Dear BJP, you're fucking up and I won't stand by you

In May 2014, I was ecstatic like any other BJP supporter would be.  Yes, I'm quite open about my political leanings. Mind you, I'm not a bhakt or Modi fanboi. Even those who do not share my political beliefs will, hopefully, tell you that I engage in decent debates and am open to logical arguments.

When the BJP won the elections, I was thrilled, so I wrote about what their victory meant and what hopes I had for them. I ended that post with the following paragraph:

"In 2019, I shouldn’t even have to request people to vote for you. You should be able to retain my vote and theirs sheerly through your work. I realize that the nation is in a messy state and that it may take a while. I will be patient and I will continue to have hope for a while. Just make sure you get things done by then. Thank you, for the hope, and all the best."

You can find the full post here.

Needless to say that despite an ok-ish start and some ups, they've been screwing up a lot. Forget converting the cynics and "liberals," they're going to lose my vote at this rate.

Be it the whole Lalit Modi episode, how Vyapam is turning out to be spookier by the day or the constant shielding of crooks like Asaram Bapu, they're losing credibility and trust. To top it all, this moronic move to ban pornographic sites.

There are only three possibilities here:

1. The government has enemies on the inside who are trying to do to it what people do to others on those sites they've asked to be banned.
2. They've lost control over a section of bureaucrats or have placed trust in an imprudent manner.

or, the scariest option:

3. They've forgotten who voted them to power and that India is a democracy.

One common mistake I see a lot of so-called right wing supporters (self included) commit is a consequence of inertia and is dangerous. We've been on campaign mode; trying to get these guys voted to power for so long that often we find ourselves campaigning for them. This is sort of true of the PM too.

Mitron, the elections are over they (we?) won. We're stuck with them for the next 4 years and have to live with the consequences of their actions and decisions. We're citizens first and supporters of any ideology or party later. Besides, by providing constructive feedback and calling them out when they cross certain lines, you're only helping the party as well as the nation. Be citizens of India first and use every medium available to voice your opinions, constructive feedback and thoughts. Do not just waste your time and energy defending the government amidst all the din created by those who offer negative, pointless criticism. Do it so that we can one day wake up to acche din.

Jai Hind!

Gamers are awesome. Here's why:

The average engineering hostel geek spends about 20 hours a week playing video games. That's about half the time they'll end up spending in office once they get out of college. The sad part about a gamer's life, at least in India, is the image that comes with it. All people see are spoilt kids with access to the internet, decent devices and a lot of time on their hands (seemingly.) One friend recently commented that he's always felt that letting gamers have the 'geek' tag is unfair to 'real geeks.'

We most certainly are geeks. We take calculated headshots and enter fights based on complex hitpoint and mana calculations. We learn about recoil and angles by sheer experience. We know which enemy we can take on during which stage of the game and which ones we cannot. Every second we spend in that virtual world is as real as it gets for us and we do whatever it takes to get that win. We do not *have* all that time on our hands. We make time. Games make us feel alive and help us deal with the realities of life in a better manner than whatever you muggles choose to do. 

I vividly remember one particular summer afternoon when the hostel warden had complained against the consumption of alcohol and other intoxicants by our seniors and the college authorities, including the institute's director, had decided to inspect each room. A bunch of us were camped up in a single room and were so busy playing Counter Strike 1.6 that we completely ignored the four very angry administrators in the room up until one of them decided to yell. We had no alcohol or weed in the room but what we did have on our screens was way more addictive than what they were looking for. 

While it may seem that we are too engrossed in the virtual world to amount to anything in the real world, that is not the case at all.  Gaming helps us become more tolerant and curious individuals. I'm not kidding. A person who play Counter Strike knows better than to get wild at his team mates at work over small things. Games teach us to be better team players and hence better members of the society we live in. 

Overkill? Maybe a tad bit.  Seriously though, gaming is cheaper than therapy and more therapeutic than a massage. In the words of Danil 'Dendi' Ishutin "One way to forget about pain is to do something you will be in, completely. So...computer games." Games can help you deal with some of the darkest phases of your lives and when addiction sets in, they can lead you there too. Like all good things, they're best enjoyed in moderation. 

