Bhooshan Pandya | Interface & Usability Analyst

Barely 24 hours since I last posted the news of London winning the bid for the 2012 Olympics, it has been attacked by terrorists with calibrated bomb explosions on its underground trains and bus services. Till the last news came in there were 37 dead and still counting and over 700 people injured.

Since I travel by Mumbai’s crowded local, I get a closer look at the reactions of the general public. Surprisingly I saw more frustration and anger vented towards the western powers than sympathy towards the blast victims. “Ab unko pata chalega terrorism kya hota hai!!” (Now they would know what terrorism is all about) said one of the my co-passengers. A remark most definitely aimed at the Americans who have conveniently turned blind towards the everyday terrorist killings in Jammu & Kashmir and I personally didn’t think this was the right time to reflect upon domestic problems. My heart goes out to the victim’s families of the London blasts. This is a terrible thing to happen to any living being on this earth and it should be condemned strongly.

The incidence has once again proved that the terrorists still hold the initiative to strike at will. Geography or military might will hardly threaten their existence or resolve.

London won the bid for hosting the Olympics & the Paralympic summer games in 2012. This is surely a moment of jubiliation for Sebastian Coe and the bidding team. On the other hand it was quite exciting to watch the bidding countries’ logos :-) I have always been fascinated by the colour and the theme related to the respective city. And just in case you are wondering about the headline, London will be hosting the games for a second time after 1948.

So this time at the 117th IOC Session at Singapore there were 5 teams (or rather cities) competing for the coveted invitation to host the Olympics in 2012. From all the official websites of the bidding team, New York’s was the most coolest. I think it’s got that vibrant feel to it – much the same way the city projects itself. If you see the ads on the website (you need either a QuickTIme or a Windows Media Player) you’d realise how much effort they have put in to win the bid. The navigation is simple and the design is uncluttered. And oh and did I mention that it’s made in Flash ? :)

One more attack on the heart of secularism, one more season of allegations and one more instance of innocent lives being lost. Akshardham Temple, Raghunath Temple, Char-e-Sharief – which eventually was burned down to ashes, are all a part of that drama which unfolds every now and then. 6 ‘men’ decided to go on an adventure and attacked the disputed Ayodhya temple yesterday, adding one more sacred site to the list. You will be surprised at the ease with which they penetrated the highly secured area at the disputed site.

Attacking temples & sacred structures has become a routine with terrorists who aim to create mistrust amongst us. They know how communally sensitive the majority of Indians are and their leaders will leave no stone unturned in fomenting hatred amongst the general public. We need to win this internal war first before we start preparing our armies to fight our neighbour. Anyways, tomorrow is a nationwide bandh called by the VHP & the BJP & as always I shudder to think about that fellow daily wage earner who will lose his money.

As for me, I am not moving out of my bedroom tomorrow :)

It felt miserable to start something and end it yourself. The Surfunion MegaMeet 3 (SUMM as we call it) was supposed to have been a real ‘Mega’ event alongwith a workshop with prominent speakers from the industry. The hotel was booked, complete with microphones, projectors and the works. But it required a minimum guarantee of 25 members & they needed to be told a week prior to the event. All this combination was too large to handle. There are 550+ members but very few are active and most of them needed to come to the board to get information about the meet. Looking at this scenarios we might opt for some method to galvanise the cadre in the coming days.

Also I spoke to Tushar on Friday about arranging a stay at his farmhouse at Lonavla. July is the month when the rains are at its heaviest and going to Lonavla in the hilly Western Ghats would be an amazing experience :) Let’s see how it all turns out to be. Anyways there are going to be only a few invited guests so that we can all be at peace without any ego hassles to take care of.