March last year, my mother was admitted to the hospital and was given just 48 hours to survive. After 2 days in the normal ward, sometime during the midnight, nurses flocked into the room and kept monitoring her BP and heart beat. I was trying to study for my final exams and couldn’t concentrate obviously!
Over the years, I have gotten used to hospital smells, the nurses’ faces and most things associated with the very mention of a hospital. Those moments of fluttering activity around my mom was enough evidence that she was not going to be in that ward for long. With an arduous task of lifting her and transferring her to a stretcher, she was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit.
Those few hours till day break were hell. Two hours after she was taken in, the tension within me broke out for reasons unexpected. About 50 people walked into the hospital with two men on stretchers. All I could see was blood, cuts, open wounds and parts of their clothing. The moans and groans from them was the only confirmation that they had some life in them. They were rushed into the very same ICU where my mom was lying.
I watched two women among the 50 odd people wail, and little kids, sleepy eyed, and completely unaware of what was happening. My heart went out to them as this was not a case of natural illness causing pain but an inhuman act causing much more than sheer pain. Each of the men present in that group looked no less than rowdies; one yelling, one abusing, one making calls and the others fighting with the poor security guard whose job was in jeopardy for allowing so many people into the ICU almost at this hour.
Both were operated upon the following day and all ICU visiting hour rules were broken. People walked in and out like bees in spite of the hospital staff doing as much as they could. I did not dare ask anybody what or who caused this sort of bludgeoning to the men. When I walked into the ICU to see my mom, I’d take a peek at the beds nearby to see if the men felt any better.
But we could not take the torture beyond two days. Eventually I requested my mom to be shifted out to another hospital as the tantrums thrown by the so called friends and relatives of the injured men were disturbing all of us. I later got to know that the two men were real estate businessmen with local rowdy connections to help them with their dealings. As in the movies, one group had a misunderstanding with the other and bloodbath followed.
All this I managed to bury deep not because it involved blood and other gory material but this phase involved my dear mother and I wanted to wipe it all off until today when it all came back.
This morning in the local newspaper, I read about a rowdy being done to death by another gang in front his of own family - wife, children and sister. It evoked two emotions in me:
1. Good a rowdy got killed. It makes it one less now.
2. Pity for the family. He’s a bread earner after all. And watching the head of the family being killed or for that matter, any family member, is agonizing.
Why choose to go the wrong way? I was watching this show on prostitution and the ladies involved always blamed their bad upbringing, abusive parents and so on. But why did she have to choose this way? She could have chosen even a sweeper’s job and kept her dignity intact!
Similarly why choose to be a rowdy when you know you have a loving family back home? Even if you were single, you have just one life to live, why can’t you be something more dignified instead?!
All that will remain in the minds and hearts of those family members who witnessed the gory act is pain, anger and more anger. This may also induce the next generation to avenge the pain caused. Instead if there was no rowdy, no anger, and all the other negativities, the kids would have grown up to be righteous people unless otherwise.
There can’t be good always, but then we all can follow the age old saying – BE GOOD DO GOOD!
Showing posts with label Social. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social. Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Hey! Parents! Leave the kids alone!
Here in India, convent education is considered superior and most parents hanker for seats for their kids in such schools. I had the privilege of studying in one and I can proudly say that I did learn some of the best manners and skills, be it language, leadership or otherwise. But there has to be something the other way round right?
I have grown up with several nuns in my 12 years of schooling and there is so much to look up to them for. Yet, when in class 4, I had a teacher, Sister Albina. No offence meant, but she had all the qualities starkly opposite to what a nun was supposed to have! She carried this menacingly looking bamboo cane and the minute someone said 2*2 was 5, she was doomed. 5 strokes on her back and the rest of the day was quite literally gone!
Somehow, many parents came to the entire class’s rescue and we did away with her. Now, coming to the main question - If teachers physically hurt us, parents come to our rescue. If parents hurt us? In my mother tongue there is this proverb which means, boys have to be hit and brought up, while girls have to be treasured! I don’t know who came up with this proverb, but I sure can’t go by its words.
I have been witness to many parents hammering their kids just because they dint get enough marks, or created a huge ruckus in a shopping mall, bringing embarrassment to them and so on. My whole point is why hit them? If you weren’t sane enough to talk to them and advice them as to how to behave in front of others, or told them that competition was good but it was not about getting higher marks than the neighbours’ kids, you have absolutely no rights to put your hands on them!
To make the embarrassment worse for parents, I’ve seen kids who actually retaliate and whack their parents! Why all this torment, for both the child and the parents? Even if the kid wants to lodge a complaint against the torturing parents, there exists a worse fear; at least in our country; the kid may walk into the station and be sexually molested even!
This is not an article to find loopholes in our system, but to reiterate on some basics. Just like how charity begins at home, all our mannerisms, values and so on are moulded at home first. There are ways other than whipping your child to mend her/his ways - Speaking is also an action!!!
I have grown up with several nuns in my 12 years of schooling and there is so much to look up to them for. Yet, when in class 4, I had a teacher, Sister Albina. No offence meant, but she had all the qualities starkly opposite to what a nun was supposed to have! She carried this menacingly looking bamboo cane and the minute someone said 2*2 was 5, she was doomed. 5 strokes on her back and the rest of the day was quite literally gone!
Somehow, many parents came to the entire class’s rescue and we did away with her. Now, coming to the main question - If teachers physically hurt us, parents come to our rescue. If parents hurt us? In my mother tongue there is this proverb which means, boys have to be hit and brought up, while girls have to be treasured! I don’t know who came up with this proverb, but I sure can’t go by its words.
I have been witness to many parents hammering their kids just because they dint get enough marks, or created a huge ruckus in a shopping mall, bringing embarrassment to them and so on. My whole point is why hit them? If you weren’t sane enough to talk to them and advice them as to how to behave in front of others, or told them that competition was good but it was not about getting higher marks than the neighbours’ kids, you have absolutely no rights to put your hands on them!
To make the embarrassment worse for parents, I’ve seen kids who actually retaliate and whack their parents! Why all this torment, for both the child and the parents? Even if the kid wants to lodge a complaint against the torturing parents, there exists a worse fear; at least in our country; the kid may walk into the station and be sexually molested even!
This is not an article to find loopholes in our system, but to reiterate on some basics. Just like how charity begins at home, all our mannerisms, values and so on are moulded at home first. There are ways other than whipping your child to mend her/his ways - Speaking is also an action!!!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
World minus mommies!
Precisely at 3:30 every evening, when I step into my home, I find my mother’s warm, welcoming smile greeting me. The following cup of coffee, the snacks she makes and her patient listening is all a child requires. At precisely the same 3.30 in the evening, when the door is locked and I have to unlock it and make myself a cup of coffee, the steam does not come from the coffee but my ears! Anger, irritation and all the other negative emotions take over the system.
“Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own”, said Aristotle. Ignoring the pun, one sure knows what value our mothers hold.
Even if we belong to the middle-aged group, our mothers will be the same and I am sure we hear the common dialogue from them, “You are my baby even if you are this old!”
Our movies have portrayed the ‘mother sentiment’ countless times. Be it the ‘Mere paas maa hai’ dialogue or our Southern super star’s take on the importance of mothers in every opening song of his.
Forget those who deny their parents the basic love, but in general, most of us depend on our mothers for almost everything in life. When a single day without her can be so alarming, what if she leaves us for good?
Such is the looming fate, the unfortunate fate of a mother who nurtures her kids for 16 weeks in her womb with all the love and affection just as ours. But her life hangs on a wire and the possibility of she being able to see her kids grow is bleak. The mortality rate of her kids is also high; approximately 50% do not survive to reach two years. Even if they do manage to survive, her own likelihood of survival is weak.
The cause for her and her poor babies’ premature death- US! Yes, in a way, through illegal trade, as means of subsistence and many more reasons, we are contributing to the extinction of the beloved mother and her family; the family of tigers. Thanks to us, we have already contributed to the extinction of 3 of her relative species; The Bali, Caspian, and Javan tigers and the fourth, the South China tiger is on its way to becoming extinct.
What would a husband do without his mother and wife? What would children would without their mother? The same rule applies to them as well. We, as humans, have absolutely no rights to deprive them of their loved ones. One mother gone, the entire family loses its backbone. With no mothers, what will the males do? Where do the offspring come from?
Let’s give these babies the joy of having their mothers around. SAVE THE TIGERS!
“Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own”, said Aristotle. Ignoring the pun, one sure knows what value our mothers hold.
Even if we belong to the middle-aged group, our mothers will be the same and I am sure we hear the common dialogue from them, “You are my baby even if you are this old!”
Our movies have portrayed the ‘mother sentiment’ countless times. Be it the ‘Mere paas maa hai’ dialogue or our Southern super star’s take on the importance of mothers in every opening song of his.
Forget those who deny their parents the basic love, but in general, most of us depend on our mothers for almost everything in life. When a single day without her can be so alarming, what if she leaves us for good?
Such is the looming fate, the unfortunate fate of a mother who nurtures her kids for 16 weeks in her womb with all the love and affection just as ours. But her life hangs on a wire and the possibility of she being able to see her kids grow is bleak. The mortality rate of her kids is also high; approximately 50% do not survive to reach two years. Even if they do manage to survive, her own likelihood of survival is weak.
The cause for her and her poor babies’ premature death- US! Yes, in a way, through illegal trade, as means of subsistence and many more reasons, we are contributing to the extinction of the beloved mother and her family; the family of tigers. Thanks to us, we have already contributed to the extinction of 3 of her relative species; The Bali, Caspian, and Javan tigers and the fourth, the South China tiger is on its way to becoming extinct.
What would a husband do without his mother and wife? What would children would without their mother? The same rule applies to them as well. We, as humans, have absolutely no rights to deprive them of their loved ones. One mother gone, the entire family loses its backbone. With no mothers, what will the males do? Where do the offspring come from?
Let’s give these babies the joy of having their mothers around. SAVE THE TIGERS!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Wedding Vows...
Love stories are not new to our country. Be it movies, TV serials, participants of a reality show falling in love, anything; cupid never fails to strike! On screen, in books; it seems very gay so much so that we’d cry if the ones in love do not have a happy ending! ‘They lived happily ever after’ is a mandatory climax!
However, when you go back in time, cupid has been successful, but fate intervened and had in store some very bad things. No, it is not just about Romeo-Juliet, but our very own Laila-Majnu, Devdas-Paro and so on have either met tragic deaths or succumbing to self-imposing death.
In India, the system of ‘love marriage’ did not exist at all till up to 2 decades maybe. Only actors and actresses could fall in love and get married. Otherwise there was no such concept at all. Reasons were plenty; women were never allowed to study. So where could men actually find their soul mate in someone? And most families preferred to find prospective grooms/brides within the family so that the ties in the family prolong. In the case of child marriages, if the boy was to die for some reason, the poor girl child was confined to her in-laws’ house for the rest of her life.
Reasons can be plenty, but when it comes to love marriage, the change from then and now can be attributed to women education. As mentioned earlier, women were not allowed to be sent to schools, or if they ever did go, not beyond class 10. Hence the concept was almost nil. Parents would find the entire process of groom/bride searching very exciting and innumerable ‘tables’ with the 9 planets’ standings would be exchanged and matched. Unfortunately, the people in question had to make do with mere looks, sometimes at the time of the marriage even! Some even today stand by this tradition, calling it a system with lots of excitement in store!
Next came the trend of women being sent for higher education where interactions with the opposite sex began. What may have stated as something new, had turned into a daily affair now. Amidst the concept in question came platonic relationships, one night stands and what not? This reminds me of Chetan Bhagat’s latest read, “2 States: Story of my Marriage”, where, in four simple sentences, explains what love marriage is in India. It could not have been portrayed better.
“Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.”
In general, the above still holds good today. Parents are open to their kids falling in love but with a lot of strings of course! For example, I knew of a household whose parents would advice their son that he was free to find his better half provided she came under the main umbrella of the caste! Ex: A Brahmin was mandatory; a Tamil or a Kannadiga didn’t matter!
This is not the end however! Trends are changing further! Just recently I overheard my mother and her friends chatting. One of them was in the process of groom searching and she was supposedly having a tough time. If the boy had looks, his income wasn’t enough and vice versa. Further, the girl was clear that will not be marrying if she was to live with her in laws, was not allowed to work and so on. The poor mother suffered from peer pressure, family pressure that she was not marrying off her daughter at the right time, pressure from her own daughter who had her own list of terms and conditions.
What she said at last surprised me instantly! “How I wish these girls just find their own men. These days they get mature so soon, I am sure they would not make the wrong choice when they have already made their conditions. It saves us all the trouble of having to find a groom, making sure his family is good and so on.”
Though what the mother said is not applicable to many families in the country, the trend is surely changing. More and more parents are now open and are ready to take a chance of letting their kids choose their partners. In the world of live-ins and homosexuality, those who choose to be straight and make plans of living with the opposite sex, marriage options are surely becoming broader in our country!
However, when you go back in time, cupid has been successful, but fate intervened and had in store some very bad things. No, it is not just about Romeo-Juliet, but our very own Laila-Majnu, Devdas-Paro and so on have either met tragic deaths or succumbing to self-imposing death.
In India, the system of ‘love marriage’ did not exist at all till up to 2 decades maybe. Only actors and actresses could fall in love and get married. Otherwise there was no such concept at all. Reasons were plenty; women were never allowed to study. So where could men actually find their soul mate in someone? And most families preferred to find prospective grooms/brides within the family so that the ties in the family prolong. In the case of child marriages, if the boy was to die for some reason, the poor girl child was confined to her in-laws’ house for the rest of her life.
