Humans......Humans!!!

2010-10-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

Commonwealth Games closed... Let the Audit begin...

I always knew that all this hue and cry about Kalmadi's mismanagement of funds will settle once the Games begin. But it felt sad that the same people and media who were thrashing Kalmadi once were praising him after the opening ceremony. Everybody just seemed to have forgotten that episode of corruption. Are good opening ceremony and successful games a gloss for Kalmadi for the gross misuse of funds?
While I too loved and enjoyed every Indian win, as also some other wonderful performances, I do not want to forget in this euphoria the massive misuse of funds and authority that has gripped this game’s organisation and games related infrastructure development. And before I go ahead, I want to say that the excellent and heart-warming performances by our athletes has been despite the system, not because of the system.
But, on the other hand, why just Kalmadi.. Making Kalmadi or some others the scapegoat would be wrong. These guys need to be taken to the cleaners, sure, but a lot of others including those from the Delhi government and sports ministry and the urban development ministry need to be given the stick as well.
It would have been so apt to have the president say after the spectacular closing ceremony that the games are closed, now let the audit begin.. :)

2010-06-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

No matter what anybody may say... there is something magical about the Delhi monsoon. The first few showers are so welcome, they make all women feel like Sridevi in a wet saree. Last weekend while enjoying the first shower of monsoon (my first monsoon with my husband) we decided to cash in on Chittapan's promise of Gol Gappe. So, we hopped to their place and left for market. Though the drizzle had almost stopped by that time, we watched the crowds outside the Dwarka markets dancing under a light drizzle. It reminded me of the one really gauche and hopelessly scripted scene from the film - when the actress in the film frolics provocatively under obviously artificial studio rain, kisses a visibly embarrassed Naseeruddin Shah and promptly produces a baby! Monsoon is really magical :)

2010-06-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

Horrible, isn’t it. Most of us remain rooted and stuck in our petty little worlds, when it comes to dealing with disasters and tragedies. The nasty tendency is to personalise it. The first, instinctive reaction generally goes something like this – “Oh God, thank the lord all my loved ones are safe and I didn’t know anybody on that ill fated flight!” Once that is out of the way, we then switch gears and start thinking about the victims …. their families. The enormity of the devastation sinks in well after we have dealt with our own fears and insecurities. We vow never to fly with the doomed airline again, never to fly with the entire family in the same plane, to avoid trips during the monsoons, and several other ‘dos and donts’ that are promptly forgotten before the week is out. As of now the already tattered reputation of our national airline, the pride and joy of India once upon a time, lies in shambles. The pointless blame game has begun. There are theories galore, and the foreign pilot is being blamed for the tragedy,which is an awful thing to do considering he isn’t around to defend himself. The minister has offered to resign – as if that helps matters. Stay, and assume responsibility, Praful. That is the right and honourable thing to do.
Meanwhile our deepest sympathies to the families of those whose lives were cruelly and abruptly cut short through no fault of theirs. May their souls rest in peace. And yes – let’s respect their memories by scrapping that bogus ‘enquiry’ which will reveal nothing but waste a lot of public money. Like all government enquiries, this one too will be another eyewash.

2010-03-25T23:48:00.000-07:00

Would you want your child to be gay or a lesbian?
The other day my husband saw an advertisement in newspaper of an electrical shop called 'Gay Electrical'. He showed it to me and said what kind of shop would want to name itself like this!. i argued that the term 'gay' has another meaning too i.e. very happy and carefree but still i couldn's relate it with an electrical shop so we just had a laugh and let it go. But what lingered in my mind is that this term is something that always has raised eyebrows?

Unlike members of other minority groups these individuals are not raised in a community of similar others from whom they learn about their identity and who reinforce and support that identity. Rather, these individuals are often raised in communities that are either ignorant of or openly hostile toward homosexuality. They face bashing and hate speeches all the time and the only good behavior they have is sympathy. Why cant people give them same respect that they give to any other person? Why cant people treat them as any other person? What difference does it make to you what a person’s sexual preference is till you don’t want to sleep with him? I feel bad for them, actually sorry for them that they are born in a time when other ‘normal’ people don’t have enough sensibility to accept anything different than the majority.

People should be taught the importance of living authentically- accepting one’s homosexuality and embracing a positive gay identity. Our world would be a more convenient place to live.

Anyways, my question is still the same- Would you want your child to be a gay or a lesbian? Think about it. Or even better, think about the situation if he is. Maybe this will make you behave better.

2010-03-25T00:36:00.000-07:00

My 24th birthday, my first birthday after marriage, my first birthday with Dinesh and he made sure it was very special!
Back home, in my family, birthdays meant birthday-wishes from all first thing in the morning with lots of hugs and kisses, an early bath, new clothes, cake cutting in the evening and special dinner. So it has always been a special day for me.
But this year I was not expecting the same old things. I was sure that Dinesh won’t let it be too boring but never expected him to be sooo thoughtful! Yesterday he lied to me for the first time because he had to go out and buy gift for me. I didn’t have a clue of what was going on behind me!
When I got up in the morning and Dinesh lead me to the drawing room it was all decorated with colourful balloons. He had planned a cake too but it was damage in the transit so we had it yesterday evening as a friend’s gift to Chittappan. Oh my husband is such a liar! But I love him so much :)
Although the party has been postponed to Sunday, the day has been happening till now and I am looking forward to each minute of this day!
The balloons in the drawing room still bring a wide smile on my face :) :)
Happy Birthday to me :)

2009-10-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

I sometimes feel that I am very wise. I can give good, heavy, long lectures to anybody and most of the times I manage to change their minds but when it comes to use that wisdom in my own life with the people who mean the most to me, all of it just evaporates. Maybe I get too much attached, resulting in too much expectations, resulting in too much disappointment. I sometimes expect thing from people which I myself don't give to them and the worst thing is I don't understand the difference then. Even if the other person tries, I get too sticky and impossible! I give too much of importance to myself and now I have begun to feel that its spoiling my relationship with my most dear ones.
'Life is too short to regret'. This is one line that we hear over and over again. Though I don't know how true it is, I don't want to take a chance.
Now that I know where the problem lies, I hope I can correct. I am going to start with today. May God bless me!

2009-10-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

I so wish sometimes I were very, very dumb. I so wish I could never get that what the other person is telling is not true, that the person doesn't mean a word of what he is saying with that broad smile. I so wish I could not see through the facade. I so wish I could fall in love with the most imperfect, mean guy who just looks dashing and intelligent and sweeps me off with a gregarious sense of humor and amazing poetry, who would dump me, cause me emotional anguish and leave me with a broken heart and wounded pride. I so wish I could then make sense of all the soppy love songs. I so wish I could wail out loud, scream in despair, loathe myself. I so wish I could then finally pick myself up, dust off the dirt, wipe off the tears and make a whole new beginning.

I so want to wipe my slate clean and begin afresh. Not because I loathe my life- I don't, on the contrary I quite love it. But I'm aching to make that new beginning after the decay. To start something after everything is ruined. It must be interesting, adventurous..

But alas that's not to be. I don't know why I have to get the truth behind everything people say with sugar coating, don’t know why I have to see through the facade. And I don't know why, most importantly, I always had to guard so vociferously my precious heart. I so wish I could set it free sometime, leave it unprotected and not stand guard like a bird so ferociously guards her little ones. I so want to know how it feels to be heartbroken in love, to make sense of all the sad songs in the world, to touch a chord somewhere. Why I could never let go?!

Alright, enough of philosophy! Away from all these unfulfilled wishes, I am a happy person today. I am happy that I didn’t let go. Didn’t need those soppy songs to define my mood ever. Never reacted dramatically on the truth behind those broad smiles, rather I learned to give back; give back broader and more pleased smiles, many times when I didn’t even mean it. I am happy I always guarded my heart because today I have a person in my life who loves me more than he can ever love even himself. Now, I don’t think he will ever let me make sense of those sad songs! But then which happy person loves sad songs? Not me, I don’t need them. I am happy I waited for him. Maybe somewhere inside I knew he was waiting for me!

2009-09-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

The weather is gloomy for the past few days and I am having a long weekend. In conditions like this I sometimes tend to get in the way of figuring out myself! Soul-searching....

Basically I love myself and there are not many things that I can think of that I want to change in myself. I am assured of this as I have people in my life who know me well and still love me.

I am severely negative and fiercely positive. And no complaints, I want to remain like this. I can take to my grave a barely perceptible frown and I can ignore and shield the darkest, deepest evil. I sometimes refuse to heal and I sometimes refuse to hurt. Of course, I don't go daggers at those who hurt me but I don't close the chapter either. Off late, I’ve been asking myself what gives me the right to sit in judgment, what gives me the right to decide that I will forgive x and remember y. I’ve been wondering if the reason why we are willing to forgive is the horror of being never forgiven in turn, of living rent-free in their minds and memories, of living in the slime-shadow of curses and wails. Maybe, the reason why we don't forgive is because it involves willfully erasing that one intense memory that still connects us to a once-loved villain. I’ve been feeling that I don't let go. Something slippery wraps itself around my soul. And if I do let go, a part of me vanishes. I can't be sure whether it's a good part or a bad one but sometimes I miss it bad.

