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. 

Atal Sarige to Vajra

To those of you who have stayed in the real Bangalore for a while, both these terms are self-explanatory. To the rest of you, Atal Sarige is a scheme started by a previous BJP government here. It is named after my favorite Prime minister of India - Atal Bihari Vajapayee ji. These Atal Sarige buses are basically old buses which have refurbished seat layouts and paint jobs. They ply between areas which are frequented by the common man at half the normal rates
The Volvo buses which are a common sight all over the city go by the name ' Vajra.' These buses are filled with the IT crowd. They ply at rates that are about 3 times the normal rates.

I travel from one end of Bangalore to work and board both these buses in order to reach my destination. My co-passengers in the Atal Sarige buses are folks who use body parts other than their fingertips to earn a living. There are masons, painters, carpenters, garment-factory workers, vegetable vendors... I've even traveled with a couple of ragpickers once in a while. The conversations here are about rising prices of food, the rains which flood houses, an upcoming festival or fair at a suburban locality.

I switch buses and enter a Volvo and it is a whole new city in there. A whole new world. The woman who sits in front of me probably spends more on her hair and make-up in a month than the woman who was sitting next to me on the previous bus spends on food and lodging. The conversations here are about the exchange rate of the dollar and how it is tougher to get a H1-B visa now.

The Atal Sarige has real Bangaloreans. The city has not been protective of them. They moved to the city dreaming of big things and luxuries as did the IT crowd in the Volvo, however, the disparity is unfathomable.
The folks in the Atal Sarige feel comfortable talking to strangers about how they've stopped using onions in their food and are using cabbages instead. The poor folks in the Volvo don't have the time to talk to their own friends, strangers are out of the question. 

I see genuine smiles on one bus, while I see mostly knotted eyebrows on the other. On one bus, the school kid next to me wants to know why I'm chuckling to myself while looking into my phone; on the other, the guy next to me is too busy chopping virtual fruits though he's never offered to chop real fruits to help his mom prepare a salad. 

Me ? I gel equally well with both crowds. My commute is a journey. A journey toward finding the right balance between the two cities. This is Bangalore. The city offers you everything you need and sits back and watches while you imprudently pick only what you want.  Jai Karnataka.

Bro, do you even parent?

Ok, I don't know why I named the post that. I don't know if I'm "parent material" or if I will ever be a parent. What I do know is that it is a tough, and often thankless, job. Maybe it is because I'm close to my quarter-life crisis, or maybe it is because all the girls I crushed on in school are uploading albums titled "Mah louly weddin" on Facebook, but I've begun to observe details I'd often ignore.

This morning, I saw a college-going kid sitting next to his dad, who was driving, in a sedan and eating Upma out of a box. Apart from the usual pity and ridicule I reserve for those who eat Upma, I thought about what went into that. His parents sacrificed their sleep and time to make sure he got to college on time with a full, albeit Upma-filled, stomach. I saw a mother hold her special daughter's hand while crossing a busy street. A school bag in one hand and her daughter's hand in the other. I saw a dad with two kids, one in a uniform and another in a costume, waiting for the school bus. I saw an 'Akshaya Patra' van, with meals for kids who study in government-run schools, with pictures of smiling kids on it. There is a story behind every one of these people. Every day is a struggle. The routine they've become accustomed to, was once something they never dreamt of doing.

I don't know if you try to guess the stories and feel the love that goes behind every start to every day. I know not if I do it often enough either. All I know is that I wish there are people, who look at me or know me, who realize that when I have a well-set hairdo it is probably because a lazy adult is still a kid with disheveled hair to that one woman who takes it upon herself to present what defines perfection to her to the world in a perfect manner.

We know of these little things, and we know very well that no acknowledgement is expected of us. However, it wouldn't hurt to express it every once in a while. We need not do much. Ensuring that we dine with the family irrespective of what the 'White's, 'Morgan's, or 'Lannister's  are doing. Chatting up whoever is in the kitchen while they're cooking for you. Keeping those who care about you posted about your whereabouts, or even writing an arguably-cheesy blog post about the topic once in a while can help express your gratitude; or so I'd like to believe.

