Alternate Truth

Today's head line says

Pakistan Taliban: Peshawar school attack leaves 141 dead

So who benefits from this attack?

Don’t tell me you think that Taliban benefits from this sad event.  

Does PakTaliban believe that they can bully Pakistan Army? Can’t they see that they are going to get a backlash?

Could there be more to it than what meets the eye?... let’s hypothesize there is more to it.

Let’s go back in time, and try and to re-create a secret discussion between USA and Pakistan.

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USA : We want you to curb these Taliban folks from operating on your soil.

PAKISTAN: We too want to limit their powers - they are a threat to us. These folks are becoming too powerful and have been able to galvanise the public sentiment. We won't be surprised if they win elections. Once they do that, they will elect the Army head / entire hierarchy of their choice. Once they are in full control, I don’t know what they will do with the nukes, but I am sure it will lead Pakistan to destruction.

USA: Why don't you clip their wings right now, the way we did? If we can come in Pakistan and kill Osama, you can certainly do better- if you want to.

PAKISTAN: Public sympathy is a big problem. They have informers even among Police, Army and Intelligence agencies to help them, Local media highlights our actions as human rights violations. ISI is dominated by Taliban and is becoming independent, they at times keep army and rest of Pakistan in dark. Despite all this if we still attempt a strong action by Army, it can cause rebellion in ranks -and even make public sympathy go in Taliban's favour. If we do a crackdown on them now, it will be seen as Pakistani Army is US slave.

You in US had a 9/11 as an inflection point to justify your actions. Pakistan does not have one.

USA: So you need a 9/11 kind of an event to justify your Army to carry out a crackdown on the Taliban. OK.

Let’s see what that 9/11 for Pakistan should look like - this event should be targeted at Army, so their actions can be justified. It should not be killing of Army men- that is seen as victory in the war they want to be seen as fighting, and will glorify them. The act should be so cowardly that every sympathiser of Taliban / human right activist should get silenced. In should galvanise popular sentiment in favour of action against Taliban. The event has to be big - especially if we want it to change the course of history.

Hmm... Let me see what we can do, we have a few operatives embedded in PakTaliban from Osama times, who can help.

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Coming back to published reality ie news today. The news says Pak Taliban's attack on Army Public School leaves 141 dead - 132 of them Children. This has created massive public outrage.

Killing kids, this act is seen as act of cowardice, not bravery. Public sentiment will go against PakTaliban in next few days from shock to anger. My guess is if Pakistan Army kills even 500 PakTaliban militants in next one week, they can do so without any human right violation noise. Even if they don't kill any militants, this event is likely to reduce volunteers for the PakTaliban, and hence arrest growth in number of militants. This event has changed PakTaliban's label from a rebel - (warriors fighting for Islamic cause, without caring for their life) to a rougue & cowards who kill inoocent helpless kids.

The chances of them/politicians with their support getting elected are lower. This has reduced probability of Pakistan becoming a rougue Nuke nation -which could have led to Pakistan being attacked /nuked/ more bloodshed in any case.

In all probability this event has altered the course of history for Pakistan.

Coming back to original question, so who benefits?

Answer: Pakistan benefits, US benefits, neighbouring countries (INDIA) benefits, & world at large benefits. PakTaliban loses.

(PakTaliban could have benefitted if they had attacked Army garrison rather than a school.)

Cost : 141 lives in collateral damage.

Potential Benefits :

USA - Random attacks will go down, Rogue Nuke Nation avoided

India : Same as USA, more amplified. India could have been the first target.

World at large: Less militants to get recruited for ISIS.

Pakistan : Current regime remains stable, can focus on growth. Individuals may get more benefit / rewards by USA. The event may even help create a future dictator aligned to USA (Zia ul Haq types).

Politics at international level is not about winning wars, but about avoiding wars with minimal bloodshed.

