so theres this very irritatin bit of malware thats been doin the roundz of the internet for a couple of months………..named XP Antivirus 2008

Infection #1

back in april…..on my moms laptop…..shed been browsin,wen sm antivirus thingy popped outta her taskbar n showd a report dat said the comp hd been infected wid abt 3 trojans(no report from avira whatsoever),and recommended a site which had specific removal tools for them…………..so she went on the said site n clicked download………..this then downloaded a file,and then proceeded to open about a 100 windows of internet explorer,when she’d tried to close them via task manager,it showed that it task manager could only be opened and used by administrator,which was pretty awkward,as she was on her administrator account……………….

Recovery #1

transferred firefox to her laptop via usb………searched around for a specific tool to kill the malware……….

found a symantec tool for it,which didnt quite work,so finally had to perform a system recovery to about 12 hours before the infection……………..

All is well.
Infection #2

last week,again on mom’s laptop………………she’d opened a spammy ecard which found itself in her outlook inbox……………….and again appeared the little icon in the taskbar,and its trusty sidekick,telling her that there were more than 126 viruses and trrojans on the disk,in the form of a fake report……………..no internet explorer manipulation this time around……….the wall paper changes to a fake report about how many viruses there are on the drive,and the display properties menu is locked….the administrator bullsh*t again………..

Recovery #2

went online,searched fo specific fix…….nothing in sight…………….had to try to restore the system,which somehow,decided only to let me restore to about 5 minutes ago,which,as tou all knw,is next to useless…………….with the last loss-free option gone,the only thing that could be done to save moms old laptop,was to completely reformat the c drive………………….

So,we said good bye to all the data on the c drive,and were left lamenting for a better antivirus(avira failed again)………..

Moral of the entire story:NOD32 and Kaspersky ar he only 2 functional antivirus systems in todays world.

All is well,except for an astonishingly empty c drive.

Dear Readers

The latest rumor in the India political sphere: the Congress is sporting Rahul Gandhi as its next candidate for the post of PM. Even though it is too early to confirm the rumors, it is quite obvious that Rahul Gandhi is suddenly a major player in the Congress. With the General elections not very far away, this doesnt seem like just a coincidence.

Until a few months ago, the controlling hand of Sonia Gandhi was usually unseen and discreet. Sonia Gandhi, alongwith son Rahul, is now becoming a more public figure, much in contrast to the earlier approach.

Priya Sahgal of India Today in an article has said, “It seems like 10 Janpath has begun work on Rahul’s leadership profile. If the Congress is to be educated about the nuclear question, then Rahul is a key speaker. When the Government had to send a representative to Beijing, it was not Manmohan Singh but Rahul and Sonia who boarded the plane to China. There he signed an MOU with the Communist Party of China. The mother and son also caught up with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto and built Rajiv Gandhi’s rapport with his mother Benazir.”

I couldn’t agree more with Priya. While most countries send their heads of state, India sent the head of the Congress Party to Beijing.

Another excerpt from the article by Priya Sahgal: “Last month, Sonia had announced two new committees comprising Union ministers and party officials to draft the political strategy for the next polls. As a member of the manifesto committee, Rahul will play a key role in Campaign 2009. He may not be the prime ministerial candidate, but he certainly is the pan-Indian star campaigner. For the young scion, it is party time now.”

The Congress seem to have taken a leaf out of Barack Obama’s book, and are now operating on the principle of iconic leadership. Young Rahul seems to be the perfect poster boy for this kind of an iconic leadership. If the Congress and its allies do manage to win next year’s General election, I think Rahul will surely make the Cabinet list, if not PM.

Rahul is now doing more in the Congress than just going on Garib Yatras and Discover India tours. He gave us a glimpse of his leadership credentials at the recent trust vote, where he was one of the speakers from the UPA. And I admit, I was mighty impressed by his speech which caught the imagination of the rest of the nation as well. Videos of the speech were instant hits on YouTube, with many users expressing their approval of Rahul.

