6W's

Who...

Is easy to love?
- S/he who returns it.

Do you just wanna smack?
- The one without logic.

Do you trust?
- S/he who can honor it.

Do you talk to when you're alone?
- The one who won't let me get to 'lonely' from 'alone'.

What...

Dangerous things do you do while driving?
- Think.. but i'm sure it's not too dangerous!

Are you allergic to?
- I think to Brinjal.

Is Satan's last name?
- Ignoramus

Is the freakiest thing in your house?
- ..after me, you mean?!

When...

Is it time to turn over a new leaf?
- When the present leaf causes conflict with reason.

Will you be all that you can be?
- ..and then some. Within seven years.

Is enough enough?
- Never. Enough is always relative!!

Do you go to the dark side?
- Rather, i occasionally come to the brighter side!

Where...

Are your pants?
- Low on my waist, unbuttoned, but zipped up.

Is your last will and testament?
- In my mind. Still to be inked.

Is your junk food stash?
- Back left corner. First rack on the right. Kitchen.

Is Carmen Sandiego?
- Don't know, don't care.

Why...

Was the Lone Ranger alone?
- It's a wolf thing.

Was The Scarlet Letter scarlet?
- Esoterically so.

Are musicians sexy and plumbers not?
- It's actually the other way'round, sometimes.

Are there no seat belts on school buses?
- The driver. He's the seat belt, he's the air-bag.

Would you...

Swim the English Channel for a doughnut and coffee? If not that, what?
- No. Too lazy.
I may give it a thought for:
1. Eternal life
2. The power to stop time.

Forgive someone who deliberately hurt you?
- Never.

Rather believe a lie if it hurt you less than the truth?
- No.

You still be alive if you were sucked out of an airplane window?
- I'd like to think so!

Can't Sleep : Stolen Again!

Here..
:)


Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed?
- It would be. She's far away.

When is it hard to kiss someone?
- When without desire

You're trapped in a room with your most recent ex for three days, what do you do?
- Kill her. Eat her raw flesh to stay alive. Heh.. nah, maybe if i had an ex, i'll just enjoy the uncomfortable silence.

Does it matter to you if your significant other smokes?
- Yes.

Have you ever regretted letting someone go?
- No

Where would you go if you were butt naked and locked out of your house?
- Liquor Store. Only alcohol could be the solvent that would solve such ludicrousness.

Do you want to please everyone?
- No, only a select few.

Have you ever been called heartless?
- Yes. Refer to Q4 here.

Someone calls you at 3:00 AM, who do you expect it to be?
- My Lover.

Does it matter if your significant other drinks?
- Not to a certain extent.

Could you go the rest of your life without doing drugs?
- Hehehehe..! *wink!*

Which is better, amazing eyes or an amazing smile?
- Smile. The eyes smile along..

Do you want to get married and have children one day?
- Everyday.

Are you easy to get along with?
- Very.

Do you ever want to go to sleep and not wake up?
- The thought has crossed my mind, yes..

Are you shorter than your Mom?
- Nope!

Describe your life currently in one word:
- Purpose.

Are you on medication for anything?
- For my nose condition.

Who would you allow to read your thoughts for one day?
- My Lover. Anyday.

Are there things in your life that you will never be able to get over?
- Errors.

If you woke up naked next to the last person you kissed, what would your reaction be?
- Wake her up with some serious love makin'..! :) *bruhahahaha!!!*


*phew!*
Another excuse to not write for a while now.
:D

The Magical Mystery Tour Meme

..yawn!! I'm bored. So lemme steal another one - back to back, right here!!

*bruhahaha!!*
:D
(p.s. this meme doesn't make much sense.)

1. Is there anybody you just wish would fall off the planet?

- ..yeeeeesss! :]

2. How do you flush the toilet in public?

- ..with the toe-end of my shoes.

3. Do you wear your seatbelt in the car?

- ..mostly, yes!

4. Do you have a crush on someone?

- ..no, i'm in mad love..!

5. Name one thing you worry about running out of.

- ..challenges.

6. What famous person do you (or other people) think you resemble?

- Kumar (..of The Kumars at #42.), someties Madhavan too.

