Sitcom Sitters Chat Club #3 - Page 89

Originally posted by: Kwerky

@last line: I think it is already happening. People burst a load ...L-O-A-D...of crackers at midnight to usher in the New Year now. 🤔 Of course, many festivals too are being marred by this cracker bursting spree. I have seen ppl doing it before starting off with the baraat, during the wedding procession etc.

Senseless. As if that is the ultimate way of expressing your joy?!

The 10pm deadline exists but hardly anyone pays heed to it. There is also a similar restriction for playing loud music/noise pollution but who cares. Every so often you can be sure of spending a sleepless night because someone is dancing away to a DJ or having a religious function etc.

Kudos to your mom for taking the pain of calling the police multiple times. We have done that once but didn't repeat it seeing the disinterest and the "chalta hai...Diwali hai" attitude of the police. 😕

Originally posted by: Kwerky

I was very sad the entire day yesterday after hearing about him passing away. 😔 I have read his books, followed him for many years and he was an absolute exception in our political circles. Untouched by the clout his position held. There are some amazing stories about his utter simplicity, humility and wonderful nature..not to mention how approachable he was. Not just a rubber stamp President.

I don't exactly remember why he rejected that mercy petition.

But yes, I wish he would have had one more term. And I don't think we will ever have a person like him gracing any of the the high Consitutional posts.

Originally posted by: Kwerky

Ms. India GG ka fortnightly darshan. 😊

🤗

Originally posted by: Wisian

Kwerky, you introduced me to Quora, and yesterday I stumbled upon it again.

http://www.quora.com/Should-we-say-no-to-Diwali-firecrackers-Why-or-why-not

Read on to find Sandhya Ramesh's answer. It is quite a tour de force... 😃

She has answered every counter question that the firecracker bursting prick on the street might throw at her. 😳

And on this Quora page, I found out another interesting statistic: Indians spent more money on buying firecrackers than the Indian govt spends on its space programme. The space programme is already the object of criticism - many people will even call it an extravagance; and yet the same emotional appeal against firecrackers is way more muted... 🤔

Originally posted by: Wisian

Yeah...His humility, in spite of his exalted status was what set him apart. In Sanskrit, it is said: "vidya dadaati vinayam" [the learned are humble]. This certainly rings true for him...

We will probably not have another President like him... One only needs to look at the idiotic woman who replaced him to realize how even if the people want something, the political class will let them down...

@Mercy petition: He rejected the mercy petition on the advice of the Law ministry.

He could have applied his own discretion though. Just as this president could have in the case of Yakub Memon.

I saw this interview today for the first time:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwyfqeTJJAo[/YOUTUBE]

If my choice is to believe the investigating agencies/courts, or the version of events given by the alleged terrorists - I'd rather tend to believe the alleged terrorist. That is how little faith I have in the country's judiciary or its police.

I've been reading the news and I'm hating the fact that bloodlust and intolerance are so deeply ingrained in the character of people that they'd actually *celebrate* judicial murder...

I have been reading comments posted on newspaper websites, and it offends my sense of dignity when I read the nonsense that jingoists write while thumping their chests celebrating the execution of Yakub Memon. Not least, I heard A. Goswami shrieking on yesterday's Newshour: "What about the families of the people who died?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes and shake my head in disbelief... What about those people? How will they benefit from Yakub's execution?

In a write-up after the execution of Afzal Guru, Arundhati Roy asked:

Now he has been hanged, I hope our collective conscience has been satisfied. Or is our cup of blood still only half full?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/10/hanging-afzal-guru-india-democracy

Looking at how this episode has played out on social media, I think- the cup of blood will remain half-empty for a very long time. We are and will possibly remain a primitive people and a primitive society.

Originally posted by: Kwerky

Nice! She really does give quite a rebuttal. 😊 It is distressing to see so many people think it is a "tradition" to burn crackers. 😕

Oh...I had no clue that we as a nation spend more on these pollutants than we do on our space program. 😲 That's a ridiculous amount of money whoch is burned up at the cost of the environment, children, everyone's health...

P.S.: Quora is good, isn't it? I end up spending much more time than I anticipate once I log onto it...it is like a maze...you keep going in...jumping from one question to the other...endless. You should join it...you can give quite a befitting reply to many questions, if you have the time. 😆 😳

Originally posted by: Kwerky

@Yakub Memon's hanging: There are several disturbing things in how this all has played out. The irrational jingoism of the average guy on the Internet... the intense polarization... the fact that senior lawyers have expressed their doubts about the case and how he was sentenced to death based on some evidence whereas the other 10 accused had their death sentence commuted to life imprisonment...the fact that there are cases (like the '84 riots, Gujarat riots, riots after the Babri Masjid demolition) where the victims are still awaiting justice and we all KNOW what the end result will be...and worst is the kind of politics being played out by the various political outfits.

I saw the news that he was hanged on Thursday morning and I remember feeling very uneasy. I can't imagine that the families of the bomb blasts' victims will be feeling relieved/happy or have any kind of positive feelings after seeing him killed by the state in the name of the law of the land.

Where is the evidence that the death penalty serves as a deterrent in cases like these? Have we had no terror attacks after Kasab or Afzal Guru were hanged? The argument given is that we can't afford to have terrorists sitting in the jail waiting for someone to hijack a plane or kidnap someone in return for the freedom of the terrorist(s) and that the other countries which have abolished the death penalty don't have a rogue neighbor like ours. Flawed. And what is the guarantee that we will not see such dastardly terror attacks as an act of retaliation against this state-served justice?

Originally posted by: Wisian

I just finished watching "Dum Laga Ke Haisa". We're making really good movies these days... 😎