Worst case scenario

Listening to पियूष मिश्रा from Gangs of Wasseypur
Loved the last stanza (last one minute or so)
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होनी और अनहोनी की परवाह किसे है मेरी जाँ,
हद से ज़्यादा ये ही होगा, के यहीं मर जायेंगे
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Afterall हद से ज़्यादा यही हो सकता है. "के यहीं मर जायेंगे"

और इसमे कोई हैरानी की बात भी नहीं है-------ऐसा तो होगा ही, "की यही मर जायेंगे," 

afterall ऐसा कोई नहीं जो यही ना मरा हो

 

जो भी हुए पैदा

वो सब यही मरे

 

सो होनी और अनहोनी परवाह की कैसी

The worst case scenario is a certainity.
So stop weighing pros and cons, and take risks.

Business sense of sending Mars Orbiter Mission / Mangalyaan

Today India has created a history, by entering the MARS orbit in first attempt, and that too on relatively low budget of $74 M.There are only three other space agencies that have ever reached MARS orbit.

Did India have its priorities right when they decided to spend this amount on space research?

If you look at spend per person, $ 74 M is less than 10 cents per person in India.
Contrast this with the amount we spent

• In protecting our VIP ($65 M for 340 ppl in 2013 in Delhi), 
• Or the money we lost through corruption(CWG/2G/3G/DLF/Coal/.. each was multiple times)
• Or a as a percentage of the GDP

In short 70 M is minuscule amount for India as a country. 

Still, we have lost money in past/ or its a small amount should not be reason for us waste tax payer's money.

So, for the moment let’s ignore the per person spend and the fact that its a small sum of money for large country like India.

Lets ignore the long term ROI (Return on Investment) for the entire humanity. 

Let’s discount the softer benefits / brawny points scored on the technical prowess’s of Indians, boost to self-respect of all Indians, the bragging rights in all discussions with foreigners, vicarious pleasure in ISRO’s achievements, more jobs for Indians in NASA etc.

Purely from a balance sheet perspective, will India derive any positive Return on Investment (ROI) on Mars Orbiter Mission ?

Yes.

I see the money spent so far as an advertisement for more business.

Yup. You heard it right. MORE business, Millions of $ flowing into Indian economy.  Specifically for one of the Government owned company. 

How and for whom?

ISRO has a commercial arm Antrix Corporation. This lesser known mini-ratna company has been around since 1992, and provides low-cost space solutions, technical consultancy services. This business could be in the form of outsourcing in the space research industry / satellite manufacture/ ground equipment / launch services of satellites / selling satellite services / Consultancy etc.
Most of these services are being delivered already - biggest one being selling satellite services (Transponder leasing mainly) and launch services. The Space Port of India (Satish Dhawan Space Centre) has launched satellites for many other countries in past– check the list here.
http://www.antrix.gov.in/is_launched.html 

If you look at the focus that has been given to the budget of the project, and getting it right first time, the intent is almost that of a sales pitch. The sales pitch is simple - we are the best and cheapest. Mr Customer (France / Germany/UK/Japan/..)  ISRO offers you the most bang for your buck - as demonstrated they can send a satellite to MARS at a cost of producing a Hollywood movie. And they can get it right in the first attempt. The credibility that ISRO has gained via this demo, and Modi as the sales rep, Antrix Corp will certainly reap rich dividends. 

Looking beyond the short term benefits, in mid term today's success will give a big boost for nurturing the space industry ecosystem in India (Colleges, Courses, attract investment,  create impetus for one more space port - maybe in collaboration with another country) .
In long term, this will help bring in prosperity for Indian citizens, boost self respect & pride for Indians in India or abroad, no duplication of effort in rediscovering the wheel for other countries, and overall advancement for humanity.
btw one added beneficiary could be for Modi in next elections - due after five years.
Win Win for all.

Three Idiots - "The End" ke baad

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So what happens to the Ranchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad aka Chhote aka Phunsukh Wangdu (Aamir). His Girlfriend Pia Sahasrabuddhe (Kareena), his best friends Farhan Qureshi (Madhavan) and Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi)

Lets give a twist to the story of the Three Idiots, after "The End"

 

Story in part 2 continues with Farhan (Madhavan) as the narrator. He is still in Ladhakh -where we left him at “The End”.

