Get out or get lost!

---Bid adieu to the green-belt in north-east Bangalore and get set to welcome the concrete jungle that will arise as part of the development of Bangalore or just 'Get Out of theCity'.
According to the draft Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) 2005 of the Bangalore DevelopmentAuthority (BDA), 200 sq-kms of green space in the north-east will be lost, especially betweenWhitefield and Devanahalli, as they will be converted into residential and commercial spaces.
BDA Commissioner M K Shankarlinge Gowda told this paper that according to the draft plan, thegreen-belt was opened in 2005 for development.
''If people cannot accept the city's growth, they should just get out. The area has monoculture vegetation with eucalyptus in large numbers,'' he said.---
- New Indian Express


Can a few short sighted people with vested interests determine the fate of a city? And how much do they know what constitutes monoculture vegetation?

I dont know how much more time will people need to revolt. If you would like to make a difference pls do anything you can, from preventing trees getting unnecessarily cut, to filing RTIs. Join those already working against such blatant threats. At the least try to realise the false propoganda spread in the name of 'development'.

There are several ways to develop a city keeping in mind that trees are integral part of it. Besides, just as one of the Karnataka ministers wants an SEZ close to his property there is a rush to flatten out trees and destroy lakes to cash in on realty mania.

All that s(h)cience is not gold

Science is still blind faith and excellent marketing. It just goes round and round in proving and disproving itself.

So while Newton may say one thing, a few centuries later Einstein may say something contradictory more convincingly and with more 'proofs' (which are again scientific). In between are people who keep swaying with blind faith that science is after all 'science' and cant be wrong. There are more defensive voices like science is evolutionary and that its core remains the same. That, refinement happens by ongoing evaluation and everything is out there for everyone to see.

But what can people with blind faith see? And what if the 'scientific means' itself is flawed? Yes, there are many facts claimed by science which cant be disproved. But just because they have been claimed by science, it is not its own contribution. Science or No-Science, there are somethings which always exist.

I have been told that I do not understand science. But when people claim that science is rational and tolerant why cant we see it from an 'outside-in' view? A fish in a pond can never understand what a pond is, it has to get out to see it. This might sound absurd, but science should be able to validate itself fully when seen from a non-scientific domain. I know its foolish to do so, but drawing parallels is not a crime and maybe this can be given another thought.

Okay, the gibber-talk is over.. breathe easy.

The Tail of Cities

"This is the worst of times, this IS the worst of times..."

Bangalore, is no longer in the best of times. Why just Bangalore? No city is vaccinated against vagaries of time and society.

From a sleepy city to a bustling one, from green to brown, from 'we' to 'me', from hospitality to brutality.. Just about everything shows a clear trend - > Disgruntled people and a weeping city.

From what I know about trends analysis, there is something called a 'breakout' accompanied with a few other characteristics which trigger a fresh trend in movement of a wave. If we compare the fate of the city to a wave, we have already seen the 'breakout' in the last 2-3 years.

Along with economic development and changes to society & our collective mindsets, we have now moved into a different orbit.

Look at the words below in the context of Bangalore-Before and Bangalore-Now. Notice what you feel as you run the words in your head.

Economic Activity
Rich-poor divide
Growth
Flora & Fauna
Traffic & Civic sense
Administration
Public perception & behaviour
City Climate
Empowerment

Development is an inclusive term, but we have made it lopsided.
The great Indian middle class is growing with more money and power, but is that a sign of a better society?
Are we more developed if we have more wealth than last year?
Cant we think of development in terms of number of trees in the city co-existing with better movement of people?

The 'development' we are talking and thinking of is going to bring us all down under its weight. Take the case of mindless felling of trees and the plundering of nature for flyovers/roads/parking area/commercial activity. Or even the mindless culling of hundreds of stray dogs to avenge the tragic death of a girl by few handful of insane dogs.
Barbarism is closing on us, as we single mindedly pursue 'financial and immediate profit'. Common sense is slowly getting buried and the bad news is that we do not even realise it.

The tail of the city has wagged and the signal is there for all of us to see.

The magic WAN( T )D

Ever wondered...

