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The exam
The first paper was at 9.30 AM. On strict orders from home, I start at 7 AM sharp. Again, on strict orders, I give a long namaskaar to the dark rock (people call Shivalinga) inside the temple on the way. Since, I'm not convinced he's really there, I tell myself or.. heck, whoever (Allah/Jesus/Eashwar) is listening "I dont know if you're there but if you're there I'm not asking for anything. Just do whatever you want." It always feels better when you do that. It's gives you a feeling that whatever will happen will happen and there's no point getting anxious about it. As the Atlantean once said, "All Past was Future once and all Future will become Past. The Present is only an illusion" :p
I take the Metro to CP and my plan was to take an auto from there to Shakarpur. Finding an auto was some experience. The first guy says Rs. 80. I open my mouth wide open in disbelief. He understands and takes off. The next guy says Rs. 60. Actually, it takes Rs. 30 to go to Shakarpur from CP. The other guy comes and asks "Kitne doge?" I say "Pachaas". He gets the shock of his life. "Pachaaas doge?!!" and he runs outta there! This was getting a little too much. Finally, some guy comes and says Rs. 60. I realize there's no use asking them for less so I accept, breathing a sigh of relief that I actually got an auto! Huh!
Over to School Block, Shakarpur. The school was a government school and it had all the characteristics of one. There was a huge garbage dump right beside the school gate. Thousands of years from now, the classrooms will be important archaelogical sites as I got to see the modern version of cave paintings. No corner… I mean no corner of the classrooms was left empty. And the benches – those were for kindergarten students, not us! Only half our butts fitted on those benches. Two fans werent working, one of which was over myself. Fortunately, I got a window seat!
The Geography paper started at 9.40 AM, 15 minutes late (God knows why). It was okay. I mean, I shouldnt've wasted time all these days lamenting about the level of my preparation. A little extra preparation and I would've done a shade better. Anyway, I can get about 85-90 questions correct out of 120. This time, the posts are many, so the cut off might come down. I might sneak in 
Noon was a bore. I spent it somehow. Over to General Studies at 2.30 PM. The first twenty questions were from Indian History and Mental Ability. I know little of Indian History as I left it compleletely during preparation. Tension aa gayi! Mental Ability was a strength for me so I gave my best there and though I was anxious while solving them, I did pretty well. This time, the paper was too general, more general than last time. That actually worked to my advantage because I didnt prepare for the usual stuff So after the end of the exam, I counted and I was overjoyed at the result. I can easily get about 80 or even 90 correct out of 150, which is considered safe.
So, it was a happy ending and I got back home feeling relieved. My chances of clearing the exam? – 6 times out of 10 – which is pretty good considering the level of my preparation.
Departure
The next day, I was all excited about leaving for Hyderabad. The departure time was 9.25 PM and I started from home at 7.30 PM.
I asked the autowallah "Domestic airport?".
"Kya?"
"Domestic airport"
"Indira Gandhi airport?"
"Nai nai domestic!"
"Palam?"
*I slap my forehead
"Domestic airport!"
He says Rs. 80. I got till that auto after walking almost a mile with a 15 KG. bag on my shoulder. There was no empty auto in sight and I was getting a little late. So I thought "Cant miss this one". Judging from past experience with Delhi autowallahs, Rs. 80 seemed reasonable from Rajendra Place to the Domestic airport. And we start.
This guy actually was about to take me to the international airport! I asked him a zillion times "Hey, if you dont know, let us ask somebody for directions". He's adamant. He doesnt even turn his head back. After delivering some hard-to- understand behaviour for some time, even he's convinced that we better ask for directions. We do and in fact, we were going the wrong way. Bloody hell! We turn back and after further asking for directions, we finally reach the airport after half an hour from the time we first asked for directions.
Getting on a train, I tell you, is far easier than getting on a flight! My airline was Air Deccan. Some call it "Air Dhakkan", pyaar se, which is completely understandable. There were 5 checkin counters there. Mathematically speaking, there were 'n' number of queues, where n = any natural number. Nobody knew which queue is it to which counter and there were frequent fights between persons who were trying to establish the authenticity of the queues they formed. I had loads of fun looking at these people, some well over 40 and 50 years old, acting like kids fighting for a toffee and at the same time trying to look dignified. It was pitiable infact. Air Deccan doesnt assign seat numbers and no secret is made of this. I fail to understand what these people were fighting for. Such pity… and such fun!
