Saturday, October 29, 2005

Back to today

I keep getting these morbid ideas about life, our political situation, and my exams.
I've been noticing that school isn't really helping me out. In fact, it's those kids I fear. The same kids who are my classmates, the same kids I'm starting to hate. I not going to point out anyone, but I'd like to say that they are going up in nicotine smoke...

That should be enough surrounding me and my teenaged adventures.
More on today, I've just gotten to know Delhi was bombed, some areas actually.

My Saturday evening, like usual, was being spent in the premesis of books, in my extra-class centre. Physics was going on, our teacher explaining about 'Solar Power'. Until an unexpected ring came up his cell. It was the call that informed us about those blasts.
Pretty soon, parents came up. Class was over early.

On reaching home, I started flipping through news channels. It was then that I came to know what really happend. Bombs were set off in various crowded areas, including south and central Delhi. 35 casualties, and growing. My pulse wasn't the only one racing, even when I was far and safe from even a scratch.

I'm assuming that the bombs were mainly set to send off a wave of terror. All of them planted in various crowded areas, that too in the festive time which was soon to be followed by Diwali and Eid. Thus, the damage inflicted was doubled.
Fortunately though, I've just noticed a news anchor talking about how the bomb squad has managed to defuse one of the bombs...

Now, finger-pointing shall begin. Who should we blame? Al Quaeda (remember UK some time ago?), Saddam Hussein (hmmm...aftermath of his trials, perhaps?), Osama Bin Laden (guess who's back, back again...), or a new terrorist group, looking for the same level of fame?

Yes, life is morbid. And then, people ask me where I get these dark thoughts from.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

The first day of the rest of my life

Not really. But it's equally important.

The first day of my life -10 february 1991- was actually a start of things. I was afraid I'd come to this.
Today, we get to the beginning of a simple week of festive Diwali holidays. And these days will be no ordinary days, Pre-Boards initiate at the termination of them.

Yes, Pre-Boards. They are the preparation for the Boards (quite simple, eh?). And the Board exam, will decide the fate of my life. They will choose which path I'll travel, and they will decide what life I live.
What is neccessary is that I must score great in my pre-board exams, because, according to what's been happening, they are a whole lot tougher to crack than the Boards. And if I do score high, then I won't be biting my nails off (like right now...) preparing for the Boards.
Board this, board that, I really can't put my mind into books, I get bored...

Confused?
Just think of my situation...

Anyway, here's some poetry, completely irrelevent to the topic.

Biochem fury by abhas1

When we all fall victims to syndromes,
a prey to our dismay,
how will we ever reach our homes?
Tears on the floor; blood is on the way.
There's a vein, a syringe,
a silent killer on today;
a breakdown, a fringe,
a prisoner of war to slay;
a virus deep inside us,
it'll drag us to our grave,
there's the silence of the stone,
a slice of punishment we crave.
We can blame all orange,
an agent responsible for rave,
thank it for killing all vegetation,
thank it for the end of today,
for those who confront the system,
bear hard and brave suicide,
it's scientific war-tech,
that's responsible for genocide.

Friday, October 21, 2005

The day after yesterday

Yes, modern today.
Where sounds of birds chirping have been replaced by the the sounds of cell phones ringing. The green of trees, replaced by your computer's wallpaper. And clouds, replaced by a dark smog, left out by industries that manufacture anti-pollutants...
Seemingly, this is the today, we were expecting yesterday. We've covered giant leaps, accomplished what not, and gone where no man has gone before.

And this going everywhere has resulted in a situation. A situation no less ordinary, but "extra"-ordinary. It's situations when you come to say "..been there, done that..".

Maybe, we are going to a morbid future. Machines be taking our places, so what will we do when they get fixed? Will we visit mass unemployment, the end? Or an apocalyptic rescue, sending us to salvation?

I don't know. Just read the poem for now.

The Future Collapse by abhas1

I've locked myself in a dark black room,
only to watch the flowers bloom,
It's all in my head,
'cause there is no bed,
and everyone is dead,
in the near future,
where kids are tutors,
preaching hate,
while practicing fate,
and at the rate
this is going,
bankrupt is 'Boeing',
all the leaders are going,
showing, but not knowing,
own land's innocent blood is flowing...
[not knowing, death is not slowing]
own land's morbid ghosts are towing...
[not knowing, death is not slowing]
own land's peace is nowhere growing...
[not knowing, death is not slowing]
own land's death is not slowing...
[not knowing, life is not showing...]

Thursday, October 20, 2005

A few good rhymes

Some of my favorite lines, from some of my favorite songs...

from "Sing for the moment" by Eminem
(originally by Aerosmith, but I prefer the Em version)

sing with me, sing for the year,
sing for the laughter, sing for the tears,
sing with me now, just for today,
maybe tomrrow, the good lord will take you away...

from "Calm like a bomb" by Rage Against the Machine

There's a mass without roofs;
a prison to fill,
a country's soul that reads: "Post no bills",
a strike and a line of cops outside of the mills,
there's a right to obey,
and then there's the right to kill...

from "Lake of fire" by Nirvana

Where'd the bad folks go when they die?
they don't go to heaven where the angels fly,
Go to a lake of fire and fry,
won't see 'em again, till the Fourth of July...


from "Criminal" by Eminem
(yes, the selection is long...)

