.....

I am sad. I finally sent the letter to Oxford saying I won't be able to go and I can't seem to come to terms with the situation. I know I should have sent it earlier so that some eagerly waiting student could get through, but... It should have been me. I should have been the one packing my bags to go to Oxford this summer. I wanted to go there ... I guess I deserved not going too....Well I am going back to UH this Fall....its not that bad at all, now that I am closely looking into who does what kind of work and stuff....If I am cut out for grad school or not is a different question, but I am ready for it....

Goodbye Oxford I guess then....aaaa this is hard...I didn't think I would feel this way but....

Terrorism.....does it really exist?

I was watching the news this morning and a weird question hit me- Does terrorism really exist? I don't have a justification for this question, but it almost seems that we create terrorism out of anything and everything. We just need a tiny bit of opportunity and we are good to go. I don't know why it hit me , so I am going to stop here

~shreya

Executive over Judiciary over Legislative over Nation over World!

In short, I am pissed. President Bush commuted Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 30 month prison sentence; he wanted to reduce his sentence!That he was involved in the leaking of a CIA case is no matter anymore because he has the support of the President and of course, the Vice- President. These are people we attest to since they are apparently the leaders of the nation. I guess then like my dad says," What harm had Paris Hilton done?" CIA leak case- a.k.a breach of national security. How come these cases of misconduct are not deemed as terrorist activities? A jury made a decision, a judge made a ruling, that's it. END OF STORY! You face your punishment just how you gave into your temptation of leaking the identity of another CIA agent. If you ask me, 30 month prison sentence, probation and fines are still less for a crime like this. Its like sending Lindsay Lohan to drug/alcohol rehab. Might as well leak classified information to foreign agents if you are a close aide to the White House. Ken Lay should have been just sent to jail for a month then, there should be no question of capital punishment anymore and most importantly, free everyone from Gitmo Bay for the bulk of them are only suspects and not actually serving sentences.

Such an act by the President is what I call Dictatorship within Democracy. For those of you who are laughing, you know it makes sense. This is that subtle form of dictatorship that some of us condemn and some of us condone. Its amazing how the constitution allows the President do to something. That means the whole idea of checks and balances is a farce. Congress votes on something, and immediately is vetoed if it does not pertain to the whims and fancies of the President. President is unhappy with the judiciary he uses his power of clemency. Then where does democracy feature here, where does checks and balances feature here???!!!! Might as well let the President make all decisions right? Everything is guaranteed by the Constitution anyways!?! Censorship of the war is something I have not been able to gulp. No one knows what the real picture is over there, all we get to know is what they wants us to know. Fear of bringing about a revolution like what happened during the Vietnam war has brought the Cabinet to this conclusion. Then what wrong did Chavez do when he stopped the subscription of a national channel since they were apparently anti- socialist (Just for the record, I am not condoning Chavez. What he did was ghastly, atleast the US has a democracy, I consider Chavez to be a dictator). What wrong did Saddam Hussain do, we did not even have substantial evidence that he had Weapons of Mass Destruction. The President in a recent press conference said (and I paraphrase) that he didn't know why Saddam didn't have wmds. If this is the state of our desperation to justify the war, it is plain sick.

What irritated me more was Nytimes. I am an ardent fan of the Nytimes what little I read from it, but when the whole commuting thing came into light, they went into the semantics of how commuting was not the same as pardoning. ITS ALL THE SAME! Pardoning is a full pardon, but commuting isn't. Why did the President not commute the probation and fines? Technically, Libby is a free man now! You cannot justify the President's action by saying, "Well they aren't the same thing! "

The executive branch has way too much power. Checks and balances are tipped over towards the executive. The people need to do something about this!!!

~Shreya

8 Random Facts

I was tagged by Kokonad for some random fun! I am that utterly jobless to post it immediately and because I take Rule#4 very seriously(all pun intended....not)

THE RULES
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
4. If you fail to do this within eight hours, you will not reach Third Series or attain your most precious goals for at least two more lifetimes.

Ok for the record, rule #4 should so have been 8 DAYS and not HOURS. 8 hours is just too less. Only people like me who care about two more lifetimes, care about the hours...lol...image self-tarnished.

8 Random Facts about me

1. I can make friends very quickly, and I mean it. My mom has tried to stop me on numerous occasions on various train journeys but all in vain!
   
