You know I have been struggling with my technology career ... Hmmm.....

Does it still bother you?

Manu Sharma who allegedly (yeah right) murdered Jessica Lal in 1999 was acquitted by the court today.
One more instance of rich and famous manipulating the system to get away with the most heinous of crimes. It just pains my heart to see this happen again and again and again. Is our system so spineless to not even stand a fighting chance against these sophisticated thugs. That fellow shot that young model at point blank range and now he is getting away scott free. Today when I read it in the news, my immediate reaction was to be cynical. But no, I dont want to cynical anymore. India can never be a land of our dreams if privileged few continue to be above and beyond the arms of law. When was the last time a politition was convicted or a stock market scamster brought to justice? Its instances like these that do more damage to people's trust in the system than anything else.
Outraged and frustrated, I sent an email to Bharat Uday Mission. Not sure if anything will happen but just couldn't pass it as another news headline which will be stale in a day.
I hope somewhere an Indian Elliot Spitzer is reading this blog. (Since only two people read this blog, I hope you know that its YOU I am talking about)

Giving back an earful

From the recent India-Pak cricket match. At least for this cop, the thaw in the relations between the two countries has not brought any peace J.

Rang De Basanti

Saw RDB this evening. Liked it but I must confess it was a bit of a let down mainly because of all the hype surrounding the film. Dont get me wrong its a good movie but its just not able to shrug off the "Bollywood movie" tag. Cinematography and the technical aspects of the film are pure brilliance but the screenplay was loose. Not compelling enough, felt something was amiss. Perhaps a bit elitist (pinkospeak). These bunch of kids had everything going for them and the sudden turn in their thought process was a bit far fetched. Also not sure if the film really represents today's youth, especially the once who dont live in big cities, dont have access to flashy cars and who have more worries in life than deciding where should they party next. I think there are few people still left in India who fall in that category, right ? Didnt see them in the movie at all.
Anyway the larger issue the film is trying to address is - How do you create a revolution in India ? Take over the Akashwani Bhawan and fill the air waves with revolutionary thoughts ...hmm ... is that what he said ? No. He said become a conscious citizen, join army, get into IAS and participate in the political process of the country. Cynic in me is screaming "BOOOOOOORRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGG!" but thankfully I am not a cynic. I believe. This is the way forward for India and in a lot of ways its already happening. Everyone now I then I read incredible things common men and women of country are already doing to empower themselves and those around them. The problem here is institutionalizing this empowerment. For all its quirkiness, the current goverment did promulgate the "Right to Information" bill, which if implemented in letter and spirit has the power to bring accountability into the system like never before. Access to information and the right to use it to demand justice can institutionalize the kind of revolution the film talks about.
Bottomline -We have a long way to before this happens. Even the film had to be specially screened for clearance by guess whom ? Indian Defence Minister!