Ganesha chaturthi is just round the corner. Let us learn from the Elephant-headed one who chose to circumambulate his parents when asked to go around the world. Thank you, Amma-Appa. Also, thank you Silkboard traffic for letting me have these epiphanies on a daily basis.
Jai Hind!

On giving, selfishly.

This is an issue that has irked me for a while now. Every single time there is a mishap in the country, we outrage, the media digs up a million similar incidents and reports it, the politicians point fingers in a manner so blatant that it would shame the average Indian fielder and the guilty go unpunished while the wronged ones' tears are ignored.
We never get to the fucking root cause of any problem! We are happy to scrape it superficially and then yell on TV or type in ALL CAPS on Twitter.

The recent mid-day meal deaths have left me rattled. It is unfortunate that a bunch of parents who would normally employ their kids in their farms believed that the substandard education provided in a government school would be worth their kids' time because they would be fed well. What happened is not because of the negligence in a few schools or the jugaad attitude that is now synonymous with us Indians. There is a bigger problem.

We don't know how to give. Well, at least not wholeheartedly. We live in a society which says it is ok and maybe even commendable that you choose to feed your domestic help leftovers from last night's dinner. "At least they are getting breakfast. Jyoti Aunty's house they don't give her coffee also."
We are a society that does not flinch when people "donate" their old clothes to people affected by natural calamities.  " You don't use those old sneakers na? Grip is gone fully no? Next time that Gurkha comes...give it to him and don't give him twenty rupees also. Give ten ok?"

The saddest part is not that we are ok with this kind of an attitude. It is that we actually feel we are being "selfless" or "charitable."
Well, fuck you. That is not what being selfless means. If you truly are selfless, give what you would use; not something you have no use for. Do not mix garbage disposal and charity.

Do you think you are being selfless? Allow me to let you in on a little secret. Every single act of yours is selfish. You are giving your domestic help idlies hoping that she has incentive to stay or the energy to scrub the floors better. You are giving the Gurkha shoes so that he does not sleep in while the roads are slippery. If you are a special asshole, you probably "donated" your shoes to get two extra "salaam Saab"s. You may say that those two rupees you give a physically challenged old lady at the traffic signal has no ulterior, selfish motive. The lady smiles or thanks you, she moves away from your window; subconsciously, you are feeling good about yourself after parting with something that can't buy you a decent chocolate these days. That is selfish too.

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying being selfish is a bad thing; in fact, personally, I think there is no greater virtue than selfishness. Those of you who have read a few older posts or know me well enough personally, probably know that I subscribe to the karma theory. Therefore, I feel that I am accruing more karma points by giving the sweeper a new pair of Hawaii chappals that cost me a little over hundred bucks instead of a battered pair of Nike crosstrainers. I request my mom to throw away last night's rice and make some extra pongal for the maid. A hot meal that is fresh and nutritious gives me more karma points than a stale bowl of rice that weighs thrice as much as a plate of pongal.

The next time you are about to give someone less fortunate than you something, please pause for a while and think; are you indulging in garbage disposal or are you genuinely helping them?  If we thought of that, we would not read about soya curry being prepared in pesticide tanks.

Earn the right to outrage

Tomorrow, my state (Karnataka) goes into election mode. I just got back home after 4 years of college up north and this will be the first time I'm casting my vote. I have spent a major portion of my time ever since I attained adulthood, online. A major portion of this time has been spent criticising the government while observing and commenting on the daily ongoings of the nation, state and my city . Tomorrow, all of this changes. Tomorrow, I cast my vote and I choose my representative. I cannot recklessly point fingers without feeling guilt, should the candidate/party I vote for come to power. Tomorrow, I grow up.

I have always blamed those older than me for not being prudent enough to choose the right representatives. I frowned upon those who said they refrain from voting because their vote does not matter; today, I feel pity for them and some anger too.

