JLT....

You Scored as Strong Egoism

Your life is very much guided by the concept of <b>Egoism</b>: You work primarily to promote your own interests. <br><br>“I swear by my life, and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.” <br>“I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows.” <br>--Ayn Rand <br><br>More info at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Arocoun">Arocoun's Wikipedia User Page...</a>

Hedonism

100%

Strong Egoism

100%

Justice (Fairness)

90%

Apathy

80%

Nihilism

60%

Existentialism

55%

Utilitarianism

50%

Kantianism

45%

Divine Command

0%

Politics...

So, the election fever is on again... And everywhere from newspaper to toilet paper, the smiling faces of politicians smile down at us!! And why should they not?? In spite of being the most inefficient Lok Sabha in the history (approx 63% of the allotted time utilised in sitting) they get a 200% pay rise (seriously)!!!

Anyways, setting aside my disdain for politicians as a class (I know I am practicing discrimination, but what the heck!), what really took my goat for a high jump was a tweet today from a friend advertising a particular candidate for a supposedly progressive party. Among the prominent claims to fame for the candidate in question was the fact that she is an adivasi!!!




Now I think I must be seriously duff to not realise what being adivasi has to do with being a good politician ( if there is some such thing!!). Now I being the blockhead ask my friend the same question, and he replies that what matters is her immense courage and conviction in fighting for human rights...

Now I got the second thing that gets my goat... (not the same goat, I had a few goats....  :P)

Human rights activists... They are a fraternity I sometimes loathe more than politicians and terrorists.. COMBINED!!!

How is it so that they never protest about the human rights of the victims of a terror attack, or a mob violence?? Or do they assume that in being victims, they rescinded their rights to be human??!! Maybe their thinking is like that of the people who find girls responsible for gender related crimes!! If you are a victim of a crime, then you deserve to be 'crimed' against!!

However, coming back to the track, I looked around for the lady in question online... Apparently, the state claims that she was a courier between the Naxalites and the industrialists... The lady claims she was an innocent bystander who was framed by the police... If I cannot discard her version, what gives me the right to discard the state version?? Why can we not reserve the judgement?? I guess the police in our country is a much maligned lot (and maybe deservedly so), but the judiciary is still held in some regard. Why can we not let the due process of law take its course and then decide whether she is an angel or Satan's agent??

And whatever be it, fighting for one's own cause was not really in the spirit of fighting for the so calle dnoble objective of human rights, last I checked...

So are we all guilty of either over simplification (like me) or over glorification (like my friend)???

Still thinking...

Randomness....

A big huge spell of randomness... Utterly normal, day to day stuff... Nothing really new...

All this broken today morning- by rains!!

Rains, coming down in torrents (oops, not the file sharing types), flooding away all the stagnated feelings, drenching the body and cleansing the soul...

The sheer, unadulterated joy of roaming around aimlessly in the rains, making faces at kids who reply back in kind!! The feeling of water gushing through your toes as you wade away... Taking a slide at a earthen mound lubricated by water... Intoxicating!!!

But why am I trying to describe it? It was too good to be put down in words... Almost too good to have happened... Was it all a dream?? My wet T Shirt says otherwise....

Update

Lots happening...

A trip to Vaishnodevi...

Complimentary meals by GoAir (for no rhyme or reason I could think of)!!!

A 10 hour trek up and down... with views ranging from lovely mountainside to disgusting youngsters going up on ponies while oldies were going dandvat (दं ड व त  )!!!

Utter, crass commercialisation of faith!!!

An interesting train ride back, with even more interesting co-passengers and a couple of oh-so-cute kids!!

And finally, missing my flight for the next leg of my vacations!! 

I think one could say that I have been a trifle busy (in a nice sense of the word) of late, innit???

But then, I know I am a patient of inertia...

Trying to fight inertia... Let us see if I can win...

Updates...

Updates?
Well, let us see, chronologically...
Screwed up my exams royally in September!!!
Went on this awesome road trip throughout Rajasthan sector in Nov-Dec. (more on that later, maybe)
Got engaged on 12 Feb to a most amazing girl unlucky enough to agree to have me as a life partner!!
Completed my medicals today and passed A1.
Gearing up for the next round of exams!!

D Day Sans One

So, tomorrow is the stupid test.. And as usual, I am all at sea. The people around have studied quite a bit, and even taking help from them is not too feasible, considering the fact that it is an electronically administered test, with question numbers and answer choices changing at random in different sets...

Guess I should just give the diaries a rest and concentrate on the studies. But a couple of facts worth being placed on record. Firstly, Manish is in Delhi, so even if I flunk the test and have to go back, there will be one more good thing to look forward to, or rather at least one good thing to look forward to. Secondly, the people senior to me did not come for the course, so I am stuck as the course senior. Stupid responsibilities and no power. Thirdly, the day per se was a mass of briefings, briefings and more briefings, designed to only jumble up whatever clarity existed in our minds about the stupid test... But then, I hear my books calling out for me, so I should better heed their call... Wish me luck, please...