Taxi Driver: The most Maligned Job

When you mention the word ‘Indian’ pretty much all over the world, the first things that come to ones mind is Bollywood (Mostly Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan), Curry, The software (IT) brainees, Taj Mahal, Cricket and Taxi Drivers. Yes, you read it right, Taxi Drivers!! And there are many fine examples of this. We have seen the friendly Sadarji cab driver in New York City in Indian movies playing match maker getting the hero and heroine together. We have seen a bearded guy with a turban driving a taxi with Spider Man on top of the roof in his signature stance in the comics, we have seen Mohinder Suresh, one of the lead characters in the American TV series ‘Heroes’ who is a biologist, driving a taxi when he first arrives in New York. Those who have played the game Grand Theft Auto IV have seen and heard the Indian accent of the taxi driver in it. I have seen Indian taxi drivers in the US, London, Dubai, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Singapore, Malaysia and of course India. But lets keep India away from this and focus on the rest of the places. The demographics of the age of these people vary.

Living in a first world country is by no means cheap. For many Indians, driving a taxi is an immediate source of income when they migrate into a new country and continue to do so until they find a proper job. But I am sure there are countless stories and cases where people have ended up driving a taxi for year’s altogether. Indian international students pay about three times the tuition fees than the local citizens in most places including US, UK and Australia. Many of these students hope to get a part time job for surviving, let alone being able to focus on what they are there for, studying!! Looking at it in a different way, who does not like that extra bit of cash??? Let it be clubbing, alcohol, gambling, buying clothes, food, gizmos, whatever!! But the bottom line is, which has recently been lingering and bothering my mind, why drive a taxi out of the many part time jobs available out there most of which don’t even demand u have prior experience??? While reading, keep in mind that most students drive cabs after hours and on weekend’s coz that’s when they are free from University commitments.

There was a recent famous case in Melbourne where a 23 year old Indian IT student was repeatedly stabbed by two men at 2am in the morning in a suburb. There was a massive protest the next day by the Indian cabbies in the city center in Melbourne demanding better security and safety for them after hours especially on weekends. Here is one of the many youtube videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36c6NGZQM3c

Today in Adelaide, there was a protest by 50 taxi drivers in the city center lead by an incident 2 nights ago where an Indian taxi driver called Balraj Singh was bashed up by two drunk people who also stole his taxi. The demands were the same, more safety and security after hours and on the weekends.

Source & News link: http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/

0,22606,23720136-2682,00.html

So let’s get this right. These incidences are related to drunken people who happened to be the passengers of these two cabbies on those ill fated nights. Binge drinking in general and partying on the weekends in Australia is a popular culture and it’s no surprise that these drivers complain of such incidences of assault and torture, not to mention ill treatment and swearing, taking place more often than actually noticed or recorded on the weekends. Getting straight to the point, people claim that Australians are rascist and in general more towards the Indians. I mean, everyone has seen that this year in cricket as well. The Indian team is also known to be criticized by the Australian fans in cricket stadiums in Australia.

What I am about to put forward is very simple and a fact that is often overlooked and its all related to alcohol!! Ever heard of the fact that a drunk person always speaks the truth? Ever heard that pretty much most of the people in the world are rascist in some way or the other including Indians? Ever been scared of an unknown drunk person on the street or in a party? Ever heard that the amount of hatred in the world is increasing by the day for whatever reason that may be? See the point i am getting to?

Being in a state of intoxication brings out the best and the worst of human nature no matter what color you are. Take a new years party in India where people get drunk turning into sleaze bags and getting violent. We all have seen those drunken fights which start off from nothing but ‘Mujhe dhakka kyoon diya? Tujhe pata hai main kaun hoon? (why did u push me? Do u know who I am?)’ or ‘Meri biwi/beti ko kyon cheda? (why did u tease my wife/daughter?)’ Similarly, I am not surprised why these incidences relate to drunken people and those Indian cab drivers who happen to be working on the weekends picking up drunk passengers from clubbing districts. As far as cricket is concerned, beer is legally sold in cricket games in Australia and strictly restricted to the general admission sections whose tickets are of course the cheapest. Why go international when u can find local examples in India? Look at the incidences that took place recently in Bombay where the pro Maharashtrians went on assaulting north Indians and UP, bihari taxi drivers.