Farhan starts with a statement, after looking for Rancho for 10 years he has again lost him – for rest of his life – which may last next 48 hours. His hands and feet are tied and he is lying in a room with a very small window for ventilation, the room is located on a isolated hill.

After giving this shocker, Farhan goes into flash back.

Raju (Sharman Joshi) had woken up Farhan last night, and told Farhan he is going into Rancho’s lab. While leaving Raju had asked Farhan to keep a vigil, and given him a number to dial incase he does not return and also told him never to tell this to Rancho incase he does not return. A few minutes later a puzzled and shaken Farhan (Madhvan) sees Raju being murdered by Rancho, while Raju is coming out of the lab.  Rancho notices a light in Farhan’s room going off. Rancho comes to meet Farhan at dead of night, giving no indication that he has just now killed one of their old best friend Raju. Rancho talks in a very normal tone asif nothing has happened, and suddenly catches Farhan unaware, to tie him down. Farhan asks why, Why? Rancho replies, I know what you have seen, I can't help - you are a collateral damage. Farhan initially feigns ignorance on what he had seen, and later comes clean on knowledge of Raju being murdered. He asks Rancho to explain this murder. Rancho explains to Farhan that Raju was a RAW agent, who was here to spy on Rancho’s activities and destroy Rancho’s mission and years of effort.

Farhan asks and what was your mission, Rancho ?

Rancho begins with questioning Farhan’s credulousness – he asks do you believe he ie Rancho was a fresher, when he joined the college with Farhan? Rancho explains that, even then he was a trained commando from Pakistan who was on an ISI mission in India. Rancho explains peeing on electric wire was the way he used to torture captured Indian spies, and that is why it took him no time to set it up during Ragging. He explains the name Ranchoddas and relation with Shyamaldas Chanchad. Shyamaldas Chanchad was an ISI agent with lots of land bordering Pakistan and business interest in import and supply of heroin. Even his son is an agent of theirs, and the story that he gave to Farhan about Chote was a cover to hide him. The reason for him to come to engineering college was the fact that Dr. Viru Sahasrabuddhe (Boman Irani) aka Virus was working on a mission critical defense project from Government of India.  Rancho's mission was to copy the progress of this project, collect additional defence information like Indian army's deployment etc. And it was for this mission that Rancho used to regularly enter the room of Principal, and that is how he knew how to steal the exam papers. Even the  aircraft with cameras was assembeled to help him in keeping a vigil over intelligence file movements.

Rancho further explains that Government of India had got a whiff of the leakage through thier spies in Pakistan. RAW had approached Raju to join to become a counter intelligence spy on campus. Raju's first task was to report on activities of  Virus / Rancho. Rancho tells that the moment he figured it out, he left decided to do his nal act and leave the campus forever. By that time he had gained the trust of professor Virus, and that gave him access to the second copy of all the papers lying at his home. As a part of the project, Virus had only one copy of the key Indian force deployments which he kept at a safe at home. Rancho, used to visit Virus’s home on pretext of proposing to Pia etc. Helping Pia’s sister in delivery gave him unrestricted access to Virus’s home. Rancho made a copy of the same and destroyed the originals. This lead Government of India, to lose trust on Virus – and question his proximity to Rancho, and ultimately cancelling the overall project.

Rancho further mocks Farhan – does he look like a native of Laddakh? How could Farhan believe that Rancho can be a Phunsukh Wangdu? Laddakh is his base as it gives him proximity to the POK, easy access via China and infromation from India.
He further explains in the lab, he has a real scientist who had similar profile as Virus, and now is in his captivity. Raju had gone their and collected evidence of his existence and hence Raju had to be killed. The business deals that he is pursuing with Chatur Ramalingam aka Silencer (Omi) are their way of moving international currencies for their cause. Rancho mocks Chatur, who does not know why his company wants to sign a contract with Phunsukh Wangdu so desperately.

