Archive for the ‘General/Society’ Category
Weekends: End of a Romance
There are days when Thursday feels like advent of weekend. Then there are days when Friday feels like a weekday still. I am sure most of us would have had this feeling one time or the other.
What leads to these emotions? Sometimes if the work is less on Thu, the mood remains jolly and we feel a fake Fri. Probably a Fri with lots of work makes us forget the charming Sat/Sun. Then there are long weekends (with Fri a holiday) and there are working Sat.
As I grow older, the boundaries are somewhat getting blurred. I am able to schedule my work better. Find time on weekdays if I want, work on weekends if so required. The charm of weekends seems to have watered down.
These days my activity level goes down on weekends, and I long to get back to work, just to get the kick. It would have sounded laughable to me few years ago, when all I lived was for weekends.
In fact the charm of month ends (read salary days), is also not so much now. EMI’s have probably killed the romance.
I might find some charm back of Weekends/Monthends once I have a family. At least I hope so!
Vrindavan Widows: The Helpless Old Ladies
My hometown, Agra is next to Vrindavan. A drive to the temple and back used to be our once in month getaway, growing up. The place is divine in the true sense. You will have to visit once to get the feel of it
Recently the female MP, who is an actor by profession, made a comment on the widows that stay in the city. They were called unwelcome beggars among other things.
I am not really sure since when these ladies started coming here. But it has been quite some time. “Going by your deeds, I don’t expect you will take care of me. If your father goes before me, I will got to Vrindavan and live there”, mothers chastise their sons in this side of the world, albeit in jest.
I won’t take a theoretical approach here. I will admit, as per my first hand knowledge, what the MP said is true to some extent. They do beg for money and a lot of people who visit the city are more than willing to help the old ladies in whites. But this is where the truth of her statement ends.
I agree that most of the ladies come from across the country. But they come here when they have nowhere else to go. When the husband dies, the house and the money is gobbled up by the relatives in remote villages even today and these ladies are left with nothing.
Just because there exists a place called Vrindavan, a large number of them are alive. Or else they would have been dead by now. It needs to be celebrated and not looked down upon. Virndavan has become synonymous with LIFE for such ladies across the country.
The MP was recently mocked for not spending time in her constituency where ideally she should permanently stay. Given this background, such a statement reeks of desperation to rake up some local emotions and make her presence count.
Being a lady herself, she should have used this as a divine opportunity to serve and take care of vulnerable and helpless ladies. Small scale industries can be set up here, utilizing this ready made labor. This would not only give them a dignified life, but also take care of the issues that the MP has mentioned.
But Alas! That would require her devoting time and energy here. It’s more convenient to visit for a day; make some disparaging remark; go back to Mumbai and sleep in peace.
What Times are Now?
An unfortunate controversy erupted when a leading English Newsgroup published a not so subtle article about a leading actress. Without getting into the details of the write up, silence of the associated news channel amuses me. On all other issues, this TV channel is always here and Now.
Had it been a politician who would have made some unsavory speech; had it been a police head who would have issued a demeaning guideline; had it been some actor who would have made some politically incorrect observation, the channel would have raised hue and cry on primetime and rightly so. The primetime which it boasts have garnered highest TRP’s in the last 5 years.
But today all silence. It’s not an isolated incident. If you go to their website, you would see more of such obnoxious articles. Skimpy clad images of female models collated from across the globe. Explicit stuff posted at the very top, just to grab eyeballs.
Some of the headings with equally raunchy pics one finds there are, “Babes flaunt assets online”, “Bollywood babes unbuttoned”, “Hotties’ peek-a-boo moments”, “Celebs caught pantyless” and “Celebs’ oops moment!” I feel ashamed even typing them, but not the newsgroup which can do anything for money.
What I am afraid is that such acts leave the fourth pillar vulnerable to attack. In their lust for readership to plunder advertising revenue, they are ready to sell the very essence of news. I agree that these pics are collated from public domain but why plaster them on the news website?
I urge Press Council of India to take suo moto cognizance and issue appropriate guidelines. Now is the Time to put an end.
Apology Tourism
One of my friends visited a WW2 Extermination Camp, Majdanek in Poland. He was all oohs and aahs about the atrocities committed and what he learnt of them. Hitler this and Hitler that! I agree that people endured some unspeakable atrocities there, but does that give us a right to turn it into a tourist place?
One major argument for turning such structures into tourist places is that future generations can learn from the mistakes. “Once you see it for yourself, the horror of it, you will become a better person”, is what we are fed. But does it really happen? Apart from adding to tourism revenue and serving some political agenda, they serve little purpose.
