Jay Mody

One man has killed his entire family.

In the past few days dad was running around, because the wife one of his acquaintences, who owns an office on the same floor as his, was on her death bed. No one knew the cause. All the doctors said initially was that her liver is giving away and she had just about 4 hours to live. And true to their word, she did die after a few hours. The next morning dad got a call and he rushed to the cemetary.

Today, one day after all this happened, the word about her death is finally out. The man had AIDS. He used to go to Goa frequently on his so-called business matters since many years. And he had contracted AIDS immediately after he got married, which probably he did not know at that time. But later on he did come to know, but he hid it from the entire world. He has two kids. One girl (12 years) and one boy (9 years).

The entire family has AIDS.

The wife is already dead. The man will die in a maximum of a few years. What about the children?
On occasions like these I think the man should be sentenced to capital punishment even though is going to die anyways. Hasn’t he killed an entire family?? His own family. He gave birth to two children even though he knew he had AIDS. Its like you keep on painting even if you know that the canvas is torn in the middle.

No. I have no pity for that guy. I’m sorry for his wife and his kids. But not the man. These are the actual anti-social elements, a term that has been buried in sheaths of red-tape by our bureaucrats….

I’ll pray for them. Some of them.

Archive from the Den: Independence Rock

Caution: Highly Geeky stuff.

One problem faced by all the current cellphone users in India is that of changing the mobile service provider. Because if you change the service, the number changes. And it means sending out dozens of SMSes and calling up n-number of people and asking them to take the new number.

And there I was sitting on my chair thinking about nothing when I struck upon an analogy. The Mobile Number – Internet Domain analogy.

When we have a website on the internet, we have two components.

1. Buy and register a domain name
(for eg. www.drumster.com)

2. Buy server space, also known as webhosting.

The next step would be to link the domain name with the web-hosting that you have bought using a unique DNS address, this is also known as DNS forwarding. This essentially means that you have the flexibility of changing the webhosting as and when you like to. The users of your website and your friends do not have to worry about where your site is hosted. All they have to do is type the URL and they are ready to go.

Coming back to the topic at hand, why cant we have the same system for mobile phones?? We have a central server which stores all the mobile numbers and then we have different service providers which are called with a unique ID. Users can register their phone number once with the server. The next time whenever they need to change the service all they have to do is point the number to that provider.

This would ensure the following:

1. Users are relieved of the pain to stick with the same provider.

2. It would boost competetion between the operators, knowing that users can now easily switch operators, and bring another round of tariff-cuts.

3. The users can be charged a very nominal yearly fee for keeping the same number, like Rs. 100 or so. Since we have millions of subscribers, this would mean huge revenue for the government regulatory authority.

Anyone listening??

Roaring outta the Den,
Comes version three,
Counts Drumster, to ten,
All brickbats are free.

Three is here to stay,
Hereby I say,
Not just for a day,
But atleast until May.

PS: I composed the above ‘thing’ in 2 minutes, dont kill me!!

“I havent ever in my life seen assholes bigger than the ones who sit on those high pedestals at the recording companies. The so-called music labels.

I have been around in these p2p networks for quite some-time now and am in quite a position to make some comments on these assholes. Most of us despise these music labels for dishing out albums at rates as high as hundreds and hundreds of bucks. Then tell me, does it not make perfect sense to spend much lesser bucks on the internet downloading songs and burning ’em onto CD albums?

I have always wanted to bury the record companies alive and recently the furore was revived by the band KoRn who have blatantly released a song against the record companies. And quite rightly it is.

When I was in Kolkata recently I checked out Planet M and saw that the CD “”Live Era 1987-1993“” by Guns N Roses was priced at a whopping Rs. 700. Here’s the equation. I pay Rs. 950/month for my cable internet connection which gives me unlimited time and unlimited downloads. If I want I can download atleast 10 Albums a month, which, if I had bought, would have cost me atleast 3 to 4 grands!!!

Now tell me, ain’t the logic quite subtle??

So here’s once again to all those record companies and music labels…. UP YOURS!!

Well I been watchin’
While you been coughin
I’ve been drinking life
While you been nauseous
And so I drink to health
While you kill yourself
And I got just one thing
That I can offer

Go and save yourself
Take it out on me
Go and and save yourself
Take it out on me yea

Well I’m not a martyr
I’m not a prophet
And I won’t preach to you
But here’s a caution
You better understand
That I won’t hold your hand
But if it helps you mend
Then I won’t stop it

Go and save yourself
Take it out on me
Go and save yourself
Take it out on me
Go and save yourself
Take it out on me
Go and save yourself
Take it out on me yea

Go if you want
And I’ll see you in the bottom
Where you crawl
On my skin
And put the blame on me
So you don’t feel a thing

Audioslave – Cochise

More dope on KoRns new album and “”single””, click here.

EDIT:
All I need is a barrel of beer and a life without a tear.
I was on a roll a few weeks back. The tide is now turning and the tables have turned.
My results are out and I got a lousy 59%, when people all around me are celebrating first classes.
The Kharagpur interview didnt happen. I did not get selected to the School of Management.

