Peace! The ultimate bliss every individual on earth is seeking & starving for, the word that unites the world evolving into a happy & holy place to live in. However, where do we get peace? Today, we wander from place to place in the pursuit of peace. Do peace really exist or just a mere word in the lexicon. Why do we pledge for peace? Ripple of thoughts flow when you magnify the world through the eyes of hope.
Lust, greed, pride, anger, attachment are so synonymous with human being. The physical form is entrapped by the vices that have ruled our mind & soul. What about love? It exists in the hearts but has metamorphosed with time; the love that dwells is the materialistic one. We are more mechanical & technical in life yet fail to get peace. The primary reason is time. No time for our family & friends. Are we so occupied and only respite is on national holidays. Don’t you think we have spun a web of complexities out of nothing? The beautiful thought flashes in my mind “If you cannot change time, it is time to change”.
Man’s mind has become vagrant & wild and the heinous deeds of mankind are reaping hyper tension, hatred & death. The debatable issues like the nuclear deal, global warming, Tibet trauma, bomb blast, the racial race & child molestation has grave emotional stress to all. Deals done, treaties signed yet the memorandum of understanding doesn’t guarantee peace. After all, peace can’t be purchased. An analysis of the problem proves that it all stems from man’s mind. Mind- the deadliest weapon of world and mind you, unemployment that leads to student unrest has its own heavy toll. As the saying goes “Empty mind is the devils workshop”.
The root of all evils that causes sorrow & sufferings springs from human mind. One must realize that peace is rooted in the mind in the form of thoughts which are manifested into actions. Self realization and self purification is required not just chanting mantras. There is PEACE IN WORLD when there is PEACE IN I. I am not my name. I am not what my profession is. So Who am I? The simplest question that brings positive thoughts and righteous actions must be answered. “As I walked by myself, I talked by myself and myself replied to me and the questions myself, then put to myself with their answers I give to thee”.
Om Shanti.
60 years of freedom! In such a short span of time India has moved ahead in leaps and bounds towards a better future. We yet have a lot to achieve, a long road ahead, miles to go… in spite of which we still see and feel pride and enthusiasm brimming in the youth. The optimism and feel good factor going around is contagious.
We have reflected upon many accomplishments through many struggles of India and now need to evaluate the upcoming challenges, which collectively we, as able citizens can work upon towards making India not only a strong economic force but also help it in moving it up the social ladder.
Globally, Indians are known to be extremely patriotic and united. Yet when it comes to extending courtesy and considerate behaviour to our own fellow citizens, we are way behind compared to citizens of other nations. We are completely indifferent to the person standing in queue for hours and break in between, don’t care to help someone injured on the road, readily bribe a cop for a traffic offence, abuse someone who recklessly overtakes while driving, and of course, recklessly overtake while driving and endangering others. Overall, our attitude sucks! Attitudes have got to change.
We need to recognize that even the smallest of effort within our individual power goes a long way in making a complete difference in outcome of our actions. Whether it is in extending basic courtesies like queuing up, helping an injured person, maintaining traffic discipline, or by doing something on a larger scale like empowering underprivileged women, educating disadvantaged children and orphans, providing basic necessities to the deprived, demanding justice from a corrupt system, getting out on the road to regulate traffic, fighting for a mutual cause for safety for all or preventing crime by just being alert. Such efforts from citizens will enable a better and safer society. If at an individual level a person can make a difference then it is obvious what a collaborative effort can garner.
We can complain endlessly about how the government isn’t doing enough, that there’s too much congestion on the roads, too much crime, pollution, poverty, population, etc. What are we doing to help?
Today I got mail with subject line ‘Proud to be an Indian’. The mail lists out names of Indian executives of popular Software companies. Out of curiosity, I started reading this mail and saw that my company name appears to be first one. My company has many high flying Indian executives and some of them are leading the most profitable businesses but the name that was listed was one I never heard of. Even the position he is supposed to be having does not appear anywhere in the company’s hierarchy! Someone over enthusiastic patriot seems to have composed the mails without even confirming the details. I wonder reliability of other names too! Anyways the point here is why should I be proud if those people are not working for my country?