2. I am not an ardent user of the cell phone, but it is my life. I cannot live without it, sleep without it, drink without it. It is always with me no matter where I go.
   
3. I am a great advisor- relationship issues(even though I have almost quite never had one), life issues (been there done that a lot). People come and confide in me for some reason!
4. I cannot go a day without having talked to Annie. She is my bff (best friend forever). If I haven't chatted with her, which happens very often these days since I am in India, I email her and she emails me. Its insane!
   
5. I am so jealous when my friends back home in India tell me of all their escapades, all I do in the US is study-work and occasional fun! Wait until these people get to the US and then they will face the misery I do! Ok a little sadistic there!
   
6. I am secretly trying to merge America and India together, yes the two countries. That way all the people I care for and who are spread in these two countries can be in the same place, not 24-hour flights away!
   
7. I can't sleep enough. I feel guilty when I sleep in, no kidding, you will hear me whine about it for days! Its sad. Its in the family! We are workaholics. Even though all I do is chat sometimes- its work- my fingers get the exercise. Have you ever seen my hands, damn they are nice :P
8. I pretend to work most of the time, but I am the queen of procrastination, until it is 10 hours left for the approaching horror of a deadline, I am not motivated!

In case, some of you haven't noticed, the ordering of the facts is also random. That's how much thought process I put into this. Now time to tag people :p Rajeev, Kraktik, Varun, Poornaa, Anju, Mohan, Aalta and Sandipan

Such pleasures in life :D
Have fun and please don't curse me, I am my parents' only child. :D

~Shreya

The End is....

Creek...creek...tick..tock...The rocking chair and the clock were in sync. Both had stood the test of time. Both had experienced their versions of life. The inmate of the rocking chair wasn't an exception to this rule either. But what she anticipated, no one had before- death. She couldn't wait for her to die. She recollected the night mare of a life she had led- husband murdered for honesty..son abandoned her for being the mother she was, daughter handling her own set of problems. She reminisced those days when they were a happy family- when things seemed perfect, or as perfect as they could be. They didn't need to be an Anna Karenina family, they were good the way they were.

And as she started explaining the day she had met her husband, she stopped breathing with a tinge of a smile on her face. She was happy she went that way, her friend was glad she died peacefully. The end was farther yet nearer than they had known

Oblivion

You step into it,
Sink or survive? Fighting
Through that vaugeness
Figuring out your existence
Alternative to life- where is it?
Mull over this only to
Realize it is taxing
On those eyes staring into blanknesss
On that hand your face is resting on
On that mind handling such oblivion
Eyes water lest you might forget this
A blink has never seemed so futile,
Until a jolt of lightning
Reality is back
Never will it be the same
Life seems a foggy path
That you have to tread

~Shreya

The Diva Problem

Two women. Two nations. Same post, but different job descriptions. And this is a might- President of the United States of America, the other President of India. Two highly respected women in politics. But here comes the real question- how ready are the people of either nations for a woman president?

Forget for a moment their powers if and when they get the job- they will essentially represent the highest authority in either of the countries; irrespective of a parliamentary or presidential form of government. But like I said earlier- how ready is the general public? In India, I am quite certain that the citizens are ready for a woman to be the head of the state. After all, we have had Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister. Pratibha Patil's nomination was welcomed, but not by all. But in general, it was viewed with pride for she was a woman, who had stood the test of time in politics and worked her way up in a testosterone packed scenario. She is widely respected and deserves to be President, or at least for the moment nominated. Why are Indians ready, you might ask? We are a developing nation that still needs to taste success of a healthy economy, in spite of what some of our highly optimistic politicians and citizens say. Women in this nation need to get out and prove their worth. It is predominantly a male dominated society and sporadic incidents of a woman emerging in any field is definitely worth one's while. Now how competent she is a whole different issue but Indians in general are willing to trust a woman president/ prime minister

Take a 24-hour long, nerve wrenching, tiring flight towards the West, and you hit the United States of America. Currently in the midst of numerous internal turmoils, one of them being a highly extravagant Presidential campaign, more than a year before elections. One of them contesting is Hillary Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton. But this whole gaining a day thing, will tell you almost the same story but with a different outcome! Never had a female president, is a predominantly male dominated political arena, is a super-power; ready for a female president- absolutely not. Youngsters like us are skeptical of her too. She does not have the experience she needs to be the president. She is playing the Bill-Clinton-card way too soon. She is easily threatened by Barak Obama and she is clearly doing the girly thing- trying her hand at the sympathy votes. I remember Annie saying she would move somewhere else if Clinton became president, and I actually echoed her feelings, even though I am a democrat(at least I say so). Some of her plans seem like they were pulled right off the box and put on a teleprompter.

