Airtel's hot air!

For a while now, Airtel has been blowing hot air about many things they're supposedly great at!  Fair enough, for in a market where all providers have the same technology, and are competing for the same customers, it's hard to stand out.

But the latest one, the "Open Network" has chosen to go a whole notch higher!  Apparently, the user can see where all of Airtel's towers are, and see the signal strength on each of them.  Apparently, for some reason, this is supposed to make its customers gleefully happy, thrilled that Airtel is so out in the open, without any intrigue or secrecy, and therefore is more trustworthy!

Surely, this must be thrilling for those of us who are curious about knowing where the water pressure is highest in the pipes supplying our toilets, how much the tires of buses are inflated, and which gear that autorickshaw carrying our kids going to school is plying on!  If you are even half awake reading this, you should realize that this information is not just unimportant, it is useless unless you can do something about it.

WIth this story from Airtel, if you get all excited about which tower has the best signal strength, it isn't as if you can jump to the tower with the highest signal strength!  It isn't as if you can use any of this tower information to any sort of advantage.  None of our phones even have the hardware to do that.  The linking is automatic, and this is true of all cellphones all over the world.  In fact, the handover from one tower to another is supposed to be seamless.

So, what are you going to do after you find out which of Airtel's towers has the best signal strength?  Gawk!  That's about all you can do.  This being a mere graphic, doesn't have to be telling you the truth either.  Your phone has no way of physically locating all the towers in your vicinity, for if you were able to do that, you should be able to locate all towers of all the providers!  We can't have that, can we? So, while your phone has no such ability, the information on the graphic has every ability to con you!

Why would Airtel want to do that?  Just to give you a bullshit picture of how good their network is, while in reality, their signals will struggle just as much as anybody else's to get to your phone.  How else do you think the whole of India is struggling under the menace of call drops?  If Airtel customers had no such problem, why would they even be enticed to this seductive 'come see our towers' offer?

Airtel controls what is displayed on the graphic telling you stories about the towers and their signal strength.  On this graphic, they can plant a tower where none exists, even though they'd be stupid to try lying like that.  Because you can physically spot it!  But you cannot physically spot the signal strength.  It doesn't take any genius programming to throw a full signal graphic when you're really next to a certain tower, or when you are far from it!

Now, you're supposed to call Airtel customer care and tell them if you have any problems, but there's an even more thrilling kicker.  It even shows up in the TV commercial.  If you're interested in hosting a tower - hold your breath!  If you're interested in hosting a tower, you should let Airtel know.  This means you become a business partner to Airtel, and instead of the landlords that charge thousands every month to put a tower on their houses, you will probably get free Airtel services (with three asterisks for conditions where this doesn't apply), for 'hosting' one!

For those of you who fall for these ruses, here's a simple way of figuring out which network you should be on.  Simply ask to make calls from your friends' phones who use providers different from yours.  Do this from the places you routinely and repeatedly find yourself in.  Your answer will come out clear as day.

For matters of real importance, people who 'host' towers should ask Airtel if they can certify there will be no long term health implications from the radiation.  I guarantee Airtel won't be so 'open' about that.

- BSK

The Ruckus at JNU

This Kanhaiya Kumar guy didn't deserve to be arrested.  At least not from the evidence in a badly shot video.  He should be slapped for being stupid, confusing issues, and aiming for a career in politics using JNU as a base.

The sedition charge is a bit high handed, but is not unworthy.  If you bring up names of known terrorists and somehow hold the nation responsible for them showing up, that's definitely going to invite the government's investigation.  What was he expecting?  If the people shouting "Pakistan Zindabad", etc. were not of his ilk, and the claim is that they were 'others' who we know nothing about, then why is this punk the head of the student union?  Add incompetence to the charges, but end it with a resounding slap, nothing more.

Is security at JNU in terms of entry and participation in events so lax that a group of people shouting slogans that are clearly anti-India can't even be located, even though they were clearly present for a long period of time?  How concerned our politician baba is!  And how it is expected that the government do nothing in the face of such taunts!!!

