Lost city of Atlantis found?

Human mind always is attracted by the unknown. And if the unknown exists in our own world, its adds spice to life. The city of Atlantis, as depicted in some long long long back written works of historical figures, has come to haunt us humans again. Certain recent press reports claim that the lost city of Atlantis has been found. 

What is more curious is that one of the readers left a comment that there exists a full fledged web-site on this issue giving more than a lay-man's account of the details of the long lost city. Amazing, insn't it ?

A typical week at London

A typical week at London

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Three days a week,
I am running,
And always on my feet.

I bow down to tax,
Even forgetting to relax.
Then comes Thursday, with the spirit to yell,
A time to gel.

Fooseball intermittently,
And Passfield dinner reluctantly,
I pass the week off,
In a quandary.

Devoted to those ten minutes which made be wonder what I do in a typical week. I know it does not sound too rhythmical, but then reflects the actual and truer than true state-of-affairs.

Dear old Passfield !!!

Waking in central London,
Within the Tavistock dungeon,
Stands one not-so prominent
Endsleigh Extension.

Hidden yet awake,
Passfielders work in their mansion
Accommodating every dimension,
Sweeping all tension.

There I reside,
In its confines,
Wishing to subside,
In its indomitable ravines.

Visualization there being enormous,
I fathom fully conscious,
Discussing full throttle,
In essence the non-obvious.

Then the Passfield Bar
And the fooseball gang-war;
All of it adds to the passion
To live here mere yaar.

Dedicated to my fellow Passfielders ...

Some perspectives from Indian newspapers

Just the other day Dad scanned some news pieces (ya you can make out from the curved angles). Some of them looked really good so thought would put them on the blog. So here goes ...

Time for some gardening

Well, colourful scenes are always a delight for a wavering mind; atleast I find a trip to the garden a refreshing experience. There is so much to capture from what mother nature has to offer us. So am putting a few shots which I have taken over quiet a long period; soothing and refreshing.

A bunch of cute flowers.

This time red ones

Sober yet beautiful.

Bright and illuminating.

Well, this is neither UK nor maple leaves. This comes from India, from grape leaves.

Cheerfully bright.

And now time for some fruits, grapes.

Pomegranates and guava here.

London Random in Camera

The proud hallmark of London, Big Ben.

The guardian of the times.

Adjoining the Victoria Memorial

On way to the Parliament. I really like the later part of the inscription.

Victoria Memorial

Buckingham Palace itself

At the Buckingham Palace

A view of Green Park

On way to Greenwich

Central London, Holborn

I shall stay the way I am

A very nice piece of thought that I came across. This poem by Dorothy Parker really says a lot in not so many words. Way to go.

If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten.
I may get back my looks again.
If I abstain from fun and such.
I'll probably amount to much;
But I shall stay the way I am.
Because I do not give a damn.

- Dorothy Parker

A bit of advice for the road walkers

Came across this really nice piece on walking habits and the road-walking mannerism, published in a local daily in Agra. Thought would share this with all. So here goes.

New Year Musings

New Year Musings

Kindling fire,
Burning desire,
A heart full of passion,
Looking up higher.

Up there my dream lies,
Pursuing which, I strive.
But then I wonder,
How would I?

Wishful thinking
Amidst a maze,
Pragmatic concerns,
Ruing the day.

Still I rise,
For rise I must,
Embracing the change,
The change after Xmas.

A full new year,
Raises the hope,
And I must,
Make it’s most.

Achieve I will,
'Coz of the fire,
In this New Year,
My heart’s desire.

Friends: A nice poem...

The poster carrying this poem on friends has always hung on my door but I have never known who wrote it. But sure it sounds good and makes one realize what true friendship stands for. So thought would post on the blog.

A Friend

A friend is there,
When no one is around,
To give you a smile,
When non can be found

A friend you can tell,
A secret to,
And always know,
She'll keep it true.

A friend is one
Who cares how you feel,
And hopes that all
Your wounds will heal.

You can share an idea,
Big or small
Or with a friend you can sit,
And say nothing at all.

A friend is sad
When you move away,
And for your friend,
You wish you could stay.

Always have
A hand to lend,
And save some time
For a Friend.

.

12 Days of Christmas

Mumu's christmas gift for the blog :)

New blog

Well, well, well. I finally heeded to his advice; made a blog exclusively on law. Though not a full time professional blog but yes an analytical one, meant to inform and discuss the perspectives of law and issues surrounding it; therefore, Legal Perspectives.

