Is censor any relevant now?

I go through my Facebook profile and find hundreds of things which would have been unthinkable to be found on any public domain that was so much easily accessible some years ago. From derogatory remarks towards a religion, race and even towards sexes to obscene photographs and hoaxes, it literally has everything. Sometimes I feel it is like a Pandora’s Box. All in the name of freedom of expression and I in no way am saying that freedom of expression is bad or should not be allowed. To me it looks like one of the life’s most beautiful and at the same time threatening realties.

And then we have the YOUTUBE, The big bad daddy of them all. It’s got all and seems like has more viewers than Rupert Murdoch’s whole empire put together. You can put almost anything there and it doesn’t even have to be sane. And it doesn’t give a damn about the so called censor board. If I was to release an ebook of Rushdie’s Satanic Verses on youtube, the Indian Government won’t be able to do much and I hope someone listens and does that. They can’t trace the user. They can’t implicate youtube directly. The company is based out of US and headquartered in California.

So the question plaguing my mind “Is the censor board any relevant now?"

I make a movie and they won’t let me show some footage. Fair enough I cut it and make sure it’s right according to their standards. It’s released to the public. But I believe in creative freedom and also believe that the audience has full right to see my work. I release the edited part on youtube in such a way that it shows it is leaked and not officially done. There goes the censorship.

I mean these are just two examples. Internet is full of things that lot of people would want to censor, from free porn for all (not that I’m against it) to conspiracy theories to propaganda material. My concern comes when I see that not all minds have grown to take it all in a manner it is supposed to be. It may be because of age, someone’s culture or many other things.

So the old notion of censor has already ended. I believe we need to move one step further, educating masses, killing stereotypes, eradicating superstation, find logic if any for blindly held faiths. Not only this we need to make sure that its literature and art and not extremism which has the superior hand in the society if we dream to have something equivalent of a the ancient Greek society or have another Renaissance, which we badly need.

Just some Limerick

I was sitting in the class when she moved,

I was looking but no one knew.

My mind raced, and my heart went boom.

I just jumped and ran out of the room.

But she was not to be there,

Now I had no idea what to do.

I thought I’d go back, but she was screaming

On top of her voice and I felt demeaning.

I was about to slap,

But it was not my back.

And I thought I would never do,

It wouldn’t have mattered

But I know you do.

I just made the slip,

It was the easier thing to do.

I should have done better,

But you knew I wouldn’t do.

So it happened all unplanned,

Like a concert going to doom.

It was not a shortcut to hell,

But nowhere was it down bell.

Forever and forever

When I met you for the first time,
There was nothing worth a dime.

But then something I found,
And it just came around and around.

I never thought it would be,
but like it was meant to be.

In no time it has all changed,
And all that is left is just a frame.

Everyday I look for something new,
so that I can be a different few.

But no its always you and you,
just coming back and telling me,
that I had something worth more than one life,
something more than this life,
that would never leave me.

Now that you are a part of me,
How do I lose that part of me?


I hope to have that again,
Just to be that close again
And be that forever and forever.

Future looks gloomy!

I recently read an article which went by the name “It’s over for dollar and euro; get ready for Sensex 60000” in Firstpost.com. Yeah you read it right, it is no typo it is Sixty thousand. The author clearly seemed to me high on a few gallons of Red Bull, if not smoking Marijuana. Before I go forward let’s get the facts straight. The GDP of US is close to around 14.77 trillion USD. And the debt they are holding as on July 31^st 2011 is 14.32 trillion USD. So that puts the sovereign debt at almost 100% of US’s GDP. And going by the US treasury’s website from December 2010 to July 2011, one can see that the debt has been growing at a rate of 5.48 billion USD per day. So that’s about US. I would not go into how it is posed to service its debt, because S&P clearly seems to disagree with Obama on that at least.

With the S&P lowering US’s debt rating has given clear cut signals that now that debt is more risky. And a more risky investment demands more returns hence higher interest rates. Higher interest rate makes it even more difficult for US to service its debt. Whispers if not clear cut speculations have already started about US going bankrupt. If investors panic and start selling treasury bonds, there would be a large supply of US bonds which will far outstrip the demand thus lowering the prices and hence investors might end up getting peanuts for their investments. Now another fear is that due to such factors Dollar will also weaken and that can lead to countries shifting their Forex to commodities such as gold. Now here is bit of a wild assumption, we are all clear about Europe’s position, specially the PIIGS economies and the apprehensions on Euro. So it might happen that Dollar and Euro as the world’s two universal currencies might crash and international trade might start using commodities such as gold in exchange for traded goods.

Another possibility can be the emergence of Chinese Yuan as the accepted currency for trade, but that will surely take its time as it not that wide used today. But here also lies a problem. China is holding 26% of US’s debt, so if the US goes bust and dollar crashes, it will surely have an impact on China and on the Yuan. So even this also looks like a problematic area.

The reason I thought the article was foolish, because the author said the flight of capital will happen from developed economies and investors will invest in developing economies such as India. But he forgot one thing that when US became a superpower it created a lot of wealth and when it crashes, it will diminish a lot of wealth with it too. The investors all will have their wealth mostly in US dollar and when it crashes; their wealth will also be eroded overnight. So from where will the capital come to take the Sensex to 60,000?

Whatever might happen, one thing is for sure, if another recession comes and hits US hard leading to it being bankrupt, its ripples will be felt much more in India than last time and future does look gloomy!

One Last Journey

   

It was time to say goodbye. It was time for that one last journey. I picked up my iPod, made a new playlist from my favourites, mostly old Punjabi songs ranging from Mohammad Sadiq to Kuldeep Manak to ever unforgettable Gurdas Mann.    

It was time to fuel up and I remembered that Autocar Question which used to go by “What would you do with that last litre of petrol?” I thought I was going to have that moment now. Kicked my Bullet start for one last time and it was time for a nostalgic experience. It has been 5 years since I fell in love with it. It has seen it all, all my relationships, all my memories good as well as bad. It even saw the change in me. When everything around was changing it stayed constant with me. It is very hard to forget that last peg of Old Monk that I sipped with my best buddies with the Monk sitting pretty on the rider’s seat or that ride with my first love or that drive back at 2 o’clock  with friends in first year after youth festival of 2006. So many moments which all were running in front of eyes like I was sitting in PVR.

I am being totally honest when I say that it felt very indifferent to part ways with you. Yes I thought I would be sad but I was not. Instead I relived a lot of moments which have become an inseparable of me, moments which can only be lived and not described in words. Finally it reached its destination, I handed the keys over, looked at it one last time smiled and moved on.

18^th July 2006 dad gifted me a Royal Enfield Bullet. 18^th July 2011 he is going to sell it off and life, it will just continue like it always does. As off now the Royal vehicle is gone, but royalty shall continue.