Municipal Elections

A local newspaper from my hometown wanted opinions from Nellorians who settled abroad, regarding the Muncipal elections, which are to be held on 23rd September.

This is mine:

I remember very vividly the 86-87 (please correct) municipal elections. I was in in my sixth or seventh class then, we were living in K.V. Agraharam, which was in 16th ward. We used to play cricket in small vacant plot in our street. One evening we were playing cricket as usual , then suddenly some people came and chased us away from that spot. Then they erected shamianas and then within half an hour tractors started arriving with loads of tribals (Nakkalollu).

As we stood there and watched, these people we fed with Palau and were served desi alcohol. Within no time few of them became really drunk and started shouting loudly, we got really scared and ran home. Later that evening I came to know that Municipal elections were the next day and one candidate wanted these people to vote for him and essentially bought these votes.

I live in Calgary, Canada. The Municipal elections are called 'City Elections' here. The system is almost the same. The "ward member' is known as 'Alderman'. People vote for both their Alderman and Mayor. They are elected for terms of four years.

One thing which strikes as a very significant difference between Canada and India is that the Representatives here take their constituents very seriously. Staring from MP to my Alderman, every sends us their monthly news letters detailing the work they did for us. They list their phone numbers and email addresses where we can reach them. I was told that response time for any concern is actually very little.

What we need in Nellore is accountability. The ward members should be in constant touch with us. They should publish thier public phone numbers where they could be reached. They should share with us the work they did for the ward. In India the party they represent is more important than the people who elected them, which in my opinion should change.

Seema Cafe, Seema Center, Nellore

Who ever reads my Blog, I guess, would have this question, why did I name my Blog Seema-Cafe? No self respecting person from Nellore would ask me this question. Seema Cafe or Seema ceter is 'The-hangout' place for a Nellorian.

Its in the heart of Nellore, on Trunk road and serves awesome milky tea in the greasy dirty glasses. Sometimes I wonder what gives the tea there that tatse? The grease on the glasses? The unwashed saliva ? The cheap soap with which it was washed? or just the magic of that place? No idea, but anyways the tea tasting is a must for anyone visiting Nellore.

Seema Center is the place where all the barriers are collapsed, economic, social and no i wouldn't say gender. I haven't seen girls and women hanging out there. At least till three years ago, when I visited it last time. You could spot a rickshaw puller arguing about the subtle politics of Telagana moment with the sitting MLA. You could also see a big Landlord and a day labourer standing under same tree and drinking from the same set of greasy glasses discussing the newly released Chiranjeevi movie.

Seema center as whole comes up with a better election results prediction than any Delhi based Psephologist. During the election results time, a local paper would always make a reporter sit there and drink Tea and constantly report the latest predictions from under the tree near Seema Cafe.

I have lost touch with the crowd that hangs out near Seema center. Almost all of my Friends have moved of Nellore and only very few of them hang out there. i therefore dont hangout there that often, but I make it a point to go there when ever I am there and taste the milky tea in the greasy cup.

So my friends that's why I named my Blog Seema-Cafe, part nostalgia, part admiration and part yearning to be standing under the tree and to discuss the fine points of the climax in the latest Chiranjeevi release in Nellore.

Train and the cow

I must be around 12 or thirteen years old. It was not even a week since our summer vacation started, my mother got sick of me and my sister, our constant fighting over whose turn is to ride the single bicycle, who gets to sleep near the window, and my sis's constant complaints on myself trying to eavesdrop into her secret gossip with her Friends. "That's it" My mum screamed as I went and complained how my sister added a Palm full of salt into sambar, my favourite dish. "You two are not staying together anymore, I will ask your dad to book your ticket to Hyderabad." "You are not fair" My sister screamed at top of her throat. "You are always partial towards your son", she sobbed. It doesn't really matter that she will be getting a special treatment from both my father and mother in my absence. She will go gold and clothes shopping daily, will get her Friends daily to our home and mum will cook for all of them.