The takeoff felt really good although it wasnt very comfortable. It was night so didnt gawk too much outside. Up close, the airhostesses arent really beautiful. All makeup… yuck! I wonder how they manage to wash it off… must be some powerful detergent like Rin Supreme or something.
In no time, in about 1.5 hours, we got the "we'll be landing shortly at Hyderabad" message. I felt it was too early but it felt damn good to be back on terra firma and much better to be back at Hyderabad When I got down, I was taking a look at the aircraft while waiting for the coach to arrive. My eyes closed in on the engine and I felt a great urge to go stand in front of the engine to have a good look at it and see how it feels. I started walking towards it but some staff member stopped me and gave me a hard, "smileless" look which said "Back off kiddo". The world is full of boring people!
Back home
It was after eight months that I got to see my mom again and boy, was I overjoyed to see everyone! It was really good.
I already started the food fest. Beer and biryani ticked off already Much more's left of course.
So, till next time… salaam alaikum!
Couldnt keep off the Internet for too long. So, I came to a cyber cafe :p
Outlook magazine did a rather acrid cover story on the capital city in its May 1 edition. Delhi, it seems, is a "Rude City" and "Delhi sucks". Interesting debate. I feel everyone's busy criticizing Delhi and its people as if their own cities are nothing short of paradises. Unfair, I say, although there may be some truth in it.
I've been here for eight months. Here's what I agree with:
1. "Road rage capital" – you can get to see some really rash driving on the roads of Delhi – even the aunties and the uncles – they all do it.
2. Dusty, dry, hot, cold – you bet. There's tons of dust everywhere. Tons!
3. Unsafe for women – if you are a girl, and that too a good looking one, get ready for some lecherous looks from 15 year old kids and 50 year old uncles alike. Everyone knows about Delhi's reputation in eve teasing.
4. Autorickshaws – auto drivers rule their world. Their pricing is completely arbitrary. In fact, you dont need a computer program to generate a random number. All you need is a Delhi autowallah – perfect randomness is what you'll get.
What I disagree with:
1. People are rude and unhelpful – I have met more rude people in Hyderabad. In fact, people talk to you with respect here, in some fine Hindi. If you ask for directions, they are quite willing to help. Of course, you get to meet the odd "not my business" types but dont they exist throughout the country?
2. Not really cosmopolitan – hmmm, havent socialized much so I dont know. They look cosmo atleast.
3. Dont receive outsiders well – they've received me quite well.
4. Girish Kasaravalli from Bangalore even goes to the extent of saying Delhi has a "very inhuman and arrogant look to it". Eh? "It is a strange place that does not create a visual memory in my mind. I just cant read the place". I have nothing against Bangaloreans but I want to ask: Who's fault is it if your mind "cant read" the place?
What I like about Delhi:
1. Delhi Metro – rocks totally! Hats off to DMRC.
2. The roads – wider, smoother – few traffic jams.
3. Cleaner air, except for the dust.
4. The greenery.
5. The women – they're so beautiful.
Anyway, the "my city rocks, your city sucks" kind of attitude that was sported in the article isnt very cool. It'll be better if people from various cities complement themselves and share constructive criticism instead of stuff like "Why Delh sucks".
I’m writing this post with a heavy heart but I’m also going to make some of you jealous by the time you finish reading.
My Sify Broadband account expires tonight. Since I’ve had it with SB, I’m going to discontinue. I’m not going to get a new AirTel/Hotwire connection right now because anyway, I have to study for the big exam coming up on the 14th and I’ll be moving to Hyderabad for a couple of weeks right after that – all of which means I’m not going to blog before the 14th 
Btw, dont bother to wish me all the best for the exam as I may not make your wishes come true because this attempt will be just like a practice exercise. If I clear by sheer luck, then, well… that’ll be awesome. So, wish me good luck instead 
Now, the silver lining. I’m going to cancel my railway reservation for an airline ticket. So it’ll be my first air journey Hopefully, I’ll get a window seat. Boy, am I curious to see what it looks like from up there! I feel like a kid, you know.
