Working Class Hero

Last week, when I along with some other colleagues of mine were assisting the workers of a movers and packers company in the recent shifting of my group to a new site, I could observe the true spirit of a common man. Although, I mentioned in one of my previous posts that the whole shifting days were real pain in the a**, but from a different angle, it was truly inspirational. I could see labors working for 16-18 hrs. a day, sacrificing sleeps at night, that too for a meager salary of a few thousand rupees per month !!! I interacted with some of them, and one of them said he can work for 4 days without any sleep but after that it becomes difficult for him. Tired and Exhausted, yet I did not see any arrogance in their voice or behavior. I will say that these are the Working Class Heroes. They may not have the knowledge of how delicate a server is or how to handle a storage disk adequately, but was not at all reluctant to hear our advices as well. It was a good exercise for me, I could see a live example of Work Is Worship.

Although the actual interpretation may be different, but just from the context of words, I remember John Lennon in his classic "Working Class Hero":

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and class less and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be...

Dur Ki Soch...

IN JUST A FEW YEARS EVERY DESTINATION MAY BE OUT OF REACH

I see this ad every now and then in newspapers, magazines, portals. Issued in public interest by Indian Oil. Seriously, the thought of a day without fuel make me and may be every other person to shiver and an unknown fear runs through the nerves. Its high time that we start conserving fuel through our own awareness for our own interest. As it's been said... Charity Begins At Home; some steps which we can follow are :

• Car-pool to save fuel. As observed, Indians usually owns a car which gives an average mileage of 14-15 kmpl. So, if atleast 2 people start using one car for daily commutation to & from office, it helps save 1 liter of petrol per 15 km traveled. Adoption of this will help saving thousands of litres of petrol everyday.
• Switch off engines at traffic signals / traffic jams. Idling of engines also consumes fuel, so if everyone starts switching off the car engines at traffic signals or jams, one can imagine how much amount of fuel can be saved. **
• Ensure right tyre pressure. Cars with lesser air in the tyres gives lower mileage, and leads to wastage of fuel. Filling tyres with the right amount of air atleast every 10 days is enough to save considerable amount of fuel. It takes just 10 minutes of our time to fill the tyres with air which comes free of cost in every gas station. **
• Drive between 45-55 kmph. An average car gives the best possible mileage in this speed range. And this is an optimum range for city driving. **
• Maximise the use 5th gear as much as you can. For 1.0L to 1.4L petrol engines, which majority of Indians own, 5th gear can be applied just at the speed of 40 kmph. Optimum use of gears can help save fuel to a great extent. **
• Reduce use of car a/c as much as you can. **
  
• Service and tune your engines regularly. Regular servicing helps engines operate at the best possible state, hence help in saving fuel. **

As they say, Example is better than percepts. I would like to say that I strongly follow the points marked with ** above. Car-pooling is usually not possible for me. Being a bachelor, I don't have any specified time of going to and coming from office.

Even if we are a damn care type and we don't want to think about the future, following the above mentioned points will help save our own money. So, Just Do It.

Pain In the A**

Last 5 days were real pain in the a**. It was shifting time for my office group to a new location/site and taking into the voluminous amount of hardware my group possess, it was like "My God". I can still feel the pain in almost all parts and joints of my body. Hopefully everything will be fine by beginning of next week. Now I realize, how brittle our body has become with the current life style. In absence of any physical activity, the body just can't bear any sudden physical activity. My fingers are also aching. Closing the post. :-)

9th Studio Album of the God of Metal

Death Magnetic. All the metal fans around the globe are eagerly waiting for this upcoming album of Metallica. This will be their 9th studio album after St. Anger in 2003. The new album will have 10 fresh and totally new tracks.

1. "That Was Just Your Life"
2. "The End of the Line"
3. "Broken, Beat & Scarred"
4. "The Day That Never Comes"
5. "All Nightmare Long"
6. "Cyanide"
7. "The Unforgiven III"
8. "The Judas Kiss"
9. "Suicide & Redemption"
10. "My Apocalypse"

I have already heard a live version of Cyanide (from Live in Dallas - 2008) and I find it too promising. But, I am eagerly waiting for The Unforgiven III. The last two Unforgiven tracks rocked the world like anything and both are truly known among the classics.

When Techies and Terror Embrace...