I know not of a single person in this beautiful nation who does not wish to pass a comment on the headlines. Be it in my gym or saloon or in the bus or at office, people like to discuss politics. These people are strangers, friends , family ... On Monday, when I am on the way to office if I find an adult talking about anything other than the IPL or Bollywood , I will walk up to them and ask them if they voted. If they reply in the negative, I will politely inform them that they have no right to comment upon something they did not help build.

India may not be the perfect democracy, heck it may not be a decent one either , but that is partly because people like you and me, people who can read, write, think and analyse , fail to take an hour off our "busy" Sunday schedules to cast a vote.

You know what we do? Us middle-class educated folks. We over analyse. We think we're geniuses who know exactly how numbers work and that one vote does not matter. Good morning dear, it does ! Every single vote counts. The system may be rotten. There may be proxy votes and voting cards in the names of people who passed away ages ago. Know this, by not voting you are increasing the value of that fake, illegitimate vote . You are making
those crooks get away with their schemes. You are making that paid vote's value higher than your diligent, 9-5 working neighbour's vote count less.

So please, I request you, nay, beg of you to take a few minutes off your schedule to choose the person you can point fingers at and question for the next five years . This is what makes India a democracy. We outrage, we curse, we weep and we argue, but at the end of the day we are, all of us, Indians. There are several citizens who travel tens of thousands of metres to cast their vote ; all I'm asking of you urban folks is to move your posh asses to the nearest polling booth and click on a button, any button that seems like a logical choice to you.

P.S : If you are one of those pessimists who refuses to vote because you think it really makes no difference, I have a small suggestion for you. Vote for the independent candidate who campaigned the least in your locality. Your vote might just save him/her the deposit money and a great deal of embarrassment .

Jai Hind !

On patents, with the parents.

Background: My mom was a student of law and dad, a student of pharmacy who is now a quasi-judiciary authority with legal powers and know-how.

The recent judgement ruling out a patent for Glivec- a cancer drug, saw adequate coverage on MSM and my TL on twitter discussed it at length. I understood some it, some of it went over my head like a Shoaib Akthar bouncer.

So, I asked my parents what this meant and how it would affect the common man. I will attempt to put before you a few self-explanatory points that form the summary of this discussion.

1. Drugs (Medicines) are of many kinds, but those that prolong/save the lives of people on their deathbeds hold a special place.

2. The Indian constitution promises every tax-paying (or otherwise) citizen the right to life and good health. It is the duty of the government to look after its citizens in health and illness. (I made it sound like we're married to the GOI no? ewwww)

3. The aforementioned drug is being used by government agencies, smaller hospitals, NGOs, etc in its generic form. The patent would cause the withdrawal of these generic (read affordable) drugs from the market.

4. Glivec is but the tip of the iceberg. There are, dad's estimation not mine, close to 30 such drugs that are equally or more important and expensive that would've cited this judgement as an example and claimed patents had this ruling gone in the way of Novartis.

5. I saw people claiming that Novartis has funded 95% of the patients using this drug. these are unfounded, cooked numbers. We wouldn't be struggling to eradicate some very easy-to-eradicate diseases had the pharmaceutical companies been as ethical as they claim to be.

6. I observed many people observing that this judgement would discourage pharmaceutical companies from investing in R&D. This is absolutely true. However, this is not something sudden and unprecedented. The law which restricts the pricing of drugs and gives the governmental agencies control over pricing came into existence in 1970 and was amended twice, once in 75 (or 77) and the latest amendment being made in 1995. This law had, already, done most of the damage and the industry stopped investing in drugs with low ROI. In fact, they even reduced the production of some of the most vital drugs due to low profit margins.
So, yes, this will discourage them further, but the damage was done before most of the people who read this post were even born.