So how do citizens cast their vote in a situation like this, where you sort of have the same problem, but in different scenarios. I know a lot of people who would vote for a female candidate just because there has never been a female head of the state! Naive you might say, and without question it is, but they voted and did their duty! How informed one is, will definitely matter.

Divas will come and go, diva presidents... are here to stay

~Shreya

COPY PASTE JOURNALISM

Of the very few cable channels that my TV has been gifted with (the TV in India), I usually swap between NDTV, Star World, MTV and AXN (aah the typical America returned you might call me!). I woke up on Tuesday morning and was watching the news; they were talking about the upcoming G8 Summit in Germany and one of the most to-be discussed topic-none other than Global Warming. Ever since George W. decided to pay some commemoration to this problem, all the other countries have added their concerns. It would be wrong to say that they weren’t before this, but now that the so-called great America has voiced its concern, it’s as if the issue has gotten more important. But that is not what I am talking about (this is a whole different issue).

Prajna Datta Varma was anchoring that news cast and I was rather listening intently to her. When the special reporter started the news, I was shocked that her’s and Prajna’s words were the exact same thing. I know you must be wondering why I was shocked- wouldn’t you be too! It’s as if they had no other words for the report. How is this possible? Why use the exact same sentences while you are presenting? No wonder Microsoft Word is so useful even in journalism- COPY PASTE. I guess they thought that viewers wouldn’t realize their mistake (for lack of a better word). This is what I call Copy Paste Journalism.

Lack of originality is a major problem in broadcast journalism today. Everyone tries to copy the other journalist because they are not confident in their own capabilities and they try to better the other. In the mean time, they forget that their stupidity is actually portrayed lucidly. Journalism as far as I remember, used to be an art of presenting what is the way it is, not presenting what is by adding in some sort of a masala. Like I had written in The Virtue of Idiocy, irritating details of the humane world are thrown light upon, while important ones are given a nod and shown the door. I don’t think anyone in India is aware of how grave the situation in Venezuela is, ever since the shutting down of a news channel because of its so-called anti-socialist ideas that did not go well with President Hugo Chavez. Breach of freedom of speech? Most Certainly! But what do we (Indians) care about now a days? Whether Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama will become President? Might I remind everyone that they haven’t even won the Democratic primaries yet and that the elections are in 2008- so can we really stop obsessing what is happening in the West? Who can come with the most amount of gossip first is the race, not who is giving the real news. I used to want a journalist a long time back, still do somewhere in the corner of my heart, but such sort of ridiculous propaganda of the unimportant details of life make me want to question my desire to present reality to the world. It’s as if we have brainwashed people to forget to differentiate between good and bad, right and wrong, important and unimportant.

It really is shameful! I am at a loss of words. I guess blogging is the closest I can go towards presenting what is and what we forget these days! That’s all I can say!

~Shreya

You are a bong if....

You are a bong (bengali) if:

• You think that Bengali culture is the only cultured culture in the entire world (courtesy Proleta Datta); that all other cultures bow down to Bengali culture
• You think that to win a Nobel Prize you have to be associated to Bengalis somehow or the other; either be a Bengali, or live in Calcutta(Kolkata), or go to a college which is also in Calcutta(courtesy: in unison by Proleta Datta and Shreyasee Das)
  
• You think that without having touched the writing part of the literature world, you have lessened your existence- you have to know every single book that has ever been written and have had read it too!
  
• You think that your kids have to learn all the possible cultural activities, especially debatin!
  
• You have mastered the art of eating atleast 4 rasagollas at once and even then you can go on eating
  
• Adda maara (as in talking nonsense) is the favorite past time- no questions asked! (courtesy: Proleta Datta and Shreyasee Das in the 2001 Corolla- damn that Corolla sparks ideas)
• While addaing- you have atleast 6 cups of chaa(tea) in 40 mins. Damn bengalis have a little too much chaa paisa(money)
• You go home and if there isn't any moosuri dal, you are pissed- and if there isn't any tomato chutney you are going nuts.
  
