Kratisto!

Hel.

2011-09-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Who is Hel?

I am the Angel. I am the Devil.

2011-07-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

Theme Atlantean.

2011-07-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

The Dooda!

2011-05-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

Nata-shnu!

2010-12-03T14:10:00.000-08:00

Valkyrie!

2010-06-08T03:06:00.000-07:00

Bharat Mata Ki Jai!

2010-01-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

It has been 60 years since we have given ourselves the gift of democracy. The 60th anniversary of our Republic Day behooves each and every Indian to look back at our glorious past, and pay heed to the trials and tribulations faced by our brothers and sisters, because without their sweat and blood, India as we know today would not be what it is. The 60th anniversary is to be accentuated with a lot of emphasis, because 60 is a milestone, a landmark which everyone would like to see and surpass in their lives, a pit-stop on the highway to greatness.

We as a nation have come a long way from the January of 1950. We have walked through the times by abolishing untouchability, eradicating a caste based system, granting every individual his or hers basic fundamental rights. It is because of these principles laid down by our forefathers, today; we are able to enjoy our multifarious customs and traditions. It is because of this diversity, we are able to showcase our proud customs to the world. This is the only day in a year, when every Indian comes under one roof and celebrates his or her gift of the present.

Certain anti social forces continued to hinder the societal development and the nation in turn. Pockets of rebellions sprouted when opportunities arose. With our yearly increasing standard of living, the society began to see a divide. The gap between the ‘fortunate’ and the ‘not so fortunate’ thickened. If only we as a nation decide to invest more in public groups and NGOs that intend to reduce this gap, we would see a positive response form the ‘not so fortunate’. 

That is because real happiness is in seeing the fruits of progress percolate down to each and every human, in seeing the ‘real India’ progress. Real happiness is when 836 million of our brothers and sisters, whose subsistence is on a mere Rs. 100 per day, can realistically hope for one day when they can go to bed contented. Real happiness as a nation, can only be achieved, the day every one of our citizens, can sit back in the secure belief that their future is not bleak. And that, will only happen the day we as a nation judge our fellow citizens not by the zeroes in their bank balance, but by the content of their character.

Contributors to this article: Ram Narayanan & Nithin Santosh

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The Ghost walks today

1 ball Rs.10,000 to WIN 

My closest shot at a NA'VI

2010-01-25T12:19:00.000-08:00

Na'vi induction - The racial dance

2010-01-03T11:26:00.001-08:00

What happens when one’s vision of thought is drafted on the physical world? Imagine seeing one’s thoughts coming to life, all those precious little thoughts transduced into tangible entities. You think it, you get it. The invention of the Sixth Sense will really transcend our perception of the world as such. With a swoosh of the hand, the physical world can be painted on the canvas of the digital world. How much will one have to go through to wait for 10 odd years for technology to catch up with one’s visions? How much of a tight lipped person can he be? Project 880 an endeavor of titanic proportions, surely did eclipse the Titanic. 

Avatar was one jaw-droppingly beautiful movie. The movie’s rather furtive development left people with Olympian expectations. And when Project 880 finally became Avatar, it did stamp its feet on the wet concrete of world cinema. It has undoubtedly carved its niche in cinematography. Awed by the public response and of course the money he is making (around 230m USD), James Cameron says – “I feel like I have to make a second one now, but that'll only happen if we make some money with the first one. So we'll see... I have a story worked out for the second film, and the third film, but my lips are sealed".

What didn’t the movie have? It was an awesome visually treat for one, portrayed a vibrant and exotic motley of colours, a predictable love story, and to top it all up we had the same old story of man invading/encroaching another’s territory. Extensive use of the Motion Capture technology and stretching the limits of Computer Graphics has begot one of the best movies man has ever produced. This film does have an element of geeky-ness and non-geeky-ness too. Avatar is a whole family film. It is totally rubbish and nonsensical to regard Avatar as a racially biased movie. Some people just pose ridiculous stuff to seek attention. I mean come on! During the whole time watching the movie who would have ever thought of the fact that there is a “white man” controlling a body of a “blue” tailed person, being racial discrimination? Oh look there is a white guy, oh no! he mingling with those blue-tailed people! I know what this is!? It is pure racial discrimination! Hah!