Most of these mails are forwarded with lot of enthusiasm and they seem to be very common during the Independence Day/Republic day period when so called ‘patriotism’ is on high. With the over increasing media influence, people find various reasons to be ‘proud’ of our country. Like ‘Sunita Williams’ case. So she has some ‘desi’ genes but after all she is born and brought up in other country. She works for other country pays taxes there. Why should I be proud of her achievements? Why should I keep track of her activities every second? What am I going to gain if she likes samosa ? Is it going to increase sale of samosa’s in the country?
I am one of those people always found preaching others about the not leaving the country, how we should do things to preserve our culture etc. I hate it when people can’t stop talking about how good other country is and how bad this country is. You will find me picking verbal fights with those people. But will I pride for my country because someone with Indian roots does something good in some distant part of the globe? NEVER!!!
Why do we have to take pride for achievements of a person who is Indian just for namesake? What do we get out of it? It just shows our insecurity, intellectual inability. In fact it shows that your country cannot provide infrastructure to nurture those talents and those people have left it for the greener pastures. Why wouldn’t people raise voice against attack on lady writer who dares to speak her mind? I don’t see any forward that condemns daring of that man elected by we people who dares to give public statements agianst her and even manages to gather considerable support.
Tell me what is your take? Will forwarding mails or following coverage of an astronaut’s daily chores make me patriotic?
Ten years ago, I left for the US to do my masters - with no cheap way of keeping in touch with family. Having just about got an email address and with the new computer at home being some DOS type thing where no pictures came up, the vsnl internet connection had speeds that rivalled Rip Van Winkle’s aging process. Dad’s email address was soooo long – ending in bgl.vsnl.net.in. Really!!! Calling cards from the US charged 53 cents a minute to India and that was considered a good deal and calling from India to the US was Rs.60 a minute. Seriously!
Now one of my dearest and nearest has left for sunny California to do his MS. And I am amazed at how easy it is to keep in touch. Skype, Gtalk, what have you! And calling cards from Reliance and Big Zoo that cost 15 cents a minute. And it is so cheap for me to call as well. In addition, you can add gtalk to your blackberry and be online all times of the day. So all he has to do is ping and I am there with the answers. Amazing!!!!
Being in a city, it really is quite easy to bridge the distance. And at the end of the day that’s what matters – keeping in touch with your loved ones and being part of their lives and transformations. Bidding adieu just got so much easier!
New year, new college, new friends, new campus, new opportunities, new life!
Let me help you out on what’s hot and what is completely important to keep in mind for this new academic year.
1. Stationery: The most important of them all! We shouldn’t forget the very reason we go to an educational institute…to gain knowledge! Make sure you have enough pens, pencils, handbooks and all textbooks before hand, so that you are in tune in what’s going in class no matter if you’re in or out of it! And perhaps if you want, glance through the texts so that you know what you need to before the teacher begins the topic, and wouldn’t be attending just for the sake of compulsory 75% attendance.
2. Trendy college bag: Very important. Choose a bag that not only suits your personality but also allows your journals to fit in it. (We should never forget the real reason for buying it in the first place, don’t you think?) Something huge and plastic-y and less leathery or fabric-y is what you should look for. And make sure its waterproof so that your books are safe just incase there is a downpour.
3. Dungarees: A short dungaree dress or normal dungarees either 2/4th’s, 3/4th’s or full ones teamed up with pair of leggings and a solid tee will look just fab!
4. Contact lenses: Just incase your on glasses, get yourself some change. Nothing against people who wear glasses, I do too, but the feeling of clear vision without my pair sometimes makes me feel at the top of this world and makes you feel like a million bucks!
5. Pair of black leggings: Please tell me you know this one by now? Team up with minis, shorts and all sorts of tops. And please word of advice, own only solid color’s like black with some lace or brown because everything else looks a little to fake and can look very cheap!
6. Tunics: Very here, very now! I am sure you have at least one of these in your closets by now. They not only put you in the spotlight but also grab you few “WOW” glances once in a while. A simple black tunic along with denims or leggings might just be the look for a casual hot day or a cold classy night with a bunch of accessories kicked in!
7. Skinny denims: New addition to class of ’07-08! Skinny people can team it up with all sorts of tops but just incase you think your thighs look to huge team up with long tunics or kurtees for you to look extra-ordinary baby!
8. Printed umbrella: If you don’t have one of these, I reckon you buy one. They might come in huge sizes, but trust me; they look super hot and keep you dry all day long! And don’t forget very sturdy!
