Lessons not to be forgotten from the CWG

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Raghav/Raghu

Well, the magnificent Opening and Closing ceremonies, sandwiching the best of the games for twelve days in India have been stupendous for the 19th Common Wealth Games,India.

The spirit of the games and the organizing efforts of the teams in India were generously hailed by everyone, as soon as the Opening Ceremony was a grand success. An acutely sharp transition was observed in the perception of CWG held in India, until the Opening ceremony – basically, a paradigm shift was triggered instantly.

Needless to say how beautiful the shows were, and what an experience it has been to revive the much needed Non-Cricketing Sports spirit in India ( We at least get to hear chanting of some non-celebrity sports people!) It has been an unprecedented success, agreed.

We need to talk about the making of the games, and the supreme embarrassment our organizers had invoked, with the very generous help of media, as if to strip oneself naked in public, and that which brought disgrace to the entire nation facing the rest of the world.
Let it not be perceived that I am trying to dig open some bitterness from the past, which is better forgotten! These are the concerns about the proceedings just before a fortnight, and we still have to analyze, even after the grand success of the games.

Two aspects need to be thoroughly evaluated: The gambling-like attitude towards the lethargic organization of the games; And also the role of media in these proceedings.

Organizing hurdles are inevitable, and I am not targeting the last minute tweaks which had to be performed, for, it is well known that work expands itself to fit into whatever time is allocated to it. The events preceding CWG have proven this axiom at the largest scale possible.
If our feeble memory would care to remember, there was also a big scam of nepotism, embezzlement and other varieties of corruption attributed to the CWG-2010. The success of the games should not eclipse these black holes of atrocities, and must still be borne in the minds of people, as to how the greed of a few people had put the entire nation’s pride at stake!And now, we need to insist and pressurize by all means to try all those involved in the mishandling of the games at all strata, with the fullest rigor. Else, this shall become a lesson of immense import, which we Indians have missed, and as a consequence such leeches would dare doing it again. This shouldn’t be allowed to happen, and all the rage which was/is in us must be channelized and we must seek justice on behalf of the entire nation.

Secondly, the entire country was easily made to forget that such a low phase had preceded the games. Thanks to the impulsive media, and the shallow, volatile perception of the population!
Just one single day of incessant reports contrary to any subject can make the opinions of people contradict their own yesterday’s opinions. This is the power of media today, and CWG yet again has manifested this malicious syndrome. Given that almost the entire population gives heed to the media, it is the responsibility of the few of the remaining independent minds to sustain the balance of the opinions in people.

A friend repeatedly says that We Indians, as a nation have the least consistent EQ(Emotional Quotient);
And certainly we do: It does reflect in all the drama that goes on, day in- day out, amidst the great population of India, which is poised at making India mediocre!
With hypocrisy and untrue nationalism, we are taking ourselves and our country nowhere!

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Flora, Fauna, Fantasia and Femina :)

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Raghav/Raghu

Flora, Fauna and Femina : These are the three gifts bestowed by Mother Nature upon mankind. The aesthetic ecstasy and their sublimity are unparalleled experiences, which cannot be emulated by any human endeavor, but one – Fantasia.

An appropriate picture I found at this link 

While I was reading and responding to a friend’s blog post about Nature and Music, I realized if there is one means of human excellence that can reach up to the grandeur and satisfaction of the Nature’s three marvels, it is none but Music;
To achieve phonetic congruency I shall attribute music by calling it Fantasia.

Fantasia, or Music is that unique divinity which emanates out of the best of the creativity in the human population, which transcends to match the aura,grandeur and gratification rendered by Mother Nature. Although man has learnt music from Nature, this time undoubtedly the student did exceed his abilities.

Music is a subtle but strong force, which bonds oneself to the best of the things in the world.

I can go on about the august traits of this fantastic fantasia;
I have a dedicated post which I keep updating at intervals, after euphoric and revelatory experiences with music.

Ultimately, a life without The Flora, The Fauna, The Fantasia and The Femina – would become worthless 🙂

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ಏನ್ರೀ ರಾಜಕಾರಣ ಇದು ?

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Raghav/Raghu

ವಿಧಾನ ಸೌಧದ ಸುತ್ತಲೂ ಮಾಟಮಂತ್ರ ಮಾಡಿ, ನಮ್ಮ  ಎಡಿಯೂರಪ್ಪನ ಸರ್ಕಾರವನ್ನು ಉರುಳಿಸಲು ಷಡ್ಯಂತ್ರ ರಚಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ ಅಂತೆ ! 
ಇದನ್ನು ಪರಿಹರಿಸಲು, ವಿಧಾನ ಸೌಧವನ್ನೇ ಮೂರು ದಿನಗಳು ಮುಚ್ಚಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ.  ಅಲ್ಲದೆ, ವಾಡಿಕೆಯಾಗಿ ಬಳಸಲಾಗುವ ದ್ವಾರವನ್ನು  ಈಗ ಮುಚ್ಚಿ  ,ಬೇರೊಂದು ಸುರ್ಯೋಮುಖಿ ದ್ವಾರವನ್ನು  ಮಾತ್ರ ತೆರೆದಿದ್ದಾರಂತೆ.