My take: We dodged a bullet. The government is trying very hard to provide as many people with treatment and healthcare. I am usually cynical about such things and so is the general public. Our image of a government hospital is a dirty place filled with quacks who will inject you with infected needles. It matters not that you and I think so, because we can, by hook or crook, afford private healthcare. Those who absolutely cannot afford healthcare try to avoid government too. But when they do, they deserve the best possible treatment that the government can afford. This judgement will keep these big MNCs from dictating terms and prices. There is a higher probability of lives being saved. We should be happy and proud of the judiciary in this case.

P.S: If you have specific doubts that are more technical or even #Deep in nature. Feel free to leave a comment or tweet to me @suar4sure . I hope this helped. 

Long live the Internet!

In the last few months, the social media users of this great nation have seen it all. We stood up against issues that sickened the entire country, we made sure no scam went unnoticed, no movie released illegally went undownloaded, and no sentiment went home unhurt. 

Some may argue that those who live on the internet have no life and/or that we form but a small fraction of this society, whose numbers seem to be growing at a rate faster than Genghis Khan's pet rabbit's family's, but matter we do. Half the news you read/watch is affected by some tweet/blog/post that started on the internet. I may be wrong, or exaggerating even. Who cares? You don't let me protest peacefully in places of my choosing, you don't solve issues that have been haunting the nation as a whole, you find new ways to burn holes in my pocket... I want to be able to express myself somewhere without being worried about consequences. The internet is the one place I can truly call mine. Do not take away my freedom here, or retaliate I shall.

Personally, I don't give a tiny rat's ass about Arindam Chaudhuri or his stupid IIPM. But half the issues that are killing this country's productivity are because of a substandard education system. A B-School that churns out people who wake us up during our weekend siestas and leave without closing the front gate, deserves to be made fun of.

Today, this happened. I may not have read even 5 of the posts in that long list, but defend them I shall. This post exists for the sole purpose of encouraging fellow bloggers to take 5 minutes to compose a post about this topic today and challenge those cowards who let a dimwit with a pony tail dictate what stays on the internet, and what does not. Spread the word. Long live the Internet ! Jai Hind.

The sine wave that is life.

Today, on my way back home, I overheard a couple of senior citizens conversing. One of the gentlemen said to the other, in Kannada, "We have to wait for him (probably son or son-in-law) to send money for the medicines. We go for a walk and try to stay healthy, but how much can we do? I don't know why god doesn't take us away before we become a burden to strangers."

Normally, I'd just tweet about it or come home and talk to whichever parent is in the mood for a deep talk. Today, I was appalled and saddened by the desperation and disgust in that gentleman's voice. Depression , like epic, word, rape, and awesome, is a word that has been used way too often, resulting in the diminishing of the gravity of the word.

However, that depression is a common occurrence, is evident from the news we read and watch everyday. The number of people choosing death over life is astounding. It baffles me to know that there are people who just give up; not just at some course, job, or relationship, but at life.

Life isn't rosy; not for you, not for your neighbor, not for any celebrity, and most certainly not for me. People say there are "ups and downs" in life. But, from personal experience I've realized that there isn't any single moment in life where it's just an "up" or just a "down."

I see an increasing number of friends turning into, or claiming to be atheists these days. The most important query one has when introduced to religion is that which everyone asks when a religion says "God loves all of us, and equally." People, yours truly included, then proceed to ask "Why then, is there suffering in this world?"
There are many who will claim to know the answer to that question. Some of those answers are satisfactory too.  The unsatisfactory answers are what lead people to atheism or even nihilism.

I digress; depression comes in many forms and most of the times, it is a result of us not knowing how truly special and blessed we are. We, humans, have a nasty habit of subconsciously, or consciously, comparing ourselves to those we feel are more fortunate than us. We see the fancy cars, the trophy wife, the dream job, that evasive promotion, that coveted rank/seat and think lowly of ourselves. Some of us are prudent enough to know what's important in life and what isn't; the rest fall prey to depression.

