Love , Whatever It Means …………………

Was looking for a topic to write on and decided to do it on a word which first came to my mind . Nobody in the world has ever spared others from Gyan they have on this topic . So here goes my two cents although I may not be the Pro here :-

Well more than what Love is , we need to know what it does not encompasses -

Possessiveness , Expectations , Jealousy , Lust , Fear , Restraint  . All of them singularly or otherwise are bane to idea of Love .

Love is Eternal . Love means that the person can just live their life exactly as they choose and you will always be there for them no matter what .  Its perfectly fine if you feel proud to be with someone but circumstance change , people change  and life changes .But love is not affected by any of that .

Love is Unconditional .  Few attributes like Looks , money , status , intellect cannot sustain relationship for long . An unconditional love as they say is  that spiritual bond  which is complete in itself and does not needs any other attribute to survive .

Love is Noble . It changes you for good . Love is when you take away the feeling, the passion, the romance- and you find out you still care for that person.

Love is Sacrifice . Love brings greatest sorrows . But it is worth the pain . Those moments are perfect, they are right. Those moments make all the suffering worth while. It’s those moments we should live for.

To sum up , love is mother of all virtues .

“And think not you can guide the course of love. For love, if it finds you worthy, shall guide your course.”
Kahil Gibran

 

Spurious Case Of A Political Cartoon

It has not been long since Mamata Banerjee , President of Trinamool Congress , the person who apparently holds key to UPA coalition in India , arrested Professor on charges of forwarding her cartoon to his friends via email . The latest row is related to cartoon depicted in NCERT book for 11th standard in schools projecting BR Ambedkar where he is being questioned for his slow pace of framing Constitution . At the outbreak of controversy , Government lost no time to apologize for the same and ordered review of all the cartoons in books .
Political cartoon which rely on exaggeration and sarcasm depicted in Graphics are highly unlikely to appease all the sections of society especially political class .

Above Image does not carry even an ounce of Exaggeration keeping in mind what is happening in country !

It is to be understood that it is not expected from cartoon to Eulogize leaders . They are supposed to be represent repercussions of decision taken by them . Cartoons have , are and will always be sarcastic . It is you Mr Leader , who needs to cultivate a Sense of Humor. It is more and more Democracy and tolerence which will cure existing ills of democracy (read dissent) and not Censorship . Are Economy is sliding down , Industrial growth is plummeting , Inflation is soaring , scams are siphoning are resources . And we are discussing whether cartoons are offensive or not . We will be Butt of Jokes in World if we do not get our priorities right.

Jai Hind

 

Vegetarianism : 10 Reason to choose this Way of Life

Have been receiving  appreciation for earlier post on Corruption on Twitter and via Email .  So I was looking for a topic for the next post to which i could relate personally . I am asked this question now and then – Why Vegetarian ? (It’s something not quite expected from a Punjabi and that too a Delhiite / Yes , People here live for Butter Chicken . No offense to anyone ) . So here I present my case :-

1. Longer Life : While Counting benefits its good to start from personal benefits . According to studies Vegetarians live about seven years longer, and vegans about 15 years longer than meat eaters .

2.It’s Good for Heart : Fruits and vegetables are full of antioxidant nutrients that protect the heart and its arteries and contains no saturated fat or cholesterol. Incidentally, cholesterol levels for vegetarians are 14 percent lower than meat eaters.

3.It keeps Obesity away : Diets that are higher in vegetable proteins are much lower in fat and calories and hence such people are less prone to weight related disorders .

4.Detoxification of Body : Vegetarian diet help in purging harmful toxins which are primarily responsible for various illness.Meat and fish on the other hand  contain a lot of residue from toxic chemicals.

5. Because I refuse to be cruel to animals: If Slaughterhouses were made of glass , then  everyone would have been a Vegetarian .  Deprived of veterinary care, exercise, sunlight, and even the feel of grass beneath their feet, these living, breathing, thinking, feeling beings, whose senses are so much like our own, suffer and die at the rate of millions per day just so that we can have food made from them. Deciding what we will eat means choosing between the horrors of factory farming and respect for animals.

