India the country I was born and raised in is not the country I enjoy staying in. No I am not the one who says hail US and who plans to run away but India is not the country I hope it would be. Slogged by the rusted bureaucratic chain, idiot people and loss of culture. People don’t have manners or respect forget about the word honour. Talking cheap and doing uncivilised things are the name of the game now. Sex is so open that it has lost its charm. People divided, there is no voice that we are Indians but that I am a dalit, I am a Marathi manoos and so on.

Indians hate rules and worse are the traffic rules, driving in opposite lane, jumping lights and blocking roads is too common here.  Neither the pedestrians nor the motorist care about Zebra crossing, I think most even don’t know what those white stripes are for. Politician are no good either, votes are won by talking against others and paying money. I didn’t know this until a local MNS politician confessed of doing this.

Police as we know it is useless too. No one wants to work and every one expects bribe. Bribe not for asking him to do something wrong but to do the right thing too. Logging an FIR at a police station means that one has to pay atleast Rs 100/- This is a nominal fee where the police doesn’t have to do much work but if the case is difficult then expect them to say no straight on the face or be ready to pay good sum.

aaa thu… look back and you would know someone has spit. Look further and you can see someone peeing on the roadside. Eat something and throw the wrapper anywhere – yes India is a dustbin you can throw anything anywhere.

Education is awesome. Most students in government schools are taught a simple thing from childhood, don’t ask why. Parents at home do the same… most of them don’t want to answer too many question and result is a huge population most who don’t ask why? So you can expect a lot of people even from the science background knowing stuff and ask them why is that so and they would be blank.

A happiness Index survey had put Indians in list of more than 150 countries below 100. We Indians see the glass as half empty and seldom as half full. No wonder those who are smart or sensible also want to leave India. People give examples of Indians getting beaten up in Oz land and I tell them that in Maharashtra north Indians were beaten to death and in many cases the news never came. In my own country I feel alienated so why should care about some auzi. My brain says go abroad but somehow my heart says no. I was born here and I shall die here too.

A simple change of a name of the city world knows as Bombay. Its not the people outside but the people in country itself. But someone somewhere in Maharashtra not doing well in politics decided to woo the public which he/she couldn’t satisfy with better social status. So what he and his party do? They come up with an idea of changing the name of the city from Bombay to Mumbai. Its amazing that how people in India actually forget the basic needs and suddenly woo the politition. And so we the tax payers bang our heads when our money is used to change the everything that was Bombay to Mumbai so that some one has an ego issue solved which was not there in the first place but raised only by a polition. Imagine a confusion a foreigner would have after he/she comes to know that there is no Bombay in India. Imagine I go on internet to book my ticket for LA and search says no result found.
But do the politicians care? – NO. Do the locals care – only some. Rest prove once again in this democratic country that we Indians are fools and have less IQ than the Indian media has been telling us. The politicians know this very well and use it time and again and then we crib that our (India’s) condition is not that great.

White shirt, white pant , dirty slippers but a thick gold chain hanging from the neck.  Doesn’t the guy have anything better to spend on than to decorate himself with gold? What next? Lipstick? There are a lot of people like him in India with a lot of black money (money unaccounted for legally) and they have no idea of what to do with it. And the worse part it that there are men who are actually impressed by these men.

I was talking to a govt servant who was all awe at the money a local politician had made. Talking about the grand party he had. And it made me think that there are men like this too.  People who are impressed with people having lots of money, where they got it from is not whats important but how they waste it is. And then they look back at their life and feel sorry at their lives.

Will the real man please stand up!

No not the Hollywood one, the Bollywood one. Wanted, an action movie after a long time. Much has been said about the movie. Times of India has gone as far as giving it a 4 star rating of 5. I am not a Hindi movies fan. Last few good Hindi movies have been A Wednesday, Lakshay and Dil Chahta Hai. Every other was either crap or so so types. Wanted is no good either. Direction is pathetic, acting a 2nd grade and songs are intolerable. It didn’t take me more than 5 minutes to realise that the movie was a complete waste of time and money. There are a few comedy scenes in the movie which keep you banging your head to the wall but except that nothing too fancy. The actress (forgot the name) has slimmed down and Salman Khan’s body looks tonned.

