We humans have failed as emotional beings!

So, it was a usual day for me. Woke up early, freshened up, had my breakfast and sat down with my modern history textbook to read the struggle for freedom. A fear, but more than that a feeling that can possibly be not described in words has been haunting me since the last night. My mind at unease, unable to concentrate, I pickup my phone and login to facebook & lo! here's the reason for the disquiteness.
My wall is filled with 2 majors feeds - Kathua & Unnao gang rapes. The incidents that had been a cause of my temporary state of insomnia last night. Lying on my bed, reading the story of the gory and horrendous rape and the cover up, an uncomfortable thought engulfs my mind. I am a brother, a son, a maternal uncle of a 6 yr old girl child, a good friend of a few ladies, possibly a father to a daughter in future, an aam aadmi (a common man) and ultimately a human being. And this thought of something similar happening to any of my acquaintances causes shivers to run down my body. A feeling that these words can partly describe. What's even worse? Think about the mental trauma the girls' families are going through. In one of the cases, a daughter, the victim, lost her father and in the other a father lost his daughter (the victim). Without the access to the corridors of power, they are just sculptures of mud without a soul - aam aadmis just like I am, just like you are and just like every other common citizen who still dreams of a Ram Rajya.
But alas! fools we are, because we don't have the access to corridors of power and hence even after being the victims, we are made the culprits so that people in power can create an apparent "Ram Rajya" for themselves and create a rhetoric for us fools to believe that their "Ram Rajya" is our "Ram Rajya".
I ask you a question! To what level can these so called "representatives" stoop down? (Note that I am intentionally not calling them politicians because the fault is ours that we chose them and they represent us, our mentality, our thoughts. Yes, I voted for them, you voted for them, we all did.) Well, I have no words to describe. You can gauge it, just as I did, with the fact that these "representatives" have been shielding the culprit and not in just one but both the cases. I ask you another question! How far can these "representatives" go? If at all God had  created boundaries for them because laws are for aam aadmis not for those in corridors of power. Crossing all the limits, they gave the Kathua incident, a communal tinge. And alas, we fools, we aam aadmis were made a prey to the rhetoric again so much so that a few amongst us supported the rapists amidst slogans of "Jai Shri Ram". I am a proud Hindu and a proud Indian and I am well aware that neither my religion nor my country teaches me to shield criminals in the name of God.

I am saddened to the core. My soul is crying from within. I want to do something about it but I can't. I am powerless because I am a foolish aam aadmi. 

Amidst all the communal tension and atrocities on women and the way it is being handled, I have started losing faith in Governance and the Government and ultimately in humanity. But yes! the only thing in which I have developed strong faith is - in petty politics. Yes! It can do wonders. Needless to give examples. I have been blabbering for quite sometime.

The last time I could restore my faith in humanity was during the 2012 Nirbhaya protests. I am waiting for something similar to happen to muster up my belief in humanity, believe that we still are rational emotional beings and not just puppets in the hands of political parties. A wave has been generated, this time not on the streets of Delhi, but on social media. And it seems to be apparently bigger than the 2012 one. I hope that this will force the govt to conduct a fair enquiry and punish the guilty while also setting a strong precedent for people with sick mindset who use their power illegally to shield their ills.

As I pickup my book to read the struggle for independence, I am reminded of the India our freedom fighters dreamt of, a Ram Rajya for which they sacrificed their lives. I am sure none of them  wanted and none of us would want our country to remain this way - a country where women's dignity is at stake. We have gained freedom after a long strife. Let's not waste it. Let's save the world's largest secular democracy from dying. I have faith in my fellow countrymen, in the laws and in judiciary. Sooner or later they will make us regain faith in us humans as emotional beings.

The Unforgettable 90s - Part III (TV Serials)

So, I recently came across a petition being signed on a site requesting to release the episodes of one the most revered sci-fi TV program of the 90s - Yes!! you guessed it right. Its Captain Vyom.

Courtesy: Wow Teens

Kids, teenagers and youngsters - all became fans of this program. There were many such programs encompassing a wide spectrum of genres like music, drama, thriller, horror, comedy, fictional, superheroes, religious, magic shows, detectives etc. To name a few - among dramas we had serials like Shanti, Kora Kagaz and others aired on DD Metro's 9 Gold. Rib tickling comedy shows like "Mere Samne wali khidki", "Office Office", "Meri Mrs Chanchala", "Tu tu mai mai", "Nukkad", "Shriman Shrimati" made us burst into laughter until our belly started hurting.