7. What is your favourite pizza topping?

- ..olive

8. Do you crack your knuckles?

- ..sometimes, it's not a habit.

9. What song do you hate the most?

- ..certain highly catchy 80s hindi songs.

10. Did just mentioning that song make it get stuck in your head?

- ..damn it..!

11. What are your super powers?

- ..stopping time.

12. Peppermint or spearmint?

- ..no mint, no gum. :D* << ..that's the sparkling toothy grin..!

13. Where are your car keys?

- ..in the box on the wall near the main door.

14. Last song you listened to?

- Driftin' Away by Paul Hardcastle.

15. What's your most annoying habit?

- ..i bite my nails.

16. Where did you last go on vacation?

- ..kati.

17. What is your best physical feature?

- ..a dimpled smile.

18. What CD is closest to you right now?

- ..the disc that belong to Rahul.. umm.. says Windows7. Oh yeah, it's the crack for the MS Windows OS.

19. What 3 things can always be found in your refrigerator?

- Cheese. Juice. Cucumber.

20. What superstition do you believe/practice?

- ..clicking my left heel on the floor thrice, every time i leave home.

21. What colour are your bed sheets?

- Red

22. Would you rather be a fish or a bird?

- Bird - the type that dives into water to catch fish..!

23. Last thing you broke?

- ..a corner of my Nokia 6101. Chipped it a bit.

24. What are you having to eat tonight?

- Onion Parantha.

25. What colour shirt are you wearing?

- nothing right now, it's warm here. Last i wore a grey tee when i went out to meet Agnelo.

26. If you could be doing anything else today, what would you rather be doing?

- ..shopping. For Strega.

27. Do security cameras make you nervous?

-No, it makes me wanna do crazy stuff tho'..!

28. If you wrote a book about your life, what would the title be?

-It would be called "Lazy Days". (..that's another song by Hardcastle.)

29. Last time you went to a cemetery?

- ..last month.

30. Last concert you went to?

- ..more than a year ago. With my Love.

31. Favourite musician(s)/bands you've seen in concert?

- ..none. However, i wish i could see Tupac live..

32. Next concert you're planning to attend?

- ..unplanned.

33. Do you talk to yourself?

- ..sometimes, yes.

34. Have you ever adopted or purchased a pet?

- ..cared for many. Many. Haven't had the resources to adopt any till date.

35. Have you ever been present when an animal is being born?

- ..yes. Dog, cow, cat.

The ABC's of Meme

Thought i'll start easy here - maybe steal a meme, make things easy for me. I'm using the Blogger webpage to blog; first ever i think..!
Let's see..
:D

A- Advocate for: ..logic

B- Best Feature: ..i'm a humorist.

C- Could do without: ..all the irritating people in life.

D- Dreams and desires: Success, health and happiness.

E- Essential items: Cellphone.

F- Favorite past time: Books. Music. Internet.

G- Good at: ..almost everything i do. No i'm not bragging

H- Have never tried: ..to understand electronics and computer code.

I- If I had a million dollars: ..i'll invest wisely, make the money grow.

J- Junkie for: Music.. and movies.

K- Kindred spirit: Strega

L- Little known fact: ..i too cry.

M- Memorable moment: ..falling in love.

N- Never again will I: ..fail

O- Occasional indulgence: Liquor

P- Profession: Engineer

Q- Quote: Equality over Belief; Ethics over Equality; Morals over Ethics; and Sense & Logic over Morals.. (my own)

R- Reason to smile: ..life.

S- Sorry about: ..nothing as of now.

T- Things you are worrying about right now: My Love, my career, my family - not necessarily in that order.

U- Uninterested in: ..business.

V- Very scared of: ..failure.

W- Worst habits: I bite my Nails..

Y- Yummiest dessert: ..payesh made by Mom.

X- X marks my ideal vacation spot: Chakrata - Uttaranchal

Z- Zodiac sign: Saggitarius

Whew..!

Left to Right

Damned if i do.. damned if i don't. ..guess i'll have to go with "Do" here.