One thing is certain: Rahul will give Mayawati, who is also being touted as a strong contender for the post of PM, a run for her money. At the moment, he seems to be riding a wave of popularity among the young and old of the country alike, whereas Mayawati’s support is mostly limited to her Dalit fan following. The young man seems like a breath of fresh air to Indian politics, which is stereotyped as corrupt and incompetent and run by boring old men and women in a still developing nation. It wouldnt be wrong to call him the Barack Obama of India. But will this wave take him all the way to the ultimate position in the Indian echelons of power: the PM’s chair?

Yours Ludicrously

Dear Readers

A happy Independence Day to all Indians. Here’s a poem I wrote on the occasion of our 62nd Independence Day.

At the stroke of the midnight hour
As the world sleeps
India will awake to life and freedom

These were the words he said
The great man Nehru
And pronounced the British Raj dead
As India was born anew.

Two centuries of struggle and sacrifice
And bloodshed and violence
Had been the price
For this independence.

It was at the Red Fort
Where men and women, boys and girls
Erupted into a joyous rapture
As the tricolour unfurled

It was a proud and joyous day
For all Indians, young and old
For after so many years in fray
India was at a new threshold.

Today India stands at par
With the world’s best
She has made it this far
Overcoming every tribulation and test.

Today, 61 years from that day
India stands tall and strong
And I feel proud to say
To this great nation I belong.

E-vatan, tujhsa koi nahin
Duniya mein sirf ek hi Hindustan
Garv ke saath mein yeh kehta hoon
Ki mera Bhaarat mahaan.

Yours Ludicrously

When The Universe and everything else was made, there was one thing that kept it all intact. Im-perfection.

From the beginning of time itself, there has been nothing perfect. Nothing with no faults or no glitches or no errors in it. That’s the way things were and are meant to be. There is no perfect person, no perfect animal, no perfect mountain, no perfect beach, no perfect star and no perfect galaxy. Nothing is perfect. Nothing but the universe itself. The universe constituting of a myriad of imperfections is perfect and whole in itself. For if everything was the way it was meant to be, there would be no point of creation.

This might seem weird, but if something was faultless, glitch-less, error less (so on n so forth) then that thing would be imperfect. It’s perfection would make it im-perfect. It would make it the most imperfect thing ever. Nothing is meant to be perfect. And if something in not meant to be, then it is not perfect…so our perfect thing would become imperfect.

It is these imperfections that make life so wonderful. A misty morning. A surprise rainfall. Or on another note, a relationship that was meant to be, ending. And then getting back together. These imperfections are the running force behind every happiness,every sadness and everything else there is.

Dear Readers

Yesterday, every Indian had a reason to feel proud. Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the 10m Air Rifle event at the Olympics and thus became the first Indian to have won an individual Olympic gold medal and the first gold since 1980 (which had been won for hockey).

But isnt it amusing, how a country of a billion until now never managed to win a single Olympic gold or hasnt won a gold since 1980? Its a shameful truth that we as Indians have to face. India had won only four individual medals, none of them gold, since sending their first team to the Summer Games in 1928. Whereas South Korea, a country with a population of about 4% of that of India, and about 30 times smaller, has already won 12 medals at the 2008 Games alone (5 golds, 6 silvers, 1 bronze).

Bindra is being hailed as the country’s most eligible bachelor at the moment. But a few weeks after the end of the Games, and India will forever forget him and his exploits. Who remembers Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, India’s lone medal winner (silver) in the 2004 Games in Athens? And the eligible bachelors  list will once again be topped by MS Dhoni.

I feel sad to say that most of the sporting talent in our country is ignored in favour of the gentlemen playing the more glamourous game of cricket. I, like all my countrymen, love cricket, but I feel we should give more importance to other sports as well. The Aussies play loads of games, and they are the best at most of them! If the Aussies can be the best at so many sports with a population of just 21,370,000 , we Indians surely can be a better with our population of a billion plus.

The following obituary was inspired by something I saw on MTV yesterday. It paints a sad but true picture of the situation of the so very talented yet ignored sportspersons in our country.

IN FOND MEMORY OF ABHINAV WINNING AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL (11/08/08-12/08/08)

*Even though Abhinav is the first Indian to have won an individual Olympic gold, the media will give Sania Mirza’s skirts and track pants more airtime and space.