1. Why do u want what u dont need?
2. How will u want wot u`ve got?
3. What will u want after all ur "wants" are granted?
4. When will u stop wanting?
5. How long will u want "the most wanted want"?
6. Which "want" will want u to "unwant" every "want"?
7. Can there be a "want" u`d never want?
8. Is a "want" the only want u`d ever want?
9. Do all the "wants", even want u?
10.Do "wants" want more "wantin" than u want to "want"?
11.What "want" will stop u wantin?
12. Why do u keep wanting what u really should not "want"?
13.What after all, is a "want"?

a ---------- l ---------- o ---------- n ---------- e

No man is an island but each one has a moat around his fort.

The volume of each one's moat generally remains the same. Its the height upto which the moat is filled which varies from time to time and person to person. When the water recedes, it would mean the person is getting into a state of solitude and contact with other people reduces.
One just needs to check the level of water in one's moat and check how lonely she is. You pour in more water, build more gateways and you get more connected. Just think of it, solitude and loneliness is a matter of choice.

But what happens when solitude is thrust upon you?
When you are in a strange land or weird situation. When all you have is the 'unknown'. Or when your environment has always been such that solitude is all that is 'known'. Or when it is self inflicted due to some reason. Maybe one's upbringing leads her to crave for solitude. It could be a need of self discovery or just a way of life. Sometimes its always there but denied or suppressed.

In all such times, fortification is heavy and there is ample opportunity for one to discover the land within. On the flip side, there are chances of slipping into a whirlpool of fear, boredom and a state of rot. This can make the fort barren from within.

Some people argue that staying alone and feeling lonely are two very distinct choices. They give a thumbs up to "staying alone" which is perceived as being independent and self sufficient

But seriously, how does it all matter if the fort is dead within.



p.s. I really dont know if I tried to communicate anything here, but I am sure those who have been through it can make sense of this.

natur-ally

Why cant we see trees as a supportive creature rather than an expendable entity?

Why cant we see development in counting trees rather than flyovers
(we know the effects of a flyover)

Why cant we let lakes and catchments be just lakes and catchments and not an address on a visiting card

Why cant we let the wild live in the wild instead of migrating into 'sterilized' woods

Why cant we have a smaller ecological footprint in consuming resources rather than exhuming ecological balance for our consumption

Why cant we avoid honking at a far away vehicle

Why cant we reduce the danger of exhausts from our vehicles

Why cant we be an ally of nature rather than wage a war against it

Why cant we let our bodies get acclimitized to the natural weather rather than always adjusting the surrounding, almost as if the weather has to acclimitze to our body

U ask 'why'?... But naturally! Its natural for us to be this way and thats why.

Sa(ha)ra, Jet(ayu) and the grand deal

".. and king Jetayu found the rebels growing in power in no time. But there was one particular revolutionary who went as far as rivaling the king in his own palace, although in a very secretive way. Her name was Sara and she was as rich as the king himself as well as the most beautiful of all women. No one could resist her beauty , so much so that a well known, charismatic but "alcoholic" emperor tried his best to court her but all in vain.

Everyone including the king was aware of her role in the rebellion. Jetayu had to find a way to finish her in no uncertain means.

And just like the first drop of rain, an idea struck him out of no where. What if he married her, gave her the title of the royal queen and then supressed the remaining rebels using her support? She looked attractive and the whole thing would look like the king had fallen for her beauty.

The idea was brilliant but it needed the shrewdness of an old fox to make it happen. But after all here was the cunning Jetayu himself, the same Jetayu who could 'bend' anything in the world "east-west" included. It took all his experience and shrewdness to convince Sara and set the wedding bells ringing.

Sara, being the Sara she was, was so swept off her feet that all the rebellion she started was wiped off her mind. Sara's astrologer, tried to put sense into her, but all in vain. As a final attempt the astrologer managed to persuade her that the 'deal' should contain a condition that Jetayu would not enter Sara's "private chambers" until the passing of the inauspicious 14th moon, which was 7 days away. Jetayu agreed.

No sooner was the 'deal' through, he started implementing his grand plan, albeit in subliminal ways.At the end of 4 days, just 3 days away from the 14th moon, he complained the relationship was getting sour as he could not enter the queen's chamber. Immediately the astrologer smelt the rat and warned Sara. Again Sara, being Sara, let the king have his way before the 14th moon. There were elaborate ceremonies in the palace to celebrate this event.