We had a couple of superheroes to save our day - "Shaktimaan", "Captain Vyom", "Junior G" etc. However, such shows had a negative impact on the kids then. Such shows were the talk of the town and many of the kids lost their lives imitating superheroes like Shaktiman. But then, Shaktimaan also emerged as the saviour with his - Choti Choti magar moti baatein (small but useful tips). And then........... there were serials like "Aahat" which scared the hell out of us. Musical shows like "Surabhi", "Chitrahaar", "Antakshari" combined music & entertainment in a unique way.

Among thrillers and detective shows, "Tehkikat", "Byomkesh Bakshi" and "Raja aur Rancho" were two of the famous shows. And who can forget those all time favorite fictional shows like "Alif Laila", "Betal Pachisi", "Chandrakanta" etc. Among the religious shows - "Jai Hanuman", "Om namah Shivaay", "Mahabharat" became an integral part of the religious lives of the people so much so that when these shows were aired people used to pray in front of their TV sets with Puja plates in their hands and believe me at the time these shows were broadcast the streets lay deserted. 

However, times have changed since late 2000s. With the flooding of TV shows and the coming up of the concept of TRPs TV serials have lost their originality and have become repetitive in the bid to give it a tinge of suspense. Characters respawn in a bid to stretch the story. Adding more spice to the story making it more fictional than realistic to garner more TRPs led to deterioration in the quality of episodes. However, the best thing about the TV shows of 2000s was that they mostly revolved around the concept of social evils with most of them giving women the central role. Such drama shows focused on social evils like child marriage, female foeticide, poverty etc.

Comedy shows stooped down to a level where vulgarity became common in the jokes of the comedians. Sci-fi shows became almost non existent and fictional shows in their new avatar could not recreate the glory of the older ones and hence faced failures. Even mythological shows tried to recreate the same aura as the older ones but in vain. The younger generation born during the 2000s have lost interest in such shows which during our times kids used to watch with exorbitant zeal. Today reality shows are the talk of the town. But with so many reality shows being aired on so many TV channels, the winners seldom gain much popularity. 

This is not to say that today channels do not air quality TV programs but that the quality has degraded for sure. Though interests have changed but most of them have been moulded because of the lesser "variety" of options available with the people. Earlier a single channel had a complete spectrum of program running 24X7. Today, channels have resorted to niche shows. With too much of advertising the experience has also degraded. All these reasons have led youngsters to quit watching TV and spend more time watching web series on the internet.

We are heading towards a time where saturation seems to be evident. The new trend that is emerging is oriented more towards the internet. In such a scenario TV channels must learn from the programs of 90s which with more originality were more entertaining.

The Unforgettable 90s - Part II (Technology)

Casettes, Floppy Discs, Walkman, Radio transistors, a Black & White TV connected to either an antenna or a big dish. This was the list of gadgets one (apparently from the lower middle class) used to own in the 90s. 

I can still recall that moment when a good friend of mine living in my neighbourhood then bought a color TV in the late 90s and got a cable connection. His father used to call all of the children in the colony (including me obviously) and played new movies through his VCR. Sometimes, just for fun, he called us for a cartoon movie, he used to play horror movies, and by turning the lights off, increasing the volume and creating an "environment" which blended perfectly with the movie, we got the worst of a nightmare then but they were also the sweetest of our memories in the making. We even used to throng in front of his TV sets to watch some popular cartoon shows on Cartoon Network. 

For gaming, we usually played outside. But some of the boys had this hand held portable gaming console that became an object of show off. Nevertheless those "show-off boys" were kind enough to let us play on those devices but for limited time. I got one only in the mid of the first decade of 2000s when it became dirt cheap due to the increasing demand of modern gaming consoles and decrease in demand of these devices.

For music, we had only a few options. Music shows with fixed timings on Doordarshan and Cassettes were the most common ones. We did not have the luxury of creating a virtual playlist and listening to them just through a single touch. For us, more common and cheaper was the method of recording songs on blank casettes. We then wrote the complete list of songs (recorded in those casette) on the cover paper of the casette. But wait! finding shops that recorded songs was again a gargantuan task. After all this we felt as if we had earned the song and this added to the experience we had on listening the songs.

Everyone had their own set of cassettes. My father being more theistic brought cassettes of sermons of saints etc. I, my sister and my brother had a collection of songs recorded on those cassettes. And wait! we didn't have video cameras then and so my father recorded the voices of my childhood days on a cassette and believe me its way more soothing to listen to such recordings than to see your own childhood videos. And owning these cassettes did not mean that we could play it whenever we liked. We, unlike today, had no earphones. So, playing music was in no way a secret task. When it played, everyone in the home knew that it was playing. And, so our opportunities of listening to songs were limited. We literally earned these opportunities when our parents let us play these songs after a few hours of study.

