Where democracy should begin
Education is perhaps the most powerful weapon in the world. Education, starting from our childhood, shapes our thoughts, actions, interactions, and overall, our lives. Not only are our perceptions based on the learnings of our past, but our assimilation of new learnings depends strongly on the basis created by our experiences and past learnings.
Surgical Strike 2.0
I am an ordinary citizen. And as an ordinary citizen of a country that hates terror attacks, and personally holding the same stand as my country, I was upset and immensely angry on the 14th of February 2019, when forty CRPF jawans got killed in a terror attack. The terror outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the strike. I was upset that India’s September 2016 strike on terror camps in Pakistan hadn’t borne fruit—that the terrorists hadn’t received the message the right way. The first thought that crossed my mind was the wish that our intelligence find Masood Azhar and our defence castrate him in public, after which, any citizen who liked to kick him in the gut, was allowed to.
Capitalism, communism, socialism ... wtf-ism
Let’s face it, this is the generation of isms. Everywhere you go, every channel you pick, every Facebook page that floods your newsfeed, have one or the other form of -ism being talked about: whether it’s a meme, or a debate video (where you barely hear a thing), or a long post like this one. Needless to say, we’re all either tired, or are numb.
A Conversation
A few days ago, I lost an uncle of mine. The loss was hard, especially given that he was one among the few strictly rational individuals — someone who could think straight even in the face of death. I won’t ramble on. Here is a write-up he shared with me when I visited him after a major attack. Without any further ado, over to the memory of Uncle Sampath:
The Massive Metal Crawlers
I read in the newspaper yesterday that the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation had ranted (rightfully so, no doubt) about how the increased traffic on the roads was to blame for the drastic drop in speed and efficiency of our dear buses. I thought I’d extend the discussion a little, today.
My First 100 km Bicycle Ride
Before I start, let me mention, very clearly, that I’m just a beginner cyclist. Sometimes I like to push myself to my limits to see where I stand. As I go through these experiences, I learn more about myself, and this post is just an observation, thinking it might help someone looking to go on a long bicycle ride; some things to consider, some facts, and probable best practices.
The Secret Store of Oxygen
My weekends over the last month have been really great. There was this one during which we went to Mystery Rooms and played Abduction (thereby burning a hole in our pockets), the next one during which we went to Sakleshpur and had a blast. The last weekend wasn’t so eventful apart from riding my bike for a long distance and chilling out. And of course, binge-watching movies with my brother.
The Story of Hoaxes
Of late, there have been a boatload of hoaxes floating around the Internet. Adding to the chaos primarily is WhatsApp, quickly followed by Facebook and the various other social networks. Instagram used to be the haven for original content, which has now been contaminated by these pictures and videos as well.
My Take on Pari
Movies I seldom watch; review them I almost never do. (Except saying whether I liked a certain movie or not.) This is probably my first-of-its-kind post. Now this is not a movie review—it is what I saw in the movie that most of people with whom I spoke about this movie didn’t seem to see.
Is it ever too late?
This post comes from Amdavad! (Non-Amdavadis know it as Ahmedabad.) Yay, how exciting, right? The ideal city to live in in India and all! Anyway, let’s not get into political debates. Dad would read this and then would give me a stare from over his reading glasses and say in a stern voice, ‘Son, what have I told you about politics and religion?’