Questions

# Is there something called cruise mode for bikes? If yes, I would like to have one, because frankly speaking the alternative, of buying gloves, is too troubling.

# Is marriage something like driving a second hand bike which has been last serviced in 1857 ?

# What could be the possible historical justification for circumcision (NSFW). I know people may be eager to respond. I ask them to stop and reflect. I am talking about historical, which mean that while circumcision may well prevent AIDS and Penile cancer I doubt that's what people were thinking about four thousand years ago. A more plausible case can be made for personal hygiene to avoid residual fluids. Trouble is, I don't find it very compelling historically . Antiquity had civilizations fastidious in personal hygiene, yet circumcision  was  observed in what is today's Levant, even Sumer and Akkad did not practice this ritual. So things do not add up.

The reason I am asking this is, I am troubled by this. Removal of foreskin, exposes sensitive anatomy, causing its gradual desensitization. The result as expected is significant decrease in sensory responses in act of intercourse. My conjecture  is backed by a lifetime of scholarly pursuit of such esteemed journals as Nancy Friday and Penthouse.

Now long back KDU had given a reason, but I don't believe that on account of his being Hindu Fascist* . Which bring me to the second biggest conspiracy angle (the biggest being mentioned here). Circumcision is a conspiracy hatched by sadist Jewish feminazi bitches.

The Horror !

* To put it in perspective, he was being a hateful Hindu bigot when I still held Nehru-Gandhi family in high regards, in other words, I had not crosses over to dark side. Yeah I know ridiculous. But still it was better than VNS who was buying ice creams (costing 25 paise each, no less !) for girls with hairy legs (who by now are mothers of hairy children)

Revenge & Order

Ritwik faults rioters for the wrong strategy . I disagree. The issue here is to consider how revenge is defined. For Ritwik revenge is exacted when the perpetrator of the original crime are hurt. This need not be the case with the rioting crowd. The understanding of revenge must be framed in terms of groups, not individuals. Since member(s) of my group was(were) hurt, reasons the rioters, hence the other group must be hurt, specific individual is not that important.

Of course, going beyond the scope of Ritwik's post there are problems with rioting. It is my conjecture, that revenge evolved as a result to establish order. People behave, if there is threat of vengeance [ ramble: hence Abrahamic creeds have a rather pissed off God, being nomad they possibly relied more on physical threat, and man creates God in his image ]. And revenge is unavoidably factored in any system of justice. Problem with mob violence, at least in India, the violence escalates beyond the scope of revenge (understood within framework of deterrence,as in case of law), and has much more to do with conflicting identities. This conflict is a result of both historical antagonism as well as propaganda. At least in case of India, there is no smoke without fire. This is somehow incomprehensible to secular establishment.

Cyber-coolies suck & the biggest conspiracy (possibly)

# God bless the libertarians (At least I think it is a libertarian)

# Been keeping busy lately but have to ask this.

Now while my experience as a user with Siebel/SAP is not extensive, nevertheless it has always been, without exception, traumatic, I am not exaggerating (ok, a little bit).
Now question is how do both company to be market leaders. Now the explanation that they are too pathetic seems to Dilbertian, it is more likely that whoever is customizing them is doing a really bad job, which in this case cyber-coolies.
Message to readers who are working on SAP/Siebel : You suck.

# I have a theory. The rumour that Hillary Clinton is having a lesbian affair with her close associate Huma Abedin is in all probably floated by the Clinton campaign itself. This is like killing two birds with one stone. One it makes Hillary look more human, which I think everyone will agree, she is in dire need of to overcome her image of cold, calculating political animal. Second it secures male voters, because let us admit, which man doesn't like to fantasize about girl on girl action.

Update: Considering how Iowa is shaping for Hillary, what is the possibility that a video sharing intimate moments between Clinton and Huma Abedin is leaked on internet ?

Note: Lay off, Malaysian minister tells Karunanidhi. This is off course no time for schadenfreude.

On Nandigram

Few articles on Nandigram

Pratap Bhanu Mehta , not his best, still worth read.

Tavleen Singh , usual tripe, but hey public loves it.

Bibek Debroy in a surprising column comes as supportive of privatizing law enforcement. He does add an overall regulatory role of government, however the point is the assumption that government which can not enforce law can oversee private players (for enforcement) is questionable, to say the least.

