IPL threat to Indian sovereignty

Suddenly, IPL is opening up cracks in Indian sovereignty. A bad precedent is being set by blocking Sri Lankan players from entering Tamil Nadu, but allowing them to enjoy the rest of India. Everybody seems to be focused on the advantage it gives the Chennai Superkings, but nobody has picked up the Indian pride angle yet. 

India is already set to condemn the war atrocities of Sri Lanka which the Sinhalese majority in that country had managed to hide from the world for a long time. But apparently only Tamil Nadu feels outraged while the rest of India goes "Meh". If this pattern continues, we will have low morale across many institutions, including the Indian military.

What's next? If there is trouble in Bangladesh against non-Muslim Bengalis and they scamper to the West Bengal border, will the IPL only block the Bangladeshi players from playing in West Bengal? Are only Indian      Christians supposed to feel the pain when Christians are attacked in Egypt and Iraq? Are only Indian Shias supposed to feel the pain when a mosque is bombed in Pakistan? Are only Indian Sunnis supposed to be outraged when Syria starts gassing its own citizens?

This is a slippery slope. You can pretty much guarantee that Tamilians and concerned Indians will be protesting outside all cricket grounds in Maharashtra, Delhi and anywhere else they muster enough numbers. And it will not take long for BJP and Shivsena to represent the Indian side of the coin. IPL may be tax free, but it is merely a vehicle for filling up Congress coffers in various quarters.

Whatever happened to the solidarity that was shown during the South African apartheid era?

The fate suffered by the Sahara Pune Warriors is proof that the IPL is a typical Indian corrupt venture at its core. All the best to the social initiatives being initiated by Sahara with the money saved.

How to fight terrorism..

Surprisingly, a lot can be done. As terrorists get bolder and bolder and more delusional, it is time to give them a reality check. Terrorists can never stop and will simply move on to the next target after one disappears. For example, terrorists elements within Sunnis go after Shias if they run out of other groups to hate on.

Here are the steps.
1> There are quite a few people, especially in the US,middle east and UK, that say, "We just send money to terrorist groups to get revenge". Report these people to authorities. Money is what drives terrorism.
2> Keep an eye out for people that have uncontrolled rage against other groups out of nowhere. These are the kind of people targeted for recruiting and action. Again, watch for the word "revenge". Report them directly or anonymously.
3> Watch out for people that say that terrorists are only against government and not the people. These are the people most likely to fund terrorists. Report them directly or anonymously.
4> You are likely to hear such words mostly from friends or other that share a common religious or ethnic background. Report them directly or anonymously. Terrorists are not followers of God, they are the devil incarnate. Hateful conversations from any religious group is bad.
5> Do not donate to charities unless you are absolutely sure what they do. Donate to Prime Minister or Chief Minister relief funds when in doubt.
6> Do not carry money on behalf of others when visiting India or Pakistan. Unaccounted money often ends up in the wrong hands.
7> Do not use hawala or unofficial channels to transmit money. The underworld fanatics get a cut out of those transactions.
8> Do not do unofficial bets on cricket games. Corrupt cricket officials get a cut out of those transactions and they are tied to extortion/terrorist groups.
9> Walk away from conversations that are hateful. Terrorism begins in the intelligent mind and get implemented by mindless moron. Sindhi master, Punjabi blaster. (Reference: Mad Max movies)
10> Be the possibility of peace and harmony. This is the most important step. Ofcourse, kill a terrorist before he can do harm. But be an incarnation of peace otherwise.

Dombivali Fast episode in Pune!

I am not sure if this scene is present in Dombivali Fast; it is present in the Tamil version (Evano Oruvan starring Madhavan). The main character starts losing it when a shopkeeper charges extra for a cool drink. A similar experience happened to one of our blog readers out the Pune Asiad Bus Station.

My daughter wanted to have Frooti and Aavla Supari and hence we went to vendors just next to Pune-Mumbai Volvo Booking office withing ST campus.

2 Aavla supari packs charged Rs. 2/- against printed price of Rs. 1/50 and Frooti 2 carry packages were charged Rs. 12/- against printed prices of Rs. 10/. When I demanded the exact amount to be charged they objected saying ST authority has upwardly revised stall charges and he is supplying me with cold instead of room temperature Frooti.

I demanded room temperature frooti pack (for argument sake) for which he said still he will be charging Rs. 11/- as they do not have repurchase scheme.