Before I even realised I was bundled in the overnight train to Hyderabad. "Don't cause trouble to your grandmother" My mum said combing my hair on the platform. "I wont" I said escaping from her hands. My dad was busy speaking to the guy who waves the red and green flags at trains. "In couple of minutes" my dad said. I guess it was the train. One of my dads childhood wishes was to work for the Railways and he sometimes when he is in the railway station he forgets that he doesn't work for the railways. "The train is blocked" he said. I looked at him worried, "blocked? Am I not going to Hyderabad?" "It has entered our block, we railways say that as blocked" he picked up my bag. As if the engine took the cue, it entered the station majestically, with a loud horn. Everyone reverently moved back a couple of steps back. There was no question on who was the king there. The engine driver acknowledged with a all knowing wave to the green flag waving guy. He look so in control. "I will be an engine driver" I said under my breath with my mouth agape.

"Its the New WAP class from BHEL" said my father looking with admiration at the engine. The boy in him too was enamoured by this majestic beast. I was interested in his Statistics at all, I ignored his long list of its statistics he was narrating to my mum. All i wanted to do is touch the engine and get into its cabin. But the train stops only a few minutes at Nellore, so my father dragged me near my compartment, which was 3rd from the engine.

There was huge crowd to get into the compartment, a Mum was trying to push in her children through the narrow entrance and at the same time trying not to get her starched cotton sari crumpled, a young couple were being sent off by I guess the girls parents, the girl and her mum were crying, the guy was watching goofy at them and nervously at the signal. A Grandpa was shouting at top of his lungs at the crowd because someone was crushing grandma near the entrance. Somehow I got in without getting crushed or screamed at. I navigated myself towards my berth by squeezing thru the crowd and saw a burly man fighting with a thin lady. I couldn't help smiling, would be a very interesting trip indeed. I saw my mum and dad standing on the platform.

"I will give a grandma a call in the morning" My mum said. "Be careful" my dad sad. "Don't stand near the door" he said by patting my hand. I heard a sharp horn from the engine, my father and my mum waved. The train started moving with a small jerk. People came to see off were running with the train as if trying to stop the train. The young bride was bending her head so much that I was fearing that it would snap at any minute. The fat guy and that thin lady stooped screaming at each other just to allow us to enjoy this departure spectacle.

It was 9:30 pm and I could see the Great Bear in the sky travelling with us. I felt so grown up, travelling all by myself to hyderabad. I looked around I was sharing the block of wight berths with The fat dude and his wife, the thin lady and her two eqaully thin twin daughters of some indistinguishable age, and the new couple who havent looked at anything else except at each others eyes. The fat guy and thin lady were apprently fighting over the luggage space. the fat guy has occupied most of the luggage space under seat with his huge gunny bags full of some sort of produce. I didnt even bother to listen to thier agreement or disagreement. The lights in the comprtment were getting switched off one by one, and everyone in my block alsmost settled down. I got into my top berth and went to bed staright. I then imagined of piloting one of these smart engines.

I suddenly felt a sudden jolt and train slowed down suddenly and then stopped. A small child somewhere in the compartment started crying loudly. I looked into my elotronic watch, it was half past one. I jumped down and wore my shoes and went near the exit of the compartment. The door was locked shut. No one was there, and actually very few pople woke up. I tried opening it but it was too heavy and tight for me. As i was fiddling with it, a man may be in his thirties came by, "What happened to this bloody train" he scremed at me, as if I was responsible for it. I shurgged and said, "I dont know". He then opened the door and jumped down. I didnt know what to do, should I jump down and look at what happened or should I saty back in the safety of the train. I peered out into the dark. I couldnt see anything.

My curiosity got better of me and I jumped out. I landed on the loose ballast and had struggle to keep my balance. I started walking towards the eingine and thankfully it was only a few meters away from my comprtment. As I reached the eingine a crowd of already a dozen people have gathered. I walked past this group and was greeted by a very ghastly sight. It was so gruesome that my stomeched churned instaly and i threw up. "hey kid go back and sleep" someone from the group admonished me. I ignored him. I couldnt take my eyes of this macabre scene.

the enigine apprently hit a cow at the speed of 1230-130 KMPH. The was nothing left of the cow. All i could see is flesh lieing on the track wihich was shining red with blood under the powerfull light of "New WAP from BHEL". The driver and his assistant were examing the einigne with a flashlight. "There must be leak somewhere" said the elder amonst the driver and his assitant, he must be main driver. "I dont see any leak" replied his assitnat from under the eingine". I suddenly realised that I am standing besides this incredible beast. I went near and touched the cold steel body of this eingine. I felt the rumble of many egines running inside it. "Wow what a power" I said to myself. "Found it" , the assistant shouted and the main driver went towrdas his assistant.

to be cont...

