Suddenly Sarah

For most of us on this side of the globe, Sarah Palin is just another person. She’s the governor of a state cut off from mainland America,and now is one step away from becoming the next Vice President of USA.

She was picked by McCain 3 days ago and I somehow feel that he did it to capitalise on the junta that felt that Obama “fucked” Hilary up. She’s pro life, pro guns, anti-queer and has 5 kids. It’s so easy for someone to judge you for objectifying her. Because she looks like this

Recently she announced that her 17 year old unmarried daughter Bristol, was pregnant. And also that Bristol intended on marrying the father of the child. I wonder if the father actually had a choice. True, that free will exists; however few teenagers would have the balls (ok, bad pun) to express it in front of a politically charged mommy who is big time pro guns. And then starts the rumours. As Reuters points here

McCain officials said the news of the daughter’s pregnancy was being released to rebut what one aide called “mud-slinging and lies” that have circulated on liberal blog sites.

According to these rumors, Sarah Palin had faked a pregnancy and pretended to have given birth in April to her fifth child, a son named Trig who has Down syndrome. The rumor was that Trig was actually Bristol Palin’s child and that Sarah Palin was the grandmother.

And through Gaurav’s blog I found out that there exists this.

On another note, don’t be surprised if you see a sudden overwhelming increase in posts relating to BITS Pilani politics. Coup d’etat is something one would never associate with the campus, however in a classic case of events, a coup pretty much sums up what one of the (un)presidential candidate pulled off yesterday. Respect to him for showing how easily the system can be mocked.

Closing thought: You know how how sometimes they say that be very sure about what to ask for, coz you might just get it?

KK Birla passes away

As I switched on my monitor this morning, still bleary eyed, I got a scoop of this:

KK Birla, noted industrialist and former Rajya Sabha member, died on Saturday morning at his residence in Kolkata after a brief illness. He was 90.

The chairman of Hindustan Times and several Birla group of industries is survived by three daughters Nandini Nupani, Shobhana Bhartia, who is vice chairperson and editorial adviser of Hindustan Times and Saroj Potddar.

Birla was ailing for the last two weeks and the end came at 7.30 am, family members said.

His wife Manorama Devi Birla died about a month ago.

Reports Hindustan Times

Amongst a host of things, the gentleman also happened to be the Chancellor of our college. Rest in Peace sir. You shall always remain a BITSian.

Moreover, people on campus will realize why this slightly ironic.

Bangalore Mirror

Harshil from WATBlog/Consultancy was kind enough to inform me that my guest article was published in the Bangalore Mirror Tabloid. Thanks a lot.

Also, I found out recently that the verrrry best newspaper of the plateau, oh why not…the entire south, has hit Bangalore. Good, its also their problem now. Here it comes.

Apart from this…a lot of stuff has been brewing up. Have got my self involved in a variety of projects. A long detailed post is due.

Archer’s blogging blunder

Image via Wikipedia

I guess not much needs to be said about celebrity blogging. Everyday as I read my feeds, I find another name from popular culture entering the blogosphere. Recently I had heard somewhere that Jeffrey Archer had his own simple blog which he was updating quite regularly. It was quite well maintained. With running commentary about his recent visit to India and tryst with Indian cricketers amongst others, the blog got me pretty hooked. And this was only the beginning. It was really this post that got me sitting up straight.

971 emails were awaiting me when I arrived back in the UK- the vast majority of them from India, and I must say that having been teased about calling Mumbai, Bombay, could someone please explain to me why they’ve changed the name of that city? And indeed Madras to Chennai? But it seems that Calcutta is still to be Calcutta – which I am much looking forward to visiting next year when I shall be opening Landmark’s new bookstore.

Clearly not many people seem to be reading his blog for only four kind souls decided to retort saying that Mumbai and Chennai were the original names. It was only once HRM invaded our land that the names were changed. I will not even come to the Calcutta bit, but then this is where I start thinking. Is it Mr Archer’s lack of awareness of global changes showcased here or the global trend? As in, does the world really care whether Bombay became Mumbai again? Besides that, I’m pretty sure a lot of Indians still consider the IT hub of India to be called Bangalore.

Jeffrey, always a gentleman, readily accepted his blunder and apologised in the comments section.

IIM CAT and BITSians. Results out!