Best, in my opinion, is by Swapan Dasgupta , in previous post I was alluding to the possibility that the polarization on communal lines may precipitate in re occurrence of pre-partition communal massacre. I admit this is a bit far fetched, however I think Bengali psyche is not well understood. It is mostly my conjecture, but I think Bengalis are very emotional. Long back when I was reading Guru Aurobindo, I came across a statement which I didn't understand at that time. Guru asserted, I am paraphrasing here, that there was Bengali enlightenment precisely because Bengali have belief. Which possibly will explain why Bengali have been at fore front of social upheavals whether national awakening or later communism. In fact I think, the reason Bengal was attracted to communism, because Bengal which relied on intellect couldn't compete for leadership of nationalist movement based on masses. That and the trauma of partition possibly turned Bengal to communism, of course the industrial policies of the central government did not help. Of course Bengali intellectual has tried to forget the tragedy, as is clear from the fact that there has been no significant literary or otherwise output on Bengal partition, in marked contrast to Punjab, however no lessons were learned and the history may repeat itself, only this time it will remain tragedy and not farce.

Off with their heads....

# Let it be known that the reason that gangetic belt happens to be such a dismal society with barely any hint of optimism, is the presence of abomination called Kayastha. Born from navel of Brahma, this caste has made navel-gazing as its profession.

Traditionally administrators, the mischevious Kayastha can not have a sound sleep unless he has exacted two teeth which belong to him. India can do without such culture of parasitic bureaucracy. Let's start with babalog of babulog.

I am open to adoption, my first preference being Gujarati, considering how Gujarat is in dire need of infusion of intellectual outlook (where being intellectual is defined as inability to make money and unwillingness to work), which yours truly can provide.

However as a backup I am inviting applications from interested parties the criteria being the quoted price, Bengalis are out of question as are Biharis, and Marathis. Konkanis/Mangloreans/Tulu * are welcome on account of Deepika Padukone, but Marathis, and Kannadigas are for the time not considered. Reddys are in**, and I think either of Chettiar or Nadar*** should do.

# In other news, someone called Ritwik has won in some competition which is mostly about hitting balls real hard. The conclusion, someone should write something about essential worthlessness of people called Ritwik.

# I think it is a day of great joy as Jagadguru has taken notice of slavery that is practiced in name of ITeS. Deliverance is at hand. Jagadguru ki jai ho.

# In not so good news, it has been brought to my notice ( via impostor who shall not be named ) that someone (in all probability evil spawn of chief heretic), in true tradition of evil free market fundamentalists, is attempting to lead the believers astray with mithya bhashan.
I can only warn against such blasphemy, for our Jagadguru is in mold of Durvasa Rishi, and free market fundamentalists should heed my warnings, lest they are reduced to ashes by righteous fury of Jagadguru. The only antidote to rising intellectual impotency, which is a result of deplorable Indian education system and machinations of capitalists, is available at http://krishonpolitics.in/, same as S.K. Jain clinic at Burlington (NSFW). Nakkalon se sawdhan !

Two points. The evil spawn of chief heretic, admires Shashi Tharoor. Also he seems to channel Humpty Dumpty

* Are Mangolrean Tulu ?
** I have been told that Reddys are rich, landed.
*** Which one is richer. Or should it be Iyer/Iyengar ?

Ok Dear

So blogger has again been blocked. &*@#!!.

But this is important. Now there were some bomb blasts in my home state . This is a result of Islamic terrorism, which most will agree is a grave concern.
But what most would not see, indeed can not see, because the narrative is controlled by capitalist bastard, that in response to terrorism an even bigger threat lurks.
That threat is free market. People, you know what you have to do, show the middle finger to chief heretic.

Jagadguru ki jai ho

Beware of Ashwasena

There are times when Schadenfreude however tempting must be eschewed. As the situation in Nandigram has worsened, and CPM cadre turned more brazen, people who have no love lost for CPM, and they are more than one can count,  are hammering on the fact that CPM cadres, horror, killed Muslims, it may seem like twisting the knife in back of CPM, but there are other issues at stake. Nandigram is not about religion, it's about domination of CPM cadre through fear and intimidation, and challenge to this by rival group again through violence, in that light to project this as oppression of Muslim is to evoke communal passions which can not but escalate violence.
Islamic fundamentalism is a bigger menace than communist thuggery. It is a tiger which one should not be riding.