Finally, the cops could find some clue about the recent serial blasts which rocked the city of Ahmedabad. Along with the usual religious goons, a software professional got caught, convicted of hacking into someone's computer system and sending the fraudulent emails just before the ghastly blasts. This is where the techies and terror met. As I read in the newspaper, the fucker is an ex-employee of one of the noted software company. He used his brain to kill people in the name of the God. If asked, he would justify that whatever he did was for the well being of his community, in the name of his God, however misinterpreted it may be. But little did he think that his actions will someway or the other will sow the seeds in ruining the careers of the talented people of his community. As his name got flashed in the media as the ex-employee of a reputed company, I am very much sure that in future this company will look at the resumes of the people belonging to his community with a raised eye-brow and will do a lot of cross verificiation while recruitment. And, in the process no one knows how many deserved young people will get eliminated. As the saying goes, one fish can ruin a complete pond, this guy played with the future of many young people. And, I dont find anything wrong in the company's point of view. The company is doing business, rather than organising army for any f**king Holy War. Gandhiji was right to say that "An eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind".

Yet Another Independence Day !!!

Tomorrow will be the 61st Birthday of free India. A day to remember and pay homage to all the sacrifices of our fore fathers for freeing us from the atrocities of the Whites. Atrocities still exist, but probably the color has changed from white to brown. But, anyways, no country is perfect. For me, tomorrow will be another holiday. I will wake up late, cook my lunch, afternoon nap; just like any other normal off day. As long as I am paying taxes to the country, leading my life in a legal way, obeying the laws of the country, I don't have to worry much about the country. Probably, instead of trying to be better, we can try to not to be worse. We keep on saying that India is progressing, but we still sees beggars in the road, hungry children in a naked attire roaming in the chilly rain, mother f**ker politicians roaming ruthlessly in their SUVs' loitering public money, the f**king mob culture destroying public property... etc. etc. the list goes on. Lets all forget these problems our country is facing every passing moment and enjoy a holiday in the name of Independence Day. As I feel, an Indian enjoy full freedom in scenarios like:

1. Giving birth to children, no thoughts... if they really can bring them up.
2. Chewing gutkha, pan-supari and spitting anywhere.
3. Get angry and destroy public property.
4. Demarcating people on the place of their birth, North Indian, South Indian, Chinkies and what not ? Son of the soil funda !!!
5. A lot many other freedom, I just can't recollect.
6. Last, but not least, FREEDOM OF BEING THE ULTIMATE HYPOCRITES.

Happy Independence Day, my dear fellow country men, You Guys Really Rock !!!

The Old Man & His Sinking Feelings

Today evening, I was in the local electricity office for some matter related to my monthly bill cycles. As I was waiting for my turn, I happen to chat with a man in his late sixties. He was a daily wage earner as a contract labor with Military Engineering Service. I happen to talk with him for around 15-20 minutes and I really felt so awkward and sad after the conversation. He was not having electricity in his house for the last 1 week, not because he didn't pay the bill in time, but because of some technical fault with the connection. All his efforts to get the required help from the electricity dept. was in vain. He is a poor man, but I believe he is richer than many of us, because I found him honest. He told that he always pays his bill on the very next day of getting the bill even though he may not have enough money to buy food, because he belives that its his duty to pay the bill for the electricity which he has consumed. He told me he is supposed to get Rs. 7000 per month as salary but gets only Rs. 3500. Thanks to all the corrupted officials, contractors and other middle men, who first take their shares from the livelihood of a poor man. When I told the old man, why they don't complaint? He told its of no use as whoever raises his voice will end up losing his job. Because, there are so many poor people who is willing to work even for a sum lesser than Rs. 3500. The next few sentences, which the old man said made me feel worse. Ofcourse it was not his fault either. He mentioned, people who deprieve the poor men from their hard earned money, buys flats, apartments, cars which costs lakhs and lakhs of rupees. But, the poor man was probably not aware of people like us, who pays 33% of their hard earned income as tax to the filthy Government and lead their rest of lives with Home Loan, Car Loan, Personal Loan and all sorts of debts. I didn't try to correct the old man, because I know, if I had to live a life with just Rs. 3500 per month, I would also have a similar state of mind. Then he told me, life would have been better if British were still in India. He had led some years of his childhood before independence, and he still feels that life was far better then. We got INDEPENDENCE 61 years back, but just in papers. 61 years back we were slave to British and now we are slaves of our own country men. Mann, all these conversation was just too much to digest for me. By that time, my turn to meet the electricty official came and I left.

But, I believe the story of this man is just like the other stories which are heard or read in newspaper and soon forgotten. I remembered it probably just to fill up another post for my blog and tomorrow I will continue my life again with "#include stdio.h". May be, like any other coward, I also believe in the anthem of "Who Cares?" and conclude everything with a fucking punchline called "Life Moves On..." I remember the dialogues by Nana Patekar in the movie Krantiveer:



Find it so true and realistic.