I'm not asking you, or myself, to pretend like we're the best and that there's a unicorn shitting rainbows and following us around, but the least we can do is make sure that we see the light during dark times and remember to smile. Similarly, thank god, a higher power, nature or yourself, when the times are seemingly good and be grateful for the absence of darkness. If each of us learnt to respect ourselves and be grateful for our own lives, there wouldn't be neglected parents or spoilt children in this world, and you wouldn't have had to read my thoughts on this depressing, yet enlightening fact of life.

Kaveri- The lifeblood

To be called "regional" and "selfish" is not something anyone wants. Yet, every single time the issue of sharing the Kaveri's water is brought up, I have to explain my stand on the issue to those close to me, and not, (usually in the virtual world) and it inevitably begins with Karnataka being labeled a villain. The most common response the residents of Karnataka get is, "learn to share."
My dear compatriots, one can't learn something one already knows. Karnataka contributes 53% of water to the Kaveri river basin and gets 37% in return. Tamil Nadu contributes 32% and gets 37% in return. Kerala contributes 14% and gets 4% in return. I do not wish to bore you with numbers, however I felt these were necessary.

Moving on, I wish to state that I am not against the sharing of water. No sane person (heck even an insane nationalist ) will have issues with that. Water is a national resource and must be shared. Shared how? shared judiciously. I refuse to remain a mute spectator when a mute PM who sits in Delhi and knows not what the ground scenario is, orders around one state to release a fixed amount of water on a daily basis. To this, your comeback will be that the honourable Supreme Court's judgement spells out similar terms. True, but we do live in a democracy and people do protest against Supreme Court rulings here.

Don't get me wrong; I am not siding with any politician or any political party here. They're all doing this to gain some sort of political momentum and the game of votebank politics is a dirty one. I am writing this as a common man, who is angry with the representatives of his state in the Central government for valuing their own seats more than the plight of the people they represent. I am angry with the state government for not doing enough to ensure that such a judgement of this nature was never passed in the first place. I am angry with every little scumbag who is trying to gain political clout using a real cause. *Takes a deep breath*

I am angry with the neighboring state's CM who was born in Melukote, which is in Pandavapura taluk of Mandya district in Karnataka and was brought up in my very own city, Bangalore. (To those who don't know, she was once a cottonian, yes.)
I know for a fact that she is feared and respected by many in Tamil Nadu, but I guess she still feels the need to convince them that she has no soft spot for the state she was born in. I am also angry with the citizens of Bangalore for not taking up this cause as their own, earlier. We have as much to lose as the farmers do, perhaps more. I had no idea I was this angry, I swear. *Sips water*

I have had the privilege of travelling to most of the places on the Kaveri basin. I say traveled, what I mean is that my father served in these places and I have actually interacted with the people there. A visit to Thalakaveri will convince you of the sacred status of mother Kaveri. Thousands of farmers from both TN and Karnataka flock there and pray to her. The Kaveri is such an important part of lives in both states.

It is unfair for us to say we will not share it with them, just as it is unfair of them to expect us to release a fixed amount irrespective of the situation here. Be it in the ancient scriptures or in Airplanes .... one has to use one's own oxygen mask to survive first and then, help those around them.

Let us not fight over this matter. Please do not judge us for wanting to have a fair deal. It hurts to be called regional, and it hurts to be asked to learn to share. We are not monsters who want to see our very own neighbors struggle (that, we turn into during the IPL alone).

To those who are protesting, let it be in a peaceful manner. Never advocate anything violent, and most importantly... This is not war. This is not a battle between Kannadigas and Tamilians. Most certainly not the Tamilians who live in our own city. They are as Bangalorean as you and I, and are an integral part of our city's culture. I only pray that the protests remain peaceful and that a consensus can be reached, soon.

Jai Karnataka ! Jai hind !

P.S : If I have not bored you to death already, I urge you to read this article  and this blogpost as well.

My nation and my generation.

