When I becomes We

How about mob psychology for a topic. When you are in a group and a few people in the group turn violent or start doing something, how many times have you noticed that the rest of them just follow suit. It could just be a small provocation. And most of the people there might not actually have wanted to do this.
There are innumerable examples too. Take for instance the recent monkey chants in Mumbai. A couple of people start it and the entire section of the crowd joined in.
There are people who say that the recent molestation on New Year's eve in Mumbai was also something like this. The crowd was huge and when a couple of people did this, the rest of them joined in to have a piece of the cake.
I am sure most of you might have been witness to mob psychology one time or the other. This need not be physical violence of any sort. But just for instance take a college festival. With some one performing on stage. A few guys in the crowd begin boos and cat calls, have you not seen a majority of the crowd join in? And this majority may not actually endorse what they themselves end up doing.
On the positive side, when people start chanting "Once more Once more" at the end of a performance, you too are dragged into that, even if u'd actually prefer some change :D:D.But what is actually mob-psychology. Why do people actually behave in this manner? It might be upto a psychologist to answer this.
Wiki says "Individuals tend to behave in a different manner as part of a group in contrast to acting independently. Members of a group are prone to acting in ways that they would deem immoral or unjust if in control of their behavior".
So is this really something that a person can not control no matter what? Can people actually justify themselves later on, blaming "Mob-Psychology" for it? How would you react if you were at the recieving end of this?

What made me write this: Yesterday a BMTC bus ran-over a 3 year old kid near JC Nagar in Bangalore. What happened next was a huge mob of people stopping all busses passing that way and virtually destroying them. They even damaged a lot of public property, vandalizing the road divider and other traffic property.So is this act justifiable?

The Last Moments of my Life

It was 30 days after Fool's day. It was 3 am in the morning. I sat down at my study. I was about to pen down my will. It brought back memories of Emmy and Edda. I had sent them back to the Bavarian mountains in February. They would be safe there, I knew. I had also gotten a million marks to my account in Berchtesgaden. Had I betrayed them? It was just last night that I married Eva Braun right here. She had been a faithful friend for long. She decided to share her destiny with me. No, I realized. I have lived for a cause. I lived for my people. I started wrting. Martin Bormann, my most faithful comarade shall be the executor. He shall take what is necessary for my brothers, sisters and co-workers to lead a modest simple life. I chose my remains to be burnt right in this city, where I have served unto death. I finished at around 4am. I called Martin to be witness to this. He signed and I handed over the will to him.
I went over to my bed and lay there holding Eva tight. We slept. It was afternoon that day when I sent for Bormann. I had lunch with my secretaries and dietician. Eva was not there. She did not want to have anything. But I had to spend time with the people who had stood by me. A few minutes after lunch, I summoned all of them. They were in a sullen mood. I had to tell them again. I had to tell them WE HAD LOST. It was the most painful truth. 12years of struggle had to end this way. But I had done justice. I knew people would remember me. For good or bad. But they would.
I went back to my study. Eva was there I kissed her on the cheek. We sat beside each other for what seemed like eternity, hand in hand. We came out and I was dressed as usual in my uniform jacket and black trousers. Eva was wearing a blue dress with white trimmings. We said goodbye to Bormann, Joseph and Goebbels, Burgdorf and Krebs. We slowly walked into the bunker as the men looked at us with tears. We walked in. Closed the door behind us and sat in the sofa. We held hands and sat for a couple of minutes.
Then I took out the 7.65mm Walther pistol. I did not think much I pointed it to her temple and pulled the trigger. She seemed extremely calm as she fell back. I kissed her motionless body and turned the revolver onto my head. But I knew I would be born again. I would be born in 1983. It would be in the India. I would make the world dance to my tunes the next time. I would be more than Fuehrer next time. And I pulled the trigger.

Why Meet At all

A bit too late for this review I know. But then most people have been talking about a wonderful movie. Here is my take on it.