• You hate to admit that West Bengal is going down the drain because of-- aah forget it!

Ok there are a lot more, but since I am a Bengali (a hyderabadi one) and my parents fit the definition above, I am going to stop, plus my defining skills are running out

~Shreya

CLUELESS!!!

If there is one thing Americans today are clueless about, it definitely is, hands down, Immigration. We don't know what to do with this issue. At the heart of this debate is illegal immigration. All of us agree that illegal immigration is hurting the nation, both politically and economically, but various approaches to solve this problem has created far worse of a problem- a dead end. We really are Clueless about this.

When I started writing this piece, they were talking about legalizing illegal immigrants, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I definitely was enraged. Immigration hits close to me. I was born in the US, but my parents are immigrants, well they aren't - they would go back if it weren't for me for the moment. But you get the point. They went to the US with the right visa and all that fun stuff. And today if we say that illegal immigrants can be legalized after paying a certain amount of penalty and given the same facilities that legal immigrants are furnished with, then I am sorry to say that DOUBLE STANDARDS rule! Policy making cannot have double standards. I think I can claim that I know a little about visa rules and the insides and outsides of it. Trust me none of us are ever going to see anything as complicated as this ever in our lives.
The number of loopholes doesn't even keep the whole immigration policy transparent.

What's worse is people who do things the right way are the ones who have to pay the price. For example, my dad was denied visa when he wanted to come for my graduation on grounds that he was going to immigrate here sometime soon. This to a person who has come to the US 'n' number of times and has returned. I can guarantee you that my dad has no desire to live in the US- he is better off in India. By an error of destiny I guess, his daughter was graduating from an American University. Other friends who have graduated from here, their parents weren't denied visa to do the exact same thing. The perks of being an American citizen, I say.

On the other hand, parents of 35 year olds who themselves have families and are well-established in the US, are being given visa. Reality check, they have more incentive to stay back because they are atleast 65-70 year olds. Why am I pissed you may ask? Here is what happens. They bring their parents to the US, and somehow or the other put their name in their greencard application, and if and when it is approved, the parents have a greencard and can start working too! Now where is this coming from???!!!! Illegal immigrants are getting the welfare benefits while deserving Americans aren't because apparently they have enough. Who decides who has enough?

America, today, cannot afford to do amnesty work of this sort, especially domestically. We need a tighter economy to sustain the decline. The dollar value is going down the drain, not just against the British Pound Sterling or the Euro, but against other currencies too- the Indian rupee being one of them. We really step up things right now. No one knows what is going to happen in the next few months. Gas prices are soaring through the roof, minimum wages haven't changed. Average working-class Americans are going to have hard time day by day. So at this point of time, if taxes aren't being paid properly and welfare benefits are going to undeserving people- a.k.a. people who are here illegally, have somehow managed a social security number, that surprisingly cannot be traced when IRS is in town.- then I am sure we are looking at far worse of a situation than it already is. Politically, we have to look beyond getting the Hispanic votes, yes votes are important but not at the cost of worthy citizens.

"Where do you draw the line?" Republicans are stalling the immigration bill. Democrats are yelling and shouting. Independents are stepping back and looking. Look beyond. Immigration is not just getting the votes, its a tough call to make right now. Just plain political bickering is not going to help.

~Shreya

The Joy Killer

It was, what I like to call, the Perfect day. Gorgeous 58 F weather, I was listening to James Blunt on my MP3 player and finding my way to work through the trees. It was such a beautiful weather, that I actually turned off my player and was listening to the birds chirp. For those of you who don't know, University of Houston is home to a lot of squirrels, they run around the campus as if their own and actually are cute until they try and attack you (which by the way is rare in occasion). The fountains are beyond awesome on a day like this- the maintenance had cleaned the fountain, people were sitting on the grass by it and reading or taking a little nap. After all the sun wasn't that strong or that light; you lay on the green,freshly mowed grass, put your backpack under your head (since that is their primary purpose ;) ). I actually sat down and started to read my copy of The Virtue of Selfishness (arguably a bad choice of book on a day like this); until I realized that I was running late to work. And just when I was a minute away from work- there she was, my joy killer, this lady who was smoking, corrupted my air- the air I was enjoying. In a second, it was all gone. The sensation that I wanted to last for the entire day was gone in a matter of seconds. This is where I do not know what to say anything anymore. It should have been a sin, but then again she is entitled to smoke anywhere she wants to. But not right in my way...smoke away from me, not at me :-(

~shreya

Oh the PRESSURE!