It is amazing to note that pro-gaming is being acknowledged in India and Esports have enough of an audience to be taken seriously. Let's hope the trend continues and we catch up with the rest of the world soon. Game on! 

Fall in love or die trying

For each joyous moment we live, there's one that'll hurt,
As life ruffles our hair, she'll also show us she can be curt.
Legally banned are hundreds of substances and drugs,
Love is the one drug that spares not even thugs.
It matters not if it is a drop of rain or the unveiling of a scene,
Naked it'll find your soul be you an adult or a teen.
Lips listen not to your mind anymore,
Ominously they'll part into a smile like it isn't a chore.
Venus sent forth her warriors but to steal our heart,
Each face unique and every pair of eyes a piece of art.
Of all the things we could bottle and stopper,
Romance is yet to be solved by any class topper.
Dunes of sand and seas alike we cross,
Identify ourselves with the likes of Ted and Ross.
Each day we live, we die a little on the inside,
To reveal our feelings or let them hide?
Rush the blood does through every single vein,
Youthful, love makes us feel due to the pain
In love we find our masochistic selves,
Nightfall makes even the demons among us, elves.
Gather we do these memories on life's gigantic shelves.

How I got fit in 45 days and lost 10 kgs in the process

A lot of you have found one particular Before/After picture of me either via some random tweet or because I chose to place it in your inbox and asked me to write about my journey. They're both not very well-shot pictures and I'm not very photogenic, but I think there's a discernible difference which is seen and it causes people to ask me how I did it. So, I decided to sit down and write down a small account of what I did to get to this from that.

The first picture was shot on Feb 27th, 2015 and I think I weighed about 82 kilos on that day. The second one was shot on April 15th, 2015. I weighed about 72.5 kgs then. I have now dropped to 71.5 by the way. today is the 27th of April.

A friend on Twitter suggested I post a picture of myself in the same attire, so I went ahead and did that as well just to give you a clearer picture.

The first step is always an acknowledgement of the problem. I was a "foodie" whose lifestyle was sedentary and it was showing. I was fat and probably looked pretty bad even in person. I'm not photogenic. Really. People try not to hurt your feelings and never tell you that you look fat or ugly. They should, if they care about you. If you're clever or sharp enough, you'll realise and start working on it on your own.

No one told me to do anything. I was in a bad place in life in general and as someone who is quite blatantly narcissistic if I couldn't get myself to go "wow" while looking at the mirror when I was depressed, there was something that needed to be done. Crossing the 80 kg mark was also a major bummer. I'd hit rockbottom.

So, I decided to go back to the basics and do some good old homework on how to fix this. Now, our body requires a certain amount of energy to get through the day. You need those many calories to stay put at your current weight while going about your daily activities. This number can be found using a calculator like the one here.

Now, there are two ways to go about losing weight and getting fitter. You can reduce your intake to an extent below your maintenance level. You can also start burning more calories than you currently do by increasing your physical activity. I chose to go with a combination of both. My lifestyle was sedentary and my maintenance level was around 2200 Calories per day. I realised that my intake was actually around that mark or perhaps even higher on most days. I also started introducing some physical activity into the equation.

I know what you're thinking, how do I know how many calories I'm eating? Well, there's an app for that. Several, actually. The most famous one is called "My fitness pal" and is available on both iOS and Android. The one I use is called "Healthifyme" and has a nicer interface and better database for Indian foods at least. Personal preference. Download either or a similar one.

Next, I bought a kitchen scale. A decent digital one like this one which I have costs about 700 bucks (INR.) Great investment. Buy it. Tracking what food you eat and how much you eat is important because that way you cannot cheat or lie to the most important person; yourself.

I set myself a target of 1500 Calories per day and stuck to it on most days. It can be hard, but it is totally worth it. Some days I went as low as 1200 Calories and still had a full, productive day. Now, apart from how much you eat, what you eat becomes important too. I'm a vegetarian. Feel free to add healthy non-vegetarian alternatives to your diet if you're ok with that. Eggs are supposedly great and so is chicken.