Enter chocolate face hero.. Err I mean exit... Business collapse ho gaya. Wow. Bhaago zindagi se bhaago. A serious looking face(supposedly) and a frown to go with it. Even my mum could put up a better face and especially when I run away from home(hmmm err yeah to office) without having breakfast. Chocolate face walks and walks. Obviously its his gal friends wedding too... Bhagwaan jab deta hai to deta chappad phaad ke. Closeup Chatrapathi shivaji terminus platform number 6. Enter the new train. Obviously AC compartment only, especially when you dont have a ticket and the train is empty naa. Focus shift, enter whitewashed face heroin... Err or enter her saaman(Wicked mallus, please read as luggage) first into the moving train.. "I never missed a train all my life". Continuous speaking ensues for the next 10 minutes. Lot of jokes supposedly... I heard laughter from a handful of people around the theatre.. Cool man Army School never did any good to my hindi??? Huh... Followed by 2 hours of absolute entertainment(Ok so what if only a dozen people understood most of the jokes).

Some immortal conversations.
"Mein Karate Brown Belt hoon"
*hero is thinking obviously*"Nahi mein tumhe rape karne wala nahi hoon"
"Tum chaaho tho bhi nahi kar sakte" :p:p
"Nahi mujhe nahi karni tumhari rape" //Huh even I would'nt do it//

"are tumhari wajah sei mein aaj zindaa hoon god damn it"*Taaliyaa Taaliyaa. what an emotional outburst, brought tears to my eyes :p*
Finally I went home... I entered my bed room. I took out shwetha's photo(Yeah, I loved her long long back. Err she never did, though :p:p). I lit a match stick and burnt the picture. Put the remains in the closet and flushed her away from my life.... Oh really made me feel better... I've been crying all night god-dam it... Imtiaz bhai, if ever I meet you, maa kasam, you are dead!!!!
PS: Who cares, it was the project party fund.
PPS: But errr, Forum to Home- Auto 120RS :'(

Shit all over

The exact date of this incident is a mystery. But I can say it was some time when I was in high school. So it was some time mid-90s. Ah the location is Kannur in Kerala. I was in my ancestral home and it was a sunday. There were no chicken shops in our village. So I had to go down to a nearby village to get chicken. You can call this place a semi-town with loads of shops, and a B-class movie theatre. And this place was 20 minutes by bus from the house.
I went there early in the morning(Yes, 9 'o clock is early). I went down and asked for chicken. I watched with interest as he pulled out a chicken from the cage and put it down on the weighing machine. He then went on to slit its throat. The blood started gushing out and he put it into a metal container for life to fly out. I was listening to the chicken struggle in the container. And then all of a sudden, out of no where, I could feel it. I could feel the pressure. I could feel the pressure in my stomach. I thought I could manage to reach home. Suddenly I was not paying any attention to the chicken. He was finishe with the dressing and gave a packet to me. I paid him and walked back to the bus. All the while the pressure was increasing, increasing and increasing. I sat in the bus controlling. But no I could not. I got out of the bus just as the driver revved up the engine. I started walking on the road looking for a loo. None in sight. My eyes finally fell on the Theatre there. I paced myself to the theatre. I asked the gate keeper to let me in. He was a plesant fellow(thank god). I dashed off to the loo. I relieved myself and walked out a very very accomplished boy.
As I walked off from the theatre my eyes fell on the posters around "Now Showing: Ikkili(Malayalam) RAting:A".. Ok mallus know it.. But for the rest of u, well its a soft porn movie starring the evergreen Shakeela.. LOLzz. I walked out looking around, if anyone was watching me. Finally I walked out of the gates and there he was.. My neighbor staring at me with a wicked smile...
Chicken: 40rs
Bus ticket to home: 3rs
Expression on my face: Priceless???

