LiFe is CooL

Not getting the point? What followed on the consecutive day took our trademark ‘who cares’ attitude to another level. Engine of an Air India aircraft that is supposed to be phased out in October caught fire at the Mumbai airport on Friday, forcing the evacuation of all 213 passengers on board. The Riyadh-bound plane was originally scheduled to leave at 2 am on Friday, but the departure was put off to 5.15 am after the chosen aircraft developed a snag. The second aircraft too had a similar fault, causing another five-hour delay — before the fire caused the third hold-up. Sixteen of the 213 passengers opted out when AI finally arranged for another flight for Riyadh at 6 pm.

Considering this kind of state of affairs and deplorable state of maintenance, I wonder how hundreds of Planes embrace the Indian skies everyday? And how thousands trains make their way to the different parts of the country? It left me flabbergasted, but the catch here is, that it’s India. You make an inch of an error in any other part of the world and you’ll be putting your life in peril. Here we make gigantic mistakes but still everything continues to work for most of the time. Despite all these odds India works mysteriously and people make it work.

It is not something to be celebrated but, this ‘Devil may care’ attitude has become a part of the Indian psyche, an attribute that defines India, an attribute that has kept our unity intact despite various religious and cultural divides. But have we gone too far with it? Few days back Manu sharma (Same man who shot Jessica Lal in cold blood) was spotted at a night club in Delhi. He was out on a parole to meet his ailing mother, who was fit as a fiddle and was spotted at a function in Chandigarh. After this news broke out in prime time, following the public angst, he went back to prison. It was a blot on Indian Judicial System and there was so much hullabaloo over the issue but, everything calmed down with time and because ‘who cares’.

Madhu Koda, Chief Minister of Jharkhand, siphoned off more than Rs 4000 crores of the tax payers money which led to flashing of Breaking News across all news channels. But the whole issue died when Justice Liberhan’s dud report on Babri Masjid’s demolition was leaked. Reports revealed nothing more than what was captured real time on the camera, which is evident enough for bringing its perpetrators to justice. But even after 16 years we are only concerned about the credibility of the report, not about its purpose. In the midst of all this Madhu Koda had time of his life. This was the time when I sent numerous mails across all the channels questioning ‘why there hasn’t been any focus on Madhu Koda? Are news channels under political pressure?’ On the following day there was coverage that Madhu Koda is finally arrested. Might just be a coincidence.

One year, hundreds of people butchered, 200 witnesses, trial of Ajmal Kasab has made mockery of our Judicial System. Here is a man, who’s captured by CCTV camera’s killing innocent people claims that he is not the person in the video, another act of his brazenness just to buy time because he knows that he’s in India and we are fools. Now I know why everything here works with the grace of God? Because the youth of this country is sleeping and we have forgot the art of questioning.

 My new friend - Facebook

Twitter topped the list of 'English word of 2009' and left Obama to sulk

at the second spot. Unfriend (Courtesy Facebook) made its way to the Oxford Dictionary. This is the power of Social Networking. Power and its misuse are like Hand in Glove.

Priya told me how a close friend of her came to meet her and the moment she stepped in, her first question was 'is your internet working?' and within

few moments she found another friend of her online and she immersed herself in a virtual conversation oblivious to the fact that Priya was around. Few days later, Priya was visited by another outstation friend and surprisingly even here the first query that popped out was regarding internet. Even this friend of her found fertilizing Farmville every few minutes far more important than Priya.

Virtual world seem to have taken over the real world. Things were not rosy even earlier and now they are even more aggaravated with the introduction of mind-numbing platforms like Farmville. Research has shown that devoting excessive time to such platforms or chatting in general introduce serious implications with the Brain's productivity and the ideation power. Social networking has certainly brought our inaccessible friends closer to us but at the same time deprived us of the real time fun. Experiences like the fragrance of mud in the first rain, making castles on the beach are much more valuable than fertilizing that dull animated farm. Go out, explore, there is lot to see, a lot to read and a lot to learn. Indulge yourself in some recreational activity. And most important of all, cherish your friends.

The moment camera glides over Jama Masjid and