Results for ICSE came out a couple of days back and it brought back bad memories of my own results. I hadn't done that well as everyone had expected me to do, but now that I look back I wonder why were we even that persistent to make it to the top. I know one way I convince myself is saying that India is a developing country with not too many opportunities like the US and so we have to push our through the assiduous hurdles on our path to the top. I made an 89% in ICSE and I know I was in shock; but in my own defense, I knew I had done well, I just didn't know how I'd failed myself and my family. My parents were definitely disappointed because I hadn't hit the 90% mark, (I was too, no kidding) but what could I have done after that. Anyways, looking back definitely brings back unwanted memories.

And then, I talked with a couple of people from this years' ICSE batch and the same thing repeated. One of them made a really really good grade, but failed to satisfy the parents. This is where I say "Enough". Kids these days have lost all motivation to study for the sake of learning. They study to please their parents. It falls under my definition of "sin". Yes setting standards is definitely good, that's good parenting, its a good motivation for the children too; but if your children have reached it or rather are close to it, be content. Where your children stand compared to others' is not important, what they do in that position is what is important. Someone who is first their entire life can be a complete failure and someone who has been struggling their entire life is probably planting seeds towards making a difference. Yes parents will be parents, but all the time demeaning your kids(their version is motivating) is not worth it- it will only drive them towards self-inducted pain. I am not saying that parents should completely let go of their kids' lives but a little understanding would help. Its bad enough with the pressure education has become, and to add on that pressure from parents. Talking really helps, figuring out where each party is coming from is important. All the shouting, disappointments, frustration leads to nothing but the same list of household disobedience. All of us need to be content and happy with what we have. In the long run, these marks aren't even going to matter- like I said, it will be what we do that is important.

~Shreya

Whims of a blogger

Its been crazy how a lot of us have gotten into the blogospehere (as we call it these days). Some of us do it because we love to write, some of us do it because its the trend. But whatever be the reason, I think all of us do it cause we love to write. And then on days like these, when I come up with wierd titles, it basically means I haven't had the right kind of inspiration to write about something. So how does a writer get that motivation to write about something? I know I am very politically/life oriented when I write. I do not necessarily thing its bad, but sometimes I think I lack creativity; which is when I turn to other blogs I read and I am in awe when I read their innovative stuff? Why do I lack it?
1. I think way too much
2. I try to be better than the others
3. I feel bad when people write things that I could have easily written about
4. I go off on tangents because I have so much to say
5. I can never match up to the skills other writers have!
6. So then, why even try?
Because its fun to sometimes whine I guess
I have never written such a random post in my life.
Ok back to reading
~Shreya

Seriously!

Ok so off-late people have been questioning my Indian-ness! Seriously, get off my back! I have lived in India for thirteen years, so I don't think I am a confused desi- rather I am a CONFIDENT desi- so new definition of ABCD- American Born CONFIDENT Desi- now if you can't deal with the fact that I am more Indian that some of you fobs around here, then stop being jealous and try not to americanize yourself that much. Don't tell me that I am not sure of what Indian culture means and stuff like that. I do not care much for your opinion and I will leave no stone unturned to verbalize the fact that I have taken offence to your comments. So do keep in mind about these things when you are talking with me. Just because I was born here does not mean that I am not sure where I originated from. If you are insecure do not put the onus on me. Find out why you feel that way and rectify it.
Seriously!!! Get off my back and watch your own before something goes wrong!

Shame on us

This has taken a long time for me to complete, partly because I was ashamed to even think about this. The 14th Dalai Lama was at Rice University on May 1st and delivered two speeches. The one that interested me the most, without question, was the one on religious tolerance. It amazed me how forcefully, yet simply, he conveyed the message that there was nothing wrong in accepting people of different religions, including the atheists. We could all live in harmony if only we tried. The urge to learn what other religions are about, and embrace should be our motivation, not to use it against them. Like the Dalai Lama said, the theists all derive their inspiration, their faith from the same source- GOD, while the atheists derive their inspiration from their concept of "GOD". So everyone draws their inspiration from different "sources". So where is the question of hating one another coming from?