Blog posts written after a huge gap are like those awkward situations when you meet a friend after half a decade; you know you have a lot to discuss, but you just don't know where to begin. The last time I wrote something here: I was fresh out of college,my state had a different CM, Team Anna was still a team, Sushil Kumar Shinde was yet to figure out that he loved the taste of his foot more than anything else, and India was still in her 65th year of independence.

I am aware of the fact that few who were around in 1947 will read this.I know not if they would approve of the manner in which we "celebrate" our Independence Day, but who are "we?" The word "youth" has been misused in such a shabby manner that people my age are careful not to refer to themselves as "youth." 

The word is now used either as a synonym for hooligans or as an excuse for politicians to sneak their children into their rotten world.

It pains me to no end to see a word that denotes something so powerful and full of potential, put to shame.

We may not be the generation that got India her independence, we may not have taken over the reins of this great nation yet, but to those who are of the opinion that to "today's youth," the 15th of August is just another  

holiday, I beg of you to not write us off.

One quality India has retained over the years is the concept of a close-knit family. Most of today's "youth," grew up listening to either first-hand or second-hand accounts of what happened on that glorious day. Our text books had chapters on our freedom struggle. The greats aren't forgotten. Anyone who has ever formed a club or society has immense respect for the iron man of India.Every single time one struggles to draft a leave note, one can understand the effort that must have gone into drafting the constitution. I hear you scoffing; there lies the problem. Stereotypes exist, and this is one that has gone on for too long.

You say my generation doesn't care; I say it gives a fuck ! Our language, our style, and our methodologies may be different; but I assure you, you have taught us well. We may be a bunch of swearing, low-jeans-wearing punks whose headphones are always blaring. It may look like we are texting or tweeting while you discuss serious matters, but we're listening; we really are, and at the back of our heads, below the mohawks and afros,the wheels are in motion.

It may seem like I am talking to the generations before ours, but I am writing this for my generation too. A generation that seems to have accepted that it is exactly what it is labeled as. I urge you, nay, beg of you to rise to the occasion and do your bit for this epic nation.

P.S: Most of you make amends a.k.a resolutions on the 1st day of January, every year. Some of you do so on your birthdays. I choose my nation's birthday to do so and I wish to start by donating contributing a small portion of my already small first salary towards the future of my nation.

I chose to do so by supporting Ahambhumika . I have followed their wonderful work closely on twitter and am convinced that my money will be put to good use. They are an NGO striving to assist the Education of Children and Illiterate Adults and Self-Reliance and Gynecological Health and Hygiene of Rural Women.

In the words of Subrat Goswami : " We intend to start computer literacy

in a village namely MAHABADIA.distt.Bhopal for the underpriviledged
girl children.They are 30 in number.They attend our infomal literacy
centre namely MAHAK(Fragrance),where they are taught Hindi,English and
Mathematics.Out of 30 girl children 13 girl children attend school
regularly while others remain in their house taking care of their
siblings.The parents of these girl children work as daily wage
labourer in brick kilns,stone quarries and construction sites.They are
least interested to edcuate their children; specifically girl
children.After a lot of persuading we have been able to convince
them to leave their girl children to attend our literacy centre ( for
two hours daily except Monday ) to have at least basic edcuation.
We intend to start computer literacy for these girl children.And for
this we require around Rs.30K.The fund will be utilized to purchase  a
system and few basic books on computer literacy. The system purchased
with the fund raised will also be utilized to show the girl children
inspiring clippings  / documentaries/pictures.We will aslo share the
photographs
with the donors once the computer literacy is started in the said

village"

Subrat has also sent me pictures of the children benefiting from this initiative, and is willing to share them with anyone who is interested in helping out.(You can mail them on ahambhumika@gmail.com) No amount is small, and every rupee helps a child secure a better future. I urge you, especially my batchmates who've just started earning. We are in this position today because we had people willing to pay for the finest education available. Others aren't fortunate enough, but have a right to it. As responsible adults, who are citizens of this nation, it is our duty to try, at the very least, to give our kids a better India than the one we were born in.