*No girl will put up posters of Abhinav on their walls or have a pics of him as their wallpaper or screensaver.

*No one will recognize Abhinav on an Indian street.

*His signature will never become an autograph.

*So what if Abhinav won an Olympic gold, Rohit Sharma will still make more money.

*No one will ever come to iSuperstar and say they want to become Abhinav Bindra.

*Bigg Boss will never invite him to the Bigg Boss villa.

*Abhinav will become an officer on Khatron Ke Khiladi at best. Or Ram Gopal Varma may approach him for a gangster film (and he probably wont pay him for it!). He cant hope for more than that.

*The Abhinav Bindra fanclub on Facebook has just 611 members. And how many Indians are there on Facebook? Certainly a whole lot more than 611.

*Harman Baweja will still be more well known that Abhinav.

*Abhinav will never be able to have KOFFEE WITH KARAN.

*Rakhi Sawant will never feature Abhinav on THE RAKHI SAWANT SHOW.

*Asha Bhosle may call Brett Lee to India to do another album, but she certainly would never consider to have anything to do with Abhinav.

*The Indian media would consider Ishmeet’s death a bigger loss than that of Abhinav and would certainly give Ishmeet more airtime than Abhinav.

*People will be able to recognize Sachin Tendulkar’s kid and would know all about him, but would probably not even be able to recall Abhinav’s name properly.

*Reebok will never sign Abhinav or would never start a signature Abhinav line of sportswear.

*Any videos of Abhinav (on youtube) in his winning moment  will never even come close to having the same number of views or hits as the video of Mika kissing Rakhi Sawant or Kareena and Shahid’s kiss.

It is indeed sad that Abhinav will probably never become a face that Indians all over the world would recognize (atleast unless we change the way we treat our sportspersons). I am proud of you Abhinav. India is fortunate to have great men and women like you. If we continue to disregard these talented citizens, it wont be long before our sportspersons, like our IT geniuses, get brain drained and we lose them to countries that actually value their talent.

Yours Ludicrously

Dear Readers

A poem I wrote, based on a dream I once had.

Once Upon a Stormy Night

A rainy night
A deserted street
No one in sight
In the dark retreat.

The distant rumbling thunder
The croaking crickets
The only sounds that sundered
The rain’s monotonous racket.

Suddenly, a movement in the distance
A cat’s purr
An owl’s hooting askance
All at the same instance occurred.

Gradual illumination of the dark street
By a pair of emerging headlights
Like a phantom covering a regular beat
Impervious to the stormy night.

A car announced its arrival
With a screeching halt
The owl hooted its disapproval
As a man stepped out onto the asphalt.

This stout man, who was expensively dressed
And wore shoes of patented leather
Swore out loudly in disgust and detest
As he realized his apparel would be ruined by the weather.

He saw a figure emerge out of the darkness
Steadily walking towards him
The owl, surprised by the new arrival’s abruptness
Hooted again loudly in an expression of its whim.

He seemed appropriately dressed for the weather
As if he had been waiting
In a large trench coat and boots of water resistant leather
In anticipation of this meeting.

The stout man cried out
“Sir, a flat has crippled my car
Please do help me out
You’re my only hope, the nearest help is much too far”.

The other man replied,
“Yes, I will help you
But let there be no lies
I shot at your tire and caused the flat that you now wish to subdue”.

The stout man
As his puzzled expression showed
Did not seem to understand
That he would not go further down the road.

The trench coated man added
“Someone has signed your death warrant
And hired me to execute the deed
At this chosen place, in this torrent”.

And then, he drew a Beretta semi automatic handgun
Fired two shots in quick succession
And the job was done
With a professional killer’s precision.

The man fell down, lifeless
Blood oozing out of his forehead
He lay there, hapless
On the dark stretch of blacktop: his deathbed.

The owl hooted, much louder this time
The only witness to this perfect crime.
The assassin turned away from the bloody mess
And disappeared into the darkness.

Yours Ludicrously

They say, when we’re certain we’re going to die, our life flashes before our eyes.

I wonder what goes through the mind of a suicide bomber just before they drop the bombs…..

Or for that matter, of any suicide victim.