Worst disaster??

You decide....
Katrina or Bush??

Some one sent me the following facts comparing the recent floods in Bombay and the floods in New Orleans. I think these are biased and cant be compared at all. But you decide.
India to send US$ 5 Million for help relief after the hurricane.

-Interesting Facts

inches of rain in new orleans due to hurricane katrina... 18

inches of rain in Mumbai (July 27th).... 37.1


population of new orleans... 484,674

population of mumbai.... 12,622,500


deaths in new orleans within 48 hours of katrina...100

deaths in mumbai within 48hours of rain.. 37.


number of people to be evacuated in new orleans... entire city..wohh
number of people evacuated in mumbai...10,000


Cases of shooting and violence in new orleans...Countless

Cases of shooting and violence in mumbai.. NONE


Time taken for US army to reach new orleans... 48hours

Time taken for Indian army and navy to reach mumbai...12hours


status 48hours later...new orleans is still waiting for relief, army
and electricity status 48hours later..mumbai is back on its feet and is
business is as usual


USA...world's most developed nation
India...third world country.

Whats so evil about EVIL??

Bush Jr. goes on TV and says that ``God has given me the authority to vanquish evil. I will bomb them back to stone age”.
Immediately The bad guy* goes on TV and says than “the evil American empire will be punished severely”

So whats this evil? Someone is evil according to someone else.So Am I evil? what should evil be? Should I have horns? Do I need to have a tail? Hard to check! So what does this say? Creatures with tails and horns are evil? Or should you rob ice cream from a little girl?

Then what exactly is this evil? Is Whats not "good" evil? Then what's good then? Is What's not evil is good. Now we are going in circles trying to catch our own tails!! Welcome to my world of circular reasoning.

So according to Sir Bush (I had to knight him! Well he is so righteous and full of conviction.) whoever opposes him is evil. UN is evil, France is evil too, for baby Ganesha sakes Katrina is evil too. Now every French citizen has two more horns and a tail to care for! I pity the French. They are going thru such a hard time. Their fries are Even renamed as freedom fries. All the Russian sounding names are evil after Katrina.

So Sir, we are still waiting for definition of evil. What’s not republican is evil. well that makes at least 50% of America and rest of the world evil. Why should we sit through this boring incantation of evil every time Americans/Westerners face an enemy ? Is this because they are deeply religious? or because the public could only relate to this talk?

Coming back to the main question, I am trying to come up with an acceptable definition a person/thing (its hard to define is it?) which acts against the progress of a society can be called as an evil?.

Now this becoming dangerous, the concept of collective good. Someone who is different becomes dangerous; someone with different view points becomes dangerous evil. Someone with a different orientation becomes the evil one.. Witches were thought to be detrimental to the society, they are so evil that they were burned. Does mean that being different is evil?

lord Krishna ask us search for evil inside us. Well then lets take me as an example, lets assume that I am a "normal" person. I feel a twinge of hatred. I feel jealousy, I feel all the negative emotions. Does that make me evil? so who is not? Are we all evil?Are all Iraqis evil? are all Americans evil? are all French evil? so who is not evil?

we as a human race need a face for evil. First we had Satan, we had pagans, we had Hitler, we had Mussolini, we had those evil Russians, now we have osama bin laden. Yessir Osama bin Laden is the new evil.

He is a very cruel person. He may be even a pshycotic killer, but not evil in theological sense. Demonetisation of real persons makes them more than men and that fulfills their darkest desires. I wouldn’t go to an extent and say that he had a reason for what he did. Terrorism has no reason and no Justification. He should be shown no mercy worthy of any human, and the same time he shouldn't be made more than a human.