Don’t get me wrong here!! I have been fortunate to have known some very good and polished Australian people. But on the other hand there have been several occasions where I felt that I was being treated differently specially at the airports of Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne where I was bomb and drug tested on several occasions in spite of the fact that their machines dint buzz or detect any metal. Add to that London Airport (and I don’t know whether it has anything to do with my beard :S). But I believe that its no way to generalize people and it’s the good and bad that make neutral.

So the question still remains, why do most Indians settle for a taxi driver’s job? I know for a fact that the pay rates are not very fancy, some being as low as $13/hour and that the drivers are paid only 50% of every fare. Australia is a place where employees have their fare share of rights and wages are set to a minimum to avoid exploitation. There are tons of jobs offering salaries like $15-$16/hour and if u are above 21, the chances of you earning $20-$21/hour are quite high!!

In the mean time, I wish the best for all the taxi drivers in Adelaide and around the world and can only hope for better things to come.

Related Article: Melbourne's Taxi drivers are a breathe of fresh air

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/melbournes-taxi-drivers-are-

a-breath-of-fresh-air/2007/02/23/1171734021985.html

2008 F1 Season and.......

It’s been a great start to the 2008 FIA Formula1 Championship with a lot of drivers showing their worth and justifying their hefty paychecks. This season is already set to be a cracker with lots of surprises in store. Of course we had more than our fair share of shocks and surprises last season but this time the action is guaranteed to be on track rather than off track, that is, excluding the ongoing case against Max Mosely regarding his sex scandal with prostitutes that had a Nazi theme. So then, 5 Grand Prix weekends are over with Kimi Raikkonen (KR) leading the championship at 35 points with Felipe Massa (FM) and Lewis Hamilton (LH) behind him at 28 points each.

Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari: had a terrible start to the season in Australia with a shaky performance that included a couple off track excursions. An engine problem during the second half of the race did not help either. Being a man of few words he put Australia behind him and made a come back in the championship with victories in Malaysia and Spain. So far he definitely is the favorite to win the Championship.

Felipe Massa - Ferrari: and the words solid, composed, bullet proof performances do not go hand in hand. He is a driver who I have always believed does not deserve a drive at Ferrari. However, he is all set to silence his critics this year with the desire to win the championship as strong as ever. For that we will have to wait and watch. He however has had mixed fortunes this season which two DNF’s already. He failed to finish both the Melbourne and Malaysian GP but came back with a dominating win in Bahrain. His credible and composed victory this past weekend in Turkey was a record setting Hat trick making him the most successful driver at the Istanbul Otodrome. These two tracks are his favorite among all on the calendar this year and he has played down speculation that he is a one (or two) track wonder.

Lewis Hamilton - Mclaren Mercedes: I was right when I said at the end of last year that it’s gonna be even harder for Lewis to win the championship this year. Mclaren lie third in the driver’s championship behind both Ferrari and BMW and the pressure from team mate Heikki Kovalainen (HK) is increasing by each passing race weekend. So, things are not looking very good for him so far with only one win in Australia. Not to mention the fact that he has been outpaced by HK quite a few times including qualifying in Turkey in spite of HK being heavier on fuel. Mclaren have not won a single championship since 1999 though they have had the best drivers in the world piloting their cars not to mention they lost the services of two world champions. That’s a bit of a worry if u would ask me. More on LH a little later.

Fernando Alonso (FA) - Renault: Every passing year makes me admire him even more. Being a double world champion makes it very hard to be fighting in the middle of the field when you know you should be at the top of the grid fighting for victories. However, Renault have only recently started to get things right and have realized that the only way they can keep him in 2009 is to provide him with a title winning car. He has however been pushing his Renault to the max and scored well deserved 9 points. Poor outings by FM at the start of the season lead to rumors that FA had already signed a secret contract with Ferrari for 2009. Luca di Montezemelo and Flavio Briatore, who believe that a team must have a number 1 and number 2 driver, have played down the rumors and admit that having KR and FA alongside each other is not going to be in the interest of Ferrari claiming it would be ‘Damaging’.