6. Food Security : An inherent problem with eating meat is that an animal must be fed roughly ten pounds of plants to produce one pound of meat. Therefore, much more food is consumed to support the animals than would be needed if more people were vegetarians. In the world where people die by Hunger , this is utter waste of resources which otherwise could be used to feed poor .

7. Because we care for Our Environment and Ecosystems : To make room for enough farmland, the meat
industry constantly destroys vital ecosystems, thus taking away the habitats of myriad species and reducing
biodiversity. The meat industry also contributes significantly to global warming. A vegetarian diet also conserves water.

8. It’s Economical :  We don’t need any statistics to prove this . A well balanced Vegetarian diet is much cheaper than that for same amount of a Non Vegetarian one . Also it provides much more variety .

9. Healthy Bones , Lesser  Risk for Cancer , Diabetes and Kidney stones : A vegetarian diet helps build healthy bones because vegetarians absorb more calcium than meat eaters.

10. Economic Vote : I show support of the meat industry and the way they operate when I purchase and use their products. Also  the sacrifice I make when I forgo meat is nothing compared to the animals, its life.

“As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”  ~    Pythagorus

 

Corruption in India

Corruption according to the dictionary  can be defined as the practice of dishonest and fraudulent conduct  by those in power for private gains . It includes practices like bribery , nepotism , fraud , embezzlement etc  . The phenomenon is not as simple as just sounded and is certainly not confined to India . It is rather a global  phenomenon . There have been instance when  Governments in Japan fell because of charges of corruption . In USA their is systematic process of lobbying which influences the policy making at highest level .

A History

India of today is far different from what Rabindranath Tagore dreamed when he wrote ” Into the heaven of freedom , let my country awake ” . On the contrary , it has been reduced to the state of decadence because corruption , illiteracy , poverty and many other evils .

Economy of India was under socialist inspired policies for quite a long time from 1950′s to late 1980′s . The policies were characterized  by extreme regulation , protectionism and public ownership . These were in turn vulnerable to pervasive corruption and low growth . This in a way institutionalized corruption in the public life . And today , corruption is not just the part of system , but it has become the system itself .

In 2011, India was ranked 95th out of 178 countries in transparency International ‘s corruption perception index . Over the years , India has been consistent with such dismal record . Recent scams like 2G spectrum scam , CWG scam with mind bogglingly large figures are still fresh in public memory . According to news reports , India has more black money stashed abroad than rest of the world combined . Indian owned Swiss bank accounts assets are 13 times the National debt .

Causes

1. In India , spirituality has given way to materialism and consumerism  which figure in the topmost priorities and morals & ethics are at the bottom of the ladder . Willingness to sacrifice for the sake of not getting involved in corrupt dealings is conspicuous by its absence amongst the most .

2. In the lack of effective legislations and loopholes in the system , corruption is considered as the low risk and highly profitable and rewarding proposition .

3.Judicial Process – There is delay in disposing of corruption cases  Corrupt  officials even if caught can manage to get scot free in due course of time by manipulation of system .

4. Red Tapism – Long and complex procedure breeds corruption . License system bears testimony to the fact .

Effects

Corruption has far reaching consequences due to its pervasiveness and scale .

1. Corruption begins at the top and distorts the development programmes and policies .The benefit of schemes does not reaches the target group .

2. Money earned through corruption is smuggled abroad in safe havens . It is often used in anti social practices .

3.Shoddy infrastructure – When there is preferential treatment in awarding contracts , the infrastructure created is of low quality .

4. It hugely hampers the credibility of nations and economic boom .

Measures

Gandhiji once said ” To check the corruption , we require high code of morals and extreme vigilance on part of those who are free from corrupt practices “.

1.Full transparency should be adopted in official dealing . Defense deals and other deals involving large amount of money should be scrutinized by independent bodies rather than in house screening where political pressure can swing the decision .

2.Cases while in judiciary should be accelerated and time bound .