The trick is to eat all your calories and not drink them. Seriously. Do not drink your calories when you're looking to lose weight. No alcohol. No milkshakes or lassis. No soft drinks. No energy drinks. No fruit juices either. Nothing with sugar in it. I'd say, avoid sugarfree fruit juices too. Eat a fruit instead. A juice which contains pulp from 6 oranges cannot make you feel as full as two whole oranges can. The trick is to eat your calories in the form of healthy food.

Avoid oily food and sweets like the plague. Avoid carbs as far as possible. Have your dinners at least 3 hours before you lie down. As a South Indian, rice used to be an essential part of every meal. Now, I restrict my rice intake to about 100 grams once or twice a week during lunch. These are all things you've heard or read before. You just have to get obsessed with getting fitter and apply all of them. Your breakfast has to be your largest meal of the day and each meal post that has to be smaller. Also, we have this unhealthy practise of having 3 huge meals. Having 5 smaller meals helps. Time them properly. Here's what my average day looks like in terms of food, now.
8 AM - a bowl of cereal with milk and dry fruits or Indian breakfast - about 150 grams.
11 A.M - A fruit or salad
1: 30 P.M : Two chapatis or 100 gms rice with dal and curds
5: 00 P.M Coffee with milk and no sugar or a tender coconut
7:30 P.M : Lots of salad and a chapati with dal or paneer

All of this is coupled with a lot of water, of course. I never leave home without a bottle of water and neither should you. Always drink loads of water throughout the day. I drink about 4 litres now and will probably up that number soon.

So much for the diet part of things. Next comes the exercise. At 82 kilos and with almost 36% body fat, there was no way I would survive intense workouts at the gym on a daily basis. So, I did not bother with a gym subscription. Instead, I wore my smartwatch and tuned on a tracking app on my phone every morning for a month and walked for an hour. In the evening, I went for another walk. Maybe 30 to 45 minutes. As the days passed, my speed got better and my stamina improved. I was able to walk briskly and clock at least 7 kilometres a day with ease. By April 1st, my body was ready. I was already within 74 kilos since I'd lost a lot of water weight and my stamina was pretty good. I got myself into a gym and started doing some serious cardio for 45 minutes a day and followed it up with about 30 minutes of strength training. One potential risk of dieting and doing a lot of cardio is the loss of muscle mass. I'm sure I lost some muscle mass while dropping my weight, but I'm rebuilding that muscle by working out and increasing my protein intake now. There are ways to calculate how many calories you burn in the gym too using the app. I burn about 600 calories give or take 100 per day. I'll up my calorie intake to 1700 soon though, since I don't like to look too skinny.
Since I'm a lot leaner, the little bit of muscle I have also shows. Ditto with the abs region. As and when your fat melts, your abs start taking shape. My trainer tells me that if I keep at it, I'll have well-defined 4-pack abs in a couple of months. That's not what I want though, I just want to stay healthy and feel fit.

I'm obviously no expert on the issue and have no formal training. I just did a lot of homework and figured out a bunch of things by asking people what worked for them. This is my way of paying it forward. Feel free to reach out to me and ask any doubts you may have. I'll try my best to guide you in the right direction.

Like any other goal or journey, this one requires a certain amount of dedication and a degree of obsession that many may not understand. If you do decide to go down this path, make sure you have a good support system around you and let them know that you're committed to being fit. My dad still cracks jokes every time I measure my bowl of corn flakes, but it is important to surround yourself with people who even if they don't help, don't discourage you or add negativity. The results take a while to show and patience is important too. There are no shortcuts apart from liposuction.

All the best! Do let me know if you decide to go down this road and keep me posted on your progress. Stay healthy, stay foolish.

P.S: I've exhausted my quota of cheese for the day's diet.

Net neutrality comments - Email to TRAI

Respected Sir,

I am fully aware that you requested comments only from the stakeholders involved and that you probably only meant those involved in the Telecom industry. However, I am a tax-paying citizen who is a customer of these TSPs. Their services exist because people like me want, nay, need them. 

