Whose Crime Is it anyway???

Hello and welcome to 'Whose Crime is it Anyway!?', the Indian Game show where everything's made up and the lives don't matter.

Please welcome our stars for today

1.The Indian Politician
2.The Indian citizen
3.The NRI
4.The Indian social worker
5.The Indian media
6.The Indian "culture"

All that is missing is savvy marketing and a commercial break, this is what India currently is in a nutshell.India recently turned 61, and in most cultures would be recognized to have become sensible and developed a sense of maturity.Alas, our proud motherland infamously is not party to the matured civilizations lot.

For those who are still wondering what brought on this sudden outburst, its days and days of reading what can only be termed as crap in the online edition of India's most popular newspaper.

I left my country about three years ago, and ironically, feel I am closer to it than ever before.I left my country at a time when it was spiraling upward both on technological and financial grounds,when youngsters were finally becoming politically aware, when there were age old shackles being broken and new bonds forged, heralding a change in outlook and range of thinking, and gave me some sort of hope that after all these years post independence, we might finally be able to see some light.

That was then. Three long years have passed, I and my many worlds have agreed to change, but sadly, my country hasn't. All those burgeoning promises of change have gotten buried under bureaucracy,dwindling values, broken promises and a general clueless attitude towards administration.The government has managed to disappoint me yet again...they made a mess of handling the situation, while my beloved Bombay was getting attacked.The follow up was pathetic and tough action, nowhere to be seen. As usual our government chose to play the "protect me" role and ran whimpering and sniveling to Uncle Sam.Our intelligence, which has been celebrated on the global platform, is sadly a joke when it comes to national security.Our politicians, though generating illusions of a matured administration, are still debating about the same issues..the ones that do not matter at all. But I guess the biggest disappointment for me has been the youth of India.

I am aware I might be a traitor to my kin as I say this.But the youth in India, with reference to what I saw then I visited my country last year, and what I perceive through the eyes of the media, can be best described as lost.The progress of a nation is a double-edged sword, one can cut through life long shackles, or lose our most valuable assets.And though I bow to those who have chosen the former path, I see throngs of crowds on the latter.The very fact that I still see cases of acid attacks, dowry deaths, female infanticide, date rape, agro-based suicides in the news leaves me in severe doubt as to where we are headed as a nation.We are spiraling no doubt, but I feel its in the downward direction. I see more apathy toward the state of the nation and the administrative woes, than ever before. I see more unnecessary emphasis on Page 3 parties, Bollywood and the intricacies of "who's doing what..or rather..who". As we progress through the 21st century, I see more women succumbing to social pressure and domestic autocracies instead of fighting against them. As we compete on a global platform, I see shitty issues like dress codes for women and soap operas being debated over.

Without hope, or agenda, I'd like to throw some questions into the void:

1. Will the government ever stop being a a coward and take stringent action on the terrorism in the country?
2. Will smart women stop attaining dual degrees, only to sit at home and be domesticated?
3. Will our politicians ever stop using, women's dress codes and the support of traditional values to enforce so called Indian culture on a mass mindset?
4. Will high profile politicians like Rahul Gandhi stop bringing poor villagers into the limelight only to break their promises and someone's lifelong hopes forever?
5. Will the media stop covering crap infotainment and cover some real news for a change? (Please check out http://stupidindiatv.blogspot.com/ to know what I talk about..and it's only the tip of the iceberg)
6. Will someone out there please realize, that there are sports besides cricket, at which we suck on a global playing field, and should probably try to embrace and encourage those?
7. Will kids ever be kids again?
8. Will the youth ever be sensible enough to say yes to health, education and a fulfilling life instead of just drugs parties and fornication?
9. Will women of this nation ever stop being subservient and fight against the horrors they face?
10.Will we ever discuss some real issues facing the nation before the election at least?
11. Will we ever stop using our history as support and move on to finally being an advanced nation?
12. Can we stop this slow but steady loss of sense in everyday Indian life?
13. Will we ever be able to see past castes, reservations, quotas and vote bank politics and give education a chance?
14. Will we ever be so sensible as to take the good from other cultures, instead of the worst traits?
15. Will we ever be so sensible as to be tolerant of other cultures, thus enriching our own?

And finally...

We are a democracy..but are we really independent?

So..whose crime is it anyway? The corrupt politicians? The clueless and apathetic youth? The money minded commercially oriented media?The NRI who chooses to free himself of these questions?The Indian citizen who acknowledges these questions and chooses to brush them under the carpet?Bollywood and its overrated importance?Our system..or US?

I possibly do not know the answers, but I have the inclination to find out. I take that as a positive starting note...and at a microscopic level, I am going to change the role I play in this vicious cycle. Someone has wisely said that change is not momentary, it is everlasting, slow,persistent and the only thing constant in this world.

I'll be starting with changing my newspaper...

Be the change you want to see in the world.