3.Bodies like CVC , CBI and Lokayukta should be headed by people of high integrity and should be autonomous truly with executive powers .

4.Electoral Reforms -Election expenses should not be allowed to cross limits . Money used should be accounted.

5. People and society can play significant role here  We should  not cast are votes on the basis of caste , creed or religion but on the basis of values and character of candidate . RigVeda also says that only ethically pure and intellectually capable people should be allowed to administer the country .

6.E Governance – The official records should be digitized to remove the scope of corrupt practices .

7. All politicians should be made to declare their assets and some measures should be taken to scrutinize the holdings .

8. Real Estate – We should free the economy particularly those administering properties and dealings . MCDs and other local bodies should be overhauled making them more accountable .

(This is the longest and most exhaustive post I ever wrote .Good luck to me .)

 

The Google Story : A Review

Nothing better than doing a comeback to blogging with something as astounding as a story of a thing which is part of our identity , we , the progenies of Internet age . If you live on this planet and you haven’t heard about it , you probably are living under a rock .  Google has changed the way we look for things and how we know them . The utter banality of the phrase “Google it ” shows the impact .

The book by David A Vise and Mark Malseed narrates the journey of two PHD students from Stanford  – Sergey Brin an Larry Page who conceived the idea of making internet search an incredible user experience , a market ruled by few but hugely ignored . The book delves into the lives of the co-founders and their academic orientations . Larry came up with Page Rank algorithm to be used in Search Engine which sets it apart from it counterparts . It ranks the search results taking into account  citations or the hyperlinks to the web-page  and gives the unbiased search results .Google’s search results were more useful to Googlers than anything returned by competing search engines, catapulting Google to the forefront of the search engine turf wars.

The book shows you how the duo stick with the idea they begin with  , they made deals with Venture capitalists on their on terms , then their IPO with online bidding , something unheard and undone before . It is hard to believe that Internet Advertising giant did not spend a penny on their own advertising . It was innovation and creativity which saw them through . Authors have described the Google’s work-culture which attracted most sought after talent  and their policy of devoting 20% of employee time for innovation and novel ideas lead to revolutionary products like Google News . It gives a valuable lesson to budding entrepreneurs that in the process of brand building and retaining  , customer experience should be primary focus .

 

Hope is good thing ….

Quoting reel life  wisdom in these immortal words from The Shawshank Redemption:-

” Hope is a good thing , may be the best of things and no good thing ever dies .”

Few days back when mass revolt in Tunisia ousted the ossified regime  , it was difficult to imagine  that much similar thing could happen in  Egypt .  18 day mass movement with non violent protest culminated into the dawn of democracy and new lease of life for Egypt  as it brought down the 30 year old military dictatorship .  Hosni Mubarak dominated Egypt for 3 decades  . During his regime  , he maintained peaceful relations with Israel who killed his predecessor and he crushed the rising  Islamic movement .  He declared the state of emergency that barred unauthorized assembly , restricted the freedom of  speech and allowed police to jail people indefinitely . He enjoyed the support of US and received $1.3 billion  annual aid from US  .

The most intriguing  aspect of this revolt is that  , Mubarak was toppled  by radically new forces – a largely secular , non violent  , youth led democracy movement which brought down repressive regime. It was more of a digital revolution and was largely if not completely propelled by social media . It atleast partly began from Facebook and gained momentum through Twitter  .  The sheer magnitude of this humanitarian moment and democratic opportunity will be remembered for ages and will give us reason to believe that circumstances will improve  and life will be better .

The other issue which I want to mention here is the incarceration of  Binayak  Sen  .  Many international organization  like Amnesty International  , Global Health Council  , British House of Commons and individuals like Noam Chomsky and Amartya Sen have expressed their disappointment over this trial  . This largely symbolizes the common man’s predicament  and every individual’s democratic right , right to have an ideology and most importantly  , right to have a better society .  Pediatrician by profession and Vice president of People’s Union of Civil Liberties  , Dr. Sen has brought forth his views on human rights violation  and atrocities committed in the name of anti naxalite operations  . Sen has been in touch with Narayan Sanyal, a jailed Marxist ideologue, but this has always been with the formal permission, and in the presence, of the jail authorities. Does this warrant a charge of sedition and life imprisonment? It is reported that he carried letters to the Maoists from Sanyal. These letters need to be published to expose the crudity of the trumped up charges.  Naxalism is a alarm for us to look beyond the soaring GDP growth rates and Stock Market victories and to aim for more progressive and inclusive development  .