Reasons can be plenty, but when it comes to love marriage, the change from then and now can be attributed to women education. As mentioned earlier, women were not allowed to be sent to schools, or if they ever did go, not beyond class 10. Hence the concept was almost nil. Parents would find the entire process of groom/bride searching very exciting and innumerable ‘tables’ with the 9 planets’ standings would be exchanged and matched. Unfortunately, the people in question had to make do with mere looks, sometimes at the time of the marriage even! Some even today stand by this tradition, calling it a system with lots of excitement in store!
Next came the trend of women being sent for higher education where interactions with the opposite sex began. What may have stated as something new, had turned into a daily affair now. Amidst the concept in question came platonic relationships, one night stands and what not? This reminds me of Chetan Bhagat’s latest read, “2 States: Story of my Marriage”, where, in four simple sentences, explains what love marriage is in India. It could not have been portrayed better.
“Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.”
In general, the above still holds good today. Parents are open to their kids falling in love but with a lot of strings of course! For example, I knew of a household whose parents would advice their son that he was free to find his better half provided she came under the main umbrella of the caste! Ex: A Brahmin was mandatory; a Tamil or a Kannadiga didn’t matter!
This is not the end however! Trends are changing further! Just recently I overheard my mother and her friends chatting. One of them was in the process of groom searching and she was supposedly having a tough time. If the boy had looks, his income wasn’t enough and vice versa. Further, the girl was clear that will not be marrying if she was to live with her in laws, was not allowed to work and so on. The poor mother suffered from peer pressure, family pressure that she was not marrying off her daughter at the right time, pressure from her own daughter who had her own list of terms and conditions.
What she said at last surprised me instantly! “How I wish these girls just find their own men. These days they get mature so soon, I am sure they would not make the wrong choice when they have already made their conditions. It saves us all the trouble of having to find a groom, making sure his family is good and so on.”
Though what the mother said is not applicable to many families in the country, the trend is surely changing. More and more parents are now open and are ready to take a chance of letting their kids choose their partners. In the world of live-ins and homosexuality, those who choose to be straight and make plans of living with the opposite sex, marriage options are surely becoming broader in our country!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Metro blues continue…
If there were a hundred reasons for the citizens of Bangalore to frown upon the ongoing metro work, I just found another!
Just yesterday in class, discussions as to how the metro rail works were faring was on and it all boiled down to the most essential problem – traffic, quite but naturally. Some call it the most overrated topic at present but also imperative in more ways than one. Hard to believe, but it took me over an hour to reach Rajajinagar from Malleswaram! (For those who are not aware of these areas and their distances; Malleshwaram and Rajajinagar are residential areas situated in the north of Bangalore and they are at a distance of about 4 kilometres!)
The auto rickshaw driver couldn’t hide his frustration and so couldn’t I! He made the following observations and they did make lots of sense:
1. The number of vehicles on road are just increasing and by 2012 which is supposedly the deadline for the Metro rails to begin functioning, the number is sure not going to decrease. Nobody is going to sell his vehicle and commute by these trains.
2. The Volvo buses running in the city currently have seen a decline in the number of commuters. By paying an amount more than the fares of normal buses; say they do not get a seat to sit, why would they want to take the Volvo then? They rather pay 5 or 10 bucks lesser and travel comfortably in our autos.
Travelling comfortably is what he claims and vouches for; safety I surely can’t vouch for! Anyway that apart, what he said did make sense to a large extent.
With all the collapses witnessed, Bangalore is sure apprehensive about the entire project. Moreover, my lecturer informed us that recently a study was conducted where it was found that the authorities in-charge were not even aware of who actually initiated the idea of having the Metro Rail in the city! Yes, we have the developers and the planning body, but under whose initiation, they were not aware of.
The 101st reason I was talking about came in the form of my domestic help. She lives in an area where the Metro work has to begin. The authorities have allocated houses for them in another locality and they are to move out within a deadline.
My domestic help is just 24 years old with 2 children; the boy who is 5 and is studying in an English medium school and a girl who is just 2.5 years old. It is a matter of pride that at 24, an uneducated woman with 2 growing children and an alcoholic husband is working really hard so that her kids can afford an English medium school!
Many domestic helps are sending their children to schools run by the government and due to lack of facilities, lethargy from the authorities’ side and so on, most kids eventually drop out and take to other odd jobs. But this lady from the very same community is ready to spend that extra hour, stretch that extra muscle to earn that extra rupee to send her kids to a good school. And here comes a railway project asking her to relocate.
Yes, one may say just ask her to get her children admitted to another school in the new locality. But we are all aware of how our system functions and I do not need to elaborate. It is not about questioning the system right now, but I really pity the poor woman. Her alcoholic husband and mother-in-law have absolutely no issues in relocating, but she fears the near future of her kids and rightly so. She says she’s rather look for a house in the same area again and pay rent by renting out the house which the government has allocated for her family.
It is first of all rare to see this section of our society coming forward and trying to brighten their kids’ future and now a project as this is just turning out to be a hurdle. Like adding feathers to one’s cap in terms of achievements, the ‘Namma Metro’ project is adding many feathers for the wrong reasons.
Just yesterday in class, discussions as to how the metro rail works were faring was on and it all boiled down to the most essential problem – traffic, quite but naturally. Some call it the most overrated topic at present but also imperative in more ways than one. Hard to believe, but it took me over an hour to reach Rajajinagar from Malleswaram! (For those who are not aware of these areas and their distances; Malleshwaram and Rajajinagar are residential areas situated in the north of Bangalore and they are at a distance of about 4 kilometres!)
The auto rickshaw driver couldn’t hide his frustration and so couldn’t I! He made the following observations and they did make lots of sense:
1. The number of vehicles on road are just increasing and by 2012 which is supposedly the deadline for the Metro rails to begin functioning, the number is sure not going to decrease. Nobody is going to sell his vehicle and commute by these trains.
2. The Volvo buses running in the city currently have seen a decline in the number of commuters. By paying an amount more than the fares of normal buses; say they do not get a seat to sit, why would they want to take the Volvo then? They rather pay 5 or 10 bucks lesser and travel comfortably in our autos.
Travelling comfortably is what he claims and vouches for; safety I surely can’t vouch for! Anyway that apart, what he said did make sense to a large extent.
With all the collapses witnessed, Bangalore is sure apprehensive about the entire project. Moreover, my lecturer informed us that recently a study was conducted where it was found that the authorities in-charge were not even aware of who actually initiated the idea of having the Metro Rail in the city! Yes, we have the developers and the planning body, but under whose initiation, they were not aware of.