2009-07-03T05:39:00.000-07:00

Middle

I believe that the words we like speak of our character. 'Middle' is certainly not my favourite word. Actually its not a nice word. Something is either big or small; fast or slow; huge or tiny. Middle of the road is an invitation to accident. Middle is a compromise. Middle is a cry to be taken for granted. You go for the middles when you are not sure of yourself and even though I find myself in such situations sometimes, I don't like that feeling. I don't like the middles, the maybes, the perhapses, the greys. Give me black or give me white and maybe I'll give you the same. Smile at me or bite me, I can handle both and you'll get the same or maybe you'll get a smile back in both the cases but don't smile at me when you don't mean to.
I am in a monitory mood today. I got a 'middle' today from someone I had better expectations from. I was disappointed but I have learned my lessons and it wasn't very hard on me so, as an afterthought, I am quite thankful!

2009-05-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

I like...

gloomy weather
barely there raindrops
heavy rains
trees full of leaves
rainbows
watering my plants
song with meaningful lyrics
movie with characters I can relate with
seeing mummy waiting with a glass of nimbupani when I get back from work
walking on my terrace with cool breeze hitting my face and Neha to chat with
surprises
chirping of sparrows near my window in the morning
my mirror telling me that I am looking good
episode after episode of Friends or Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai
a packet of bhujia to go with it
caressing a cow on the street
chatting with a stranger on a bus journey
going to temple when there are not many people around
waving to small children on red-lights
I wish I could find some chocolates somewhere! Then life would be just perfect :)

2009-04-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

Earth Day

It has been really long that I have updated this place! Actually my job and my studies takes the major part of my time and after that even if I am left with time, I am not left with enough energy for this! My apologies to my blog that doesn't get enough of my attension!

A few days ago, on 22nd April i.e the Earth Day, I was given the responsibility to conduct the morning assembly in my school. The program included my speech and a few things by the students.
Since I don't have anything to put on this place, I m putting the speech that I delivered that day.

"A very good morning to all of you.

As you are all aware, we have assembled here to celebrate the Earth Day.
But, first of all, what is Earth Day? We have all heard of Mother’s day, Father’s day, Teachers Day, Children's Day, Friendship day… but what is this Earth Day? And whom do we wish on this day? Well, wish yourselves! Because you are the reason this earth is such a special place! You are the life in this earth that makes it special than all other planets in this whole Milky Way. The real wealth of a nation is its air, water, soil, forests, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and bio-diversity. Take these resources away, and all that is left is nothing but a wasteland

Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 every year during spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. This is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for earth’s environment. The day marks the anniversary of the modern environmental movement which started in the year 1970.

As you all know, the Earth’s atmosphere and climate are affected by environmental pollution. Pollution is when water, air and land become very dirty. Pollution can come in four different ways affecting different types of areas in the world. Air pollution affects the air; water pollution affects the water and marine life; land pollution affects the land, destroying life and environment, and there is also noise pollution which affects our hearing. All these pollution is gradually destroying our planet. For example, the Earth is getting more warmer and warmer every year due to the air getting more polluted with gases that trap the earth’s heat. Because the Earth is getting more hotter, the water in the oceans is also getting more warmer gradually. Droughts are becoming much more common and the land is also becoming less able to support crops and cattle.

Let me tell you some of the consequences that have already started showing because of the rampant pollution.

Seventy-three different kinds of pesticides have been found in groundwater, which is potential drinking water.

A growing list of pesticides have the potential to disrupt the immune and endocrine systems and of having long term impacts on the offspring of exposed humans and animals.

World wide, rain forests are disappearing at a rate of one and a half football fields per second.

Eighteen per cent of all global carbon dioxide emissions are from cars.

A plastic milk jug takes 1 million years to decompose.

Current sea level rise is occurring at a rate of around 1.8 mm per year for the past century in part as a result of human-induced global warming. This rate is increasing; at a mean rate of 3.1 mm/year. Global warming will continue to increase sea level over at least the coming century.

Already a million people a year are displaced by loss of land along rivers, and indications are this is increasing. Its just April now and the temperatures are already so high. Monsoons don’t come at right time.

Studies show that global warming may drive one quarter of all land animals and plants to extinction by 2050.

Now we all know that pollution is bad and its harming our planet. But who is responsible for all this? Its you, its me! We are causing all this mess on our planet and don’t think that the consequences will be borne by our future generations. The ill effects have already started showing and people are dying. So it’s serious and we better take it seriously now.

What can we all do to protect our Mother Earth? All individuals and institutions have a mutual responsibility to act as Trustees of Earth, to conserve its natural resources. It is a responsibility that every human being shares. Through voluntary action, each of us can join in building a productive land in harmony with nature. Products such as cleaning agents, paints and glues often contain harmful chemicals. Use them sparingly and carefully. Saving energy helps reduce air pollution. Use less petrol, natural gas and electricity. Be especially careful to turn off lights and fans so as not to waste electricity. Avoid wastage of water in your day to day life. We can also use more of recycled paper and other recycled products. Wherever and whenever possible, let us all use more and more of natural products rather than industrial and manufactured products.

So, the fight for a clean environment begins here and continues. I invite you all to be a part of this history and a part of Earth day. Discover the energy you didn’t even know you had. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come. And together let’s tell Mother Nature that we hear you calling, and together let’s save this cherished Earth to make it a better place for all of us to live in.

Thank you!"

The other function by the students was between the speech and Thank you!
And the clapping follows :)

2009-01-26T04:49:00.000-08:00

I am nowadays starting to find new ways to freedom, or rather, boundaries. I really don’t know what I’m writing, or rather now, typing. I only know that my mind is flying 3*10^8 times my writing speed (the speed of light). Excuse me for deviating a bit from solid literature at times to the more technological stuffs.

Now, I’m just being a machine, just typing what is coming to my mind without even caring about the grammar, but I should be thinking, inside my so called brain, or I would like to use the generally used term, 'the mind' But I sometimes find it difficult to dispense with being practical They say mind is an abstract term, which doesn’t really exist, or putting it in other words, the brain according to the technical purists and heart according to the literary purists, from which I find it hard to choose. Because, it is a literary figure I wanted to become but fate had some other plans, maybe better… and the two according to the common man (the clan in which I’m also included) believe are absolute opposites. So, kindly bear with the absurdity in my ‘technical-kissed’ ‘trying-to-be literary’ language...
Sometimes I doubt if i am the same person as I project myself to be. Am I actually this good, or this bad, as people in my life expect me to be. But then I have definitely not crossed the boundaries my family has put on me. Wait.. no.. I don’t want to lie, not here at least. I have crossed and am still crossing, not one but many boundaries my family and religion has forbidden me to do. So if the question is, whether I have some boundaries or not, the answer is a straight ‘yes’. But that is the boundary I created for myself, and in my personal case it is the boundary of my dignity. Boundaries, as far as I’m concerned, can do no harm, may be it can hurt but can never harm. So, maybe, my boundaries seem meaningless to some but I have them and I have no plans to do away with them in any near future.
Alright, enough of loose thoughts for today.. Some more such thoughts coming into my mind right now but I want to spare you the ordeal!! So, some other time!!

2008-12-10T04:05:00.000-08:00

These are some of the cards I got from my students when I was leaving the school I worked in. Can't upload the sentiments though.. they'll always remain in my heart.. :)

2008-12-01T05:19:00.000-08:00

I joined in my new job today. So, I have shifted my holy headquarters from Bharti Public School to National Victor Public School! May God bless me!! :)

2008-11-19T05:05:00.000-08:00

My Second Job

I know this is a bit too early for a second job as I had just joined in my first job in July. Moreover so as I was all praises for my first employer when I had joined! But the people who know me know how bad I am with judging people correctly on the basis of first impression. So, as always, the opinion I had formed about the school and the people working there was totally opposite to reality.
Spending each day in the school was getting difficult. I know my students love me but it’s not possible to survive in any organisation with zero motivation from management and filthy politics from colleagues.
Finally God felt pity on me and decided to do something about it! Got an interview call from National Victor Public School on 12th November 2008. Everything went well and I got the job.
The only regret I have is about the way my first job has ended. It was not on a very good note although I didn’t want to end to like this; after all it was my first job and I have that attachment with it even now. And I have certainly learned a great deal from there and have grown up a lot, both as a teacher and as a person.
The worst part of leaving the school is going to be leaving my students. I have got so much of love and regard from them that I cant express in words ever. I know I am going to miss them very badly, very very badly. But then there is no way to help it. I just wish they get all good things in life.
One thing I am happy about is that I didn’t have very good opinion about my new school when I first went there. I just hope that my record of being wrong with first impression continues!