The BMW’s of Robert Kubica (RK) and Nick Heidfeld (NH): BMW is a team on the rise with not much between them and Mclaren. Both drivers have been consistent so far with RK enjoying more success than ‘Quick Nick’ and the dream of winning a Grand Prix is not that distant anymore. Although a driver’s title for BMW is very unlikely, consistent outings by the team should give them a chance of finishing runners up in the constructors.

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed the racing but no so much the coverage of ITV and F1 racing magazine who never fail to show that they are both British and Lewis Hamilton is a superstar legend of F1. Let’s start with the coverage of ITV. F1 is telecasted on channel ten in Australia which I believe has some sort of connection to the ITV network. All James Allen and Martin Brundle, the commentators of ITV, talk about during the race is Lewis Hamilton. I am sure they were in seventh heaven during the Melbourne GP where Lewis won, but I am glad I was not tortured by them since I was in Melbourne watching the race live. They never admitted Lewis was at fault when he ran into FA in Bahrain ruining his and Alonso’s race and immediately came to the conclusion that FA brake tested Lewis without any evidence. Even a normal drive on a race weekend is termed ‘Heroic’ by them. During Lewis’s second stint in the Turkish GP, LH was lapping nearly a second quicker than FM simply because he had a very light car and James Allen called that Senna’esq race pace.

F1 Racing magazine is all about Lewis Hamilton these days. There has to be an article about him somewhere in there not matter how silly it is. If not, let’s put him on the cover page at least!!! Following are some of the words by Peter Windsor (Yeap, you guessed it!! He is British) in the article called ‘Kimi vs. Lewis: Inside their title fight’ in this months (May 2008) F1 racing issue.

“If there is anyone better than Kimi out there, then his name is Lewis” – WRONG!!!!

“Lewis is learning to handle the most difficult and omnipresent press corps in the world” – I agree to that. Thanks for being Honest Peter. Much appreciated

“Lewis, the man of the future, follows one packed day with another. Abbey, Vodafone, Mercedes, Boss, factory visit, test, TAG Heuer, travel, Mobil, media, Olympus, team meetings, race, travel, factory…. And they still want him to join the GPDA” – I wont say much apart from the fact that he can choose not to do half of the things above like Kimi does and did when he was at Mclaren and concentrate on his racing.

I mean, its time that the British media shut their mouth and came back to reality. More so, if they don’t want Lewis to end up like Jenson Button or David Coulthard. Lot’s of promise initially, but not a single championship between the two.

Following are some quotes by David Coulthard in the same issue of F1 racing:

“When I was young, I thought F1 was easy, because I’d come straight in with a winning car and I didn’t appreciate how technical it was – a bit like, I guess, what Lewis is experiencing right now. He probably can’t believe how easy F1 is, but a few years down the line, when the cars not so competitive, it may be a different story” – Thank you DC. I don’t need to comment more on that, do I??

Q: looking at what happened last year at Mclaren - where there were some doubts regarding equal treatment – do you think you had a fair treatment when u were Mika’s team-mate?

DC: “It was no surprise that, despite Mclaren’s best efforts, one guy ended up feeling less loved than the other.” - Mclaren, stop lying to everyone and admit that u love Hamilton and take responsibility of damaging Alonso’s reputation too!!

On yea, and finally, did I mention that Lewis’s biography was eating dirt at the bookshelves around the world and that he is struggling with car set up this year? Can’t steal Alonso’s car setups anymore can you?

All said & done, what a royal mess!!

It is very difficult to talk about the Sydney test between India & Australia without screaming out loud that We Was Robbed. But I am going to refrain from blaming everyone but the Indian team for the defeat.

It is also difficult to talk about the 3 issues i.e. the result of the Test, the Harbhajan-Symonds row & the refereeing cum umpiring standards, without one overlapping the other. Because I feel if one were to look at the 3 issues separately it helps to gain some perspective and gives an idea of what went wrong and what we can learn from it. So here is my attempt at looking at the events that transpired subjectively and the bodies involved.