PS It is especially disappointing to see Yossarian harping on this angle

Eminent Dunce

Update: All right I accept I could have been more polite like this for example. But in my defense his eminence really pisses me off by writing such moronic articles, and the realization that there are lots of idiot who fall over his shtick

Eminent Dunce

Now one thing that his eminence can not be accused of is being thoughtful and I am not going to start that either. He writes an article on terrorism, and as is the case when he writes on security or geopolitics, makes his articles on economics look profound by comparison. Where to start, our candlestick holder dispenses the wisdom that it is not poverty, education or civilizational hatred which is the significant cause for global terrorism, but get this, suppression of political expression. Now how anger over suppression of political freedom in some country translates into killing of innocent people in other countries is not clear to me, at least thats not what Bhagat Singh did. Also I had no idea prior to reading the article that 9/11 had anything to do with lack of democracy in Saudi Arabia. But of course the arguement must imply that. As should the conclusion that when second generation Pakistani British blow kaffirs it is because they are worked up over Pervez Mussharaff, or perhaps they can't find a suitable medium to express political differences over Iraq war because Britain is a constitutional monarchy. And of course when some Moroccan does something nasty in Spain it is to protest lack of freedom in Saudi Arabia. And then same can be said for Indonesian terrorists blowing up Hindus and western tourists in Bali, they are protesting authoritarian policies of Hugo Chavez.One can extend the arguement to Thailand or Philippines as well.

Elephant In The Drawing Room

Now if the eminence had identified lack of freedom as one of the factors, perhaps it would have made more sense. However it is a secondary reason, along with the poverty or lack of education. The real malaise is Islam. There I said it.

Kind Attn

IT guys of the office have blocked blogger. Of course this is an act of utmost vileness, but the sad result is I can't reply to the comments. It should not be construed to mean that I am contemptuous of commentators, indeed my contempt for them is merely on general principles, nothing personal in it.

And The Good News Is...

That Saawariyan has flopped. Ok not flopped, but has been distinctly underwhelming, having been beaten soundly by "Am I Gay" Khan

One there is no danger of the fad of heroes exposing their posterior catching on. Call me old fashioned but I find no aesthetic pleasure by watching sculpted male butts*, biceps fine, calves good, six packs bring it on, but as someone who doesn't profess love that dare not speak its name, and is not greek, the behind is best unseen.

Second I think Bhansali is easily the most over hyped director presently in Indian cinema. My experience of his films is at best mildly irriating (HDDCS) to "please someone kill me" (Black). It is maddening to see the hype that he has earned for being "sensitive" filmmaker. Now I don't claim to be connoisseur, life being too short and bladder too small to take things which are projected 36 frames per second seriously. However Bhansali doesn't deserve the accolades. Sensitivity for him means hamming, garish sets, color schemes lifted out of some adverts assaulting the sense and overwrought emotional clieches serving as drama. It is reassuring when his work is judged once in a while for what it is which is a mish mash of borrowed idea with generous doses of melodrama.

PS. Rani Mukherjee* as a prostitute is irritating, she tries too hard unlike Neha Dhupia who is a natural playing "woman of trade" or Konkana Sen Sharma  for "ugly female who is fooled by guys who happen to be closet gays"[ Mad at streetcar or something -ed, no just having fun. Good]

PPS Based on unreliable observation of hostel. Why, to straight males, male doing dirty things with male is a turn-off, whereas female doing dirty things with female is a turn-on.

* Also I find her husky voice unnerving, reminds me of a girl who sat in front of my bench and flirted with every boy except me. But then she was hairy, so I think it is not too bad.

** Once again, I ask the question. Why is that women torture them by waxing all to allure male of the species and why is there absence of feminist voice.Frankly I think that a feminist utopia will be full of hirsute females. Knowing only one feminist, answer is requested.

