Hate Begets More Hate - Amir Kasab Hanging

November 26 of 2008 marked an unprecedented day that India could never have braced itself. A day when terrorism reared its ugly head in this peace loving nation; The day when Pakistani terrorists, infiltrated our border and wrecked havoc in 8 different places in Mumbai city. 

This city had already known the effects of terrorist attacks, however such attacks were only results of religious conflicts within the state. Hindus killed the Muslims and vice versa...all happening internally. To that very day, Mumbai was known as the city that can control its own population without an external resource ever needed. 

Perhaps it was the internal population check rendered ineffective or perhaps the heads of various political parties and religious factions could not keep their lashing tongue in check that they had to say something revolutionarily stupid, we may never know, but November 28 of 2008 marked the day when the well trained Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamist men infiltrated our land borders via the Arabian Sea.

After four years and many failed Clemency Petitions, Kasab was hanged on this "peace loving" soil at 7:30am IST on the 21st of November 2012.

Truth be said, like all Pathans, Ajmal was definitely good looking and as per his statements, if he did pursue a career in the cine-industry, I am sure that he could have made it really big. If the Indian cine-industry could make the khans and the kanths really big, then why not a Kasab?

Sadly, Kasab was first met by poverty, illiteracy and soon by the all-alluring promise of the leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamist group which amounted to PKR. 15,000.00. For a person whose father makes a living selling dahi puris, this particular amount sure did look like it would make a lot of ends meet for many more months to come; but the clause clearly stated that he cannot be captured.

This poor, little, handsome man, perhaps had a last minute change of mind that he actually was captured on the day of shooting, apprehended, spilled most of his guts in the “confession”, was tried and later hanged. Invariably, after four years, this handsome man did die. It makes one wonder if the promised amount was paid by LeT though the non-capture, non-disclosure clause was broken!

That aside, it makes one wonder…we call ourselves a peace loving country that was founded by a peace loving man (Mohandass K. Gandhi). Then how is it that our very own political and religious heads make such judgemental and hate-filled statements in-turn earning the hatred of others.

If having a lashing and tempestuous tongue was not enough, we went ahead and hanged that handsome Kasab for threatening the security of this country. If this country’s security can be that easily threatened then the fundamental questions that need answering are,

How good is our government and the military forces that it can’t even keep a tag on its boundaries?

Cant this government control the tongues or statements made by those who are not in power?

How good are our leaders, that they place us on the sacrificial altar as collateral damage?

Well, we the proud Indians have gone ahead and hanged Kasab (for those who didn’t know this, Ajmal Kasab did not even know the true meaning of Jihad....all that he knew was what he was taught in training - that it was mainly for the sake of immortality - for the sake of publicity).

We, a proud nation have gone ahead and dipped our hands in the blood of a man who was ignorant to what the truth was. We have killed someone who wasn’t to be blamed for his ignorance.

This act of hanging Ajmal Kasab did not end terrorism (‘cuz I still read reports of L-e-T, Tal and A-Q almost every other day) nor did it put the fear of death in the hearts of suicide bombers (does that sound ironic only to me?).

We have gone ahead and sealed our fate – not as country that would come out of its “third world” title. But as a country that would ever live in darkness and perish in ignorance. We hung a man who was ignorant, we celebrated that capital punishment and worst of all we have provoked other Islamist factions to wage their “Jihad” without understanding how holy and beautiful that word is.

Until Next Time

Jihad - A Beautiful Word Misued

Advice, Advise....two homophones with two distinct meanings. The former is a noun while the latter is used as a verb. It is understandable to be confused between the usage of both these words since  both these words sound alike with just one letter of the alphabet being changed in the words. 

This being an understandable case, how could one simply confuse, misunderstand and misuse one beautiful word that does not have another word with similar spelling or sound?

Jihad. Just a word. A word misunderstood and used at one's own whim and fancy. Why? simply because we are willing to listen and believe what another's screwed up version of the same is, rather than figuring out the answer for ourselves. The underlying reason...we are lazy to find the answer, so when someone spoon-feeds the information that we are looking for, then that simply makes it easier for us.

This word; Jihad is one of the most beautiful words that I had come across in the past. Jihad, simply means..............STRUGGLE. 