During the two weeks at Hyderabad, I intend to overwork my salivary glands and taste buds with tons of food, including good ol’ ghar ka khaana and some first class biryani and I’m going to attack the mirchi bandi near my place. Of course, there’ll be lots of chilled, frothing beer consumed around silly jokes and extra long laughs. I have a batch of books to read and lots of movies to watch (get ready for some posts in the movies/books category) and of course, lots of people to meet. It’s as if it’s summer in Norway
So, people… later.
PS: Adarsh, Praneeth and Leena, too bad you cant join (although I really wish you’d be there).
*Gabbar Singh laughs
Any Indian and definitely any person who is a Hindu, I feel, should give this atleast a cursory read.
I quote a few lines from the article, which themselves are lines from an undergraduate textbook written by Paul Courtright, a Yale and Princeton educated Professor, quoted by the author, Rajiv Malhotra, an "Indian-American public intellectual"(as it says on the blog):
[F]rom a psychoanalytic perspective, there is meaning in the selection of the elephant head. Its trunk is the displaced phallus, a caricature of Siva's linga. It poses no threat because it is too large, flaccid, and in the wrong place to be useful for sexual purposes. … So Ganesa takes on the attributes of his father but in an inverted form, with an exaggerated limp phallus – ascetic and benign – whereas Siva is "hard", erotic, and destructive."[xlvi]
He [Ganesa] remains celibate so as not to compete erotically with his father, a notorious womanizer, either incestuously for his mother or for any other woman for that matter."[xlvii]
Ganesa is like a eunuch guarding the women of the harem. In Indian folklore and practice, eunuchs have served as trusted guardians of the antahpura, the seraglio. "They have the reputation of being homosexuals, with a penchant for oral sex, and are looked upon as the very dregs of society.” (Hiltebeitel 1980, p. 162). … Like the eunuch, Ganesa has the power to bless and curse; that is, to place and remove obstacles. Although there seem to be no myths or folktales in which Ganesa explicitly performs oral sex, his insatiable appetite for sweets may be interpreted as an effort to satisfy a hunger that seems inappropriate in an otherwise ascetic disposition, a hunger having clear erotic overtones. Ganesa's broken tusk, his guardian staff, and displaced head can be interpreted as symbols of castration…. This combination of child-ascetic-eunuch in the symbolism of Ganesa – each an explicit denial of adult male sexuality – appears to embody a primal Indian male longing: to remain close to the mother and to do so in a way that will both protect her and yet be acceptable to the father. This means that the son must retain access to the mother but not attempt to possess her sexually."[xlviii]
This is how I see it: I dont care if it is an attack on Hinduism or not since I myself question the very concept of religion and God but any interpretation of Hinduism inadvertently but definitely becomes an interpretation of India, of all its people, even the poor atheists and agnostics (like me :p).
Hindu mythology, sometimes, is really funny. I am ready to accept all this if it were the outcome of sincere, openminded, unbiased scholarly work. But that doesnt seem to be the case. Sankrant Sanu explores how studies on Hinduism may be biased in the West and how "it has become fashionable for elitist (i.e. Westernized) Indians to denigrate their own Indian Classics".
This sort of work is dangerous because it is the same work that finds its way into American school textbooks. Today, the world is full of religious hatred with horrible outcomes such as terrorism. If the kids are taught "unscholarly" nonsense like this, then you're not helping the situation.
A group of auto engineers at the Delhi College of Engineering here have unveiled a beauty – India's first commercially viable hybrid car – the Fledge. It is quite different from Reva, mind you.
I like such cars. When I get to buy my first car (whenever that is), I'll buy a Fledge or a similar car.
The best part is that it outperforms both Honda Insight and Toyota Prius in terms of fuel efficiency. Isnt that great folks!
The American media is full of items related to illegal immigrants. Looks like a hot debate topic there what with the protests and all happening. David Friedman has a take on what the average American would actually do with an illegal immigrant:
Yesterday I was listening to a radio talk show host discuss immigration. He pointed out that a lot of illegal immigrants are hired by home owners to do casual labor. He then asked his listeners to imagine they had a grand piano to move, an illegal would do it for $40, and an American citizen, perhaps the kid next door, for $100. Would the listener save money by hiring the illegal or do the right thing by hiring the citizen?