The 101st reason I was talking about came in the form of my domestic help. She lives in an area where the Metro work has to begin. The authorities have allocated houses for them in another locality and they are to move out within a deadline.
My domestic help is just 24 years old with 2 children; the boy who is 5 and is studying in an English medium school and a girl who is just 2.5 years old. It is a matter of pride that at 24, an uneducated woman with 2 growing children and an alcoholic husband is working really hard so that her kids can afford an English medium school!
Many domestic helps are sending their children to schools run by the government and due to lack of facilities, lethargy from the authorities’ side and so on, most kids eventually drop out and take to other odd jobs. But this lady from the very same community is ready to spend that extra hour, stretch that extra muscle to earn that extra rupee to send her kids to a good school. And here comes a railway project asking her to relocate.
Yes, one may say just ask her to get her children admitted to another school in the new locality. But we are all aware of how our system functions and I do not need to elaborate. It is not about questioning the system right now, but I really pity the poor woman. Her alcoholic husband and mother-in-law have absolutely no issues in relocating, but she fears the near future of her kids and rightly so. She says she’s rather look for a house in the same area again and pay rent by renting out the house which the government has allocated for her family.
It is first of all rare to see this section of our society coming forward and trying to brighten their kids’ future and now a project as this is just turning out to be a hurdle. Like adding feathers to one’s cap in terms of achievements, the ‘Namma Metro’ project is adding many feathers for the wrong reasons.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
A very happy birthday indeed!
When in college, any friend’s birthday coming up will be preceded by tonnes of planning in terms of gifts, where to go out, where to hang out later and so on. Budgeting would creep in, testing both the friends’ and the birthday baby’s finance managing skills! I remember in school, it would just be a one-to-one basis; one buying a gift for the one celebrating his/her birthday and there was no concept of pooling in the resources! I am sure kids these days may be following it, but I am talking about say 6-7 years ago!
Eventually the brunt of paying the bill has to be borne by the one celebrating the special day! One’s own money or the dad’s is another matter. After the lovely college days, most of my friends got into jobs and the only time we’d catch up or at least I did so was during their birthdays! So we’d get together and spend loads of time at a coffee shop, meet over lunch and do the usual stuff!
Why talk about the money? It really doesn’t matter when it has to do with sharing lovely moments with the people you want to, but I think it would be great to channelize the financial resources in a meaningful way, at least on a day as this!
One fine day, three of us who shared our birthdays in the same month decided to spend our day, of course, with the rest of them as well, in an orphanage by providing a meal for all the kids. One tends to get emotionally weak while visiting orphanages, old age homes etc and so were we. The happiness on the kids’ faces of being able to eat a piece of cake, munch on yummy chocolates was a delight to watch. It seemed like an extravagant feast for them.
We all go out even otherwise to posh restaurants, on the umpteen movie tickets without thinking twice. On a birthday, the run of the mill going out and chatting sessions can surely be made different by spending time and other resources in other meaningful places.
An eye opener was when a kid threw a question at us. “Akka (sister), you all come just on one day and spend time with us, feed us; then for days you are gone! Why don’t you come more often?” It was not exactly a slap on the face but it definitely was something to think about. Today, where corporate social responsibility is being highly placed in every organization, various ways of helping the socially deprived has arisen. Some people fund children’s education for some years, some feed them on special occasions, buy them stationary and so on. But as the kid mentioned, we are there in a jiffy and gone the very next instant.
Yes, time is a big constraint but there are people who take time out and visit such places; read out the aged, write answers for the blind in exams and so on. We can start on our birthday and surely take time out on not so special occasions too and make a big difference in such people’s lives.
We started on our birthdays and will surely practice, to our capabilities, what I preached till now!
Eventually the brunt of paying the bill has to be borne by the one celebrating the special day! One’s own money or the dad’s is another matter. After the lovely college days, most of my friends got into jobs and the only time we’d catch up or at least I did so was during their birthdays! So we’d get together and spend loads of time at a coffee shop, meet over lunch and do the usual stuff!
Why talk about the money? It really doesn’t matter when it has to do with sharing lovely moments with the people you want to, but I think it would be great to channelize the financial resources in a meaningful way, at least on a day as this!
One fine day, three of us who shared our birthdays in the same month decided to spend our day, of course, with the rest of them as well, in an orphanage by providing a meal for all the kids. One tends to get emotionally weak while visiting orphanages, old age homes etc and so were we. The happiness on the kids’ faces of being able to eat a piece of cake, munch on yummy chocolates was a delight to watch. It seemed like an extravagant feast for them.
We all go out even otherwise to posh restaurants, on the umpteen movie tickets without thinking twice. On a birthday, the run of the mill going out and chatting sessions can surely be made different by spending time and other resources in other meaningful places.
An eye opener was when a kid threw a question at us. “Akka (sister), you all come just on one day and spend time with us, feed us; then for days you are gone! Why don’t you come more often?” It was not exactly a slap on the face but it definitely was something to think about. Today, where corporate social responsibility is being highly placed in every organization, various ways of helping the socially deprived has arisen. Some people fund children’s education for some years, some feed them on special occasions, buy them stationary and so on. But as the kid mentioned, we are there in a jiffy and gone the very next instant.
Yes, time is a big constraint but there are people who take time out and visit such places; read out the aged, write answers for the blind in exams and so on. We can start on our birthday and surely take time out on not so special occasions too and make a big difference in such people’s lives.
We started on our birthdays and will surely practice, to our capabilities, what I preached till now!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
PDA: Public Display of Atrocity!
The views below are solely mine! People reading this one are free to comment, compliment, share views but then I am not going to change my view one bit, at least in this regard :)
I was sitting at the clinic, and a lady walked in. She looked recently married; in India you can make out such things very easily. She seated herself right next to me and gave me this irritated look; a look which denoted, “Because of YOU, my husband cannot sit next to me!” I acted oblivious to her looks! After a while, space was obviously available and her dear hubby sat across her. She was just waiting! She got up in lightening speed and placed herself next to the man of her life with like a minus 0.1 centimetre gap! She positioned her hands on his thigh and gave him this utterly oomph look!
I couldn’t help but gawk at both of them. I wonder why people need to display their affection, attraction whatever so publicly! Don’t they have their four walls to see it all? How does it matter to the person next to you or passersby to see what a lovely, intimate relationship you share with your loved ones? Isn’t it enough if just the two of you know?
Similarly on bikes, the girl is almost on top of the guy! It just gives me such an ugh feeling, frankly! Once in a while, when the weather’s nice and gay, you might want to hug the special one which is fine, but not cling on to him/her with all your weight on the poor other!
There is a time and place for everything and I strictly believe in it. When it comes to physically showing your affection, you must also learn to respect others. When outside, displays of affection really needs a check. Here in Bangalore, I have read of cops catching many couples in cars and bikes and the worst part is that they expect bribes so that the concerned parents are not involved in this! Imagine what sort of embarrassment they have to go through? Actually, even before it reaches parents, the couple involved are smart enough to pay off the cops, but for those with some bad luck on that day, imagine the kind of humiliation.