2008-09-22T05:43:00.000-07:00

Today was a very special day. My students of 7th standard are having their semester exams and today was their maths exam. As soon I entered the 3rd floor of the school, half of the class just howled on me; some to clear their doubts, some to tell me how much they have prepared and some just to hear what I am saying just in case I told them which questions are coming. After all that was over I went to the room in which I had the invigilation duty. After some time another of my student came to me. I thought he also had some last minute doubts to clear. When I went near him he just smiled and then touched my feet!!!
Honestly, I was startled. This is the first time somebody had touched my feet and I really didn’t know what to do. Somehow I gathered myself and put my hands on his head. All that I could manage to say was ‘do well’ and then I said ‘bye’! I didn’t know where that ‘bye’ came from but I hoped that it was not loud enough for him to hear. Then he went away and I was standing there half laughing at myself and half conscious that the whole class would be doing the same.
Anyways it made me feel very special. This is the first time I had got this kind of respect as a teacher and that too from a student from whom I couldn’t expect such a thing. But then from whom was I expecting this!!
Today, I feel, that boy has made me a guru from a teacher. Thanks Prerak…

2008-09-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

I had my first parents- teacher meeting last Saturday. I was scared, as some senior teachers had said that some parents just howl on the teacher for silly things. Some parents tried that on me too but I was better than them.
All things went fine but overall it was a depressing day. At the end of the day I realised that parents are making life too difficult for their kids. Intentionally or unintentionally they are the people responsible for making the whole system a rat race.

I agree that we are all part of a rat race but I m surprised to see that this thing starts right from the age of 8 or 9, when the parents say, ‘look, that girl/boy is better than you.’ That’s when they put all they have to prove, to be in the competition.
They grow up wondering whether they will ever be at the top someday?

I have a student of 7th class who cries like hell even when she gets 19 out of 20. She simply wants full marks and doesn’t want to leave any scope for anybody to defeat her. I met her father on Saturday. I told him that she is very insecure and needs to change otherwise she wont be able to handle any defeat in her entire life, which is really bad. He seemed to agree with me but after a point of time I started feeling that he was proud that his daughter was like that. I don’t understand why he can’t see the consequences of such a mindset the way I see it.

There was another parent who just wont listen that her son is very indiscipline. Her only argument was that he is getting good marks. I don’t understand why getting good marks is the centre of the world for all the parents. Do they send their children to school to get good marks or make them a good human being?

I don’t say that I don’t care a damn about this competition. Even I compete with my colleagues. I also feel victorious when my students get full marks or result of my class is better than the result of other sections that I don’t take.
I agree that all of us secretly dream of winning this rat race. But if we are in this race then, at the end of the day, we are also just another rat!

We must understand that from the dawn of this earth, competition is everywhere but the soul aim of this competition is not to win, but to improve what exists. Its so amazing to see the world in this aspect when you are hardly having time to see what you doing, why you doing and where it is leading you??

2008-06-28T04:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to make my voter-ID card. There were not many people and the woman working there asked me to wait for some time so that she could sort out all the mess. Then she asked me if I could help. I didn’t have anything lined up so I joined her to sort out all the heap of applications.
In that process she asked me whether I had any class to attend that I am missing to help her. I felt contempt. Do I look like some 10th grade student who has tuition classes to attend? After all, I was there to make my voter-ID card so I have to be 18+. Isn’t that common sense?
I told her that I am a teacher myself. And then her reaction was even more disgraceful. She looked me from the corner of her eye as if laughing at me. Then she asked me what classes I take and I am sure she was expecting me to say ‘nursery’. I told her that I take till VIII class and then I turned away to avoid seeing her reaction. Even then she didn’t give up; she asked me what subjects I take, half expecting me to say ‘art’ or ‘music’. When I said I take maths she finally gave up.

Alright, I agree that with a short top and a low-waist-jeans she couldn’t relate me with a ‘teacher’ but do I look so unfit for this profession. Not only this time, but this is the reaction I have been getting since the day I decided to join this profession. Even my family is no better. My granny was most happy when she got to know that wearing saree is compulsory in the school I have joined because she thinks that at least that would make me look a bit healthier and older. My brother keeps lecturing me that if I remain like this and “don’t carry a persona of a teacher”; nobody is going to take me seriously even if I am good.
Well, I love the way I look and I am not going out of my way to look plump and older just to suit the general perception about my profession.

2008-06-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

My First Job

My exams finished on 21st May. I believed that it was going to be the beginning of my long struggle for a good job. I went for my first interview to Bharti Public School on 26th. It was raining heavily on that day and I had worn a saree. I was almost on the verge of crying when I couldn’t find an auto for quite long. By the time I found one I was half wet and the 5 ½ metres of cloth I had draped on myself was weighing double its weight and proving to be extremely impossible for me to handle. But the strangest thing was that on May 26th, when usually the temperatures in Delhi are like above 40 degrees, I was shivering with cold!
In spite of all this anarchy and mess, I reached the school 15 mins before time. I was given a written test to solve. It was followed by an interview taken by The Director and The Principal of that school. They asked me pretty good questions but the answers I gave sounded foolish to me and now I think I have better answers to each one of them. But then isn’t that the point of taking an interview. At the end of it, to my extreme surprise, they showed me signs that they were pretty satisfied with me and they called me again on the next day for another interview with the subject teachers. That interview also went well.
And on 27th May 2008 I got my first job with a decent salary in a pretty good school, that too on my very first interview! What more could I ask for.

2008-05-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

My Evil Wish

I had a teacher in my B.Ed course. Her name is Mrs. Neeti Dutta. I hate her and I know that she hates me too and she never misses an opportunity to let me know that. I am not a person who has a lot of role models but she is a role model of mine for she has taught me what kind of a teacher I should never become. She is the most depressing, hypocritical, immoral, wicked, artificial and hopeless person I have ever seen in my life. I have never hated any of my teachers as such but in her case I beg to differ. She doesn’t know what she wants but she bites everyone. Unfortunately, I could never express my hatred towards her because she had the authority of lots of my internal marks that can really affect my results and our examination system is not good enough to not let the biasness of teachers affect the marks.

My exams are over and my results will be out by August. Then I’ll have to go to each teacher of my department for getting the clearance papers signed. That will probably be the last day that I’ll have to see her but I won’t be able to avoid being in direct 1-1 contact with her. And that day the constraint of internal marks will no longer be there as the result would have already been out.

But I can’t collide with somebody just like that. I wont be able to say anything if she acts sweetly with me that day. I pray to God that she has words with me that day. Then I won’t spare her. I’ll actually let out all the frustration I have had because of her in the past 1-year.

This has been my wish since so many months and this possibility has been a very major driving force for me to get up every morning for college.

I wish this actually happens. I deserve this.

2008-05-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

What is the most leading cause of death?

I believe the only answer for this question is ‘death’, neither smoking, nor drinking, nor eating too much, nor driving too fast. Even deadly diseases don’t cause death; they only serve as the medium for bringing the inevitable within reach.

When we say something causes death then it should mean that avoiding it would keep us alive. But that is not true. The truth is that we can only prolong our life by postponing death and even this postponement has a certain limit. Nothing can keep us alive forever.

This should provide as some perspective when dealing with the questions raised by Dr Ramadoss’s new proposals to ban films that has stars drinking on-screen. The justification for these kind of bans come from the notion that people die from smoking, drinking and obesity and it’s the government’s duty to prevent this from happening. And this is true within reason but in a world of competing priorities, we must ask as to what kind of life span extension should the state focus on.

If more films are showing heroes drinking then its because the meaning of alcohol has changed. We live in a world increasingly governed by pleasure and the relentless search for it. We drink more, we dance more, we eat food that stimulates our taste buds more, and we wear bright colours the make us happy. We listen to the throaty whisper of our senses over the high monotone of our mind. The idea of alcohol has changed from the dingy bars where the victims of bewafas went to a lifestyle thing.

Should no efforts be made then to tackle the problems created out of alcohol, tobacco and junk food? Of course the efforts must be made. But then it’s a choice that the people must be free to make. If they want to be seduced by the images of Saif Ali Khan eating chips, then be it. And it must be remembered that no matter what our over-concerned health minister does, we are all going to die one day.

It will make much more sense if we focus on living rather that be obsessed with not dying.

2008-03-02T02:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, on my mom’s birthday, I went to Pacific Mall with my family for dinner. It was not the first time that I saw Delhi as a city of people who spend too much on food and clothes and drive their vehicles dead set on homicide. But I have lived in Delhi for enough years not to summarise my city in so little.
Delhi is a beautiful city with even more beautiful people. It is a city that celebrates the idea of today. I thought about it for a while and reached at the conclusion that it is maybe because Delhi has nothing of it’s own. Delhi is many cities that live in polythene separateness from each other. It’s dominant culture today represents it’s latest invasion. It is true that while Delhi is home to many, it is native place to only a few.

In a way it has helped that Delhi was a city that belonged to no one. Like many capitals, administrative Delhi was full of transient people who came here to use it. They lived in small colonies, lusted after the quarters of their entitlement and discussed politics, cricket and bosses on India Gate lawns during office hours.