I would not recommend this movie, but if you don’t mind quality of direction, acting and can survive the songs then you can watch it.

My review: 2/5 (I feel I am rating it too high)

Bird of future T-50

Finally its out! After years of speculations and discussions about the T50 project, the first images of the aircraft are out. A joint venture between India and Russia, the future aircraft will meet the expectation of the two airforces.

Bird of prey

The 5th generation aircraft would have the latest in stealth technology along with the use of composite materials, state of the art avionics and super cruise capability. The weapons would be hidden inside it unlike conventional planes.

In the Indian Air Force (IAF), it would replace the aging Jaguars and MiG27 aircrafts, while in Russia MiG29s and Su27 fighters. The production of the aircraft is stated to begin by 2012 and full production by 2017  by when the aircraft would be fully tested and integrated into the armed forces. The production would be done jointly in India and Russia. HAL (Hindustan Aeronautical Limited) would be working on along with Russians to produce parts of the aircraft in India. Thought the final draft is pending, the proposal says that HAL will produce the aft fuselage, tail assemblies and starboard wing.

The politician.

Politician: A selfish corrupt person whose sole purpose in life is to increase personal wealth from any source of income; especially from the public. A continuous zeal to work against the development of the society so as to keep the public from rising up against the Politician.

Politician for me is a cuss word. One of the highest order. Governments over the years have done little for the welfare of the common man.  Quota system, disinvestment and regionalism have been the tools of politicians for self empowerment. Even the BJP government doesn’t go off the RADAR. But there is one thing that this year’s election saw which was something no one I know, could think of. After ages, we had a single government at center. Congress! Though not 100% but very close.

Congress slowly and steadily seems to be moving in the right direction. One of the biggest triumph for India could be, that our economy didn’t go into recession. The fall of Lehman brothers was something that made everyone too cautious but India sailed smoothly during this period.  Another change that I can see is the present government under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has been going in the right direction.  The government seems very interested in fixing the loop holes in the Indian system which have been the root cause for our failures.  Be it the need of grade system in schools, doctrines for military, importing military hardware, fighting corruption and increase in the transparency of the system. No previous government was this enthusiastic about fixing the issues which were corroding the country.

Kashmir also for one seems to be quieter. The only terrorist now which remain are the ones from across the border trying to re-ignite the problem. For the naxals, the govt is ready to deal with an iron fist. The paramilitary forces are being diverted into these areas. Government is waiting for the state elections to get over before it begins its moves.

Though most things to me seem to be going in the right direction there are still somethings that the government is doing nothing about.

• The 26/11 Mumbai attacks: Why is government is so softly doing things? Things have come to that the Pakistan is today blaming India for problem in its own area Baluchistan. Which as far as i know has been the problem since British rule in then India.
• Chinese dragon: The Chinese dragon sits on the border and the government is so hush hush about it. Even the cross border firing in which two soldiers of ITBP were injured, was kept under the wraps.

All said and done, I am very hopeful from the government and for a change I am confident about few politicians in power. If these few good men in power remain, then we can surely for a better future.

Raptorsky

Could this be the next generation fighter for the Indian Air Force?  This is the Sukhoi Design for the new joint project between India And Russia. This 5th generation aircraft would be a stealth aircraft of the future.

Though this is just a digital picture of what it could look like, there is no official picture which is out, that can suggest what the aircraft would look like.

For more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_PAK_FA

Raptorsky

Not impressed?
Here is the other – this one is being designed by the famous MiG

MiG Project 1.44

This is the MiG 1.44, and this plane actually exists. The aircraft project suffered set backs due to economic issues in Russia. So Govt Of India and MiG bureau are going jointly going to develop this aircraft.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan_Project_1.44

Still not happy?

Ok! So you want an aircraft built in India and it should be a stealth one too. Not a problem:

MCA Medium Combat Aircraft,  the big brother of LCA. MCA images first appeared few years back on some Indian site where the author said the India is planning such an aircraft too. This model above was displayed by DRDO itself.

