March 4, 2016

Media Sedation, not Kanhaiya Sedition

March 04, 2016 Posted by Vijay , , No comments
The more the news around Kanhaiya Kumar spreads, less inclined I am towards believing in anybody, let alone his own version. Among all this drama and confusion, the one source which keeps escaping scotfree, is the media. On the one hand the media reports of instances of intolerance, on the other hand, they want the freedom to continue reporting incidents and blowing them into such major proportions, there is no one who knows what the truth is. And then what happens? The so called anti national gets the sympathy of many, courtesy the media and no one now is willing to even know what the truth is.

The reporting media has become so powerful and opportunistic today, that an entire nation is held ransom to its opinions and views. It is quite appalling for the media to report incidents of intolerance when they themselves demand so much of tolerance. If I were given an opportunity, their wings should be clipped, not to subdue their reporting, but the constant debating and putting words in the mouths of politicians or students, you name them. It is disturbing to air debates which are fruitless given the media's reach and clouded views.

Freedom of speech is something which every Indian is proud to have. But does it give anyone and everyone to air their opinions and generate anti national sentiment? No. But hey, counter question would be - is there proof to show there were anti national slogans at JNU? But do we have proof to prove otherwise? No. But when you see news channels, Kanhaiya Kumar has become the victim. Irrespective of whether he is in the wrong or not, media will report he is the victim, and track him for 6 months and more.

February 8, 2016

Snapped-deal - naps on a dil ki deal

February 08, 2016 Posted by Vijay , No comments
Bought this product from snapdeal - Sony Alpha SLT A58M. Of course its currently sold out. But the order was supposed to come with a combo kit as advertised. Screenshot below:

While the camera arrived, the combo kit never did. And the I had to follow up with a ticket to make the seller send the combo kit via DTDC. The sellet though, showed no remorse in trying to bargain with me into sending whatever tripod or SDHC card or screen guard he had at his disposal which I promptly refused, Talk about customer insensitivity! 

January 8, 2016

2015 Ke Beach Beach Mein

January 08, 2016 Posted by Vijay , No comments
I had planned the trip to Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari (Dec. 27- Dec. 30), almost 4 months back. More so to get good enough discounts because New Year eve can be very expensive. Since the time I  tied the knot (Some might call it 'dreaded'. My reference here is open to interpretation for all about my own personal take ...) more than 5 years back, the number of blog posts have plummeted. This will be an earnest effort from my part to change that pattern. Fingers and toes crossed.

The plan was to board the Nagercoil express train from Salem (my better half's native), to Nagercoil and then visit places around including Kanyakumari (20 odd kms from Nagercoil) by bus. Two days in Nagercoil and then on to Thiruvananthapuram. I normally mix and match my trips to cover one day in a good resort and the other day or two in a normal hotel. This keeps the trip on the economical side (or so I believe :)). Getting big discounts from sites like Yatra (45%), Makemytrip (50%) or Goibibo is a big bonus too. This time it was Sahana castle in Nagercoil and Over the hill resort in Poovar.

I was asked multiple times what I would do for two days in Nagercoil. I only had a plan for one day to go to Kanyakumari. So I had to find a plan for the other day. I have always believed, a trip is about enjoyment and fun without the stress and pressure of having to cover all the historic places. My belief is, in the hurry to cover all the places, one just mounts unnecessary tension on oneself and sacrifices the whole purpose of the trip. So I am always very happy to choose off beat locations which are sparsely crowded.