Today Delhi cant be ignored because it is a city that has learned to become one. The process is in no means complete but Delhi is truly a city in the modern sense as it sees as an object in the process of being constructed rather than a piece of history sitting flatly on a map.
Much of Delhi is uneducated but it is trying hard to learn sophistication. It feels good to watch a city grow up. By 2010, thanks to Commonwealth Games, I expect Delhi to become a world-class city in every sense. One shouldn’t bet against it considering how it has managed to become the fashion capital of India, something too horrible to imagine a few years ago.

I hate Delhi for many things such as considering tombs as places to build traffic roundabouts, monuments as backdrop to build park and chat shops and educating it’s sons in a way that they molest women as a matter of habit and kill somebody for reasons as simple as losing a bike race to them. But the reasons I have to love Delhi are many more. I love Delhi for its ‘never day die’ and ‘ never say never again’ spirit. Delhi knows how to get up each time it falls; be it the terrorist walking into the city and bombing it or MCD sealing off its markets.

So at the end I am very tempted to defend my city saying- what if people spend too much on food and clothing… they not only know how to earn money but also how to spend it!

2008-02-25T06:32:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I read an article about as man who had filed a case against Sania Mirza for keeping her feet on a table on which Indian flag was also kept. In the best part of the report that man was quoted as saying: “Me and my friends will move around the city from 2pm onwards on Republic Day collecting flags lying everywhere and destroy them in private with full dignity.” Yes even flags have dignity and, in all probability, feelings! I hope he and his friends had a good time that day! I am sad that this is what we have reduced patriotism into.

India has advanced so much in the last couple of decades, but we still have not got the confidence that a matured democracy should have. We are still so thin-skinned about symbols of our nationhood, and that’s a shame.

As a nation that won it’s independence with such difficulty, if there is one thing we should be proud of, and should continue to aspire towards, it is freedom. Not just freedom to vote, but freedom in every sense.

I have a school near my place and the time I leave for college in the morning clashes with the morning assembly in that school and coincidently the students there are usually singing the national anthem when I leave. Now does anybody expect me to stand on road till they finish the anthem? Don’t say ‘yes’!

As long as we don’t breach into the freedom of others, we should be free to watch the movies we want, read the books we want, express our sexual preferences, and yes, freedom to disrespect the national flag or refuse to stand up and stop moving when the anthem is played. In fact I won’t call ‘disrespect’, it is ‘not giving phony respect’. What is the point of being a free country otherwise?

2008-01-14T01:42:00.000-08:00

What on earth do the words ‘Baliye’, ‘Mahiye’, ‘Shava’ and ‘Soniye’ mean?? I know everybody does go ‘Shava Shava’ every now and then but why?? I believe Karan Johar is single-handedly responsible for this. Apart from making his heroes dress up like mithais and discovering that the word disco has many rhyming equivalents in Hindi, he has contributed to the arrival of new minced version of Punjabi as our lingo.

And this is not Punjabi, as we know him. The Punjabi stereotype was of someone who lived life fully and made sure that we were all within earshot. The rest of India knew very little Punjabi except for the odd mention of ‘Puttar’ and ‘Balle-Balle’. Hindi film songs while drawing heavily from Urdu, didn’t considered Punjabi to be poetic enough.

But Punjabi today is revealing a new side; somewhat like a well shaven Karan Johar. It is coating its exterior with a sheen that comes with rigorous exfoliation.

Perhaps the Punjabi spirit captures who we want to be right now. Part of the reason why this is happening can be attributed to the Hindi film industry.

The lyrics of Hindi films are powerful source of reading change in India. There was a time when we didn’t understand words of songs because it belonged to the drenched-in-pain and self-pity world of Urdu poetry. After decades of rhyming izhaar with ikraar and wafa with jafa, whatever that means, we have discovered a new source of ignorance in Punjabi.
So we might as well go Shava Shava one more time. Who cares what it means, as long as I can dance to it.

2007-07-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my friend and I were discussing the rage of reality shows in television. She said she watches many of these shows like Indian Idol, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, On The Job etc and likes them too. Even I used to watch them a few years ago when this trend initially started with M T V’s talent hunt show (whose name I don’t remember) that produced an all girls music band named Viva. It was a big hit at that time as it was a new concept at the time when television was dominated by Ekta Kapur’s saas-bahu serials and their repeat telecasts. But fortunately I lost interest in them just after Viva went unemployed and then eventually split.

I have noticed that they are all very similar shows featuring similar people- basically youngsters from small towns who are striving to erase their anonymity by being picked up in a talent-hunt contest. They come from similar places and want to transport magically into the same glittering fancyland. In all these shows the background of individuals seems to be of immense importance and the emphasis is very often on the modest circumstances that they come from in order to highlight the variation success in a show like this brings. In most of the shows the contestants are expected to possess something called the X factor that eventually turns out to be nothing more that some blonde streaks in ones hair.
And another thing that the producers of these shows never miss is to encourage the contestants as well as the judges to be emotionally unstable for which they truly find ways. The contestants are meant to touch any and everybody’s feet every few minutes, speak in a voice choked in emotion, perform well and faint if they are eliminated- in that order.

In these shows success seems to be the amplification of who you already are. I have not known any winner of such shows actually making it big on his own after the grand launch they get at the conclusion of the show although they give up their career and possibly a lot more to take part in them.

2007-07-03T03:07:00.000-07:00

The 16-year-old who was allowed to perform a surgery under the doting and splendid pushing of his parents is a sign of our times. While its yet another example of Indian obsession with records, particularly those involving the Guinness Book of World Records, it raises questions of a larger kind.

What is the ‘right’ age for doing anything and why? Who decides it and for what reason? Why is it okay to travel on half ticket till you are 12, drive and vote for a government at 18 but wait till 21 to get married if you are a man and 25 to start drinking if you happen to live in Delhi? The law protects the young through an array of laws and yet has no qualms in sending our young ones to die in the name of country before they are ready to buy a drink!

By definition, the correlation between age and maturity is a fuzzy one. Some people are incredibly mature at 14 while the rest of us were just growing up. Bill Gates started learning computer languages when he was 13 and I didn’t even know how to play computer games at that age! And yet, in general, it is fair to relate age with maturity and to create a system to protect the young from others and from their own selves. The problem is that legislative action is fact-insensitive; so a drunk brat who kills innocent bystanders get its protection while a 19-year-old in consensual relationship with someone a year younger can get hauled up for statutory rape.

Of course, one can argue that this is the price one has to pay in order to have an impartial system of judicial protection and the law needs a measure of blindness to be effective.

The deeper issue I see is how we as a society view age. Today we have three-year olds playing piano and tennis, and in many cases, both. We make Budhia run marathons, and 5-year-olds spin to item songs.

I see the images of the young being highly sexualised. T V serials present the young as miniature adults who are on sexual quest from as early as the age of five. They are kissing each other and celebrating Valentine’s-day before they learn to ride a cycle. School children in our serials are never without make up and latest hairstyles; they hike up their skirts and bare their biceps. The magazines they talk about are Femina and Vogue and not Champak or Chacha Choudhary.

And yet the law is paranoid in its legislative protection of the young. Parents are trapped between encouraging talented-ness and legislative protection and are unclear on how they want their young to behave. Adolescents are often characterized as confused, but is it really them who should carry this tag?

2007-06-25T02:20:00.000-07:00

I have been traveling in public buses for a few years now and I am quite used to the ever-overcrowded buses of Delhi.
I strongly believe that the private buses in Delhi needs to be enshrined somewhere in the chronicles of someone’s history for being everything that a bus carrying passengers from a point A to point B should not be. They have seats so small that two people can’t sit on it without pressing on each other, not enough rods to hold onto, windows that refuse to open up in summers and get closed in winters and to make matters more interesting they have a breaking system invented in the early days of industrial revolution.

Design is easy to overlook because it is the invisible force that bends technology towards human being. It carries within itself an imprint of use; it converts technology of all kinds from being an abstract noun into a verb. It converts the material into the relevant. It humanises all inventions; it makes a scientific principle an everyday practice.

In many ways, design represents the most economical compression of culture into things. Take the difference in the traditional design of a teacup and a coffee mug. Teacup and saucer containing it is the culture that it was part of. The presence of saucer, not for use, but for etiquettes lest one spills the tea, the small handle that needs unwaveringly prissy holding all serve to evoke the world of elegant British tea parties. The coffee mug, on the other hand evoke the culture of no-nonsense brusqueness of the American deal. You can slip a fist through it, bang it down on the table and ask for more.

It is easy to see why new inventions take so much time to adapt itself to human use. It is more difficult to explain why private buses of Delhi, staircases with high stairs, sandals with complicated buckles and buckets with thin handles that are guaranteed to break backs and foster hernia must be allowed to survive in this world.