ಇಂತಹ ಜನರು ನಮ್ಮ ಮುಖಂಡರು, ನಮ್ಮನು ಅವರ ಆಡಳಿತದಲ್ಲಿ ಭದ್ರವಾಗಿ ನೋಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾರೆ ಎಂದು ಕಲ್ಪನೆ ಮಾಡುವುದೂ ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ. 
ಏನೋ, ವಯಕ್ತಿಕವಾಗಿ ಪೂಜೆ ಪುರಸ್ಕಾರ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ಇದ್ದರು, ಈಗೀಗ, ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಜಕಾರಣವೇ ಪೂಜೆ- ಪುರಸ್ಕಾರ. ಮಾಟ-ಮಂತ್ರಗಳ ಜಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಲುಕಿಸಿ , ಒಂದಿಷ್ಟೂ  ವಿವೇಕವಿಲ್ಲದೆ ನಡೆಸಲಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಇದನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ್ಲ ಪರಿಗಣಿಸಿ ನೋಡಿದರೆ ಭಯದ ಜೊತೆ, ಅಸಹ್ಯ ಅನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ!

ಇಂತಹೆ ಹುಚ್ಚಾಟ ಏನೋ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತದೆ ಅಂತ ನೋಡಿದರೆ, ಜೊತೆಗೆ, ಟಿ.ವಿ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳುವಂತೆ ಶಾಸಕರನ್ನು ಕುದುರೆ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರದಂತೆ ಮಾರಾಟ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ.  
ದೇಶಾದ್ಯಂತ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಹೋಗಿ, ಚೆನ್ನೈ, ಗೋವಾ, ಪುಣೆ, ಅಲ್ಲಿ -ಇಲ್ಲಿ , ತಮ್ಮ ಬೆಲೆಯನ್ನು  ಹರಾಜು ಹಾಕುತಿದ್ದರೆ! 

ಹಣದ ಹಿಂದೆ ಬಿದ್ದಿರುವ ಶಾಸಕರು, ಮೂಢ ನಂಬಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಳುಗಿರುವ ಮುಖಂಡರು, ಊಸರವಲ್ಲಿಯಂತೆ ಬಣ್ಣ ಹಾಗು ನಿಲುವುಗಳನ್ನು ಬದಲಾಯಿಸುವ ನಾಯಕರು, ಇದನ್ನೆಲ್ಲಾ ಮರೆತು ಇವರೆಲ್ಲರ ಹಿಂದೆ ಹೋಗುವ ಮೂರ್ಖ ಜನರು – ಬಹಳ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿದೆರೀ  ನಮ್ಮ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ರಾಜಕೀಯ  ಅವಸ್ಥೆ !

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Re-contemplating the existence of a Principlist..

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Raghav/Raghu

“Principles are like lighthouses. They are natural laws that cannot be broken.”
– Stepehen R Covey in his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the first book to have left some crux of it with me.

I like the concept of principles being the lighthouses which guide us through times of personal turmoil, and which facilitate us in tending towards the right direction.

And the part where he says principles are natural and cannot be broken – I disagree.
For, principles evolve with the individual. As one grows in the society, the principles applied by the individual to the society would have to evolve as well, unless, the person has been mimicking someone else.

Talking in this regard, and getting a little introspective, I have been an ardent principlist, if you would want to call me so, but only until recently.

It just hit me before a few hours – I have stopped being conscious of whether I am a principlist or not! And,in retrospection the turn of events during this particular phase of my recent past, it so seems that I have had a momentum which has taken me this far, through the various ups and downs.
But, what I do have missed is that evolution of the principles, which would have made me a self approved and updated principlist.

People with a dormant mindset, adhering to adamant principles are prone to bring ill-health to the individual’s persona. Evolving principles with the metamorphosing world around is acutely necessary to swim through the world as it is today. Rigidity on these lines, would eventually make the individual brittle,ultimately succumbing to the mismatch.

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Patience enlightens and pays

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Raghav/Raghu

My recent explicit expressions of being victimized by deep dilemma, which I made glaringly public by my own narcissism have finally hit the avenue of mellowing down.
Although these were troubling me; In almost a masochistic manner, I found an unknown pleasure in boasting them off.

I am not sure if  “Time Heals” is the right phrase to use. But, “Patience enlightens” is much better to envelope this condition of mine.