To fight evil one needs a God, that's what i get out from the religious people. So when ever some one says that he is fighting evil does it mean that mean he is God or atleast acting as if he has God's sanction? Bringing god and invoking his name in day to day affairs according to me is not a very efficient governance.

This is how people were ruled in dark ages! By invoking the name of god for subjugation. Are we any better? We are living in the age of knowledge. God and evil belong to ones personal life. But as they they say people sell what we buy.

We want our leaders to talk of God and Evil at every turn, so that we feel secure. May be that's what we want and deserve, this false sense of security. Until we the public demand more governance and less moral lessons we will be continued with this drivel.

The next time you switch on TV and hear the word "evil" please think do we really need these false Gods fighting false Evils in these false battles so that we could enjoy our false freedoms?

A sad story

I always wanted to try to write a tragedy ala Chekov. This is my attempt at it. I have to complete it yet, so read at it your risk.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



“Shall we talk to him?” Seenu asked Aarthi who was refilling the oil in the ‘Diya’. Suddenly there was a whiff of air and the flame of ‘Diya’ flickered. Aarthi’s heart missed a beat and she quickly covered the flame with both of her hands. She sobbed out aloud. Tears rolled out of Seenu’s eyes. Seenu held her close. He could see her bloodshot eyes in the faint light of the ‘Diya’. They cried resting on each other’s shoulders. ‘Diya’ burned brightly as if to comfort them in a warm hug of its glow.

Rahul was lost in the land of dreams in the room next door. He was busy chasing butterflies on the Chocolate Mountain. Aarthi always told him about those Chocolate Mountains. “The Evil Dragon and the Chocolate Mountain” is his favourite bedtime story. Seenu and Aarthi made up this story for their bundle of joy.

“When will I go and kill that evil dragon?” Rahul used to sleepily ask before slipping into his dream world. “Soon” Aarthi would kiss him goodnight. She couldn’t stop cursing herself for saying so as Rahul is soon going away to the chocolate mountains forever.

Seenu and Aarthi are married for last eight years. Their joys had no bounds when Rahul arrived into their world. Everything was normal then. When Rahul took his first step their joy leaped. They screamed out of happiness when he uttered his first word. They felt as if they have conquered the whole world when he called them ‘Amma and Nanna’. Everything was so normal. Rahul was 5 years old when something out of normal happened. Rahul fell sick. He lost weight rapidly. He ran fever constantly. None of the doctors had any clue. All the treatments were exhausted in vain.

Dr. Reddy a well-known paediatrician took up the case. He treated Rahul for 2 months. In spite of Dr. Reddy’s assiduous treatment there was no marked improvement in Rahul’s condition. Seenu and Aarthi started praying to all Gods they could come across. “Give our health to our son and his health to us” they would pray.

A week ago Dr. Reddy called both of them to his office. “I am very sorry,” he said mopping of the white hair from his forehead with a grave expression on his face.

“I read and reread the reports and ‘its’ in the final stage,” he said with lot of grief in his voice and a drooping head. Seenu couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He felt numbness creeping all over his body. Aarthi simply gazed through the window behind Dr. Reddy with her lifeless eyes. It’s strange how each one of us reacts in a different way when confronted by our deepest fears.

“I am afraid that medical science is not that advanced to cure. …Rahul” Dr. Reddy said turning towards the window and wiping his tears off.

Dr. Reddy in 30 years of his career has handled many terminally ill patients, but this case became a little too personal for him. He got attached the sweet smile on Rahul’s face. Rahul calls him ‘taattiah’ (grandfather) affectionately. The little one reminds him of his six-year-old grandson whom he has never seen except for the photographs emailed by his son from the far shores of America.

Nothing moved in that office for a long time. Not even air.

“Is there any hope if we take him to the foreign specialists?” Seenu asked praying silently for a ray of hope. Tears rolled down from Aarti’s dim eyes. She didn’t even make and effort to wipe them. Seenu held her hand tight.

