The Bored Engineer

Disappointment and disillusionment are the virtues of the pessimists who love to bask in them to reaffirm their sadistic outlook of life. So when I as a self-proclaimed Optimistic–General of World Optimism Council tell you that the book “ Neither A Hawk Nor A Dove ” by Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri was a major disappointment for me, you know I’m not just saying it for the sake of saying it, I have been tormented by something painful that must have hurt my soul. Enough of the theatrics, I picked up the book because of two primary reasons:       It promised to give an insider’s view of the backchannel settlement of the Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan around 2006-07.    The drama that unfurled in India when Mr. Kasuri was here to promote his book and his subsequent appeal that his book was not a Pakistani propaganda, rather an attempt to bridge the gap in the Indian and Pakistani narratives about our shared history. The books starts with Mr. ...

Respected seniors, It was your farewell today, marking the culmination of your journey as a student of this institution and I must say that you all have made us proud and I wish you all the very best in all your future endeavours. Whatever be the case, you will have us at your back supporting you no matter what. Although I could go on and on about future I wish to talk to you about the present or the immediate future that stares us in the face. Soon you will be leaving the campus taking different paths that the life may have in store for you and we will be left there to take your place and this scares the hell out of me. How will we ever match up to you, how will we find that exactly right blend of friendship and mentorship that our juniors will expect of us. I remember you sharing our joys and worries like the very best of our friends and yet when we erred you were there to guide us. You laughed at the silliest of our jokes (and vice versa of course) and disciplined us wit...

India is often referred to as the nation of contrasting nature, assimilating various hues and shades that seem to defy the very presence of the other. Our vibrant democracy has also in certain cases led to situations that may surprise the novice observer. For example while four states in India share two capitals each (Haryana - Punjab = Chandigarh & Telangana - Andhra Pradesh = Hyderabad) we also have a state that has two capitals, Jammu and Kashmir having Jammu and Srinagar as its winter and summer capitals respectively. While Chandigarh & Hyderabad are examples where the states involved have shown inability to create/maintain capitals of their own (although Andhra Pradesh is working on its separate capital), Jammu and Kashmir boasts of two functional capitals for a single state. While many feel that maintaining two capitals leads to wastage of precious public funds and time, an equally compelling argument in its favor is that it maintains regional stability. The...

How much does a man need? Should we be really satisfied with what we have and when does growing need give birth to greed. I don’t know answers to that and I don’t expect you to have them either. After all how can we? All our lives we have spent taking care of and listening to just one person, that one person we call ‘I’. Yeah, we may have occasionally given a thought or two to other peoples’ lives, the lives that are connected to ours. The lives of our brothers and sisters, of our parents and of our friends and relatives. But that’s it. I for one always thought that I am a caring person who thinks about others, of the direction our nation is heading to, of eliminating poverty etc. continuous reading books and watching documentaries and interviews, surfing internet and discussing with friends and family. I thought this is what everyone was supposed to do and I was doing my part. Yesterday, it was Raksha Bandhan, the festival of love, of the strong sibling bond that has ev...

Recently at a quizzing event I came across a strange fact. The Santa-Banta jokes were named after the killers of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in order to humiliate the Sikh community and punish them. Although I tried to cross check the fact on the internet, I was unable to verify the authenticity of the above stated fact, but what made me think was that this is not the case of two imaginary individuals (read fools) but an entire community is ridiculed. As I said earlier I can’t verify the origin of these Sardar jokes but the fact that we are openly stereotyping an entire community and ridiculing it is no less disturbing than trampling their basic human rights (The right to live their life with dignity). Can this be considered any less than an Indian version of Apartheid? After all no matter what part of India you are in you will hear a Sardarji joke. People of almost every region and ethnicity make Sardar jokes and forward these jokes on their social networks. Bollywood itse...

World’s largest democracy, India. A nation of 1.25 billion people uniting themselves under the Tricolour abiding by their fundamental duties as well as enjoying the fruits of being a free nation. Our constitution guarantees us freedom of expression, religion and in return expects us to respect the national flag, constitution and educate ourselves so that we may serve the nation better. Now as lucrative as it may seem, the reality is quite otherwise. We as a nation despise freedom. We look down upon youngsters (mostly females) and their dressing sense, we hate it when a woman asking for civil rights has been on a fast for more than 10 years, and we don’t like a person from some other state makes a living in our state. We hate it all. Our politics is not about liking a politician or their policies, rather we hate other politicians. We take pride on calling ourselves a pluralistic society but look around you and see how much we hate the economic or social diversity. We hate ...

Nearly sixty years ago Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose supposedly died in an air crash. Nation mourned on the death of a titan and the government followed up with an investigation. Three commissions of enquiries have been set up but to this day the contents of the investigation report have not been conclusive. Also various documents related to Netaji’s death have been classified and kept away from public purview under the guise of variable nomenclature (like ‘Top Secret’, ‘Secret’, ‘Classified’ and ‘Unclassified’). But we as a nation deserves to know what happened to one of our most dynamic leader and vastly loved freedom crusader who is a source of inspiration and patriotism even so long after his death. BJP during its election campaign had promised to release classified files about Netaji's death but now it seems like the matter has been conveniently forgotten. Sixty years on and the truth is still hidden behind closed doors in the name of secrecy and protectin...

Probably one of the longest unresolved debates of all times is Religion vs. Science. Every time some fresh development takes place in some part of the world that may influence this debate, the debate is restarted. Although new ideas and facts continue to make this contest richer with every new edition but the basic essence remain the same. The scientists seem to trust physical proof more that something unverified and written a few millennia ago. The religious guys emphasize on the importance of faith and how it helps. Like every unresolved issue this debate too is a result of unflinching egos. A common characteristic among all the unresolved issues in the world is that longer the debate is dragged on the more rigid both sides become. Science (or let’s just say scientists) has grown tremendously in last few centuries and its growth has surely helped mankind in more ways than religion has ever been, thus swelling its support base. On the other hand religion has grown a little wea...