Yeah, Who's The Terrorist?

Thesaurus.com states that one of the synonyms for the word "terrorist" is "thug." Although far too mild for my normally profane vocabulary, I can't think of a more apt word for, well, several Indian politicians when one sees what's been happening there:

- MNS goons slapping a member of the Maharashtra Assembly for taking the oath in Hindi instead of Marathi

Raj Thackeray seems to be delighting in the crop of moronic Frankenstein monsters his 'Maratha Pride' tirades are generating, since he's positively cackling with glee that his political party (which will soon be along the lines of the SS, if it isn't already) is getting away with slapping a respected member of the legislative assembly for swearing in in a language other than Marathi. Why not just convert all schools to Marathi medium, have the banks conduct business in Marathi, do away with Bollywood and focus only on Marathi cinema?? (Does that have a name? Mollywood?) Let's see how well Bombay's economy does then.

- MNS warns of violence if non-Maharashtrians sit for SBI clerical exam

No, really. The State Bank of India, the largest bank in India with almost 12,000 branches, is going to take orders from a trumped-up, obviously bored, probably-never-been-laid jobless little nobody on whom they should permit to sit for their own internal recruitment exams? Really? Hell, why not say that no non-Maharashtrians can sit for the CAT exam in Bombay? Why not tell IIT-Powaii that they can only admit Maharashtrians into their hallowed halls? Because that WILL be next.

The same threat was issued in to candidates appearing for the Railway Recruitment Board exams in Bombay, and this time it was carried out...non-Maharashtrian candidates were dragged out of the centres and assaulted. Please, let's just start installing gas chambers in convenient locations around Bombay. That might be easier.

- MNS objects to Karan Johar's use of the word "Bombay" in his film

Shock, horror, dismay! An actor used the dreaded B-word (which will soon be as feared as the name Voldemort in the Harry Potter books) instead of the MNS-approved (more like enforced) Mumbai, and the director is threatened with "remedial action" (which, let's face it folks, is their delightful euphemism for violence) if it isn't rectified in 2 days. Obviously these are people with way too much testosterone, way too little brains and no gainful employment, if THAT'S what they choose to nitpick over.

- Shiv Sena objects to Kareena Kapoor's bare back in "Kurbaan" poster

Raj Thackeray's uncle's political party, the Shiv Sena, threatened (see a pattern here) to stall screenings of the much-anticipated movie as they deemed the poster "vulgar" and "un-Indian". Protesters actually marched to the actress' house to present her with a sari to cover up. Hypocrisy at it's best...let's cover up anything remotely sensual or connected to sex...hmmm, a country with a population of over 1 billion, and they'd like us to think ALL of that was achieved via immaculate conception??

- Bal Thackeray's objection to Sachin Tendulkar's "cheeky" comment

So the great batsman of India, on completing 20 years in the game, states that he's "an Indian first and a Maharashtrian second" and all hell breaks loose. Shiv Sena head honcho Bal Thackeray is all over him like slime on a slug about his comment. Mercifully, it appears the old dingbat has bitten off more than he can chew this time, and he's had to lie low to avoid the backlash from several groups and individuals (both Maharashtrian and non-Maharashtrian) following his bizarre combative statements to one of the nation's most beloved sportsmen.

- Jessica Lall's murderer gets parole, is seen in nightclub

Manu Sharma, for those not in the know, had been awarded a life sentence for murdering model/waitress Jessica Lall in a New Delhi nightclub in 1999 (shot her at point blank because she refused to serve him a drink after the bar had closed), and his parole plea was supposedly rejected by the Supreme Court in 2008. However, Chief Minister Sheila Dixit is defending his parole, although keeping suspiciously mum on the circumstances surrounding its apparent approval. Some politicians may like to say "well, he was caught and he's back in jail now, so the argument is moot" but I'll say it bloody well isn't when murderous rich kids can buy day passes out of prison to slurp down a few drinks with buddies.

R and I have several conversations (he calls them discussions, I call them arguments) where he slags off on various things in India, and I jump to its defence (especially if it concerns Bombay) because, whatever it is, it's home. But instances like the ones above make me lose all hope for any future India might have.

Apparently I'm A Shameless Praise-Whore...

...since all it took was a few complimentary words from Abby to get me back to my neglected blog after almost a month. Shallowness, thy name is Namrata.

This recuperation business is for the birds, I can vouch for that...sitting at home twiddling my thumbs and going "la la la la la-di-da" is most definitely not for me. And now that I'm unemployed, there's even less to do! About the unemployment - the governing bank authority here has deemed that the banks in this country have not been giving enough opportunities to the local population, so to build up the levels of local people (the ratio has to be 90% locals, 10% expats), the banks have had to cut short the contracts of expatriate employees. Guess who that means? (Here, envision me taking a bow and then shooting myself in the head). However, the monetary compensation was well worth it, the recommendation letters are superb (they should be, since I supplied all the complimentary adjectives myself...refer to title of blog-post), and I have a slew of interviews lined up for the coming week. So really, I'm complaining for the sake of complaining. Good at it, aren't I?

Honestly, though, it's REALLY boring being at home when everyone else is at work! My mom's always said I had too much energy and too little sense to enjoy a well-deserved holiday (and I would take offence to that, but sadly it's true)...so of course I've been driving her nuts everyday by waking up and saying "What are we doing today? Huh huh huh? Where do we go? What do we do? Tell me tell me tell me!" It's only a matter of time before the poor woman cracks and murders me. She staged an act of mini-vengeance today, though, by taking me to the fish market. May I just say, ugh? Smart lady, that.

Until something exciting happens, I guess I'm just going to have to be content with watching TV and hurling shoes at it when Raj Thackeray's interviews come on. More on that turd and how he's ruining my beloved Bombay in the next post.