-Mahatma Gandhi

Au revoir Boston

This sunny Thursday morning in SF Bay area finally finds me with enough time to come back to this space. My shipped boxes have finally arrived today (at the cost of digressing I am going to wonder again why the land transport is called shipping and the ferry transport as cargo..English really is a 'phunny' language)and I can finally claim to have completely moved from the east to the west and then from the east coast to further west to the land which is fast on its way to becoming India away from India.

So anyway coming back to the part where I begin justifying the title...I finally bid adieu to Boston last week.The possible prospect of a little less cold, and the gigantic prospect of a lot more money and close family nearby together were successful in drawing me like bees to honey. I must have had at least a gazillion people asking me how it feels to be leaving Boston. Truth be told, initially there were absolutely no feelings.I can honestly say that Boxes, furniture,packing, room rental,sublease were only some of the words which were haunting me for the week that I had given myself to make the migration. But when the last piece of belongings had been packed and the last box shipped and the furniture taken away..I must admit that I felt a little heartbroken. Heartbroken to be leaving my roommates and friends who have been my family for the last 2.5 yrs.I never mentioned them because I swore I wouldn't write about anything personal.But its quite unfair to not mention the people who meant so much to me. And its unfair to keep their unique characteristics from the world..because they're such amazing entertainment.

I will miss the motormouth chatter making it seem like the UN was having its annual conference in our apartment. I'll miss the fact that I would walk into one of the bedrooms and find one of my roommates sprawled on her bed like a dead person to freak me out.I'll miss stories of cops making a visit because someone jumped over the terrace into the next building. I'll miss nightly sleep adventuring..I couldn't find another word for all the antics my roommate indulged in,in her sleep. She'd be attacked by avalanches and crocodiles,and what not and all the while her poor comforter bore the brunt of it all as she whacked it crazy.If not beating off dangerous attackers she'd be running (while sleeping on her bed), as though its the last sprint of her Olympic race. Not just that, this Indiana Jane would also occasionally grace the dead quiet of the night with a "whoooooo", "yuck" , "hmm hmmm" or "what the hell are you doing here!??" to send me into multiple seizures.

I will miss the endless banging on the bathroom door everyday to end some beauty baths. I will miss hearing of people attempting to learn swimming in the bath tub!I will miss having around small toys which even 2 yr-olds these days don't play with.I will miss hearing the latest updates on Star voice of India, sa re ga ma pa and other several talent competition results that no one gives a toss about, but which are discussed in our apartment as though it were the nightly news. I will miss the heated debates about India's past present and future by some of the people who don't feature anywhere in the makeover plan (a.k.a, US). I will miss people relishing absolutely wacky and weird food combinations like glucose biscuits and jam etc.

I will miss going out where people order exorbitant dishes to drive you to bankruptcy. I will miss Saturday movie night where we would spend 2 hours discussing which movie to watch and eventually get too tired to see the movie itself.I will miss pretending to agree that Abhay Deol is amazing!I will miss answering quiz questions about the personal life of every random personality from Bollywood. I will miss the stupidest uses and meanings of Hindi words in a sentence.I will miss having my cooking tasted by the most difficult critics in the world. No food is ever perfect, plus the expressions are priceless. I will miss Ts and Ds being unnecessarily stressed in every god damn sentence.I will miss the exasperated looks when I misplace yet another pair of glasses.I will miss having discussions where constipation might seem deadlier than cancer.I will miss the endless laughter the unexpected tempers and the amazing food variety.

I will miss the fact that everything that one needs was within a mile radius of the apartment.I will miss encountering a familiar face every time I step out of the apartments. I will miss being exasperated that the Desi network in Boston is too strong. I will miss the fact that in spite of checking the temperatures a zillion times, the Boston weather will manage to surprise you.I will miss the nip of the air as you step out dressed as a grizzly bear.I'll miss how seeing the Fenway Park from my window and hearing the cheers from the stadium before I hear them on TV.I will miss cursing the fact that whenever you're in a hurry the train will always give Northeastern University stop a miss.

I will miss the last minute plans which turn out to be the best of trips. I will miss the long long chain letters which never reach any conclusion. I will miss the red brick constructions where each construction is unique.I will miss all the ghost stories about the old buildings. I will miss the musicians at Harvard and Downtown T stops. I will miss exclaiming each time how beautiful Boston Commons looks. I will miss the fact that even in the harsh winter there's always something going on in the city.I will miss the walks near the Charles dodging the crazy runners and watching a gold blanket being spread over the evening rowers.

And so I bid adieu..in a flurry of meeting people, saying goodbyes and intermittently pausing to breathe.Boston gave me a farewell to remember by doing what it does best, manifesting itself in myriad weather conditions within a matter of 48 hrs.While I enlist all the things I will miss about Boston I realize I have more reasons to keep coming back..

So here's to Boston..the land of brain, beans and baseball..