Jetayu quickly had sara in his control. He got her talking about the rebellion and found out all about her, now-abandoned plans and the coterie. On the 14th moon, the king alleged that Sara was not of royal blood and so could not continue the royal family. She was promptly stripped off her title and was thrown out of the palace much to the disdain of all the land's citizens. This humiliation hurt Sara to an extent that she froze for days. Finally she prayed justice from the King and all that she got was a "few silver coins" to see her miserable life through. Alimony was almost like an insult to Sara's hurt modesty. The king having suppressed Sara, could now suffocate the entire uprising.

The citizens, along with the rebels now wait for the next uprising. Not far away in the distance, they can see a prospective unison of two families who were formerly the undisputed rulers of the land. Could they be the saviours?..."

..N Justice for all

When ppl think about Justice, it is natural they feel short changed most of the times. Most prob its bcos we dont remember the times when we are given more than a better deal.

If anybody other than a hard core Italian fan had watched the Italy-Australia soccer match she would have gasped and said Australia was hard done. It doesnt get worse than this she might say, but Harsha Bhogle, one of the better commentators of our times, made life so much easier by his comments.
You always get short changed in sports and life but in the long run you get many in your favor. Maybe in the quarter finals or later if Italy is given a bad decision against their favor, they possibly cant complain, since they wouldnt have been there had it not been for the one bad decision in their favor.

Maybe many of us are not fortunate enough to have the match drawn at the end of the day. What matters though is that the referee is beyond our control and all we can do is to 'play on'.

Markets for everyone

I still get to hear anecdotes from my mom about share markets ruining so many homes during her times in Bombay. No matter what I say about the state of current affairs and the sea change that we have gone through since the days of shouting for bids, she is strong about her views after having seen the pain. In a way she is right.

No matter how modernised the system gets, there will be loopholes and there will be enough ppl wanting to use them.

The system is as good as the general culture prevailing. For, its the culture which will set the system, and its the culture which is the soul, breathing life into the system.




For quite sometime now, we have seen a wave of new comers taking an active position and following the markets as actively as following Nicole Kidman's love life. I am one of them.
This situation is just like the scene in any of the countries affected by the World Wars. There are two sets of ppl, one who have seen it and the other who were born after it. Just as there is a huge difference in practically everything these two sets do, think and hold dear to, we will soon have two sets of ppl in the Indian stock mkts too. Those who have seen the sub 3000 levels around 2003 and before and the ones who came in after the 'bull' market supposedly started. One might say you cant exactly classify based on this criteria , but there are many reasons for this.

1. The huge number of ppl who have latched on to equities as a source of money (investment or otherwise) since ppl started dumping "the dot com bubble" memory.
2. The rise of the great Indian middle class (am sure many would not call it the great Indian, nevertheless..)
3. The hype attached to the stock markets by media. (This far exceeds the impact of other reasons)
4. Speed and reach of information through various means

Whatever the reason , whatever the classification and whatever the advice. One thing is for sure, greed and fear are two of the most important entities in any market.

its the journey .. thats all there is

Read somewhere..
"Your journey has moulded you for your greater good and it was exactly what needed to be. Don’t think that u have lost time. There is no short cutting to life. It took each and every situation encountered to bring u to now. And NOW is RIGHT ON TIME..!!”

everytime I read that it makes perfect sense. And everytime I read it I also know that I wouldnt be holding onto it when it will be required the most. Therein lies the problem.

But this is where arguments start. There are 2 extremes. Leave your life completely in the Chauffeur's hands or convince yourself that you are ready to drive. No view is wrong, no method is false.

The statement does not take away the freedom of driving one's own car.
It gives you all the control of the car and at the same time says that you can use 'hope' as the fuel.
You take heart in the "no short cutting in life" yet it does not allow you to lie low for long.

Hmm.. wonder why on earth did I start off with something like this. But then whats a start after all? just a premium of the unprecedented gives it so much hype.

test test test

Am I a late entrant or is this the point from where the world starts seriously looking at blogging?
On a serious note I hope to cleanse this world by writing filth.

Hope to write regularly now on. (dunno how many times I must have said that)