In other countries, such PDAs may be common and talking about aping their culture is not new in India. I am sure many will welcome this also into our culture, rather have already welcomed it and following it ardently. Maybe I am one of those backward thinking, nerd of sorts. But I still take a big, deep rooted stand with respect to PDAs, they sure are not displays of affection but sheer atrocity! Worse of it all is when these social networking sites ask you whether PDAs are a turn on or a turn off! Lol!
I was sitting at the clinic, and a lady walked in. She looked recently married; in India you can make out such things very easily. She seated herself right next to me and gave me this irritated look; a look which denoted, “Because of YOU, my husband cannot sit next to me!” I acted oblivious to her looks! After a while, space was obviously available and her dear hubby sat across her. She was just waiting! She got up in lightening speed and placed herself next to the man of her life with like a minus 0.1 centimetre gap! She positioned her hands on his thigh and gave him this utterly oomph look!
I couldn’t help but gawk at both of them. I wonder why people need to display their affection, attraction whatever so publicly! Don’t they have their four walls to see it all? How does it matter to the person next to you or passersby to see what a lovely, intimate relationship you share with your loved ones? Isn’t it enough if just the two of you know?
Similarly on bikes, the girl is almost on top of the guy! It just gives me such an ugh feeling, frankly! Once in a while, when the weather’s nice and gay, you might want to hug the special one which is fine, but not cling on to him/her with all your weight on the poor other!
There is a time and place for everything and I strictly believe in it. When it comes to physically showing your affection, you must also learn to respect others. When outside, displays of affection really needs a check. Here in Bangalore, I have read of cops catching many couples in cars and bikes and the worst part is that they expect bribes so that the concerned parents are not involved in this! Imagine what sort of embarrassment they have to go through? Actually, even before it reaches parents, the couple involved are smart enough to pay off the cops, but for those with some bad luck on that day, imagine the kind of humiliation.
In other countries, such PDAs may be common and talking about aping their culture is not new in India. I am sure many will welcome this also into our culture, rather have already welcomed it and following it ardently. Maybe I am one of those backward thinking, nerd of sorts. But I still take a big, deep rooted stand with respect to PDAs, they sure are not displays of affection but sheer atrocity! Worse of it all is when these social networking sites ask you whether PDAs are a turn on or a turn off! Lol!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Well…They are citizens too!
Who is Sonia Gandhi? Or Laloo Prasad? Or even the oh! so smart, Rahul Gandhi? I definitely am not referring to their political parties but just as people who really are they? Citizens! Citizens who happen to be our representatives to run our country. We elect them either directly or otherwise because of their education, their sheer willingness to even come up and work for one’s country which most of us common people would not do. All agreed. But who would they be if it weren’t for us? Just another Sonia, Rahul, Prasad or whoever!
With the recent ‘austerity drive’ amongst many politicians, my mind began pondering. I pondered about perks the representatives of the country get to enjoy. Yes, they deserve it, but to what extent comes the next question. Perks, free time are all synonyms of a government job in our country for sure. I think we are still used to our grandparents or even parents advising us to take up a government job as it always meant to give us security and all the other ‘necessary evils’!
And the biggest gift of it all, at least here in Bangalore, HAS to be an easy breeze through the city’s horrendous traffic! I have experienced this is Chennai as well. The entire bandwagon is let through while the common man who actually made these ‘fellow common men’ famous, is made to wait whatever be the hurry. My question is, these ministers, politicians, their personal attendants, whoever are already known for being late to most meetings, functions et all. So what is the big deal of stopping citizens on the road and giving these guys all the space. They are already late, how does it matter if it is by 5 minutes or 50? They’d rather wait like any one of us and reach their destinations!
Last afternoon I was travelling by bus and all the vehicles including the one I was in were asked to stop for the obvious reason. I watched the little boy inside the bus pleading his mother to buy him a chocolate, a bus driver spitting out his ugh! chewable tobacco, a smart guy on his new Yamaha wiping a minuscule of dirt from his mirror. Twenty minutes passed by and there were no signs of the ‘VERY IMPORTANT PERSON’. People finally began getting restless. Initially the cops were in command. Now, the common men took over. One by one they began turning on their vehicles and honks began to pierce the cops’ ears! Lo! We were commanded to move on!
People in the bus did not hide their disappointment anymore. Obscenities were hurled at the unknown VIP and I couldn’t stop smiling! How I wish he/she were here in this bus I thought!
For those who don’t live in India and did not know about the incident involving the Prime Minister of the country himself, here it is:
Sumit Prakash Verma, who was 32, died after the vehicle carrying him to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research could not enter the emergency area in time for treatment. The PM was at that time visiting the hospital for its 30th convocation. (Source: dnaindia.com)
Post this, the PM wrote a letter of apology to the family of the deceased. The article also went on to quote on what former heads and police commissioners thought about the country’s VIP security systems. Good our PM apologized, but the life lost can never be got back. However, clichéd it sounds, it is a fact alright.
Things do not change over night and definitely not in India when it involves politics. But then I think officials must think of a way to keep up the importance which the government servants have to duly get but without troubling us, the common men! It would not hurt our representatives to wait for an extra 10 minutes at the signal and get on with their work just as us. They are also the country’s citizens after all…
With the recent ‘austerity drive’ amongst many politicians, my mind began pondering. I pondered about perks the representatives of the country get to enjoy. Yes, they deserve it, but to what extent comes the next question. Perks, free time are all synonyms of a government job in our country for sure. I think we are still used to our grandparents or even parents advising us to take up a government job as it always meant to give us security and all the other ‘necessary evils’!
And the biggest gift of it all, at least here in Bangalore, HAS to be an easy breeze through the city’s horrendous traffic! I have experienced this is Chennai as well. The entire bandwagon is let through while the common man who actually made these ‘fellow common men’ famous, is made to wait whatever be the hurry. My question is, these ministers, politicians, their personal attendants, whoever are already known for being late to most meetings, functions et all. So what is the big deal of stopping citizens on the road and giving these guys all the space. They are already late, how does it matter if it is by 5 minutes or 50? They’d rather wait like any one of us and reach their destinations!
Last afternoon I was travelling by bus and all the vehicles including the one I was in were asked to stop for the obvious reason. I watched the little boy inside the bus pleading his mother to buy him a chocolate, a bus driver spitting out his ugh! chewable tobacco, a smart guy on his new Yamaha wiping a minuscule of dirt from his mirror. Twenty minutes passed by and there were no signs of the ‘VERY IMPORTANT PERSON’. People finally began getting restless. Initially the cops were in command. Now, the common men took over. One by one they began turning on their vehicles and honks began to pierce the cops’ ears! Lo! We were commanded to move on!
