Life and time being employed

It has been a long time since i penned down for the blog. Well maybe the devil was having other ministrations. Good news is i am employed again, the not to better part of it I have to get my ass moving a lot to earn my bread. However, today's post has something different in focus.

For the last 3 weeks i have been to my new place of posting, there has been things i have seeen and still haven't found out any convincing answers.

This hamlet's nerve centre is the National Highway and a major intersection in it. The place has been famous for quite a long time for some kind of entrepreneurial venture and even draws its name for the activity. So even to this day, people taking the path of earning their own bread is common.

In the time i have been here, almost every working day, during noon, i find a group of youth blocking the highway, to protest against either the government or individual under the banner of some organisation with the majority being student centric.  The interesting part of this act is that the guys are same, only the flags change.

The question in my mind which come up are:

1. Don't these guys have work to do other than shouting slogans or do they get paid for it?
2. The guys would be in their late 20s and since they are on the streets there remains a very small chance they still are pursuing some educational degree, so can they claim to be students?
3. From what they wear, the gadgets they carry and the metal horses they ride, who pays for that?
4. And at last, if that is their way of living, are they happy with it? Instead of just protesting couldn't they try to act on the problems and find out a solution?

The other point which crosses my mind at this juncture is does student politics in India go on to involve themselves in every situation of politics which happen in the nation. I ask this because, though student politics have brought about humongous changes in the state of our nation but in most cases what can be seen is a replication of "Animal Farm" which is alarming.

On an ending note, its not good to see protests, rather some brainstorm to solve the crisis is what seems to me a rather beautiful option. Many people have bled in the movements headed by student organisations, please do understand the organisation is never bad its the vision of the leader and the actions they choose to bring out that brings a bad name to the group.

Until next time, ciao!!

Political righteousness and the times we live in

These are the days of fans, of cheerleaders, of groupies; move aside sportspersons and rock stars for ‘politician’ is the ‘in’ thing. This age of social media has opened a new vista for the citizenry as all can now focus on the microcosm of their own small world where an unlimited data plan and uninterrupted power would surely win elections. Add to that bandwagon the promise of a steady employment option and some more tit bits and the ‘leader’ becomes ‘GOD’.

The troubles start brewing when he ‘leader’ is obstructed by an ‘oldie’, a guy with a generation gap, all because the ‘leader’ now wishes to relinquish his 2IC position and he the CO must step aside. My darling this 2IC has is reasons too, he has the popularity. But then the ‘eeevil’ CO thinks as why he should step away from a post which came to him after years of toil and labour.

Hell, but what will the groupie do? Chant the names, invoke powers unseen and follow; let go of inhibitions, ignore ‘his’ faults for ‘he’ too is human and take up arms on the ones who dare put up a challenge.

This is the situation right now as I see in politics; take some example in Congress, in BJP and the power corridors of Assam and the storyline is basically the same.

However, my problem with these so called leaders is their self anointed sense of propriety, of honesty and righteousness to such extent that the follies of their own or ones in their field of influence is conveniently ignored and efficiently let go.

The other aspect of the story is the admirers, for they are so blind to the flaws of he ‘leader’ that I am appalled to see some weird explanations just to hold the point. And I shudder when these admirers turn up to be highly educated persons, persons with their own field of expertise and an incredible potential to influence those with lesser faculties than them.

Luckily though I have been able to keep myself away from this mess and call me a psychopath but these politicians getting a beating literally cheers me up regardless of which camp the bloke belongs to.

I need a breath of fresh air for these people won’t forego their power to allegedly serve the people for it’s the power for which they stopped earning their own bread in the first place.

For the leader treads and unwalked path, following orders are just for a minion

Dye penetration test

A little technical stuff for today’s post, specifically aimed at engineers involved in the core sector of quality control.

Dye penetration test or DPT as it is popularly referred to in the industry is a basic test aimed at the detection of surface faults of machined surfaces viz. cracks, porous formation and flux deposit.

The test is carried out using a DPT kit which consists of:

1.  Cleaner: A transparent fluid used to clean the test surface and is the same as in paint thinner.

2.  Penetrant: A red fluid applied on the surface and as its name suggests penetrates into the surface faults.

3.  Developer: White in color, this fluid points out the surface fault; points on which correction is needed.

The test in itself is a easy 4 step procedure which is quick and provides for a quick surface check. However, microscopic faults are not addressed by this procedure and different methods are suggested for them. The steps to e carried out to conduct the DP Test are:

1.  Clean the intended surface with a soft cloth so as to remove all dust and grime and then apply a layer of the cleaner.