That also means there would be no more posts on this blog related to law (which also seems to collide with the reviews I got from the poll) and the random thoughts would therefore now be random enough.

Hope you like this new one: http://legalperspectives.blogspot.com/

Religion: Opium of the masses???

'Do you believe in God, Mr. Langdon?'
The question startled him. The earnestness in Vittoria's voice was even more disarming than the inquiry. Do I believe in God? He had hoped for a lighter topic of conversation to pass the trip.
A Spiritual conundurm, Langdon thought. That's what my friends call me. Although he studied religion for years, Langdon was not a religious man. He respected the power of faith, the benevolence of churches, the strength religion gave to so many people ... and yet, for him, the intellectual suspension of disbelief that was imperative of one were truly going to 'believe' had always proved too big an obstacle for his academic mind. 'I want to believe,' he heard himself say.
Vittoria's reply carried no judgment or challenge. 'So why don't you?'
He chuckled. 'Well, it's not that easy. Having faith requires leaps of faith, cerebral acceptance of miracles - immaculate conceptions and divine interventions. And then there are the codes of conduct. The Bible, the Koran, Buddhist scripture ... they all carry similar requirements - and similar penalties. They claim that if I don't live by a specific code I will go to hell. I can't image a God who would rule that way.'

The above passage from Dan Brown's first work 'Angels and Demons' perhaps represents a right mix of the argument for the an atheist. Though my quoting above does imply my approval or disapproval of the statement my conformity with Mr. Brown's views either on the same or otherwise, yet I feel that this passage is a correct reflection of the fight within.

But then, as I write this and you read this, somewhere down the world someone would be ringing bells, be it in a Church or temple, praying, for oneself or for others, donating, for a better life in an unknown later world, recounting one's karma, to put one's deeds straight, visiting shrines, seeking the unknown almighty. Why? Not because the Bible, Kuran, Geeta, Guru Granth Sahib, or other holy scriptures say that. But because of an inner felt carving for a support. After all we all need one, no matter how strong we may appear, emotionally, physically or mentally, we all need support. It is just a question of timing. Some need it occasionally while for some an entire life of support is short.

In any case, what is the need to question this faith and why? Does it make sense? Well it does, if you follow religion because you have faith in it and someone else says that your religion is sham, corrupt and is based upon fundamentals which are not sustainable. Well, for non-starters, Mr. Brown does exactly that in his two bestselling novels. And consequently we have the enormous furore the world over that Christianity has been attacked and its base shaken and all. But surely and thoroughly I am not writing on that, it is just a passing reference to what happens when people begin questioning their faith.

As Karl Marx had put it, "Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes" (German) for "religion is opium of the people or "religion is opium of the masses". I agree with it but for a qualification; the comparison that is made to a tranquillizer, which actually does not warrant comparison. So I do advance the argument that religion serves as a band-aid only till the time it is thought to be curative. The moment you think your woulds heal faster and better without those, it stops to serve any purpose, except decorative. It is ultimately a question of faith.

Religion is only a platform providing an anecdote, which seeks to serve us bound and in-tact, so that we do not feel devoid of purpose and way. All religions, seek to stand on the same footing and providing a way to achieve the inner-self, not something external. Unless there kindles an internal fire, religion fails to serve a purpose and is reduced to a dogma of superstitious practices and like. But the moment you have faith and believe that such practices are there to serve a purpose, in those same practices to being to realize lies an path todays becoming a tolerant, wiser and rational human being, looking with all its humbleness for the enlightenment of the humanity.

It is faith and faith alone, of one in oneself, that keeps this platform vital and self-preserving. The moment faith is lost in the religion, its followers convert or banish and the path to enlightenment disappears. So religion is neither a dogma or an enlightenment in itself. It is instead, a path to finding one-self, a path which no doubt goes through a web of dwindling moments which bring forth a lot of questions which one has to answer. But then it is really a test of character and faith is the weapon to win this warfare.

Perspectives at Thames

A random stroll across the embankment, gust of chilly wind, freezing waters, steaming ferries, faces representing various races, a culmination of world cultures really. Thames really has a lot to provide in terms of ideas and inspirations. No wonder these people (ofcourse its only the British who claim such) claim that London is THE center-point, the place marking the start of world civilization. They have gone so much so that they have got this claim included in United Nations Charter and [Article 38] of the Statute of the International Court of Justice enunciates this claim of 'civilized nations'.