The time I have given myself on this dilemma has slowly elucidated the nuances and intricacies of it, and has elevated me to a vantage point, from wherein, I am privileged enough to observe all the pros and cons of both the extremes. This being the case, I am more than happy to have not hastily taken up any of the choices.

I do not know, if it was the “Self healing” attribute of the dilemma, or the “enlightenment by my virtue of patience”, which have helped me save myself.
Nevertheless one additional lesson is clear
“Patience enlightens and pays!”

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The debate on the Gandhian Debate

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Raghav/Raghu

My observations pertaining to the Gandhian debate, for all the time I have been absorbing it turn out to be ‘pretty disappointing’, at all strata.

Either the pro-Gandhians are not passionate enough, and the ones who oppose are ill informed. Another wide diaspora of the community tries to engage in this debate just for the sake of having to make or oppose a stand, without they themselves having a stand about the issue of contention, like in numerous other scenarios.

I admit that my know-hows about this debate are very minimal, and I do not think I am equipped enough to even take a stand with the little of the cognizance about this issue.

In this post I shall not be expressing my own views for/against Gandhi, but only meticulously try putting forth my observations of the people who get themselves drawn into one such debate.

By the way, this entire discussion is about Mohandas Gandhi and not his pseudo descendants.

Coming to the point, there is a lot of obscurity about the genre of people who call themselves Gandhians.
Who is a Gandhian?
Any person who adheres to “the main principles of non-violence, austerity and sacrifice as means to bring change in oneself and hence in the world”, as preached by Gandhi is whom I interpret to be a Gandhian. With the increased scant of the very sense of non-violence, austerity and sacrifice exhibited as a whole by the society, it would be a rarity to come across genuine Gandhians. Although, we could very well stumble upon hypocrite Gandhians who would suddenly appear on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, make statements to the media and disappear soon after. Also, the Indian society as it is today has outgrown the Gandhian principles which it is supposedly based on. As a consequence,the little pragmatics of the arguments made by this category of people is irrelevant in relation to the realistic conditions of the contemporary world. Much attributable to the intermittence and inconsistency exhibited by the Gandhians.

Well, coming to the opposites, the non-pro Gandhians (in attempt to avoid anti!), base their disgruntle as mere reactions to the impulsiveness of the moment, without most of the times considering the circumstances in retrospection within the frame of time of its occurrence.

I am not questioning the righteousness of the means pursued by us to gain freedom, but the ones who oppose it now have what traits in them to take such a stand without really being able to do anything in the current scenarios? People with such a temperament should have the real mettle in them to be part of the transformations in today’s world, which is as bad, or worse when compared to the state of affairs in pre-independent India.

The point being made here is: A mere debate ( a futile war of words) from both sections have no value, whatsoever, if the concerned are restricting themselves to words alone!

Gandhi was a great man; maybe, not that a great statesman, or maybe he was. The point is, we should grow and improvise on the legacy handed over to us, by imparting our traits into them, tailoring it to fit the world as it is today rather than trying to mimic the past.

“It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence” Mahatma Gandhi
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fossphosis: My tech blog

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Raghav/Raghu

After two years of mixed blogging, and with lots of opportunities to publish the confused jugglery I perform in GNU/Linux on technical grounds, I have streamlined the posts by channelizing GNU/Linux related technical posts to a new blog at the url
http://fossphosis.blogspot.com/

net-works-by-gnu-linux @ fossphosis

fossphosis, is a an abbreviation of two different terms, which I came up with for use in a different but related context. Nevertheless, for now, I shall be using it as the URL to this blog.


free and open source software (foss) + metamor(phosis) -> fossphosis; 

Well, let me clarify that I shall not be logging very geeky posts out there, for my abilities with respect to coding are minimal. I shall be chronicling mostly details pertaining to minor tweaks and variety of applications, targeted at consolidating the rich and fascinating FOSS tools I come across and personally use to perform my work (related to computer networks).

The motive behind this new blog is primarily selfish – for, I forget the nuances of the configurations and applicability of tools in an almost volatile manner. It is mainly to facilitate my short term memory in retrieving these details, that I shall be blogging at fossphosis.
In turn, I also believe these posts will be helpful to at least a small set of people to ease their tasks of networking using GNU/Linux.

net-works-by-gnu-linux 🙂

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It’s only a profound mumbling…

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Raghav/Raghu

I lay afloat, but still drown in a sea of impulsiveness,
My body is tired, but my mind is bubbling in randomness;
Inhibitions are set free, made unconditional, with no boundary,
Thoughts emanate,surpassing the aura of the smelting iron within a foundry;


The day’s life slips me into a shield of cowardice,
Making me grow numb and blind towards my own real needs;
Undaunted questions recursively haunt me,
For, all of this I did, to please me, or the rest of thee?