Cuppa

The coffee machine on the fourth floor of Convergys is a bitch at making coffees.. it makes the smoothest, the bestest coffee ever. Now i thought no other machine could touch it, or its shadow.. until i had this coffee in Badnera - on my way to Nagpur of course. I think it was seven in the morning. Just to get a drink with my biscuits, i went for it, and i never go for the coffee they make off the kettle. This, fitted with the Bisteri bottle for its water, was the safe option & oh what an option! It was one of the best machine brews i've ever had the pleasure of having.
It was in a nice IRCTC paper cup. Ran me two whole minutes..

Coffee helps. Like the coffee we had at Asati Sir's place yesterday night. It was a brilliant home brew, and it helped me kick my level of intelligence and more importantly my alertness - up a few bars. Halfway down the length of the train, i realized i hadn't even the hint of a ticket for this little journey piece from Gondia to Nagpur. I started to run towards the General coaches at the frontend. The train started to move. I ran faster. The train gained speed. Sushil, who was (running) with me, assured that if we ran enough - we'd be able to catch the General before the platform ran out. A flash of me running on the ballast till Nagpur, trying to grab that hand-rail for the General compartment came to my mind. I latched myself to the nearest door that was moving by my side.. and it happened to be an Air Conditioned coach. I went - "Shit!!", waved to Sushil & turned.. the Ticket Checker was standing in my face.
I don't know whether i had the story cooked in my mind or i made it on the fly - but i told him that two other friends were in the General coach already,t they had the ticket, and i couldn't run to catch the General 'cuz i was buying the umm.. potato chips. I showed him the bags of chips that Sushil had bought me for the journey. He looked at me, hair dishevelled, shoe straps undone, stopping for breath - all accompanied by the (in)famous innocent face.
(I'd put a picture here, but photos don't do justice to the combination of my sharp features, my expressive eyes seen together with my dimpled smile, played to tuned perfection! :P)

I showed the Checker my ticket from Nagpur to Kalyan along with the used tickets from my journey here & told him in the most sincere way how i'm not silly enough to jeopardize my entire journey by travelling ticketless, how i always buy tickets & even now Sushil is sitting four coaches away in the General compartment with my ticket worth 49bucks. Midst all this, just as cautionary measures, i sent a text message to Sushil at his home so that if i called - he'd truly suddenly find himself in General compartment and corroborate. Sent him a valid ticket number to read out if asked.
I travelled the rest of my way to Nagpur undisturbed - chatting with the Attendant.

..so yes, coffee does help.
And if one example isn't good for ya - read on.

Remember that nice 'lil paper cup from the morning cuppa at Badnera..?! Well, after the warmth percolated down my entire system.. i, my friends, felt the pressure building in me. Needless to say, on a train journey - the cup is a valuable tool under high pressure situations. Though it tends to get soft after handling water for a while..!
;D

That thing..!

..the Comedy of Errors i was talking about.

A couple of weeks ago, i got this return call from Convergys.

Man on Line: "Oh hi, is this Arnab?"

Me: "Yes.."

Man on Line: "Okay, i'm Man on Line calling from Convergys.. i understand you had come here for a walk in and you cleared all but the Ops Round..?"

Me: "Yes.."

Man on Line: "Well, we have some openings in some technical processes here, and i wanted to ask you if you'd be interested in such an opportunity.."

Me: :D

..and so it rolled. A few weeks before this, i'd gone to Convergys.. it's maybe 800m from my place. A nice walk. Through this neighbourhood.

..anyway, it was a walk in and i really easily strolled through the entire gig. And all was well till my last round - the Ops Round. I was summarily rejected there.. it was one question which got of really. Just one important question..

Ops Round: "So, what're your plans for the future? You know.. with the Engineering degree."

..out i rolled with my plans of Masters, of a future studded with diamonds. I gushed about how i was gonna do Material Sciences, about how i was gonna apply all that i've learned. I talked about my project at length, about aerodynamics. About HAL.
I must've missed that funny look on his face then, because i knew exactly what it meant when i saw him after i was told i was not selected - because i was not looking for a future with the company.
It figures.


