Reviews: Pamphlets are out

Both PSU and DSU pamphlets came out last night, calling Rahul Gandhi- the 'heir apparent', 'Prince Charming', 'just another MP' , 'media appointed youth icon' and 'Yuvraj'. These people are again harping the same old story, Black flagging and upholding their so called struggle for the marginalized. Well, this is actually quite amusing. They talk about their struggle against the state and have even written that they are upholding this glorious legacy of standing against the world.

Somebody, really needs to go and tell them, that they are upholding this ideology to remain different from the world, to be somehow visible to others through their different ideology and nothing else. They are heard but not taken seriously by anyone. Because they are only trying to remain different from others, as most of them are faced with identity crisis.

Last and the most unbelievable thing they have written is- ' We appeal to the JNUSU leadership to call for a meeting at the earliest possible so that we can form a united front against this massive assault by the state'. One can laugh out loud, reading this. I think when they saw so much of support for Rahul Gandhi, the ground beneath them shook and they are still feeling the tremors.

Reviews: Day 2

This is quite usual, after an interactive session on such a huge scale, there are bound to be reactions from everywhere. I went to the centre today and was discussing about the talk yesterday. When i started praising Rahul Gandhi, i saw a strange negative attitude. One of my seniors said, he didn't have answers for any question. Another one, said am praising becoz am a fan that's all, all girls are. Then another one also said that congress hasn't been able to do much for many issues. Others also said that he had only one answer for all the questions.

I was not expecting such negative responses from people. But how can i forget that this is JNU, where people only criticize, and are rarely seen appreciating someone's efforts. I don't understand, how people can forget that, Rahul Gandhi was here to discuss issues and to get solutions out of it. He was not here for a blame game or behes. But some students in the campus just wanted to blame him, as if he has been the leader of the government for the last 60 yrs. Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi himself, when questioned about the last 60 years of power, answered in a light way saying that i haven't been here for 60 years, do i look like a 60 year old?.

(Definitely not).

So, this blaming him will not change anything, or firing questions at him will not give you any solutions. Issues are discussed and yes! Rahul Gandhi has brought in changes since he took over the vision of India. He himself pointed out yesterday, that 'I had three choices- 1. To be a part of the system, 2. To go back home & 3. To make a change. And i chose the third one, that's why am here in front of you'.

But until the left's attitude of 'Sarkar Mai-Baap' changes, nothing can be done. They want their education fees also to be paid by others and basically, they are lazy people smoking away their time and pretending to be important. Shun the Left, it's high time !!!

Rahul Gandhi: Youth Leader all the way

Today, Mr. Rahul Gandhi came to our campus for an interactive session on Youth and Politics. And as there was no news about it before because of security reasons, we didn't get to know. An hour before the function was due to start, one of my friend told me, and i was game for it. We went there with our ID's around 8.30 and the programme was supposed to start at 9.30. And when we got to know that Rahul Gandhi is on his way, there was a huge applause. Some people call him 'The Icon' and some 'The Brand of India' and of course 'The Prince'.

One could easily see the eagerness in people to get a glimpse of him and i was one of them. Finally, Rahul Gandhi arrived and everyone got up, people were asked by the security persons to maintain calm and sit. And once Rahul Gandhi was on the stage, we could finally see him. Definitely, looks like a prince, but ya, i wanted to know his views about many issues. The moment Rahul Gandhi started speaking, the AISA and SFI people, as usual bound by their habits started shouting and waving black duppatas. But there were NSUI people to control them. Then the question-answer round started. and Ofcourse, the leftists don't leave any stone unturned to vomit out their rusted ideology.

One girl asked him, what has his government done for the poor while quoting many figures. And then Rahul Gandhi replied by saying that, first of all this is not my government, this is your government, this is government of the people. He talked about the various government schemes like NREGA etc. Questions kept on pouring. There was no end to it. Another question was from a guy who didn't want to take up a plum job in corporate sector (40,000 salary per month), but he wanted to work for the government and what should he do. And Rahul replied by saying that you seem agitated, he called him on the stage and shook hands.

One of the persons asked what kind of foreign policy your government has towards Palestine?

He replied, our country is all for the cause of Palestinians and we want them to get their place, but yes we have relations with Israel too, we have signed deals for defense weapons. Because we need to man our borders, when someone is pointing a gun at you, you need to be prepared. I completely agree to this. In the back of the Crowd, one girl was shouting, that your government buys ammunition to kill kashmiris, because she herself is a kashmiri. But of course, not many heard what she said.