Speaking of Rashmirathi

रश्मिरथी - तृतीय सर्ग (*)

मैत्री की राह बताने को, सबको सुमार्ग पर लाने को,
दुर्योधन को समझाने को, भीषण विध्वंस बचाने को,
भगवान् हस्तिनापुर आये,
पांडव का संदेशा लाये।

दो न्याय अगर तो आधा दो, पर, इसमें भी यदि बाधा हो,
तो दे दो केवल पाँच ग्राम, रक्खो अपनी धरती तमाम।
हम वहीं खुशी से खायेंगे,
परिजन पर असि न उठायेंगे!

दुर्योधन वह भी दे ना सका, आशिष समाज की ले न सका,
उलटे, हरि को बाँधने चला, जो था असाध्य, साधने चला।
जन नाश मनुज पर छाता है,
पहले विवेक मर जाता है।

हरि ने भीषण हुंकार किया, अपना स्वरूप-विस्तार किया,
डगमग-डगमग दिग्गज डोले, भगवान् कुपित होकर बोले-
जंजीर बढ़ा कर साध मुझे,
हाँ, हाँ दुर्योधन! बाँध मुझे।

यह देख, गगन मुझमें लय है, यह देख, पवन मुझमें लय है,
मुझमें विलीन झंकार सकल, मुझमें लय है संसार सकल।
अमरत्व फूलता है मुझमें,
संहार झूलता है मुझमें।

उदयाचल मेरा दीप्त भाल, भूमंडल वक्षस्थल विशाल,
भुज परिधि-बन्ध को घेरे हैं, मैनाक-मेरु पग मेरे हैं।
दिपते जो ग्रह नक्षत्र निकर,
सब हैं मेरे मुख के अन्दर।

दृग हों तो दृश्य अकाण्ड देख, मुझमें सारा ब्रह्माण्ड देख,
चर-अचर जीव, जग, क्षर-अक्षर, नश्वर मनुष्य सुरजाति अमर।
शत कोटि सूर्य, शत कोटि चन्द्र,
शत कोटि सरित, सर, सिन्धु मन्द्र।

शत कोटि विष्णु, ब्रह्मा, महेश, शत कोटि विष्णु जलपति, धनेश,
शत कोटि रुद्र, शत कोटि काल, शत कोटि दण्डधर लोकपाल।
जञ्जीर बढ़ाकर साध इन्हें,
हाँ-हाँ दुर्योधन! बाँध इन्हें।

भूलोक, अतल, पाताल देख, गत और अनागत काल देख,
यह देख जगत का आदि-सृजन, यह देख, महाभारत का रण,
मृतकों से पटी हुई भू है,
पहचान, कहाँ इसमें तू है।

अम्बर में कुन्तल-जाल देख, पद के नीचे पाताल देख,
मुट्ठी में तीनों काल देख, मेरा स्वरूप विकराल देख।
सब जन्म मुझी से पाते हैं,
फिर लौट मुझी में आते हैं।

जिह्वा से कढ़ती ज्वाल सघन, साँसों में पाता जन्म पवन,
पड़ जाती मेरी दृष्टि जिधर, हँसने लगती है सृष्टि उधर!
मैं जभी मूँदता हूँ लोचन,
छा जाता चारों ओर मरण।

बाँधने मुझे तो आया है, जंजीर बड़ी क्या लाया है?
यदि मुझे बाँधना चाहे मन, पहले तो बाँध अनन्त गगन।
सूने को साध न सकता है,
वह मुझे बाँध कब सकता है?

हित-वचन नहीं तूने माना, मैत्री का मूल्य न पहचाना,
तो ले, मैं भी अब जाता हूँ, अन्तिम संकल्प सुनाता हूँ।
याचना नहीं, अब रण होगा,
जीवन-जय या कि मरण होगा।

टकरायेंगे नक्षत्र-निकर, बरसेगी भू पर वह्नि प्रखर,
फण शेषनाग का डोलेगा, विकराल काल मुँह खोलेगा।
दुर्योधन! रण ऐसा होगा।
फिर कभी नहीं जैसा होगा।

भाई पर भाई टूटेंगे, विष-बाण बूँद-से छूटेंगे,
वायस-श्रृगाल सुख लूटेंगे, सौभाग्य मनुज के फूटेंगे।
आखिर तू भूशायी होगा,
हिंसा का पर, दायी होगा।

थी सभा सन्न, सब लोग डरे, चुप थे या थे बेहोश पड़े।
केवल दो नर ना अघाते थे, धृतराष्ट्र-विदुर सुख पाते थे।
कर जोड़ खड़े प्रमुदित, निर्भय,
दोनों पुकारते थे 'जय-जय'!