In the educational institutions I attended and universities, both in India and the USA - supposedly two big examples of democracy and freedom, there hasn't been any pretense of self importance, that would lead students to think their protest on their campus should get such importance and coverage as to be able to challenge governments.  Somehow, for good or bad, JNU has that pretense.  But the people protesting are not only non-experts in anything, they are not even the affected party in the issues they're apparently bringing up.

To me, this automatically begs the question - which is more important to these people?  Getting an education or wanting to do work to change the nation as activists and protesters, with or without political leanings?  Nobody ever needed a degree for the latter, but everybody is here for the former.  This I have a problem with.  If you have true passion for something, nothing else should really matter.  Which of these two is the goal and which is the distraction?

The appearance of this guy Kanhaiya Kumar is clearly one of someone setting up a career in politics.  Here's where it gets lucrative in India - It is easy to get funds, plenty of funds, for being ready to stand in elections.  Build some sort of noise value, become significant, get a party going, and all of a sudden, you're worth wooing.  This is the trick this punk is playing, and it's obvious as daylight.

Courting arrest is a very popular tactic of such people.  It's what gets someone in the news, makes them appear extremely dedicated to some cause, and attractive to political investments.

The BJP has plenty of enemies, particularly the cash rich Congress Party.  After looting the nation for decades, they have a war chest of riches, that they can use to support anybody who can challenge or usurp the BJP.  The BJP on the other hand, has plenty of resources at hand, but they're interested in nation building, and getting rich through business.  They're legit, and they have a plan that is not bad for India.

Back to this Kanhaiya Kumar, I'd like him to grow.  It's the best way to challenge pretenders - let them grow to a size they cannot manage.  He's brought up the caste issue, even though his family is quite well off, like many people in India who are leeching off the benefits and reservations packages the government after government have doled out, and taking advantage without contributing.

JNU is a ready made platform for making noise.  This Kanhaiya Kumar is smart to simply plug and play.

It appears that the students of JNU take themselves way too seriously.  It can happen, and it can happen to the best of us.  But to imagine they're significant enough to cause tremors to the integrity of the nation, to the fabric of India, etc., is way over the top.

The other thing about JNU is that if its students are able to focus on so many things outside their study area, and student affairs, they basically have no real issues.  This is a privilege, and I'd call them privileged pricks if they abused this state of well being to cause ruckus.

Protests have moved well beyond physical arenas, and a lot of petitions online have achieved remarkable results.  It is dignified, doesn't use unwanted energy, causes no disruptions, and involves a lot of people who are gathered merely by what they believe.  But these low thinking fools can never be satisfied with that, because they want the attention.  They crave the attention, and the significance that the media gives them.

The battles have well moved onto newer paradigms.  The government under Modi, is pushing its own governance into the digital realm, and that's going to affect over a billion people.  It has already started taking effect, and it's only going to accelerate.

What it is going to do is leave these old paradigm fools in the dust.  That's what they're most scared of.  Reality will show up, through billions of connected people unconcerned with shrill TV voices, for their truths are in their lives, being quietly informed about the collective's every move on their personal devices through the internet.  The revolution has already reached them, and it is huge.

It is paving the way for something truly democratic, where not just who have the time and means to stage protests on calculated platforms can be heard.  It is putting an honest and countable measure to what the quiet billion plus want.  Let's sign on to that, and ignore the punks.  We have a nation to build.

We know what being nationalistic is.  We know we need to be safe.  It's the government's job to keep us safe, and the BJP led government is very hawkish about that.  It has every right and every duty to check on elements that talk about breaking the nation, and become belligerent about some protracted justice, outside the means of all that we hold sacred under the Constitution.

The Constitution stands for equality and justice for all.  Along the way, we have had many arguments, and made adjustments to the way this justice is delivered.  We have recognized the traditionally downtrodden, and provided them a leg up to do better.  But we shouldn't mistake this for an excuse to keep asking for more, like reservations in the private sector.  There's a reason it's called the 'private' sector.  It means each private enterprise can be run according to the judgment of those who start them.  They have every reason to try and succeed by being as productive as possible.  