Jake Sully as a character was extremely instrumental in getting human viewership. As far as the film goes, the humans needed a marine to get info to do all their dirty stuff. Jake as a character longs to walk and run again. This he was able to achieve only when he was in his avatar. Plus, when the imminent love seemed to crop up, he saw “the correct path”, and turned against his own kind. 

Learning Na’vi has become  easier now. Hope there won’t be another 10 year wait for a stupendous sequel. 

(Images courtesy: http://avatar.typepad.com)

Bellerophon's Pegasus

2009-11-28T08:59:00.001-08:00

The Ghost walks today

2009-09-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

Let us retrospect and see the way our country was a few decades ago. India had just freed herself from the clutches of the British. There was unity and jollity amongst the people. People had immense respect for one other. There was no room for snobbishness. The air of pomposity had been expunged with the egress of the British. The country had seen its culmination of unity. Never after to such an extent, would unanimity be seen.

India was soon plagued by internal conflicts. And aftermaths of the British policy of ‘Divide and Rule’ policy were again being felt. Pockets of rebels sprouted when opportunity arose and they did what any rebel would do, rob, plunder, and pillage. The ruling government did take measures to curb such negative advances but it did not suffice, as the problem still persists.

I am not talking about terrorism here, instead about the other minor but pervasive, negative forces of the society. What prompted such a section of the society to act in this penal manner? Was it due to the ‘other, well off’ section of the society?
 
Time travelling back to the 1400s or even the 1600s, we find no record of existence of such renegades and there was not a turncoat in sight. How did the people of our nation become so different in a few centuries? Where or rather how did we step onto this blood sucking leach? These anti-social forces continue to hamper growth and development of the society. This then reflects as the slow undulating growth of the economy.

My reasoning to these questions would be as follows. Every single soul in the society was well-off (back in the 1400s), be it in matters of money, education, cultures and ethics, etc. People led their lives with an amicable style. There was respect for very passerby. There was not a mendicant in sight. But then the tides started to turn. With the beginning of foreigners entering our land for reasons which were purely economic, a new epoch started which revolutionized our lifestyle. With the acceptance of other cultures, our foundations began to tremble. It was only a matter of time for this situation to reach saturation.

With our quality of lives reducing year by year, our values and ethics too took a tumble. And the rest is now history. The society began to see a divide. The line between the fortunate and the not so fortunate began to thicken. The sense of camaraderie began to dilute. People were no longer amicable and they carried themselves ceremoniously. The rich began to enjoy all the fruits and the poor continued to lose their chance to taste them. All sense of ‘help your neighbor (sharing)’ was lost. It had become ‘me against the world’. Everyone wanted to buy a house in Beverly Hills.

The Ghost walks once every month. And when it does, it should be in every individual’s agenda to give back something to the society, to the needy. A small contribution will definitely go a long way. A days wage from a million well-off Indian residents would help thousands.

To India! To restore her past glory! To emancipate every single soul! Please do not waste an opportunity when the Ghost walks.

Like an inseparable magnet

2009-08-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

When you are walking with a very aphrodisiac friend of yours every soul passing by can’t stop exercising their eyes. It is a very powerful magnet. After you pass them you decide to take a look back. And to no surprise their heads would have turned more than 360 degrees or they would have stemmed themselves from moving forward. Sometimes you may receive a smile, sometimes a openmouthed awe, but in most cases, an ogling eye. How can you define this potent act of attraction? Can you really see the fence between love and lust if it involves you to a high extent? Will you choose to show possessiveness or perhaps protectiveness or would it be jealousy?

When there is a need for introspection, just queue up all your favorite music into an endless list. Throw yourself on the couch and sink in. There is a long way to go. Unwind. Let those thoughts effuse out and scatter. It is always about a face; only one face in the crowd, the face that got you to the moon. The love lust paradox is always a messy one.

Fall of the night: The confusion begins

2009-06-19T04:45:00.000-07:00

The enigma of life can be very obscure. Silence must be heard. The trademark cadence, rhythm of sound can sometimes be tangible. It starts with silence, and the day escapes beyond the horizon silently. There is no telling when it all starts or when will it all come to a halt. It has this unexplainable verve, incomparable beats, so tantalizing.

