Mumbai & 26/11

Mumbai woke up to a terror struck on Thursday. Every single news channel and media personnel had pitched in their tent and vowed to provide their viewer 'exclusive' gory pictures of terrorism. Professional ethics and that they may indirectly help the terrorists by showisng operations was all lost.

Now, after the terrorists have been gunned down and our prestige restored, lot of post mortem as how and why it happened.

As a common man you and I too can judge as to how it happened. As Arun Shourie, MP put it in one of the programs, we failed to have a realistic view of the neighbouring country. First and foremost no one is made accountable for these attacks on civilians. All the information provided by the intelligence agencies gathers dust. Politicians are busy securing their chair and follow vote bank appeasement. After a few words of praise of unsung heroes, everything is forgotten till we face another one.

As a citizen, am I not entitled to security? Should I be a VIP for that? It is my right and I dont have to beg for it.

Stringent laws needs to brought in and autonomy has to be given to military and para military forces. Why should they seek permission from those sitting in air conditioned rooms to send NSG commandos to tackle the terrorists? Why do we have to act only when there is a crisis?

I hope some good sense prevails over the government and they take measures to prevent such occurances in future.

Chandrayaan - a glorious moment

Kudos to the entire team of ISRO on the launch of chandrayan - first unmanned mission to moon from India.

It is a proud moment for every Indian. Great effort and team work.
Just goes to show that we can do anything, if we stay united.

Beijing - Bindra bags gold

A country with more than 100 million population was starved for a gold medal(individual) at the Olympics.

Today, a young man of 26 years, Abhinav Bindra, erased all that longing, disappointment of the people, by winning gold medal in the 10 m air rifle competition.

Kudos to this young man for making his country proud. What a moment when Indian National Anthem was played at the medal awarding ceremony. Every Indian would cherish this moment.

However, this elation is slightly marred by all the governments handing over booties to the winner.
Why is it that a sports person especially, if he is preparing for an individual event, has to make it to the top on his own and then everyone wants to contribute? Why cant the government/schools identify and train the talented youngsters and prepare them for competitions as Olympics?

Hope atleast after this, some measures would betaken to encourage individual sporting events.

08.08.08

What does 08.08.08 signify? Other than the date, that can occur only once, it also marks the beginning of Beijing Olympics.

But for many Eco friendly and environment aware citizens, it would be a day to contribute their might in their fight against global warming. Yes, Exnora and RAAC and other NGOs have launched "8888 campaign" to check global warming. It is, put in simple terms, ' switch off lights for 8 minutes on 8.8.08'.

A small step to a great effort. Three cheers to Exnora's 8888 campaign.

Solar Eclipse & Mark Twain

Does the title sound weird?
Today, a solar eclipse would occur in India around 4 p.m. and will last for about 2 hours. Here, it would be partial, but elsewhere in Canada and Russia, it would be total.
An eclipse is intriguing for everyone -from old to young and scientists to students .
Excitement, superstitions and curiosity surround every eclipse.
As per Hindu mythology, the sun is said to be swallowed by two serpents rahu and ketu. Hence astrologers look at solar eclipse as an event that can cast good or bad spell on an individual.
Media makes the most of this event, by telecasting news, views by various astrologers, astronomers and common man. But thanks to this widespread telecast, most of us today are aware as to what causes an eclipse.
As I discussed this with my octogenarian father, he recalled a book "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court" by Mark Twain on solar eclipse.
I am not sure how many would have read this or if a copy is even available.
This 1889 novel describes how a Connecticut resident (Hank) goes back in time and is found guilty by the King Arthur. As he along with other prisoners are lined up to the gallows, Hank recalls that the solar eclipse would occur on that day. He challenges the King that if he is not set free, , he would force the sun to set. Hank is naturally ridiculed by the king until it becomes dark due to solar eclipse. All the people present, acknowledge his "greatness".
Let us all appreciate and adore this spectacular natural phenomenon "Eclipse"

Flower Show - A Visual treat

A nature lover, I was thrilled, when I read about the annual flower show at Ooty - a mere 100 kms from where I stay at Coimbatore. We decided to drive down enjoying the scenic beauty along the way. A thrilling, winding and at times scary turns led us to the wonderful hill station Ooty. The coonoor railway station and the toy train were a sight to remember. I had travelled by the toy train way back as a student.