India's defeat - India lost the Test and with it their hopes if defeating Australia which was very much possible had they secured a draw in Sydney. The follow-on result in Perth showed that hopes of winning the series were very much realistic. Life is about controlling the controllables and India failed to do that. The umpiring gaffes which hastened the result masked the deficiencies of the team. More on the umpires in a bit. Yes, they blundered big time but that is more a sign of an over all malaise. India's strategy of accommodating Yuvraj Singh was misguided from the very start. Added to that was opening with Dravid just when he was in desperate need of form. Leaving Sehwag aside was another tactical blunder which India payed for. Also the nth 2nd innings collapse exposed the batting line-up's vulnerability at batting to save a game. Batting out 2 sessions is not much to ask for from a line-up as decorated as India's. Also losing your last 4 wickets to honest trundlers like Symonds & Clarke is inexplicable. So one can argue that India are partly to blame for their defeat since they did not control the controllables.

Harbhajan-Symonds row - Whether Harbhajan called Symonds a 'monkey' or merely abused him as 'maa ki', only he knows deep down inside. Symonds & Ponting were well within their rights to report Harbhajan if they felt he racially abused Symonds. That Mike Proctor was not qualified to conduct the hearing and that his hearing was a farce is also a fact for which the ICC is squarely to be blamed. The ultimately fair verdict which was delivered by the Kiwi judge was very interesting to go through and I think the Aussies should understand the circumstances under which Harbhajan was cleared regardless of what was said. If a man's word, especially the victim's, was evidence enough, we would fall short of prisons in the world. Also one must discard the grandstanding by the BCCI and the so-called caving in by Cricket Australia and accept the verdict for what it is because it was delivered by a qualified man without prejudice. Symonds must tone down his on field behavior since he is quite a motor mouth on the field. And Harbhajan has to be taken aside by the Indian team management and warned that he is walking a disciplinary tightrope. One must not forget that he was still convicted of abusing a player regardless of the provocative circumstances.

The umpiring/refereeing standards - The ICC's excuse for continuing umpiring blunders is that they are humans and make mistakes like players. Except for one difference. Players pay for their mistakes with defeats and places in their sides. But it is the players and teams who are bearing the brunt of the umpires' mistakes! That is one system of accountability that I do not understand. Umpires are not being made accountable for their mistakes. We all love the human element in the game but let that human fallibility be limited to bowlers, batsmen & fielders. Let not an erroneous human decision made by someone not directly involved decide what is essentially a contest between bat & ball. The stakes are too high in sport today to let bad decisions be handed out without an effective referral or redressal system. The current trend of umpiring errors is exaggerated when one considers the technology that exposes the deficiencies ruthlessly and embarrassingly. More on umpiring in a future post but measures that can help curb the malaise include appeals (like those in tennis), clearer guidelines on empowering of umpires using technology, stricter selection criteria for umpires and a system of accountability.

I think we will all agree if the match referee is made defunct and the umpire be given disciplinary powers on the field. Should in case a hearing be conducted, let it be done by qualified people and not by some old timers killing time when they rather be sitting at home, commentating or writing syndicated columns.

Also a few words on the other parties involved in this unholy mess.

The players - I think player behaviour in cricket is at an all time low. The Aussies can get away with what they do because they keep winning. Anyone else who behaves the same way and then loses merely comes across as a sore loser. The ICC needs to clamp down on player behaviour which also includes unnecessary appealing which is a tactic willfully used by most sides. The likes of Ponting, Clarke, Harbhajan & Sreesanth are mighty fine cricketeers with talent, but they need to be reminded every now and then what they are out there for. The only way to beat the Aussies is not to match their verbal bravado but to play tactically & strategically aggressive cricket. Period. And you know what lets have the mics on all the time so atleast they will think twice before letting lose their lip. If the fielders are to be believed on touch & go catches, why shouldn't the batsman's word not be taken when he has edged an LBW which nobody has seen or heard? All players have an ulterior motive whether they like it or not, and that is to get the decision in their favour. So lets not start asking the pupils whether they would like to be detained in the playground or the candy shop!!

The BCCI - I wanted to label all the bodies i.e. BCCI, CA & ICC, together, but I think they all deserve to be castigated for their roles in this mess. The BCCI has not helped the team by having a ridiculous itinerary for the tour. They could have the team better prepared for the Melbourne Test with another practice game. It was only until Sydney that the batsman got into their groove. Their grandstanding and blackmailing in the light of the Harbhajan row was classless and graceless. They had the opportunity to take the moral high ground and blew it. Having all the money in the game does not give them the right to behave like the petulant kid and storm off the field at the drop of a hat. It also brings a responsibility of bettering the game at both domestic and international level. When was the last time they did something constructive for the game? Beats me! And if they did have a beef with Steve Bucknor, why was he not vetoed out at the beginning of the series? Despite knowing that he has a not so good history when it comes to the Indian team.