While that's a whole other debate, fools like Kanhaiya Kumar need to realize that the nation has progressed fast due to private enterprise, and the overall benefits to the economy have indeed been passed on to the lower classes of our society.

JNU or any university campus should hardly become the arena of any manufactured agitation.  Universities are meant for education.  There is nothing to indicate Indian universities don't provide enough ground for plenty of healthy debate, but to exacerbate that into a movement that causes disruption to the very purpose of having a university, fully funded by the tax payer's money no doubt, clearly tells me this punk is anti-national to the core.

I'd slap him for just the stupidity he espouses, and the disrespect he shows to the nation that is facilitating so much in education despite not being an economic superpower.  What he should ask for is higher quality of education, especially his own.  But for that one would need a higher mind.

- BSK

After the terrorist attack in France, people changed their profile pic but no one did the same after the Pathankot incident, why?

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Bala Senthil Kumar • Edit Bio

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It's fashionable to show 'solidarity' with white people.  Not so much with Indian soldiers.

It's ass licking slave mentality that many non white people display without even being conscious of it, especially Indians.

It is why Indian English news readers can pronounce twisted French names that sound nowhere near how they are written in English perfectly in French, but have a hard time pronouncing "Chidambaram" or "Venkataraman".

Besides, a lot of white people are bound to be showing solidarity with the French anyway, and they are big in pop culture and the internet.  So, our jackasses follow them a whole lot more.

Same reason why many Indian morons put their hands on their breasts during the Indian national anthem.

Whatever's fashionable!

Why is Bollywood defending Salman Khan?

Not for the first time, many prominent faces from India's Mumbai film industry, often called Bollywood, have demonstrated an outpouring of grief, sympathy and support for a convict.

Found guilty on all charges by a sessions court, Salman Khan, the convict, is out on interim bail, and will probably appeal to a higher court.  The legal process is under way.

In the midst of this media frenzy over an actor being convicted for a crime, once again, the vapidity, lack of mental prowess, and the result of living in a bubble are all showing up through expressions from many faces representing this movie industry.  Some of it borders on schizophrenia, plenty is marinated in self absorbed delirium, and much is bubbling in contempt of a nation's judicial system.

Behind all this lies the underbelly of these low lives in show business.

This industry attracts a special variety of nitwits - those that can convince themselves that their lives in make believe are real in some way.  No doubt, the bubbles they build around themselves with some success, money and the star system make sure they're insulated from most realities.

The adulation, the stardom, the recognition, the special treatment, all of it permeates well inside some of these fools and they start behaving as if they're suddenly far more intelligent and far more potent, and now capable of wielding some real power and influencing other people's thought and reasoning.

In reality, as soon as their market shine is over, that bubble bursts.  Some part of them recognizes this, and that's when the insecurity sets in.

Actors can be extremely insecure in many ways, particularly emotionally.  It can be useful to learn the craft, for vulnerability and that emotional softness can open the doors to exploring characters, motivations, feelings, nuanced expressions, etc.  But all this good stuff is for actors, the artists, not the stars and wannabe stars.

In the midst of an industry where few bets are secure, Salman Khan has blazed a trail of success, starring in hit after hit.  There's no denying he is a marketplace superstar.  He is a relatively far safer bet.  This has built an air of invincibility around him, and that's great, for the unsolved puzzle of what makes a movie click remains unsolved.

What is not so hard to solve, however, is why this multitude of stars and wannabe stars flock to him in this time of his life when only the law should be dealing with him, and others should, in all sanity, just shut up and wait.

Salman Khan by many accounts has lent a helping hand to many people.  Now, that's fantastic, and maybe he really is a caring human being, except when he is drunk and driving without a licence, or takes a fancy to shooting endangered animals for no freaking reason whatsoever.

