Another IPL Story

Last Sunday, it was the day of IPL final.As my cricket crazy junior friend had gone home and because Mass Communication department students are in 'good terms' with hostel wardens, I decided not to ask them to switch on the TV. But I heard lots of cheers from the first floor where the TV is kept. I thought it may be some local reality shows that used to draw so much of audience. Still I could not manage myself to sit in my room. I went upstairs.

Oh! it was IPL. I never imagined my hostel, Gargi Bhavanam had that many cricket fans. My MCA friend told the place was full to watch the cultural performance before the match. I went to my room, had a bath and rushed back to get a front seat.

Finally all were set to begin....Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat first. Though it was a slow game, as usual while watching a cricket match, whenever any batsman hits six or four, everyone cheered. Each applause was accompanied by a shout from warden's office asking us to be silent. So we had to watch it very silently which took away the beauty of watching a final.

By sharp 9.30, attender came to switch off the TV. A few girls went and 'begged' for allowing them to watch it till eleven. Warden rejected their request as 'they don't have permission to put on the TV after 9.30 and next day is a working day'. When they announced what she told,there was an absolute silence. Slowly every one left the place quietly.

In between a girl was murmuring, "I wish I'd be a boy so that I can give a blow on her face and continue watching the match". From the next door, that is the boy's hostel, I could hear cheers, claps and applause...

Read more...

Dad endorses conspiracy theory

Masters of the universe

My politically benighted father has shared with me yet another classic of the forwarded-wisdom genre. Although I have told him (many more times than once) that one is unlikely to find trenchant political wisdom in poorly formatted, multiply forwarded e-mail screeds, he cannot resist sending me some of the iron pyrite nuggets that drop into his AOL mail box. The latest example is fairly typical of the right-wing spam with which he favors me. It's a tribute to the power of politicians. It's really much greater than you might imagine. No, really!

They control everything.

Yeah. Sure.

I'm always conflicted about the proper way to react when these chunks of nonsense show up in my in-box. Initially, I'm insulted that he thinks I could be persuaded by such lame manifestos. Then I'm embarrassed that my father swallows such tripe without blinking. Finally, I simply ash-can the message or—if I just can't resist it—I zing back with a tart response.

This was one of those zinger occasions.

It didn't help that Dad included his endorsement instead of merely forwarding the spam:

“This really got it right. This is what is happening to our country and I do not like it!!!!”

No, Dad. Multiple exclamation points do not add to the weight of the argument. They just don't.

This is part of what followed:

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?. . . .

Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day. Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years. It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE..

545 vs. 300,000,000 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them...Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered: If all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees. We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper. What you do with this article now that you have read it.

No one should be surprised to learn that the editorial supposedly written by Mr. Reese of the Orlando Sentinel is not quite as advertised. It has been severely “improved” by clumsy hands as it's been passed from one right-winger to another. I omitted the extensive coda in Dad's version that included a long list of taxes, all of which are horrible crimes against humanity. I especially enjoyed the breathless claim that “Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.” Why was that amusing?

The list included the Telephone Federal Excise Tax, the Gasoline Tax, and the Recreational Vehicle Tax.

I think I have a clue why none of those terrible taxes existed in 1910. I also doubt that their non-existence was a key factor in the nation's prosperity back then. (It didn't even prevent the panic of 1910-11.)

As I previously admitted, I could not resist sending Dad a slightly snarky response.

Dear Dad:

The original version was published by Charley (not “Charlie”) Reese in 1995, when the Republicans ran Congress. He pointed out that the GOP only pretends to want balanced budgets, since they never pass any, even when in power. This version was edited with a right-wing slant to blame Democrats alone and also stuck in some nonsense about the supposed absolute power of the 545 senators and representatives to control the universe. To my knowledge, Reese never wrote anything as silly as

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Any political reporter who wrote that would apparently believe that Congress could have passed a law abolishing the Depression or mandating peace on earth or banning flash floods and earthquakes. Would that the world were that simple.

The “improved” version of Reese's editorial that you forwarded to me can be rebutted much too easily. Like this, for example:

• Every member of the House of Representatives is elected by the voters in his or her district. If a person is in the House, it's because the people in that district want that person in the House.
• Every member of the Senate is elected by the voters in his or her state (except for temporary interim appointments). If a person is in the Senate, it's because the people in that state want that person in the Senate.
• The Congress is elected by the people of the United States. Therefore the Congress is the representative body that the people want.

Above all, do not let anyone con you into thinking that there exists some disembodied political forces like “radical liberals” or “environmental extremists” or “ACORN” or “George Soros” that prevent voters from electing the people they want in office.

And then, of course, these people control the universe.

The state of the world? It's all the fault of the masters of the universe. Yeah. We can blame it all on He-Man.

Read more...