..so i knew exactly what *NOT to say this time. I went. Needless to say i strolled through the entire thing. Again. There were two processes, and on clearing all rounds of the first, the recruitment ppl asked me whether i wanted to go for another process - a higher paying one of course. And i said, why not..?!
:D

..the rest was another walk in the park, and it was here, in the Ops Round - that i was being interviewed by this really nice guy, and i had more of a conversation than an inquisition of my intent. I thought it went reasonably well. And i found out just how well it went approximately three minutes after the conclusion of the interview.
Ol' Man on Line came out to me and mentioned:

Man on Line: "Wow Man..! You must've made quite an impression! I've seen him (pointing to Nice Guy) here for five years and he is very senior haan.. this is the second time ever that he has liked a candidate right from the interview. And the last time was a year and half ago..!"

Me: "THAT is great.. even i liked him. We had more like a conversation.."

Man on Line: "Yes yes, good work man.. all stars there. He specifically told me you were amazing in your umm.. conversation, he's never said that much!"

Me: :D


There was a little backpatting from the other guys who also had survived the day with me. Good experience, good work culture. Starting 3rd. Sept. i'm on it.



(..i was a bit happy with the adulation, and wanted to tell this to the people i love most. Over the phone, in conversation, stuff. But it's not always possible. We lead busy lives, with a lott to tell to each other, so the blog exists for the more trivial things in life.)


..edit: Today, the 3rd. Sept, that is - i joined. It was the first day. We signed the joining docket, and the day ended with a team-building and ice-breaking session, aptly titled TGIF (Thank God It's Funday). I was awarded a sleek Convergys pen at the bottom end of the day, for being the most participative.. so that started well..! The batch is good, with some fun ppl, some smug basterds and some stupid fucks. So, it's a very well rounded crowd.. the male female ratio is about 7girls & 10guys.
..nice. Let's see how things roll from here!
:D

Muve

Watched Kaminey. OBOY, OBoy, Oboy, oboy..!

It is the best amazing movie i've watched in a long time. The racy speed, the dark humor, the antics of the lead pair (Shahid & Priyanka), the pha ko pha bolna, the villains, the background score, the dark tone of the filming, the twists, the turns.
Oh Damn Boy!
People have rightly compared this with Tarantino's work. It, like it suggests, needs you to do the figuring out.

The chemistry between Sweety and Guddu is pure platinum. The way she loves, oh my, the way she lies to him, the way she is protective, the way she is excited about marriage with him, the way she is always supportive, even after a hurtful exchange, even after he's unsure about marriage.
The way the brothers - Guddu & Charlie, (both played by Shahid) interact is another beautiful story shown in just the right amount. The fanaticism of Bhope Bhau, the absolut cranky craziness of Mikhail and the Bangaali brothers, the twisted ideals of Charlie, the singing simplicity of Guddu - all makes for a marathon of entertainment with all the usual pulls of Bollywood - romance, violence, song & dance, the works. Another good thing is that it doesnt make caricatures of it's leads, the deviations do not cut into the sexiness or machismo of the make leads. Is uses no cultural cliches (other than maybe the 'Jai Maharashtra' bit, but it too is underplayed) and it does not use the Don angle to the point of making a Mogambo or even a Sarkar out of Taashi. Everything is wonderfully woven - like a Turkish Carpet.

It was amazing, and i can vouch, i would want to watch the movie again, and maybe then again.
:D



Watched Love Aaj Kal too, it was a good movie. They showed a very casual relationship between the lead pair (Saifu & Deepika) in the beginning.. that is the main storyline and it is contrasted sharply with Rishi Kapoor's love story (youth played by Saif again). They used the bridge metaphore (building & burning bridges) in both the stories very well, with the Howrah Bridge and the Bridge Saif designs in Frisco.. nice acting by Saif, who i've always liked in such roles. Deepika is slightly stiff at places, two neat pegs of Vodka before every shot would've rectified that problem very well.. but. Oh well.
The movie, fortunately for me, has a happy ending.. and if you know me, you'll know i'm a sucker for that..!


So, both my trips to the plex were worth it. Kaminey more wonderful than anything i've caught in a long time.
And though i'm never gonna turn this into an endless movie review blog - i'm somehow sure, that i'll end up writing about Quickgun Murugan.