It was a week back, I was walking down the isle when I saw two men peeking down the tiny bridge, a snake was passing under. I asked them “Kya dekh rahe ho intne shauk se” (what are you looking at with such an interest) ? They said they were looking at a snake, a cobra. I quickly went to where they were standing and looked down at where they were pointing to see a snake quickly making its way down the mountain. Knowing that it was safe to follow, I jumped across the railing and followed the snake but it hid somewhere. Later a non-profit group came to catch the snake. These social workers catch snakes and leave them in the jungle where the forest authorities have authorised them to do so. A noble work, the idea is that people should not kill the snake in fear of it being around the area. the guys were daring, they jumped in where the snake was hiding a started looking for it, after 15 mins of search nothing showed. I started chatting with the guys, I asked them are there King Cobras in India to which he said yes, in the north east part of the country.  One of the guys, older among the group, short height, bit bald was very knowledgeable. He told me about different type of snakes including the one which can jump.  He said one should never let that kind of snake crawl up, if one wants to catch it. Once in position, the snake can jump 8 feet. And I was like wow! and then i said “I hope not be the target of this snake when its jumping”.

Yesterday again, the cobra was spotted, but this time one of the guys here didn’t let him go. He

Smile.... click

knew that if the snake would get on the defensive, it would not run and would stay put, which will give him enough time to call the snake catchers, and if he kept the snake on defensive further then the snake catchers could get here and catch the snake. A running around and hitting a thick wooden stick on the ground did the trick. The snake got into defensive. It was measuring approx two meters and was on alert with head up, fangs out. Meanwhile this guy called the snake catchers. An officer who was later passing by, took the pics of the snake from different angles. The snake was caught, put in the bag and taken away.

Cats

It was 7:34 AM of Aug 8th when the tinkle from my phone distracted me from an article in the newspaper. But I continued to read the article. After some 10 mins later I checked my phone. It read:

1 New Message:

“Leaving panvel. C u @ RK” Praveen Sathaye.

I was like sathaye, he is never on time. So I called him up, I could hear the wind in the background, he must have been talking while on the move. Since I wasn’t sure he was on time I asked him if he was seriously coming and he said “Yes, reaching lonavala in 20 mins” (lonavala is an hill station some 75KM from Pune, next to khandala). Initially, I didn’t react to it, I mean its Sathaye after all, 20 minutes could actually mean 1 hour 20 minutes. But what if this time he is on time. So I washed my face, wore my Dainese biking jacket, my gloves, DMS boots and got on my R15. It was a nice cloudy day,  it was going to rain and I was in a mood to get all wet. I rode at a slow 60-80 KMPH not expecting Sathaye to actually reach on time and when I reached RK (RamaKrishna) I saw a silver Pulsar with BN sticker. “Oops! He is on time for a change.”

Sathaye was sitting with a dosa plate in front of him, he greeted me and introduced me to a fellow biker Kartik, a black R15 rider. After a small chit chat, we went up to tiger point. On the way up I stopped to wait for Sathaye, he was a bit behind, he came soon appeared from the clouds and stopped. There were 4 chaps standing where I was when one of them asked “upar tak lift de do” (give us a ride to the hill top) when the forth guy replied “abe inke piche mat baitho, yeh biker hain” (don’t sit behind these guys, they are bikers) I had a smile and then I sped my way up the hill.  It was cloudy up there as usual. Visibility was down 10 meters or so. We were riding slowly, after a few turns there was a straight, though visibility was very low I decided to speed but something inside said slow down and I did and then I saw road turning, it kept turning and turning.. ooooo! Thank god I slowed down else , as Navjot Singh Sidhu, the cricketer would have said  – slipped like a cold butter on a hot pan.  We continued to Amby Valley, a private small town. People as usual in Maharashtra were driving

On my puma

with hazard lights on. They drive like this here. They won’t turn on the light but the hazard/parking lights. And you would not know which vehicle is on the move and which is not.  We later stopped to shoot some pics.  Then Kartik’s phone rang, a call from office. “There is a problem with a global variable…. yeah I have fixed it and have put it on UAT…” Another IT guy. Most of the bikers in this part of the country are IT (Information Technology) professional.