9. Chunky long chains and hair accessories: Get a long silver chain with perhaps a pendant of a crown for the cute princesses, heart for the lovey dovey ones or perhaps a skull for the outrageous ones! I hope you get the point. This chunky bling will not only make you stand out, but also make you’re very simple outfit look very simply “haute!” Add hair clips, hair bands and crazy accessories to jazz up your look!
10. Footwear: Two words: Flip-flops! Hmmm….Comfy slip-on’s you can run around in and also converse for a more classier look just incase you wanna look girly one day and tom boy-ey the next! 
And last but definitely not the least; don’t forget to carry your confidence and positive attitude.
Quick Pointers:
Be friendly and let no comment effect you.
Act sober and decent just incase you don’t want to fall prey to ragging.
Believe in yourself and act polite with teachers and students.
Don’t forget to thank someone after you receive help and do the same if you’re asked for help.
Be generous, kind and speak to all kinds of people around you.
Do not limit your friend circle.
Don’t judge any one by the first look, dig deep.
And please people smile like an a** if you have to, though some people might think your completely nuts, but trust me, many would fall in love with that gorgeous smile!
What else…Have fun…Go Nuts….And F.Y.I.?
Welcome to Life Baby! This is where the fun begins!
BlackBubblegum 
Hubby and I just got back from a fortnight of traveling 2 nights ago, delayed flight and all. Got home, unloaded the bags, hubby went off to park the car while my mother-in-law and I struggled with wheeling heavy suitcases in through the gate to the front door. As I head to the gate to get another suitcase 2 uniformed policemen on night patrol stopped and very politely asked if there was a problem. They hadn’t seen the luggage and seeing the gate open, they were naturally curious about people up so late. We explained we were just back from the airport and satisfied, they carried on with their night patrol stopping at the next house to talk to a private security guard.
We were impressed with the concern and with the respect they conducted their inquiry in the wee hours of the morning. Many of us have had some form of encounter with the local cops reporting burglaries and many may say that the authorities have at most been lethargic, unresponsive and rude. Also media brands law enforcing officers as arrogant and corrupt. Of course such exist. There are law bending, breaking cops around, who abuse the power they have in their hands but somewhere along the line is also an honest cop, doing his job and may be putting in a bit more effort than we give credit for.
With crime and terrorism on the rise in all growing cities, it is assuring to know that efforts are being made to prevent incidents that change neighborhoods significantly forever. It’s far from how Western countries have designed their law enforcing forces but it’s a start nevertheless, a decent start. There is a need to redesign the system and structure of law enforcement in India, a need for the public to respect the police force, a need for us collectively to prevent crime by cooperating with the law enforcement. Many a times we want to buy ourselves out of a traffic offence, not realizing that there could be serious repercussions to such an offence. And most of us want to stay out of trouble by not helping others seriously affected by crime. There is a need for Indians to understand that by volunteering not only are they helping others but they are doing themselves a favor by preventing future crime and of ridding a guilty conscience. There is a joint responsibility in preventing crime and citizens really need to do their part as well and recognising this will ensure more safety for everyone.
I really don’t know if this change is being seen in all the neighborhoods in Bangalore or if it is happening in other cities but I welcome this change in the area where I live. I would want to thank the sub-inspector/night duty officer/patrol officer, whoever is in charge for attempting to make my neighborhood safer and hope that it is an indicator of serious change for the whole country.
To be honest, I picked up the book at book store as it cover read ‘Pulitzer Prize Winner’. I had never heard of the author and vaguely remembered reading the book’s name somewhere. I never thought I would be finishing it in one go and end up recommending it to others. Books never get old to review, isn’t it ?
The book starts with general description of social life a 7 year old girl Jean Louis Finch aka “Scout”, describing her adventures in the neighborhood with her elder brother Jeremy Finch aka Jem and friend Dill. Their father Atticus Finch is lawyer in local court, soft spoken, true to his ethics. Though not like sporty like other fathers, he is very open to his children.
The name of book is used as metaphor for the theme of the book. The children’s father once tells them that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird because it never does harm anyone. The book depicts their father’s battle against the system at that time to save a colored man accused of a crime he had never done. The story is set in mid 1930s, in an imaginary place called Maycomb in the American state of Albama. It was a when a man’s character was still judged on basis of color of his skin and some part of society was not considered as human beings. Atticus tries to put in a little bit from his side to change the situation without any open support from the so called sophisticated world.