Ballot ka Saudagar

No matter what happens the commies and the dynasty would prefer to call Moditva the "Maut ka Saudagar" and would like all of us to believe that Moditva triumphed yet again because of the communal polarization. But Modi and his five and a half crore gujaratis have proved that real development and the creation of a cult status will mean that BJP has a "West Bengal" of its own now. 11 years and now definitely going to be 16 is no mean achievement. A miles above that of what the commies have done in WB. In WB they have the hard core base and the kind of cadre that just will not slip away. This is something unique to West Bengal and not seen anywhere elese. You put any tom, dick or Budhdha on a commie ticket and he will win in WB. But thats not the case in Gujarat. Its sheer hard-work and its just the one man thats made it possible.
Moditva has defied all odds, all opposition, all exit polls to emerge the tallest man in the BJP. For those who believe Modi will be a problem to Mr Advani. They are mistaken. He will compliment Mr Advani. He will bring back the hardline BJP. He will bring back the BJP that will now shed the mask called Mr VAjpayee.
From the begining Mr Modi faced stiff oposition from everywhere. He was the Media's favourite punching bag. The pounced on him at any given opportunity. Then there was the Rahul Gandhi Road show. I thought circus had road shows. Then came Madams "Maut ka saudagar". Well you cant blame her for that. You give her the recipie for Butter chicken masala by mistake and she will read that out at the election rally. So then there was criticism from within the BJP led by Keshubhai. And the central leadership knew more. They knew, if there was one man that could win Gujarat for them, it was Mr Modi. And true, without him the BJP would have been battered. Even the Sangh Parivar was not whole-heartedly behind him. But then Modi with his amazing cult image has romped home. And just like someone at the BJP office in Ahmedabad said "Gujarat is India". Modi will be a huge figure in Indian politics. What ever the leadership thinks, Mr Modi definitely has a demigod status with the BJP workers and their new religion is called MODITVA.

The Big Modi Blunder

Narendra Modi has a demi-god status among the hard-core BJP supporters over the country is a very well know fact. And this is very evident form the pro-BJP communities on Orkut too. Modi has been facing rebellion within the Gujarat BJP is a very well known fact too. His style of functioning has been equated to that of Hitler's by a seniour member of his party in Gujarat. In spite of all this Modi was expected to sail through and comfortably this time around too. Courtesy his development and the "Vibrant Gujarat" slogan. Gujarat under Modi has progressed rapidly is a very well known fact and has been accepted by his detractors too. Even the congress has not been able to nail him on the development plank. And this explains Madam's "Maut ka saudagar" rheotics. This was just a bait for Mr Modi to draw him into the volatile areas. But the seasoned politician in Modi was not able to identify this and has fallen prey to the Congress tactics.
Now Mr Modi finds himself in a precarious position and the development plank on which the BJP was supposedly riding seems to have been swept under the carpet. He could face disciplinary actions from The EC and hence is being forced to defend his comments on Sohrabuddin. Mr Modi is being drawn deeper and deeper into this mud-slinging. But the BJP sure did not want it this way and finds itself stuck in between. The top leadership is not able to openly endorse Mr Modi's comments and is being forced to attack Sonia.
All this I feel has definitely has made it a much more closer call for Mr Modi's prospects of getting reelected the CEO of Gujarat Inc. Dont be surprised if the BJP manage to just scrape through or even if the Congress manage to pull up a surprise.

Controling Your Anger

Being able to control ones anger or frustration is a major thing. I've just begun to understand the importance of anger-management(If there ever was a term like that). I had always boasted about being a cool and calm guy. And most definitely have been into advicing people who are just too eager to lose their cool. Of late, after a couple of incidents its hit me hard that I'm not that cool after all.
The two incidents were very much different in its nature, But the one common factor was that it proved to me how fast I've started to get red. The first instance was a conversation with a friend when he said something and I just walked out enraged, with a couple of other friends looking at stunned. And the second instance happened on a public forum, wherein someone happened to criticize me. And I now wonder how I could have been such a pathetic bloke, that I had to give a reply and in a very harsh language. This has ended up most definitely tarnishing both our images.
I went on to apologise to both the people involved, but the damage had already been done. This brings a major questio. Is it the work pressure thats getting over me? I dont think so. Because I enjoy more on the job than elsewhere. But then why?
Now I'm sitting wondering whats the best anger-management technique(This word has already been coined :p)? I guess I should have taken a break in the second instance and let myself cool off. Or I could have spoken to the concerned people in a better way. Just keep yourself in control.
Let me take an oath not to get angry and get back control over myself. This will most definitely help myself and people associated to me from being subject to embarassing situations.

Signing off
Eddie....