Computers as seen through the eyes of a person who has been using it for long but is still no way savvy enough.
Control Z: A big time life saver for all and sundry, especially the technologically challenged. Wish there was such an option in real life too - it would have meant fewer regrets and guilt trips.
Backspace: A reliable companion for two finger typists (and that includes around 98% of netizens) and those afflicted by a disease called writer's block. In many computers and laptops this is probably the first key that goes kaput due to overuse.
Pause break: A key seen next to 'number lock' in most computers. Till this day I have never used the key nor I am able to figure out what it is all about.
Control c+ Control v: For plagiarists it is as significant an invention as the wheel was to scientific community. But this function is useful for others in copying lengthy quotes or sending interesting url links to friends.
Notepad: The purgatory where all that remains is pure words and numbers, all commands or hyperlinks attached to it disappear. Wish it had a spell check option.
MS Word: A god-send for those with handwriting styles ranging from chicken-scratch to hieroglyphics (that covers more than 90% of literate population). Also a boon for those who care about correct spellings (a dwindling breed under the corrosive influence of SMS lingo). The sheer convenience it offers in preparing and sending documents has made many forget what post office was all about.
MS Excel: Those rectangular cells do seem quite intimidating. However a little knowledge will make you realise the wonders it can accomplish in computing. But still I am not so comfortable about using it. Did some computing of monthly expenses, but the exercise was short lived as it was just part of my New Year resolution.
Also Read: Bangalore Beat
They were perceived as soft towards terrorism and bleeding heart sentimentalists when it came to meting out harsh punishment like sending people to gallows. But now the UPA 2 is going on an overdrive to live down that image.
First it was Ajmal Kasab. The government had to put up with lots of barbs and jokes in this regard by trollers on Facebook, Twitter and other sites. On every anniversary of 26/11 attacks newspapers used to put up stories as to how much was being spent on keeping Kasab alive - 'kill him, kill him' used to be the response on feedback message boards.
The apocryphal story of him being served biryani at Arthur Road jail in Mumbai was gorged by the masses with gusto and few bothered to take it with a pinch of salt.
But when the verdict was announced many of us patted on our backs that in India even a person like Kasab can get a fair trial. His was an open and shut case - the face of terror captured on CCTV cameras and relayed ad nauseum on TV. Though he had waged a war against the state he was given a civilian trial. Except for those opposed to death penalty in principle, not many tears were shed when he was hanged.
'Now what about Afzal Guru' was the loud thinking among the internet trollers and right wing jingoists. The focus shifted on a Kashmiri man accused of being the mastermind behind the attack on Parliament in 2001. He was awarded death sentence by the Supreme Court and his mercy petition was pending with the President.
The attack on seat of democracy always evokes strong emotion among any populace. Students of History may recall the infamous Gunpowder plot in England, when a person named Guido (Guy) Fawkes was on the verge of blowing up the British Parliament in 1605 (it is indeed an ironic reversal of fortune that Guy Fawkes masks are now used by hacktivists to fight for something as democratic as internet freedom).
Afzal Guru's case was not considered an open and shut affair, in fact legal experts have pointed out far too many discrepancies. However, be that as it may, the cloak and dagger secrecy with which the Government carried out his hanging, the way his family members were kept in the dark and the subsequent clampdowns in Kashmir would make African and South American dictators nod in approval. The moral high ground we had acquired in the Kasab trial was frittered away in this case.
Contrast this with 1989 when Indira Gandhi's assassins were hanged. Both Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh were allowed to contest the rejection of mercy petition by the President in the Supreme Court. When the court rejected it their date of execution was made public and their families were allowed to meet them.
Barely had the din over Afzal Guru subsided, the President rejected mercy petition of four Veerappan aides. They have at least been afforded the luxury to approach the Supreme Court. There are many more in the line - the killers of Rajiv Gandhi and late Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. It remains to be seen how the government is going to act against them.
Also Read: Bangalore Beat
Recently I came across a news item that writers in Myanmar are trying to relearn the habits of free thought and testing the boundaries of free speech. Long spells under military rule meant journalists, writers, artists and others associated with cultural field had to undergo various levels of censorship to conform to what the regime thought was appropriate.
But before they cast away those conformist skins for the brave new world, it won't be a bad idea to share them with Indian writers and artists who seem to be staring at an increasingly intolerant society.
While for some learning these skills may be a tough grind as they have been under the corroding influence of democracy for more than six decades, but for organisations like say Tamil film industry or Hindi commercial film industry (who are either at the beck and call of Thackerays or Dawood Ibrahim) the learning curve to reach those levels of conformism may be a cakewalk, as they are almost there by default. Moreover the fact that the Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf has a good following in India will only be an added plus.
Another major challenge may be Indian conditions - they are different and hence the training may require some improvisations. In Myanmar the artistes have to contend with the jackboot of military junta and nothing else, but here they have to grapple with state, non-state, religious and corporate forces and that too with many axes to grind.
Salman Rushdie recently put it very succinctly. He said that "because the writers, painters, filmmakers, artists don't have armies. We don't have the boys to put on streets to defend our film, novel or painting. So it's not hard to attack." He then went on to add that a "strange form of identity politics has developed in which people don't define themselves with things they love but by the things they hate. So to attack a book about the Ramayana, book about Shivaji or painting about Saraswati... these things are easy to do. That somehow galvanize the sense of identity of these extremist forces."
And he should know, after all death threats and fatwas have shadowed him for decades.
Also Read: Bangalore Beat