So, there are two sides to him?  Maybe.  The Bollywood industry should show its consternation.  Nothing wrong with that.  But it is absolutely ridiculous for some twits to be mouthing off about how harsh the sentence is, and how unfair the verdict, etc.

The pointed question to ask is - What exactly do they mean by showing their solidarity with and support to Salman Khan?  Support from the 'fraternity' is really of no use except emotionally.  Salman Khan isn't grieving the death of a loved one for this.  None of them are lawyers, so they can't fend off the threat of the charges against him.  Useless again.  They can bend public opinion in his favour, but this can backfire.  In any case, the judiciary takes no cognizance of any of this, so that's pretty useless too.  Do they need to take care of Salman Khan's family when he is cooling his heels in prison?  Not even that.  He can easily afford that.  Do they need to pet his dog?  What exactly can they offer him that will be of any use?  Pretty much nothing.

To me, solidarity is about being with that person, and taking on what s/he is taking on.  That means, this lot should be willing to go to prison, or stop working till he comes out, not make any money, just like he cannot when in prison.  I can bet my last paisa none of this is going to happen.

Here is where it gets uniquely interesting with the insecure monkeys of this industry.  It is a 90% failure delivering industry.  This means, only one out of ten films can actually be profitable for the producers.  The rest lose money.  The actors make out, because they get disproportionately large pay packets, because of the star system.  That's commerce, so fair enough.  But a great many others are fairly dispensable, because not all can be stars.  But there's always a next opportunity!

For women to be cast opposite Salman Khan means an automatic leg up.  For directors, it means a good chance at delivering a hit, and going on to make another movie.  For a producer it means a good chance to make a profit.  Salman Khan is a winning horse!  This is probably the only reason the majority these fools are fawning over him, falling all over themselves to be with him.  For the record, lesser people, even within this industry haven't got any support in times of trouble.  It's a dog eat dog world inside this bubble, and the dogs and bitches are all lining up to potentially mate with and be buddies with the alpha dog at the moment.

Now, what about Salman Khan's charity work?  There must be a million rich crooks out there, who avoid taxes, rape the Indian economy through every loophole, get rich through dubious means and outright thievery, and thousands of companies and corporations signing on to every dark means available to rake in the money, that do charity.  It's like advertising - an irritating necessary image building expense.

Let's not forget, Salman Khan's charity started after this incident of drunken driving that killed a person.  It is entirely possible that he is remorseful, and wants to repair the wounds inside his heart that only action of this nature can have some impact on.  Any human being is capable of this, but what these industry twits need to understand is that the kudos for one thing can't cancel the punishment for another.  This is not some twisted sense of karma as a bank account that the law works on.  You break the law, you get punished.  End of the story.

Now, nobody with a conscience can simply go on as if everything is normal, after killing someone inadvertently.  I haven't heard of Salman Khan showing any real remorse.  Maybe the poor guy is feeling remorseful, but his legal team has told him he should put on a face of bravery as their story is that he didn't drive the car!

I have heard of a lot of charity from Salman Khan, but how much of that charity would he have done if he had no money, or success of that magnitude?  It simply wasn't possible.  So, is money everything?  Apparently, this is a point that has escaped argument!  But the court is not considering any of the other 'good' the bad guy in the picture may have done.  This case is about this incident, and should be so.

The other angle for all these industry beefcakes and butterflies to work with is the people behind a lot of money that is riding on Salman Khan right now.  There is every chance that the underworld is involved, and to cover their investments, could very well be influencing some events like people dying and disappearing.  They could also be key to deciding who is on their side of this case and who isn't.  How can anybody miss out on this great opportunity to show solidarity with the people who can ensure their stardom in the future?

We cannot take their statements seriously, especially when some are not even based on any cognizance of reality, blaming the victims, the system and so on for being run over by a badly driven car while sleeping!  But we can certainly search for integrity, intelligence and substance, if we were to expect one of them to come out and say, "Let this be a good lesson for our children that no matter how much good they do, it can be undone by one rash act".