While the economy may be improving in most matters, the service industry continues to drain the common man of most of his/her earnings. Today, every individual wants and needs access to Internet since all of us wish to compete and make a mark on a global level. While my compatriots strive to forge ahead and compete with larger economies, it is only fair of us to expect to be provided a platform and the necessary tools to do so on as even a footing as possible. 

In order for that to become a reality, we require the regulatory bodies' support in ensuring that we are provided with affordable and reliable internet connections which do not violate the basic tenets of net neutrality that several of our allies enjoy. 

This is not merely an issue that plagues one generation or demographic but something that can have a huge impact on the economy and growth of this great nation. 

I request you to consider this a plea from all the people I'm connected to over the Internet and those that they are connected to. 

Thanks and regards,

Nikhil Jois R

Twenty Four

I trust I have no readers who assumed this was about some TV show. Right? It isn't . This is about me turning a year older.  Yes, thank you.

Our perception of birthdays varies every year, doesn't it? There's the longish phase where birthdays meant wanting to cut a cake and distribute chocolates in school. Then there was the Orkut era which, in hindsight makes one feel like a ragpicker, involved checking out scraps. I'd like to think we're all in a slightly better phase now. Sure, we all wish each other on social networking sites. Heck, some folks wished me on Google+ already! That's as personal a wish as it gets because those handful of people and I are the only who bothered to open Google+ today.

On a more serious note, birthdays are great days to make amends to friendships and relationships. If you haven't spoken to someone in a long time, a birthday is a great excuse to change that. I used to be very cynical and crib about how impersonal wishing on social media is, but hey people taking a few seconds off to remember you is what matters. No one likes to be forgotten, and by the time you're a couple of dozen years you've given a whole bunch of people reasons to forget you. It feels good to be remembered.

Twenty four is an age no one wants to be. Kids want to be 18 or 21(depending on the legal drinking age) and adults want to go back to college and be 21 or 22 too. No one wants to be in that awkward age between hitting on everything that moves and changing diapers.Having a January birthday means your new year resolutions and birthday resolutions are pretty much the same too.  Of course, none of my resolutions are as radical as that of my female peers who seem to have decided to make a new person after turning 24 instead of becoming a new person.  I, on the other hand, don't even want to be a new person. I want to be the same person, but I know I'm heading towards a quarter-life crisis and that I must avoid the quarter life crisis.  The world around me is divided into two kinds of people: those who think I'm too old and those who think I'm too young.

Ever seen those sitcoms where an entire year is condensed into an hour-long episode?  Going by the number of times I've been called a dog, and the famous adage which dictates that every dog has its day, my 24 hours just got over.


To take this like another day I'm no saint,
High I'll get but not the kind that makes you faint.
Every wish and blessing gives me positivity I'll need,
Foul advice I'll consider and the rest I'll heed.
Under the sun everything seems within reach,
North-bound treks and alone time at a beach.
Settling down- is a phrase I often hear,
That'll only happen once these heights evoke fear.
Am I at the stage that can be considered my prime?
Real-life conversations can't compete with a rhyme.
These my-own-muse moments make me feel like a king,
Sometimes I feel like acrostics have become my thing.
Neither my readers nor I have a problem with this,
Oh, you got this far? I won't give your wish a miss,
Well, today, I've got to act like I'm too busy to take a piss. 

One for the poets

Play we do with a limited set of words,
On a canvas riddled with myriad rules.
Each syllable must amaze you like soaring birds,
Their meaning must bear weight like the back of mules. 
Readers’ delight is but secondary to us,
Yet why would we write if not to be read?
If not for narcissism would we be thus?
Subtlety may be our butter, but acknowledgement is our bread.
Never do we swerve from our styles and schemes,
’Tis not in our nature to be blind to beauty.
Even the free souls among us have their themes,
Anglou speaks of African-americans, and Eminem of booty.
Some of us may seem eccentric or maybe even caustic,
You did well if you realised, that this is a sonnet that’s acrostic.