Open letter to my batchmates

Dear friend,

                  Who am i kidding?, not all of you can be classified as friends, some are way beyond that,

Friends do not accompany you to the railway station just to see you off and decide to hop on to the train themselves to delay the farewell by a few hours, friends do not weep like freshly widowed army-wives, friends do not hug you and say "I'm not letting go", while meaning it.

Given the advancements in the field of medicine and the number of 90+ not out batsmen(and women) in my family, four years do not seem like a lot, but boy did we change ! I'd bet half my grades and inheritance( both equally insignificant) and challenge you to find one person who hasn't changed, some more drastically, but all of us have changed. We've gone through events together which(if filmed) could be classified under 2 categories, sequels to the 'SAW' series and sequels to the 'Hangover' series.

There are a million examples i could delve into to tell each one of you how special you are, I'm quite the social guy, be it online or in person and in my 13 years of schooling and 2 years of Pre-university College I've made friends, loads of them, some so special that they're family now,but it took time, with you, it was destiny, diverse backgrounds, nothing in common, not even a common language with some of you, but we clicked ! I guess living 24X7 with someone makes you family first and friends next, but i assure you, had we met under different circumstances, we'd still be the best of pals.

As most of you know, i'm usually the guy who looks at the academic calendar and goes "hmmmm... 3 days of bunking before the vacations begin and returning 2 days late makes it a fortnight's holiday...coolio", not this time, this time i made the mistake of staying back a couple of days after the semester(course) ended, and boy was it hard(boy am i starting too many sentences with the word 'boy').Seeing you off at the railway station or even those brief farewell hugs in the canteen or PMC (for non-BITians : Piya Milan Chowk, which is where one meets one's love interest or dou) , a little part of me died on the inside, with each farewell.

This might be the right time to point out that for the first time in my life, it has taken me this long to write a piece, if i weren't typing this out, the initial paragraphs might have been blotted, lucky for me, tears won't show on a blog, hopefully the anguish and pain do though.

Haven't really been myself this past week, i doubt any of you have, but the realization that the way of life one has been accustomed to ever since one entered adulthood hits you hard, you aren't just leaving behind a place and friends, you are leaving behind a way of life, one that taught you to fend for yourself while having someone's back, one where caring and sharing become apt descriptions of you, no matter how you walked in .

I could go on, but since the bottom line of this post is that all great things end too soon, i think i must conclude(see what i did there? ), but before i do, HINDI ! how can i forget Hindi?, Most of you had a major role in this department, i shudder to imagine how I'd survive four years without learning from you guys(or with you guys).

Three and a half years were spent grumbling about how we never "lived" for four years but "survived", this last sem, especially those last couple of weeks made me realize that we did live ! To the fullest extent,

 Life wasn't rosy,The rooms weren't too cosy ,No scope for being lazy,No hope for the crazy.
But we were always around to wipe them tears,never missed a chance to bump mugs and say cheers, Friends who were never described as peers, chased away home-sickness and all of my fears

I just hope I influenced your lives to half the extent you guys influenced mine, because whether one admits it or not, the greatest fear is the fear of being forgotten .

yours forever,
Nikhil ,voldy, suar ,piggy, joe,nik, joey or whatever name you know me by

Nikky Boner

If you read the title and went “ewww” despite not getting the bollywood flick connection, you’re probably family, if not; the time is ripe for your palm to meet your face or your head to meet your desk, your choice.(you are probably thinking I used ‘your’ and ’you’re’ excessively in that sentence, well, now you are)

Most of you guessed right, this has something to do with the movie “Vicky donor”, not everything, but yes, something.(I hate spoilers, be it books or movies, so I assure you, you can read this post and watch the movie later, not like every hindi movie is a “kahaani” or “A Wednesday” anyway, this one certainly isn’t )

There are days when one feels bored for no reason, a boredom not even twitter can solve, real-world boredom. Today was one of those days, and I (very much like the protagonist of the movie) have the ability to kill time and feel happy on my own, so off I was on a day out, good food at a new restaurant followed by a movie was the plan, the only unplanned parts were what I’d eat and which movie I’d watch.