We even did not have telephones at that time, leave alone smartphones. Only the richer ones could afford to own it and so the world was not so much connected as it is today. This was also one of the reasons why more common among ours were the games like cricket, badminton, carom, ludo etc and not counterstrike, clash of clans, subway surfers, candy crush or temple run. Personally, I came to know about PC games only in 2007 when I first saw some 8 bit games on display during one of the exhibitions in my school (though I knew about Mario but it was the only game that I knew about). It was during the late 90s and early 2000s that game parlours became the new buzz in town where we bought "coins" to play such games like mario and contra. Seriously, we had to go through a lot of scoldings just to get to play in these parlours.

The list is never ending. This world, though, now more advanced and modern will not be the same for us technologically. Any 90s kid would be ready to surrender all his gadgets that he owns now to travel back to the era of 90s where we owned less but were more happy. Ah! Those days... its really difficult to pen down those memories in words.

The unforgettable 90s - Part I (Music)

"Aankhon mein", "Maine payal hai chankayi", "Made in India" are few of those innumerable songs listening to which gives us goosebumps even today, drawing us into the remnants of those memories, making us nostalgic and producing a craving in this soul to go back to the same phase with the same people around it but without this so called "Modern" world of bassy songs, "cool" gadgets and consoles. Such a time travel is not possible for sure but what remains with us are memories - memories of a world that every 90s kid would love to visit given a chance.

Yes, our songs did not have exotic locations to boast of, neither did they have high quality audio and videos but believe me, those songs were way much more worthy than those of the present time. Sure, the present time songs have variety of instruments, random bass drops, electronic fusions, autotunes and what not but still they are no match to the quality of songs of 90s enriched with meaningful lyrics and better voice modulations than what is being done by technology today.

Not only the songs but the gadgets to listen to these songs were such that they made the listening experience even more delightful. We didn't have pen drives, neither iPods nor smartphones. All we had were Walkmans, MP3 CDs and casettes and tapes to play them. Walkman & mp3 CDs were generally priced high and the "purchasing power" of most of us being low, we had to go for casettes that we often had to buy by collecting the meagre pocket money we got. Sometimes we even had to hide the casettes that we bought without the consent of our parents and played them only when they went out. The experience of listening to songs on the walkman of my "rich" friends is as inexplicable today as it was 15 years ago. 

We waited impatiently for programs like "Rangoli", "Chitrahar" to be broadcast on TV. We had a show like Indian Idol of ours that was called "Antakshari". The timings of these shows and hence the timings for listening music were fixed and this raised the levels of our excitement making us wait for these programs more eagerly.

We also have some similar memories from the early 2000s where we were introduced to newer music channels and cable TVs. I still remember that time when me and my friends gave each other a missed call when the others' favorite song was being aired on TV. Then we only had a handful of music channels like Channel V, MTV, B4U music. It was our version of Saavn and Gaana.

But Alas! Times have changed. Today, that zeal, that enthusiasm and that excitement to listen to songs has faded with globalization bringing in the latest technology, the growing demand for greater accessibility and ease of listening to songs. I am happy that we have moved ahead technologically. But somewhere, in this bid to come at par with the developed world, we have lost our originality, technology has taken prominence and vocals a backseat.

The fact remains that we grew up listening to music which finds little ears today. That music has died a sudden death in the music industry but left with itself a decade of awesomeness that will remain evergreen in the hearts and memories of the kids who have been through the golden era of the 90s. Memories which such souls will cherish for a lifetime. Memories, which will bury only with their soul.

LIFE IS SO ENIGMATIC!!

How dubious can life be? Well you may enumerate to me a 100 incidents where people of young age, pretty healthy and fit succumb to some common incidents that are avoidable or those that occur due to someone's fault. But what if I say I've seen a young, fit person in his mid 20s battling for a rare disease that has affected only a few people - a number so less that you can count them on the finger tips of just one hand. Yes, you read it correct. My friend, my college roommate was the fifth one in the world (according to the doctor) to get this rare disease - "sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (SEP)". You may search it on the internet to find there's nothing grave about this disease and that my claim of my friend being the fifth one is factually baseless. But what I want to say is that his problem doesn't end but it starts here.

As a result of this SEP, a part of his intestine was affected by gangrene. Doesn't sound grave enough?? Remember Nirbhaya's case? Her intestine got damaged because it became gangrenous after it was contaminated due to the metal rod inserted in her intestine. Got some chills now? Though Nirbhaya's was the worst that can happen to a person. But the condition of my friend is no better because its not just SEP but gangrenous SEP as we may call it. 

