The Usual Post-Terrorist-Attack Terrorist Bashing

The title says it all. Probably not the first and won't be the last, going by the way the government's approaching the issue, with the Home Minister more intent on clarifying all's well between the Centre and the State govt than send out a strong and stern warning to terrorists.

Two cities bombed on two consecutive days. We just don't learn, do we? President Bush had minced no words after 9-11 attacks. India, on the other hand, is a softie. Actually no. Our leaders would much rather use POTA to chuck their political rivals into jails, thus trivializing the law that at least offered some control over the menace. Then the Central government changes, and thus all the laws implemented by the previous one have to be changed too. So no more special laws against terrorism, while the ineffective implementation of the existing laws remains just that, ineffective.

Result? 9 blasts in Bangalore on 25th, then 17 in Ahmedabad the very next day. You don't need me to list out the other places that have been the victims of terrorism in the recent past. All the news-channels are screaming out words like Jaipur, Malegaon etc repeatedly.

Would this ever end? The UPA has had enough troubles. Inflation, trust-vote, and now these blasts. They really do not have too much time before the elections to get the people's trust back.

I do hope this is it. No more pointless bloodshed. Pretty disgusting, blowing hospitals up right when the blast victims were being brought in. Makes me wonder, who exactly is the terror-perpetrators' 'Jihad' for?

Superhero (?)

I've been away from home for quite some time, and after these fifteen days, would be away from another couple of months. Well, lots of things happen while I'm away, and my family fills me in.

This post is about the stray (one of them rather) that has adopted us, he's a dog who we call Doggie. (I've blogged about him earlier too, check out the older posts). Now, Doggie is a very responsible guy. He would come and drop you to the gate of the colony, from where you could get an auto. Not satisfied with just this, he occasionally puts his forelegs in the auto, as if to enquire whether everything is ok or not.

Well, last month he did something quite unforgettable (in more than one sense this word conveys). You see, our insurance agent had come home once, for some formalities regarding our car. Now, he wanted to see the interiors of the car. So well, my mom gave him the keys, and told him Doggie won't bite. And that the insurance guy should ignore Doggie baring his teeth, and barking unceasingly. Well, my mom couldn't convince Doggie that this guy meant no harm, and that he wouldn't have stolen the car. Doggie tried his best scaring that guy away, but when he saw that this guy was getting into his (ours, actually) car he couldn't resist. Despite my mom and sister shouting and waving some sorta stick, Doggie went and (luckily) caught the agent's trousers at the heel.

My mother and sister then rushed to the scene, and had to hit Doggie to get him to leave the harried and scared-to-death insurance agent. Doggie wasn't amused, and thought they were being really dumb and over-confident. But then again, if mom and sis were so sure of what they were doing, he decided not to bother. After all, they won't have the car once that guy was done.

Well, the insurance agent quickly finished all the formalities, and told my mother that they would be contacting us soon, and then left. My mom, in the middle of telling my dad the inspection was done (she left the exact details for later), and praying that the agent won't sue us, and other things she does, tried making amends with Doggie with quite a substantial serving of eggs and buttered bread and stuff that Doggie really likes. Doggie wasn't amused. Probably this was about principles more than anything else. So he sulked till my dad came home, and then before my mom could justify herself, the prosecution launched a barrage of accusations before the judge could even enter his house. My dad wasn't really understanding what had gone wrong, and hence turned to the witness (my sister) who then filled him in with the details.

So then my dad promised Doggie justice would be delivered and then came inside. Upon learning that Doggie was on some sort of hunger strike, he went and apologized on the family's behalf, (and I'm guessing made an offer of a few biscuits Doggie likes) and only after a lot of cajoling, did our hero relent. My mom then put extra milk and extra cream in his dinner.

Sweet, isn't it? :)

(PS. The next Sunday, we had to take our car to the insurance office to get the job done.)