The narration style of the author is very engaging. You do feel as if it were described by young girl of age 7-9. I started with the first page and couldn’t put down till the last page. The three main characters are very elaborately described and you get good picture of every personality. Innocently but acutely, the little girl talks about how hypocritical and unjustified the social structure was. After finishing, it makes me wonder… its been more than half a century since the book was written and the social situation is not much different. There are still fights going on all over the world based on cast, language, religion, color of skin; sickening things for a logical mind and there seems no end.
I did some searching around about the book and found out that this was the only book published by the author Harper Lee. There was also movie made with same name with Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch. He won Academy Award for his performance and the character was voted as no. 1 Greatest Hero of American film by the American Film Institute. Read more about it here.
This book is sure worth a read. Now I wish I would get to see the movie soon :-).
Nothing to do on weekend, lets go down to Forum (a mall in Bangalore). It seems that people are running short of ideas these days on what to do on weekends. But one idea which still tickles up is visiting the nearby mall.
If I am right (doesn’t matter much even if I am wrong) the word Mall has its origin from the pedestrian shopping street one commonly sees in a hill station. Those crowded streets selling sweaters, chinese toys, handicrafts and metal jewelery kind off stuff. A mall in a city brings all that in an air-conditioned environment with loads of stuff to buy, loads of money to spend and loads of time to pass. So I will first try to etch out a definition for mall.
A mall is a place in city where people go to pass time and spend money and eventually pep up country’s ever growing GDP.
Organised Retailing has been good for the country, in creating new jobs, in creating good places for people to spend their time and eventually increasing sales of everything. Rather than beating too much around the bush I would like to put up some of my rather discursive thoughts on the Mall situation,
* People go to Mall when they have got time and money to spend. Even you don’t have money time can be spent. But time is money so eventually if you don’t buy anything you end up suffering an economic loss.
* Creation of so many malls have not only hit the small dukaanwaala’s business. What about Sulabh Shauchalaya business, it has been hit even harder with people getting much better avenues of reaching a restroom.
* Malls are addictive, people get addicted to either shopping or window shopping.
* Malls are the new hot-spots for PDA’s. No wonder Gardens in Bangalore and other cities have taken the backseat.
* Malls are so crowded that you bang into one or more of your acquaintances every time you visit it, and then you start living with a misconception of you having a huge social network.
* Window Shopping in Malls= (Actual Shopping in Malls) ^ 3476
Last fact is simply gut feel, I sometimes wonder how they make up the money for paying the bills. Ofcourse its always not on the gray side. Quite simply its promoting a consumer culture is India (quite similar to one witnessed by America in the 60’s) other than making great amount of money for everyone (it is, even if I say its not). Malls are as much a lifestyle component as a mobile phone, and the spread is equally fast ( Retail Shmetail by Sidin takes you through all the aspects of Indian Malling Industry). A personal preference on who wants to visit and for what purpose, malls are here to stay and setup a weekend mallscape for everyone.
p.s.- The author is also a regular visitor to Malls and a contributer to Retail GDP, although he is quite confused on why he visits them in the first place.
Here comes another movie on the supposedly controversial issue, romantic relationship between an old man and much younger woman… age difference of 30 years to be precise in this case. A topic assured to raise lot of eyebrows and upset lot lot of fundamentalists in our country. Looking at the topic you would say… oh Amitabh did a similar movie earlier, ‘Nishabd’ which has received lot of criticism. If you happen to have seen that movie, I would suggest you to not at all get prejudiced.
The movie handles the topic very tastefully without any melodramatic effects of typical Hindi cinema and that’s what makes it worth watching. It’s a love story of 64 year old chef, Buddh (Amitabh) owner of a famous Indian Restaurant in London and 34 year old tourist lady from India, Neena (Tabu). He is a man with temper and she is the lady with attitude, and both can manage and understand each other very well and it is almost love at first sight. They meet, fight, get attracted to each other and fall in love. They are so perfect to each other that the age difference is not a barrier till it comes to convincing her father for marriage. It doesn’t even matter to them that they don’t know each other’s name till their second or third date. There is nothing great to write about the story line, from the first scene you know what is going to happen in the end, pretty straightforward. But it’s the actors and direction makes the movie interesting to watch. All the songs play on background and used to take the story forward. The best feature of the movie is the dialogues, they are written very intelligently, effortlessly. This is one is my favorite “Mai jise chahati huu wo muzse umar me bahut bada hai, isame meri kya galati hai.”