Also revelation of  numerous scams  like 2G scam , Adarsh Housing society scam  , Commonwealth games and other big and small scam  has become the order of the day . Currency worth more than our national income has been  stashed away in foreign banks . Such instances of  corruption and crony capitalism  if not dealt with strenuously might land up in Egypt’s situation   .

But there is hope that we will  overcome the challenges coming before us  as our thoughts are  penned in these lines  :

“I find I’m so excited I can barely sit or hold a thought in my head.  I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.  I hope I can make it across the border.  I hope I can see my friend and shake his hand.  I hope the Pacific is as blue as it is in my dreams.  I hope.”

 

Case Reopens : No one killed Jessica…

There could not have been a better beginning for 2011 than this . Ladies and Gentlemen , prepare for the ovation , Here’s why -

1. Because we , living in the times of Dabanggs , Golmaals and Teesmarkhans , can’t really afford to  miss this one .  No , it’s not just the “relative factor” .The  movie is based on 1999 real life incident which shook the national conscience and initiated judicial activism in a rare case which could easily have been Open and Shut Case . Film bodes well for Hindi cinema which is not too keen on reality and the very concept of Justice though Aamir , Udaan kinds has kept hopes alive  .

2.Because of  brilliant and soulful music by  Amit Trivedi and lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya  who have previously been acclaimed for Aamir , Dev D and Udaan . Song like ‘Dilli’ , ‘Aitbaar’ and ‘Aali Re’ has enhanced the impact of dark and compelling moments of the movie . I have been awed by their consistent brilliance and would like to elaborate more on them in a separate post .

3.Because of power packed performance by Rani Mukherjee  in the role of ‘proud to be bitch’ , fearless journalist with crackling chutzpah . Vidya Balan  has been applauded for her fine portrayal  of Sabrina (Victim’s sister ) .Her silent , subtle and unglamorous  portrayal speaks volume of her talent .

4 .For the sheer brilliance of  director RajKumar Gupta  who did his directorial debut with ‘Aamir’ and deserves applause for making a movie which comments on dark underbelly of Delhi where power is something which is more abused than it is used , be it politicians , traffic cops ,  police or rich socialites which means if you are somebody , then you can even get away after murdering someone .

5. Because this can happen to anyone . The question here isn’t – Who killed  Jessica ? The question is who killed justice in thousands of pending cases which did not receive such media glare and where culprits  are moving scot-free . Each of those cases symbolizes rot in democracy and judiciary .

6. Because I don’t find any reason for not watching it  .

I rest my case .

 

How wrong can you be ?

I have written book reviews  here from quite sometime , so thought of including  movies here  . Have been tired of seeing the movies with special effects , high tech gadgets , car chases . Just wanted to see a movie with real humans dealing with imperfections of human mind , its insecurities , its urge to delve into new and unknown places . And here it is  “The Reader ” .

Well , Reader is not just another Nazi flick . It deals with the deeper issues and is based on a novel by the same name by Bernhard Schlink . It’s really intriguing to see an intimate relationship between two complete strangers with a  large age difference which eventually has a  profound impact over their entire life .  Kate Winslet has convincingly portrayed the character of Hannah Schmitz  who meets a boy , Micheal , half of her age with whom she begins an affair which lasts over a month . Later on he discover while attending  court proceedings   that she was SS guard at one  of the Nazi concentration camps in Aushwitz .  It is a complex film that does not gives easy answers .The story does not preaches anything and lets the audience to draw out what they make out of it  – was the love affair morally  justified  ?  On Hannah ‘s side she was giving sexual favour to the boy so that he reads to her though she didn’t confide in him of her being an illiterate .   Our egos and the  fear of ignominy does not allow us to accept our weaknesses, even if it means the  lifetime of misery . Can the shame of illiteracy outweigh the shame of committing mass murder . On the other hand Michael is torn between a desire for justice and his knowledge of a secret that may save Hanna.

