There is a dog near my house that is tied inside a small shed for the past 4 years.It's owner, who genetically passes for a human, does not take it out for a walk and leaves it there 24 hours a day. When he is out of town, he ties its collar to the railing of the shed and the dog is unable to move.The impotent reply of all animal rights agencies, when contacted is "We're very far off and can't come". Sad but true.The truth of the matter is that the honchos/chairpersons of these so-called animal rights groups are more interested in maintaining the image of caring for these animals than actually doing something about it. That way, their wallets will never be thin and their face turns up on page 3 of any newspaper desperate enough to take their picture.

I am a great believer of individual choice, and trust me I try hard to make sure that I live by it. But there is also such a thing as treating an animal in a humane manner. If the animal is not rabid, and not out to hurt you, and is docile, then there is no fucking way that you are allowed to tie it to a shed for 4 years and think you can get away with it. I would like to confront this low life of a mutherfucker who is the owner of the dog and tie HIM to a shed with only a bowl of water as sustenance. Let his cries and howls go unheard,let people go by and not do anything as he is forced to defecate and urinate in the same fucking shed day in and day out, and then let's see how many people will run to his rescue( and probably kill me in the bargain). Why? Because he is human, and the dog is not.

Such stories are proof enough that humanity is really not the best species to rule over the world. If we are unable to co-exist with our fellow species, fearing them every step of the way and making sure that they don't get ahead of us, then we very well deserve to be wiped out the face of this planet. And believe you me, that day is fast approaching.

I agree to the fact that there are rabid dogs out there, and they need to be put down. But you DO NOT have the right to chain a dog day in and day out just because you are it's master and you are in a position to feed it every day. It just is not like that. If such were the case, Hitler would still be the emperor of the world today.

Such evil needs to be met with swiftly, strongly, without concern for the rights of the offender. There comes a time when we can no longer leave such matters in the hands of corrupt officials or megalomaniac chairpersons of agencies.

Even if you do not like animals, I beg you to read this. We are humans first, and masters second.

This one entry may be a bit personal; nonetheless I would like to share it with you folk out there. I had taken a much needed day off from work yesterday and had gone to visit my sister who stays on the outskirts of the city. She stays in an apartment complex far from the maddening horns and sounds of autos and buses and whatnot. There was a wonderful view of the mountains from the 6th floor, where she lives, and I could see a huge piece of uncultivated land from where I was sitting in the balcony.The place was absolutely serene.

I figured that this is as good a place as any to maybe sit back for a bit and do some much needed introspection.Of late it would seem that the days have gone by so fast, and this has been particularly true since I have joined residency, that there have been times when 9 months have elapsed without my even noticing it!

As fate would have it, I had brought a novel with me to read and pretty soon I told myself that I would spend some alone time later, once I was done with the novel. Night turned into day turned into afternoon and lo! behold it was 5 pm in the evening and I had to get back to the city,and most of the time while I was there I was reading the book. I did manage to read a good novel, but I didn't do what I had set out to do, which was take stock of things such as they are in my life and see how I could improve (trust me, I have ten things I can state at random that I need to work on).

Silently cursing myself as I was heading back to the hospital, I realized that these moments don't need to happen at a particular time, or place, or under a particular set of circumstances. It can happen right here, right now. And you're only fooling yourself if you wait for a particular event, or place or person to come across you and say "It's time, my friend." I know I have.

I just saw Avatar.Kindly ignore what I said about Avatar having alternative worlds, time travel etc. What it is about is a wonderland, like how earth once might have been, but a world who's existence is threatened by humans who seek to secure wealth at the expense of a civilization, and who will leave no stone unturned to seek what they desire, which is eerily similar to our reality.

It's also a movie that opens our eyes to a world so rich and vivid and teeming with life that our planet seems to be fucking dull when you leave the theater and for that, for freeing our minds for 2.5 hours and allowing us to bask in the splendor of James Cameron's creation, it should win Best Picture and Director Academy Awards hands down.

A must see.

I'm BACK!!

In the 10 months that I have not made an entry into my cyber diary, I have been a silent spectator to many ominous goings on, the most important of which is that Bangalore is now only a quarter as cold as what it was even 2 years ago. In the background of the Copenhagen Summit,this raises a crucial issue of our individual responsibility in averting an impending disaster. But the time frame between application of effort and its bearing fruit is all-important. I only hope it does not become a "too little too late" sort of scenario. And did anybody notice how the onset of the Copenhagen talks was after a similar scenario was enacted in the movie 2012?!!

