Know Thy History!

Here is an article written in 1908, by an american named Jabez T. Sunderland and published in "The Atlantic". It's a really long article and takes considerable time to read. But what an article! It explains how india was robbed of her riches by the british and what caused the deteriation of the economy.

Here are Some of the startling facts i noted down from this artice. These are the facts we never read in our politically influenced history text books:

- The average daily income of the people of India in the year 1850 was estimated, as 4 cents per person,in 1882 it had fallen to 3 cents per person, and in 1900 actually to less than 2 cents per person.

- One cause of this is heavy taxation. People of India are taxed more than twice as heavily as the people of England and three times as heavily as those of Scotland.

- According to the statistics of 1905, the annual average income per person in India is about $6.00, and the annual tax per person about $2.00.

- For example, Salt Tax: the tax upon it which for many years indians have been compelled to pay has been much greater than the cost value of the salt. Because of this, the quantity of salt consumed has been reduced actually to one-half the quantity declared by medical authorities to be absolutely necessary for health.

- Another cause of India's impoverishment is the destruction of her manufactures, as the result of British rule. England had all power in her hands, and so she proceeded to pass tariff and excise laws that ruined the manufactures of India and secured the market for her own goods.

-Another burden upon the people of India which does much to increase their poverty, is the enormously heavy military expenses of the government. Britishers kept an unnecessarily heavy army in india, just to indulge in their further conquests.

-For such foreign wars and campaigns -- campaigns and wars in which the Indian pcople had no concern, and for which they received no benefit, the aim of which was solely conquest and the extension of British power -- India was required to pay during the last century the enormous total of more than $460,000,000.

And the list goes on.

And guess what all this resulted in: Deaths of more than 18,000,000 people in eight decadeds. All because of hunger and poverty. Startling but so true!

If you want to know more about this genocide, do take time out to read this article.

A Crossing....

Upperberths are a favourite of mine. I dont have to adjust myself according to the sleeping cycles of co-travellers. Infact, i am particularly scared of sleeping on those curd rice and sambar clad lower berths. And just to be clear, no, i dont spill my food on the berth, even if its not mine . So i was happily enjoying my sleep on the upperberth when my cellphone alarm woke up my fellow passengers. M was a little irritated, but obliging my request, woke me up. Stretching my self and the inherent laziness, i sticked my neck out, and read the words "kovvur" on the yellow colored railway board. I jumped up, for, this is a morning not to be missed.

Early mornings are engrossing for me, but for that they are early and in the morning. I enjoy the serenity and beauty of them. I walked to the door and looked out. The sight of the structured arches gave me goosebumps.

Every time i cross this river, i experience this unexplainable joy. Its a feeling of jumping on to mom's lap after a tiring play session, to enjoy a delicious dinner. The sound of the locomotive wheels entering the girder built bridge tells me that the train has entered the bridge. A bloke from the S1 compartment peeps out to catch up the beautiful sight.



The river is not always full. But owing to the heavy downpour we had last year, it beams full, with a great grandeur.



But one will come across these patches of land, beautifully bedecking the river and enhancing its beauty. If lucky, one will be even able to catch a glimpse of beautiful black bucks that live there.


A girder plays spoil sport, as i try to capture the sight of two fishing boats, playing with each other.

But i persist, and get lucky this time. And i realise its three of them and not two. Could you figure that out? :)

And this man looks at me, stands up and poses for the photo. I oblige him and clicks it up. I prayed i get clear of the girders.

But not this couple on this boat. They were really close, but they are turned the other way, and oblivious. I tried to center them for the snap, but the train started to accelerate by then and this is the best i could manage.

And i realised that we are reaching the other end, and welcomed by a sight of a fleet of the fisherboats!

I looked back, and a glorious sight of the bridge and the river posed for me. I just felt my self immersed in the serenity and stood tranquilized.

Moments later, the yellow colored railway board welcomed me, and i just looked at those fascinating words, GODAVARI!

The New Obsession...

Yes, itz the Photo Blog. I have just started it. Enjoy these coolclix from my COOLPIX... !!!

Update: the URL is changed :)

Happy Deepavali!

Wish You All A Very Happy Deepavali!

Sulking....

Yes, its ages ago that i wrote. And No, its not emotional constipation. I just didnt had the time. I mean, the time to think and more importantly, the time to emote. Weeks never ended and the days were hectic. To be brief, i was hardly a human.

And to add to my woes, i was made to watch couple of Bollywood craps during this time. No, i dont even want to quote the names. I only pity those producers who put their money in the hands of such brainless directors. I wonder which age are they living in! The average indian male is no more sex-starved and he doesnt have to endure a 3 hour torture for his vicarious pleasures. An attrociously dressed Rani Mukherjee is the last thing that attracts him to a movie. The earlier these directors realise this, the better for them. Its ok if they dont want to put some clothes on the heroine, but they should consider putting in some coherent story in their movies.

And these directors achieved something i never thought would happen. Yes, i am saying this! Madam Rekha! Enough, Please retire. My admirations for her were so high, i attempted to watch even that dreadful movie. And it was hard for me to digest
the fact that i couldnt bear Rekha on screen. Yet again, one more reminder that we are all mortals and no one is a nirjara!

I wonder what caused this drying up of creative juices in bollywood. These days, they either just mimic the hollywood(in a bad taste) or re-make a movie thats already made couple of times. And these remakes, based on some out of the place novels, only succeed in defaming the authors. These guys rather make movies out of Mills & Boon novels and i think they can do a better job.