The ICC - How not to run an international sport? Look no further than the International Cricket Council. Cramped schedules, falling umpiring standards, impotent match referees, erratic player behaviour, the chargesheet is pretty long! They keep stumbling from one corner to another always being a shining beacon of incompetency & ineptitude.

And ofcourse the media & public - A lot of the Indian news channels seem to be living in a shell of their own. Before celebrating the 'victory of Indian national honour' let us remember that Harbhajan has a history of indiscipline, offences & he was still convicted of using abusive language. Also we should stop playing the victim card and accept that we are one of the most discriminative people and society in the world. Discrimination exists in our country on all levels, race, religion, caste, community & colour. So let us start facing ourselves before we start preaching secularism & equality to the world. Also, if Harbhajan actually called Symonds a monkey inspite of Symonds explaining to him why he finds it offending, then let us not defend Harbhajan by saying that monkeys are a revered species in India! Even monkeys would find that argument ridiculous. And let us not misguide all our national pride on cricket. Its only a sport. Their are many more things in our country to be equally proud and ashamed of. Many more things that both uphold and degrade our so-called 'national honour'.

All said & done, the Sydney Test bought out the worst in all the parties involved. It is a period where everyone has at some point guilty of acting against the spirit of sport. Its a chapter we would like to forget for a while and it was a shame that what was such a potentially terrific series was reduced to a sham. All said & done, it was a royal mess.

Driving rules are made for your safety. FOLLOW THEM

In my 6 years of driving experience, 2007 was a turnaround. Initially there was a lot of frustration and I was irritated with the fact that my Indian driver’s license was no good in Australia. This meant that I had to give a theory and practical examination to get one. Well, no issues with that. Driving is in my blood and failing in it….. hell no. The theory test was an absolute cake walk and it took me 5 min to complete a 35 min exam. I really pity those people who fail in it. Seriously, people do fail in theory tests and I wonder how they manage to do it. Moving on, I started taking lessons and I must say it went pretty smooth considering I was an INDIAN driver. There were those odd arguments with my instructor but the Vietnamese guy told me in simple words, “you no listen to me, you fail. Money waste. You listen to me, you pass.” Keeping that in mind and of course the money (60 AUD – 2100 rupees for a one and half hour lesson is by no means cheap to me) I carried on with the lessons. And again, how could I ever fail a driving test….. ?

It took me 7 driving lessons and a lot of ‘getting rid of old habits, atleast till the test’ and I was ready for D day. It all went pretty smooth with my examiner being more interested in knowing about my parents and grandparents and India, him being an anglo Indian. It definitely did not help as I was obviously trying to get everything right. There were a few erks and from memory I did some things that my Vietnamese instructor strictly told me not to do. But I passed with flying colors and I was satisfied. Life felt good, I got an Australian drivers license and I could now drive anywhere in the world without much hassel. My driving is much better and all the old rough edges have been smoothened. This has added to the Oz experience as well….

This experience made me realize how dangerous driving in India really is or for that matter in third world countries. It feels like as if people hate themselves to an extent that they don’t mind losing their life on the roads. The other day I was in a car being driven by a friend who has been driving for not more than 6 months. He said to me, ‘I highly rate you as a driver and you are safe too. I also want to know from you about car control. I am going to drive now and I want you to comment on my driving and tell me what mistakes I make. Chalega na bhai…?’ What I witnessed from there on, in a nutshell, is somewhat like this. Cutting lanes (not that I don’t do it in India, but it is the manner in which I am talking about. It was scary), squeezing the vehicle in every pocket seen between vehicles (no patience whatsoever to queue up behind the vehicle ahead at junctions and roundabouts leading to a bottleneck), the ever so famous-dangerous left side overtaking, late braking and speeding in crowded areas.