Awesome

As Simple As...

Consequence of constructing discourse over relative poverty as opposed to absolute poverty (via Chief Heretic)

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

Bringing the candles

Related posts [1],[2],[3],[4]

OK I am a bit surprised that no one gave as much as a mild chiding to his eminence for this disingenuous post.

The holder of candlestick wants to be a politician but is unable because he is not proficient in any Indian language. I think if he wanted to make excuse at least he should have put some effort at it. Linguistic expertise required for politics is nothing like writing Rashmirathi or Yama, and if his eminence really wanted, I don't think it was very difficult for him to acquire the skill needed.
What got my goat however was even though he washed his hands off, he encouraged "educated middle class". Does the man even reads the nonsense he writes. There are reasons, why "educated middle class" doesn't join politics. They are

1. Opportunity cost is too high: A middle class Indian is usually a salary earning professional. He can maintain his standard of living only for as long as he is bringing the money at the end of the month. But what happens if he joins politics ? At best he can earn twenty plus thousand when he wins the elections and becomes a minister. However what if he loses or when he is just a full time cadre ? It is a bit foolish to expect someone to suffer to alleviate other suffering on daily basis.

2. Power structure is too centralized : Which means that in order to have any effect, position near the power center must be reached, which of course increases the effort and money by that much.

The above are significant factors which have blocked evolution of a civic culture towards effective self governance. Here it should be noted that there are other complex factors at work such as diversity and history.

Here opportunity cost is subjective, for a suitable candidate some opportunity cost is always present, some people can not be bothered to join political process, while other can not be bothered by any obstacle in joining politics. More than the value of the cost, we should be concerned with the quality of the leaders, which is what we are after.

After The Break

I think everyone survived my absence. I couldn't extend Deepawali greetings, but I do hope people enjoyed the festival without indulging in gambling which is a most immoral act. Please note that strictly speaking strip poker is not gambling, as long as ugly people are kept out of it.
Anyway regular posting will follow. Meanwhile.

# Congratulations to Prasannaji for becoming a proud father. Readers are requested to carry out their part in demographics wars. Male readers can start with taking a pledge to stop wearing tight jeans, virility of Indian male must never be compromised.

# How drunk someone has to be, or how many years someone has to spend doing futile search, before he begins to find Nandita Das or Konkana Sen Sharma* hot ? On the subject of hotness, Deepika Padukone is hot, yeh Karnataka ke log kaun si chakki ka aata khaatein hain **

# Ritwik has gone dental, but still refuses to answer my question, the impudence offends me.

# Chief heretic invokes Ayn Rand on Deepawali. Ban Ayn Rand !

# His eminence, true to his form, applauds this article by the usual suspect. Now frankly speaking I didn't understand what it is all about. But I am intrigued who is target group for these kind of articles, now I think overall finance and business related papers aim for informed people, who know about business and economics, which means people unlike me. However am I mistaken in believing that big idea articles are meant for a bigger readership with even uninformed included, then how wise is it to write articles around buzz words, especially when then the connection is not clear, bit of cleverness is all right but this is torture of prose.

*This doesn't take from the fact that Konkana Sen Sharma is all right in acting.

** Is she Marathi ?

Break

This is to inform that I am taking vacation for next two weeks. Blogging may be difficult, considering we don't have any internets in Lucknow. However I can type a post on typewriter, and send it to reader's addresses, if such need arises. I know it would be difficult to survive without my profound wisdom, consumption of archives is recommended.

Oh and I wanted to ask this. Why is that people don't comment here, or even blog roll this blog. Is it because I am different. I feel so discriminated.

By the way this is not bleg, though I would like it, no one is obliged to comment here or even put this blog on blog roll. Please remember there is no compulsion in my benevolent dictatorship.
Only waterboarding, clean fun.


Added: One of the easiest way to generate pseudo-comments is to talk about arranged marriages.


