Saturday, November 10, 2007

Rock Rules!!!!

Man, there is absolutely nothing like rock music. I mean, it makes you feel sad, feel jubilant and feel like wanting to throw yourself off the Petronas Towers… There are times when I just feel like I do not have a care in the world, and yet, there are times when there is an unknown ache. I do not talk only about the head banging stuff, the emotional moments seem a lot more poignant when a guitar riff goes on,on.on……..I was nine when I had my first dose of rock. It wasn’t much, I was scrolling through channels on the telly once, and Queen’s We Will Rock You was being played. I was glued, I mean the song had a real party feel to it, something my nine year old self did not understand, but my interest was piqued. In those days (maybe even today), MTV and Channel V were thought of as a sure recipe for spoiling a kid. My next exposure was a news article about Kurt Cobain. Naturally, I did not know who he was, but I did not understand how a guy could command such a zealous following. For some reason, I thought it was much more than the fascination we share for our music stars. It would be years before I would come to know the phenomenon Kurt Cobain was, but the name was always I the back of my mind. I would have to wait till I was fourteen or fifteen; my first album was Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory. Honestly, I did not take to the music initially( I guess Nu-Metal was not the best choice for a first album), but once I liked it(which I began too, by the time Crawling ended), well, I don’t need to go on….
Since then, I feel like I have made up for those years when I was younger. My interest has grown to an obsession like I can’t stop (and I don’t want to!!).

Monday, October 22, 2007

India's Left-Anti-Americanism only ideology???

The conduct of the Left ever since the UPA came to power three years ago has been subject of many a discussion. Here is a party, which is firmly against globalization and the involvement of foreign companies in our economy. The irony is that the Left Front is following the policies the Left claim is killing India. Buddha babu claims industrialization is the only way forward, whilst Karat and co protest against FDI in retail (Wal-Mart), SEZ’s and now the nuclear deal.
The Left is in a position of great power in the present political set up. They can arm twist the Congress as much as they want and still get away with it. Karat and Yechury agree that only reforms will take the nation forward, yet they do not want foreign (especially American) companies entering the economy, claiming to protect the interests of the small scale traders in this country. Are the experiences of the past not enough for the comrades? The growth India has seen over the past 15 years is double the growth we achieved for the first 40 years of Independence. Even after acknowledging the effectiveness of the post-liberalization policies they are loath to foreign involvement. The Nuclear Deal lays open the mindset of the comrades. They claim the deal will compromise the nation's Sovereignty. Are we such midgets to not stand up for ourselves? Yet the deal offers India respite because it allows us to come out of nuclear isolation. Even China's 123 agreement does not contain the benefits accorded to us. The Left's rigid opposition seems to stem from the fact that the US is such a major partner is the deal. Perhaps, they would not have minded if the deal was with China or Russia. It is time the Left realises that their ideology is outdated. Reforms and Industrialization will take us forward. We cannot let regressive elements besmirch our march forward.