China has done it!
check the link http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/world/asia/29cnd-drug.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Death penalty for a bureaucrat who took bribes for letting substandard food material into the market. I think this is one of the points that truly differentiates a country from others in terms of taking the term 'development' seriously. A term which tells the world, that they are serious about business. Low quality will not be tolerated. Low morales will not be tolerated. The Chinese Government has truly shown the world that they are putting in the right discipline in place.
It might be a harsh sentence, but I think it is very much needed. It gives a message to all the corrupt officials - You might be the next in line. Politicians will think twice before they accepts bribes, or even think about it. The common man wins. It tells the world that the Government cares about the people and does not want the people to suffer.
With great Power comes Great Responsibility, Peter Parker was told. Isnt it so true?
To the communist government, i salute. Take a bow.
Indian Government, Where art thou? It is good to learn from competition...
Monday, June 4, 2007
Anger is injurious to health! (of others)
It is said that Anger is injurious to the health... (of others)
Anger is a natural way of venting out emotional frustrations and breaking free. It cleanses the system. Just like puking, where unwanted objects are thrown out, anger throws out the internal frustration. Being angry is good, it keeps you healthy.
But, there is a flipside to it. What about the person who is facing you when the anger is vented out? There are different ways in which people vent out anger. The first reaction is to shout on top of your voice. Try it. It clears your throat. Sometimes if your ear is blocked, it even clears up the earblock. It helps you to hear more clearly.
The second way of venting out anger, (most common in women) is crying. This usually happens when the person is a bit introvert. For such people, they think that the situation is completely their fault. However they do not understand, it is nobody’s fault. Again, in this case, it clears the tear glands and washes the eye.
The third way, this now gets violent. There are different stages of getting violent. Some have the habit of punching their fists into the wall, some have the habit of punching into other people, and a very few percentage who kill. Killing may range from Cockroaches to human beings. This is the most dangerous anger of all.
Having set all these trends there has been a new trend in expressing anger, The Digital way. Mails and SMS have revolutionalized the way anger is expressed. A little bit of gibberish following the alphabet ‘f’ can convey so much that you can save a lot of vocabulary and energy from typing. Note, if you are really really angry, type with CAPS LOCK ON. Same with SMS’s.
Digital communication has taken off the charm from expressing anger, but it keeps the other person safe from being physically hurt or even killed.
I am lucky I survived. And probably a simple four letter word can cool tempers down. The word is called ‘SORRY’. Oops! I knew I was always bad at mathematics… still learning to count!!! Ok let me correct myself – A simple four letter word can cool tempers down. The word is called ‘SORY’ ;-)
So enjoy. Life is too short to be angry!!!
Anger is a natural way of venting out emotional frustrations and breaking free. It cleanses the system. Just like puking, where unwanted objects are thrown out, anger throws out the internal frustration. Being angry is good, it keeps you healthy.
But, there is a flipside to it. What about the person who is facing you when the anger is vented out? There are different ways in which people vent out anger. The first reaction is to shout on top of your voice. Try it. It clears your throat. Sometimes if your ear is blocked, it even clears up the earblock. It helps you to hear more clearly.
The second way of venting out anger, (most common in women) is crying. This usually happens when the person is a bit introvert. For such people, they think that the situation is completely their fault. However they do not understand, it is nobody’s fault. Again, in this case, it clears the tear glands and washes the eye.
The third way, this now gets violent. There are different stages of getting violent. Some have the habit of punching their fists into the wall, some have the habit of punching into other people, and a very few percentage who kill. Killing may range from Cockroaches to human beings. This is the most dangerous anger of all.
Having set all these trends there has been a new trend in expressing anger, The Digital way. Mails and SMS have revolutionalized the way anger is expressed. A little bit of gibberish following the alphabet ‘f’ can convey so much that you can save a lot of vocabulary and energy from typing. Note, if you are really really angry, type with CAPS LOCK ON. Same with SMS’s.
Digital communication has taken off the charm from expressing anger, but it keeps the other person safe from being physically hurt or even killed.
I am lucky I survived. And probably a simple four letter word can cool tempers down. The word is called ‘SORRY’. Oops! I knew I was always bad at mathematics… still learning to count!!! Ok let me correct myself – A simple four letter word can cool tempers down. The word is called ‘SORY’ ;-)
So enjoy. Life is too short to be angry!!!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Needs and wants
When a man is poor, he has all that he needs and nothing that he wants.
When a man is rich, he has all that he wants and nothing that he needs.
When a man is rich, he has all that he wants and nothing that he needs.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Faith
Yesterday, when i was on the mountain looking at the beautiful lights scattered below, a thought came into my mind...
Sometimes faith is all that we have
And sometimes, faith is all that we need.