The shopowner who claimed we are paying more at Foodmalls in between Pune-Mumbai and hence i should not object if he also charges in excess of printed prices from passengers at ST depot at Pune.

The argument went on and when i protested he asked me to do whatever i can or lodge complaint to whosoever i can.(Editor's note: This is where the shop gets broken up in Dombivali Fast)

I brought this to higher authority in same campus for which the gentleman showed no initiative in getting my refund but said he is giving us the cold packs and hence he has to pay for electricity which is costly!!!

I did not get any refund or the excess amount paid and got insulted in front of onlookers at the depot.

The shops do not have any names printed, is there someone who is listening? Taking travellers' plights into account? Is there anyone among ST and other authorities that will take note and ask the owners to charge correctly to gullible passengers? Or are we in a country of blind, deaf and or dead authority?

Is ST authority or PMC concerned department will take note and act?

Or we go on paying excess amount and turn blind eye?

Make sure that the MNS goondas pay for the MIT attack!

Let us hope that MNS activists that tried to molest and kill the Registrar at MIT get punished to the fullest extent possible. Every engineering college in Maharashtra follow the same laws; the other colleges in Maharashtra are substandard and never get filled up with all of the management quota seats.

Pune and Mumbai seats are always at a premium because they are good places to learn and grow. The MNS activities are now reaching ridiculous and fascist levels and it is time they are bought back to law and order.

70% son of soil reservation in University of Pune..

University of Pune is going to implement 70% quota for postgraduate admissions for sons and daughters of the soil that have also completed Bachelor admission there. So if you are planning to do post graduate education later, you might want to make a decision accordingly based on your state of domicile. Ofcourse, this applies only to University of Pune and not to all colleges operating under the affiliation of Pune University.

A son or daugther of soil is defined as one who has a Maharashtra Domicile Certificate. So make sure you confirm the presence or absence of that certificate before making an admission decision. You can expect "English talking" in University of Pune to reduce in the long run, as the majority imposes its will. Nothing wrong with that. As the Maharashtra government has pointed out, such discrimination is happening all over the country and Pune University is just joining the party. No, it has nothing to do with Raj Thackeray. I wonder why the university officials are running around in Dubai recruiting students. They better be going to Dehu and Dahanu instead.

A university thrives in an atmosphere of diversity. We can expect the quality of Pune University to drop in the long run and a reduction in number of those annoying out of state folks.

Of Alumnis and potholes

The Fergusson College website is boring, but the alumni section used to be pretty snappy. Now they have changed the interface and it does not seem to be all that good. And here is a decent set of images related to Pune.

There is an online petition going on to correct Pune roads. I haven't reproduced the link as every Puneri seems to have signed it already. Also saw the following rules related to the potholes. Reproducing it here as the other link have degenerated into personal attacks.

1. Between any two potholes there is always a road.
2. If matters get worse, one pothole is always smaller than the other.
3. Never follow a car when you drive, follow just one tyre of the car.
4. The depth of a pothole is inversely proportional to its visibility.
5. The probability of a passing by lorry splashing mud on you is directly proportional to the importance of the occasion you are dressed up for.
6. No matter what you wear you will get wet.
7. No matter what you do, you cannot avoid a pothole; avoiding one will lead you into another.

Adding some of my own.
8. The distance between two spots is directly proportional to the number of tires on your vehicle.
10. When you get into an accident, always blame the pothole. You are sure to find one underneath.
11. Have you met Mr. Potholkar and Mr. Khadkar? They have built posh bungalows in the free land that was made available, thanks to the potholes.
12. The size of the pothole is directly proportional to the proximity to construction activity.
13. There is construction activity everywhere around Pune.
14. Software engineers do not do good work in Pune as their brains get detached by the time they reach office. City workers do an excellent job.
15. If road are made of stone, the speed of cars on that road correspond to that of a comparable bullock carts from the stone age.

Microsoft is coming to Pune.

Pune get a boost as Microsoft is going to set up shop in Pune. Apparently the Maharashtra government is also interested in boosting Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Amravati as software destination along with Pune. Pune will get all the big development shops pretty easily. The selling point of Pune is it's people more than it's location. Ofcourse location and easy access to Mumbai always helps. Nagpur does have potential down the line.

Pune blog created...

The cities of Maharashtra typically have a different beat compared to the states. So I have created a separate blog for 4 cities in Maharashtra now.