How does desire taste? Muffled, so that you can barely here it? When does one crave for it the most? Shadows are all that will accompany you. It’s almost real. You can almost feel it. The aura surrounds you. You just need to be aware of it. Close your eyes and you can feel that it’s almost real. How does fame feel? Sometimes you just crave for it more than anything.
 

Standing on your 25th floor apartment, you look down; everything is comparable to an ant. Vision is fooling you. You see only what is shown to you. Looking beyond it required. There is always something to see wherever you look. You can really choose what to look at.

No one really stands up for glory these days. It’s almost nonexistent. 

I mean who will want to do anything for glory today. 

People tell me that we have a rich worldly culture. There is loads of stuff written in the scriptures. Technology and everything around it seems to have been engraved in the Vedic pages. Cure for any ailment is supposedly available. It seems computers have autographed these pages, explained their functioning in detail. Well then why didn’t our forefathers use it at that time?

 
The story of Atlantis has always fascinated me. They seemed to be advanced in every way. Too bad they couldn’t stay afloat.

 
I still can’t believe that the gods favored the Greeks more than the Trojans. Had they not interceded the way Homer had described, the Greeks would have met their last. Even the almighty Achilles couldn’t have done anything. The fleeing Trojans are then said to have found modern Italy.

 
Alexander the great did everything he wanted, just to prove to his father that he was better than him. By sleight of hand or deception, he won over many. Alexander and Hitler wanted to rule over all, that was one among many in common between the two including Fame and Greed.

The Romans were indeed at the culmination of a great civilization. But then when they started to fall, they found England, from where we have seen the likes of Attila the Hun and King Arthur. It’s almost as if there is a connection.

All of these great men went down one way or the other. For some it was Glory, Fame for some, Respect and Desires for many others…

Desperate Lowlifes!

2009-06-03T01:26:00.000-07:00

Embarking on an issue which has always been an important pivotal issue in today’s world, we see how far its hands can reach. On one hand we have the sagacious Russel Peters who with all his little idiosyncrasies injects hilarity in people. And on the counter balance we have a particular sect of people, a breed apart from the gentry, who think they can take matters into their own hands, and lambaste the weaker section. Freaks I tell you, all of them. Look at the apathy of the situation in Australia, even people who have taken an oath ‘to help and protect’ are following ‘to punish and enslave’.

The question I’m putting forth is whether such animosity amongst people could be fueled by some boisterous but joking comments made by some artist. No offence to Mr. Peters but I think such stand up comedies might in some remote way aid this problem. Well I’m a fan of Peters too, but not a huge one. Not restriction our gamut of such problems to the Aussie land only, we have the mother of all racist problems hitting an ever high in Uncle Sam’s land. It has always been like that.

What is the thing which fuels this great animosity? There has to be one main impetus. When these guys feast their eyes on a victim, how do they just lock on to him or her? It’s like “Okay man! You see that guy over there, walking with a big bag; let’s have some fun with him.” Is it an opportunistic crime? Or do these guys really have nothing to do? Desperate Lowlifes!

Tribunals to see uplift?

2009-06-02T03:48:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah! It looks like we have a better government! How much of an impact will the new team have on the present situation? It is great that we are seeing neophytes joining the most important game in our country. It only remains to be seen, how these newcomers would fare. Taking an inviolable oath will not suffice. They must have their ideas ingrained; remove all the defiling agents, defrock all unworthy ones, and expunge all culpable.

There was this one vagabond, in search of justice, in search of the truth. He has long been hurling verbose, vituperative sarcasms at the people in office. Will the claimed to be - vivacious new government - be any different? Will they be able to put in a better functioning court system, vindicate the innocent, punish the venal, give a quick and just solution to the imminent case? Come on! There are probably innumerable court cases pending. Why are we so vapid? How long would we like to see our countrymen wander desultorily seeking the truth?

Well, it’s just a week for the new government in office and Mr. Prime-minister; it seems has given a deadline and a list of jobs to be done before that, without any leeway! So it seems that the government will cant starboard towards ‘betterment of all’.

Kingfisher does really have Force!

