Fidgety Foots

Kudos to Times of India for publishing this blog supporting gay rights in India. But one look at the comments posted below tells the story of how homosexuality is perceived in India.

Because I doubt if “physics” and “skateboard attack” could be written in the same sentence anywhere else.

http://www.xkcd.com/594/

Don't throw them away!

This is uber-super-duper-cool. We accidentally had a dirty swiffer cloth go into our washer. It came out intact, clean and dry and staticky! It’s reusable! We use one a week…so we’ll see how long this will last.

Stick that one in the craw of perceived obsolescence.

Sunil’s update: We have now been using the same Swiffer sheet for 3 weeks now (washing after every use) with no problems!!

The past month my colleagues (and to a smaller extent, I) have slogged our asses off for a product that a company that happens to pay us is building. I watched and wondered - why would someone invest so heavily in something that is at best a tenuous link?

The obvious answer is ambition, and that is certainly true for some of the people involved. But for the rest…it’s just the need to be passionate about something.

Sublimating oneself comes naturally to humans. It doesn’t matter what the object of adoration is, the act itself is transcendental and purifying. Some people adore god or children or parents or humanity in general, others adore a project at work.

We’re all looking for a way to rise above ourselves.

Read this in a photography forum and couldn’t resist sharing it.

How do you titillate an ocelot?…

You oscillate its titalot

Yup, the Taliban has migrated from Afghanistan and found fertile breeding grounds in India. They are now testing a few of their values in Mangalore. This is on the heels of women being attacked in a pub to protect Indian culture. Frankly speaking, why should they desist when even elected leaders support their policies?

Wow, India must be one heck of a place to live in if the only problems plaguing Indian society is the youth getting frisky and trying to have a good time. Corrupt/incompetent govt officials? Broken judiciary? Intolerance? Caste system? Non-existent emergency medical system? Nyahh, suck it up and deal with it. Boy and girl holding hands in public? Holy cow, off with their heads!!

Update :  Dating couples to be married off forcibly by Ram Sena. I rest my case.

Read this article first - Ram Sena reaction to pub attack

Looks like Mutalik left his brain behind for this interview. The guy is saying it’s ok to gratuitously assault men. And women are gullible cows, incapable of free thought, being misled. Patronizing, fanatical and stupid. Great combo.

These people are permanent terrorists in our country. The Mumbai attackers operated swiftly and devastatingly, but the Senas are slow poison, petrifying free thought, progress and individualism.

I bet Ram Sena activists will “protect”  (read molest) any attractive woman who is above their social stratum and wouldn’t give them the time of day under normal circumstances. I would be afraid to go for a walk in Mangalore now. What if one of the Sena goons takes a fancy to me, decides to beat up Sunil and grope me?

Bloody terrorists.

Breaking news. There has been another terrorist attack in India. The reason you may not be hearing about this anywhere else in the world is because it was carried out by Indians against another Indian. I wonder why Pakistan needs to even bother carrying out its terrorist acts against India when we are so good at doing it to our own people? Anyone remember the 1984 terrorist attack against the Sikhs? Anyone remember the Gujrat riots? We dont have anyone else to blame for these acts of terror but ourselves, hence we are content to sweep them under the carpet while at the same time cry ourselves hoarse about how Pakistan has attacked our way of life. Yup, the way of life where the Chief Minister of a state found it necessary to raise crores of rupees forcibly from the public for a birthday celebration in the same week that saw 16 poor, debt-ridden farmers in Vidharba commit suicide.

Of course, this does not mean that I think Pakistan needs to be let off the hook either. They keep behaving as if they are the country that’s been attacked and have milked the current situation to get out of their commitments to the US to wipe out the Taliban (they are pretty much blackmailing the US). In the bargain, the Taliban has been wooed into promising help Pakistan in the event of war against India. The Pakistan govt has denied all the evidence provided to them and in fact have moved their armed forces to the Indian border despite no troop mobilization by India. In fact, they’ve now taken on the role of wounded nation, while we’re painstakingly trying to rebuild our lives in the wake of the Mumbai attack. It’s a demonstration of remarkable sleight of hand, the tables have neatly turned, suddenly we find ourselves the aggressor.

I have never believed that war or military confrontations solve any issues, but their continued belligerence in the entire matter makes me wonder if the time for diplomacy has ended.

We’re trying to rent out our flat in Bangalore, and a week ago a Muslim family inquired about it. I mentioned this to a friend and it became clear that we would be ill-advised to rent to them. Seemed illogical, but I’m the air-head NRI, out of touch with ground reality, so I asked around.

Every single person I talked to advised me against renting to Muslims.

“Why take a chance?”

“They may be decent folk but some mama/chacha/cousin will come from Karachi and they won’t even know what he’s up to”

“When they find any hanky panky they catch the homeowner first. You’ll be charged with harbouring a terrorist”

“You guys aren’t here, they’ll catch your family and put them in jail. Log mahino tak gaayab ho jaate hain (people disappear for months)”

“I’ve heard that no one will rent to Muslims, some people are even refusing to sell to them”

“How would you feel knowing a bomb was made in your beautiful new house?”

Imagine how the Muslim community must feel, denied accommodation (and God knows what else) on the sole basis of their religion. Is it any wonder they live in ghettos, embittered, feeling like second-class citizens? They’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with other Indians in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack. Yet we have trouble trusting them.

And what of me the “educated” intellectual? What am I to do? It’s true that the majority of terrorist incidents are Muslim-perpetrated. It’s true that the landlords are harassed when subversive activity takes place in a home. It’s very possible that in my absence my  family will be targeted by law enforcement. I know theoretically it shouldn’t happen, but it does. If POTA comes back civil rights will be even more curtailed.

So I can stand by my liberal ideals and risk the comfort and dignity of the people I love. Or I can turn hypocrite and bigot - preaching tolerance, practicing discrimination.

I’m not sure what my decision will be in this case, but it’s unfair that this is my choice.