Crazy Classmates of Communication

One or two people may be mad, that is ok… but think about a whole class gone crazy. It is the case when you enter into II MA Communication class room. Once you meet any one of these guys, you may think he/she represents the whole class. Sorry you are mistaken, there are many more who are worse than that... It doesn’t mean all are stupid and good for nothing kind. We are intelligent and brilliant in one area or the other.

Oh! Do you want to know more about MA Communication 2008-10 batch? It is a class of nineteen with eleven girls and eight boys. First of all, there are a few ‘qualities’ which are common in all. We are party freaks and used to have parties for anything and everything. All like to try out new styles in costumes, hair, moustache, and beard though most of it looks awkward. Whenever there is a chance to go home, we will vanish from the department. Because of this urge, we are forced to tell many lies to our Class Advisor. Again once we are at home, according to Rakesh sir’s words ‘needs to send at least ten invitations to be back in the class’.

Always it is safer to go in alphabetic order so that no one will be missed out. First is Ananth, the ‘genius’ of the class. He is regarded as the unofficial faculty of Amrita School of Communication and loves to have company with people who is elder and superior to him. Don’t imagine him as a stout guy with sharp looks and all. He is a lean fellow with shabby hair wearing spectacles and always busily running up and down. Next come Anees who is an expert in playing with words of double meaning. He brings nice unniyappams from home. He recites Malayalam poems well and may be because of his family background, he has a proficient knowledge in Malayalam literature.

There is a girl in the class whose hobby is eating words in Oxford Dictionary. Yes, Anu talks English mostly in foreign accents which even many of our faculties could not pick out. But it should be admitted that she is brilliant in making friends and giving advice when needed. Describing about Arya itself is a big task. She has a lot of ideas, but never knows which one to choose. Also she has a hundred suggestions for herself as well as for others which she may try to impose on others many times. Still she is very helpful and caring.

Then there is Denny, a guy who always holds a confused look... He has a good character and is the tallest one in the class. He had a big moustache and every now and then he searches for its remains on his face with his hand. Coming up next is a very special person, Hitha. Her main topics to talk are about her Vadakara slang, Olive Ridley and Manorama. She is very studious and many times her doubts irritate others. Laxmi is the most charming girl in the class. She forgets everything including her password and asks others to find out what it is. She is cool and fun loving.

You can’t expect a Mumbaikar girl without cosmetics. This changes when you meet Meenakshi. Her full name is bigger than her size. Cell phone is her weakness without which she can’t survive. In the beginning itself, Nimisha had asked not to mention about her rowdiness. But she cares her friends wonderfully and still talks about loneliness. She is very hard working and likes to be a leader always.

Ok buddy, here comes Nithin or Tom of the class who always fights with Jerry. He is a Gandhiji type of person who stands for peace. His trade mark is his smile and has many fans in the department.Then we have Prakash, popularly known as Pappu. Many times his doubts used to terrify our teachers. He is a good dancer and in our first semester, he had done a ‘wonderful’ performance in class.

Ragav is the class representative. However when he is doing some presentation, if you are in front of his eye-sight, you may feel he is taking class only for you. He has a beautiful smile and is very good at narrating the stories of movies. Rajkumar, our big boss is an encyclopedia of movies. He is the only Coimbatorean and so he knows nook and corner of the city which is a great help for us during reporting. He sleeps well in the class and whenever he is awake, he will raise some questions which others may take up and debate on that while he’ll be busy back sleeping.

Some times you may find that guy wearing contact lens with shabby hair and beard, else with a neat ‘school boy’ look. He is Renjith, a man of great wisdom. He is good at philosophies which many times he himself find it hard to absorb. Then is Roopa, a girl whose area of interest varied from Orkut, Buzz, chatting till blogs at present. But her all time hobby is irritating others with her stupid forward messages.

Shahistha, our cute Jerry who is also awarded the name ‘Malappuram Rowdy’ by our Class Advisor. In cartoon, Jerry is scared of Tom; here it is just the reverse. Her main weakness is ‘samoosa’. Next is the controversial queen Sreelakshmi. She loves subjects of controversy. She is very careless and because her friends know this and help her out, she still has a laptop and an N70 mobile.

While asked about what to write about Varsha, one of the classmates said just to put a question mark. It’s almost true; our Barbie is always in her world of thoughts. She is a voracious reader and cleans her room the day before she leaves home. Finally it is Vidya, who is considered almost normal. She is the class topper and the class representative. She sings Malayalam film songs ‘well’.

That’s from this world… But it is sure that there won’t be another batch in ASCOM like us who can be as crazy and creative…

(This was written for the STOP PRESS magazine which couldn't come out because of technical factors and all the credits for this article goes to Aparna Ma'm who insisted me to do it)

Read more...