Most of these support and solidarity merchants are opportunists.  Heartless ones.  That's probably the bare truth of it.  They have everything to potentially gain, and nothing at all to lose.  They perhaps know in their own limited but scheming minds that every shot is worth taking, because nobody is going to question their incompetence or being not qualified.  They're just there!  Plus, who knows when they might each need the other's 'support'?

The disgusting display of disregard for the application of the law of the land, will continue because many of them have been brought up on a diet of insulation, imagining that what is true from their point if view is all there is to know about the truth of life, forget the facts of the matter!  They have arrived, wherever that may be!  And they have derived from that arrival, that whatever they did is what it takes and that they are fully deserving of it, and they pass this onto the wannabes.

We don't have to take any of that seriously.  But we can recognize what needs to be questioned, and adulation should be on that list.

- BSK

The audacity of being an Indian government official

The Khobragade affair needs very little by way of an introduction, to a nation and people that have been screamed at by its media on this issue.

Briefly - one of India's serving diplomats, Devyani Khobragade, was arrested in the USA, on a charge of visa fraud, which is a felony, and she claimed she was strip searched and cavity searched, thereby breaching her diplomatic immunity protection.  India screamed blue murder.

reuters.com

Page on Reuters

The USA is capable of much more heinous crime, like dropping bombs on unsuspecting and unconnected and absolutely peaceful people, claiming collateral damage in a "legally" sanctioned war, and its president can escape trial for war crimes, but in this case, there hasn't quite been so much crass violation as there has been carrying out of duty by its law enforcement agencies.

The reason is simple.  India's diplomat was personally responsible for an unlawful act under the USA's visa rules, in the hiring of a maid, who she paid below minimum wage.  Khobragarde was not doing a job assigned to her by her nation.  This is personal, not professional.  So India wasn't really required to press for her immunity from any kind of arrest.

But, this is India under the Congress Party's rule, and it hasn't exactly set the nation on fire with its accomplishments in this current term.  It needs to look good to its own people.  Add to this, Mayawati, the ex-Chief Minister of one of its populous states, added fuel to the fire by saying the central government is dragging its feet on this issue because Khobragarde is from one of the lower castes! 

So, India (I mean the Congress Party) sprung into action and claimed the USA had violated its trust and endangered its diplomatic relationship with India, and removed barricades meant to protect US embassies in India, and asked serving US diplomats in India to return their identity cards that granted them several privileges.  It went even further and asked for a full apology from the USA, and Salman Khurshid, India's External Affairs minister, said their diplomat's "honor" would be fully restored!

Devyani Khobragade case: US must do something, says External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid

What has been startlingly absent is an acceptance that Khobragade did something illegal.  No matter what fancy diplomatic language is used to cover up this fact, she did something unlawful in a foreign country, and expected her official position to cover for this.  Nothing can be more disgustingly obvious of the hypocrisy India indulges in, during fiascos like this one.

The USA also subscribes to several shades of hypocrisy, but in this case, it stands absolutely in the clear as far as the legality of the arrest of Khobragarde goes.  How better it could have handled this matter is debatable, and claims of regret over the handcuffing, strip searching and placing with common criminals in custody may or may not be convincing.  However...

The fact remains that the trigger for this cascade of events was Khobragade's wrongdoing.  Why is India finding it really hard to accept this and indeed, even mention it?  It's because most Indian officials, in any capacity, are wont to abuse their power in some way or the other.  Starting from using the state provided car for personal needs, like dropping off the family at the airport, to bending as many rules as possible when there is some small benefit to be had, with very little risk of getting caught, Indian officials, no matter which government they work for, are mostly guilty of many petty crimes.  So none of them feel Khobragarde did anything so "grave" as to warrant such extreme treatment.

Every message and every projection of the Indian government has been that the nation has somehow been wronged, and we, the people of India, must show our rightful indignation! 