Another Question was about, why the fees of universities is being increased. Rahul asked, that according to the committee report, students are charged 20% of the cost and i don't think that is too much to ask for. He actually asked one of the students about their fees and when he heard that we pay 200 rupees for one full semester. He smiled and said, do you think it is too much?

Nothing else need to be said.

And when this issue about fees came up, we all started shouting, that yes! left people don't have money to pay for their education. But they surely have money for cigarettes and FabIndia kurtas and many more things. One girl inquired about how to join politics and Rahul gave a convincing answer by saying that, we have made youth committees in various states and we are mobilizing youth to come up and join politics. And this is very visible in the number of young MPs elected during this election.

One guy asked him, why it took congress 60 years to come to a dalit's house, and from where did he get the food to serve you. What have you done about it. Rahul replied by saying that, I don't go to a dalit's house, i go to a poor man's house (he negated the caste system, very positive). And then he said he has been to many villages and when he asked people there, what have you been most happy about? and the villagers said when there debts were waived. And this was done under one of the policies by Congress.

There were many questions about education expenditure, students claimed that it has been reduced whereas Rahul Gandhi, quoted figures from planning commission's reports, which showed that there was no reduction in education expenditure. During all this questions-answer round, there were debates going on among the crowd also. As i was talking to one of the girl's about reservation and the obsolete Left ideology.

Another question which was asked by a leftist was that there should be redistribution of the money. Rahul Gandhi replied, yes, i agree with the basic principle of upliftment of poor but does your ideology have any answer for how the money needs to be generated. He asked this 5 times and the student had no answer. Then, Rahul Gandhi said that on one side India needs to grow and on the other there needs to be uplift-ment and growth is very important. But left ideology has no answer for growth.

Another question came from Rahul Gandhi, when he asked a leftist that whose ideology you follow, the Russian, which has failed or the Chinese. and the student replied that they dont follow any of those, they have there own ideology. And this became quite funny, as most of the people were laughing when the student replied this way. Among the crowd, a girl was saying that corporates should be taxed. I heard her and said why?

She said because they have money. Then i said they have worked hard for it, you want money, then you go out and work for it. You just can't live on taxpayers money, as corporate taxes are already quite high.

There were also murmurs about rebates for corporates and fake encounters etc. Lot of discussion, and yes, while answering one of the students, Rahul Gandhi also said that am not here to do tu-tu main-main with anyone, am here for healthy discussion, am here to talk about growth and future. Another important thing he pointed out was that, he hasn't been questioned about the growth and future of India and why most of the questions were about what has already happened. This was very thoughtful of him and so true.

I noticed one thing, which was very disturbing, the fact that left party students, do not have the basic etiquette. They don't know how to talk, they point fingers at the person while questioning him, they don't have the decency to talk in a civil manner rather they shout and scream (typically uncivilized attitude). Moreover, they were not even decent enough in the way they were talking especially to a person of such stature like Mr. Rahul Gandhi. They really need to be sent back to schools to learn the basics.

Finally, in the end one girl came up near the stage and said why are we only blaming the government and others, why we ourselves don't take responsibility for anything. Everyone applauded. Just the right end note. Mr. Rahul Gandhi left and we also came out. Lot of security and media people had gathered outside. And i was wishing that i don't have to answer any one of them and right then, one girl from a news channel came to me and asked how was it. I said that Rahul Gandhi gave very meaningful answers and yes, a very sensible leader.

Another man from a news channel came up to me asking me the same thing. i replied and then he asked me whether in next JNU election, u think NSUI can come up with a big win. I replied that it will take time, because left parties have a very strong hold in JNU. But yes Rahul Gandhi's vision for India is commendable and he is leading the youth in the right direction, and after this interactive session, NSUI's base will definitely increase.

And came back to hostel around 12.30 and since then i have been writing this blog. It feels nice after such a thought provoking interactive session, though i had some arguments with left people. Overall it was an enriching experience, knowing our country's future leader. Keep it up, Rahul!!

Horoscopes and other scopes !

Weekly Horoscope is a fun way to know what might happen next week. And ya, the 'might' actually works literally here. Sometimes, the predictions come true and more often, it is completely unrelated to you. But when something really comes true, you are bound to think about it atleast once. Last sunday, i read that this week is bad for my health. And boom,..., i have had cold on n off since monday and i actually thought about the horoscope prediction. Anyways, am ok now, so the prediction was right.