How are we better than Hitler? Do we not stand and let people get killed en masse all around the globe; by mighty and crippled economies alike? Some kill there own people, some kill abroad. Point being, tour of such places does not help reduce the horror. Attracting opulent patrons to such places, I call “Apology Tourism”.
The truth is we just want to sit in our cozy little houses, oblivious of the current. We wait for our present to turn into past so that our children can tour the upcoming horror houses. Thus keeping the Apology Tourism alive.
Lets not be hypocrites. We just need tourist places to go and spend our holidays. And since we have lots of weekends to kill, we have gone a step ahead and converted tales of human miseries to our convenience.
Hardly any tourist would have sobbed at Majdanek. One thing he/she would have done for sure is to click pictures to put online. We should stop hiding and admit that we just go there to enjoy. Learning from history is a sob story and a bad one at that. If any tourist ends up making a difference, I would be proven wrong. But I seriously doubt.
Given the inaction of people like us who sneeze when it breeze, such tourist destinations will keep presenting themselves around the world. Our weekends stand booked.
कश्मीर त्रासदी: माँ के आंसू
न देखा कभी सैलाब ऐसा,
क्या ऐसी भूल मुझसे हुई,
चहुंओर नीर तांडव पसरा,
लगा रात रोई है माँ मेरी।
प्रकृति कहर था सुना बहुत,
दिखा तो मेरी रूह काँपी,
जल-थल आपस में समा गए,
लगा रात रोई है माँ मेरी।
धन-धान सबकुछ तबाह हुआ,
मुह मोड़ तूने न सुनी दुआ,
हिम्मत भी मेरी डगा गयी,
लगा रात रोई है माँ मेरी।
बन्दूक से दुश्मन करता वार,
सह जाता वो भी एक बार,
पन-हमले से ऐसा लाचार,
लगा रात रोई है माँ मेरी।
हूँ दाने-दाने को मोहताज,
अपनों से भी मैं बिछड़ गया,
है नदी जहाँ था भरा बाजार,
लगा रात रोई है माँ मेरी।
मानव, जंतु सब बहे निढाल,
मेरा घर क्यों तूने छीन लिया,
अमृत ही है विष बन बैठा ,
लगा रात रोई है माँ मेरी।
डर लगता मुझको सन्नाटा,
दुआ आज मैं बस यही करूँ,
हिम्मत मुझको देना दाता,
माँ के आंसू मैं पौंछ सकूँ।।
Necessties v/s Luxuries
Recently I received a forwarded email. Author put forward the popular view about Necessities v/s wasteful Luxuries. I didn’t agree with him. Below are the excerpts followed by my reply.
Original Post
- Author was habitual buyer of wasteful luxuries items. He owned an iPod unused for 6 months; a Handy Cam unused for 2 years; a DVD player unused for last 1 month.
- He said that people are not happy with what they have. They always strive for bigger car, house, TV, laptop etc. He questions if these things are actually required.
- I have a LCD TV and a smart phone. “My old man was happier with just a BPL TV and a modest cell phone”, he said.
- If we strive for things that make life easier rather than so called luxuries, we will be happier.
- “Our predecessors treated Necessities as Luxuries; we are looking at Luxuries as Necessities”, he concluded.
My Reply
- The reason of not using a lot of old things is that we get bored after certain time. Simple.
- Need is a subjective term. Helicopter might be necessity for Narendra Modi but is a luxury for layman like me.
- Lets stretch authors argument a little. Why even a modest phone when we can post a letter? Why even a BPL TV when we can have newspapers, magazines and kathputali shows?
- Today I check email on my smart phone, do video conference, relish 3D TV. It’s called technological advancement.
- Our predecessors had a set of Luxuries and so do we. Flight travel, a luxury earlier is a necessity today. My Dad avoids it still. Does it make me any wrong or him any right?
My God, Your God
It was waiting to snap any moment. Whether a prominent Fakir is God or not, has been debated for some time. However the level of discourse seems to have come down of late. With self-proclaimed representatives on either sides uttering choicest of expletives on prime-time, it has become an embarrassment for the followers.
My parents are practicing Hindus and heed to every temple under the sun. They also go to Baba’s shrine to pay respects. I am agnostic to idol worship and have never given too much thought into.
More than faith, the issue seems to be the struggle for power. With the rise of the followers of Baba, a new religious authority has come up with equally fat belly and equally fat purse. So who takes the cake?