"The fact is that (the) American authorities have behaved atrociously with an Indian diplomat. And obviously, America has to make good for its actions," said Manish Tiwari, minister for information and broadcasting.  As shrill as this sounds, it appears in an article about rowdy elements ransacking a business establishment using an American brand - Dominos Pizza!  Mumbai: Protesters attack Dominos outlet over Devyani Khobragade case

For some reason, India's inferiority complex comes forth at times like these, when it feels it needs to stand up to the big brother, the USA!  Well, if it needed opportunities like this, it could very well have stood up to the USA when Bush decided to attack Iraq based on its pretentious and highly dubious claims of Weapons of Mass Destruction and called it a bloody sham.  After all, thousands of Indians were working in Iraq, legally, I might add, and their interests had to be guarded at all costs.  But none of them were diplomats, or officials, and people worthy of protecting like this.  It is true Air India did a big evacuation of Indian citizens from Iraq, but what could have been a better opportunity than telling the USA, "India is extremely disappointed with the USA's decision to attack Iraq, and has decided to suspend all diplomatic ties in view of this dastardly and tragic decision"?  That would have been a show of national character, of belief in peaceful means of existence, of subscription to a high standard in international relations.

India could have told Hillary Clinton to mind her own business when she said she would like to wean India away from Iranian oil and gas, for India has excellent relations with Iran, no matter what the USA says about that nation.  India could be regularly playing up the damage drones are causing to its neighbour Pakistan.  But then, its media outlets, particularly English language channels, are owned by US interests!  How can this ever happen, except for some polite banter or debate?  It's balls that they lack, and this is a good representation of India today - shallow in character, big on noise.

Khobragade doesn't seem to have any stellar character to bulk up any dossier on her that might be forming this moment.  She owns properties that were meant for war veterans, and has other dubious connections.  All very common in India's bureaucratic circles.  It would appear that not only are most Indian government servants in power abusing their position, but indeed that they get into such positions for the express purpose of abusing the law to accrue assets and advantages they would normally not be entitled to or be competent enough to accrue on their own as private and legitimate entrepreneurs.

No matter what caste she comes from, and it really doesn't and shouldn't matter - Khobragade's behaviour indicates something low.  You don't employ a maid, a subordinate, and pay that person less than minimum wage!  Mayawati also comes from a lower caste, and she amassed wealth to an unprecedented degree when she was in power as the Chief Minister of UP.  There are any number of cases pending against her and people in her government.  This could be an indication of a mindset - when given the opportunity, rise at any cost to offset any feeling of inferiority on any front!

What has been lost in the process of this needless grunting from the Indian government is the opportunity to set the record straight and demonstrate that India puts lawful behaviour by its diplomats and representatives on high priority and ask the USA how it can assist in the process of resolving this issue.  What can possibly be lost in accepting the fact that one of its servants did indeed commit a crime?

Completely the opposite, India (read the Congress Party) has seen this as an opportunity to launch an all out offensive, in order to shore up its image as a failed, weak and unresponsive government, and has used its diplomatic capital to put pressure on the USA!  It has gone far enough to try and move Khobragade to the UN, which would mean greater protection and immunity for a wrongdoer, but the USA has stated very clearly that that sort of immunity cannot be applied retroactively.

The simple question is - when you commit visa fraud, you are committing a crime that common criminals do!  Why would you want to be treated any differently for the same crime?  Why should you expect to be allowed to be placed in some sort of luxurious custody, while your nation "figures out" how to get you out of a mess you created?  It is the expectation of the hypocrites, not the truth seekers. 

It is the expectation of those that have lived their lives mired in shady behaviour, who accept ambiguity as an ally, and unspoken rules as the guiding principles of their very existence.  Which bloody maid could be expected to complain against her boss of wrongdoing, that too in a foreign land?  Well, that's the whole high class versus low class attitude for you!  Khobragarde was wrong in assuming that all maids are indeed mute slaves.

What India has on its hands is an absolutely naked exposure of its hypocrisy and its unwillingness to come out of its murky labyrinth of government working class corruption, its compromise of all morals, its lack of humility and a striking shortage of national character.  This is the damage India needs to repair, not the damage that has happened to one of its errant ambassadors - someone it should be ashamed of, not protecting.