A quick twitter poll and a couple of positively depressed juniors I met ruled out “Hate story”, so “Vicky Donor” seemed the obvious choice and boy am I glad.  

It isn’t some art-film or something with too deep a message, neither is it your average  bollywood flick, allow me to elaborate, an average bollywood flick is one in which the hero has a trait, job or a secret that the viewer is introduced to within the first quarter of the movie, by which time he meets, woos or attempts to pataofy the chick, he succeeds, just before the intermission and about a fifth of the movie is about the rosy, cheerful lives that good-looking people who can sing and dance  at the drop of a hat live, then, without warning *snorts* out comes that secret and all hell breaks loose, movie then defies all Freudian theories and at times Newtonian too, just to right those wrongs and in the end, all is well.  Wait, so Vicky donor *is* an average bollywood flick, my bad :p

However, there are few random observations I wish to share with you :

1.     I remember random stuff like the guy’s car number (DL 06 C 2596) I think , old me went and watched non-khan hindi movies in a cinema hall for one reason only, that was before I started using the hashtag #ForeverAlone on twitter.

2.     Punjabi grannies drink whiskey! The only liquids apart from water and Kaapi my dadi partook were paanka(lemonade) and teertha(holy water).

3.     This awesome analogy is true Punjabis: Bengalis:: Kannadigas: Tamilians ::Smarthas : Madhavas .

4.     I have more in common with the bongs than I thought I did, you see, I thought the only thing we had in common was that I love double D and they love double Di, but looks like hatred for delhi is something we share too.

5.     I have more in common with the Punjabis than I thought I did, you see, I thought the only thing we had in common was that we love to “that which comes before part-B”, but looks like we share our hatred for bongs.

6.     Anyone can grow fat, seriously, that lanky, creepy looking dude who used to yell “Deewane, parwane, mastane” is now a creepy looking fatso with a Punjabi accent as authentic as my tamizh accent when I say “machaaaa vaa inga !”.

7.     I have a new “type”, that chick whose answer to the question “What’s your name?” is the same as my reply to the poor folks stuck in an elevator with me when they say “Do you smell something funny?, who did that ?”- “yeah, me”. (her name is Yami gautham and she is the sole reason behind the title of this blogpost)

One for the parents

How many years has it been? 23 today,

“Amazing” “Awesome” ”Oh my gosh”, the Americans would say,

People may feel the years went by like a breeze,

Practically speaking, they don’t pass with ease.

You’ve enjoyed the ups and borne with the downs,

And during times sad, been each other’s clowns.

No matrimonial site can find such a perfect match, ever,

No Nazi experiment could create kids so clever ;)

In all these years, not once has the romance dimmed,

Voices have been raised, but love has only brimmed,

Early in this journey, entered yours truly,

Root of nine years later came along a tyrant, unruly,

Seriously though, my brother and I are truly blessed,

At this point, my rhyme shall not be messed,

Rhymes are all I can gift, till I earn and pay my own bill,

Yours forever, your unspoilt, young Nikhil.

P.S: if you haven’t observed already, the first letters from every line , when read downwards form a phrase .

Goodbye Rahul Dravid

Unparalleled in humility and a class apart,

The gentleman's game is his chosen form of art,

Rarely did he cause any tumult or uproar,  

Every stroke he played , made the dil maang more.

The epitome of Edison's definition of genius,

footwork that could only be described as ingenious,

That subtle smile and coy demeanor,

A simple life and an untarnished career  , (i dare thee to find one cleaner.)

Contributions went unnoticed, credit was left due ,

yet,not once did we see his face display a shade of (red) hue,

Never one to claim glory or hog the limelight,

Always played with his heart and fought his own silent fight.

Many a post shall be dedicated to you today, my humble sonnet is but one,

Watching you play , my dear sir, has been immense fun .