Or do something with it. That's what the Indian government is telling everyone now. Narain Karthikeyan, who has now entered the world of Formula 1, has just been told to change his helmet. Why? It displays the national colours - saffron, white and green. The guy works assiduously for his country, gets it into the highest zone of the motorworld and he's not allowed to show his pride in being an Indian. Karthikeyan feels that it's the government's loss that he can't display the tricolour. Without those colours, he gains extra space on his helmet, which he could give to sponsors.
Even the cricket team has been asked to withdraw all forms of the national flag from its uniform. The reason given was that the Indian flag embossed on their helmet or their costume was "violative of Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act, 1971". Nineteen Seventy One. What the hell was the government doing all these years??!! These sportsmen are merely trying to bring glory to the country, not to defame the national flag.
According to the act, "The scope of the law is restricted to overt acts of insult to and attack on, the national symbols by burning, trampling, defiling or mutilating in public." If the government really intends to follow this act, most of the Indian population should be serving time by now; for every year, on Independence Day, they "mutilate" the national flag with a pin that holds it to their clothing.
Something is terribly wrong with the government. God help us.
For more news about Karthikeyan's helmet being banned - Click here. To read the act which brought about all this fuss - Click here.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Friday, February 4, 2005
How Bloggers Blog.
Disclaimer: This post is not a tutorial on how to blog. Too many people have done that already. Also, this is not a factual report of how bloggers blog. I don't do surveys. End of fine print.
Please read the above fine print before continuing. (Yes, I do realize that if an idiot who follows instructions blindly were to read that sentence, he/she would never read the rest of the post. I'm assuming that you aren't one, for if you were one, you wouldn't have gotten this far).
When I first started out as a blogger, back in February last year, I was blogging under my real name. After a month though, I stopped entirely. I came back in August, with a new blog, and a pseudonym for myself. The pseudonym prevented people from knowing who I am. Temporarily, at least. Now there are quite a few people who know this blogger.
Pseudonyms are quite common in the blogosphere. To some it's obvious why. Most bloggers don't want people who know them personally to come across their blog, for there might be some kind of incriminating words about them. For instance, if I knew that my parents were reading my blog (and I know that they don't), I wouldn't have written half the stuff I have.
For others, it could be a totally different issue. If the blogger knows that a particular person is reading his/her blog, the blogger might try to blog in a manner completely different from the usual, to paint a different picture in that person's mind. I don't fall into this category, but for the sake of an example, if I knew that a certain someone I know is reading this blog, the words I use might tend to be the words I would want to use when in conversation with that person. Too confusing? Forget it. Skip to the end of this post. If not, read on.
People forget that they have the freedom to write what they want to, what they feel they need to. They fear rejection, or feel that they might hurt somebody. The social nature of human beings restricts them from expressing their emotions. Alas, that cannot be helped, because humans are social animals.
Now for some general stuff, which has nothing to do with what's written above.
Lately, I've seen numerous photos and wallpapers of sports cars. Add that to a weekly dose of "Top Gear" on BBC, and a primal desire for hot wheels has been stirred in me. I'm talking with someone, and my mind drifts away to a Jaguar or a BMW. Especially the BMW Z4. I just want to drive it for one day. I'm actually planning on leasing the BMW Z4, if I ever visit one of those places where it's been released, and if I ever get enough money. On second thought, leasing a BMW Z4 sounds impossible...
Something about the current template bothers me, I can't figure out what. I wonder if I should revert to the first one. If you've never seen the previous templates of this blog, check them out : 1, 2.
Please read the above fine print before continuing. (Yes, I do realize that if an idiot who follows instructions blindly were to read that sentence, he/she would never read the rest of the post. I'm assuming that you aren't one, for if you were one, you wouldn't have gotten this far).
When I first started out as a blogger, back in February last year, I was blogging under my real name. After a month though, I stopped entirely. I came back in August, with a new blog, and a pseudonym for myself. The pseudonym prevented people from knowing who I am. Temporarily, at least. Now there are quite a few people who know this blogger.
Pseudonyms are quite common in the blogosphere. To some it's obvious why. Most bloggers don't want people who know them personally to come across their blog, for there might be some kind of incriminating words about them. For instance, if I knew that my parents were reading my blog (and I know that they don't), I wouldn't have written half the stuff I have.
For others, it could be a totally different issue. If the blogger knows that a particular person is reading his/her blog, the blogger might try to blog in a manner completely different from the usual, to paint a different picture in that person's mind. I don't fall into this category, but for the sake of an example, if I knew that a certain someone I know is reading this blog, the words I use might tend to be the words I would want to use when in conversation with that person. Too confusing? Forget it. Skip to the end of this post. If not, read on.
People forget that they have the freedom to write what they want to, what they feel they need to. They fear rejection, or feel that they might hurt somebody. The social nature of human beings restricts them from expressing their emotions. Alas, that cannot be helped, because humans are social animals.
Now for some general stuff, which has nothing to do with what's written above.
Lately, I've seen numerous photos and wallpapers of sports cars. Add that to a weekly dose of "Top Gear" on BBC, and a primal desire for hot wheels has been stirred in me. I'm talking with someone, and my mind drifts away to a Jaguar or a BMW. Especially the BMW Z4. I just want to drive it for one day. I'm actually planning on leasing the BMW Z4, if I ever visit one of those places where it's been released, and if I ever get enough money. On second thought, leasing a BMW Z4 sounds impossible...
Something about the current template bothers me, I can't figure out what. I wonder if I should revert to the first one. If you've never seen the previous templates of this blog, check them out : 1, 2.
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