Sometimes faith is all that we have
And sometimes, faith is all that we need.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
India Shining?
Off late, i was wondering what life is doing to us? Where is our country going to? What is it that we as humankind after? What is happening to our planet? The heat, the famine, global warming, poverty etc. Gandhi had once said that Development in the country is measured by the development in the cities. Ever since i heard tese words in Richard Attenbourgh's Gandhi, it had etched in my heart. I wanted to do something in rural india. Work with the farmers. I remember as a child, during my holidays, i used to help the workers in the adjoining fields when the bulls ploughed the fields. I was very happy sitting on the bulls and having tread in the fertile soil. When i go back into the same place, there is nobody to plough, the land has lost its fertility. That is when the issue of farmers came into my mind and i decided to prod in detail into this little thought.
I had decided quite early that at 45, i would leave everything and enter into politics. But when i think about it now, i think 45 is too late. I have to start NOW. Many of the lands have become infertile over a period of time. Many farmers are committing suicides. Many of them are quitting farming and coming to the cities in search of work, and in the entire bargain, our country needs to import foodgrain. How did this happen? What was the reason behind it?
I hve reason to believe that the countries are not run by Governments, they are led by multi-trillion multinationals, who control the world economy. Here is an example on how one sngle act of charity screws up our nation. Monsanto is a company that develops genetically altered seeds. This seed claims to be resistant to the deadly dendu illi. For its intial rounds Monsanto sold these seeds at a low price to excit the farmers. The seeds worked, and for an initial period of time, after which there were new pests. During these times they also increased the cost of the seeds. Farmers now used to these seeds started taking loans to buy seeds. And then one factor of the crop like rains, new pests etc, caome in and the crops are destroyed. The farmers had the seeds in stock, but what they did not know was that these seeds had a self termination gene which killed the seeds itself after one year. Hence, the farmer has to throw them and they have to take loan again for acquiring seeds. Soon the soil looses fertility. There is an age old tradition of farming which has survived many centuries, but suddenly how does the land become infertile. Obviously playing with nature, nature has the upper hand to deny productivity.
Crops fail. Farmers commit suicides. The agriculture production declines. India has to import. We become dependant on the multinationals who already have a surplus production in their commodity. They dump the surplus material into India and earn a handsome profit. We, sitting in India, buty them and make them rich. Is India really shining? I doubt so! Reliance has big expansion plans. Of late Reliance has bought out acres and acres of FERTILE Land, for what? Does the Ambanis know to lay seeds? I dont think so.
We sitting in the cities dont even know these problems. We get wheat, rice in the shops, we go and buy them. Who cares if it is imported? Who cares if some farmers have committed suicides for he cant grow crops? We have everything at the tip of our fingertips. Why care for that gauthi who doesnt know to speak English. We are much more learned than him, we have gone abroad, done our MBA and working at Call centres telling an American child information on salt water crocodiles, helping the american boy to do his home work!
I have decided to trudge on a difficult path. One day of my week to begn with, i am going to dedicate myself to the cause. I dont know how, but probably the first step would be to educate myself of the situation, then probably i will be in a better position to decide which way to walk....
I had decided quite early that at 45, i would leave everything and enter into politics. But when i think about it now, i think 45 is too late. I have to start NOW. Many of the lands have become infertile over a period of time. Many farmers are committing suicides. Many of them are quitting farming and coming to the cities in search of work, and in the entire bargain, our country needs to import foodgrain. How did this happen? What was the reason behind it?
I hve reason to believe that the countries are not run by Governments, they are led by multi-trillion multinationals, who control the world economy. Here is an example on how one sngle act of charity screws up our nation. Monsanto is a company that develops genetically altered seeds. This seed claims to be resistant to the deadly dendu illi. For its intial rounds Monsanto sold these seeds at a low price to excit the farmers. The seeds worked, and for an initial period of time, after which there were new pests. During these times they also increased the cost of the seeds. Farmers now used to these seeds started taking loans to buy seeds. And then one factor of the crop like rains, new pests etc, caome in and the crops are destroyed. The farmers had the seeds in stock, but what they did not know was that these seeds had a self termination gene which killed the seeds itself after one year. Hence, the farmer has to throw them and they have to take loan again for acquiring seeds. Soon the soil looses fertility. There is an age old tradition of farming which has survived many centuries, but suddenly how does the land become infertile. Obviously playing with nature, nature has the upper hand to deny productivity.
Crops fail. Farmers commit suicides. The agriculture production declines. India has to import. We become dependant on the multinationals who already have a surplus production in their commodity. They dump the surplus material into India and earn a handsome profit. We, sitting in India, buty them and make them rich. Is India really shining? I doubt so! Reliance has big expansion plans. Of late Reliance has bought out acres and acres of FERTILE Land, for what? Does the Ambanis know to lay seeds? I dont think so.
