Just another blog!

Ever since the Snowden leaks – and even before them – we've been hearing the word ‘Orwellian’ to describe the state of surveillance we're living under. But what exactly does the word ‘Orwellian’ mean? What was George Orwell so afraid of and that he cautioned us against? Reading two of his definitive books – ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’ and ‘Animal Farm’ – I cannot believe that Orwell was afraid of increasing surveillance. I believe that Orwell was afraid of something more. In the world described in ‘Nineteen Eighty-four’, constant, never-ending surveillance is only tiny part – a means to an end. The end what is scarier. Moreover, I refuse to believe that the word ‘Orwellian’ should be used to describe just one tiny component of one novel written. No, I believe that the description should apply to a broader concept. I believe that to understand the term ‘Orwellian’, one must look to the earlier story – ‘Animal Farm’. Indeed, I think that ‘Animal Farm’ really sets the stage for t...

Yes, it has happened. While we were so busy fighting PIPA, SOPA and all other acts that threatened freedom on the internet, we ignored the events brewing in our own backyard. It is with great sorrow that I write about the sad state of freedom in India. Yes, we are free. Yes, the constitution declares that we are sovereign. The people are sovereign. The representatives of the people are sovereign. Consequently, the parliamentarians are sovereign. Hence, they are in a position to bring about draconian acts that curb freedom of speech, acts which benefit them and them only, acts which make it illegal for you or me to criticise the government; yet, we must bow down and accept meekly, cause the parliament is sovereign, and anyone questioning the sovereignty of the parliament is a traitor and anti-national. I've always found India to be a strange place, and the series "It happens only in India" on this weblog, under which the current post too is filed, is a collection of thin...

All hail the idiots, for it is the idiots who run the world. Confused? Let me explain... People are idiotic. They yammer and yell, and yet do nothing, but run the world. The ones who do the actual work are often silent spectators, fed up of the idiots that rule them. Calling my readers "idiots" does not make for healthy relationships, so I'll refrain from doing so. But I'm fed up of the idiots that dictate how I live my life. The idiots pay $ 20 for a movie they cannot copy on their computer, because the DVD is encrypted. The idiots are willing to pay $ 1000 for a software that does the same work they could do for free. The idiots keep the big corporations alive, which then dictate how we live our lives. Yet, it is by the action of the idiots that our world, as we know it, can continue. Think of it... how different would life be, where everyone could make their own movies and share them with the world. If anyone wanted to do anything, (s)he could do it him/hersel...

Must have happened with you. At sometime or the other, you must have met someone who has the most irritating habit of correcting you at every word that you speak. Nodding your head in agreement? Well, read on... I can summarise my opinion about these people in just these words, Dude! So &^#%@*&^#* irritating! That would be the natural response of most people. However, courtesy dictates that we keep such comments to ourselves and then disclose them on blogs like this one, where no direct mention is made about the person who is the apparent target of the author, but subtle hints embedded in the content of the post inform everyone knowledgeable about the person who has unwillingly (or willingly, as the case may be) become the subject of the post. Well, I must have already lost many of the readers because of the most uninteresting first four seconds that decide whether they stay on this blog or check out other blogs. But I rant on. It happens every time in magazines, newspapers...