People in the bus did not hide their disappointment anymore. Obscenities were hurled at the unknown VIP and I couldn’t stop smiling! How I wish he/she were here in this bus I thought!
For those who don’t live in India and did not know about the incident involving the Prime Minister of the country himself, here it is:
Sumit Prakash Verma, who was 32, died after the vehicle carrying him to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research could not enter the emergency area in time for treatment. The PM was at that time visiting the hospital for its 30th convocation. (Source: dnaindia.com)
Post this, the PM wrote a letter of apology to the family of the deceased. The article also went on to quote on what former heads and police commissioners thought about the country’s VIP security systems. Good our PM apologized, but the life lost can never be got back. However, clichéd it sounds, it is a fact alright.
Things do not change over night and definitely not in India when it involves politics. But then I think officials must think of a way to keep up the importance which the government servants have to duly get but without troubling us, the common men! It would not hurt our representatives to wait for an extra 10 minutes at the signal and get on with their work just as us. They are also the country’s citizens after all…
Monday, October 26, 2009
Menacing auto-rickshaws and their drivers!
I was writing my internals in class, when I heard one of my juniors, in her last round of Ms Personality, giving her thoughts on auto drivers outside college. What a question to ask I wondered.
The girl ranted her frustration about how the ‘ever-ready to pounce’ drivers waited for a smart Carmelite to pick their vehicle. And also about how they’d charge insane rates in spite of flaunting their latest electronic meters! Guess its Chennai for them!
I could not agree better with that girl. I actually stopped writing and listened to her vent out. I have taken the autos several times outside college and each one of them has a link of sorts. Some will go only to Malleshwaram, some to MG Road and so on. Each driver has his choice of saying yes or no, but here it’s all fixed in advance. Worse of it all, these guys don’t even bother waiting to be approached. Like tourist guides, they leap on the poor girls.
In my previous blogs, I have also mentioned about the insane, unscrupulous behaviour by these drivers. Obviously I cannot generalise, but I am sure 8 out of 10 drivers are out there to jut their necks out of the vehicle to eye at women, whether decently clad or otherwise. A bus ahead of them, two-wheelers on either side, cars behind; who cares! The road belongs to him and he can, at his whim, change directions on a busy road. The indicator will show right, and he alarmingly, to others mind you, will take a left with ease. Worse of it all, no indicators at times!
There are honest drivers as I said. At 5 in the morning, I urgently needed to get to the hospital and the nice chap was ready to drop me for free! On the contrast, I had this jaw-dropping experience. I returned from Chennai one morning at around 4:30. The auto driver demanded 50% extra of what the meter showed and I willingly accepted as these are the norms in Bangalore. A 4 km ride from the Bangalore Bus Stand, I was not even half way and the meter sped its away much faster than the driver’s himself!!! What I was to pay at my destination was already on the meter. I picked up a fight instantly. His answer was startling. “Madam, you belong to Bangalore is it? I thought you belonged to Chennai. Anyway people there pay much more, so big deal! Since you speak the local language and seem like one among us, pay whatever the right amount is.”
For a second I did not know how to react. “What about people from other states man? They just get tricked is it?” was my question. His answer was a menacing smile! I was more than happy to just get home safely. Who knows what else they’d do if I belonged to another state!
Moving on, politically too, auto drivers are here to create some trouble. I can never forget the day when Kannada’s biggest film star passed away and these auto drivers created such a drama and actually shut down shops all the way. The shouting and the lunacy is hard to forget.
On October 12, there was an auto strike which on peacefully I must say. They were against the government because the latter wanted a change of colour of the vehicles from black-yellow to green! There were some who still came on to the roads and charged phenomenally high rates, but otherwise it was a peaceful strike.
On October 16, a newspaper carried an article saying that the government ordered to check for the reduction in pollution rates in two major areas in the city where the number of autos operating is large. And as expected, following were the results:
Sulphur di oxide reduced by 29%, oxides of nitrogen by 59%, oxides of carbon by 33% at the city station alone! The article further went on to mention the various impacts it will have on health. Lastly, it was written that most autos in the city, about 65,000 in number are two-stroke vehicles, which have incomplete combustion thereby causing pollution. If they are replaced to four-stroke vehicles, the amount of pollution will apparently come down.
Frankly, with all the pollution and the agony the drivers and their vehicles are causing, the number of vehicles must slowly be reduced. Yes, I agree many people in this city do not prefer using public transport and rely upon autos but then with all these ill-effects, I am sure people can shift to another mode and with the arrival of the metro, however late, people have options.
On the employment side, these drivers may be taught to drive larger vehicles and may be given employment in other sectors. Many drivers still feel they lost out on education and with so many plans to help the under-privileged, the government could fund for the families at least till they complete a level of education where they can get decent jobs.
Thoughts beget reality! Maybe these little thoughts may provide fodder to those who read these articles and are in a position to make that change!
The girl ranted her frustration about how the ‘ever-ready to pounce’ drivers waited for a smart Carmelite to pick their vehicle. And also about how they’d charge insane rates in spite of flaunting their latest electronic meters! Guess its Chennai for them!
I could not agree better with that girl. I actually stopped writing and listened to her vent out. I have taken the autos several times outside college and each one of them has a link of sorts. Some will go only to Malleshwaram, some to MG Road and so on. Each driver has his choice of saying yes or no, but here it’s all fixed in advance. Worse of it all, these guys don’t even bother waiting to be approached. Like tourist guides, they leap on the poor girls.
In my previous blogs, I have also mentioned about the insane, unscrupulous behaviour by these drivers. Obviously I cannot generalise, but I am sure 8 out of 10 drivers are out there to jut their necks out of the vehicle to eye at women, whether decently clad or otherwise. A bus ahead of them, two-wheelers on either side, cars behind; who cares! The road belongs to him and he can, at his whim, change directions on a busy road. The indicator will show right, and he alarmingly, to others mind you, will take a left with ease. Worse of it all, no indicators at times!
There are honest drivers as I said. At 5 in the morning, I urgently needed to get to the hospital and the nice chap was ready to drop me for free! On the contrast, I had this jaw-dropping experience. I returned from Chennai one morning at around 4:30. The auto driver demanded 50% extra of what the meter showed and I willingly accepted as these are the norms in Bangalore. A 4 km ride from the Bangalore Bus Stand, I was not even half way and the meter sped its away much faster than the driver’s himself!!! What I was to pay at my destination was already on the meter. I picked up a fight instantly. His answer was startling. “Madam, you belong to Bangalore is it? I thought you belonged to Chennai. Anyway people there pay much more, so big deal! Since you speak the local language and seem like one among us, pay whatever the right amount is.”
For a second I did not know how to react. “What about people from other states man? They just get tricked is it?” was my question. His answer was a menacing smile! I was more than happy to just get home safely. Who knows what else they’d do if I belonged to another state!