Did someone say India won??”

“6^th March, 2004

As the pastoral landscape rolls by the window, I think of how distinct is the journey in the Indian Railways. When the train rolls out of the suffocating urbanisation of Bombay, the earthen odour engulfs you. There’s a feeling of being pulled back in time as the gadgetry leaves your side. The cellphone loses the network and theres not much you can do apart from gazing out of the window into acres of fields tinted with houses made of red-bricks and thatched roofs.

I was on my way from Bombay to Kharagpur. Generally on such long journeys the transition between languages and cultures is a smooth one. My train was an express one, so I had Bongs (pardon me, hee hee), right from the beginning. They started chattering in Bangla and all I knew was, “”Aami Bangla jaani na””, all thanks to Tom Singh. I love the way every train is named according to the place where its going. Mine was named Geetanjali Express. It gives the train that different feel…

7^th March, 2004

The second day of my trip. I finally reached Kharagpur and quite contrary to my expectations this place royally and awfully sucks. Its like theres no goddamned life here!!! Its a complete village with cycle-driven rickshaws, kaccha lanes and acres and acres of empty land. You can see as far as the vision lets you and the horizon barricades you. I sat in one of those cycle-rickshaws and reached IIT. And about IIT, well, all I can say is that its like an oasis in a dessert. But I do believe in mirages.

The experience was good. In one day I must have met atleast 50-60 new people and shook as many hands. Phew!! The first day was quite quiet and frustrating. At the end of it I was at my nerves end.

8^th March, 2004

It was an early morning as I woke up and went for the Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI). Well about the GD and PI all I can say is that if you can fake it, you can make it. Entering an MBA course is all about faking.
I must’ve finished by about 11:00 after which I packed up and had lunch. At about 2:00 I left for Howrah. And believe me when I aver how relieved I was to leave this god-forsaken place!!. As I entered Kolkata I was much much more than happy to see civilization finally.

I got settled down and immediately called up Pompy. We agreed to meet up at Barista (yes!! Barista!!!). Its on Park Street in Kolkata and man, does that place rock!!
I met Pompy at about 7:45. I had no picture of her in my mind. But she only found me out (somehow) and we had dinner at a place called One Step Up. Real good place. She was the leader all the way. After that we went to a pub called ‘Someplace Else’. The pub is really good. I found it amazing coz we dont have any such pubs in Bombay. We talked a lot there over a few beers. And I was surprised when she called for beer. She is the first girl I have met, to date, who likes beer. She is a very interesting person and we talked about music, our lives, bloggers and the general. Then came the band SPAN. They started off on a pretty sucky note but culminated their act with some pretty amazing numbers like Comfortably Numb and Layla. Comfortably Numb pulled us back into the pub when we were about to leave. It was a terrific evening. I had a good time after many awful days. And yeah, Pompy treated me for both, dinner and booze.

9^th March, 2004

I passed the whole day shopping at Planet M and watching movies in my hotel room.
As the evening grew near I got that feeling once again as it was time to leave. Goodbye Kolkata. Someday I’ll be back again. Someday.”

Hello citizens of BlogDom,
Thank you all for still keeping track of this not updated blog.

I am off to Kharagpur for my Interview tomorrow. I’m not quite tensed about it, cause getting a job makes you complacent . I am looking forward to it as a small change from this hectic life in Bombay.

I am also gonna go to Kolkotta after that. I’ll get to meet Pompy finally!! So any bloggers in Kolkotta if u all wanna meet up then contact Pompy. Hee hee .

So seeya all after 12th of March. I’ll hopefully have some good things to write after that.

“We have been fed with innumerable tales, right from school, of people who died for the freedom of our country. We studied different chapters in history under the name of various leaders. Little did most of us realise the truth that lied behind the veil of deception.

I saw the movie Bhagat Singh ( *ing Ajay Devgan) today. It uncannily evoked thousands of emotions and thoughts that instantly travelled a million lightyears. And then I realised what we were taught in school was a mere sugar-coated pill. Its today that I realised the fact that the congress which was made of the likes of Gandhiji and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, never really wanted to give the country freedom. They wanted to give themselves the power. The power to tell the people that they were suppressed by the Britishers for centuries, now they shall be suppressed by the Congress.

It was a time when Bhagat Singh could have caused a revolution atleast a decade before 1947. India could have gained her freedom much earlier, if only it was for the support from the ‘peoples’ leaders like Bapu. But it never came. Both of them had the same motive but different paths. I believe that the path chosen by Bhagat Singh was enough to kick the Britishers out. And I think the ideology he had, is shared by millions of people even today. When you strike back at your oppressor, it is not called violence, it is called self-defense.

If it wasnt for those few people like Chandrashekhar Azad, Sukhdev, Rajguru and Bhagatsingh, India would have still been under the Britishers rule. If Gandhiji’s philosophy of non-violence had prevailed, then probably the Britishers would have never gone.