The Dalai Lama then continued to tell the Rice Owls that the world should follow the example of India- a Secular Nation- guaranteed by the Constitution also. We are a nation of different religions; rather almost all religions in the world . To be openly glorified as a nation with so much tolerance is no small feat after all. But stop for a moment and think- are we that tolerant after all? The recent insurge of Hindutva and their "insecurity" of the declining Hinduism, has given a different dimension to our country- after "trying" to live in harmony all these years with different religions; especially with Muslims- how on earth are we threatened? We call ourselves a developing country trying to be one of the superpowers by 20whatever, but how are we going to be able to progress if we are this closed minded? We condemn Islamic fundamentalism, but gleefully condone Hindu fundamentalism. Any sane mind would agree with me that this contradiction has no grounds. Any orthodox/fundamentalist religious group is full of cynicism and is wrong. What's even worse these days is young Indian minds support this kind of fundamentalism. THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT WHO WERE/ARE!!!! We are a diverse nation; that has nurtured and respected this diversity- we might as well start mandating people to speak only Hindi and no other languages; such is the case.

I hang out with the Baptist Student Ministry a lot- and whenever people hear this, they proceed to ask me the infamous questions; "Baptist!!! Why on earth do you go there? We would have never guessed you were Baptist?!" I am not. I love that bunch of people. No one has ever asked me what religion I am, whether I believe in theism or not, they have always embraced my presence with open arms. I have never had a complain with them. They are the most down to earth people I have ever seen in my life. And this coming from people who could have frowned upon me any day. Because of a couple of fundamentalists, we make the wrong judgement call of STEREOTYPING and GENERALIZING- I am of the opinion that it is sinful to stereotype.

Due to upsurge of religious fundamentalists in India these days, we are a earning a bad reputation; they have better advertising tactics and they definitely win. It is a sad trend, just like friend of mine put it. We should be ashamed of ourselves. How many of us have friends who are from different religions? Just because we are Hindustan, does not mean that we did not have non- Hindus before!

I realize I am spinning in circles with this topic- its because I am really ashamed of where India has reached with religion in the backdrop. It is shameful. Unless we youngsters do something soon- we will have a religious war that will spread doom not only to us but neighboring countries too.


http://webcast.rice.edu/index.php?action=details&event=967
( This is the link to the Dalai Lama's speech, in case some of you want to listen to it)

Shreya

Conversation Specials

Things to look out for during online im's( most of them with friends back home in India)

1. Wassup?
2. Are you at work or college? ( this is to check what the hell I am doing in life)
   
3. So wassup (yes two sentences later)
   
4. Ntn much (a.k.a nothing much)
5. Wow, you do so many things together (yea then I eff them up too)
6. So what are you doing these days (same as usual)
   
7. Why/ How come you are always busy ( now that is just way too much)
8. How come you always have exams (thats how the American educational system makes sure we are on our toes, a.k.a not sleeping for more than 6 hrs a nite at the max)
9. So what else (clear boredom indications)
   
10. When are you coming to India?

If these weren't part of the conversations, then something terribly went wrong...
~Shreya

The Virtue of Idiocy

Remember those days when NDTV was THE definition of good media in India? Atleast for youngsters like us, it was definitely the hip thing since it was fancied and very westernized. Rajdeep Sardesai, Arnab Goswami, Shivraj Parshad, Maya Sharma, Barkha Dutt and so many more. Now I think NDTV and Indian media are paradigms of what I call "The Virtue of Idiocy". (Where I got the title from, will be explained later). "The Virtue of Idiocy"- the act of making sure that one is deemed idiotic constantly for their pleasure.

My American readers (if any) will not relate to this but thank you for reading anyway. The reason I am so bitter, if not evident, is due to the recent extensive/intensive and unwanted coverage of the "Aishwarya- Abhishek" marraige. She is a former Miss World, he is a Bollywood actor; son of a very famous Bollywood actor- never knew that this would be a cause for loathing their existence. So much is the hype, that a couple of my Biology labmates asked me whether the marriage was over or not, and whether she wore the sari she was supposed to wear or not- this coming from Americans sitting in Houston, Texas who in no way whatsoever should be affected by this asinine of a scenario.