“arre bhai traffic area mein kaun kidhar se aa raha hai who barobar dikhta hai. Open road pe kaisa, kaun kidhar se bhi aa jata hai and raste pe gadi daal deta hai. Who jyada risky hai. Mera bike pe 120 pe aise hi accident hua tha”. [In a congested area, its easy to notice traffic flow whereas in an open road u never know who enters the road randomly without signaling or even looking out for vehicles. This is how I once met with an accident on my bike in an open road.] – said my friend. I just kept quiet after this and was confused what to comment about his driving.

A new driver is like a small child, what you teach him is what he is for the rest of his life. With no proper licensing services and driver examination systems, most of the people in India learn to drive by themselves and form their own rules of driving. This is what makes it very dangerous and considering that the number of vehicles on Indian roads is skyrocketing, ram jaane (god knows) what will happen.

While taking driving lessons for the driving exam in Australia, I learnt about the potential dangers while driving and also the rules which I never would have understood otherwise in my lifetime in India. Introduction to the blind spot was an eye opener. For those of you who don’t know what it is, I insist u look it up online.

Driving is all about some common sense, logical thinking, being considerate towards our fellow commuters and a bit more than that. For some reason people, especially on two wheels, find it smart to drive leisurely in the middle of the road turning a blind eye and deaf ear to honking vehicles. Some people consider driving as a way to get from one place to another, but to me it’s more about the experience. Think of making each journey as joyful and relaxing as a steam bath or a Jacuzzi. Driving is an art and just like not everyone is a painter, not everyone is a driver. All I am saying is that keep in mind the difference between warm and cool colors, real life painting and still painting, portrait, etc… everything should fall in place. And yes, familiarize yourselves with driving rules even though no one will ever ask you about them, in India atleast.

The BCCI & Dravid gamble backfires and how!!

The origins of the topic of this post date back to the moment the BCCI announced the final itinerary for the current India tour of Australia. When the BCCI announced that the Indian cricket team will be only playing 1 warm up match in the lead up to the Boxing Day Test match at Melbourne. The second origin was the decision to select Dravid to open the innings. We have a 337 run defeat to show that these 2 decisions have totally backfired.

Around the time of the Ashes last year I had highlighted points as to how a team should not prepare for the big series Down Under. And England had made a lot of errors in preparation. India have seemed to have taken a leaf from their book.

There are 2 more ways not to prepare to face the Aussies. The first one is to not play enough warm up games. The Indian batsman appeared undercooked after they had bloated their egos (& averages) and plundered runs on comatose pitches against a bowling attack that can be at best be described as average and at worse impotent. Yes the batsman were high on morale but the pitches the games vs Pakistan also gave them a false sense of confidence when they came to face Australia. The single washed out game denied the batsman to make that mental adjustment to play on the bouncier pitches down under. It also denied the management to have a look at Sehwag's potency and what the likes of Ishant Sharma et al had to offer going into MCG.

The second way is to disturb the furniture at the top of the order. Yuvraj Singh's inclusion meant Dravid & VVS Laxman were batting in positions not first nature to them. This for a player who has not played a Test outside the subcontinent (as far as I can remember). One does not put the Rolls Royce & Bentley out in the rain to accommodate the beefed up Hummer in the garage.

Sehwag finds himself in a funny situation. First he was criticised for not earning his place in the squad down under. Now he seems to have become the saviour with some experts clamouring for his inclusion at the top of the order. The fact that Sehwag was picked means that he would sooner or later open the innings. So why experiment with Dravid opening. Sehwag's inclusion only makes sense if he opens and I think now that he his down there its a punt worth taking. He should be told in clear terms as to how many innings he has to resurrect his Test career in conditions he would thrive in and against opposition who fears him.

Dravid's elevation at the top was the last thing he required. He is out of form and low on confidence. Asking him to handle the extra load of opening the innings was uncalled for.

India still has a chance to salvage atleast a draw from this series. The bowlers have shown they have more than it takes to dismiss the Aussies. Its time for the batsman to stand and be counted instead of going AWOL like they did in South Africa last year. And they dont even have Guru Greg Chappell to shoulder the blame on this time round!!

Out of R&R

Its been a week and a day since I went under the knife for the first time ever. The surgical types I mean. Last Saturday I had a sudden attack of acute appendicitis and the best option was surgery.