Till then, Mind It..!
:D

La Divina Commedia

(Hi. This is Shuchita. bronzmash asked me to do a guest post so here it is. hope you guys enjoy it. Happy reading.)


 Cheryl was walking home from the coffee shop, a latte sipped in deep contemplation. Oh, for heaven's sake. It didn't matter, Cause she loved him. They used to love each other. She would call him & make him smile. She didn't want him to do anything brash on his boys' weekend getaway. She stopped on the pavement & dialed him. The phone kept ringing. He wouldn't pick up. She tried a few more times, each time with growing trepidation. Absently, in her need to be moving, she walked right into an incoming car.

***


The effort to lift her lashes seemed enormous, the light fighting to get into her eyes like water escaping the gates of a dam, painful..faces, happy, relieved, bewildered, concerned faces came into sharper focus. Voices demanding her attention. Her head seemed devoid of thought, unwilling to come into action. & it hurt! oh, all over whatever she could feel of her existence, it hurt. Her comma following her accident that claimed the life of her love, Saarthi, also a veteran actor was quite hot news for some time. She could remember somethings, faint images, voices going in and out of tune, champagne flutes, laughter, flash bulbs, the carpet, blood red. wait...blood....hot..thick blood...pain...her vision turning scarlet, twisted legs, police siren. n Saarthi.,.... "SAARTHI!" she woke with a scream. People around her were worried and shocked! the doctor was called and she was calmed. she looked around. who were all these people? where were ma and pa? where were her friends? She wondered why she could not immediately recognize things that seemed faintly familiar. Of course, all this was immediately attributed to her coma.

When the cloud of concussion went from her brain! she was shocked to hear people talk to her as Cheryl! Cheryl?!! Cheryl who? coffee shop what? hit and run? play? yes, she remembered the play! but it was an accident! who ran?
She was Sandhya! Sandhya the theater actress! the one who was making all the news! why were there students here? to visit her? marriage? what were they talking about! marry whom? Darryl who? relieved? why? her Saarthi was gone. her Saarthi! what marital bliss were they talking about! she was close to tears, a frightened, lost child, a stranger amidst a loving family.

The man everyone called Darryl, her fiancé came to visit her. he tried to hold her hand, but her flesh squirmed! she shrunk away. he apologized. over and over again! for what?? One day! she made the effort to visit the washroom on her own! she fainted when she saw her face! she saw a pretty blond, tall n slightly bruised staring at her! who was this? where were those Kohl lined doe eyes, the straight nose, the dusky complexion? it took a moment for her to take it all it. but the full weight of the realisation was too much for her still-tender mind to endure!

***


Cheryl was in coma. in a hospital with the best neurosurgery options available. she was a star! she was Sandhya! Big money rided on her! the theater bosses had her signed for so many shows!  she kept coming round and getting conked off again. she could see bouquets. big ones! beautiful ones. she wondered and the effort caused her to lose consciousness again. she could here people asking her if she could here them.

"Sandhya!?" they said! what? she tried to think? she tried to place that sound somewhere cause it seemed familiar...

***


Everyone thought that Sandhya was a little touched in the mind. she was Cheryl after all! but she always admired that beautiful theater actress Sandhya. she now claimed to be. and everyone knew she always wanted to be a little famous. Not much. just a little. And she'd given it all up, the post of a professor at Berkeley, way on the other side of Atlantic, just for Darryl. They thought Darryl's betrayal must've caused the trauma to take this form. this whim of their Cheryl to think she is Sandhya. Meanwhile, Sandhya, not used to the thought of being a nobody, not used to knowing this man, Darryl! she couldn't even think! until one day, she read in the paper of the actress Sandhya's car crash and her subsequent treatment at the Institute of Neurology in Euston. She saw her pictures, details of the party filled the newspaper. "The celebration for the 5oth show!" it said. and suddenly, it all came flooding back to her. the show, the applause, the paparazzi. Saarthi, her Saarthi, frustrated with the rigmarole, but smiling through it all, cause it all signified her success! her will to win. She saw him being engulfed in the frenzy of fans and press alike. and saw his suffocation, felt her own, the need to get away, be together.She thought of how she'd refused to go with him to the little holiday he had planned. A weekend getaway, and she instantly regretted it. then . It was then that she saw this woman. The woman in red. The woman who was staring back at her now, everytime she looked into the mirror! the woman who caught her eye, smiled a shy smile and went away, talking into her phone. she remembered wanting to have a life like her, n-o-r-m-a-l. love-talk on the phone, buying flowers, quiet walks that ended with coffee. the moment she wished that. And now she longed to go back. She didn't really want this! not like this! Longed to have Saarthi with her. just once, just so she could see him laughing, see him running a hand through his hair as was his habit, hold his hand, once, smile into the camera with him. Oh just once! to hear his voice calling out to her! once! Once! just once!...oh....just once!