There are times, when things go exactly opposite to what is predicted. And maybe because these times are far more regular than the others, people tend to ignore it. But it provides that 'zing' element to the newspaper. Because of that, sundays become the sunsign days, and the very first thing i read in the paper that day. Moreover, nowadays people are spoilt for options like, greenscopes, foodscopes, moneyscopes, beautyscopes and yes dogscopes too. So one can have predictions for a particular subject for every week.

Though, that sounds a little too much. But Horoscopes are horocsopes, whatever you say. If that's not enough, you can always go for palm reading, crystal gazing, tarot card reading and many-many more available alternatives.

So let's see what's in store for me, next week. Happy Scoping....

No newspaper today

Seeing newspaper outside my door, when i open it in the morning is usual. But today, the newspaper was not delivered. The very first thought which came to my mind,'why the hell the newspaper is not there', second one, 'the guy who delivers must be unwell', and third,' its ok, i'll read it in the common room'. You become so habitual of reading newspaper in the morning, that not finding it right in the morning is unexpected.

Though, i can check the latest news on the internet, still reading a newspaper has its own charm. Nothing can replace newspapers, for sure. Reading newspaper with a cup of coffee in the hand......what else can you ask for?

Just heard the thud sound, the newspaper is finally here. The guy usually throws it on the door.

Yipee.............

Cheers: Internet turns 40

Yes, internet turned 40 today. Forty years back, on September 2, 1969- two computers at University of California, Los Angeles exchanged meaningless data in the first test of arpanet (an experimental military network) (The Times of India, Sep. 2, 2009). And today, it has become a part of our lives. We cant imagine living without internet even for a day. One can easily guess that by the figures, which show- there are 81 million internet users in India, that's a whopping number compared to the literacy rate here.

Looking back, i still remember, when i was in 10th standard, we had a PC and we used to wait for like 15-20 minutes for the internet dial-up connection to connect. Then, we used to put the username and Password, then again it took 10 mins. And finally, we could open our outlook to check mails, even sending mails use to take time. All that sounds so funny now.

Internet has definitely touched and changed our lives, in so many ways. We are connected to our friends, even those people who were just classmates earlier; sometimes even those whom we hated, but its ok. We can get information about anything under the sun, like looking for a airtel maintenance centre around the area, gulab jamun recipe, booking tickets and holidays n much more. And internet telephony is too gud. We have gotten so used to it, feels like its been there forever. Well i dont think i need to write more- praising the internet. It's time to say- "Shall we cut the cake now".

Just saw a joke on youtube video, it was about internet can be used in space also. Well anything is possible, what do u say??

Living in a Hostel - 2

Living in a hostel has its own merits and demerits. As so many people live together, there are bound to be problems and these need to talked about and solved. Today in the small garden outside my room, i saw a cigarette butt. Two days back also, i saw a cigarette butt lying in the bathroom sink. And another funny thing i felt, was, i could smell tobacco while brushing in the morning. I have been wondering, that when no one is smoking around, how can there be tobacco smell. And then i found the same cigarette butt lying in the sink.

I took it out with a paper and threw it in the dustbin. And when i again saw one in the garden, i knew i had to do something about it.

I wrote two notes saying, ' PLS DO NOT THROW CIGARETTE BUTTS AROUND. USE THE DUSTBIN' and pasted these on the two mirrors, one in the bathroom and other one on the mirror outside. As mirrors are something everyone who is passing will look at, so no better place than this.

And after three hours, when i went out, i saw a message written on both the notes with pencil. The message was, 'Sorry, won't happen again. Pls take this off when u see the message, Thanks'. That was very thoughtful of her. Atleast she admitted and said sorry. So i took off both the notes and threw in the dustbin (dustbin is quite useful, no doubt). But there have been many times, when i have seen people tearing off these kind of notes, rather than saying sorry.

Anyways, end of matter....problem solved. This is what i call peaceful resolution of problem. I hope more people understand this and it can be used by people in solving many other troubling issues.

"SAY NO TO SMOKING"

Living in a hostel !!!

It is not the first time am staying in a hostel, but it is the first time am writing about it. There have been some really funny 'animal' incidents lately. Last week, while i was busy chatting; i saw something jumping on the side of my bed. At first i thought it must be a fly, but i was surprised to see a baby frog. And then the next thing i was doing, was trying to shoo.. it out of my room. I used a broom, to slowly drag it out but it was jumping so high, it could have been easily sitting on my bed. It was just a baby frog, so maybe it forgot its way and was now trying to find a way out.