2006-12-06T00:44:00.000-08:00

I always thought wisdom came with intelligence, till a few days ago, when I met a friend’s mother. She came across as a very sweet lady with an incredibly impressive personality. She is a lawyer by profession (now non-practicing), so obviously, never short of words. They live near my place so she offered me a ride back home, which I willingly accepted. My friend and I were making a lot of noise inside the car with our discussions and arguments over anything and everything that existed on the face of this earth! In that process, I said something very foolish. When my friend successfully convinced me that I was wrong, I gave a giggle and corrected myself.
After some time his mom said to me, “When I see you, I mourn my youth.” I couldn’t make anything out of it and couldn’t even think of anything to give as a reply so I just smiled. She again said, “honestly…”- inviting me to comment on it. So I nervously said, “If you don’t have anything else to mourn, then you are a fortunate lady.” And smiled again so that she doesn’t mistake it for my arrogance. She gave it a thought and then gave a very pleased sigh. Then she said, “What else is there to mourn but the blunders one is now incapable of making?”
That one sentence had so much wisdom in it that for some time it forced each one of us deep into our thoughts and none of us could manage to utter anything. That one sentence taught me that there are some things that only age can teach us. They can’t be learned from any book, taught through any number of lectures or trained by any scholar. Its something that will come only with our gray hair. It has taught me that getting two of my wisdom teeth out doesn’t make me any wiser!
Maybe that’s why there are two different words in English for ‘wisdom’ and ‘intelligence’.
Now I understand that they are miles apart.

2006-11-26T00:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, when I was browsing the television channels I saw a glimpse of the movie Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya. The scene I saw was in which Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif were enjoying with some kids (I didn’t see any other scene so I don’t have any idea who those kids were). In that scene, the child asks Katrina Kaif if she knows how kids are born. Katrina Kaif answers very tactfully that God gives children to girls when they get married. And the child’s reaction was quick; he pitied Katrina Kaif for not knowing the correct answer!
When I gave it a thought, I realized that it was very much true in today’s sense.

It’s not a question of loss of childhood. It’s hard to find a child these days who doesn’t think like an adult already. It’s about the role parents are thrusting upon them. I mean, am I the only person who feels angry every time Sushmita Sen goes to press conferences with her favourite accessory, her daughter Renee, who is made to sing songs, kiss her mommy and look adorable? Are the Rakhi Sawants of this world not enough to dance and pose for our attention.

Why is everybody trying to make their children some performing fleas?
As if the children were not enough telling adults what to consume and where to spend (from movies to cars), now they are also capturing the headlines. Take the 3-yr old Anant who was kidnapped from Noida, last week; or 5-yr old Prince who fell into an open shaft in his village; or 16-yr old Akansha, who sang non-stop for 61 hrs trying to get into Guinness Book of World Records. The wall-to-wall coverage of Prince’s rescue got news channels soap-like viewership, impossible for any non- Star Plus soap or a non- cricket event in our country.

Let the children go back to doing what they do best. Being themselves, sometimes idiotic, often affectionate and always enquiring.

Let us all be just ourself and let others be just themselves.

2006-11-19T01:11:00.000-08:00

Today was a sad day. Got up in the morning an hour before my father came to wake me up. I was still lying on the bed. Got ready for the college and rushed to bus stop. Got my usual bus- thanks to red light.

Had to wait a little longer at the next bus stop for my U-spl. When I was waiting there a stick hit my foot and I turned back to see a blind man walking towards a bus. His stick missed a big stone lying there and he was just about to trip when I held his arms. He just straightened up and walked away. This incident left a very sad thought in my mind. It left me wondering whether I would have been able to hold myself if I had missed that stone on that road. It’s a very stupid question to ask but the answer I kept getting is ‘no’. I would have actually tripped on the road. And I think anybody would have. After all, haven’t we tripped anywhere just because we didn’t see a chair or a person? We have our eyes intact, then how did we miss it? The reason for this is subconsciously; we all take our senses for granted. We will walk on a road chatting with our friends, hearing the noise, smelling the air, tasting the chewing gum we have in our mouth and looking for an okay road to walk, all at the same time. But how many times do we actually appreciate what we feel? Can we actually enjoy the experiences our friends narrate us, feel sick of the noise of horns, appreciate the fragrance from the nearby flower vender, savor the strawberry flavored gum in our mouth and look for potholes, all at the same time? I don’t think we can, though we all thrive to do it everyday and believe that we are good at it.

That blind man could manage to prevent the fall because he was aware of all his senses. He knows that he can’t see the potholes and stones and thus needs to be alert all the time.

Can expecting something terrible avert it? I saw in the morning that it can…

I am in a philosophical mood today. Maybe because my friend, who accompanies me to my college, took the day off and so I had to go alone. Maybe that’s why I got time to think all this truth-seeking stuff. Otherwise she would have kept me busy in trying to use all my senses at the same time! Anyways, I have learned a lesson today. I will try to be more aware of my senses. Lets see if I can avert the fall…

2006-10-26T02:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a movie can become an instrument of social change.

Till a few days ago, all that Gandhi meant to many people like me is a reason for two days of holidays in a year- on his birth and death anniversary. I have mugged up many lessons on him in my history lectures in school and I hated him for increasing my syllabi. And I am sure all my classmates felt the same. But suddenly Gandhi is a much-loved man. Its good to see Gandhi-hating out-of-vogue for a while.

People are not just watching and forgetting Lage Raho Munnabhai after walking out of the theatres. The movie has been able to make an impact on the psyche of the viewers, at least some of them.

The refrain of ‘Bande Mein Tha Dum…Vande Mataram’ is suggestively used and portrays Gandhian thought in a pop format. And by using Munna as Gandhi’s unlikely messenger, the film gives a comical perspective of how a ‘tapori’ can make the transition from violence to non-violence. Instead of thrashing people and breaking their bones, Munna mobilizes support from ordinary citizens through his program on radio where he listens to the plight of common folk and gives them unique Gandhian solutions that actually worked for them. Quiet like the Rang De Basanti genre, Lage Raho Munnabhai tries to connect with the young audience and tells them about the virtues of freedom and independence, and what it should mean to us.

The ball is set rolling. The movie becomes a vehicle for jingoistic nationalism and the film-makers are selling Gandhian values to the country's youth.
The screenwriters found an extremely deft way of packaging Gandhi-ism to many of the current issues in a reaching-yet-not-preaching, hilarious and box office-friendly-forms. It shows quite humorously how truth and non-violence which is what Gandhi stood for are still one of the best ways to deal with day to day life situations.

After watching this movie I decided that I will also try to impliment these concepts in my life and see for myself if it really works. But fortunately or unfortunately, till now I havn’t got the opportunity to tackle such a situation.

But even now I won’t vote to become a true Gandhian. I still believe, no system is infallible and if you need a Gandhi against a Churchill, you need a Churchill against a Hitler and even Gandhi would agree to it. No one strategy works all the time, it is the situation which dictates the leadership style. Lord Krishna himself orchestrated the Mahabharat(epic war) because the situation demanded it and I still believe we got independence because of thousands of people including the revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad. No one person could bring down an empire, he just had the leadership qualities to direct the powers of those thousands of people who desperately wanted independence.

Now that I have said all this, I am still tempted to write Bande mein tha dum…Vande Mataram...

2006-10-06T01:26:00.000-07:00

How Many Times Have You Seen Anand?

My score is 15. Or maybe twice that, who counts? And every time I am as happy to watch it. Normally on repeat viewing one picks up nuances that one missed earlier, but I am past that. I can re-iterate almost all the dialogues of that film. I don’t watch Anand for any other reason but that I love watching it. Over and over and over again. Just as I enjoy watching Bawarchi, Gol Maal, Chashme Baddoor, Chhoti Si Baat, Abhimaan, Guddi, Chitchor … you can complete the list yourself.

There is something with this genre of films that connect with us in a very unique way. These films are evenly placed and are exceedingly good-natured. They are complete even without a performance by Rakhi Sawant.
But there is a deeper reason why they appeal to us so much after such a long time. For these films are the best advertisements for what we see as our middle class values. Each of these films evokes a world that we long to be part of- a world of warm relationship troubled by an odd shortcoming that gets comfortably corrected so that all is well again.

They manage to do this in many different ways. The characters are a far cry from today’s Khans with biceps. They usually live in small towns and take bus to work. The tension usually comes from constraints imposed by different human views and beliefs. In Gol Maal we have Utpal Dutt insisting on his employees wearing moustache and in Khoobsoorat we have a matriarch who is fixed on discipline and in Guddi, a young girl on a movie star. They usually live in scarce circumstances, but still their problems rarely arise from poverty. These movies start with a good-natured order and end with a higher level of equilibrium. In doing so they re-establish the importance of family.