What I want to point out here is that how can life be so cruel, so harsh, so rustic to a person so jolly? Just a fortnight ago, I had a chat with him and he was all fine. As usual, we talked about our UPSC preparation, I inquired about the status of work in his office and everything was fine until suddenly he stopped replying to my calls and messages only to know that he has been admitted to a hospital in Bangalore and was in a serious condition after he reported ache in his abdomen. As of now (23 july 2017) he has undergone 3 surgeries within 10 days, with the third one being the most critical - open stomach surgery" and the only one who can save him now is, you know who, GOD!!!

We are so critical about our life, always complaining, always crying. To achieve what we crave for we leave issues like health, family etc on the backseat. To achieve what? - Satisfaction. We tend to remain unhappy with what we have, with what we have achieved and there's always a craving in the heart to get a little more. But do we ever ponder, do we ever think that there's more to life than just achievements, there's more to life than what we want to become.

True, the fault is not ours. The system in which we grow up moulds us to be like that. In a bid to grow "better than the others" what we miss is the moment we live in, the people we spend time with, the memories that would remain to be cherished for a life time. What do we do then? We compete to be "good" then to be "better" and then become the "best". We may become achievers, people will remember us but that remembrance will be temporary, short lived and the next time some other person achieves the same fete, our name will be a forgotten one. Deep down under there will remain a soul so hollow that, time and again it will pinch us for not living the moment.

Thankfully, I had tried to live my college days to the fullest and so I had spent some quality time with my friend the same as he did. His bond with some of the other college mates is so strong that they are spending days and nights putting in relentless efforts with the only hope that their efforts will make a huge difference - and I believe it will. Writing this post teary eyed, I have nothing to say except that there's much more to life than wasting it criticizing people, things around us etc. Experiences teach us much more than books or internet can. And with this incident i've learnt that the only mantra to live a life to the fullest is to be happy, to do better but not to crave for it so much so that you forget enjoying the good moments that make memories for a life time because there are many means to achieve an end. What matters is the means that you choose.

Ending this post with a hope that tomorrow would be better than today for my friend, for me, for you and for everyone. And yes a small request - Please pray for him. Why? Because when medical science fails, prayers heal. Amen.

STAY HAPPY! STAY BLESSED! 

EVMs: Are they tamper-proof?

So, results of the elections to the State Legislative Assembly of five states have been announced. With BJP gaining a landslide victory in the Uttar Pradesh elections in particular, opposition has raised an allegation of  tampering in the EVMs i.e. the Electronic Voting Machine. 

Source: http://www.afternoondc.in

Election Commission of India (ECI) has brushed aside these allegations saying that EVMs are perfectly tamper proof and no concrete way has been demonstrated to tamper it. So, let's look into the arguments of EC and determine whether the allegations are correct or not?

Background: So, EVMs were introduced way back in 1982 in the Kerala assembly elections by amending the Representation of People's Act 1951, since the act allowed for paper ballot voting. These are manufactured by BEL and ECIL.

Allegations had surfaced during the 2017 BMC elections, 2014 General Elections, 2010 Gujarat civic polls and others.

So, how exactly can these machines be tampered according to the allegations?

• First, there have been allegations that BEL and ECIL outsource the manufacturing of the chips used in the EVMs to a foreign firm. There can be a possibility of rigging by the foreign firm.
• Second, Change in the source code of the chip.
• Third, Control by external device.
• Four: Change in the device post election.

Tampering, really? Above allegations may be proved wrong by the following logic:

• The first possibility of tampering with the chip by the foreign firm (listed above) can be detected in the mock poll itself. So, this eliminates the first allegation.
• The Election Commission says that the EVM has been so designed that change in the source code of the chip is not possible. What's written in there once cannot be rewritten until it is burnt.
• The third argument of control by external device also doesn't seem to be a plausible point as EVM is not connected to the internet.
• There have been allegations since long about the transparency of voting through the EVMs and so in 2009 the ECI called those who have been alleging the tamperability of the EVMs and the ECI ordered 100 EVMs from different states randomly. Result: None was able to tamper the EVM.

The Election Commission has the reputation of holding up the ideals of democracy i.e., free and fair elections and given the number of checks performed before the elections and the safe storage of EVMs after the elections, prima facie the elections doesn't seem to have been rigged. But with the growing demand for checking of EVMs, the EC can again stand upto its reputation by conducting tests and coming out clean.