Then i thought of a nice idea to drag it outside my room. Took a bucket, turned it upside down and luckily i was able to trap it inside it. And then dragged it slowly outside my room and released it. It was such a relief, coz it was no more inside my room. And, yes it was nice to see it jump and leap around the place again.

Then the other day, as i was passing by my neighbours room, saw a cute little cat sleeping under her door curtain. That neighbour of mine, she usually keeps her door closed and there's a curtain outside it , which is a little too long and moreover she keeps her cooler 'on' day and night. So all these factors must be making that place attarctive to the cat (a nice, cool and hidden place). So the cat usually comes and sleeps there late in the night. And when i wake up in the morning, i still see it sleeping there.

Today, i saw a peahen, near the bathroom door. I was shocked, the moment it heard the sound, it flew back on the top of the room. The scene was actually like this, peacock near the bathroom door and black cat behing it. The moment i came out of my room, i saw this and i thought 'Oh my God, what kind of animal is that'. But anyways, all these and many more incidents like shooing away the lizards from my room, make me laugh sometimes. So i thought of writing these down.

Travel: Hampi saga continues

Further down the road, there's Udana Veerbadra Temple, which is still an active temple of Lord Vishnu. And another temple near it is a ruined one, again a beautiful temple. We kept going on the same way, to discover mre amazing structures. Then, on the right side of the road ahead, we saw Sister rock, these are two rocks joined at the top or more like two boulders leaning on each other; just amazing.Then we were near the Underground temple, known as Pataleshwara Temple, its ceiling is at the ground level. Another interesting thing we saw was that canal water always through this temple and beacuse of that the main complex where the shivlinga was kept it was filled with water, making it tough to go inside. But we took another route from the side and climbed inside, the view was great. The water has been logged there for so long, that even small fishes were there.

From there, we went on to see the Commander's Fort, completely in ruins, with only some structures visible. and right oposite to it are recently excavated palaces in the Nobleman's quarters. Right ahead on the road, there's the zenana enclosure, to the elft of the enclosure lies the octagonal basement of the queen's palace. And on the right is the beautiful Lotus Mahal. Right outside the enclosure, there's the elephant stables in the open area, which was used as parade ground. From a path to the right of elephant stables, a way through fields leads to the group of jain temples. And the way along the enclosure wall outside, one can find the ganigitti temple, with a big Lord Hanuman's figure carved in stone.

Travel: Mesmerizing Hampi

Hampi, a World Heritage Site. The second day of our trip and the second of May too. We were looking forward to this, got ready around 8.30 in the morning and had breakfast in the hotel's restaurant. Hampi is about 12 Kms from Hospet, as we started drawing close, we could see stone structures here and there, and that made us wanna see hampi more. We saw an old temple and stopped to see it. On the way, we also saw a stone chariot of the Vijaynagar time. And then the rocky Hampi landscape started becoming visible. It was too pretty, it seems the rocks are kept on each other randomly. There are so many canals made by the empire at that time..which are still in use, like the Thurtha Dam, it is so surprising. And this shows they had technology, to build such a well developed canal system all through the city.

Hampi, also called as the 'City of Victory', the imperial city of Vijaynagar Empire South India's largest, wealthiest and most powerful kingdom. There are two ways of starting the journey in to the ruined city, we took the left way, which starts from the river bank and Virupaksha temple. The river bank and the view is breathtaking, ruined structures for bathing are there in large numbers and these are still used by the people. And then we reached the Virupaksha temple, the starting point, is also the only major temple which is still in active worship. Many stories are associated with this this temple, like the goddess Pampa married Shiva and some of the ceiling paintings of the temple show the marriage ceremony. And this region is also associated with Ramayana, as here Rama and Lakhmana arrived to find Sita, after Ravana abducted her.

Coming back to Virupaksha Temple, the 100 columed hall and smaller gopura was made by Krishadevaraya, during his coronation in 1510. The temple complex also has structures of the Rashtrakuta period (9th century) and Hoysala period (13th century). The Manmatha tank near the complex, is a beautiful sight and also the the famous hampi bazaar of those times, still has structures dotted all along the street (a sight to see). Next comes the Hemkuta hills, from pre and early Vijaynagara empire. The temples here are built on sloping granite, indeed another breathtaking sight.

