Ho-Hum!

Currently reading 'News of a kidnapping' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It's a translation of 'Noticia de un secuestro'. It basically deals with the kidnapping of several Colombian notables by Pablo Escobar and his aides. Supposed to be a very famous book, or thats what it is acc. to my dad! It is kinda interesting at times, and does get boring here and there!! But let me just finish reading it and post its review!!

Cheers :)

Tracking Terror

It's been a month and 6 days since I last blogged, but it seems like a year to me! Recent developments: Rain in Chennai gave us a respite from college and its monotony, providing us 4 days of holidays (filled with boredom and incessant facebooking, orkutting and the like; of course!) At the same the Mumbai terror attacks took place on the 26th of November 2008. Rallies, candlelight vigils and walks, protests all came to the forefront. Discussions on politicians and their behaviour was more pronounced (like always!!) Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, ATS chief Hemant Karkare and other police officers who laid down their lives fighting for the people trapped inside Taj, Oberoi-Trident, CST station and Nariman House committed themselves for fighting against terrorism. On this issue I'm sure most of us would've got forwards and mails saying "We have to fight terror and this can be done staying together OR pray for the souls of the brave men who fought terror....." And atleast some of us would've forwarded it. The point is "What exactly are we going to establish by forwarding such messages?" Of course, it does condemn the attack and so on, but what do we do to actually combat terror? Sure we cannot go out there and fight ourselves. The least we can do is to contribute in our own way. Firstly I think all of us should exercise our right to vote in the right way. Wasting votes only paves way to illegal voting or 'kalla vote-u' in tamil. Joining the armed forces or the police forces or politics (I know it sounds dramatic!) would also be a really good way to serve the nation! (No kidding :P) Joining the various media is also a super cool way to serve the country and combat terror. Investigative and crime journalism is the best suited. Apart from all these career choices, people/residents can form groups among their flat associations etc. to inform the local police and security. By enlarge if all of us are alert and see or hear anything suspicious, it is best to report to the security services or police personnel to ensure the best! Educating people on basics of terrorism and the like would help in the long run, as terrorists cannot do anything without local support, its just not possible. Basically each and everyone us of have to learn how to react in an emergency situation. Panic will be the first thing that comes to our mind when we encounter the above. Panicking is okay, its a natural reaction, after those few seconds one has to act accordingly because safety is the primary measure. Terrorism may take a really long time to get eradicated, but it can surely be prevented!!