He thanks Farhan for bringing Pia to him. Farhan looks amused, and asks do you think she will not find out your truth one day? Rancho explains love was never his motive, mission was. If Love was on his mind he could have reached out to Pia any time, but since RAW had got alerted it was very risky for him to abduct Virus and Pia. Now using Pia as a captive, he can make Prof Virus come here and complete the research for him.

He leaves Farhan in a closed room with both hand and feet tied, saying he will comeback, in a few years. Flash backover for Farhan.

"The End"

After "The End".

 

After watching a movie, have you ever wondered what could have happened if the story had continued after "The End" ?

कई बार The End देखने के बाद हमने भी ये सोचा, गर इसके बाद कुछ होता...., तो वो कुछ - क्या होता ?

 

सोचने के बाद ये भी सोचा, कि क्यों ना ऐक ब्लॉग ही बना डाले और अपनी इस सोच को आप तक पहुंचाये।
Afterall सोचने के, और इंटरनेट पर पोस्ट करने के, पैसे तो लग नहीं रहे है।

So here is the Blog - "The End" ke baad, literally meaning After The End.
Some of the blog posts here will be in Hinglish, some English.
Avoiding hindi as transliteration is not as easy as typing in English.

कुछ movies का sequel हम लिख देंगे, कुछ का आप लिख देना।
Yes, Reader generated content is encouraged on this blog. So Through comments, post your story of sequel that was never made - just a few lines or a complete script, whatever suits you. 

 

लिख तो ऐसे रहा हू, ज़ैसे कि हमारी ये पोस्ट दुनिया पढ रही हो - और याद आ रहा है
"हम को मालूम है जन्नत की हकीकत लेकिन
हम को मालूम है जन्नत की हकीकत लेकिन
गालिब दिल को खुश रखने को ख्याल अच्छा है।"

सो इस अच्छे ख्याल, यानी कि मेरे अलावा इस ब्लोग को कोई पढने वाला है, इस खुशफहमी के साथ, "The End के बाद" का शुभारम्भ करते है।

 

Love for stray dogs and Rabies

Few days back while waiting for coconut water to be served at a local streetside vendor, we came across a strange sight.

A young lady in her mid twneties,fairly modern in her outlook was feeding stray dogs. She was serving them fresh packets of milk and fresh bread. She was not just feeding the dogs, but playing with them as if they were not street dogs but her pets. The way she was hugging and kissing these dogs was amazing, dogs were very friendly with her almost standing on two hind legs to reach her shoulder.

Typically we had seen last evenings left over being thrown to the stray dogs, but clearly as every dog has its day, and these dogs were having a great day. The coconut seller told us that its not only this lady but a lot of thers who come to this park every morning / some weekly basis to feed the stray dogs. And that these dogs are overfed, and choosy, and fresh bread too will not be finished.

Contrast this with the scene a few hundred meter away- at cross roads, there were a number of 8-10 year olds begging for food.

Maybe this lady was trying to see a long lost pet in those stray dogs and was being too affectionate, but offlate I have seen way too many people feeding dogs, -looks like this trend has caught up big time in Delhi.

Is it because of recent fad among astrologers to say that feeding animals (esp dogs) can change your luck ?
Or because the new age animal rights activists who have more money and resources to spare on the dogs & it is more "in thing". #PETA is trending :-)

 Why should you give two hoots about stray dogs ? well because
 - India has highest number of stray dogs (tens of millions).
- Stray dogs bite millions of people annually in India.
- 20000 people die every year in India from Rabies.(=100 planes carrying 200 passengers each)
- Over 1/3rd of worldwide deaths due to rabies are in India.
- Beyond a certain point Rabies is 100% fatal. There is NO CURE.

The last point is something that most of do not realise.

Btw Rabies infection can occur not only from Dogs, but a wide variety of other mammals- from Cats to Bats. Also these animals can infect you usually 4 to 5 days before they themselves develop symptoms. So becareful when you handle these stray dogs or a pet which has not been innoculated against Rabies.

In India it is illegal to kill homeless animals (Law passed sometime in 90s) , but the law does not prevent us from getting Dogs innoculated against Rabies.