2009-06-02T03:39:00.000-07:00

Our country’s most prized possessions were going under the gavel. As it was, our government was slow to react, we were going over the proceedings like were perusing a hundred page libretto. What was there to do? The guy’s auctioning stuff which belongs to us. Why do we get bothered only when such a thing happens? Did we have no idea that the belongings of the father of our nation were not with us? I mean come on! Did we have to wait for an auction to realize that his belongings were ‘not with us’? The government then gets itself into this long procedure of trying to stop the auctioning.

Then we saw how potent kingfisher can be. Mr. Mallya having his entire gamut of enterprises in world’s leading entrepreneurial areas. Hats off to him for taking such a bold step and bringing back what is truly ours.

1 ball Rs.10,000 to WIN

2009-03-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

“Slumdog Millionaire bags eight Oscars”, “Slumdog Millionaire favorite at the Oscars”, “An Indian night watched by the Americans”. A blitz of headlines is seen on the main page of every newspaper. The rags to riches story has become frenzy now.

Well the big question is “Does the west really like a dirty picture of the east?” It has always been like this. If the world is considered as one organization and the countries as its governing bodies, there is this pecking order which has always been followed. Well, there are no prizes for surmising who is at the top. Countries at the top always enjoy a derided and dirty picture of those below.

Well firstly, hats off to the movie and to all the people who worked for it. But, does it portray a rich Indian society to the world? Or does it show things that have to be improved, made better urgently? The world views India as a potential leader, a leader who can now address many of the important issues, issues which threaten our very existence. I am talking about the world’s climatic condition, “What will India do?” is what the west is keen to know.

I don’t have to reiterate the fact that our country is rich, we have enough money to go to space and to explore the moon. Look at the amount of money which goes into campaigning, our parties seem to produce it from thin air. Then why aren’t we putting it in the right places.

Slumdog millionaire, a movie shot in amchi Mumbai, shows us the abject poverty of most of the people there. Why aren’t places like these in our country improving? People in such areas have had their whole lineage in similar conditions. Of course they don’t have any money to pull them out of their misery. Why isn’t the government doing anything?

The second year of great Indian Premier League (IPL) starts this April. And god! With the profits involved, India could probably send ten more missions to the moon and back. Just imagine how the condition of the underprivileged could improve. Well as I see it, the IPL will be in town for years to come. The cumulative amount could well be in billion USDs. Indian cricket could well be the answer to all our questions. Even if one private organization involved in the IPL decides to take an initiative in this matter, things could well be on the road to change. Post elections, I am not going to be surprised if things remain the same way. If I can steal Mr.Obama’s punch line, “Yes, we can”, changes have to be made. Let us start and stop talking for once. We can no longer rely on the government to take an initiative.

The task ahead is not arduous. If we want to see India near the top of the pecking order, now is the time to act. Let cricket improve the conditions of the poor. Target: one ball Rs.10, 000. Achievable indeed!

2008 had it all, global crisis and terrorism to the fore

2009-01-29T20:16:00.000-08:00

January 2008 was the month which saw the markets fly high, Sensex crossing the 20,000 points mark, foreign investors began to invest more in our country, but the spring was rather very short. India really did believe that at this rate she could completely emancipate herself from the tag of a “developing nation” and see herself in the midst of the developed super-powers of today’s world. Every private working entity from ICICI to Infosys to DLF saw lucrative business opportunities and began to make the best of it. While the markets still climbed the acclivity, these companies saw profits pour in, contributing to the GDP of India.

Even a person with a myopic eye could see the markets heading towards culmination and after that, is now - the present. Beginning July – August 2008, thanks to the global economic problems, fall of global major financial institutions, the economic environment turned upside down just over night. We are still going downhill and the nadir is not visible. The Bombay stock exchange sensitive index has fallen by around 54% in 2008. 

By 1st January 2009, the Sensex stood at a mere 9,700 points.  All this, because of some glitch in the working of some of the world’s finest Investment Banks? All this, because of indiscriminate ways in which business was done by the global (read American) institutions. Few of the American Banks had undertaken a business model and created financing products which created tradable paper whose intrinsic value was zilch. For instance, housing loans were given to people who had no repayment capacity against property which were overvalued. When the market crashed due to the loan repayment defaults, it impacted the lending the banks adversely. This caused a chain of events pulling down every financial institution in the chain. Thus the excessive borrowing by consumers and reckless lending by managers escalated in an atmosphere where gains seemed everlasting, but crashed before the next sunrise. Some of them, for instance the Lehman Brothers went down, but pulled the world’s economy with them and their ripples continue to pose tsunami like problems to the countries of the world and to India.