When I’m lost, and unaware of my existence,
That is when I see the futility of all thy acceptance;
I don’t boast of any possession abnormal to humankind, 
Not an open heart, or not even a fearless mind.


All I own is a struggling mind and a compromising heart,
And this realization has what made me rise and start,
To push the envelope beyond the obvious,
While striving not to make my reality oblivious.


Filling the flaws within, with and with alone my passion,
Knowing it’s done, only when it turns to be an obsession;
For, the best of me is not what I now confess,
It is more to do with what I shall go on to possess.

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Godly Chauvinism: Who is to be blamed?

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Raghav/Raghu
Ubuntu logo: Humanity to Others:: Tweaked Ubuntu Logo; Humanity amongst Indians! (colors symbolize 3 major religions in India)

I have spoken furiously about the highfalutin mobs who are observed consistently in all sects, more appropriately communes of people. I used to believe that education would better this dreadful and communicable logic/reasoning deficiency disorder of the masses, but the recent Telengana issue proved me wrong, where it was the students who went berserk.

Religion is one of the wisest creations of man, which was initially invented to wrap up the ignorance he was shameful to admit, by attributing it to God. Subsequently, with increased use, he discovered the potential of a weapon which he had unintentionally invented. A weapon that could directly attack the mind, and collapse the ability to reason in the person’s belief system, replacing it with a fabricated tell-tale story of legends and myth (true to all religions being practiced). This was so successful in masquerading the truth that it has made people to believe the ‘untruth’ more than their own reality and existence. Yeah, Inception works, and well on large scale!

Talking about how this became the ‘Magic Weapon’ of the power-seeking leeches is a known and clichéd reality, which we have grown blind towards.

From the Ignorance of softheads breeds fear, and this fear is transformed into havoc by the wiser softheads.

Except for in text books, I have never seen compelling and consistent public instances of India being secular or tolerant. Forget about being tolerant, people can barely bear each other (other as in, other religion/caste/state/or any trivial segregative clause). And, that, my friends is the reality.

Prejudices, media-fed opinions and zero self reasoning are the main causes for this deteriorating state of affairs in India. The ultimate winner though is the power-seeker, who successfully capitalizes on the stupidity of his subjects and further uses them as assets (? or stocked ammunition !) when need be, by instigating or encouraging more of atrocities.

The eternal losers are the people, who fail to live a life, but forever remain pawns in the hands of exploiters.

Amidst all this chaos, if there was a genuine motive ( I believe, there was at least one), behind the conception of God and Religion, those noble ideas are being lost, after having swollen with the increasing events of disgrace to these identities due to the ruckus created by the morons and mindless maniacs.

When the reality is so clear in front of people, with their life and a universe of opportunities at their disposal, I cannot still, and maybe never fathom the need for people to go wayward, ruining their own lives and the society as a whole.

Just an open and shrewd mind is what is needed; A shrewd open mind….
The question is how each of us could  get to possess one such rarity!

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Why Software Freedom?

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Raghav/Raghu

This is one question not many of us, who are not involved with the Free Software Movement would be even aware of.

When knowledge becomes a commodity, the society built around such a knowledge market is prone to grow diametrically polarized. This in turn, perilously reflects on the economic status of the involved sections of people. Depriving knowledge from people puts them in a handicapped position, and renders them a life, which is more of a struggle against unequal opportunities for survival. This, on a prolonged period of time, culminates into a society which has nothing but a glaring disparity in the conditions of its population, staring at a bleak future. 
India, is the best example that can be taken into consideration. 
With the Digital revolution at its zenith across globe, and also in India, the knowledge we just spoke about has/is being digitized. Apart from the commoditization of knowledge in its real form, the extra commoditization of its digital form inherently has been more successful, only in a capitalistic point of view.

In a nationalistic. or a humanitarian perspective, all that has come to be of Digital Knowledge is that, it is a costly commodity, like a sports car or a posh flat. 

In India, or any developing country, enabling people by imparting them skills that will help them lead a decent life is what is most required. In today’s world, it naturally converges to using technology. But, when the knowledge behind the technology is being used to create a gradient in the society, as it is a commodity in the hands of profit makers, it is imperative that all the knowledge is brought back into the community, and used for the betterment of the community. 
Free Software Movement, has this far succeeded in its attempts of setting this knowledge free, free as in freedom (also in monetary terms, either zero or little cost).  When the society owns the knowledge, it knows what it has to produce for its growth, rather than some monopoly deciding what the society might need. 
Talking on these important lines, Freedom in the Digital world is very much necessary for the society to grow equal, so that we do not allow deep opportunity gradients created everywhere.
Freedom at a user level in terms of privacy and security are also facets of the movement. But, in an Indian context this Freedom makes more sense in the ‘gradient lessening’ aspect. 
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