2.  Wipe off the cleaner with a cloth and then apply the penetrant on the surface. Let the penetrant to be on the surface for at-least 1 minute.

3.  Wipe the penetrant off the surface and apply the cleaner again to remove all visible traces of the penetrant by wiping.

4.  Apply a thin layer of the developer onto the surface. Coloring of the developer at various points suggest the faults.

It is usually assumed that points of red are usually pin holes or porosity whereas long continuous traces are either cracks or flux deposits.

However do remember that greater amount of developer may be applied to cheat the test as the penetrat fails to show up on the surface. If there is a doubt, scrape off a little of the developer film to check for any penetrant traces or conduct the test again.

Call it paranoia..

Though I have not lived long enough, but still somehow managed to see a miniscule part of this enormous creation and come across a fraction of all beings, but today the focus group is humans though.

As per my observation, one of the classifications of humans can be done as under

1.  Who sees, thinks and acts

2.  Who sees, acts and thinks

3.  Who acts, sees and thinks

4.  Who sees, has a laugh, summarizes and acts (if necessary)

For today it’s the second group who are at gunpoint (I assume myself in the fourth class, “the great holiness of me”). The reason for this choice is their potential explosive attributes which bring out extreme emotions and its just a time bomb with the timer set for an unknown value.

This group though is usually comprised of two kinds of people only:

1.  They are confident enough to take on the world

2.   People with a sense of insecurity with a mindset of having been cornered all through their lives

However, their common trait is the unflinching devotion towards a cause and that being so strong that almost no force is enough to budge that belief.

All hell breaks loose when they jump into battles, not of their making in the first place, just because the or their cause had been criticized or called names, even though that be in jest or any other context irrelevant to them.

The outcome of this trait is groups of people so hell bent on their needs and causes at even the social fabric is endangered. Their behavior is easily contagious and the followers themselves being vectors. Canvassing and rallying for support for some y seem no les than a cry baby’s rant.

For any individual, the problem become up close and personal when you are pointlessly dragged into a forum and told to pick side, either of which you are not interested in. The pressure o choose sides sometimes exceeds a pressure cooker and leaves only a fight or flee situation. The flee here being to choose a side and if not interested remain silent. The fight however means dishing out a negative reply to both sides and remain silent all to their inconvenience. The positive effect of this reaction is hat any future altercation by the same entity will be wary of engaging you in their skirmish.

Now for the target group, I do not despise you or wish you ill for you will either be hated or be loved nothing more, nothing less and nothing in between. It has been for you people that many revolutions reached their fruitful end. But just pause at times, look around, ignore some sparks and yes some pricks are meant for good.

The new age ads and some logic issues

For the consumer-centric industry advertisements are a lifeline, without them maybe many products would have gone unnoticed probably but then again for a crank like me, finding flaws comes inherently that even these don’t go unnoticed. An evening in front of the TV for 45 minutes and this is a minuscule observation in the advertisements.

Everyuth face wash: Nargis Fakhri is shown taking a stroll out in the sun with the setting of a make believe coastal settlement. She clicks for herself a Polaroid and finds a huge coat of dirt almost blackening her.

Sadly for her (or the ad agency) I have seen women being out in the sun for hours (even I have my stretches) but this didn't happen. Rather I remember visiting a industrial furnace where I almost had this scenario though. So either the town is polluted or the director barked up the wrong tree.

Honda Amaze: Their ad of a family getting lost on the way is good and personally I love Honda cars, the problem however lies in the fact that such a feature packed car doesn't have a GPS device? Word of advice: wait till another car maker comes up with a similar engine, and they will prey on this fact.

Old Spice: Yes Old Spice has been there for a very long time and survived successfully, but tell me what has the fragrance of a product got to do with the presenter’s riding the horse backwards?? Still trying to make sense of it.

Deodorants: This is a very big world so some sub categories in place

        Cobra Deo: Emraan Hashmi is escorted by some beautiful ladies who are rather interested in a catwalk than securing the prisoner. Suddenly he takes off to apply deo on his shirt!! Holy moly! but I remember deo cans writing specifically not to apply the spray on clothes.