Windows tinted on my ride when I drive in it
So when I rob a bank, run out and just dive in it
So I'll be disguised in it
And if anybody identifies the guy in it
I'll hide for 5 minutes
Come back, shoot the eyewitness
Fire at the private eye hired to pry in my business
Die bi*ches
Passed this scratched 'Vette
This puppy's lucky I didn't blast his a*s yet
If I ever gave a f*ck, I'd shave my nuts
Tuck my d*ck in between my legs and cluck
You mothaf*ckin' chickens ain't brave enough
To say the stuff I say, so just tape it shut
Shit, half the shit I say, I just make it up
To make you mad, so kiss my white naked a*s
And if it's not a rapper that I'll make it as
I'mma be a f*ckin' rapist in a Jason mask

I'm a criminal
Cuz everytime I write a rhyme
These people think it's a crime
to tell 'em what's on my mind
I guess I'm a criminal
I don't gotta say a word
I just flip 'em the bird and keep goin'
I don't take shit from no one

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Cover story

Looks familiar?

It's the cover of Rage Against the Machine's debut album. As one of the first full-length fusions of the widely disparate genres, Rage Against the Machine is a landmark album, setting the stage for the late-
1990s boom in more pop-oriented fusions like Limp Bizkit, KoЯn and Linkin Park; moreover, the album set itself apart from those that came after it with its uncompromising political commentary. The songs on Rage Against the Machine tend to feature political mantras interspersed with angry, expletive-laced invective, with the vocals delivered in a style similar that of a hip hop artist.

This cover featured the controversial photograph of Thích Quảng Ðức self-immolating in protest of the Buddhist treatment under the South Vietnam government.

Here some info from wikipedia:

Thích Quảng Ðức, born in 1897, was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who burnt himself to death at a busy Saigon intersection on June 11, 1963. His act of self-immolation, which was repeated by others, was witnessed by David Halberstam, a New York Times reporter, who wrote:

I was to see that sight again, but once was enough. Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shriveling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think.... As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him.

Thích Quảng Ðức was protesting against the way the administration of the Prime Minister Ngô Đình Diệm was oppressing the Buddhist religion.

His monastery was just outside of Huế in central Vietnam. The light blue Austin in which he drove to Saigon to commit his act can still be seen there (along with a picture showing his self-immolation, with his car in the background). Following his death, attempts by the Buddhist community to cremate his heart only resulted in it remaining intact. It was henceforth considered holy and placed in the care of the Reserve Bank of Vietnam.

Madame Nhu, the first lady of Vietnam at the time, commented with regard to this that she would "clap hands at seeing another monk barbecue show." This supposedly resulted in her receiving the alias of "Dragon Lady."

A powerful man is all I can call him.

And seemingly, it fits right in Rage's cover.
This cover shows protest. It shows going against the system. It shows rage against the machine...

credit these links for more:
http://www.quangduc.com/BoTatQuangDuc/25photo.html
http://www.uwec.edu/greider/BMRB/culture/student.work/hicksr/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Qu%E1%BA%A3ng_%C3%90%E1%BB%A9c

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

7.4 richter scale

Before I start out on saying what I was about to, I'd like to wish Mr. Amitabh Bachchan a very happy birthday.

Now...for the quake that hit on Saturday, 8 October 2005.

Following the tsunami disaster that hit the Asian subcontinent, this was the next worst thing. The toll has already gone over 30,000 in Pakistan, and 300 in India. The high number in Pakistan is because the epicentre -Muzaffarabad- lied in Pakistan, and that too, in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) area. That's why the tremors, the aftershocks, were felt in India also.

Now what worries me is that, last time (the tsunami disaster) hit this area -particularly India (of the Asian subcontinent)- the government and education department took some steps, which have now proved to be of no use. The NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Technology), and the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) came up with a solution to empower the common man and the school children with knowledge of "disaster management". They introduced new books into the school system.

Now, in the texts of these new books, we could find methods of preventing mass damage from tsunamis, earthquakes (remember Gujarat on 26 Jan. 2001?), and some other natural disasters.

Seems to me that we are the greatest idiots on earth.
Writing a book like that wasn't enough; we were supposed to implement what was written! The whole purpose of this book was to teach methods of safety, the making of an air bag of sorts. And a high death toll only proves that this whole purpose was defeated.
This gives me the signal that we just made that book up, just for the sake of it.

Um... I guess all of the above implies only if the Pakistan school system was smart enough to learn from the tsunami, the Gujarat quake, and the fact that they also introduced such books.

Other than that, a moment of silence for those who lost their lives.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Kapoor vs. Kapur; Back on camera

I must say, I just love what all the Indian news channels do just to raise their TRPs. It's great and it works.

Remember, back some time ago, when Karisma Kapoor was getting married, and some press agencies sneaked right in-- to give us the "inside scoop" ? That was the only thing you could watch on the news for a few days. And not just on TV, but in paper too.

Then, a few months slipped by, and just when the news seemed to be out of...news...the press, once again, looked up to the Kapurs. That was the time when all this hooplah started, regarding their married life. The press-- giving us more of the inside scoop, reported that the Kapurs weren't actually happy with their married life. A fight of sorts...

This was followed by more scoops. Pressing issues now, on their divorce. This seemed to stir up more talking in the town. This got the press happy, too. After all, everyone was switching to the news channels--new in the entertainment business. So, then this-that happend, yak-yak. And the news, once again seemed to be losing grip...

But the Kapurs came to the rescue! Seemed like they never failed to serve the media's (and to some extent, our) interest.

Now, when the couple, saved from divorce, tried another chance in life and tried to work out their marriage, the ever-so-faithful press didn't leave them alone. They put up hidden cameras, voice recorders, and a wanton raise in the TRP. So now, when you switch to your news channel, you can see the Kapurs, strolling through parks, walking around their hotel\house , and even airport arrivals.
And to make this story more spicy, *ahem* sleazy... the media has come up with another one of their innovative ideas--cheap headlines! They've titled their footage as "The lovers, back in the nest" or "Love is victorious" (something like that...)

A message to the media: You guys are doing great. You thought just like the Indian film industry (paticularly Mahesh Bhatt...), and your schemes are working great. Keep up the good work..um...I meant ratings.