Anyone see this ? CNN reports :

“When Mark Malkoff thought about where he could stay while his New York City apartment was being fumigated for cockroaches, he quickly ruled out friends’ places (too small) and hotels (too expensive).

Instead, the comedian and filmmaker decided to move into an Ikea store in suburban New Jersey, where on Monday he unloaded two suitcases into a spacious bedroom at the store. “

Publicity is the name of the game. Starving comedian and IKEA decide to get some. Reminds me of that Tom Hanks movie, The Terminal, where he lived in an airport. Of course there the TVs and toilets worked.

Although I do love IKEA, and it’s spare, modern designs which work, I might add – take a look at this beauty of a very comfortable chair, their furniture does tend to fall apart rather quickly. My bed and dresser set – very good-looking – are actually composed of a few particle boards with wood veneers, lots of cardboard, and some very good engineering. Of course anything which is not solid, it-won’t-break, wood can’t take the strain after a couple of years.

But then again, on the flip-side, it’s cheap (very student-friendly) and amazingly easy to assemble. They provide you everything you need to assemble : screws, nails, screwdrivers etc. and their directions are what I’d call precise. When they say align A to B, and screw in Part #2 through pre-drilled hole in A and B, you can be very sure that pieces A and B will exist, and be labelled, Part #2 will be in a sealed plastic bag waiting for you, and the predrilled holes will align perfectly. The thing may not work until I’m 80, but hey, as far as engineering is considered, you’ve got to admire them.

One of my friends is going on a no alcohol and no meat diet from this year. It’s apparently already started. I’m not sure how long it’ll last.

Also, more and more of the folks I know are getting pretty sociable. And that’s not relative to me, since I’m not the most sociable cat in the alley, you know ? I mean sociable, as in sociable from lunch to dinner every weekend. They also need to party-hop, which means more than one party per night. These are folks with kids, so I’m not sure how they do it. Me, I have one social engagement one week, and I’m exhausted enough to last a month. Like if you go out being social every lunch and dinner, when exactly do you cook, clean, launder and all the rest of that good stuff ? When exactly do you get time for self, the significant other, the kids, and you’ll all together ?

Really, email is good enough. And then there’s the phone, if you must use it. And reading this post, am so glad I don’t SMS and don’t get SMSed back (Thank the Lord for small mercies).

This isn’t really a rant – it’s more of a post to say I’m all tuckered out from all the holiday season lunches and dinners, and the mountains of food which have deposited themselves on my tummy and the rest of my anatomy.

You hear reports of assault, and you hear them, and you hear them again. And your ears burn. It’s the oft-repeated story. Last New Year. Last year. This year. Next year. Every day of every year. Every second of every minute of every day of every year.

Minor things, they say. Harmless. After all, boys will be boys. And the girls, they were from California (not sure why that should matter). Short dress, they say. Her fault, they say. Shouldn’t she have known better ? Why go out at all ? Why not barricade yourself in a room ? Because you know, if you go outside, the prowling beasts might decide to get you.

The photographs of this assault splashed across the front pages, apparently. The criminals, they are gone. Lost, anonymous, part of a mob. One, who led the assault was wearing a blue shirt, apparently. How do you find a blue shirt in Mumbai ? Another is clearly seen in photos. And on this blog, I see a link where the Hindustan Times is calling for people to identify him.

What about the rest ? From the photographs, can anyone see the other attackers ? Is there a police sketch ? Is there a hunt for these men ? Are these photos broadcast on television stations and newspapers, asking people to help identify them ? Are these men even considered real criminals ? Is there a serious search out there to find the perpetrators of this crime, one that will make them quail at the thought of being found ?

If found, can we promise that these men will be punished publicly, flogged or worse ? Can we promise massive public humiliation for them ? Have their crimes tattooed on their foreheads ? Inform their friends and families of their heinous crime ? Because they will have fathers, mothers, sisters, wives and children probably. Quite possibly they will come from “respectable” families, live in “respectable” neighborhoods. Quite possibly, they will be “nice boys”, whose mothers if asked will nod their heads and assure us that “their” boy wouldn’t do such a thing. Everyday people, you brush across in the street, who were just “having a bit of fun”, by forcing themselves on another human being.

There is an FIR, after fighting over jurisdiction. A crime occurs, a crime which threatens the most basic of rights, that of human dignity, and there is a quibble over jurisdictions. The top cop of Mumbai dismisses the matter as “minor”. Wasn’t his daughter, was it ?

I read in the reports that the police is asking the victims to step forward, and help catch the criminals. Apparently the victims aren’t exactly ecstatic at the thought. I can imagine why. The law depends on the victim as the fulcrum to pivot it’s way towards ensuring justice, without making any assurances of safety or justice towards the victim herself. What illusions of safety can one harbor after being assaulted in a public place, by a mob of men ? One man could be insane, maybe two, but a mob ?

There are baser instincts, but acting on them is possible when you’re sure you’re going to get away with it. Indian men aren’t special, they just reside in a society which refuses to acknowledge or act upon crimes against women, the poor, or the weak.

I’m not sure though why this is just a crime against the two women (let’s for simplicity consider this specific case). This is a crime against society, and there needs to be provisions in the law to facilitate indictment of criminals when there is public proof. A crime caught on camera is nothing if not public proof. The state should be able to press charges without requiring assistance from the victims.