The big reason for the continued appeal of these films is that they tell us that happiness is independent of bank-balance.
It is interesting to look at the difference between Bawarchi and its remake Hero No 1 made more recently. In both the films the central character is the imposter servant who brings peace to a disintegrating family. However, in Bawarchi, the instruments employed are good food, classical music and an occasional treat of drink; in Hero No 1, it is the power of money and influence. Rajesh Khanna wins over people by his abilities in cooking, singing and mathematics, whereas, Govinda by his physical competence in saving the daughter of the house and his father’s money and influence.
As the world becomes more moneyed, the longing for yesterday’s simplicity is likely to grow. An Anand tells us that there are ways to be happy and that need not be those giant malls on that road.

2006-09-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

Few silly harmless superstitions are fun sometimes. I also have a few superstitions like seeing one myna is for sorrow, two is for joy, three is for letter and four is for boy! And crossing your fingers when you see a mail-van and opening them once you see a crow brings good luck! And many more…Its now that I realise that we depend so much on birds for our good-luck!
There is a post-office not very far from my college so I see a lot of mail-vans on my way. And today I noticed that finding a crow has become simpler than it was some years ago.
I tried to find out the reason and got that its one of the many consequences of 'global warming'. Because of the rising temperatures, it has become difficult for birds like sparrows to survive. That’s the reason we see so few sparrows nowadays. Birds like pigeons and crows can survive even in hotter climates and that's why they are growing unaffected by this.
And its after I read this that I noticed that till a few years ago I heard so many sparrows singing from the bushes and climbers near my room’s window but now I hear so less of it. I remember it was so soothing to get up from sleep everyday hearing their sweet voice first thing in the morning. It was like they have clubbed with my father to wake me up. Even my father didn’t mind my tantrums for 5 min of extra sleep because he liked the songs of these sparrows and, thus, didn’t mind coming to my room a few extra times to wake me up!!!
Neither me, nor my father have changed but both of us will always miss those sparrows.

2006-09-24T00:14:00.000-07:00

Nothing Is Forever

Niether good times, nor bad times.
Almost half of all the shops in Madhu Vihar are open again and the other half are carrying with the renovation work. This is the best time for the shopkeepers to renovate their shops as they have already removed all the goods from the shops fearing from the MCD inspectors. Yesterday I saw the Navratri rush in that market and the Diwali rush will follow suit in some time. It feels good to see Madhu Vihar coming back to life.
And the best part is that I didn't miss my samosas even a single saturday:) and I am sure we won't have to change our shop for birthday cakes:)

2006-09-21T01:03:00.000-07:00

Traders on Warpath

Violent clashes and massive roadblocks by city traders brought the national capital to a standstill yesterday as protests against the sealing drive intensified. Most of the major markets remained closed for the day with around 500 different trade bodies participating in the strike.

For the past few years, the citizens have not quite understood the urban laws of this city that have grown defeating all rules. But were there any rules, one may ask. Maybe there were, but a host of options were graciously made available provided you were ready to 'pay' for them. Once in a while a cosmetic drive was undertaken but to no avail.

We see the best of a city when some outsider strikes it (like we saw in Mumbai a few months back) and we see the worst of a city when its own people strike it (like we saw in Gujrat a few years back and in Delhi yesterday).

Today, in the prevailing confusion no one knows what will happen. I just know one thing that many small shop keepers earn a day to day life, and if deprived of their income, they will be deprived of their bread and their children's school-fees.
Laws when broken with impunity land you in situation when picking out the honest from the guilty becomes an impossible task. But one must remember that when it is a question of livelihood, seemingly placid people can turn violent. The French revolution is a sad reminder of that.

But I have a very disturbing question lurking in the back of my head. Are those people with masked faces whom I saw yesterday on news really the traders of Delhi? I saw them thrashing the glasses of DTC buses, jumping on top of the cars and roaming around with sticks and glass bottles in their hands. I heard in news that one such bus was carrying deaf and dumb school children in it. Would the traders of Delhi behave in such an uncivilised manner or its the hooligans of Delhi and adjoining areas taking advantage of this crisis and having a field day??

Two children died in yesterday's firing, but would their death solve anything or will they become a sad statistic in Delhi's history. We all know that justice, the symbol of justice is a blindfolded lady, but can we beseech her to open one eye and see with her heart before more children become sad statistics.

All the shops of a big market (Madhu Vihar), near my house, brought their shutters down a few days ago. The shopkeepers were selling their goods at almost half the rates to clear their stocks. Its very disheartening to see Madhu Vihar in such a state. As far as I am concerned, all this sealing drive means to me is- no samosas and jalebis on every saturdays from Singla Sweets, no fresh cookies from Sapra Bakeries, no yummy birthday cakes from Unique Pastries, no window shopping in its endless shops.....the things that I have loved doing here in the last 12 years is endless....I hope everything comes back to normal. Stuck in the traffic jams caused by these shops is much better than walking through it's deserted streets.

2006-09-08T03:12:00.000-07:00

Steve Irvin 1962-2006

I was quite shocked to hear the death of Steve Irvin, popularly known as 'The Crocodile Hunter' who died at just 44. Steve died of an attack by a stingray while he was shooting an underwater documentary.
I have been watching his programes since when I was in school. I remember watching him in Animal Planet and Discovery everyday after returning from school. I always found him to be a very enthusiastic, fearless and animal loving person.
Steve was a great environmentalist, and promoted the cause of conservation of wildlife. He traveled around the world to spread awareness of wildlife conservation, and became popular among animal lovers around the world. He was most popular for his fearless handling of snakes and crocodiles. He was also the owner and operator of the Australian Zoo, which is home to a variety of wildlife from around the world.
His public image was dented a couple of years ago when he triggered a controversy by holding his 1-yr ols son within inches of a big crocodile.
The world has lost a great wildlife icon and a passionate conservationist. His death has certainly created a void in the animal loving world that can never be filled up.
He was almost never seen in anything but khaki shorts and shirt and heavy boots. I believe he was a very fortunate man as he was doing the work he loved so much and he was doing it even till his last breath.
RIP

2006-09-01T01:50:00.000-07:00

One day, in school, the chairman of my school was lecturing us during an assembly of some school function. He was talking about the exorbitant sums of money that kids of public schools spend on useless things. And he jokingly remarked that when he comes to our school for the farewell party every year he feels very delighted! The way students dress up makes him feel as if there is no poverty left in India!! That day we all laughed at it but I didn’t understand the deeper meaning (actually I wasn’t expecting anything profound from him!). But now, I think, I do. When I see school children going to school with mascara, lip gloss and blow dried hair, I actually pity them. They don’t know what they are missing. The innocence in oily, plated, ribboned hair looks so much better! And I pity their parents much more. How do they don’t know that their children would be more happy if they said ‘no’ to a few things? If a 20 year old-I can understand this they why can’t the 40year olds.

In 20th century India, the queues used to be for telephone and gas connections; now they will be for D&G and Prada handbags. Cigarettes are passé as cigars are lit by the upwardly smoky. Five years ago, drinking Johny Walker Black meant ‘bad man’; today’s malt whisky collectors treat tasting sessions like Masonic rites.

Gandhi burned foreign clothes and dressed like the half naked fakir. But nowadays, all that Gandhi means to us is a 100 or 500 or 1000 rupees note!
Where has all the poverty gone?
Luxury used to be a dirty word. Showing off was so politically incorrect, that it became a political slogan. A socialist half-century was build on the dogma that soberness was the correct moral ethos for a country filled with street dogs, maimed beggars and starving children. India used poverty as moral high ground, and its ethical arrogance came from self-denial.
The symbols of today’s India have changed. The foreign clothes are back, in chic boutiques with outrageous price tags, semi-nudity is trendy, and logos have become symbols on their own.

The symbols of poverty seem to be changing.

Gandhijee said India lives in villages. But the villagers that live in them desire urban symbols. Most aspire to wear jeans and tees, they steal electricity to run their TVs, and crime is fuelled by immigrant ambitions. Family members who migrate to cities enforce urban wedding values on villagers, throwing them into irredeemable debt, forcing them to mass suicide.
Influenced by the west, we are embracing their institution and are adding them to our own. But we should not forget that we are the residents of an incredible country called India and we should be proud of it. I am.

2006-08-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

India or Bharat?

On our 60th independence day, newspapers and news channels were full of opinion polls on how would people ‘celebrate’ their independence day, how would they want their country to improve etc.

The television was full of people who usually fill television screens talking about things that have nothing to do with their profession or matter of interest. But still they talk about it because they want to share the screen-space with other people who do the same thing for the same reason. By now there is a well-rehearsed ritual that we go through in our effort to congratulate ourselves. Over the past few years we have managed to create our own version of a country called India, a version we keep perfecting in our contrast accord with reality. This version is based on a few set issues and a fewer set of people who are allowed to represent these issues. If it’s about Mumbai, it is in terms of its spirit, lack of infrastructure, bad roads and local trains that are dead set on homicide and the people to go to are Rahul Bose and Prahlad Kakkar. If it’s about Delhi, it is in terms of water & electricity problems and men who molest women as a matter of habit and the people to go to are Suheil Seth and Shekhar Suman. If it’s about politics then there comes the lawyer brigade of Sibal and Jaitley.
Are these people anymore qualified than you or me to comment on the things that they comment on?

