What you say...

Hi.... Haven't been here for a long time. And apologies for I couldn't follow many of your blogs.

I would like to know your reaction if you are caught up in these situations

1. You, your parents and their parents have been staying in a place for a long long time. You have been making a decent living out of the place. You very well know the place is a result of the sweat of your fathers. One day the government discovers that the place you stay in is a solution to all the energy shortage in the world. You are asked to relocate to a slum in a bustling metro.

2. One fine day the government comes up with a startling discovery- the Vatican sits on a mine of invaluable worth. The Vatican has to be demolished for the purpose. Certainly this would mean an industrial leap for human kind

P.S If you are a Muslim you can change the 'Vatican' to 'Mecca'. Or if you're a Sikh to 'Golden Temple' or any other shrine you consider divine. If you are a communist you can change it to 'the grave of Che'

3. The government deploys military in your area. The soldiers doesn't fall under the law of land. Your brothers get beaten up and your sisters get raped. But you can't question the Armed Forces as they are 'protecting' you.


Well these situations aren't fictional but is very much happening in many parts of the world. Tell me what you think of these situations

Sports Appeal

This is about something we have been seeing in our newspapers regularly, but something that we chose to ignore.

Women playing badminton, tennis etc. have been doing very well on the field. We have classic Indian examples-Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza. And there is also the William sisters.

But why do we have to see photos in the dailies highlighting their sexual appeal. Do we have to market women’s events on sex appeal?

Specially Gifted or is it???

Hey guys this is something I came across my FB wall

VC:
I remember once someone telling me that a child with special needs is a special gift from God to special parents - to show others what "special" means! Salute! I salute everyone who is involved in supporting children with special needs - parents, teachers, the support systems! We care!

SKP:

hai..i donno whether u r really telling it outta experience..i hav worked with children with DOWNs syndrome and cerebral palsy...their parents are frustarted and fed up...if they wud hav been given another chance by NATURE bfore the kid was... born,they wud have aborted it>>I AM TELLING FROM true life incidences..its easy to say all these...but reality bites...to me more precise reality SUCKS!!!!!In our country there are only few fulfleged support groups..The one run by marthoma sabha is pathethic..iF U R IN UK OR USA THEY HAVE SLIGHLY BETTER SUPPORT GROUPS...ONLY thing with the parents is that they can rationalize themselves with your above statements..no offence meant

u can detect all chrosome anomalies like DOWNs,patau's,edwards syndrome NOWADAYS very easily and cheaply from a wel equipped diagnostic centre through amniocenticis,tripple test etc at appropriate weeks of gestation in mother.Now,DOWNS SYND...ROME CAN BE AVOIDED thru proper genetic counselling..ITS no longer a costly affair.The only daughter of K.S.chitra the famour singer,IS A DOWN syndrome(mongoloid) KID.She has filed a case aginst a hospital in chennai for not detechting it earlier.The matter was settled outside court.So thru proper diagnostic tools,u can detect this anomalies and prevent the pregnancy..rather than suffer the whole life.

VC:
God does things with a purpose :) My comment only stems from that! If we think otherwise ... we will have to think God made a mistake!

SKP:
i believe in GOD..but that doesnt mean that when i have a heart attack..i will sit in my house and wait for my fate...wen myy car is brokedown i ll thinbk it as my fate...wen my kid is sick ..i ll stuck myself infront of a photo and pray...hope u got my words...But REALITY...SUCKS..(the word F will be more appropriate)...sorry for those harsh words

Me: You guys are going to like this link

I have not gone through these situations. So I will not judge sitting on the fence. But it surely confuses me.
P.S: Farila is some one I always respect and is a very inspirational person.

In search of a better option

I hate re-reading my posts. But the last day I did contemplation and found to my dismay that my language is damn pathetic.

I have been reading a Martin Gilbert’s book on 20^th century history. It’s rare to see such a one sided piece of writing. An ordinary man with little knowledge can easily be misguided by such deliberate distortion of facts. USA is portrayed as the nation that took great pains to secure world peace and human rights. They are ahead of rest of human civilization by light years while we fight with each other for worthless matters. Stalin is reduced to a caricature of psychotic killer and so is the entire communist movement.

One of the greatest music producers, Napier Bell, had described in his book how he was approached by some men. They promised to fund his band in return for which he will have to do music promoting their ideology.

The greatest flaw with democracy is we are made to believe we are part of a system where we have the authority to control our destiny. But in the end power rests in the hands of a select few. Today it’s the rich class.

Many a times popular choice may not be the right one. We learnt it the hard way when Bush was elected for a second time. We are seeing it in Iraq and many Latin American countries. Needless to say we have been witnessing that in Karnataka for some years where a band of rich miners are trying to topple the government by paying out obscene amounts as bribe money.

Femina Managers

I remember a debate we had in our college. The topic was on ‘Do women make good managers?’ Most of them chose the safe side- the feminine one. They tore apart their opponents with points like

a. Women were worshipped in pagan relegions

b. They make good home makers

c. Good at multi tasking

d. Attractive

e. Caring and considerate

I sat with my mouth shut. Little did I know that I would be confronting this topic, but in real life.

After a few years in a corporate field and that too with most of the time with women bossing over, I have arrived at some sour but true realities.

Women find it easy to climb up the ladder at least to an extent. The reason being they say ‘Yes, I (will) do’ too easily. Then they cajole/threaten their slaves to finish the job. So trust a woman to do impractical things at impractical time.

Another trademark aspect is easiness with which they panic. I know a well connected lady in our place. We regularly get the company news letter singing her praises. I found her good in only one thing. When an issue comes up the first thing she does is to panic and melt half the team’s confidence. Then everyone work around like rats until the issue is made messier. The stakeholder decides, ’We are better off without it.’

Then there is this very beautiful girl. She is very young and was promoted recently. She walks around panting and puffing exclaiming the cruelty of her fate. She goes to bed very late and wakes up very early. I wonder how these people function without any sleep. Btw do you guys know lack of sleep causes breast cancer?

There are other great features too for women. They magically pop up behind your shoulder to monitor how you waste your time. They regularly remind you how hard (late) they work.

It’s actually great to see a good looking manager on someone else’s side. No thanks, I wouldn’t want them.

Gandhi Jayanthi- the new perspective

I was browsing through the morning newspaper and came across an interesting article on Gandhi Jayanthi. Well for the illiterate, it’s the birthday of Mahathma Gandhi.

A journalist decides to go on a journey to Sabarmathi Ashram in Gujarat. He got into an auto-rikshaw from the railway station. He gave the address as ‘Bapu’s Ashram’. The journo had seen the pictures of an old structure in the papers and books but never have been there in real life.

The auto driver takes him to a huge structure. The journo gets confused, ’Is this Bapu’Ashram?’

‘Ohh, sorry. You should have told it in the first place.’

The driver takes him to another spot. The auto speeds away as soon as the journo gets out. The journo is more confused as he can’t recognize the place from the pictures. Slowly he realise that the place is the abode for a demi-god who goes around with the name ‘Bapu’. Soon the sales men Sadhus alight imploring him to pay a visit to the ‘bapu’. These guys are on deal with the auto and cab drivers, who drop the unsuspecting visitors to ‘Bapu’s Ashram’.

It seems everything is on sale- religion, love, relations, ideology….

Hope you guys had a cool Bappu’s b’day