Then there are two massive statues of Ganesha, one is called Sasivekalu (mustard-seed) Ganesha and the Kadlekalu (gram) Ganesha. Along the road ahead, lies the Krishna temple, another major temple and the vast market place and tank opposite to it. And the monolith statue of Lord Narsimha, lies on the right ahead of the road; and a monolith shivlinga (3 meters tall) stands in water (amazing) as a canal passes thru this temple.

Travel: Hospet and Hampi

This trip was planned, quite unlike our earlier trips. My husband and me started planning for it a week before, as it was supposed to be a long journey. We looked up on the internet- the routes, hotels etc. to have a fair idea of the place. And this time it was Hampi, a place we wanted to visit for so long. After seeing the brouchers, we were sure about it. Finally, as usual we left around 10.00 (1st May), from Bangalore, even after immense planning for leaving soon. The distance between Bangalore and Hampi is about 350 kms.

Had breakfast in Agarwal hotel (in the outskirts of Bangalore) our staple breakfast: Idli - vada and got on NH4 soon. Stopped for a short break in CCD, on the way. Our next tea break was in Sira, where i tried to speak 'Swalpa Kannada'. Around 2, we were in Hiriyur. and reached Chitradurga around 3, the distance from Bangalore to Chitradurga is 200 kms. Here, we stopped for lunch, in Aishwarya Fort Hotel, had gobi munchurian and some tasteless biryani and aishwarya fort special masala sabzi which was even more tasteless. Left for hospet around 4, after a long refreshing stop. And reached Hospet at 7, non-stop drive, except one coconut water (el-neer) break, where the villagers gathered around us, thinking we have come from abroad (strange).

Anyways, the drive on NH4 was too good but the drive from Chitradurga to Hospet was a pain, because there were hundreds of trucks on a single lane road but the view was awesome - with windmills and trees all around. The route was like this- Bangalore- Tumker- Sira- Hiriyur- Chitradurga- Jagalur- Kudligi- Hospet = 350 kms.

After reaching Hospet, we went around the place looking for hotel and finally checked in Hotel Priyadarshini. A good hotel is such a relief after a long journey. Came out for dinner around 9 and slept off.

Travel: Hassan, Belur and Helebidu

Hassan, our pittstop for the day. We reached Hassan around 5 in the evening and checked in a hotel. Then, it was time to go around the city and to the city's shopping centre. An exhibition was on and we bought a cute tabla showpiece set. And bought fruits, chips and biscuit; and checked out some shops too. It's not a big place like Bangalore, but definitely a typical small town.

We didn't spend much time going around the city and came back to hotel, had dinner (Biryani and a different version of Malai kofta) n slept. So tired becoz of the journey and the invincible stairs we climbed in Sravanabelagola, we slept soon and woke up around 8, left for Belur around 9.

Travel: Sravanabelagola and Hassan

Me and my husband were planning for a trip since last week, and finally decided on 14th of March. And left for Hassan on 15th around nine in the morning, though the plan was to leave early. We packed our bag (including sunscreen, cap, shades) and zoom......ed. The view on the way was breathtaking, with fields on both sides, coconut trees, good roads (though it is single laned); the journey was quite comfortable. With two stops in between (one is always in Cafe Coffee Day); around 1 , we were in Sravanabelagola (holy place for Jains).

The Gommata Monolith, statue of Bahubali, (58 foot tall & built in 981 A.D.) , is an exemplary work of art. Legend has it, that Lord Gomateshwara (0r Bahubali), after fighting his brother Bharatha for the throne, renounced his kingdom and all worldly pleasures and stood in deep meditation.

 

One has to climb a very long flight of stairs to reach the lord's statue. The stairs looked scary, as we started climbing. And yes! we had to stop for a breath every two minutes, and finally we could climb up all of the 650 steps. Huff.......it was exhausting, but the view was unbelievable. We enetered the temple complex and there we were, near the statue. It's enormity makes one feel tiny, very tiny.

We clicked pictures, especially one near the foot of the statue to see how small we look in front of it. Anyways done with that, we sat there for sometime and prayed (it was so peaceful). and we came literally running down the stairs, quite unlike the way we climbed up. Then it was shopping time, we went to the teddy shop (it's not funny) and bought a cute tortoise teddy (yes! it is cute). After shopping, it was time for food, we found a nice restaurant and had some awesome idlis and dosa. And then back on track, on our way to Hassannnn.................