The IIM results were out this morning, though not all at once. This year onwards, an extra IIM at Shillong was introduced(though one had to apply externally to the newbie). With the reservation shock handed to the CAT cleared junta in a smelly sack, I can only imagine the agony and frustration apart from the testicle crushing eagerness to know the result. Thankfully some of the seniors I knew personally have got through. So kudos to them. If you are aware of any BITSian who have got through just leave it as a comment, and yes a blog address would be helpful as well. So far I know only of:
Vernon Fernandez(IIM B), Rehan Jiwani(IIM C, IIM A WL 75), Dhruv Vishrani(Dum)(IIM L), Rakesh Lalwani (IIM A & IIM B), Saikat Banerjee (2002)(IIM B),Pavitra (Puppy) (IIM A), Swetha Raman(2002)(IIM L), Shrek(Music Clubber)(IIM C, IIMA WL 11)

Gone only…

Remember the chatter about the OBC/SC/ST quota last year. The row which made Arjun Singh into an instant villan and increased the number of hits belonging to his name by a crore-fold. Well, there have been some updates to the whole issue. And they’re pretty SHOCKING. The supreme court today gave a nod to the 27% of seats to be given away as charity to the OBC’s.
According to Rediff News:

A five-judge Constitution bench cleared the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 providing for the quota, by a unanimous verdict…The verdict came on a bunch of petitions by anti-quota activists challenging the Act. They vehemently opposed government’s move saying caste cannot be the starting point for identifying backward classes. The inclusion of creamy layer in the reservation policy was also questioned by the anti-quota petitioners.

Well seriously speaking for all the brouhaha about how the nation’s population majorly falls into the above mentioned categories, its tough to accept the fact that most of the people giving the JEE belong to the backward classes. Its also tough to accept the fact that when you go to write the JEE, one of the most competitive exams our country has to offer ( though it has become relatively easier), you’re basically fighting for just half the seats, which to begin with aren’t a substantial amount.

This decision is going to be implemented from the 2008-2009 academic year across the IIT’s, IIM’s and other government colleges.

The IIM’s are going to be the ones losing the most. Seriously the top management institute in Asia cannot have half the seats( which are around a thousand to begin with) going away by reservations. But from what I know, the reservation factor in IIM’s comes only once the candidate has cleared CAT, which makes it a somewhat better process as compared to the “easy” way that seems to be case in the JEE.

I guess now the best thing to do would be to switch on the TV. Every channel will be showing the protests and there will be panel discussions and probably some hunger strikes I suppose as well. This will be followed by satires, editorials and what not. The government is really going to get it this time.

Also, I can almost count the number of seconds before I see every person on my gtalk list change his status message to “Proud to be a BITSian”. As proud as I am about my institution, I feel this is a concern for all Indians.

Jailbreak

Reminiscent of the Shawshank Redemption, the Chilean Policemen discovered( much to their amusement) a tunnel, equipped with ventilation and noise barriers.

The 279-foot (85-meter) long tunnel resembled an underground mine structure, built with cement and wooden beams and boasting electrical power and carts for hauling away dirt and rock.

Read more

Changes.

Thats what been new this semester. I’m cleaner, fatter and hopefully my sleep-cycle won’t be messed up.

Oh and this caught my eye while I was browsing the net

Bad Santa

More updates coming soon

Think four times before saying, "I DO"

Salman Rushdie is an extremely talented and ambitious man. Yet his scandals supercede that. First he writes a novel which goes on to become the Booker of Bookers. His next novel almost becomes another booker prize winner. He also writes a book on the alleged heretical verses and pisses off most of the Muslims, ergo, gets a fatwa launched against him ironically on Valentines’ Day. And ultimately gets knighted for his services to literature.

I remember my mother telling me once that he commented upon Indira Gandhi’s lips comparing it to a vagina.

Good Lord!

But he is determined to achieve something greater than all these trivial matters, something which will make him the undisputed king of the neo-age. What he truly wants is to break the record of Elizabeth Taylor. Nothing would give him more than to surpass the legendary actress’ unfathomable record.

He’s almost there.

One of the extraordinary things about human events is that the unthinkable becomes thinkable

– Salman Rushdie

And correct you are sir. Indeed!

I remember reading TIME when Rushdie got married again. It had Rushdie quoted saying something about marriage being a holy union of beings. I found it rather amusing to see Rushdie believe in the sanctity of marriage considered it didn’t work for him the last three times. Imagine him at the altar and being asked for the fourth time, “Do you accept this women to be your lawfully wedded wife till death do you part?”

“I do”

Yeah it would have been true had the fatwa been carried out successfully. Yet fate would intervene.

Padmalakshmi. I guess the only thing wrong with her is her name. But then what’s in a name? I mean she’s so radiantly hot! Apparently she’s really intelligent. Must be hard for her because no one would be willing to listen to her because they’d all be undressing her in their head. Rushdie on the other hand could bear to control his lust for her for the sole reason that in 1999 he had an operation to correct a tendon condition that was making it increasingly difficult for him to open his eyes, so maybe he could pay more attention to what was coming out of her mouth rather than focus on what could go in.

But now it doesn’t matter.

Salman Rushdie has agreed to divorce his wife, Padma Lakshmi, because of her desire to end their marriage

-New York Post

The ignominy of being dumped by your own wife.

Our lives teach us who we are.

-Salman Rushdie.

Care to elaborate and provide some more insight on this kind Sir?