        Axe Deo: Ladies going ‘bum chika waaw waaw’. Has that something to do with the deos? And none of their ads feature Indians. So either, these ladies not from India are either crazy or sheer dumb? Still trying to figure out.

Suitcase: Gone are the days of the trunk, it’s the time of polymer suitcases and now with wheels. Yes they are light but tell me how is a lighter suitcase going to help if you stuff a trunk-load into it? With difference of just grams between them, this is absurd.

Tang: The ad shows kids in Anna-Kejriwal style putting up their demands before their mothers, fine, they are learning non violence and tantrum behavior is going away. The shocker comes when a mother reveals to her other counterparts that the new Tang has fruit in it. So do I now believe that the older Tang did not have fruits?? Shouldn’t I sue the management now??

Samsung Galaxy Note II: This bloke goes out for lunch and brings in a Samsung Galaxy Note, good thing. The trouble starts when he says he paid zero’ for it and then says it also has a “zero’ EMI and blah blah. But sir, if you paid zero for something why will you pay EMI’s for?? Beats me, either the product is free or it is not.

Horlicks: The grand old supplement has been around more than we have lived and the other day came up with a horrifying ad. They did some research, the result of which proved Horlicks to be beneficial, in which they had divided a group of 569 children into groups of half. I am still doing the math of dividing the group into half.

That’s all for today, will see through more of these ads and yes post your ad observations too.

The fallacy of an exiled Assamese

It has been close to three decades now the liberation of Assam movement by ULFA has been going on. On ideal grounds, yes, their cause seems justified. However, much water has flown down the Brahmaputra and many acts so unjustified and illogical that their whole purpose now has a hollow ring and sad but true, the people for whom he movement was intended for have grown averse.

The major flaw in their demand for a sovereign sate of Assam is, “there is absolutely no strategy for defense post independence”. With so much mineral resources, flora, fauna and fertile plains, Assam is both tactically and economically desirable for any nation in the vicinity. Hypothetically, with Indian armed forces withdrawing and with almost no army and a non existent air force remaining, Assam will be nothing but a sitting duck to be taken over.

Another logic to be seen is will India let go of Assam? No. But more importantly, where do other provinces like Aunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalya, Mizoram, Tripura align themselves with ULFA’s cause. I have my skepticism on this point.

ULFA’s actions over the years have been limited to, geographically, in Assam and against the indigenous people of Assam with lesser known incidents against non-indigenous people. This is peculiar, because in liberation movements you are to attack the enemy and not some suspected informer and almost never your side. LTTE went on have is own navy and air force and here with borrowed guns the battle is virtually lost. Again, these movements are political ones as a fighter you are expected not only to fight but air your voice about the problems plaguing the society of your brethren.

The recent incident of moral policing by Paresh Barua by issuing a diktat, well rather indicates his orthodox outlook with no flexibility or a flawed sense about the public perception regarding culture ad cultural icons. Cultural exchange has almost never been limited by boundaries or orders. And to aggravate the public hostility, you went ahead by threatening Zubeen Garg for his life and this does not do any good to your cause. Whereas your family has been kept exiled by you fearing their lives, you have isolated them from he culture too which is gross, it’s them who are losing their identity.

This piece is not any appeal but a reality check by a citizen of what your actions have gone down to. Take it or leave it…

cooking out of a kettle.

Those were my times at the hostel, he meal a the mess was well  hard to put up and betraying at emergencies. so being brave and hoping to be favored by fortune I took refuge in an electric kettle and well they say he rest is history.

So here's a few of the items cooked up as I recall them. Please note that all meals listed here were dished out keeping in mind the least messing up the kettle.

Tea: Make way for your container of tea leaves and in comes the tea bags.They were my choice for they weren't messy and flavors were available too. Boil your water, mix in the milk, add sugar to taste and dunk the pouch in. Its teatime!!

Instant soup: A little tricky but yes a gratifying appetizer in the cold days. Do not go to read the instructions at the back of the pack, it won’t help. Make a paste of the powder using cold water and let it stand for the time your water boils over. Mix the water to the paste and voila!! Your soup is served…

Noodles: though traditionally the process has been to drop the noodle in the kettle with water and let it boil, I preferred a lesser trodden path. That being the same as that of cooking up the soup.

Eggs: Boiling eggs is child’s play but half boiled ones I am talking about. Boil the water and switch off the kettle, dip in the eggs for 3 minutes and the eggs are ready.

So then, eat healthy, stay fit, keep reading and sharing until next time…