So much for the claim-blame part. What I really bring to you is Thames. Not a very clean river (even at times Ganga may be cleaner), nor a huge one. Flows steady and calm, never uprising or tidal. River-Waters-trade perhaps seem to have started from here. But gives you a good background material to work on, no matter which stream of art you represent. As a painter, you have countless opportunities to take your call of the subject-matter you want to cover; As a dramatist you have the world at your disposal, you thing of a country and you will find a representative sample of inhabitants from there (no wonder Shakespeare go so much success here).

And then comes the lesser-mortals like me, who just go for a walk along-side the Thames. Neither to draw any inspiration nor for any soul searching. Killing time probably (who so ever invented that phrase, really required appreciation for the good words), or may be even to see the fairer skin (someone will kill me for that), may be to qualify as an adventurer (not being much of a bungee jumper) or just for the hake of telling people back home that I am standing in the heart of London, the heart of British empire, if empire it is.

The river-cruises would hurt your pockets and so would London-eye. So a walk down the Westminster Bridge or the Waterloo would remind you which strata of income you belong to (ya with Porsche, Ferrari etc. passing by, not to mention the lower segment Mercedes, Audi, Renault passing by, though sometimes I really wonder are they really in lower segment???). They would also remind you of the old times and memories these bridges share. After standing for three hundred years is really an achievement by itself.

Then if you want to explore modern London but are still fascinated by Thames, try the Blackfriar, or the London Bridge. You will find the same water underneath but in between the modern-architecture-designed-steel-bridge will fill in some reflections of the changing times and cultures. A further trip down east leads you to Dock-land-yards, really an nice place for curious onlookers and those interested in examining geological changes.

Then you start getting tired and so head to a coffeehouse (and remember not a 'cafe') where a sip of hot chocolate or the stronger hot-shot refreshes you to carry on the adventure again, but this time returning back, looking back at the Tower bridge and remembering of Queen's jewels and the Kohinoor.

The sun has suddenly hidden himself amongst the passing clouds and you find another chilly gust whistling past your over-coat, which is suddenly insufficient to cover you all up against the pressing winter. But then your adventure spirit challenges you and you pace ever faster against the cold wind, hands freezing and teeth chattering, eyes watering and body shivering. ...

Law follows society ???

"The theme of his book is that law follows social and economic changes. It responds to the needs that people in society assert. At the beginning of the 21st Century, we live in a large, pluralistic, technologically complex, impersonal and interdependent country." writes Robin Friedman, reviewing 'Law in America: A Short History'.

I couldn't have agreed more. "Law follows the society". I am firm believe of this fact and principle. [Perhaps my earlier posts will also testify that, where I invariably link the origin and growth of law as a need to regulate human behaviour.] Other reasons might be advanced to support this proposition and I am open to that.

Want to verify this assertion? Take any law. Start reading it. Most of the times the statute will carry a Preamble which will discuss the need and background for its enactment. Always a safe guide of interpreting statutes. This will reveal an urgently (or may be not so urgent later on when you are reading) felt need to define a particular behaviour and regulate or mould it. Thus any enactment presupposes the existence of a particular behavioural trait and the enactment is a reflection of the manner the legislature conceives the best way to regulate it.

Still not convinced? Let us take illustrations and to start with, easier ones. Laws which we all know what their purpose are, from the name of the enactment itself, say Sarbanes Oxley Act. Why was it enacted? What purpose does it serve? Well, it was enacted as an aftermath of the Enron debacle and the need felt by the US Congress to prevent re-happening of such incidents.

Similarly, why criminal laws? Who is State to tell another that something is a crime and punish for it? They say law agrees by consent of the citizens and a law without citizen backing is a bad law. The Constitution says that the citizens are sovereign and law emanates from them. I did not consent to criminal law and therefore its a bad law and I am not bound by it!!!

Nice argument really but workable? I do not think so. If the majority would have agreed with this argument, there would not have been such law. But the fact that such law exists, means the majority wants such law to exist. And since such law exists, it means that the majority (as represented by the legislature) does not want certain conducts to take place in the society and therefore banishes them or prohibits them by providing legal sanctions against them. Therefore we have criminal law. This relates us back to our premises that certain behaviour is identified as non-desirable and therefore provided against, describing exactly the factum that law follows the society.