Lets do some numbers. 3 nights in a hospital, 2 shaven arms, 10+ saline drips, 10+ injections in various parts of the body, an anesthetic in the back, a 10 cm incision, 7 stitches and a badass appendix. Also things being inserted in all parts possible, and I really mean 'All'! Its funny how insignificant a part of the body like an appendix an cause so much pain and discomfort. And the fact that it serves no purpose in our intestines in the first place!!

Anyhoo, the stitches are out and I can say I am out of rest & recuperation. I love that term for some reason. An excuse to just sleep, laze around, get bored, catch up on Prison Break and watch lots of movies. And the cycle keeps repeating. And most of all an excuse to stay away from work!! Now thats good. No not really given the pain I had to go through.

Going back to the surgery. This was the first time I was to be operated upon. So the only thing on my mind at each and every stage was 'what are they inserting, why are they inserting and is it gonna hurt??' I don't like unpleasant surprises especially painful ones. I rather be prepared for the kind of pain to expect. Mild or acute or whatever.

But seriously I cannot remember any other time of my life when I have endured so much pain. Ok appendix is not a major surgery, but I am a bit sensitive to pain. So there! With all those medications my mind actually used to play games with me. No jokes. I was imagining things in the middle of the night that I could not understand and cannot explain. Those wre 3 of the longer nights I have had in a long time.

Also having the injection for the saline change positions and arms not once but twice wasn't helping. The nurses scoffed that I had thin veins! Like I can do anything about it. They are the ones who are supposed to ease the pain!

All in all it was quite an experience. Although the hospitals should not have backbreakers as an excuse for a bed. And an electronically patient controlled reclining bed would do good. Not having to ask anyone to pull or push the back all the time.

Now I am up and running. I think having the scar a few years down the line will be quite cool. As funny as it may sound. Although I wouldn't wish or want for any more of them.

Lame duck Govt., dead duck PM

There isn't a Government I can remember in my time which has been more impotent and hamstrung in its approach than the current Manmohan Singh, err sorry Sonia Gandhi led Union Government. But then I never expected a lot from a motley crew propped up with the support of none other than the Communists themselves, who seem to have awakened from the dinosaur age after their prolonged absence at the Centre.

Back when the coalition was formed, the Government itself started off on the wrong foot. We had the first ever 'selected' PM rather than the usually 'elected' PM. Now thats not very good is it? How much confidence is it going to inspire in the people that the PM himself has never won an election in his life. And do not believe anybody when they say that the Congress has the people's mandate. Take a look at the vote statistics from the last election and one can safely conclude that nobody had the people's mandate in the last election.

For all off Manmohan Singh's intellect, integrity & honesty, he simply is not cut out to be a leader of a nation. Listening to his squeaky speeches can even cure insomniacs. AB Vajpayee had terribly long pauses, but he commanded attention when he spoke and was a great orator. He was the right PM at the wrong age. Singh is a bureaucrat and that is what he should have been. He will make an able deputy but he fails as a leader.

Coming to the current scenario and the nuclear deal impasse. The Left has hindered every move made by the Government, however good or bad it maybe. And to be honest I am quite worried over the long term impact their outdated ideology could have. Even their masters in China are more liberal and capitalist, policy wise, in their approach than our democracy! Which is quite something.

The irony over the nuclear deal is that the people who have shone strong conviction and an unwillingness to budge are the wrong ones! Its Manmohan Singh who should have had that position rather than the Left. I believe the nuclear deal is big enough to warrant elections if the Left feels they will withdraw support should the Govt. go ahead with it. Atleast it will call their bluff, which they have done ad nauseum now, and let the people decide what they want.

I have also been disappointed by the BJP's approach towards the deal. Their opposition in Parliament to a deal initiated by Vajpayee's Govt. smacks of policital opportunism and also highlights the marginalization of Vajpayee in his own party. They had the chance to support the Congress in Parliament and push the deal through to expose the Left for what they are, a bunch of hypocrites and followers of an outdated ideology.

But then again this a bit too much to expect from our politicos. We will all go back to normal as if nothing happened and India would have missed a deal of a lifetime. The Congress will hang on to power and the Left will continue to have the power they crave without any responsibility at all. The more things change, the more they remain the same.