Why Modi?

The Congress and its allies must be delusional.  Their supporters must be even more so.  Or else how could someone who thinks there was no loss to the nation in the 2G spectrum allocation scam still be expected to show up in the media at all?  Wouldn't anybody with even a modicum of brain want to hide such a fool from the public eye?  

Yesterday, Finance Minister Chidambaram made a condescending remark about Narendra Modi saying it appears as if Mr. Modi is taking an interest in the economy of the nation.  An interest?  No kidding!  A man who knows nothing about the economy can actually reform a state and make it the most productive, sought after investment destination in the nation?  Really?  Where the hell does this attitude to ridicule come from, after failing in almost all economic tests?  Inflation, out of control!  Current Account Deficit, massive!  Imports, increasing!  Exports, no growth!  Savings of Indian people, going down!  Some record this!

Chidambaram had the gall to say he welcomes people taking an interest and hopes that they will try to learn, first by unlearning, and then learning anew.  No shit!  This great learning is what has caused India's coal reserves to be looted, its spectrum allocated to random parties with huge losses to the exchequer, labour shortage in agriculture, terrible schemes like the rural employment guarantee schemes in which nobody benefits while the nation becomes full of beggars waiting for the next round of freebies ... the list goes on and on.

There were real opportunities - to rope in a huge amount of energy security for India.  Venezuela was willing to sell oil at below OPEC prices to certain nations, and India was on that list.  Iran already had a great relationship and was even willing to purchase in rupees!  What did the bloody Congress do?  Refuse Venezuela and agree to "wean" itself off Iranian oil, because that white female political goddess Hillary Clinton thought we needed to be weaned, like fucking babies.  She is the same woman who once said Mahatma Gandhi ran a gas station in St. Louis, Missouri!  Can you believe showing this moron any kind of respect?  There wasn't one Congress member with any bloody spine that told her to shove it.  Obama would have understood - that's the way the Americans are.  If you're straight with them, they get it.  But these slave minds are bent, crooked, even to us, so of course they'd bend over backwards for a white woman from the USA!  What we need to wean ourselves off is dependence, and sycophancy.

Here is why I will vote for Modi and hope he becomes PM of India - the guy actually has a track record of growth, a model of development, and a showcase of work he is willing to do.  Gujarat is not a hot destination for nothing.  This guy actually thinks he can do that to the rest of India.  The idiots in Congress, starting with their puppy, think India needs to be on life support, and they are the heroes that will provide it.  Modi thinks India can do better and do much more, and we don't need condescending and insulting programs - and he thinks right.  He will make India work.  That alone will get me to vote for him.

Screw the Congress, screw being lethargic, and screw being stuck in rhetoric.

Rahul Gandhi says he would like to see young people in politics.  Hello!  He's young and he's a dodo.  What if more young dodos join politics?  That's not what we want.  We need able people to run the show.  Age is just a number.  Just because Manmohan Singh is proving to be senile doesn't mean age is the problem.  Being senile is the problem!  Rahul Gandhi is proving you can be senile at a pretty young age.

Kapil Sibal wants a debate?  Seriously?  What for?  For Modi to waste his time?  Is this the best tactic to weaken Modi - so he can be debating with this fool instead of campaigning for the BJP?  How much of a debate can you have with someone so hopelessly delusional?   I am sick of this Congress lot.  Just to get them out of the way I'd vote for the BJP.

The Congress is the best party to rule a nation that no longer exists.  It is the Congress that created that weak nation, and it is the Congress that needs such a weak nation, in order to further their unimaginative agendas, sycophantic dynasty, and retarded notions.  Despite their strongest efforts, India has managed to come out of the delusion, and is now taking a deep, good look at itself.  Indians are frustrated, not because of not having enough to eat, but because of being suppressed from reaching their true potential.  

We don't need free food.  We need a free nation.  A nation free from the Congress party's antics.  A nation free from Kapil Sibal and Chidambaram.  A nation free from the pseudo intellectual Delhi high society coterie imagining it can run a nation.