Then we can take another illustration, say contractual laws. Why was the Contract laws enacted when it is widely acknowledged that it rests on the premises of 'party sovereign' i.e. parties are free to define the manner in which they want themselves to be governed. If thats the case, why a law at all??? Because, all the parties, at all the times, are not in a position to determine and protect their best interests. So the law needs to intervene and define the rules of fair-play, in-conformity to which the transactions shall take place.


There may be an argument that certain laws are prospective i.e. there is no such comparable human behaviour existing, as contemplated in the law but still provided for by the law. So law always does not follow the society. Right? Wrong. Wrong because the very fact that the law is providing for such a behaviour is indication sufficient enough that it conceives certain behaviour and wants to either promote it or denounce it from ever happening. To give a technical example, this often happens in case of financial laws. The law gives opportunities and incentives to trade in particular sectors (heard of tax holidays? special economic zones?). Now that would be an illustration of such a law. Like not much trade takes place in a particular backward area so the law provides tax relief for those trading in such area. So the law is prospective. Right?

Wrong again. Wrong because this is not a prospective event. This is also based on the human behavioural traits acting in financial streams which seek to achieve monetary gains. So the law-makers are relying on an existing behavioural trait to make a law to influence a future occurance of events. Thus law is in fact following the social mores (making monetary gains in this case) and thus follows society.

Life without a top-up ...

For the last five years the cell which I carried was post-paid, with the bill being sent home. [sounds good na???] But then I landed in London, had to get a set for myself, got a 'pay-as-you-go' connection, [its really funny that this term is used for anything and everything; oyster; bus; and even income tax]. Too happy that the 10 pound credit lasts more than a month, I was calling one-and-all and then suddenly I am left with "this number is barred from your phone." I am like wtf???

I am in the middle of no-where with a meeting planned with my friend to meet there. How do I tell him I am coming or not coming? Well thank God that he himself called and I could tell him where I was (and to keep him telling the directions when he is still holding up and we finally meet after 15 minutes, he still connected by them).

You are taking a bath when parents call you from home. You can't call back because your 'low-balance-recharge-please' phone does not allow you to and you are really embarrassed asking you mates to borrow their phone because its an international call and its 'peak-time'.

Your class-mate gives you a missed-call (which she is used to) to you to inform after a preponed class, which ofcourse which I find out later, but since you are 'low-balance-recharge-please', you miss it, having lunch and showing up at the old time, finding out that the class has already taken place.

You try to send sms to your friend (who is not so online-types) to tell him that you can't call and then, 'low-balance-recharge-please' doesn't allow you as well. You receive a letter for interview and are asked to confirm whether you will be able to make it at the time, but your 'low-balance-recharge-please' tells you that you got to borrow a phone to call them up. And you start to identify someone who wouldn't mind lending the phone and you find the would is a huge mess of ignorant and selfish people, who are also 'low-balance-recharge-please'.

Then I got a Carphone-Warehouse to get my 'low-balance-recharge-please' topped up, because the online thing would not recognise my Debit card which is apparently a 16-digit-number-card where the space is only for a 12-digit-number-card.

And so I get a top-up and get a 10 pound credit again. Rejoice. Hurray. But what next? Should I send an sms to all that I can call them now??? Sounds silly? Plus waste of credit, unless I want to hear 'low-balance-recharge-please' again.

Oh what a mess... These cells and top-ups. But guess life won't be the same without them. So I call my pals and home. Waiting for another 'low-balance-recharge-please' ...

Ice cream in Taxation !!!

Well, this is really a funny one. Was just reading a book on taxation of derivative contracts. There I came to know that there exists an ice-cream flavour developed by financial markets and taken care of by law. Heard of 'plain vanilla'??? No??? Well same was by case when I heard about it for first time; "come on, you gotta be kidding" types.

But naah, they do exist. This term is in fact very popular in financial markets, used to describe a simple financial instrument (no wonder 'vanilla').

Keep looking and tell me if you find more of ice-cream in taxation. [ :) ]

Fooseball et. al.

I am not really a pro at Fooseball but thought I would better write one on this, having been so involved with this game now and liking it like ever. I find it more of a mental game, requiring to build pressure on the opponent through action and strategy (anyone seen the '100 girls'). And ofcourse physical skills are the key. Requiring heavy wrist-work, good hand-eye coordination, and a cool temperament, it is really fascinating playing this game.