The day after Virginia Tech went through their massacre, I went on to NDTV.com- like every other NRI to check upon news back home in India. And to my utter surprise (all pun intended), I found the exclusive on the intricate details of Aishwarya Rai's sari. To the side of it, apparently Top News, but evidently very small and easily overlooked, news about Minal Panchal missing. Why are we glorifying something that all of us know is not going to help us in the future or for that matter in the present? We are not entitled to that sort of vicarious pleasures either! So WHAT IS THE POINT? And then of course, we come to know about the horrifying scandal about human trafficking being conducted by an Indian politician, and that news also finds its place in the Top News section that again is blinded by the Exclusive News.

Why is it so hard for us to cover news that actually matter to the public in general? The gala affair, if not anything, portrays the ever increasing bridge between the rich and the poor and the fighting middle class in a forever developing country called India. The rich get to strut their stuff, the poor think why they are poor once again, and the middle class wonder how come they end up paying for all this, since it is after all a lot of taxes. Important news is hyped in India for exactly a week or even less for a while, and then boom its gone, and who do they blame- the judiciary system (Not that things here aren't the same, but not as bad, atleast I think that). What happened in Noida, is beyond human comprehension- a whole hype, outroar of what were the Police and the Politicians doing? Questions asked, answers demanded- the outcome- Moninder Singh, the prime accused in the gruesome killing and organ transfers of now god knows how many children is acquitted. On the other hand, his accomplice, the house keeper, is being charged for the murders allegedly committed by Moninder Singh. He doesn't have a political pull and he pays the price for it. Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal are potential threats to the Communist government in that state. It is an ultimate test of capitalism in a communist state. How many of us care? Not a whole lot because it doesn't effect us. But for some odd reason, Ash getting married to Abhishek does. Most of us have absolutely zilch idea of our foreign policy. Fine if that is too far out, we don't even know what is going on in the grass root level. Our justification to our ignorance- they are all corrupt. My suggestion- look into the mirror when you are by yourself in front of it. The whole concept of NETWORKING is a fancy way of saying that I know someone that can help me in the near future to get something important done- ring a bell, yes CORRUPTION again. Maybe not in the crude form, but superficially atleast. Ask an Indian kid what they think about the history of India and unmistakeably their response is -" That boring subject that we had to once write an exam for". That definitely should not be the attitude. Important days in history are overlooked by news agencies because it will most definitely increase their TRPs. What will is poll- poll if Sachin should play, if Ash should stay with the Bachans, if India should have two cricket teams, not if the MP should have been sacked, not what people think where India stands in the global market.

How long will something like this continue? We sit at home and nod our heads in sheer frustration of the ever falling and failing system, but what else can we do? We whine about these situations, but any step we take is stubbed by CORRUPT officials that do not want "things" exposed for fear of more unwanted news coming out. Where do we draw the line of tolerance? When do we cross that thin line? Or have we become so insensitive and self- absorbed that living vicariously off of someone else has become more pleasurable than finding ourselves in the real world?

Shreya

P.S The title was inspired by Ayn Rand's book The Virtue of Selfishness where she talks about how being selfish is not evil and is actualy worth one's while. A must read- she is the height of libertarian values- a little too radical though.
P.P.S I am not going to deny though that these problems exist in the media here too. But like I said, they seem to be transluscent here. I could be wrong.

The Indian Moose: Virginia Tech

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/us/2007/04/17/sot.nikkPublishi.giovanni.convocation.cnn&wm=11

This is a heart warming speech by Nikki Giovvani, a professor at Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech

To all those who have lost their loved ones our heart goes out to you. Words are not enough to provide consolation. All we can do is to hope to survive this.

"No woman, no cry"

As I sat trying to finish my differential equations homework today, I remembered a great song I had once heard as a kid- "No woman, no cry" by the invincible Bob Marley. And it made me think how futile my homework was proving to be. What good is phase plane portrait going to do to the world?

That song portrays the epitome of hope. "Everything's gonna be allright" he sings and that is the entire motive behind life. Live it because you hope- just not for yourself but for everyone around you, that they make it through the day and do something good- for themselves and for the world. When a reality check occurs we become conscious of our surroundings and after a while its back to square one- your monotonous life. Remember the forgotten not today, not tomorrow but forever so that they get the respect they deserve.

Stop for a moment and think why you exist......

~Shreya