonstrate a funeral procession for the Indian cricket team. Greg Chappell admits in his interview <a href="http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,,21440132-5012554,00.html">here</a> that he's now afraid for his life.<br /><br />While Indian sports fanatics are known for their glorified over-excesses of emotion over a loss in a cricket match, I think Chappell has every right to fear for his life. He bloody well should! In the last 2 years as coach of the Indian team, he has ably led a "Divide and rule" policy whereby players are handled more by the rule of the fist and threats of ouster from the team. Dravid and he can now claim the ultimate victory in having successfully ruined the team morale and balance of this Indian side.<br /><br />This is possibly the worst swan-song for the likes of Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar. I doubt if the three will be in contention for the 2011 world cup. I too doubt my commitment to watching a decent cricket match after an abyssmal performance of this calibre. Now, only a few months away from gaining australian citizenship; I'm faced with a tough choice; to support my australian team ; a bunch of thorough-bred albiet arrogant and foul-mouthed professionals or give up my liking for the game altogether. Going by my dilemma, it appears that the latter will appeal to me more.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-13881122956410312006-12-24T22:03:00.000+11:002006-12-24T22:10:23.052+11:00The season to be jolly!Christmas is here again; and the hoopla over shopping never ends. Today, I had an interesting conversation with my father; who told me about the countless children born into poor families, who would enjoy or have little chance of enjoying the goodies that x'mas had to offer. Then, he told me a story; a story which he read when he was a little boy.... of a little girl who went out in the cold to sell lucifer matches on x'mas eve. She found not one customer and came back home penniless; only to be sent back into the cold by her heartless mother. That's all I heard of the story; until curiosity got the better of me and prompted me to ask "so, what did happen to the little girl with the lucifer matches" ? "Some kind old man took her to his home where she spent x'mas eve with other children, surrounded by goodies of all kinds.." came the reply. Dad recalled how reading the story made him cry at nights.<br /><br />The ending filled me with joy; but not without aching deep down because what we call the "season to be jolly" also brings a stark reminder of reality; that which exists in the form of poverty, homelessness, desperation and the like. In today's world, where everything moves so fast that you don't know what hit you, can hope be held for the countless who are under-priveleged ? Are there enough kindly souls out there to rescue many a "little girl with the lucifer matches" ?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-87888472182076056542006-11-04T00:37:00.000+11:002006-11-04T00:43:17.539+11:00Ten thousand doggy dreams on a silver platterToday more than ever, I feel compelled to write about my beloved pet dog, the late Kenny; who a little over 12 years ago lit up my family's and my life with his sheer cuteness and utter chaotic presence. Bringing him home(which was again, much against the wishes of my mother) was one of the happiest days of my life.<br /><br />Never before had I felt the joy of having found something so living, so precious and so innocent and sinless as him. As the years went by, he filled our hearts with much joy and happiness and left a big void when he left us.<br /><br />Lately, a trip down to the local pet-store fills me with such contrasting emotions. On the one hand, the very sight of pets fills me with joy and by the same token, a fleeting sadness sweeps across me... a sense of loss of something that meant so much to me.<br /><br />Dear Kenny, I hope you're safe and happy in doggy heaven, doing all those things that you couldn't do down here on earth. Know this ; that you are loved and missed by all of us.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-27365616393935424702006-10-31T22:36:00.000+11:002007-06-27T10:22:33.571+10:00A piece of my mindThis is an edited post. I recently had to take this post down because after reading it, I felt it lacked brevity in terms of the subject matter. For those visiting my blog, here's a bit more information before you delve into my comments about the blog.<br /><br />The topic in question here is Rashmi Bansal's recent article on rediff. It can be found <a href="http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/apr/11rashmi.htm">here</a>. If you find that this article has gone missing, or can't be viewed, please do let me know. I shall be glad to put an alternate link to it... or something of the sort. Afterall, that's the benefit of being an IT professional isn't it ? Finding different ways to do things! :-).<br /><br />My critique(once again, edited), coming up shortly. So watch out for this space.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3409380819479078677.post-39488064797500639532006-10-31T22:22:00.000+11:002006-10-31T22:35:22.098+11:00my penny in the pondOn the subject of racism and racial profiling, many an article seem to rear their heads in many of the leading websites and newspapers today. On any given day, the probability of such an article appearing someplace would send the concept of "impossible event" to the darkest dungeons of obscurity.<br /><br />So what's the big fuss about it ? Quite a picnic to be had with this topic raised as a subject of discussion. As someone who has seen and experienced the worst side of racism first hand, I have this to say; your own kind will one day look down upon you as if you didn't belong! Yes, this is the mindset of many a 2nd generation indian/asian that has lived or lives/works or both in the west or here in Oceania where I've made my home the last 3 years.<br /><br />Talk 'bout this brings back fond memories of my first ever trip to the United Kingdom. Excitement filled my senses so much so that I couldn't even sleep that night. The journey knackered me like never before; afterall, I was a novice to 10hr non-stop journeys. As the moments passed by, I observed, that a lot of Indians based there(airport staff or otherwise) had this look of disdain on their faces. I still remember the lady at the "bureau de change" where I got a few of my travelers' cheques encashed looking at me with an "what the hell are you doing here?" expression.<br /><br />My disappointment at the lack of warmth exhibited by these people didn't end there. On our way back from a short but memorable trip to Paris, I was stopped by an Indian(most obviously raised in england), asked a million questions regarding my itenerary, the source of my funds and the lot! All because I was dressed in a kurta pajama!.<br /><br />So why highlight the fact that you feel like a foreigner in a foreign land(erm... isn't that obvious already?) when even amongst your own kind you can feel like a stranger with no claim on the small speck of land you stand on ?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0