Another Obama outrage

One of these things is not like the other

The wacky right was never at a loss for words when George W. Bush was criticized for being a lousy president—perhaps the worst in American history. (Look to your laurels, James Buchanan!) Those who pointed to Bush's many failures were accused of suffering from “Bush derangement syndrome.” It was, you see, irrational to denigrate poor old George for traipsing into Iraq with no valid reason in hand and no exit plan in mind, allowing financial institutions to cheat their clients and each other to the point of meltdown, and slashing taxes for his “base” in an orgy of deficit-building.

I mean, what's to criticize in those minor missteps?

Now that Barack Obama is president, there are real outrages that must be denounced in the strongest terms possible. After all, when the occupant of the White House is an enemy of America (and maybe even a communist!), eternal vigilance is called for. A recent letter writer to the Sacramento Bee identified the president's latest example of hatred for his fellow citizens.

No aid for U.S. quake victims

Imperial Valley and Northern Baja had 7.2 earthquake on Easter Sunday. President Barack Obama has done nothing. This is in his own country. He has done nothing for us, no word about it. Haiti had a 7.1 earthquake; 18 minutes later he is giving all kinds of aid to a foreign country.

—Mike Van Zandt, Brawley

Mr. Van Zandt is right! (Probably extreme right.) The earthquake in southern California was a tenth of a point worse than the Haitian temblor, yet the emergency services response to the two incidents could scarcely have been more different.

It may—just possibly—have something to do with the results: Two people were reported killed in the Mexicali/Calexico quake. Two hundred thousand were reported dead in Haiti, with the counting still continuing. (We can blame government interference with acts of God: building codes are much stronger in the U.S. and Mexico than in Haiti.)

As head of state, it naturally fell to President Obama to extend the nation's sympathy to the people of Haiti and to initiate our relief efforts. In the case of the quake on the border between California and Mexico, Governor Schwarzenegger is the chief executive who issues (and did issue) a declaration of emergency. The day after the quake, the Federal Emergency Management Agency reported that “No request for Federal assistance has been received.”

FEMA was on hand, however, when the California Emergency Management Agency asked for its participation in surveying and assessing the earthquake damage.

Of course, that was ten days after the quake occurred. If Obama really loved America, he would not have waited. He would have flooded Imperial Valley and the border region with federal troops and agents.

I'm sure Mr. Van Zandt and others of his ilk would have greeted them as liberators.

Read more...

G is for Grafton

Men of letters

Over breakfast in Turlock during spring break (hey, where else would you go for breakfast during spring break?), my old college buddy gave me some detailed feedback on the manuscript of my novel. He was kind enough to point out that the character based on me kept getting in the way of the main storyline. (Damn. He's right.)

In addition to talking about my attempt at becoming a writer, my friend and I talked about actual writers (you know, the published kind). It turned out that neither of us had read Sarah Palin's autobiography, although I had riffled through the pages at Mom and Dad's. (Wait a minute: I said “actual” writers. Going Rogue is ghostwritten.) I teased him about his university becoming the notorious venue for Palin's secretly expensive public speaking appearance, but he wasn't particularly embarrassed. The faculty at California State University, Stanislaus, are innocent bystanders when the activities of their institution's president are concerned.

Somehow we wandered onto a new topic. I'm not sure how or why. For whatever, reason, I wondered aloud what Sue Grafton would do when she ran out of letters for her “alphabet series.” (Right now she's on U is for Undertow.) My buddy pointed out that there was no reason for Grafton to abandon the series after penning Z is for Zebra (or whatever). Spreadsheets have taught us that the alphabet need not end, for column Z is succeeded by column AA.

“She could write AA is for Alcoholics,” my friend suggested.

I laughed and got into the spirit of things. I know that Excel says that AB should be next, but I chose a different route.

“BB is for Air Rifle,” I said.

“CC is for Dosage,” he replied, with a fine metric sense.

We disagreed about DD. Thinking Dungeons & Dragons, I suggested DD is for Nerds, but he riposted that it should be EE is for Nerds (and I imagine that most EE majors would agree). He offered the possibility that DD should stand for lingerie.

I think not.

Anyway, I'm sure that Grafton can make up her own mind. But what do you think?

Read more...

An Autograph

When there is only one more month to go to step down from college life,I think of my school days where we used to be busy writing autographs and slam books.Every one had their turn to write something for their friend to remember them for a life time.
Slam book is much professional in which we are asked to write our details including hobbies, favourites and very personal information.There is a last line at the end of the page devoted to write an autograph or 'message for your friend'.
Autographs are much cuter.We can write anything and everything in that.Many of my school friends had wrote wonderfully in my autograph though most popular lines seen all over were "I won't forget you even if I die","Remember me always" and "Friendship forever"...
Now autographs have disappeared with social networking sites and mobiles coming into the scene.Within five or ten years, school and college students won't even know what an autograph or slam book mean...
Now I can contact all my friends through orkut or g-talk,but I really miss those books which talked without artificiality and formality.It had a warmth,a tone of love and affection that never fades...