Sathaye had some other plans too, he was in a mood to climb one fort there, next to Amby valley. He made a biker climb; all these years with bikers, one of things I have learn is “we go wherever the bike goes and no further” and here I found myself climbing the stairs. I am an IT guy, my job is to sit and type. Physical exertion is a sin for me   Well it was a good break from the lethargic job we IT people have. On top the view was no different as from the ground. I couldn’t see much. And sathaye was saying.. there — there is a runway there and a restaurant there … all I could see was white clouds, more white clouds and still more white clouds.  But patience paid off, for brief period we could see down from the hill.

Karthik and praveen

On the way down we met a biker and as usually it happens we got talking and talking and talking till his gal friend got bored and we decided to leave her in peace with her boy friend

Back from the fort it was time to hit the gas, rev up the engine and climb down the hill. And from Lonavala to Toni da dhaba it was full throttle.  A nice weekend ride with a fellow biker Praveen Sathaye. There are people you go on to a ride with and then there are people you love to go on a ride with. That was the difference here.

The Mumbai attacks on 26 Nov 2008 were not the first nor they were something out of the blue.  Did we forget the multiple blasts on local trains in mumbai, multiple blasts in delhi, the list is endless, so why is everyone reacting as if this out of the blue, especially the goverment officials.  This clearly shows that they choose to ignore this, while they should have been preparing for it.

I totally believe that the Mumbai police failed miserably. I have few questions which I want to ask:

• Why Mumbai Police didn’t have better weapons?
  The police was firing with .303 rifle, if at all it was firing. No one was armed with automatic rifles. Okey! You might say its not needed on a day to day basis but where were the ones who are armed with these weapons when the attack started. And we complain that NSG took time to reach from Delhi.  Why was police spending on better cars than on weapons? And when center asked Mumbai Police to buy weapons why the weapons were not bought?
• Do they practice drills and events?
  Regular firing practice is part of the Police. This is there since the British time. But do our police men practice? Apparently even the QRT (Qucik Reaction Team) hadn’t fired since a year of the attack. Reason they said: lack of ammunition. WOW!
• Where were the Mumbai Commandos?
  I am in pune and have many a times seen the Pune Commandos. My friend even got a bashing from two. But where were the Mumbai commandos? These commandos are better armed and trained than the regular Police, but where were they on the night of the attack? And we say NSG was late. Some excuse!
• Why did the men in Khaki run away when terrorist opened firing on public at CST?
  Scene from a CCTV footage: 10 to 12 policemen at CST see terrorist firing, police reacts at lightning speed. What do they do? They run! And do you know who actually fired? An off duty policeman who apparently snatched rifle from one among the countless cowards and fired. Sadly when he was fired upon by terrorist, he was the only one defending himself, he was later shot dead by the terrorists.
  I am not asking police to go and die but can’t they even fire at terrorist who are not aware of them and firing at civilians? What kinda cowards are we getting into police? Either the recruiters taking the exam don’t care or do they take bribe or worse, our system of recruitment is flawed. What ever the reason, the events clearly show there is something wrong.
• Why was Mumbai asking for NSG to be stationed at Mumbai after the attacks?
  We want commandos, we want NSG here.. that is what the Maharashtrian politicians were crying about? Worried about common man’s safety? I am sure they are more concerned about themselves than us. Remember two politicians were in Taj when it was under attack. And when center asked land for RAF (Rapid Action Force) why they were not given land early but after much negotiation. And for the record they are placed at the farthest place from Taj. At the extreme end, ever farther from new Mumbai. The special battalion of CRPF 145, raised to counter NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemial) attack has been asking for land since years and have been highly unsuccessful till now. I have learned they have been finally allocated a small peice of land on some state highway. A place where the closest theater would be some 40KMs from Pune. Meant for Mumbai, this force is just too close, won’t you say? And tomorrow if something happens, our politicians will again cry…. Where is CRPF? Why were they so late?

The fact is that our police has been deteriorating slowly and slowly. Fat tummy and incompetency are the fact. We can’t just rely on center everytime for natural disaster and attacks. The states have to start acting, else we will see more like the 26/11 in the future because the terrorists are determined and they know our weakness, sadly it seems we don’t know their weaknesses.