My response, if I had been able to get through, would have been that I would have done the right thing—by hiring the illegal, who almost certainly has more need for the money than the kid next door.
I'm sure most Americans would do exactly that. Most people with common sense would do exactly that.
I have a question: Why does the average American charge more than an immigrant does for the same amount of work? Does he/she belong to a superior subspecies? Are his/her hands and mind of intergalactic quality?
In a situation in which there are abundant jobs, the employee rules as he is free to choose. If companies A, B, C are offering the same job at different wages, the employee would choose company B which pays the most. Companies A and C would compete with B and so on… finally, the employee will benefit as his wages get better.
When jobs are scarce however, the employer naturally has more control and the employee is forced to take whatever is offered. Otherwise, he wont get anything.
Let us apply this to the USA. If many Americans are upset with jobs leaving their country to places where they are done for lesser pay or with losing jobs to immigrants who demand lesser pay, it would make sense for the Americans to lower the pay they demand or accept whatever is offered. No? But that doesnt seem to be happening. Instead, they are busy drafting laws which are hostile to immigration, some of which even go to the extent of classifying present immigrants, who are already there, working hard and contributing to the world's largest economy from behind the scenes, as illegal (they'll be thrown out subsequently if found "illegal").
Fortunately, a lot of Americans think (everyone I guess, even the politicians who are making the laws) that all these so called "illegal immigrants" are important to them. But few native Americans (the white ones I mean) speak up on their behalf, except the minority that might have joined the protests. Why?
After all, all that the immigrants are saying is "We are America. We want to join you."
Basically, my railway ticket is booked for 15th May but I got a waitlisted ticket (the best deal available). I've heard many horror stories about waitlist travel in the Indian Railways. There are about 13 days left. The current status is W/L 17 and it's Class 2A Sleeper. The status hasnt changed even one number in the last 3 days. I expected that many cancellations would happen and my status would zoom into the 10s or beyond i.e., into RAC but it's not happening! Now I'm all anxious. I dont think I can put up with the TTEs.
Please use your experience in the Railways and your intuition to make an estimate of my chances of getting a confirmation or RAC status (I'll be fine with RAC).
PS: Just curious. How many Class 2A and Class 3A coaches will be there in a train generally? My train is the Karnataka Sampark Kranthi Express.
Yes, I am the latest entrant to the "Hate Sify Broadband! Club". I've been a hater all along but I've reached the saturation point, when the air cannot take it any more and the water vapour begins to condense and it pours down with thunder. Now, with this post, I consider myself an official entrant to the club.
Dear reader, if you are considering a new broadband connection, please… please do not choose Sify Broadband. Instead, go for AirTel Broadband or Hotwire Internet.
Why?
1. The official price chart of SB says, you pay Rs. 499.00 per month for a 64Kbps. unlimited connection. But how much do I end up paying? Rs. 600. I have to pay the extra Rs. 100 to the goddamn CTO, who's incharge of your connection.
2. All that the CTO's bacchas know is how to use a screwdriver, how to ping and check email and a few other "skills". That's about it.
3. SB uses old stone age software for a client. Using it is a different experience altogether.
4. Out of 24 hours, you'll be connected only for about 16 hours on average. The "missing time" is accounted for by disconnections, in a variety of ways. So, you have to call the CTO, who may or may not come for help. Depends on his mood. The average for the last four days has been 1 call per day.
5. When it rains, the CTO shuts the hub off. Reason given: "Lighting strikes. You're computer may get damaged"!
6. They always change the server… always. Their servers are constantly in a state of flux.
Huh! I'm done with all this. I'm getting AirTel or Hotwire soon. Have to kick Sify in the groin.
… to the person who brings one Taliban head to me… uh, wait… $1 million is too many for a cheap Taliban head… make it $100,000.00… that's a lot… hmmm… now, your prize money will increase by 25% for every extra Taliban head brought… attractive offer eh?… added with the money is the revenge that you'd be getting as they killed men from our country… so go hunting! This is your chance to become a millionaire and an "avenger"! Hurry! Offer will expire soon!
PS: I think this is how the Taliban militia think. Just replace the word Taliban with Indian and the phrase "the revenge that you'd be getting as they killed men from our country" with "the pleasure that you'd be getting as you'll get to kill innocent men from their country" and the word "avenger" with "mujahid".
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