Struggle...that's all it means. The inner and the outer struggle to make oneself a better human - a better human who lives a meaningful life that can be shown as a beacon that can enlighten another's search in life.

A struggle where we as humans fight the inner demon to live a better life - a life where we live, not regretting what we do and making certain that what we do does not affect any living things.

A few days back, I was reading this heart-wrenching piece done about the 26/11 attack in India that showcased an interview with the poor soul that was hanged. According to this poor soul, he was taught that Jihad means publicity and the means for a person to become famous even after death. That made me think, was he taught that he would be immortalized after his so-called “martyrdom”???

Now ain't that a laugh??? Islam says that there is no other God on this planet or anywhere else save Allah, but these self-serving asses that recruit masses for terrorizing other countries actually give them the Idea of Immortalizing themselves once they have served the purpose of Jihad. 

Doesn’t this go against the rule of not having another God save Allah? Are these guys who are killing innocent lives in the name of Jihad lack reason that they blindly believe what another idiot has to say? 

Can’t they for once think and ask if what they are being taught is actually against the teachings of Islam? In which case, how could they go to the kingdom of heaven to be with Allah?

Apart from being lazy, I believe humans are being overtaken by the “dumbness-genes”. Perhaps this is why the beautiful word, Jihad is oft misused, misinterpreted and misunderstood!

Today's Indian Media - Watchdogs or Perpetrators?

Not that I am an avid reader of newspapers, but It so happens that I wanted to be a good citizen of the world and keep a track of what was happening on this beautiful planet. 

A year into this new "newspaper-reading" project, I realized (quite late) why I initially stopped reading the newspapers for quite so many years. One of the reasons being, newspaper companies publish only news that would sell them fast and publish only what they want us to read.

Didn't someone once actually say that a newspaper in the society is more like a watchdog that brings to light the mishaps and the wrong deeds in a society, to ensure the perpetrators are actually held responsible? Or was it me who created that statement in my head hoping that it was said by someone who was more famous?

Either ways, even if it wasn’t said by someone famous, at least now I am saying it. 

Over the past year, the one thing that I have come to realize is that, our wonderful journalists and reporters are so creative, that they actually print even the slightest detail like a political figure passing gas into a creative piece as to how that gas had nuclear contamination that threats the neighboring countries. End result - India pays the ultimate result by losing its innocent lives at railway stations and bus depots!

Today’s journalists and reporters fail to realize that it is not just a matter of filling the space in their newspapers nor is it about talking crap on your news channels (filling space is why you  have companies to advertize). It is more about having the common sense to discern what the consequences would be if a stupid statement by an uneducated politician is quoted in the newspapers or stated on various news channels. 

Indian Media should start acting with responsibility. If you really want to quote a radical statement of a so-called “revolutionary” leader of this country, then forward such statements to the Home Ministry or the External affairs ministry and print or quote what the heads of such ministries have to say.

I agree that such revoltingly, radical statements could possibly bring in better revenue for the newspaper companies and TV channels, but are you willing to do it at the cost of national security and  at the cost of so many innocent lives.

It is time that the Indian media started thinking, are we as humans nothing more than just “collateral damage”? Are our human lives nothing more than just a means to sell more papers or get better viewer rating?

Indian newspaper and news channel companies should stop quoting arrogant dictators, alcoholics and money hoarders who call themselves political leaders. Speak to the Ministries in-charge and stop claiming our lives to sell your papers better.

Always remember, we are a peace loving country. Don’t instigate it with your irresponsibility.

IPAD 2 Incompatible With IOS 6 - Resolved

Thought I would post something useful for y'all and luckily for you (though not so very much for me), my IPad 2 decided to get a software update by itself and kinda forced me to update / upgrade my IOS. Not too certain as to what I had earlier, but my Ipad2 wanted a software upgrade to IOS 6.1.

Well, like any well-wishing gadget owner, I went ahead and clicked on update and after 10 minutes it successfully updated the new IOS. WOW! I am now a proud owner of the IOS 6.1 operating system. The only fact that let my WOW factor down was that, immediately after the IOS update, my IPAd just would not sync with the iTunes software. iTunes kept saying that it was unable to sync with my IPAD named "LUST"!!!