Dr. Reddy without turning towards them said, “I have been corresponding with doctors in US working in this area, they also have the same opinion…” His voice trailed off. He took a tissue to wipe his tears off.

Aarathi was as old as Rahul when her grandfather fell ill. Her granny lit a ‘Diya’ and would always stay near it day and night. “Why are you doing this granny?” asked little Aarathi. “This is not a normal Diya sweetie” granny kissed Aarthi on her forehead “this is the light of life, as long as this is lit your grandfather will be with us” Granny said with a moistened eyes. Aarathi never forgot those words.

“If science can’t cure my Rahul, my faith and my love will cure him,” Aarthi said to herself by lighting a small Diya in a corner of her small kitchen, where she worships a couple of framed paintings of Gods whom her Granny gave her before she died.

It has been two days since they came back from Dr. Reddy’s office with the grim news. Since then Aarthi never left the side of her Diya, all she would do is sit and look at the soot coated pictures of Gods as if questioning them “why us?”

Aarthi has always been fighter and never took anything lying down. She wants to fight and save her Rahul but doesn’t know how to or with whom. The sheer helplessness of this situation is making her more insolent and angry. Diya is her statement of defiance against ‘The Fate’.

Seenu is very practical and pragmatic. He took Rahul out everyday to the playground which is a short walk from their home. “Why I am not able to run?” Rahul asked one day with tears in his seeing his friends playing soccer. Seenu had no answer.


to be cont...

Objectivism

I was having a discussion with my friends on the topic of objectivism, and no one had clear cut definition of what it is!

According to me objectivism is philosophy about self. Achieving the goals set by yourself fro yourself without sacrificing yourself or others. According to an other girl its about choice, its about doing what you want without caring what others think of what you are doing.

Then I went to wikipedia and tried to understand what objectivism really means, I didn't understand a squat! They have five or more points and the main one is about The Fact being absolute, irrespective your emotional state, your social status or anything. The objectivism is about finding out this absolute fact.

Ayn Rand also hates government and doesn't want any government involvement in any sphere. This is where Objectivism equals to anarchism. I came out of it thoroughly confused. The moral of the story is the Individuals in the society should be try to do what they want to irrespective of what others expect! Self is the most important aspect of Human existence.

I would quote Ayn Rand trying to explain Objectivism in Lay man terms, from www.aynrand.org.

At a sales conference at Random House, preceding the publication of Atlas Shrugged, one of the book salesmen asked me whether I could present the essence of my philosophy while standing on one foot. I did as follows:

1. Metaphysics: Objective Reality
2. Epistemology: Reason
3. Ethics: Self-interest
4. Politics: Capitalism

If you want this translated into simple language, it would read: 1. "Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed" or "Wishing won't make it so." 2. "You can't eat your cake and have it, too." 3. "Man is an end in himself." 4. "Give me liberty or give me death."

If you held these concepts with total consistency, as the base of your convictions, you would have a full philosophical system to guide the course of your life. But to hold them with total consistency—to understand, to define, to prove and to apply them—requires volumes of thought. Which is why philosophy cannot be discussed while standing on one foot—nor while standing on two feet on both sides of every fence. This last is the predominant philosophical position today, particularly in the field of politics.


Ayn Rand

My philosophy, Objectivism, holds that:

1. Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.
2. Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses) is man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.
3. Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.
4. The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man's rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.

If anyone understands this philosophy better could you explain it to me please?

Racism in New Orleans?

Was race involved in the bungling of New Orleans? Are Kanye West and reverend Jackson talking off their assess when they accused of administration of being complacent just because majority of the people involved are blacks? Or is just because the administration is just awful and pathetic when it comes to human suffering?

I belief that the administration is just apthatetic to human suffering. They are pretty equal in dishing injustice to everyone. The bombed the civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, they killed few Canadians in friendly fire, they cut veteran benefits, they are trying to derail the social security, they are spending billions in a quagmire called Iraq, they have cut spending in science and research. The only people they benefit is their corporate interests. No prize for guessing who got the contract fro cleaning up New Orleans...Haliburton, who else?