Whether Baba can be considered a Hindu God and can be placed in Hindu temples is the contention here. The body that guides the temples says NO with the other side lobbying for it. There are allegations of power play, money changing hands and what not.
As if it was not bad enough that successive generations have become disillusioned with idol worships, these fights have made it worse.
Pro-Baba lobby says, “Our sentiments are hurt; when you say remove him from temples”. The other side says, “Our sentiments are hurt; when you force his idol in our temples”.
I say, my brain hurts. Help me God!
What has become of Media?
“Ma’am, any comments on the young actress nabbed for prostitution? Ma’am any comments?” “This was the star actress ladies and gentlemen, who is seen dodging our questions. Bollywood it seems does not want to speak.”
A leading English news channel that talks of one-upmanship aired this. Why in the hell should the actress have commented? Because her movie on this sensitive issue is running in theaters? Because media could connect these two and chalk out a 30 min segment? Kudos!
No one should have aired her identity in the first place. Media has crucified the young lady for the sake of a story. I agree it’s a grey area legally. But given that media regularly question people on propriety, they doing such things is a huge low. What if she was the family member of one of the media honchos? Would things have been the same?
TV media were at least sensitive to blur out her face, but print and online media were the worst. No point naming individuals. Everyone at large was the culprit. Also Naming and Shaming don’t work nowadays as there is no longer any shame; only a race to an attention grabbing news segment.
It’s very sad. Even if she is pronounced guilty (which by the way she has not been yet), no one has the right to parade her story publicly. I know most media people would agree but are helpless given the deteriorating editorial freedom. Money has completely taken over.
Friends, Just so you know, what you have done is beyond repair.
iPhone 6, Apple Watch and us
iPhone 6, Apple Watch. These two names have been trending since morning.
A number of people remain lined up 24X7 outside Apple Stores since last week. Places in those lines are being traded for serious dough. What is it that makes us so crazy?
We can find analogy in the cinematic world. Salman’s movie releases in the North or Rajnikant’s movie releases in the South. People tend to go one over other. They rejoice, enjoy and try to outshine the ever opulent neighbor. Why?
There are two sides to it. One is the devotion to the brand and the personality. People believe in Apple. They want to celebrate it. They want to rejoice. It’s a festival as I have stated sometime before.
Next aspect is jealousy. With the ever expanding world and ever spreading wealth, there is a certain desire to better the other person. People like me follow the set trends and gloat in the possession of the marquee. Why people in a country like India would save money for months to get their hands on the Holy Grail, is not that difficult to understand.
I guess what lies underneath is the satisfaction it provides. I don’t agree that iPhone 6 will provide substantially better services than other market leaders. Then again it has never been about real performance. Why would we love to dine in a 5 star regardless of the taste? It’s about feeling special.
Splashing money is considered an age old reflection of social status. That’s why one goes beyond means to buy an Audi. That’s why one despises Nano. It’s about getting societal acknowledgment. I remember a colleague who looked crestfallen when no one acknowledged his new iPad that he so obviously was trying to flaunt.
For those who disagree, Have you ever seen someone spending beyond his/her means and not flashing the iPhone in front of his peers and not gloating in self glory?
Best Hindi News Anchor
In this era of 24×7 media, the number of news channels is increasing day by day. Most look clones of each other though. For those who doubt, here are some names, India News, News India, India TV, News Nation, News 24 and News Express.
The fight is on for the prime-time with each channel lining up its own set of debate moderators. I claim to be one of the avid viewers of these debates. Even then if you ask me who the best Hindi debate anchor is, I will struggle.
Each one has his/her own style. There are likes of Gentle Shweta Singh Aajtak, Probing Neha Pant Abp News, On the money Saurav Sharma India TV, No nonsense Abhigyan Prakash NDTV, Luxuriously lazy Deepak Chaurasia India News among others.
But one Gentleman that stands out for me is Ravish Kumar NDTV. Hailing from the Hindi heartland, Mr. Kumar is one person who holds debates in the true sense. He eases the participants into such a comfort zone where there are no high pitch voices, no headaches. He passes such canny silent remarks which rattle even the toughest. He gives everyone so much time that the real nuances of the debate come to the fore.
He take no side, lose no temper and raise no voice; still is able to bring out the story. He laughs; he seems lazy; he jokes; he uses vintage proverbs and brings in a mystic touch. He proves that to make your voice heard, you need not be loud. He believes that all views need to be heard, however absurd they may be.
He speaks the least, still is able to steer the debate with his wit and wisdom. He shows that true value of a smile is not lost as yet.
Well done Mr. Ravish Kumar.
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