I loved these lines read by Micheal to Hannah from  the book “Intrigue and Love” by Schiller

“I’m not frightened. I’m not frightened of anything. The more I suffer, the more I’ll love. Danger will only increase my love, it will sharpen it, it will give it spice. I’ll be the only angel you need. You will leave life even more beautiful than you entered it. Heaven will take you back and look at you and say
‘Only one thing can make a soul
complete, and that thing is love.’

 

Back again

Its been quite a long time i wrote  something on this blog . As a new year resolution i swore i l keep this thing alive rather than just customary posts now and then  . My college life is coming to an end . More than end it’s a  beginning of a new journey ,  new hopes  , new resolutions …  I have opportunity to work , learn , grow , mature  and create the value for me . For  all the time i am left with , i am thinking to use it more ” constructively “  ( i just love this word )  .  So of all the thing i have shortisted           —

1) Read some “quality”  literature and move out of  ” my favourite author zone ” and not judging books by their beginning pages n specially covers .

2) Was thinking of revising French .  learnt it once .Well i am not too sure for this one as I dont trust my memory .

3) Spending quality time with family and close friends rather than whiling away my time on idiotbox and  playstation . And yes catching up with old friends as they are precious .

4) Reflecting more on my goals . have been told zillions time by people . Life will be easier if i do this .

5) Learn to drive . Should have done this long back ago . But better late than never .

I  will continue to add and appropriately modify list as things come to my mind .

 

Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

This  26th  Jan ,  India  has  completed  60  years  of  being  republic .  Great moment  for  all  of  us  .  And  for  this  one  some  people  decide  to  remix … oops!!!  recreate  Mile  Sur  Mera  Tumhara  ,  the  song  of  nation  .   Zoom  has done  to  this  beautiful  song  , what  RGV  has   done  to original  Sholay .

A  song   for  national  integration  ,  but  nation  nowhere  to  be  seen .  With SRK   doing  his  signature  spread  the  arm  gimmicks  (  would  have  been surprised  if  he  had  not  done  that )  followed  by  Karan Johar ,  Deepika Padukone  seemed  as  if   she  is  doing  some  soap  Ad  ,   Shahid  still  in Chance  pe   Dance   hangover  ,  Priyanka   chopra   and  Ranbir  Kapoor  …. god  knows  what  they  were   doing  .  And  not  to  forget  ,   Aishwarya  Rai wearing  intricate  makeup  with  Abhishek  Bachhan  who   came  in  package  deal  ,  I  guess .   Shyamak  Davar seemed  completely   outlandish  . If   these  are  the   national  icons   we  look  up  to ,  we   are  off   for  worst  .   The  only thing  I  liked  was  Salman  Khan  bit  where he used    sign  language  with  kids  who can’t   speak  or  hear .

The   original  version  with  beautiful  melody  in  6  minute  clean , completely  enthralling  experience ,    depicted  every  region  and  culture  of  India    and   had  people   from  all  fields  including  common  people  as well  .  But  here  it  seemed  more  like  a  trailer  for  a  big  budget  movie  with  Jumbo  caste  .  For  people  who  have  grown  up  watching Doordarshan  ,  it  was  more  of  a  joke  in  the  name  of  national  integration .  Where  were  all  intellectuals  ,  poets  ,  writes  ,  singers   and  for  a  cricket   loving  nation  ,  no  cricketers  .  Would  have  much  glad  if  they  had included  people  like  Lata  Mangeshkar  ,  APJ Abdul Kalam  and  Sachin Tendulkar  .  Well one   good  thing  happened  we  got  to  know  the  value  of original  .  And  for  Zoom  people   ………  please  “  Isko Dekho “  .