The sad fact is majority of blacks are poor and cant fend for themselves. That's the reason they got trapped in that hell hole. Bush was playing guitar while the young girls were getting raped!

Jesse should smoke a joint and relax, blacks are not discriminate against in fact the whole humanity is being disgraced and discriminated against by these inhuman beasts.

Katrina, You could have been more Merciful!!

See what a Cat 4 hurricane can do it turned a city into a war zone. If you have two pictures of downtown Baghdad and New Orleans(NO) even President cant identify which is which. Its total anarchy there.

Which is which?

Picture 1
Picture 2

Guys Take a guess which is which? Bombay was criticized the media all over the world for the poor response to the floods, what's this then? We are all the same, selfish and self centered sobs.

The guys who didn't evacuate NO and rode out Katrina, immediately started looting the place clean. They have apparently armed themselves and started raping people. That's just out of the world. I have lived through hurricanes in the Hurricane alley of India. We have had more than 150 KMPH winds. I didn't tie a bandanna around my head and loot the grocery shop by my house. I didn't go around shooting at Helicopters trying to drop food!

Why this then? Are humans so uncivilized and so animal like that at drop of a hat we turn into a bunch of marauders? What's wrong here? Are they only a bunch of bad apples? Why would you shoot at the Military helicopters? I understand my Mohammad in Baghdad is shooting at them but why is Nelly shooting at them in NO?

I sincerely don't have an idea, but the book Lord of flies comes into mind. A bunch of boys get stranded in an island, and the book details how these boys organize into groups and almost kill each other. So moral of the story? None we humans have longs ways to go, Darwin has to kick in and expedite our evolution into a better species. Stupid people are breeding in a higher rate than smart ones. This should stop.

On a side note, The name Katarine, Catharine, Katarine means graceful and merciful in German, it seems. But there are other scholars who don't agree with that, they say that these names come from a Greek root which means torture. Talk about confusing between extremes.

Oh well, Katrina should have been more merciful!

Writer's Block

Diagnosis: severe
Chances of Recovery : Nill to none
Prognosis: Discipline

This is what I got out after examining myself. Why on earth did I get into this rut? I love writing and spouting my opinions starting George Bush style of clearing a shrub in ranch to mums choice of masala in her curry. So why did this opinionated slob kept to himself? Well lot happened.

I had my Candidacy and my friend suffered a personal tragedy. I lost a close friend, no not physically. I have stopped few stories mid stream. The characters are screaming and yelling at me to complete them. I vaguely remember a TV show in India where the characters completly control the life of the writer. Wouldn't that be something? I read somewhere that O'Henry was so involved in creating his characters that he almost fell in love with one of his characters.

So what can be the best way to break the writers block? We don't need an Einstein chairing a scientific committee to answer this, or we don't need a spiritual council to meet in Mecca, or we don't need to perform an yagnyam. The answer is right on my finger- =tips both literally and figuratively. I should make it point to write a few lines every day.

I have to complete the short story I have been trying to write for a while. I haven't read any books lately. I heard lot of good things about Rushdie's new book "Shalimar, The clown" couldn't wait to read it. I checked the local library, they have a mile long line. I don't mind being in it. After I read "midnight children" I was in so much awe of Rushdie. All I wanted to do is to write like him. He weaves a complex tapestry of ideas and emotiosn and one gets trapped in it, believe its very shagedelic, and its a very good feeling.

I envy that dude Rushdie, he lives in the most fashionable quarters of New York, has Padma Lakshmi as his Girl friend and writes absolutely wonderful prose. What else can a man ask for? Well other than a 52 inch television and a comfy couch? and some warm dinner? Don't look at me like that...

For all you dudes out there, this is what Padma looks like...

Padma Lakshmi, and the name sounds so South Indian...
So can I ever be Rushdie? Can I dream of Bookers? The answers are no and yes. Who can stop me from dreaming? Can anyone snatch away your dreams? I read '1984' by Orwell few years ago. The big brother owns your thoughts and dreams. Well we are getting there, now corporations own your ideas, and then surely they would own your dreams.

Well this is good for starters... Will write some more tomorrow.
Adios till then.