Moving on, politically too, auto drivers are here to create some trouble. I can never forget the day when Kannada’s biggest film star passed away and these auto drivers created such a drama and actually shut down shops all the way. The shouting and the lunacy is hard to forget.
On October 12, there was an auto strike which on peacefully I must say. They were against the government because the latter wanted a change of colour of the vehicles from black-yellow to green! There were some who still came on to the roads and charged phenomenally high rates, but otherwise it was a peaceful strike.
On October 16, a newspaper carried an article saying that the government ordered to check for the reduction in pollution rates in two major areas in the city where the number of autos operating is large. And as expected, following were the results:
Sulphur di oxide reduced by 29%, oxides of nitrogen by 59%, oxides of carbon by 33% at the city station alone! The article further went on to mention the various impacts it will have on health. Lastly, it was written that most autos in the city, about 65,000 in number are two-stroke vehicles, which have incomplete combustion thereby causing pollution. If they are replaced to four-stroke vehicles, the amount of pollution will apparently come down.
Frankly, with all the pollution and the agony the drivers and their vehicles are causing, the number of vehicles must slowly be reduced. Yes, I agree many people in this city do not prefer using public transport and rely upon autos but then with all these ill-effects, I am sure people can shift to another mode and with the arrival of the metro, however late, people have options.
On the employment side, these drivers may be taught to drive larger vehicles and may be given employment in other sectors. Many drivers still feel they lost out on education and with so many plans to help the under-privileged, the government could fund for the families at least till they complete a level of education where they can get decent jobs.
Thoughts beget reality! Maybe these little thoughts may provide fodder to those who read these articles and are in a position to make that change!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Colours…
Many of these TV matrimonial shows (regional languages) have the parents of the groom or the would-be groom making a list of requirements of the new entrant into their lives. They have simple wants – It does not matter if the girl works or not, she just has to take care of the guy’s parents as her own, be slim and fair! You might think only traditional families have such wants, but I have heard ‘well-educated’ men working in big MNCs having the same requests. First of all, the idea of having a matrimonial show on TV itself irks me, but that’s another thing altogether.
Taking care of the guy’s parents as the girl’s own is not a bad thing to expect. Wanting only slim girls is again another issue. Man how many thoughts arise when one sits to write…
My issue here is the idea of someone being eligible to tie the knot based on colour! Enough and more arguments, wars etc have been fought regarding this issue but this is never ending. If you are fair, you’re the chosen one always and we somehow have got into the mode of accepting this. Apparently when I was born, I was quite dark and the minute my grandmother saw me, she was very unhappy that I took over my mother who is slightly dark and not my dad who is extremely fair! Though I did not take it seriously, till date I tease my grandmother, who is fair, about the fact that her husband is extremely dark and she actually agreed to marry him in spite of having colour reservations!
I can’t blame her because we were instilled with such thoughts that the fair are good and the dark-skinned, bad. Our holy books also feature demons as dark skinned ones. Our own moon walker had a range of surgeries to change his colour but personally I thought he was charmer with his original looks.
Then came some change! Our South Indian superstar, Rajinikanth redefined the outlook to being a dark-skinned one! Songs in praise of being dark-skinned, in wanting to be dark-skinned rushed the screen! Our Indian Michael Jackson, Prabhu Deva and many other actors in other languages who were not the fair-lot began taking away the prized top roles! Other than the Ms World pageants I quite cannot think of any show awarding dark-skinned women!
Then again came the fairness ads! First for women who were low on confidence just because they weren’t fair and a tube gives it all in a matter of fifteen days! Whoa! I used to wonder what about the poor, not so-fair men! And lo! My feelings answered straight away in the form of men’s fairness creams! The worst thing is, these famous actors and actresses who fight for causes like animal protection and saving the environment end up advocating colour bias!
How did Queen Latifah and the King of Pop survive? Bipasha Basu must remind her boy friend John that she is a dusky damsel after all! And Mr Dhoni seems to have a large fan following in spite of his not-so fair looks!
Before writing this blog, I was doing a search on dark-skinned people being featured in commercials. It is said that during early days in the U.S.A., dark-skinned were featured only to show that they were also the ‘targeted’ population for the product and there was no discrimination.
But then again, the cycle has to be complete. The recent rediff.com ad did bring smiles to my face. Frankly, being tuned to watching fair skins on commercials, I was taken aback. But it was a pleasant surprise indeed.
Another thought: Men always want fair women, but why do most women when asked about their dream man say 'Tall and DARK'??
Taking care of the guy’s parents as the girl’s own is not a bad thing to expect. Wanting only slim girls is again another issue. Man how many thoughts arise when one sits to write…
My issue here is the idea of someone being eligible to tie the knot based on colour! Enough and more arguments, wars etc have been fought regarding this issue but this is never ending. If you are fair, you’re the chosen one always and we somehow have got into the mode of accepting this. Apparently when I was born, I was quite dark and the minute my grandmother saw me, she was very unhappy that I took over my mother who is slightly dark and not my dad who is extremely fair! Though I did not take it seriously, till date I tease my grandmother, who is fair, about the fact that her husband is extremely dark and she actually agreed to marry him in spite of having colour reservations!
I can’t blame her because we were instilled with such thoughts that the fair are good and the dark-skinned, bad. Our holy books also feature demons as dark skinned ones. Our own moon walker had a range of surgeries to change his colour but personally I thought he was charmer with his original looks.
Then came some change! Our South Indian superstar, Rajinikanth redefined the outlook to being a dark-skinned one! Songs in praise of being dark-skinned, in wanting to be dark-skinned rushed the screen! Our Indian Michael Jackson, Prabhu Deva and many other actors in other languages who were not the fair-lot began taking away the prized top roles! Other than the Ms World pageants I quite cannot think of any show awarding dark-skinned women!
Then again came the fairness ads! First for women who were low on confidence just because they weren’t fair and a tube gives it all in a matter of fifteen days! Whoa! I used to wonder what about the poor, not so-fair men! And lo! My feelings answered straight away in the form of men’s fairness creams! The worst thing is, these famous actors and actresses who fight for causes like animal protection and saving the environment end up advocating colour bias!
How did Queen Latifah and the King of Pop survive? Bipasha Basu must remind her boy friend John that she is a dusky damsel after all! And Mr Dhoni seems to have a large fan following in spite of his not-so fair looks!
Before writing this blog, I was doing a search on dark-skinned people being featured in commercials. It is said that during early days in the U.S.A., dark-skinned were featured only to show that they were also the ‘targeted’ population for the product and there was no discrimination.
But then again, the cycle has to be complete. The recent rediff.com ad did bring smiles to my face. Frankly, being tuned to watching fair skins on commercials, I was taken aback. But it was a pleasant surprise indeed.