Apart from which India will probably have as many states as the USA in about 10 years time, given the histrionic demands of certain people in high places, and the ease with which the powers that be appease childish, juvenile requests that are self serving and have nothing to do with the welfare of the people. Who's placing a bet for 52 states by 2019??!!

And hey, I want World Peace too. Gimme that Goddamn Nobel Peace Prize!!

As my experience in the study of human behavior increases, I have realized that, and I may be going a bit tangential here, that as far as the mind is concerned, the concept of religion becomes null and void. It is only the sense of comfort that it gives you. The same can be applied if, say you're in trouble, such as a financial debt, and you turn to another person for help, then in that moment, the person who helps ease your stress becomes possibly the most important person in your life. The same applies to the concept of a religion, and as an extension, God, giving you the sense of comfort. What if the same God exists without any prejudice? The concept of one God who embraces all, and who does not punish you for being bad, and one who is just there for you?

Most of the religious texts in the world (although I am in no way an authority on this), I guess, basically preach the same concepts- of truth, integrity, levelheadedness, courage to face obstacles, and a life of moderation and charity. What difference does it make if it is preached by different people?

I have also noted that television shows, no matter how brilliantly conceptualized and executed, tend to wind up being slightly more realistic soap operas in the end, which is a shame because such effort need not end up as a fiasco every single time. There are, however, some shows that have stood the test of time. The Simpsons, for one. But after that, options are hard to find.

There are also some characteristic lines that are uttered in most shows. Some of which include:
"I will do anything to protect my family"

"I didn't want you to get hurt"

"It's complicated"

"Maybe she's scared 'cos she's so vulnerable"

"I thought we had a deal"

"I did it to protect my family"

"I never imagined waking up in bed next to you"

"Can't we pretend that last night never happened?"

"It was a mistake. I was lonely and vulnerable and..."

And so on and so forth.

I am going to see Avatar today and I absolutely can not wait. I am, as you well know, fascinated by the concept of life on other planets, time travel, in addition to relationships, alternative realities, comic books and the working of the human mind. Avatar seems to be a good mix of most of the above components. Sam Worthington had greatly impressed me with his amazing performance in Terminator: Salvation and it's interesting to see how he will fare in this film.

Apart from T4,other movies of note this year were Inglorious Basterds, Wake up Sid, Star Trek(amazing!!), Watchmen, and Up, to name a few.

That's it for now I guess. Take Care and be Responsible.

It would appear that we, as human beings, choose to define our existence based on how miserable we are, instead of trying to measure it in terms of the many moments of joy it has given us.

A classic example of this would be Gregory House, of House MD, played by Hugh Laurie. The protagonist is a genius doctor who is addicted to opioids and can't seem to function outside the hospital as a human being. In many episodes we see him playing his piano and having his daily helping of scotch but he is seldom seen to smile, and even if he does, it is because he has outwitted his boss or something like that. Genuine happiness apparently is something that has never embraced him completely, or vice versa. Instead he chooses to define his existence on how he keeps on limping, and on the fact that he is a tough hard ass because of his limp and chronic pain problem and hence everybody else are sissies because he is able to carry on with his problem and other people seem to be totally stranded in theirs.

How many of us are like him, I do not know. Maybe it might be due to the fact that I am an eternal pessimist who is unable to look at the brighter side of things , although I do try to. But then again, how much I have tried to seriously be a more optimistic person is up for debate.

As with all things in life, we do live it, but how much of it we do seriously ,with enthusiasm, and awareness, is something I don't want to answer for now.

I have been exploring the works of the Rolling Stones, and I like what I find. For all their hedonism, these guys knew what they were doing and that's enough to give them the satisfaction they keep singing they can't get.

I saw "Rock on" which was quite a satisfying and entertaining film. Quite contrary to what I had expected really .If Farhan Akhtar can star in or direct more movies like this.....quite an exciting prospect on the whole. Akhtar is amazingly at ease as the band leader who reluctantly embraces a past he had long ago bid farewell to in order to find out the reason for his current state of misery. The other cast put in solid performances and the songs are pretty good as well.

More later. Bye.

The death of Australian actor Heath Ledger last January 22 at age 28 was judged the top entertainment story of 2008 by U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors polled by the Associated Press

This scares me. Since when was a person's death a source of entertainment? I expected more from the The IMDB than to publish this.

“Almost everything you do will seem insignificant, but it is important that you do it”-M.K.Gandhi.