She broke down n started crying.

"Sandhya! Baby!, Sandhya!" she woke up.

"what happened, baby! stop crying!" she could see Saarthi, worried about her, beside her, trying to wake her up!

"oh Saarthi! i dreamt something...horrible...lets go to the weekend inn you promised. You're right. i don't need to go practice for the 50th time. ill rather spend it with you. But first,i have to meet up with a friend of mine."

"which friend?", he asked.

"Cheryl Bava. She's an Italian. Teaches at the Varsity."

"hmm. never heard of her. You get through with that and I'll meet you here in 3 hours, all packed and ready. K?" Sandhya smiled her assent.

***


"I want to meet Miss Cheryl." Sandhya demanded to the slightly dazzled receptionist.

"she's gone to the cafeteria to..to. get her coffee..miss..mam.!" Ah. She seems to like coffee a lot, Sandhya smiled. Well, that's a better place to talk than her classroom.

"Miss Cheryl?" Sandhya recognized her immediately this time.

"Yes?" she smiled. "you seem familiar. do i know you?"

"of course. I'm sandhya. the actress? and I hear you're quite a fan of my work."

"oh. yes. " Cheryl smiled through her embarrassment."there aren't many Italian plays going on now a days."

"I'm sorry I'm asking this, but, isn't there a problem between you and your erm...fiance'?"

"Excuse me? that's my personal matter, and pardon me, but none of your business" said Cheryl, flashing her Italian temper.

"oh, please don't mind, here is a ticket of the Monday Schedule of my play.Do come and watch. And oh yeah, i know you like coffee. The shop round the corner is my favorite. He makes excellent Lattes", Sandhya smiled her enigmatic smile and walked away.

Cheryl stood dumbstruck at the counter, with the ticket in her hand. How in the name of Dio did she know about Darryl and her? how could she know that that Darryl now had cold feet and didn't want to marry? that he though it would affect his career as a guitarist, even though she'd given up the Berkeley thing for him?. Cheryl sighed. Oh well, it wouldn't hurt to go to the play. She really liked them actually. And monday was Darryl's Boy's day out too. He was gonna finally decide whether he wanted to tie the knot or not. She wondered whether he even loved her now. hmm the torture would end by Monday night anyhow. She might as well enjoy some good theater. And now, she prepared to return to Dante and his 'La Divina Commedia'.

She smiled to herself, and looked skywards. Life, after all, was just one big Divine Comedy.



:)



--- Shuchita Soman.

A Few Good Men

This is the life of men in high stations..! These guys're enjoying an innocent moment of eye candy, and it gets all over the press. This is so sad, i mean these men too have hormones (hopefully), just ask Michelle or Carla if you have doubts. To me it's funny too that there even was an attempt of a cover up..! Gimme a break. They're only Humans, and they have the right to experience 'acute booty deficiency syndrome' when on a strenuous G8 meet..!
Men will be Men. No two ways'bout it..

See fo'yourself. Our good'ol advertisement laden Times of India expressed it best with:

OBAMA ASSESSES THE BOTTOMLINE
[ ROME-ING EYE: US President Barack Obama and France's Nicolas Sarkozy wait and watch as Mayara Taveres (described variously as 16 or 17 years old), a Brazilian junior delegate at the G8, takes her place for a group photo. The Net was soon buzzing with comments about the 'ogle office' and how the 'red blooded' US Prez who 'channeled his inner Bill Clinton' and gazed at the 'bootylicious Brazilian' may have spent too much time with the Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi. The Drudge Report called it the 'second stimulus package' . One surfer remarked that Obama might find himself sleeping on the couch when he gets back home. ]

 

p.s. These images are obtained from various international news websites. All images are attributed to their respective sources..