Further, the orders by the Honorable Supreme Court to the Election Commission to implement the VVPAT system in the general elections of 2019 will be a step towards enhancement of transparency of elections.

Next Post: VVPAT system.

[UPDATE]: The photo provided below will help you understand the way EVM works and how alleged tampering may be done.

Source: Times of India

CIVIL SERVICES (MAIN) EXAMINATION 2016 [PART 1]: My experience (2 of 2)

This blog post has been continued from the previous part. You can read the previous blog post here.

[Part 1] Continued....

I thought that sitting for long hours to study with no physical work would prove detrimental for my health. I had started getting fatter. Walking wasn't making much difference. And then came this unfateful day - the day when I decided to start jogging. The day I started running, believing that everything would be alright, the next day I was lying in bed with muscles at the back of my leg tight enough making it difficult for me to even walk properly. My ankle was aching like anything. Unfortunately it was inflammation in tendons again. I had to take rest for another couple of days.

As if this wasn't enough that my luck had some other problem in store for me. At the end of the first week of October as the pollution in Delhi started escalating, I started facing severe pulmonary issues. I could not sit and study for long, not even 1 hour at a stretch. My nose was consistently running and eyes irritating. And amidst all this the thing I was more worried about was my preparation. I tried every ayurvedic and home remedy but in vain. I visited a Doctor but felt no improvement. At the same time I had to fill in the Detailed Application Form which was also taking a good chunk of my time. My efficiency along with my confidence was at an all time low. I know this is nothing in comparison to what can happen to one. But still, it was enough to break you, enough to make you lose faith in you. And now all kind of queer thoughts premised on superstitions started haunting my mind like - first August wasted, then this tendinitis and now this allergy (which would later turn out to be something unexpected) - my luck doesn't want me to reach the interview stage this year. I felt helpless and after almost 20 days of trying and remaining unsuccessful in healing myself, I decided to go home.

I went back home on 26th October and got a check-up done and I was happy that I took this decision partly because just 2 days later the conditions in Delhi started deteriorating and partly because I was diagnosed with Bronchitis which was transiting from acute to chronic & that at home I would get complete care. I returned back to Delhi on 3rd November. The pressure had built up immensely with a lot remaining to be done and only a month in hand. I was broken and couldn't understand what to do. But then I was motivated by my brother who said those magical words to me - "Have confidence in yourself. This 1 month that you apparently wasted was not in your hands. This 1 month cannot decide your future. It is the hard work that you've been putting in since the last 2 years." Now this was a logical enough statement that provided me a push enough to work hard for another month and do the impossible. These words worked like a charm. This along with motivation by a few of my very close friends helped me pump up the momentum.

I framed a strategy and I started working accordingly. I literally pushed myself to the limits. Even I myself never knew that this was the level of dedication and perseverance that I can reach. This is no bragging about myself but to show that when you have right people with you at the right time you can do wonders. And believe me, that was 1 single spark by my brother that helped me do this. I started taking more tests - even two tests a day to simulate the examination condition. The only thing that I had in mind while writing tests was that I had to write with confidence and I applied my mind to the maximum possible I could while writing the tests and it worked wonders. I started scoring well in tests. This went on until November 20th after which I focused only on revision and skipped all other tests that were there in the test series. Next 10 days I revised and revised and revised. Nothing new (except History :P ).

Now, I, just like other aspirants, faced another problem. Any guesses? Yes! The centre I was allocated to write the main examination was quite far from the place I stayed. But then I tried to keep away myself from thinking about this issue and took metro to and fro during all the 5 days (most of the people did this - I met many of them in the metro itself. This was when I thought that everybody else is facing the issue - why to cry over it). But coming back, I wasn't in a very good shape to revise things. Still out of the fear that I had to I did it. Every day I used to say to myself - Just X more days left... Don't ruin your preparation just because you want to end it asap. This went on for 4 days. And, as I was writing the last paper and it was about to end, I was seeing a big sigh of relief approaching me. On December 9, as the clock struck 5 the invigilator ordered - "stop writing", this time instead of me wanting to scribble a little more, I wanted to hand over my answer booklet to the invigilator and was happy that it was ending.....

IN THIS EXCITEMENT OF ENDING THE EXAM, SOMEWHERE I FORGOT THE FACT THAT IT'S UPSC.... THERE'S NO REASON TO BE JOYOUS. THIS ENTHUSIASM MIGHT BE SHORT LIVED.... LET'S SEE.

NEXT:

1. CIVIL SERVICES (MAIN) EXAMINATION 2016 [PART 2]: Result & Surprises
2. What to do & what not to do while preparing for Civil Services (Main) Examination.