Top 50 Greatest Rock/Metal Covers

So, after some research, here comes the list of Top 50 covers of Rock/Metal. I restricted this list to just 50 as I found it extremely difficult to make a list of 100 such songs. I could find many such lists in the internet with 100+ covers, but I found most of the songs are less popular. While compiling this list, I gathered a lot of knowledge about the original works of all those songs which soothes our heart and mind now and then. Like, I never knew that The Man Who Sold the World by Nirvana is actually a cover of David Bowie. Anyways, both the songs are equally great. So, here is my list of 50 Greatest Covers of all time in Rock & Metal. Again, the numbers beside each song carries no meaning.

1. Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden Cover by Cradle of Filth)
2. Paranoid (Black Sabath Cover by Megadeth)
3. Turn the Page (Bob Segar Cover by Metallica)
4. The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie Cover by Nirvana)
5. One (Metallica Cover by Korn)
6. Tuesday's Gone (Lynard Skynard Cover by Metallica)
7. Sweet Dreams (Eurythimics Cover by Marilyn Manson)
8. All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan Cover by Jimi Hendrix)
9. You Give Love a Bad Name (Jon Bon Jovi Cover by Atreyu)
10. The Ghost of Tom Joad (Bruce Springsteen Cover by Rage Against the Machine)
11. Iron Man (Black Sabath cover by The Cardigans)
12. Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder Cover by Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
13. Come Together (The Beatles Cover by Aerosmith)
14. Knocking on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan Cover by Guns N' Roses)
15. Knocking on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan Cover by Avril Lavigne)
16. Hurt (Johny Cash Cover by Nine Inch Nails)
17. You Really Got Me (The Kinks cover by Van Halen)
18. American Woman (The Guess Who Cover by Lenny Kravitz)
19. Another Brick in the Wall (Pink Floyd Cover by Korn)
20. Overdose (Exodus Cover by AC/DC)
21, Message In A Bottle (Police Cover by Machine Head)
22. Whisky In The Jar (Thin Lizzy Cover by Metallica)
23. Highway to hell (ACDC cover by Marilyn Manson)
24. Holy Diver (Dio Cover by Killswitch Engage)
25. Master Of Puppets (Metallica cover by Trivium)
26. Crazy (Seal Cover by Mushroomhead)
27. Black Magic Woman (Fleetwood Mac Cover by Santana)
28. Break on Through (Doors Cover by Stone Temple Pilots)
29. No Quarter (Led Zeppelin Cover by Tool)
30. Sabbra Cadabra (Black Sabbath Cover by Metallica)
31. Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd cover by Widespread Panic)
32. War Pigs (Black Sabbath Cover by Faith No More)
33. The Ripper (Judas Priest Cover by Iron Maiden)
34. Aces High (Iron Maiden Cover by Children of Bodom)
35. Losing My Religion (REM Cover by Graveworm)
36. Solitary Man (Neil Diamond Cover by Johny Cash)
37. Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson Cover by Alien Ant Farm)
38. Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne Cover by Bullets for My Valentine)
39. Wonderwall (Oasis Cover by Ryan Adams)
40. Live and Let Die (Wings Cover by Guns N' Roses)
41. Paint It Black (The Rolling Stones Cover by U2)
42. Last Kiss (Wayne Cochran Cover by Pearl Jam)
43. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself (Dusty Springfield Cover by The White Stripes)
44. Planet Caravan (Black Sabath Cover by Pantera)
45. Working Class Hero (John Lennon Cover by Green Day)
46. Stairway to Heaven (Dolly Parton Cover by Led Zeppelin)
47. Cocaine (JJ Cale Cover by Eric Clapton)
48. I Shot the Sheriff (Bob Marley Cover By Eric Clapton)
49. You Really Got Me (Kinks Cover by Van Halen)
50. Maggie's Farm (Bob Dylan Cover by Rage Against the Machine)

Top 100 Greatest Metal Numbers

I was thinking of making a mp3 CD with assorted metals for my car. So, I thought of putting the greatest metal numbers till date. After some research, I compiled the list of 100 greatest metal songs till date. I have included only metal and heavy metal in this list and other genres or variants of metal like thrash, death, Gothic etc are totally omitted. Frankly speaking, the top 100 can be completed only with the 4 Gods of Metal... Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Metallica. But, I have taken care to have equal representations from less popular bands as well. Although, I have put numbers beside each song names, but these numbers don't necessarily mean rank. I am not at all eligible to give ranks to these Gods. Some factors which influenced this chart include my likeness for the songs, its appearance in professionals charts like VH1 or Billboard and also likness of people across the globe (known from their blogs). Here is the list:

01 - Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden)
02 - Paranoid (Black Sabath)
03 - Master Of Puppets (Metallica)
04 - Back In Black (AC/DC)
05 - Ace of Spades (Motorhead)
06 - Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)
07 - One (Metallica)
08 - War Pigs (Black Sabath)
09 - Raining blood (Slayer)
10 - Powerslave (Iron Maiden)
11 - Painkiller (Judas Priest)
12 - Iron Man (Black Sabath)
13 - Heaven and Hell (Black Sabath)
14 - The Number Of The Beast (Iron Maiden)
15 - Highway star (Deep Purple)
16 - Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath)
17 - Holy Wars (Megadeth)
18 - Victim of Changes (Judas Priest)
19 - Welcome to the jungle (Guns & Roses)
20 - Creeping Death (Metallica)
21 - Fade To Black (Metallica)
22 - Highway to hell (AC/DC)
23 - The Trooper (Iron Maiden)
24 - Smoke On The Water (Deep Purple)
25 - Peace Sells (Megadeth)
26 - Enter Sandman (Metallica)
27 - Cowboys From Hell (Pantera)
28 - Beyond the Realms of Death (Judas Priest)
29 - N.I.B. (Black Sabath)
30 - Walk (Pantera)
31 - Seek And Destroy (Metallica)
32 - Run To The Hills (Iron Maiden)
33 - Keeper Of The Seven Keys (Helloween)
34 - Stargazer (Rainbow)
35 - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (Black Sabath)
36 - Hell Bent for Leather (Judas Priest)
37 - Deathrider (Anthrax)
38 - Countdown To Extinction (Megadeth)
39 - Practice What You Preach (Testament)
40 - Freak On the Leash (Korn)
41 - Accident Of Birth (Bruce Dickinson)
42 - Bloodsucker (Deep Purple)
43 - Blackout (Scorpions)
44 - Welcome Home Sanitarium (Metallica)
45 - Your Sweet 666 (HIM)
46 - Du Hast (Rammstein)
47 - Battery (Metallica)
48 - The Legacy (Testament)
49 - South of Heaven (Slayer)
50 - Fear Of The Dark (Iron Maiden)
51 - Halloween (Halloween)
52 - Burnt Offerings (Iced Earth)
53 - Stillborn (Black Label Society)
54 - Sober (Tool)
55 - Electric Funeral (Black Sabath)
56 - This Love (Pantera)
57 - Wait and Bleed (Slipknot)
58 - The beautiful people (Marilyn Manson)
59 - Man In The Box (Alice In Chains)
60 - Blind (Korn)
61 - C.I.U [CriminaIs In Uniform] (Sepultura)
62 - I Stand Alone (Godsmack)
63 - The Unnamed Feeling (Metallica)
64 - Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabath)
65 - Phantom Of The Opera (Iron Maiden)
66 - Breaking the Law (Judas Priest)
67 - Children of the Grave (Black Sabath)
68 - Symphony Of Destruction (Megadeth)
69 - Eyes of a Stranger (Queensryche)
70 - Under the sun (Soulfly)
71 - Down With The Sickness (Disturbed)
72 - Greed (Godsmack)
73 - Forty Six & 2 (Tool)
74 - Iron Head [Ft. Ozzy] (Rob Zombie)
75 - Bloodline (Slayer)
76 - Living Dead Girl (Rob Zombie)
77 - Wasted Years (Iron Maiden)
78 - Pull Me Under (Dream Theater)
79 - Roots Bloody Roots (Sepultura)
80 - Angel of Death (Slayer)
81 - A Touch of Evil (Judas Priest)
82 - Holy Diver (Dio)
83 - Fast As A Shark (Accept)
84 - Mother (Danzing)
85 - Tom Sawyer (Rush)
86 - Bullet Ride (In Flames)
87 - Hail And Kill (Manowar)
88 - Rock You Like A Hurricane (Scorpions)
89 - Meloncholy (Iced Earth)
90 - Serenity In Murder (Slayer)
91 - Wasted Time (Skid Row)
92 - Dirt (Alice In Chains)
93 - A Tout Le Monde (Megadeth)
94 - Aces High (Iron Maiden)
95 - You could be mine (Guns & Roses)
96 - Madhouse (Anthrax)
97 - Into The Pit (Testament)
98 - Now I Lay Thee Down (MachineHead)
99 - Pleasure To Kill (Kreator)
100 - The funeral of hearts (HIM)

Readers' comments are welcome.

You Need it ? or, You Just Creating the Need ?

As we walk through our life with the so called tag of modern lifestyles, some portion of our times are wasted because of fulfilling some silly needs or, just thinking about fulfilling it. And, most of these are really not needs but simply we create those needs. We needs something just for the sake of needing it. As I look into my case, till 1 year ago, I used to have a maid in my house for cleaning my house and some other house hold chores. But, although I disregarded this need following some unfortunate incidents, 1 year have passed and I realized that I really don't need a maid, neither probably I needed those days. This is just a silly example which I am quoting. If we think deeply, many such other needs will appear, which actually require no fulfillment. So, lets not create needs, if we don't really need something. Cheers ...