A huge arch made of coronations welcomed us into the Botanical Garden


From there on, it was a colourful treat of phlox, pansys, tube roses, the list is endless.









A carpet of flowers



A floral salute to the scientists to ISRO

Exquisite vegetable carvings by Defence staff college, Wellington

Sabattical over - back to blogging

A lot happened around the world during the two month long sabattical. The IPL cricket fever gripped the nation, spiralling prices, summer, "nargis" that hit myanmar and earthquake that overpowered all the controversies of Olympics at China, all went past my busy schedule of visiting places, attending marriages and entertaining guests.

A specific news item in The Hindu during the last week made me to break out of the slumber.

At the investiture ceremony, the wife of a jawan who was killed in action, broke down and was uncontrollable. Finally she had to be escorted out.
On the same page was another news that the veterans of the three services have planned for a hunger strike on the 27th May demanding better pay scales for the service personnels.

As such the number of people opting for the defence services are dwindling dangerously. At the same time, who are serving are opting out of the service. The forces have become dissatisfied lot with no one to address their problems. Leave alone the politicians, even the general public is unaware of the arduous life a defence personnel leads.

So where lies the solution? Working in the defence services must be made mandatory for every citizen like in most of the western countries. The shortfall in the manpower could be overcome and at the same time, it would create an awareness among general public.

Is someone listening?

Train Journeys Then & Now

As a Mumbaite, train journey has been a part and parcel of my life since school days. In spite of the crowd, it was always fun to meet friends, chat and exchange interesting notes.
During vacations, we had to undertake atleast a day and two nights journey before we could reach our native town.
Exhaustive plans were made for the journey. We children collected maximum possible books, cards, board games etc. Mother was busy packing all the three meals. Other than a cup of milk, we were never indulged in outside food. Once we entered the train and our luggages were placed safely under the seats, we looked around in the compartment in search of company. During that one day's journey, children shared everything from books to food and spent their time together as if they were friends for long. The adults exchanged notes about their families and sometimes these friendships continued beyond the journey.
In contrast, today, people prefer to travel by air. Even if they travel by train, the moment they get in, if they are single, they keep sending messages on their mobile, or listen to music from an ipod or open up their laptops. Virtually there is no communication between the passengers. even if they travel for a whole day. Food is rarely packed from home. There is a continous stream of vendors selling all kinds of eatables from wafers to cutlets. There are children who would want to buy everything that crosses their seat and surprisingly quite a few parents give into it.

The only thing which still is part of a long distance journey is a poor child cleaning the compartment and asking for alms and most just turn their heads away.
Has technology erased the human touch in us?

Trip to Tirupathi

"Last weekend I went to Tirupathi". For almost everyone this could be a statement. But for me, it was an event.
Born an Iyengar, it may surprise many that I had not visited Tiruapathi, even once in my 52 long years. After umpteen failed attempts for the last 25 years, If I could visit Tirupathi, it cannot be called anything short of an event.
First time in '84, a well planned trip alongwith with my newly wedded sister and her inlaws, we took a train direct from Mumbai to Renigunta. (closest railway station to Tirupathi) The train was diverted from Guntakal (a station short of Renigunta).
Thereafter, I tried to join in with every possible person making a trip to Tirupathi. But it never materialised.
Sometime in the late 90's my husband casually said that he has booked a trip to Tirupathi by TTDC bus for the following morning. Probably, I was too exited about the trip and hada severe attack of asthma requiring hospitalisation.
I was so depressed that I just stopped planning or even thinking of a trip to Tirupathi.
Last weekend, without much plan, we set out to attend my sister's nephew's thread ceremony at Tirupathi.
And so finally, I set my foot on the seven hills and had a wonderful darshan not once but twice the same day - "Jab dheta hai to chappar phadke"

At the end of the trip, I can say, 'kurai onrum illai maraimurthy kanna'

Budget Blues

Finance Minister P Chidambaram was the man of the day on the 29th Feb. '08. He knew he had to keep in mind the coming general elections and present a budget to please all. One must admit, that the man is an expert at it.