I'd vote for Modi - nothing political, nothing personal, just for the fun of seeing fools kicked out.

- BSK

What's the fuss all about this damn movie?

Vishwaroopam.

No matter what, the support for Kamal Haasan is extremely well deserved.  At the very least Kamal Haasan has tried to do something he believed in and he has pulled it off very well. 

Unfortunately, what he has tried to do isn't anything great.

The fact that this movie is being hailed as something great by some people is an indication of how pathetic the other movies around it are!

Kamal Haasan is an incredibly talented actor.  That's also because he has invested himself heavily for many, many years in that art and craft.  He has made no such investment in directing and it shows.  He still does better than many so called "commercial" directors and that shows as well.

Let's not set the same standards for Kamal Haasan as we would do for others.  His fans have every right to expect better, unless they have refused to grow up or are disrespectul enough to lower their standards for him.  If you've been around in the industry for over fifty years, and you've won national recognition, you need to get your shit together.  It's that simple, as far as I'm concerned.

This movie has a hard time deciding what it is.  It works quite well as a good guys vs. bad guys movie, without any of the pretentions of global ramifications, nations involved, plots that humanity should worry about, religion and all that bull.  For this film, it doesn't matter who the bad guys are.  They are terrorists and that would suffice.  But there are irrelevant elements that attempt rather childishly to take it to some other level, and fail miserably.  If this is Kamal Haasan trying to be "global" in his viewpoint, then I'm afraid he simply doesn't cut it as a storyteller.

The transformation from the effeminate dance teacher to awesome action hero that leaves the girl drop jawed was fantastic, even though we expected it.  A few seconds of action, and the switch was complete.  The moment the slow motion replay followed it, the whole effect was diluted and pissed away.  This is Kamal Haasan the director making sure, rather condescendingly, that we get it.  We sure got it, for expecting better.

An uncouth hero, who doesn't give a damn about any God can be just that, without picking any arguments with anyone.  He can just pretend as convenient, as needed.  In fact, that type of character would be a karma yogi and would be incredible.  Kamal Haasan hasn't reached for anything that high.

The physical obstacle course that the ageing protagonist puts himself through, all by himself, for absolutely no reason, really asks the question - "Why are we watching this?".  If he is such a superhuman operator, we know he must be capable of going through an obstacle course just like all other jihadis who're training for militancy.  This is Kamal Haasan's irrepressible narcissism gaining momentum.  It culminates (in this movie) with him sleeping with the girl.  Just in case we had any lingering doubts about his virility, since he has led her on so far to believe he's really married to her for convenience, and obviously for safe cover.

The conversation with the black immigration official is priceless trite.  Clearly Kamal Haasan the writer knows nothing beyond the stereotypes his front seat fans already have in mind.  Thankfully, it is in English.  Erm, American.

If anybody ever figures out why the Nigerian terrorist shaves his pubic hair before going out, and why we had to see it, please enlighten us.  Not that we're heavy with anticipation, but some lightening of the load of bull would help considerably.

This would have been a fantastic movie with Ultimate Star Ajith in the lead.  In fact, he would have had more fun with this sort of role.  Except that there is nobody who can write a script even this good for him.  Kamal Haasan the writer constantly supports Kamal Haasan the actor, but where is Kamal Haasan the visionary?  Certainly invisible in this movie.

The US military's soldier, uttering "shit" when he shoots a woman from his helicopter is ... what?  I seriously don't know why this movie has to lick up to the Americans, found as they are in the wrong countries fighting wars with people completely unconnected to those that attacked them! 

There are any number of dreadful lapses, but the humour survives!  I'm not sure why we would want to be humoured through so much labour to make us laugh, but this is again Kamal Haasan not knowing what movie he is making.  The actor in him easily takes on all the lack of congruence though!

The most annoying thing about the movie is its unformed world view.  The grey areas are great, but what's the defining conflict?  It's between a group of bad buys and good guys, with two chicks in the mix.  That's it.  What is the fuss all about?

- BSK.