Another thought: Men always want fair women, but why do most women when asked about their dream man say 'Tall and DARK'??
Monday, June 15, 2009
File your returns!
When July 31 nears our country every year, one for sure is witness to huge hoardings and TV advertisements to file in their IT returns. Earlier it would be the most cumbersome activity, one, because we’d fail to understand the innumerable papers to be filled in, two, we generally keep it to the last moment and begin fretting on the last day and worse of it all, complain against the government that they do not give enough time.
Now, with the pleasure of being able to fill IT returns online, it seems much easier and the pros do not end there. www.taxmile.com, in association with an Indian leading newspaper promotes filling IT returns online, that too in an environmental-friendly way. How? The answer is simple. You save consumption of paper and also by doing it online, it saves time and is much simpler.
It is said that each tax assessee, on an average, consumes 8-10 sheets of paper while filing returns manually. And out of 40.5 crore citizens, only 4.5 crore file it online. With all the mathematical calculations done, the amount of paper we use for filling the returns manually will be a monstrous number! Hence the online way will be the outright winner for sure.
How safe an online website is, one would ask. The website claims that there is a provision of issuing digital signatures as well. An instant acknowledgement is sent as soon as the income-tax department receives a completed tax return; the assessee is no longer vulnerable to data and identity theft. By filling it online, there is an extended deadline by seven hours too! Most importantly, one you begin filling your returns, you do not need to finish it all. There is also an option of saving your data and getting back to it later!
Environmental-friendly, simple, quick are adverbs which suit this website. What more? A quick peek into the website shows that it is not all about the serious work but also some fun competitions like winning trips to other countries, memorabilia of sorts and the like. Hopefully, the count from a mere 4.5 crore increases in the years to come.
My favorite line: I am not promoting the website but yes, I definitely want all of us to file our IT returns on time and as part of the ‘youth brigade’ we sure need to change and move ahead!
Now, with the pleasure of being able to fill IT returns online, it seems much easier and the pros do not end there. www.taxmile.com, in association with an Indian leading newspaper promotes filling IT returns online, that too in an environmental-friendly way. How? The answer is simple. You save consumption of paper and also by doing it online, it saves time and is much simpler.
It is said that each tax assessee, on an average, consumes 8-10 sheets of paper while filing returns manually. And out of 40.5 crore citizens, only 4.5 crore file it online. With all the mathematical calculations done, the amount of paper we use for filling the returns manually will be a monstrous number! Hence the online way will be the outright winner for sure.
How safe an online website is, one would ask. The website claims that there is a provision of issuing digital signatures as well. An instant acknowledgement is sent as soon as the income-tax department receives a completed tax return; the assessee is no longer vulnerable to data and identity theft. By filling it online, there is an extended deadline by seven hours too! Most importantly, one you begin filling your returns, you do not need to finish it all. There is also an option of saving your data and getting back to it later!
Environmental-friendly, simple, quick are adverbs which suit this website. What more? A quick peek into the website shows that it is not all about the serious work but also some fun competitions like winning trips to other countries, memorabilia of sorts and the like. Hopefully, the count from a mere 4.5 crore increases in the years to come.
My favorite line: I am not promoting the website but yes, I definitely want all of us to file our IT returns on time and as part of the ‘youth brigade’ we sure need to change and move ahead!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Woman Power!
It is 7.30 in the morning and you are on the verge of screaming in anger! Kids have to be sent to school, your ‘cool’ husband wants you to search for his lost pair of socks! You are in the kitchen wondering why the idlys are so hard and to make things worse, your maid servant is not there! Imagine a house without a servant these days… the worst plight a working woman could ask for. You may yell at her, reduce her pay for taking unlimited offs, but the bottom line is, she serves you like your right hand! This is what she is worth beginning at the basics.
Go ahead you reach office late due to the above cause, lo! Your boss is at loss because of you! He needs you for doing this and that, he needs you to update you on the day’s appointments etc. It is a man’s world they say! Think again, it sure is not! You need the woman’s help for it to be a man’s world!
These days we see women doing almost everything a man does. But every side has two coins. A woman may not serve as the best soldier in the army but well… she at least does have a position there! A position anywhere cannot be just confined to the physical presence of the person, a lot of emotional presence is important too. Studies reveal that a woman under stress is more relaxed than a man. So when there’s a crisis you can assure yourself the woman will handle it all right. They solve tricky situations with composure which is a huge positive when compared to the ‘stronger sex’.
So what does she get to her workplace which makes her so wanted? Guess it is her confidence and kindness. In a man’s world where people are out there pulling each other down so that one gets a higher position, the cool and composed woman handles it all very well. Says Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CEO, Biocon, “The freshness of thought is what the woman carries with her which makes her the preferred lot.”
Being a woman itself is quite an advantage. You get your appointments very easily since you’re a woman and you are also treated with respect which is an added advantage for the work place as well. Virtues such as compassion, kindness, cooperation and sensivity which is born with a woman makes her recognised. Another interesting thing is that when it is a woman what you see is what you get. There is no beating around the bush you are told what is on her mind with nothing to hide. They are more open with their feelings unlike a man who wants it only his way and is not ready to adjust.
Behind every successful man there is a woman so there’s nothing more to say! What a woman gets to her workplace is her beautiful self inside and out and that itself is enough to make her workplace the best!
Go ahead you reach office late due to the above cause, lo! Your boss is at loss because of you! He needs you for doing this and that, he needs you to update you on the day’s appointments etc. It is a man’s world they say! Think again, it sure is not! You need the woman’s help for it to be a man’s world!
These days we see women doing almost everything a man does. But every side has two coins. A woman may not serve as the best soldier in the army but well… she at least does have a position there! A position anywhere cannot be just confined to the physical presence of the person, a lot of emotional presence is important too. Studies reveal that a woman under stress is more relaxed than a man. So when there’s a crisis you can assure yourself the woman will handle it all right. They solve tricky situations with composure which is a huge positive when compared to the ‘stronger sex’.
So what does she get to her workplace which makes her so wanted? Guess it is her confidence and kindness. In a man’s world where people are out there pulling each other down so that one gets a higher position, the cool and composed woman handles it all very well. Says Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CEO, Biocon, “The freshness of thought is what the woman carries with her which makes her the preferred lot.”
Being a woman itself is quite an advantage. You get your appointments very easily since you’re a woman and you are also treated with respect which is an added advantage for the work place as well. Virtues such as compassion, kindness, cooperation and sensivity which is born with a woman makes her recognised. Another interesting thing is that when it is a woman what you see is what you get. There is no beating around the bush you are told what is on her mind with nothing to hide. They are more open with their feelings unlike a man who wants it only his way and is not ready to adjust.
Behind every successful man there is a woman so there’s nothing more to say! What a woman gets to her workplace is her beautiful self inside and out and that itself is enough to make her workplace the best!
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