Water, Water, Everywhere...

Every summer, it either rains or it doesn’t. When it does, everyone’s happy and singin' kumbaya and all that jazz. The problems arise when it doesn’t. One of these problems pertains to the issue of sharing the water of the river Cauvery. I am by no means an expert on the facts of this issue, but as far as I know (and please correct me if I’m wrong), this is how they stand:
Fact: The river originates in Karnataka.
Fact: Tamil Nadu has the most area under irrigation, more than Karnataka.
Fact: Although other states are involved as well, the main issue seems to be between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Fact: Tamil Nadu got more water in the recent verdict than Karnataka.

For quite a while, there had been no official solution to the water sharing issue; every time it cropped up, it was a big "thing", and an interim solution was imposed each year. This year, however, the tribunal has finally come to a decision, which is pretty much the same as the previous interim solution, with some minor alterations.

As with the interim solutions, the people of Karnataka (or some portion of them) don’t seem especially thrilled with this decision (the people of Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, seem fairly content with it). Their grouse seems to be that in their opinions, Karnataka deserved more water than it got, yet it received less. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem in a democracy, but their answer seems to be to create as much of a stir as possible, in the hopes that some authority somewhere will wake up and grant their wishes. By “stir”, I mean disrupting normal life, and by “disrupting normal life”, I mean strikes, agitations, bandhs, and the rest of the whole package.

In my opinion, this is plain stupid on multiple levels. First off, the notion that protesting or striking will cause the Indian Government to wake up is laughable, especially in an issue like this one; no central government wants to make a decision that could become unpopular with their supporters, or could be used by the opposition to bash them over the head later.

Secondly, instead of taking a proactive approach to this, the dissenters are (as always) blindly reacting, causing as much discomfort to the locals as possible in their misguided bid to be listened to. As far as I know (and again, correct me if I’m wrong), while the sharing of water was fixed, there were no limits placed on the expansion of the reservoir area, or that of the Cauvery’s origin; by expanding either, Karnataka could create more water resources. Sure, they’d have to give Tamil Nadu more, too, but I was under the impression that the issue wasn’t so much about how much “they” got as much as it was about how little “we” got.

Yet another thing to be kept in mind is that water isn’t a panacea for farmers; they need a whole host of other things, ranging from better transport to electricity to better seeds and fertilizers. Water isn’t going to solve all their problems, not by a long shot. Most of those crusading for a “better” verdict aren’t farmers either – they’re movie stars, or IT czars, or (worst of all) politicians, who’re not really crusading for the rights of the farmers, but for their votes. What’s more, instead of cooler heads prevailing and an amicable solution being sought, this issue has (again, as always) turned into yet another “my-state-is-better-than-yours” spat, with plenty of ad hominem arguments being bandied about.

While I fully realize that there’s plenty of blame to be spread around – with the Center, with Karnataka, with Tamil Nadu, with the tribunal, and others - my point is not that. My point is that perhaps instead of just pointing fingers and denouncing those who disagree, perhaps those in Karnataka who disagree with the verdict should seek a proactive solution within the ambit of the decision. After all, a solution from the Center – or anyone else, for that matter – which pleases all parties is nigh impossible. We might as well learn to live with it, and get on with our lives.

Oh Noes!

Well, looks like Audioslave as we know it is history.

Plenty of people have probably predicted this, and I'm fairly sure plenty are happy about it, too, but I find myself less than thrilled.

I've always liked Audioslave. Maybe it's because I listened to them before I heard Soundgarden or RATM(both fine bands, to be sure), or perhaps it's because they were one of the bands that really got me into music (Be Yourself was plain awesome), but I've always liked them. Critics can say all they want about them getting worse/sucking, but I don't care - their music does something a lot of music seems to fail to do these days: it just sounds good (and chill. unlike, say, Iron Maiden or Dimmu Borgir, neither of which are either to me). Matter of personal opinion, I know, but I'm still kinda sad to hear this. Oh well.



Be Yourself truly is a fine song. Those of you who haven't heard it before, take the time to listen to it now. I promise you, it'll be worth it.

I'll rant about my dislike of black/death metal later. I have homework now.

Do Shaved Legs Get Lice?

Period films are fun to laugh at.

I mean, look at them; there's people in ugly clothes, with nasty haircuts, and they act/talk all funny. Which is true of all Van-Damme/Arnold movies too. But they don't count because Van-Damme and Arnold are big and will asplode your head if you look at them funny. Back to the topic. My favorite period films are mid-1800's and before. If you thought your grandpa looked funny in that suit in that old picture, wait'll you see these guys. Especially the medeival ones. The guys have long hair, the ladies wear elaborately frilly dresses, and...their nails are all trimmed!

Not to be condescending or anything here, but how's that possible? I'm pretty sure they didn't have nail cutters back in the Dark Ages. And even if they did, what's with the cuts being so neat? I use a nice sharp new nail cutter, and I still mess up; how'd they do it back in the days before processed cheese? (Processed cheese is the benchmark against which all potential civilizations may be measured.)

So as I was paying attention to this, I noticed something else - the women's legs are always covered. Now, call me a sexist pig if you will (really, you don't have to), but men tend to have a thing for shaved legs. And like most of our preferences, they've been groomed into us for a long time after starting out somewhere as an odd/sick fetish (two words: high heels). So when did shaved legs start? And how?

I was thinking about all this, when I decided I'd better not. Some things just aren't meant to be questioned, and nail cutters and shaved legs are among them. New topic. Lice: little annoyances or friendly companions? The poor sods just want a home, y'know? And here we are, killing, murdering, and systematically eradicating them, as if they have no lives, or hopes, or dreams, or families. It's sick and cruel, is what it is. I'm going to start a society on the lines of the ASPCA, dedicated to protecting lice.

Y'see, having lice on our head can be a good thing; as long as we're friends with the Lice, the Mice won't dare attack us. Lice are the number one killers of Mice, even deadlier to them than Rush Limbaugh or even (*gasp*) Kenny G are to us. And that's a good thing. A very good thing indeed. (To be ranted about at a later date)

Before you ask, no, I haven't got any lice on my head. I've got reasons. Like the fact that my hair stays short, which supposedly (according to my mom) keeps lice away. (I'd like to have longer hair, but that's a story for another day) Or the fact that I wear processed cheese on my head (the answer to your first question is shaddup) on occasion. Or maybe it's just because it's my head. But whatever it is, the beggars have chosen. And they've left me outta the loop. Not sure whether I should be overjoyed or crushed...


Anyhow, anonymous guy commented about Michael Richards. You probably know him better as Cosmo Kramer. Well, here it is: the end of his career



Y'know, I think we're all a little (or more than a little) racist, and that we tend to say/do stupid things when we're angry. Yet again, an issue for another day.