All the news channels had experts to analyse and voice their opinions. Of course, the public on the street also had their share of the glare.

Going deeper into it, a couple of things which gnaws me is being overlooked by most. It is not likely to affect anyone in the near future.

Firstly, Rs. 6000 crore waiver of loans to farmers. Who or from where would this amount come from?
While I fully empathise with the farmers, I doubt if this would be a permanent solution.
How are they going to identify each of the farmer and pay off his debt? Has any plan been formulated ?If not, in this pre election year, it is sure to be misused in the hands of the politicians, corporators and local panchayat heads.

One need to understand as to why a farmer takes loan - for buying seeds and fertilisers.Would it therefore not be a better idea to have NGOs in local areas to assess the quantity and kind of seed requirement and let then distribute it. It is better to give in kind than in cash. Thereafter at harvest, make the farmers repay in the form of seeds for the next season A part of the harvest may also be bartered for the fertilizers for the next year.

Another probable solution is to form a co-operative society of the farmers like the Amul.
At least you would make the farmers self sufficient.

The second one is the income tax. This again would benefit the salaried class, a select urban population No doubt more spending power is a boost for the economy but at the same time, more two/three wheelers and cars is more pollution and traffic chaos.

I am a working women myself, but I still don't understand why they need to give a higher tax exemption limit for the women. We get the same pay as the men then why different tax structure?

There is a huge primany deficit and no one knows how this would be taken care of. Of course, that is the responsibility of the next Finance Minister.
Otherwise, this year's budget has nothing very interesting. No criticisms or protests.It was more or less on the expected lines.

Just Justice

The rolling bar at the bottom of the tv screen of a news channnel read "Lindsay does a stint at morgue". They did not think it essential to show more details.

Probably many read it as "stunt" and did not give much importance. I am sure many are not even aware as to who is Lindsay (Lohan). Anyway the whole country was rejoicing over the record victory of our cricket team at Perth.

Lindsay Lohan is an actress, punished for drunken driving. Apart from her jail term, the judge ordered her to spend two days of four hours each at the hospital morgue and then at the emergency room. This was necessary to understand the ill effects of drunken and rash driving.
No media or her fans could change this.

Compare this with our own Salman khan who too, a few years back, killed the innocent poor people sleeping on the footpath. He just ran away from the scene. When he was arrested and tried, he came out on bail and still no justice has been meted out.
The media also is to be blamed for all this. They give undue importance to all these stars and dont stand for the victims. Obviously, the victims are poor and of no use to them.

Now he and the whole media take pride that he is flying to London to unveil his statue at the Toussads.

Will the poor and non celebrity ever get justice in India?

Taare Zameen Par - nahin, har ek ke dil mein

I came out of the theatre with moist eyes and a heavy heart after watching "taare zameen par" (stars on earth). And I am sure, everyone who watched the movie also did.

I have been an ardent fan of Aamir Khan, since his 'quayamat se quayamat tak" - his first movie. Except for an out and out commercial like mela, I have seen, and enjoyed every single movie of his.

Kudos to Aamir khan for bringing it to the people, the mind of a child. The child actor, darsheel steals the show. The intensity with which he has portrayed the emotions, is amazing. No wonder his name appears the first in the list of cast.

This movie should be telecast with subtitles and should reach the maximum people. Every parent and teacher should see the movie. I am sure, they will be able to relate to every child, special or not, better thereafter. The best thing about the movie is that you feel part of the movie.

Critically, the movie at times tend to extend certain scenes like the one describing the child's mental agony and the painting competition. May be exaggeration is required, to drive home the points.

Having seen it in the south, it was sad to note that there were hardly 50 people in the theatre. Hope the word spreads like a wildfire and as we say in Tamil"yam petra inbam peruga iviyagamum" (let the whole world be blessed with happiness as I am).

Sister-in law - a finding

There has always been a complain among women about their sisters-in-law. Apparently, this seems to stem from the word to denote the relation. "Nanand" in hindi denotes one's husband's sister. This word is derived from the sanskrit word "na-ananda" meaning one who can never be made happy or satisfied.

Possibly, a change in the terminology would improve the relations.