The global downfall has had its impact on Indian products. The fall in the global financial system caused scarcity of the foreign money. Foreign investors enchased their investment form the Indian market, bringing down the Sensex.

As if this was not enough a barrage of terror attacks was hurled at many of our cities; countless lives had been lost, damage to properties worth billions was incurred. The year ended with a vicious attack on India’s financial capital which saw the nation crippled. 

Now the road ahead…

It appears that the global crisis will continue into 2009, but India will not be affected as much as the other nations. India needs to do more to affectively attend to this crisis.

Rev up our urban infrastructure, use money where it is needed most, for the country to progress and develop. I am not saying that the government is prodigal in its expenses, but it can be used to attend primary, important situations at hand like improving our crisis infrastructure, implementing and using superior technology in areas of defense. And most importantly establish better economic reforms - for instance, allowing foreign companies to invest and hold shares in many of our private and public sectors like aviation, steel projects, railways, etc. to see faster growth.
Invest more on schools and centers of learning, which will later give back to us a rich, educated youth force.
Look at countries like the US, Israel, etc. who have a well planned and effective way to counter terror. India needs to adopt more ruthless ways of countering terrorism, learning form these countries, like better information gathering, improving Special Forces, sophisticated defense equipments, etc.

Thus terrorism and economic trends are two things which cannot be eliminated or controlled. But necessary measures can be taken to prevent them from causing havoc and moderate their impact. Terrorism begets economic downfall (for instance fall in tourists, travel and hotel industry, airline companies, etc.) and economic downfall begets job losses.

So what does all this mean to India? Well as I see it, we are falling into a deep chasm. We as a country must buckle up, and stand united against terrorism, and elect leaders who will be able to take a stern decision and not leaders who will squirm and cringe when the situation arises. We also need good economists as leaders who can see us through such economic crisis.

While this is a challenging time, I am confident of India coming out of this crisis with minimal impact (relatively speaking vis-à-vis other countries) - considering our huge domestic economy (which means less dependence on US and Europe); young and exuberant population and being amongst low cost producers globally.

TICK TICK TICK...

2008-12-15T21:54:00.000-08:00

The clock's needle is ticking, counting down till it stops and waits for a bang. One by one every city is hit, obliterating its environment, puncturing through people's lives. Has "November 2008” shown us that these incidents are immutable? Can't or won't anything be done about it?

It’s all blatant that many of the "chair hungry politicians" are to blame for being so lax with India. All of them are adept when it comes to beseeching for votes and then they develop an insouciant attitude once they get comfortable on their chair. Good, that those accountable for these incidents are being shown the door, and hope the newly appointed ones do a better job. But isn't it us who elect these guys to what they are now, in the first place? Then what is the point of complaining now? Even after knowing about our "leaders" we vote for them. Are we so gullible?

I believe, what India needs now is a better infrastructural facility, be it in government offices, schools, public places, and so on. Better disaster management methods need to be adopted, our policemen, army men, and every soldier requires a pay hike. These guys are ready to lay down their lives and we are not paying them well, this is not how they should be treated. Better resources in tackling such attacks should be made available. And for god’s sake give them better guns!

Bombing terror organizations alien to our soil is not the solution. Instead, firstly we have to hunt them down in our own country, and eliminate all possible aid to the intruders form our soil. I know its not an easy task, but then when are we going to start?

Israel and the United States have not succumbed to any external attacks for the past five years or more. The United States has sealed off every possible loop hole in their defense system and has bettered their security prowess. And Israel besieged but the hostility of the neighbors has perfected a crisis management infrastructure that acts like a carapace against terror attacks. India too should borrow these ideas and make her safer.

But then again terrorism cannot be completely eliminated. But we sure can make pests starve to death. So we should extensively try to destroy their resources, their recruits and their income.