Amitabh is aging like a wine. There is not a single moment where you can pinpoint and say he is not good. I would say his acting skills were wasted all these days in the angry young man image all these days. There is scene where he appears fully dressed, ready to meet his date in a white suit… the entry was such dramatic that the whole theatre went ‘WOOOOW!!!’ Tabu is equally great. She moves on the screen with great comfort and elegance. Her styling is just superb. I think it is a role specially written for her. Paresh Rawal is cool in his small role. I also liked Amitabh’s Mother’s character and their sweet little neighbor.
The only ‘Cheeni Kum’ in this otherwise sweet movie is last couple of scenes. They have tried to make it dramatic without any need or reason, I guess just too give it little Hindi film-ish feel. Overall a good movie, worth watching at least once.
Its Sunday afternoon… the weekend is about to end, I said to myself ‘Let’s catch a nice movie on TV’ and just as I try to switch it on, I realize there is no electricity. Another Sunday afternoon is ruined. And looking at current energy crisis going all over the country, I think I will have to spend many more Sunday afternoons and then whole Sundays and then whole week without electricity. I can’t even imagine how the situation is in small towns when cities like Mumbai are getting power cuts. We take all the glory to blame Governments and related people for this shortage. But have we ever realized that we are also equally responsible for this shortage and we can do our bit to prevent it in some or the other way? First thing to realize is that mother earth has very very limited supply of energy resources and it has reached its exhausting limit already. If we don’t act fast we are headed for big trouble.
Another thing to consider is the amount of air that gets polluted with burning of these resources. Recently there were headlines in news paper about UN giving world some 8 years to save ourselves from global warming. Whoa… 8 years that is like tomorrow and most of us don’t really seem to be concerned with the possible effects it might have on us. Studies say, this will affect human kind as much as a world war or big meteor impact would affect. The reports are painting scary pictures of ‘what might happen due to global warming’ and most important thing is that this will be a on going phenomenon and will anything but worsen with time.
With the time frames they are predicting, we can’t even say do it for next generation. If things continue like this, ours will might be last generation to survive. So here are little things that we can do to keep ourselves away from the Dooms day as far as possible.
Switch off those lights – Diwali comes only once a year so save all those lightings for that. Switch off tube lights, fans whenever you are not in the same room. And not just the lights in your house, but anywhere you go, be it office or even the elevator. Even if you are not paying for the electricity directly, you will eventually end up being affected by the loss.
Switch off computers screens and computers too when not in use – The computer monitors consume a lot of energy. Switch them off whenever you are not using. Also switch off the office machine if you can when you leave for the day or at least switch them off during the weekend.
Turn off vehicles at signals – It’s a bad habit many people have. Even of the signal is red for whole 3 minutes; they won’t take pains off turning off their vehicles. It is painful to stop at signals with the engine noise and carbon fumes coming out of the vehicles. We can definitely prevent that and save a little bit of fuel and lot of air.
Talk a walk whenever you can – So you have a nice big vehicle to show off, but do give your legs some work out. You don’t need to drive around to a place around the corner. Who knows, you might end up noticing the greenery on the way which you never had time to see. I want to go a little further and suggest using public transport whenever you can or at least use car pooling.
Put a check on leaking taps – Leaking taps are the worst culprits for water wastage. A single tap is capable for draining out gallons of water. So make sure all the taps in your house and where you use them are always closed properly. Water is also a valuable energy resource.
Use non-conventional energy resources – Solar energy is emerging and huge source of non-conventional power and so is wind energy. In a country like ours, use of solar power is very feasible and the government gives huge subsidy on them. Solar water heaters are in existence since long but these days solar inverters are also coming in. I have seen people using solar inverters not only in case of power cuts but also as regular power supplies. They not only reduce your electricity and other fuel bills but also reduce pollution and definately not noisy like the conventional generators. Best part of these units is that they need almost zero maintenance.
So…it is not that difficult to keep the dreaded days away, isn’t it?
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