Argh ! Why can't I get a break: Apropos this , it is historical revisionism to suggest that demand for Pakistan was reaction against Hindu Mahasabha. Truth is Hindu Mahasabha never amounted to much, being more or less a rag tag coalition of disgruntled from Congress and having right leanings. This included rajah, landlords, middle class professionals and few intellectuals. Main enemy of Muslim League was always "Hindu" Congress. The reality is diametrically opposite to what is peddled, certain intellectuals like Veer Savarkar were pushed to Hindu Mahasabha intransigence (My bad !) after being repulsed with rising Islamic fundamentalism as in Moplah Rebellion and failure of Congress to address it. Truth is the demand for Pakistan started as a reaction to decline in Muslim influence under British rule which caused shift in power structure, earlier in favour of Muslim, and inability to compete with intellectual growth of Hindus.
This is best exemplified in this speech that Sir Syed Ahmed Khan gave to Muslim intellectuals

"At this time our nation is in a bad state in regards education and wealth, but God has given us the light of religion and the Koran is present for our guidance, which has ordained them and us to be friends. Now God has made them rulers over us. Therefore we should cultivate friendship with them, and should adopt that method by which their rule may remain permanent and firm in India, and may not pass into the hands of the Bengalis… If we join the political movement of the Bengalis our nation will reap a loss, for we do not want to become subjects of the Hindus instead of the subjects of the "people of the Book…"

PS: Wanted to comment on this, some other day.

The way of middle..

Forgive me for I don't know what I am talking about, I had terrible lunch and must make amends.

#1. Ritwik writes something about economics, which as is often the case, goes above my head, with hardly a stumble. However he makes what in my opinion is a curious statement.

"The fact that a tour guide finds it difficult to physically exclude the non-paying tourists does NOT mean that his services are non-excludable. He is charging a fee for his services, and can easily deny his service to anyone".

I think it does imply that his services are non-excludable in the most proper sense.
The guide can not deny his services to anyone, he can only deny service to everyone.

Anyway the post was in response to some other post (which I didn't bother to read) about how market can address the market failure more effectively than government. Frankly to me, this is bit of twister, if market could address the issue why call it market failure in the first place. A bit of paradox, isn't it ? And yet as Bertrand Russell said (OK it could have been Frank Sinatra , I don't care), paradoxes are consequence of incorrect definitions.

Main goal of market is to ensure maximization of utility both in social and individual context, voluntary transaction is the means to do that, this voluntary transaction is primary mechanism. To ensure that transaction is voluntary, a secondary, enforcement mechanism is required. However sometimes it happens that either maximization is not achieved by the voluntary transaction, public aesthetics is one such example. Other times transaction is not voluntary, pollution exemplifies that. These in my opinion are the basic characteristics of market failure. How to rectify market failure may require collective action, which in my opinion, is best handled by state.

Now level of intervention required is still open to debate, it should be minimal and yet able to achieve the goal. The proper level of intervention can be devised by taking the matrix of incentives in account.

Now I come to the main point, market can said to have been failed if and only if the mechanism has failed. However if it is possible, by using technology for example, to keep mechanism functional, market has not failed and is very much in business. Something of the sort I think happened here. It was an issue of technological limitation, which was corrected by employing suitable technological solution, not market failure.

However I must admit I am not sure how prevalent this problem is. Somehow I doubt that tourists will be that penny pinching, or for that matter welcome the idea of using headphone to listen to a guide. At least I hate it.


#2. Later in the same post Ritwik is not happy with "ideological extremism", recommending the middle of the road. Problem is unless one wished to be a roadkill, being middle of the road just for sake of it, is not such a good idea, I mean, to me being always in middle also seems pretty inflexible approach.
Frankly speaking, I understand and agree with him, but I don't like the way the statement is framed. For me important thing is any ideological position should be informed, not least of what it seeks to achieve. This is easier said than done, the goal of life is ever elusive, ultimately it is a matter of guesswork about what we want, which, if one comes to think of it, is ultimately what philosophy boils down to. Moreover I believe the reason behind "extremism" have more to do with human psyche. I guess admitting mistake is an issue of ego, and human mind is not too fond of uncertainty or death. Fear of both death and uncertainty is, I venture, a product of living. I should know, I am an extremist.

#3. Ritwik hearts Ravikiran! What nonsense. If that be the case what is explanation behind war of mustaches.

#4. By the way his admonition to Ravi, and holding forth on layers of political machinery reminds of this story by Isaac Asimov.