We sitting in the cities dont even know these problems. We get wheat, rice in the shops, we go and buy them. Who cares if it is imported? Who cares if some farmers have committed suicides for he cant grow crops? We have everything at the tip of our fingertips. Why care for that gauthi who doesnt know to speak English. We are much more learned than him, we have gone abroad, done our MBA and working at Call centres telling an American child information on salt water crocodiles, helping the american boy to do his home work!
I have decided to trudge on a difficult path. One day of my week to begn with, i am going to dedicate myself to the cause. I dont know how, but probably the first step would be to educate myself of the situation, then probably i will be in a better position to decide which way to walk....
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Happy Honeymooning....
A cartton by Morparia which never made it to publication, obviously because of the political clout. But, unfortunately, forwards and blogs are more powerful now than the media! Happy Honeymooning to Abhishekh and Ash and .....
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
The Thakre's
Well, here is a piece of info I came across. Apparently Bal Thackeray or more popularly known as Balasaheb Thackeray has a British connection! Oops! Did I cause a mob to burn down my house, stamp over my car and create a bandh for two days in India. Probably it might be enough reason for such a thing to happen.
Well, I was browsing through some books in a book store and I came across a book called Vanity Fair, written by William Makepeace Thackarey. Yes, you heard it right WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKAREY! Read it again THACKAREY! THACKERAY. I blinked my eyes, it was THACKERAY. I rubbed my eyes! I banged myself into an iron column to see if I was dreaming. The name still shouted from the hardback cover. It said WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY.
So now that I was in my senses and not sleeping and at the same time not hallucinating, I decided to come home and check out certain details. Thakre is a Maharashtrian name. Apparently, Thackeray is an Anglicized name. Do a Google search and you will know!
But looking back, wasn’t it Bal, who wanted to abolish the British connection with India, by changing the names of the cities, stations, airports etc. How come it did not start from his home itself? How come this fact never came to the fore? No body, not even the Opposition could make a mention of! Secondly, why are we so negative about the fact that we were ruled for over a 100 years. We were ruled because, we allowed the British to rule us. We were ruled because, they knew how to rule us. Ruling a country for more than 100 years is no mean task. They were a country with a vision of expanding its boundaries and setting their flags on distant shore. They were quite apt and methodical in that. We, as Indians were sitting in our own crab basket, dreaming that our country is the best.
It is a fact that we all have to learn to respect and accept within ourselves. We were ruled because we allowed them to. We made them leave because of our sheer determination. History can never change, but what we can change is the present and the future. Changing names will only allow a huge bureaucratic changes and money spending but not in the progress of the nation. Let the money be spent elsewhere, so that we can turn our country into a more self reliant India.
Let us accept the past and dream about the future!!!
As for the Thackeray's in this linkhttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,838984-4,00.html it says it was indeed his fathers liking to Williams literature that the name of the family was anglicized. But with such a strong stance in changing names of various places in the country to get rid of the British shadow, how come he missed out on his own name?
Bal Thakre, you can only anglicize your name, not yourself…
Well, I was browsing through some books in a book store and I came across a book called Vanity Fair, written by William Makepeace Thackarey. Yes, you heard it right WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKAREY! Read it again THACKAREY! THACKERAY. I blinked my eyes, it was THACKERAY. I rubbed my eyes! I banged myself into an iron column to see if I was dreaming. The name still shouted from the hardback cover. It said WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY.
So now that I was in my senses and not sleeping and at the same time not hallucinating, I decided to come home and check out certain details. Thakre is a Maharashtrian name. Apparently, Thackeray is an Anglicized name. Do a Google search and you will know!
But looking back, wasn’t it Bal, who wanted to abolish the British connection with India, by changing the names of the cities, stations, airports etc. How come it did not start from his home itself? How come this fact never came to the fore? No body, not even the Opposition could make a mention of! Secondly, why are we so negative about the fact that we were ruled for over a 100 years. We were ruled because, we allowed the British to rule us. We were ruled because, they knew how to rule us. Ruling a country for more than 100 years is no mean task. They were a country with a vision of expanding its boundaries and setting their flags on distant shore. They were quite apt and methodical in that. We, as Indians were sitting in our own crab basket, dreaming that our country is the best.
It is a fact that we all have to learn to respect and accept within ourselves. We were ruled because we allowed them to. We made them leave because of our sheer determination. History can never change, but what we can change is the present and the future. Changing names will only allow a huge bureaucratic changes and money spending but not in the progress of the nation. Let the money be spent elsewhere, so that we can turn our country into a more self reliant India.
Let us accept the past and dream about the future!!!
As for the Thackeray's in this link
Bal Thakre, you can only anglicize your name, not yourself…
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