Quietus

..the author will no longer be available. He suffered an accident, with terminal injuries.

Thank you for the journey.

The Two point Fifth Opinion

Here's another thought.. the two point fifth opinion.

(This is my counterpoint for SubVerse in the ToI of the 3rd. June 2009)

What should Indian's response be, to the racist attacks on Indian Students, in Australia..? Should we as a nation, collectively shun all things Ozzy? Maybe in a Gandhian bout of non violent protest, we can. Yes, that can be done to bring focus to the events, to bring attention to the facts, to show the world the extent of depravity in racism.

As an effort towards Nation building, we must work towards India having the best educational institutions. We have already, the IIMs and the IITs. However, we lag embarrassingly in the departments of primary and middle school. Good education is available, but at a premium - making it inaccessible to the multitude.
Only with good education will we have a paradigm shift, a complete revolution of thought. We need a change of attitude, an improvement.

Just look at us, as a nation, we're more interested in the love-lives of our so called stars, our Stars, who're hardly worth looking upto, in many cases. Their's is the news that captures our attention first. We build temples to our Cricketers and Actors, and our righteousness makes us beat up young women in pubs. We're still a nation that, albeit decreasing, has number of dowry deaths - we're seeing the decrease because our Men have started to realize that such things are crimes. Crimes that invite punishment. We don't smoke in public, we don't spit on our railway stations, we don't litter our streets because we incur fines for such behaviour. We're a nation of maladjusted reasoning. We stop ourselves before doing something wrong, not because it is wrong, but because we'll have to pay for it. So, fear is what drives us; fear of punishment, of getting caught.. that is our motive power. We work only when push comes to shove.

This attitude is base to our response. It is what makes us think that we, living on a planet with a measly six thousand kilometer radius, can survive ages by shutting ourselves in, by for example, ensuring "that our students can access the best of education at all levels, at home in India and don't have to go to foreign, often inimical, shores to study." Is our reasoning correct, if we feel this way?

Deliberate racial attacks on Indian students abroad is wrong. True.
We should build the best educational institutions at home, to complement the one already existing. We should be able to offer our students the best educational expertise the world has. True.
Maybe in the run for it, we will become an international "Education Hub". Nice.

However, if a student desires, and has the means to - it should be completely his/her choice to pursue further studies abroad, in a different education system. That often gives a student perspective. Many must be familiar with the story of the "Kupa Manduk" - there might be benefits to living that way, but i'm sure only few would agree.
Let our students study abroad if they so desire, just like students from abroad should be able to come here to study. Create exchange programs, make partner schools, open up to the world. There's no need to be world class, we can set our own benchmark, we can become a standard of our own.

Plus who knows, if and when we do become an education hub, many parallel incidents will probably come to light. Till date, most foreign exchange students or foreign tourists who have been harassed, raped and/or murdered, mostly suffered it in Goa (and only sporadically in Delhi and other such high crime areas). As more 'gora-gori's become available, God only knows how we'll react.
To survive is tough, no place is completely friendly to anyone.. our own citizens aren't exactly safe from us as a mob.. we're still carrying the stigma of casteism. At least and most, we as intelligent and adaptable beings, can modify and rectify situations to move on, ahead. Our reaction and our response should be logical.

As a nation, we've every right to be angry with what has happened to our students abroad. We should be angry, after all it's a matter of joke that we're probably the most passive nation in the world. However, we should not replace our anger with an "imitation: best form of flattery" type of 'response', neither are the bus-torching, stone-pelting reactions good. All these have silly reasoning written all over.. all solutions must come from the administration, all protest should be organized so as to cause no damage and loss.
Our reaction, our response speaks volumes about us. Whatever we do, to change, to improve, must be for our own reasons, for the reason that we are capable, for the reason of our own good.

Not to "get even".