I didn't knew long before that there were more than one versions of the game. I thought the 2-player a side was the only one. But then I discovered that there is even an 11-a side version. I find it hard to score in 2-a-side, 11-a-side is simply, wow!!! In fact a friend of mine even said, are they really able to score in this 11-a-side one???

But what I like more about it is that is a small and simple indoor game that doesn't require much to learn the game, except for a keep interest though. I never thought I could play it well with just three weeks in it but then, I really like playing it, something like a daily-chore kind of stuff. [ :) ]

Keep going guys, have a good time at Fooseball !!!

Death penalty for rape: A right choice?

Well, this one is being written of someone's request. Lets hope I am able to put up my perspective for the issue.

To start with, both 'death penalty' and 'rape', in law, have been one of those issues which have received tremendous jurisprudential exposition. But the scholars have still not been able to come out with a set of agreed principles on each of these issues. So to clarify, it is not possible for me to summarize what these different schools of thought say (I know a lot of people would be expecting this, sorry to disappoint you guys) and I am here just to give what I think should be the issues to be taken into account for determining the stakes.

Firstly, the utility of death punishment has not been aptly justified. No doubt it is an extreme form of punishment but it is not always a deterrent. It is well known that in medieval England pick-picketing was sought to be deterred by making the offence punishable with public hanging and when there were the maximum instances of pick-pocketing recorded when such hangings used to take place. So the effect is not widely appreciated.

Secondly, rape is not only a crime against woman, it is also a crime against humanity which requires the issue to be looked against a policy perspective as well. Thus if the issue was purely a crime against women, the victimological approach may well have been applied and the accused be convicted with that level of punishment which would have indemnified the victim. But this does not strictly apply to a case of rape. The issue is more sensitive, owing to the cultural issues also involved here. Like take for example the Scandinavian countries where the question of morality-in-law and cohabitational issues are of not much vital significance and thus issues such as rape are not dealt with at all from a legal perspective. However in legal systems where law is derived from religion, the issue may be dealt with very seriously, even sometimes acting against the victim herself. So the treatment is basically dependent on the legal system's approach to the gravity of crime.

Thirdly, the questions of retribution and policy-considerations are also important. This takes into account the placing of the victim. Especially in India, where many a times the trend has been (of course with the consent of the victim) that the perpetrator of the crime has been required to marry and provide for the victim, thus making a societal leeway for the victim's maintenance and well being. The effectiveness of this mechanism is arguably debatable but I just wish to project this as an acceptable social fact.

Finally, which I think is the most important reason not to give death penalty to a rape accused is I think a practical one. If the perpetrator of the offence knows that the punishment for rape is death penalty (which ofcourse he would know), then he might as well consider to kill the victim after having committed rape for the punishment for death would be the same. Thus the perpetrator would become indifferent to committing rape or death, a dangerous proposition indeed as it would lead to more victims of rape being killed as opposed to mere rape where atleast (given the anonymity given to them under law) they can survive and have chances to start a new life.

Further, given the fact that human life is more valuable, no legal system would be designed towards making perpetrator indifferent to rape and death. It is also to be considered that if death is in fact made a punishment to rape, the perpetrator would, more often than not, try to kill the victim and seek to destroy the evidence and thus try to avoid punishment. However in a case where rape is punished with lesser punishment than death, there is reason enough for the perpetrator to leave the victim alive and seek shelter elsewhere.

There may be many more practical or jurisprudential issues relating to the issue at hand but I personally feel, for the reasons herein stated, that the answer to the issue at hand is no, and a big one.

My first poem ...

This is my first poem (though I am not sure I will write any more), which I have written for 'The Muse'. Tell me how it is ???

First time in London!!!

The clouds going by,
Still the sun blazing high,
Water driblets filling the sky,
I wonder where am I?

It is a different city,
Folding itself out like a mystery,
Overpowering my senses,
Affecting my responses!

Forced to think why,
I look for a reply.
Am I high,
Or the world bading bye?

Probably this is not a case,
Its just a passing phase,
I am not so insolent,
But it’s just the world being ignorant.

I shall rise from it,
Giving no one a dime,
The scores would be even.
And the peace shall be mine.