Enough bashing. In retrospect, i have no one but me to blame for this suffering. I have learnt my lessons now and will be more careful in attempting to watch a movie, that too in these badly-maintained and over-priced bangalorean theatres. I rather watch a golf match on TV and be more entertained!

A Scorching Nostalgia...!!!

The Heat is On! Yes people, i am refering to the scorching summer this year. "Last summer was not this hot", Ofcourse, thats what we say every summer, but this year its not a cliche. The silicon valley of india, which is supposed to be having "very pleasant" climate, is blazing hot. And worse, there is hardly any breeze during the nights. And i just envy these Bangalorean gals, just cant afford to dress like them!!! Yes, the heat is aggravated!!!

This kind of summers always stir up a nostalgia in me. They remind me of my school days and summer holidays. And my native village and the house i spent my vacations in. Ah! Those days. Yes, I dont mind sounding cliched.

I always enjoyed my summer vacations. Specially those early mornings. I always woke up early during vacations. I admit "Don't have to study" was a definite motivation. Pretending sleep was the easiest trick i used to employ to avoid scolds for not studying. My rule was, the more time you are awake, more scolds you take for not sudying. Summer presented no such difficulties. I could happily wake up and enjoy those mornings.

And one should experience this beauty. The soothing breeze, cloudless sky, sacred chants from the temple's loud speaker, the serene ambience and the early morning village activities. I always sat on the rear-side compound wall, throwing pebbles in to the pond and observing people scurrying in the street on the other side of the tank. It was very amusing. A motley and variegated crowd. There was this milkwala who used the lid of his milk can as a calling bell. And those farmers going to fields on "Raleigh" and "Humber" cycles and litting their "chuttas"(tobacco rolls) with the rope thats lit and hanging to the panchayath board office roof. It was a definite visual treat watching the "lungi" clad villager riding the bicycle, balancing the handle with one hand and a big load of grass on head with the other.

And summer was also about mangoes. Yummy and unlimited!!! I could easily eat 4 mangoes with my lunch. Alas! i dont get that variety anymore. That mango tree in our backyard has fallen during a cyclone few years back.

And in the afternoon, when every one is enjoying a nap, Clad in a "full-hands" shirt tucked in my pant, i used to roam around in that scorching heat, most of the time playing with the bow and arrows i made for myself! And not to forget those cricket matches in the evenings. I always opened the batting for our team and bowled what i called "off spin".

Ah! i rambled quite a bit boring you with my nostalgia. Lemme take the shirt off and try the floor. May be i can catch up some sleep. God!This bed is giving me burns!!!



The Great Indian Bicycle Trick
Courtesy: Padmini

Time To Celebrate!!!

God!!! I am so tied up with trivialities these days, that i didnt even notice the fact that the blog counter crossed the 5K mark! clap, clap. Better late than never. So when i saw it, i thought i must celebrate this.

But being a guy and a tee-totaller leaves one with very few options. So i have decided to celebrate by gifting myself something thats really cool! These are one of those few moments that make me happy for being single. And i look at those 'committed' guys with sympathy!!!For them, Whatever the occassion may be, its the girl who should get the gift. It will be generally like this:

guy: Honey! how do you like a diamond studded watch for this valentine's.
gal: Think something else Dear! That suits better as a gift on your birthday...
guy: $$$$!!!

Ha!thinking of one proper gift for a gal itself is a mammoth task for a guy. And what for alternatives!!! I know guys who, out of sheer lack of mental prowess, gave gifts like puncher-repair kits and lawn-mowers to girlfriends. I should say, the art of selecting a gift for a girl is as much complicated as freudian-psychology and as much tough to crack as human DNA code! So i will write a post dedicated to this sometime!

Coming to my current scenario, Imagine how it would have been if i have a girlfriend and express her my desire to celebrate with a cool gift to myself!

Me: Sweetheart! i wanna celebrate this and gift my self something really cool!
GF: Whats that you wanna buy?
Me: May be the latest Samsung D500. Its a really cool camera mobile to flaunt.
GF: Duffer! these camera mobiles dont work properly either as a camera or a mobile. Why do you wanna waste your money?
Me: Then you suggest something.
GF: Why dont you buy me those new model diamond ear-rings that we saw last time at the Jewellers.
Me: But when i wanted to buy them last time, you said you already have 365 pairs of ear-rings and dont want any more of them.
GF: Oh! i forgot about the leap-year then.
Me: WHAT!!!!!!

No, i dont have to take such shocks. I can peacefully go into a gadget shop, pickup the coolest one and swipe my card.

And i thank from bottom of my heart, all you readers who gave me this opportunity to celebrate and hope you continue to give me such opportunities. I also want to thank Mallika Sherawath, Neha Dhupia, Konkona Sen, Thrisha Krishnan, Valentino rossi's girlfriend and all those celebrity babes who also have been key contributers to this. And a big thanks to Google for making these people help me in getting the counter ticking!

I am not sure whether to be happy or not, but these are some of the google searches that are pointing to my blog:

- Hot Mallika Sherawath
- Thrisha Krishnan in shower (oops!)
- Neha Dhupia vital Statistics (?!!)
- Konkona Sen height and weight
- Hot Mallu Babes (this one mostly from Gelf!!!)
- Valentino Rossi's girlfriend kissing (!!!)

Thats about it peoples, and i have decided to be a little more careful in using celebrity names in my posts. Imagine the state of a guy whose desperate for some motivation, if he lands up on my blog hoping to find some thing useful. Atleast, i can understand and empathize. If you dont see why, then you are not a guy and single!!!