After contemplating for a while, I uninstalled the old version of the iTunes software and reinstalled the current version of it. On completing the same, I plugged my IPad to my PC and iTunes stated that it can't sync if the IPad is locked. All I had to do was unlock the ipad and it synced without a hitch.

On successfully completing the re-installation and syncing, I wonderedif I have to unlock my IPad every single time I connect it to my PC. To set my mind at rest, I unplugged and re-plugged the IPad to my PC once more and this time, it did not ask me to unlock my IPad.

So for those who are having issues with your updated IPas, here is a simple 4-step resolution;

1. On updating the IOS on your ipad, unplug it from the PC.
2. Uninstall the old version of iTunes and reinstall the latest version.
3. Unlock your IPad and connect it to the PC
4. Let your iTunes boot and sync with your IPad for the first time 

 If these steps do not work, keep me posted and I shall find out what else could be done.

First Flight Logistics - The Worst In Destination Search

First Flight Logistics AKA First Flight Couriers in India is the first to ask for business, but the last to actually deliver the consignment to the correct destination. This is a true life incident, one that has happened to me and the nightmare still continues as the consignment is long overdue and still has not been delivered to me!

Flirst Flight Couriers, apparently has a problem reading zip codes on the package. Instead of  having the consignment delivered to a city in Tamil Nadu, they actually sent the consignment to an absolutely different state!!!

C'mon, how difficult is it for these guys, who have been in the logistics industry, to figure out that the starting digit of the zip code actually is for a particular state? I understand that the place mentioned can be kinda' misleading, but gimme a break man...the god damn consignment has a zip code in place.

I also spent close to 2 hours speaking to the worlds most "capable" representatives from First Flight Couriers - result, was transferred to various execs. (the number of whom, i have lost count) and surely, had to speak to these people from two different states. The ones from my state did not know what to do, hence gave me the Delhi office number and asked me to speak to them.

The First Flight Courier service in Delhi had such wonderful people none of whom could speak a word in English, save the question, "AWB Number?"......THAT WAS ALL THEY KNEW TO ASK OR SAY IN ENGLISH!!!

After the daunting two hours, had to speak for another thirty minutes to the consignee who stated that she would take care of it! Well, I have waited thus long and just haven't seen how it is being taken care of!!!

Well, I for one now am gonna wallow in my misery and the inefficiency of First Flight Couriers while y'all have a very HAPPY DIWALI. As for the service at First Flight, here is The One giving them ZERO stars!!!

Update
After 4 weeks, the  consignment reached me. Sadly, it was damaged due to the inefficient handling by the First Flight Crew!

Gelusil - For plants?

Not that my plants were suffering from a bout of indigestion or heart-burn, but just did not have a clue as to what to do with a whole carton of Gelusil pills.

Well, I heard that I can actually use them or any other pill that is expired, to fertilise or disinfect plants. What is wrong in giving it a shot, right? Just went ahead, crushed the entire carton (close to 300) of pills and mixed them in the soil.

Will keep y'all posted on how that goes. In the meantime, if you have a whole load of expired pills and not sure what to do with them....send them across to me. Shall experiment with the same on my plants and keep you posted and how things work out!





Ps. There are some weird bugs in my soil that keep jumping every time I till the ground. Any idea how to get rid of them?

Surprise, surprise

I just checked my blogger profile and guess what I just realised??? I have had this account since 2011!!!

OS!!!

What have I been doing thus long? Well, I do know the answer for that particular question and for those of you who are inclined to know the answer....well, I need to tell you that the question was rhetorical and the answer is something that I am not going to tell the whole world about!

Ok, now the million dollar question that is worrying me a bit, is the name of this blog? Did I choose nothing on the menu or everything on the menu. Well google is showing me both and is slightly bonkering me at this time, but you know what, let's just go on ahead still.

Anyhoooo, coming back to what I wanted to tell y'all is that this blog is going to be dedicated to discussing almost everything that is happening around the world, in my head and just about things that others deem not fit to be on the menu.

So, very soon, you should come across lots more on this site......fingers crossed ;)