It is as if we live in a media created world with its own artificial sky dotted with manufactured celebrities.
This screen doesn’t adjust the rural India and 80% of India can’t find mention unless it gets caught in some senseless survey or, worse, some hidden camera. And, yes, the light should be good!

It is not that serious issues don’t get debated but they are made out in a fashion to increase the TRPs. Most of the surveys list poverty, corruption and terrorism as the key problems facing our country. It is revealing that illiteracy and population are not something we regard as a problem anymore. I agree that poverty is, in fact, a surrogate for illiteracy and population but this says a lot about how we see the world.

The city has displaced the village, the glitter has pushed the filth into the background, and the new indicator of growth is the total area covered under metro-rail and flyovers instead of rural electrification.
When we talk of water crisis, we talk of cities and we forget that in villages women have to walk more than 20kms everyday to fetch a pot of water. Why can we capture only the city housewives sulking over not getting 24-hr water supply? When we talk of crime, we talk about the lack of justice meted out to the families of Jessica Lal, Priyadarshini Mattoo and Nitish Katara. Why don’t we consider that even today women are forced to go Sati after their husband’s death?

The irony of the course is that even the politicians who grace our screens struggle to win elections and those who do are usually the ones who don’t mean a single word they say on-screen.

Politicians represent the India we have successfully shut out. Nobody writes about that India, Ekta Kapoor doesn’t include it in her serials and Karan Johar wouldn’t think about it in his entire life (except when he is asked to comment on it on-screen). We don’t seem to be ready to deal with the very real reality of that India.

Today the new India wants to get rid of Bharat; some would argue that it has already done so. But then, who are we to have an opinion; lets ask Shobha De what she thinks!

2006-08-01T01:42:00.000-07:00

Mumbai Revisited

I have never been to Mumbai but thanks to the media revolution, one doesn’t need to go to any place to understand its people. Mumbai is not the capital of India as such but it is more of a backbone of India in many senses.
There is an old metaphor for Mumbai – the city where motion never ceases. Everything moves relentlessly in Mumbai. All the things that Mumbai is famous for has some form of mobility. Be it the dabbawalas moving with exactitude, or Tendulkar’s bat putting every bowler in this world to shame, or Agarkar’s ball which never shies away from hitting the wickets behind the best batsmen of this world, or the underworld, along and against almost everything, for most part, invisible, or the local train carrying lacks of people with amazing unfussy efficiency. A small strip of land crammed with pressures of a million exploding dreams. People from all over the world come here to move up and in the process keep moving around all the time.
Come rain or riot Mumbaikar moves.
It provides both opportunity and pressure so that it’s people metamorphoses into something better than they were meant to be. It forces to get along because it wants its people to get ahead.
But speed breakers are a part of roads. It is this speed breaker phase that Mumbai has been experiencing for the last 12 months. First the cloud burst last year, then the serial bombs planted strategically at places where it hurts most – it’s ability to move. This is what the terrorists wanted – to disrupt the joyful mobility of the city.
Did they succeed??
Fortunately not. All the city came out of their homes to help the stranded passengers offering to drop them home and taking the injured to hospitals; again putting the city into motion. But this time the much-celebrated spirit of Mumbai is crying for help. The city is experiencing a new emotion – the feeling of helplessness. For the first time they are realizing that being a superhero is not enough. When a city like Mumbai stops, it stops believing in itself.
India wants Mumbai, not only because it is the financial engine that drives our lofty dreams about tomorrow. It needs Mumbai because it is the only place in India where people can outgrow their pasts. It tells us that we can move ahead because of what we have inside us.
There are no limits to which it can be stretched. It is infinite.

2006-07-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

SPINELESS TERRORISTS

Just hours after news reached on our television screens of the Srinagar blasts, another series of blasts shook all of us.

7 highly planned bomb blasts have taken place in the local trains of Mumbai, and as of now, 171 people have been reported dead, with the numbers expected to rise. The saboteurs are telling India that they are alive, kicking and have the capacity to strike at any place in India, at a time of their choosing.

Many of them who died are regular people like you and me. And the timing was perfect - past 6 pm - the time when many leave work and head home.
The packed trains, the uncontrollable crowd. Something like this was waiting to happen. Many a times, when I used to see crowded places, I looked around the sea of people and would think, ‘this kind of situation is every terrorist's wet dream’. And this time, the dream came true.

Whom do they exactly want to target? The middle class men returning from a day’s work? Or the working ladies knitting sweaters on their way home? Or the dreamy students discussing home-work and love? One thing is for sure, they have got the nerve of our country – the middle class man!

Sadness and immense rage are the only two emotions one can have at a time like this. As the images are being broadcasted over here in Delhi, I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of tension and mayhem which the people must be experiencing in Mumbai right now. The feeling of never seeing your loved ones again. The feeling of helplessness.

Why do such terrible things have to occur? What kind of a sick mind is responsible for an inhuman act such as this??

We feel gratified with out pour of condemnation of these acts across the world and forget about the masterminds and feel satisfied with nabbing petty terrorist who executed these acts (that too is not sure). With every such incident, we all sing song, that these people are no human beings & have no religion and go back to our daily chores and don't bother to understand the agenda and long-term goals of these pathetic creatures.

But despite all the anger, hatred and sadism...it is reassuring to know that courage and kindness still exist in the heart of some. For many hours after the blast occurred...NO police help...or help from the government came. In the face of such a calamity, it wasn't the inefficient "system" that responded...but rather the common man of India. Now I don't care how cliched that may sound, but that's exactly what happened. People who heard the blast came rushing to the scene to carry the injured to nearby hospitals themselves.
This is the common man of Mumbai.
This is the resident of "the rudest city in the world". Carrying bodies of injured and dead, drenched in blood, on their shoulders. Wanting to give blood to someone they've never seen or heard of. Pictures of this incident that I can never forget are of bulk of handbags, supposedly having cash in them, lying near the tracks, with nobody bothering to take away the money, because they are busy saving the lives of their owners, totally strangers to them, because that seems more precious to them and people distributing water and food on the streets, free of cost, to the stranded passengers of the trains. It shows we certainly know how to prioritise.

Well...GET LOST Reader's Digest, and an even bigger GET LOST to whoever thought up that stupid survey. I doubt that the people of ANY OTHER country would react in such a selfless way to come and help their fellow man, even though its not in any way a part of their profession.

2006-07-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

No daughters…. only daughter-in-laws!

Modern technology is helping parents in Asia indulge in hideous practice – killing off their girl child. The Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act is powerful indeed, but rarely enforced. Passed, after India realised that modern medical techniques such as ultrasound scans were frequently being used to identify female fetuses - which are then aborted, the Act requires the registration of all ultrasound machines, and bans doctors from revealing the sex of the foetus to expectant parents. Abortion is legal in India but testing the gender of a foetus is not. But still, the abortions go on. The law was an attempt to reverse India's rampant use of sex-selective abortion, and the lopsided sex ratio this has produced. Till now, just one doctor has been put in prison after telling an undercover investigator that her foetus was female, and hinting that he can help her abort it. Even that was possible after a long court battle by a determined Govt. team. The difficulty in implementing the law has been that it is hard to get information, both from the doctor and the parents, because the matter is often kept secret by both the parties, as both of them believe they are benefited. This situation also toughens obtaining evidence to find the culprits.

If such trends continue, the future could be nightmarish. The existence of all those millions of frustrated Asian bachelors will boost crime and lawlessness. There is also a fear that the shortage of girls will create a hyper-macho society.

Men with money will be able to afford wives, who will quickly become a status symbol. In pockets of India, this has already begun. Sharing wives will become a trend. Often, men who think they have got a good deal on a particularly beautiful bride will sell her at a profit.

The desire for sons has created a severe shortage of marriageable young women. As their value rises, unscrupulous men are trading them around the subcontinent and beyond as if they were a mere commodity. Strict laws have been put in place to prevent the practice. Indian parents want boys because girls are seen as a heavy financial burden: the parents have to provide an expensive dowry for their weddings, while sons will bring money into the family when they marry, and have better job prospects. Also, they believe, its the sons who carry forward the family legacy and they must have sons to perform their last rites and only then will they get salvation.

In the villages of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, abortions of baby girls have become so common that the shortage of women is severe. In some parts of India, so many female foetuses have been aborted that there aren't enough women for the men to marry. The result is a thriving market in women who have been bought from poorer parts of India. Unable to find wives locally, the men have resorted to buying women from the poorer parts of India. Just 25 miles from the glitzy new shopping malls and apartment complexes of Delhi is a slave market for women. When we think of such villages, it is hard to believe we’re just an hour and a half's drive from the bright new India that is being courted as an ally by the US and attracting investors from across the world.

