Ascension

Hello mere mortals that may stumble across this page sometime in the distant future.
I have more or less abandoned this link for now and moved on to stranger pastures.
I will now be writing on my day to day, week to week adventures on a new blog.
Those of you who I know follow me will automatically be invited soon.
It was a fun and inspiring experience writing within this frame.
I am now off to build new and sturdier ones in a new place.
All the best to us both for the unknown that lies ahead.
Find me if you can, and stick around if you do.
Good bye and good luck.

Objectivism

Again

i have taken to drinking coke again
between mouthful of smoke and ash
black simmering on my lips
a phlegum cough
as i splatter all my plans onto a used napkin

this city personifies me for another year
and i rabble endlesly to any soul i meet
on politics, on semiotics, on philates and fishes
on the correct manner of looking at life
and why i dont vote but they should

i seek out endless audiences
with few filled out chairs
and even lesser filled out heads
of rapturous laughters and a knowing head shake
gloriously embracing me in its wake

you give me another disarming look
expecting my guilt to humble me
i feel nothing
time running parallel to my days
as i fail to care, once again.

- August '08

Berges' Requiem for Raj's Maharashtrian Dream

(Raj and Berges - Protecting Maharashtra from the Scum of the Rest of India)

(In response to Berges Malu)

When Raj came for the UP-ites,
I remained silent;
For I was not a UP-ite.

When He locked up the Biharis,
I remained silent;
For I was not a Bihari.

When He came for the Punjabis,
I did not speak out;
For I was not a Punjabi.

When He came for the Tribals,
I did not speak out;
For I was not a Tribal.

When He came for the Parsee.
I did not speak out;
For I was not a Parsee (not really, ref: Zoroaster)

When He came for the Muslims,
I remained silent;
For I was not a Muslim.

When He came for the Christians,
I remained silent;
For I was not a Christian .

When He came for the Muslims,
I remained silent;
For I was not a Muslim.

When He came for the Democratic Lobby,
I remained silent;
For I was not of a Democratic Lobby.

When He came for the Social Reformers,
I remained silent;
For I was not a Social Reformer.

When He came for Me
there was no one left
to speak out for me.
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A "leader's" words are not nearly as powerful as the actions they compel of their followers and the excuses they serve as for those who act on them. As a leader, the burden of responsibility, falls on he who utters the words, and should he utter them in hate, vengeance, retribution and violence, he and all his kind shall be damned to a future set against their so-called pure intentions. Anarchy breeds injustice and apathy. It breeds dissent from the oppressed and eventually those who oppress because in a world of "US vs. THEM", we are all alone and everyone a stranger.

The ends, even when they seem to justify the means, are meaningless; for all the purity they supposedly propose gets corrupted. Its easy to label any undesirable group of people with a generalised pejorative. It makes the work of a "political critic" rather convenient . After all, it is so much easier to seem benevolent when you assure your followers that the enemy is stupid. Ironically, when intelligence breeds anarchy it is not surprising that stupidity alone stands for justice.

The sad part here is Mr. Malu, you're suppose to be the intelligent one.
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P.S.-
My apologies for betraying Godwin's Law.
I personally don't give a shit one way or the other.
In a globalised world, I know there are people with views like yours ready and willing to chuck YOU out from wherever YOU may desire to be for just as rationalised reasons as Mr. Thackerays. Everyone gets their comeuppance.

KCC Rap feat. Samir, Tejas and Don

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Will Dylan Live?

For the last couple of weeks (through my illness and beyond) i have been obsessed with my play on the Shadow of Bob Dylan through the '60s onwards. I have devoured Dylan's 1962 album - Folksinger's Choice and have been playing his 1963-1972 albums (Bob Dylan, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, The Times They Are-a Chanin', Another Side of Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, Self Portrait, New Morning, Pat Garret & Billy the Kid and the Bootleg Tapes).