————————————————————

Cuts on arms, slashed wrists, I’ve seen that before. What I haven’t ever seen is someone so happy the day after they did it.

Dear Readers

This post may be taken as a sort of continuation to varun’s post titled “The Aarushi TRP joke!“.

The media as we know it today, seems to have a chronic disease of drawing its own conclusions before the authorities themselves. As varun rightly pointed out with reference to the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder, for the media it is no longer about bringing out the truth but about selling their story to the public. If it really was about bringing out the truth for the media, why is it that out of the countless murders that take place in our country of a billion the media chooses to glorify few odd ones which they think will get them the best ratings on television?

I shudder to think of the trauma the innocent father, Dr Rajesh Talwar, probably had to face when he was initially indicted by the UP police. And after he was declared innocent and released by the CBI, the media still did not leave him in peace. Scenes of scores of media persons crowding around Dr Talwar and his family after his release were splashed across every newspaper in the country and telecast across every news channel. Even a revenge-seeking ghost is not capable of haunting a person the way the Indian media does. Not just outside the Dasna jail where Dr Talwar had been held captive, the media went to the extent of frenzying around Dr Talwar’s home to seek him for questioning after his release.

This isnt the first time that our country has witnessed the disgusting acts of a media desperate to earn better ratings. It was almost two decades ago when our then Prime Minister the late Mr Rajiv Gandhi was the scapegoat that the media choose to perform its halal on. Mr Gandhi was accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India’s 155 mm field howitzer. Later in 2004, he was declared innocent by the Delhi High Court. Unfortunately Mr Gandhi did not live long enough to see the day justice was granted to him. As usual the Indian media glorified the Bofors scandal and portrayed an innocent and honourable man as the villain behind a nefarious scheme he was never a part of.

Countless Indian celebrities have been part of embarrassing MMS scandals, all thanks to the media. Are clips of Kareena Kapoor sharing a kiss with Shahid Kapur or nude clips of Preity Zinta and Sania Mirza so necessary for the country to see that the media has been granted a license to invade their privacy or anyone’s privacy for that matter? That is what the media people seem to think.

Not just clips of well known personalities in their private moments, the media (and this is not just restricted to the Indian media) have not spared dying men even. When ex Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was put to the gallows, his final moments were captured on a cell phone camera, and as usual media all over the world aired this clip, uploaded it for everyone to see and printed screenshots of it in newspapers and tabloids. And the consequences? Civil and sectarian violence in many parts of the world. Kids as young as 10 years old committed accidental suicide trying to imitate the actions in the clip.

It may be argued that it is because of media that we are constantly updated with news and information from happenings across the world. What sort of information? Lies that serve personal agendas? Or useless half truths about celebrities? And how often is it that good incidents get more air time/space than all the negative things the media seems to be obsessed with showing? Skepticism seems to be the order of the day for the media. Ex US president Lyndon Johnson once rightly quoted, “If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: ‘President Can’t Swim.’”

As varun rightly said in the above mentioned post, “If this is freedom of expression, we don’t need it! Please don’t give this in the hands of people who don’t know how to use it.”

Freedom should be balanced with responsibility. I think a 5 year old can exhibit more responsibility than today’s media. Because in the spider web of facts presented by the media, many a truth is strangled. And this strangulation of truth, if not checked, will one day lead to the asphyxiation of civilization itself.

Yours Ludicrously

This is a poem i wrote…………………4 english class………………………….loosely based on an episode of southpark…………………………….

There lived a pair of head-lice,

Who grew vegetables,lentils,wheat and rice.

They lived in a forest,of human hair,

They lived so long;men just dont care….

One fine day,they had a fight,

It went on and on;the entire night.

Sleepless,yet tireless;they quarrelled on,

Without a pause;dusk to dawn…

Reason and debate;turned to violence,

A piercing wail;turned to silence……

A marriage broken;a life taken,

All due to the fight;god-forsaken……

He started to cry;shed many a tear,

Just about then,man found clinic all-clear…..

Great thunder,then poisonous foam,

Dissolved two lice,and their little home…..

Here at the end,I have but one doubt,

What was their little fight,all about?????????