The worst part of the story is that even the men who go out searching for brides don’t see any connection between female foeticide and shortage of brides. After they get married, they also don’t want a girl child. But they don’t realise that the boys the are giving birth to will also face the same problem, in a much more severe manner, once they grow up. In fact, it is the mindset of the people that need to change. Otherwise, covertly these incidents of terminating pregnancy will continue to occur. Girl child is viewed as a burden in Indian society and the boy as a blessing. This is the thinking that requires transformation.

2006-07-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

Mumbai – Rudest City???

In the last 24 hours enough ink has been used on this debate about of the rudest city in the world. This of course refers to the recently published The Readers Digest Survey of various cities around the world to find out which one is the rudest and I am surprised to read that our Mumbai has got the title.

Mumbai has been voted as the most rudest city in the world because they, allegedly, don’t open doors for others in public buildings, shopkeepers don’t say ‘thank you’ when a purchase was made and they don’t help people in picking up the papers dropped on a busy street.

I believe there is no shortage of cities in India that will confess them to be far less civilised than Mumbaikars. People of Mumbai are much more polite than of many of it’s counterparts. Mumbai is not the rudest city in India; the world is a far cry.

There is a problem with the structure of the questionnaire. In india if a guy opens a door for an unknown girl, the girl will think he is making advances towards her. Many shopkeepers are not educated enough for such formal pleasantries. How can you expect people to pick up what you dropped when they are all rushing to catch that commuter train in a crowded railway platform? Obviously Mumbai would not have figured well in such a survey.

What exactly is the definition of rudeness? How are the criterions set? Is it fair to make comparisons across cultures?
These are not as simple questions as they appear to be in the first glance. For these allegedly rude people, there are aspects of behavior about which they are very particular. They spit on roads but remove their shoes before entering somebody’s home; they don’t thank everybody but they don’t even address any stranger without the jee suffix. The use of aap instead of tum underlines the Indian respect for age and seniority. Leaving shoes outside the house and places of worship reflects the ritually pure status of home and temple. Let alone Mumbai, we seldom find children addressing their seniors with their names like Mr. or Mrs.-so-and-so. We will always address them as uncle or aunty. This shows how inviting we are to establish relations with strangers.

Clearly, polite behavior is culture specific. Every culture defines its own code of conduct.

Politeness is a shallow promise of good intentions, not too much can be read into it. A willingness to say please is not necessarily a sign of helpfulness or surrender, but merely a way to create an aura of harmony. Politeness creates an illusion of harmony and it is this illusion that cultures combine to create.

The truth is that no society can be rude. Individuals should not be compared with a common yardstick, even societies themselves can’t be. Standards can be applied only if all other things are kept constant. Its like saying: cricket is fairer than football. Both the games are fair in their own respect. One can’t compare two different rulebooks.

It is true that we don’t say ‘sorry’ or ‘thank you’ or ‘please’ too often. But there is a very basic reason behind it. And the reason is that these words don’t belong to our language. Many few people have grown up with this language and fewer people use it in their casual conversations. Now the first question that comes to our mind is that why don’t we use their Hindi alternatives? The answer to that is that we have not grown up saying them either, to the extent that we feel awkward saying ‘kshma kar deejiye’ or ‘dhanyavaad’ or ‘kripya’. Influenced by the west, we are embracing their taboos and are adding them to our own. But the problem is that the new rulebook is not acceptable to a vast majority of Indians, and hence, we see this disconnect between the idea of politeness and rudeness.

2006-07-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

Silly Dreams

In 1931 Sardar Patel said,” No one would starve in independent India. Its grain would not be exported. Clothes would not be imported by it. Its leaders would not use a foreign language and finding justice in it would neither be costly nor difficult.”

Had he been alive today, I am sure he would have regretted fighting for a cause like this. Or if he knew this would be the condition of his beloved country even after 56 years of his much wanted ‘independence’, he would not have bothered to fight for her independence.

Lacks of people starve to death every year in this ‘independent India’. 23 Cr Indians lived below poverty line in 2004-05 and 3 Cr is the estimated number of Indian children who work, making the world’s largest child labour force.
The best quality grain never reaches the people of this country because it is always kept for exports. Exports are never brought down even if our country is facing famine.
Indian cotton is what attracted Britishers but still the clothes we wear on daily basis are imported from China. And the fashion conscious people prefer Armani and D&G to Rohit Bal and Ritu Beri.
Speaking English is still considered as a status symbol in our country and even in our parliament. Any leader who knows even a single line in English will not spare the chance to flaunt it.
And the last point that Sardar Patel wished was justice – neither costly nor difficult. I won’t say it’s the most important thing but I feel it’s in the most rotten and wrecked state today. It’s both costly and difficult. In fact, more than being victimized, it is getting justice that is more tiresome and annoying. Our idea of justice now is actually in a more sorry state than in British rule. In British regime, they gave a good reason, at least, on records for killing a person. But in our ‘independent India’ nobody even needs that. Look at Manu Sharma; he killed Jessica Lal in front of 500 people and even after 7 years after that incident he is as free as you and me. And the most ironic and shameful thing is that he was acquitted because of ‘lack of evidence’!

These things make me less respectful towards the freedom fighters of our country because even if they had not fought for our independence we wouldn’t be in a worse state. At least we would not have felt as much guilt of wounding the dreams of those who gave up their lives for us.

When I read this line in some magazine, I laughed at him and his unrealistic intuition. But now I feel extremely heartfelt sorry for him.

2006-06-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

Law vs. Justice

Law is a body of customs, examples and ordinances; some good, some bad, but all dedicated in theory, if not in practice, to the security and maintenance of public order and the dispensation of proper justice. Sometimes these ends accord with one another. Sometimes they are in contradiction; so that justice may be ill served while order is most certainly maintained. Sometimes the ordinance is too simple and sometimes it is too detailed; so there is always need for gloss and annotation to arrive at its true intent.

For example, the law says bluntly: ‘You shall not kill.’ Is this the end of it? We know its not. We put a uniform on a man’s back and a gun in his hands and we say, ‘It is holy and blessed thing to kill for a man’s country.’ And we pin a medal on his chest when he does it….

Sometimes law and justice seem to be far away from each other. For example, if a person sees his house being robbed on gunpoint and in the process of saving his people and his hard earned money, kills a robber, would we then charge him with murder? No! We would commend him as a brave man defending his people. We might even pin on him a medal for bravery! But what if he had killed that same robber after the robbery, as an act of revenge? He would have been put behind bars for premeditated murder. We need to be more clear on this issue. The law is an instrument and not an end. It is not and never can be, a perfect instrument of justice.

We all, as civilized human beings, are dedicated to truth and justice but we know that they are beyond our reach. The duty of the Court is, not merely to uphold, but to ensure that the greatest justice possible is done within its imperfect framework.

It is not merely the law that is imperfect. There is imperfection also in its ministers - the police and the judiciary. If these fail in their duty, if their power is perverted or misused so that the evil men flourish and the innocent are left defenseless…. What then? There is also imperfection in us, the common man. It is not the sole duty of police to maintain law but of all of us. We must understand that if our right is somebody else’s duty then everybody else’s right is our duty as well. If we all perform our duty well then we won’t have to depend on any ministers of law for justice.

India vs China

2006-06-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

Lacking other criteria, we make judgments based on our own culture, values, and experience. The trouble is this narrow point of view isn't effective in the global marketplace. China is a country which understands this.

Chinese don't celebrate Holi or Diwali and the way they celebrate their festivals is not even close to how Indians celebrate their festivals but still China is in a tearing hurry to tap the Indian market. Come Holi or Diwali and the markets are flooded with pichkaris and crackers made in China. They are more attractive than the ones made in India so people have no qualms in going for them, although, theoretically, Indians despise this trend because it is causing heavy losses to Indian market. Moreover the quality that these low cost products offer is also very below standard. But whatever the misgivings on either side, trade is booming, even if there is no agreement on who is gaining.

Does it means that China will soon be overtaking U.S as India's main trading partner?
Chances are not too bleak. I agree, right now, China is just a pygmie compared to U.S.

They are able to withstand the competition only because of the low prices on which they are offering the product. They can afford this because their labour is cheap and also they are compromising on the quality of the product. If they improve the quality of product, they will surely have to raise the prices. But still those prices will be less as compared to U.S because the labour is still cheap as compared to U.S.

All it will do is open the floodgates. Indian markets will be literally flooded with Chinese goods.

But..But..But!!!

In theory you can only produce a finite amount before there is oversupply and this can already be seen in Chinese garment industry. So there is only a finite period of time in which any industry can grow and in some industries this will be reached in the next few years before it starts reach normal growth levels.

U.S's biggest asset is its brands and ability to brand and I can't see this being threatened in the short term. Biggest advantage that the U.S has over other countries is its African-American Sport and Entertainment stars. And China lacks on both these grounds. Chinese goods don't have big brand names or famous trendsetters to support them. So, in near future, I don't see China giving competition to U.S. But even India's position is not very pleasing on these grounds. So, China can surely give competition to India.

Ready or not, Indian industry will have to learn to tango with the dragon. China is here and it means business.