Simple and crisp. Absolutely marvelous! I wish a lot of people learn from this. I, for one, did.

Disgusting.

If I were in that situation, I don't know what I would do. It is easier to take decisions when we are sitting safe in our homes but if I were one of them, I really don't know what I would do.

Thank you for reading, Arjun. :-)

An admirable attempt..

A very brave effort, Varun! Though we can add lots and lots of adjectives to define out great country, but you did a fair job. :) I would like to add a few personal favourites...
B-Babugiri
K- ummm... K serials?
P- Politics!
S-Slums..They're everywhere. Sanskaar!!! Kaise bhool sakte ho tum hamari "Bhartiya Sabhyata"??!! :P

A blend, definitely. But for the blend, you've got to get out there and communicate your parents. You've got to try! There has to be an understanding from both the sides, which unfortunately is not the case in majority households in India.
Nabeel and Gaga, you're both right as you represent both sides of the same coin.

One of the nicest poems I've read in a long time.. Thank you for sharing.

Varun, Development is deeply related to justice. The most henious of crimes are committed in the third world countries and the developing nations. The German Holocaust, American offenders being infamous for violence as quoted by you is an undeniable fact. But they are atleast reported. Most of the crimes in India are not even reported, and we have a law and order system that is thousand times better and much more organised (no pun intended) than Tanzania, Columbia, Ethopia, the Soviet Union etc. Imagine their plight.
Nothing can be said as a matter of fact when we are talking at a global scale. Only comparisons can be drawn, and those too are not accurate. But the point that I am trying to make here is in terms of development. Development is deeply related to justice. Ancient mythological principles talk of 'an eye for an eye'. Its justice for some.. Cruelty for others. As times changed and the Britishers came who were much more 'developed' in their ideas - came the codification of law. The result - a Penal Code.
As our population became aware of the world around us - how it was developing - we struggled for our own independence. The Penal Code was different then from what it is now. As the society develops, the laws adapt so as to be better suited to the changing needs of the developing society. Sati was justified then, it's murder now.
The terms Justice, Equality, Liberty, even Development - they have different shades and interpretations. What we need is a simple system. Define what our idea of justice is - and stick to it. We have a fair law of Capital Punishment because (whether you agree or not) we can't afford to let a certain category of criminals live. Thus, the Capital Punishment.
'Correctional Facility' is a nice sounding name for a jail. The facilities they provide in American jails, such as libraries, gymnasiums, etc. are because they have 1. the budget and 2. appropriation of the government fund into the purpose for which it is allocated. But the quality of human life that goes there is the same as here.

You can't compare the system of administration of justice prevailing in America and Europe with India for the simple reason that they are developed countries. Our population is much higher than them, and our budgets low. We don't have the money to keep offenders behind bars for 40 to 50 years at a time.
Rahul's observation is right to the extent that the system needs to change. But tell me, where the population is illiterate and near the poverty line (most accused are), what do we do with a sophisticated system? We already have a complicated constitutional setup and political system. The 'aam janta' doesn't understand all this. They want 'insaaf'. So what we need is a system that is simple, straightforward.
The law states that capital punishment is to be given for henious crimes, calculated murders, and in cases of mutilation, etc. These criteria are obscure and there are many cases where violent offenders are not given the capital punishment.
Varun's article depicts what we all want, but 'we' (idealistic people like us) are a very small proportion as compared to the total Indian population.
What we need is a definite criterion for giving the capital punishment - a proper system of classification of crimes that will fall under the capital punishment and nothing less. Introducing an amendment in the Parliament is futile as the politicians are already so busy doing we all know what. So the best way is to hang around to the judges and wait for something substantial to happen like it did in 1993.

Thank you all for your comments... This post was not written with the intention of showing in any way how well / ill read I am. Neither was it my intention to compose a formal 'book review', as you put it. Yes, I still maintain that Indian authors do need to buck up. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion... this is just my personal view. By condemning the works of the above mentioned authors, I simply mean to say that I don't enjoy their writing. It does not imply that I have not read their 'other' works, which you all have mentioned (rest assured, I have). I'll surely keep the punctuation course in mind (wouldn't mind a free one from you Dexterwitty ;) ). I sincerely hope each one of you enjoys 100 Shades of White.