Read more...

T is for Turlock

Or maybe “turkey”

The modest California town of Turlock in Stanislaus county currently boasts a population of 70,000 and a campus of the California State University. The university is the legacy of a sufficiently well-connected state senator who thought his hometown should snag one of the new campuses being planned during the 1960s expansion of the CSU system. It gave Turlock something else to brag about aside from the poultry farms that inspired the memorable radio jingle about “Turkeys from Turlock.” (This is assuredly the reason that California State University, Stanislaus, is fondly referred to by many as “Turkey Tech.”)

I recently had breakfast in Turlock with an old grad school buddy who is a professor at Stan State (that's the other nickname of CSU, Stanislaus). It was impossible, of course, to avoid twitting him about the selection of Alaska's former half-term governor as guest of honor for the “celebration of excellence” marking Stan State's fiftieth anniversary.

Perhaps Sarah Palin is not someone you automatically associate in your mind with “excellence.” Or “education.” The snarky among us might say the same thing about Stan State, but the truth is that CSU Stanislaus has gained a reputation as a good deal in public higher education. Away from the high-cost environments of the CSU's urban campuses, Stan State offers a low-rent alternative path to bachelor's and master's degrees. (We shouldn't hold it against Stan State that one of its professors is the wacky IDiot Richard Weikert.)

Besides, as my friend pointed out, the university's leadership is simply pandering to the local political environment—and taking advantage of it. California's Central Valley is the locus of blood-red politics and teabagging. The university's “independent” foundation doesn't have to admit how much money it's paying Palin to aw-shucks her way through a “Knowledge is good” speech. The foundation claims, however, that it will clear between $100,000 to $200,000 from her appearance, even after crossing Palin's palm.

So think about it. The right-wing residents of Stanislaus county are being drawn like moths to Palin's bright and shiny flame. In return, each will be relieved of at least $500. (The hardcore Palinistas can unload $50,000 for the honor of being called “platinum sponsors.”) All of that money will go into student scholarships and other educational programs.

And, as we all know, the result of a public higher education in the liberal arts is more liberals. Glenn Beck said so, and he's an “expert” (on everything!).

Yeah, let's take their money.

Read more...

Dada-The Leader

Leaderships are of two types-some acquire while others get it in born. Sourav Ganguly, the legendary cricket from West Bengal belongs to the second category."I wanted to bid adieu to the cricket world with my head held high. I did so and that was a perfect swansong for me."
-these words of Sourav itself say his urge to stand up the order always.Dada as he is called likes to be a leader always... His body language, his words and even his smile speaks that of a captain.
Born in the royal family of Bengal,he has a huge crowd to admire in Kolkata. For them,he is 'the prince of Kolkata' and also 'the Bengal Tiger'. And so when he had any issues, the fans of Dada were ready to give their blood and soul for their hero. Authorities feared to take actions against him because of his fan support.
Sourav is well accepted as the most successful captain of India. He had brought up the team like a phoenix that was weak at all levels into a well set team that could beat any best team in the globe. He has brought many young players into the team like Dhoni, Sehwag, Yuvaraj and Harbajan who are performing well now. He has also handled very well a team containing so many icons like Sachin, Dravid and Kumble.
When Indian Premiere League was introduced and Sharukh Khan bought Kolkata Knight Riders, he has nothing else to think, but make Ganguly the leader. He knew if he keeps Dada as an ordinary middle order batsman, he cannot drive his game with Eden Gardens as the team's home ground. For the second season of IPL, due to the pressure from new coach,SRK had to pull out Sourav and made Maccullum as the new head. The team did not face much opposition from his fans because IPL2 was in South Africa. As usual,KKR failed miserably in that season like the first one in India. All these time Ganguly was silent like a lion that waited for his chance to come. This year Sharukh made all round changes in his team and brought back Ganguly as the captain.
May be every one has many things to blame Dada like he does not care what others have to say and always hold his stand firm,statistics and records has its word to say...

Read more...

A member of no organized political party

As Will Rogers once said

For a bit of casual fun, you can test your political persona at OkCupid.com. Don't expect to be surprised. Do expect to be slightly irritated at some of the questions. (“People raising children have a responsibility to live up to society's standards”? What if society's standards aren't very “up”?) You're required to come down on one side or the other on every single question. No neutral answers are allowed.

It appears that the test was concocted for the 2008 political season, but it was just today that a friend sent me his results. I am, of course, disappointed that I didn't turn out to be as much of a socialist as he is. Shucks! (Maybe after the Obama administration ships me off to the re-education camps! I'll save a place for Dad!)

Read more...