It was the spark ignited by Bhagat Singh and the others that allowed the Congress to build a fire. And I lament the fact that its still the so-called leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Gandhiji whom people revere, and not the person who held their finger and helped them stand up. One more man who stood out of all of them was Sardar Vallabbhai Patel, the Iron-Man. If he were not to have died early, then probably the issue of Kashmir would have never happened.

To all those who havent read or dont know about Sardar Patel, I would reccommend a book called “”The Indomitable Sardar””. It is a book that’ll change your point of view. Like it has changed mine.”

In the last few years the flurry of Radiostations that have come up thanks to the government regulation have thrown up too many questions on their credibility.

There used to be a time when radio was the defining stop for good music and it was the place where music legends and stars were born. But it was once upon a time.

What stares into our eyes right now, in stark contrast, is something that is driven by money……and just money.
I think the Bombayites around will know more on this issue. There was a plethora of radio stations that sprung up in a small amount of time. All of them daunted by the so called whacky-tacky radio-advertisements. They are still driven by those mindless freaks who fund commercial music blindly. Apart from two channels these stations have never had the guts to air good music. Music that is actually for the soul. Stations like Radio Mirchi and Radio City are largely driven by media giants and by reams of currency that is pumped in. They play music which is played on the TV. Then what is the possible difference between the TV and the Radio??

I mean, does it really make sense to play dance songs on the radio? Dont you think that people who really want to dance and party will never listen to the radio while doing so? Whats the whole discotheque culture of Bombay meant for then? There are too many questions that remain unanswered. But out of this commercial heap and skewed interests, two channels that air good music rise like the phoenix – Go 92.5 FM to some extent and of course the golden oldie and the ubiquitous All India Radio (AIR) FM 107.1.

These people have dared to be different over a period even though the market was hostile to them. GO 92.5 FM dared to air RadioX which played music that actually leads you into peaceful sleep and culminates you into tranquility. And now that has got metamorphosized into the Night Shift, which is even better. AIR FM, with its years and years of music collection is the big daddy of all the channels. They play classics at night and believe me after all these years it still is the best. It has downplayed the initital competetion offered by the new upstarts.

And after all these years, things are finally looking up. The connoiseurs of music are back knocking at the doors of the once popular mecca of music, FM.

Its a place which is tucked away in the heart of Bombay’s western suburbs. Borivli has been developing with pace of lightning. Incidently McDonald’s recently opened shop here (its the biggest in Bombay), and that according to many Bombayites, is the defining point of development.

Borivli stays awake till 11:30 to 12:00 in the night, after which it becomes perilous to stay out at night. Talking a nightwalk after 12:00 is completely fraught with danger.

Yes I’m talking about the gangs of Borivli. They operate in all the deep and dark arroyos without any element of fear in their bloodshot eyes. There are gangs operating in each and every lanes of the suburb.

And then there are gang-wars.

The accomplices of the boss start giving their approval as the night draws to a chilling still. The boss makes his way across the lane to entice the members of another gang to a war. An equally petulant front man of the other gang makes his way across the lane. Experience tells them to show no mercy as they wade through the chilly night breeze blowing across their faces. The gang back-up stays in their respective lanes, ready to attack with blitz-krieg if their master commands. The stage is set for a gory battle, a battle which never ends and which is fought almost every night. Suddenly a spark ignites between two members of the opposite gangs and the battle breaks out……..

…….and then I wake up irritated by the loud barks coming from all around my building. I curse them and go back to sleep. Its a daily routine.

By the way, Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you.

People will always remember this as the year when music died.

I’m referring to the Grammy’s that just concluded. If shaking some booty and jiggling some flesh would earn you 5 Gramies then it is sheer debauchery of music and its connoiseurs. Beyonce Knowles was a name unknown to many before probably this year or a two… And that name has just won those 5 Grammies. Its unfair. I mean, what kind of music is it in which there is just one singer, exposing herself to be devoured by the prurient few… She does not quite play any intruments. And those unlucky players who provide the music are just shadowed by glowing flesh.

This is the basic concept of Pop (this used to be a very good term in the 80s, which used to stand for Popular Music) Music. Its what is happening to Indian Music Industry, which incidently never matured apart from those few who dared to change the face of it. Indi-pop, as the new term has been coined, has been shredded to nothingness by new models and upsarts dressed in skimpy clothes bouncing to the old songs. These are the same old songs which had a different meaning and were looked upon as good music, and actually were, once upon a time.

The same is the case with the music from United States.

It is the nation which has either given birth to or has been the bastion of artistes like Bruce Springteen, bands like Guns N Roses, Nirvana, Rolling Stones, Def Leppard, Metallica and guitar gods like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. These and several others were the people who made music. Music that has spanned decades and will continue to do so. Songs that have touched many hearts and brought tears to those desiccated eyes.

But whats happening now is sad to see. Artists (I hate to call then that) like Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Beyonce Knowles, raping the music endlessly and in many forms.

I wish I could order execution of all these artists put together.

A long long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died

And yeah, Happy Birthday to me.