I have found myself begging to gods of word and speech to bestow on me the eloquence I feel my characters imbibe inside my imagination. After an unsatisfying first draft, I am nearly convinced I need to burn it and claw my eyes out for not creating what my mind's eye can see so clearly. Far too many and too insignificant details plague my conscience; the acting, the nuances of speech, the "existentialist" thread and the juggling of a passion with a passionate commitment to work and friends. Time is of the essence and its existence wanes a prelude to disaster of creation.

I still scribble away on my 4 year old rose hard bound notebook, long since discarded in favor of the PC/Lappy but once again a dynamic partner in the quest to create entire worlds out of ink and turbulence. Voice overs and stage directions seem ever so pertinent and the dialogues limited position a challenge that i must over come. But as much as I may try to convince myself or disclose to Ezra, this isn't really Dylan's story. I don't know his story. I don't think even he does. But I do know his impact on my friends and my life. His words, yodels and scratchings which reverberate memories deep inside our hearts and flare up nostalgia in the sound of a note, only to remind us of our many lessons.

I create a character only for the audience to feel themselves as Bob Dylan. His gravity and their orbit on a collision course with their ambitions and dreams. I'm sure I'm goin' to crash and burn. I just wanted to go out with a bang!

An Explaination

The last month saw only college related items being featured. This is because I've been writing stuff for CampusJunkie.com and these were a few of my submissions. My mind has been only on this work and other college activities leaving little incliation for other work.

For this month, I hope to write more on a eveything I can. Like suggested at the begginig of this month, I'm looking to open myself up. I hope I have an audience when I do.

Hang around.

Lessons for College Politics

With rumors of reformed Student Governance hovering like a flying pink elephant in the room it’s about time we looked at the world and took some lessons to heart. Unlike India where a myriad of idiotic…I mean ideological views prosper in party guises, the US is a simpleton with a mere two party system; the Democrats (DNC) and the Republicans (GOP). Within their two extremes the last 232 years have witnessed the trial and error outcome of a world super power. It is important to look at their plight and learn whatever lessons we can for our own electoral future.

This year the US witnesses DNC’s Barack Obama and the GOP’s John McCain going head to head. With diverse and rich political portfolios behind them, both candidates have an air of regency. This has obviously left the US divided (as most elections tend to do) with respect to who they think is better fit to run the country.

The first African-American presidential nominee, Sen. Obama is youthful and energetic. His campaign reigned victorious by securing a party nomination against the Woman-Who-Was-Wankered-With - Ms. Bill Clinton or to be more PC, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. With his wistful charisma and down-to-earth centrist liberal views Obama is a surefire hero of the middle-class, environmental liberals and the intellectual thinker.

In the other corner rests the uncontested war-hero and survivor of a Vietnamese POW camp - Sen. John McCain. He is backed by an unblemished naval and political career with specialties in foreign affairs and domestic finance. An old horse with a solid plan for the future, his down to earth rhetoric and assertive views on tough issues have made him a favorite with the political right, the corporate highs and the Humvee lows.

And this is where their fairy tale ends.

As is true with much of any political campaigning the idea that “what you see is what you get” is far from real. The politics of perception plays a much higher role in confirming or denying anybody, anything in the political world; be it India or the United States. The image factor is exactly what keeps the millions of common voters shuffling away voting their minds (or at least an adequate reflection of the image). With the slogan of “A Change You Can Believe In”, Obama is all rhetoric and no show when it comes to being the moderate centrist he is projected to be as is evident on his non-committal views in his agenda. And McCain is no better (“A Leader You Can Believe In”…plagiarizing anyone?), for underlying his most ‘American’ views are curious questions of campaign financing and lobbyist control.

In all, neither candidate can really be assured to deliver on the American promise. But what we can learn instead – as voters, as leaders and most importantly as citizens is that mere projection does not make a leader but their underlying principals and the results they produce. So as I bring this projection back home, let us not forget that when we step into a voting booth (be it college or other) our standards should be as high as the results we analyze and expect them on. Nothing less would ever do.