Tuesday, July 22, 2008

22nd July 2008

The decisive day of the not so clear, Nuclear deal ( I am so tempted to write Noclear deal). After Arushi murder case that unified the news channels, it's another day of National integrity. The Parliament live in your living room. The magic number of 272. The destress call pulling the ailing and the jailing MP's.The "jan hit" claiming MP's when asked about the deal long for a hi(y)de act.Particularly amusing was Govinda's 'Lal dant Manjan' smile on the query and the hilarious claim that it would take hours to explain the deal . Dharma ji and chichi look upon party seniors for answering such clueless questions , they just absolutely side the' desh ka hit'.
The Maya magic emerging. Laloo so vocal about his PM dreams. Well ,Rahul Gandhi did make people listen after all. There was a disclosure of bribary too. A BJP MP entered the parliament with a bag full of currency claiming he has been bribed. The drama goes on.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Question it!!



My mom and I decided to shop today.We chose to go to the shopping Mall. It was the first shopping mall in the city and belongs to the Sahara India group. The busiest part of it being the four floors dedicated to the Big Bazaar. I never liked going in there. Firstly, cos it was about shopping grocieries and household stuff( which was definitely not my idea of fun ,after my hectic hospital schedule, which as such allowed me rare outings). Second, it was always overcrowded. Kids fitted on the trolleys looked cute. But carrying those trolleys through the goods and stuff lanes sometimes felt like driving through a traffic jam. Thirdly, it took ages to get the bills made . So I preferred to explore other stores like Biba ,Mark n Spencers and Pantaloons or resigned to the eating outlets on the top floor.



Being on a vacation these days and taking a break from being a specialist, I am trying to look at things in a different way. Besides since my mind ain't preoccupied with patients , I try observing and questioning things with an open mind . Trying to be a generalist to be precise. So I helped mom shop today and yes i know exactly what to buy. And while waiting for the bills to be made I observe people.



After the bill was made , the young lad at the counter asked " Mam , will you like to donate one ruppee for the childrens fund". I nodded reflexly. Then next moment I realized that its been several times this way. I was a bit curious. I shot back" hey wht kind of childrens fund? Can I get the details?" He was clueless at the unexpected question and directed me to the inquiry counter. I don't know what got into me I went there and asked the same. The same situation there too. No clue . I was directed to some Mr. Vishal on the second floor.Hmm.... my explorers spirit dampened a little but it triggered a mental calculation.' Big Bazzar is a chain of retail stores.... so may be there are approximately 100 such... if a minimum of 100 people shop there everyday...... it would amount to a sum 10 grands a day and 3 lacs amonth.... and does a childrens fund actually exist?.... well it went on till i reached home.



While sipping coffe from a the newly purchased mug, I googled about Big Bazaar. Hell I would have walked in there several times and I never knew that it belongs to the Pantaloon Retail India limited. I had no idea there was any link between Pantaloons and Big Bazaar. Then the name in the next line... Kishore Biyani. It sounded familiar. I ran to the book shelf .... it was there .My dad who loves buying books had this too and I was right. It was the tale of the Big Bazaar. It was about its founder Kishore Biyani. I have been at the book since evening. It's entitled " It Happened In India". While I am enjoying the read I would like to quote Mr. Kishore Biyani....



"Looking back ,I think that someone grows and starts to learn and understand life , he starts to question as well.At a very early stage one starts creating mental models to interpret various observations.At that point, if one finds that what he has learned on his own is different from what is being practised in reality, he tries to distinguish right from the wrong.He soon starts to seek answers to everything and then life transforms.I feel having an attitude of questioning everything is important.Until one questions the established way of doing things, one won't be able to come up with something new."



So friends , question it!! and may be I would check on Mr. Vishal on the second floor next time ...lol.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The art of falling!

What does Rachel Smith and Crystle Stewart have in common? Both were crowned Miss America. Thats not it. Both proved the Law of gravity. Yes , Miss America fell again in the Miss Universe contest. I know thats not a news anymore. Rachel Smith got the unwanted fame at You tube in 2007. Crystle Stewart joined the Hall of Fame. Trust me theres a new video on You Tube comparing the two falls.( I am sure you will check this one out).
These graceful gals collected their composures in a jiffy , thanks to the way they are groomed for the competition. Crystle Stewart's regaining her height clapping made me feel that she might actually have amused herself. I wonder if people would be betting on Miss America falling next year and whether the next Miss America will give in the pressure.(If she does that would be History!)
When people fall others laugh. Thats not mean actually thats good. Trust me what is really painful when no one laughs. I remember falling off the Library stairs in my freshman year at med school. Just after the ragging period when we were allowed to wear casuals again. I went off to the library alone and managed to tumble down the stairs. It was a wonderful fall ,took a few minutes to gather myself again. How I wished somebody was there to laugh. The seniors and the batchmates who witnessed my unexpected stunt were graceful enough to spare me. But I wish they would have laughed. There was this batchmate of mine, she forgot a simple rule. When you sneak in or out of the lecture hall be invisible. She entered late. Tried to find a suitable place in the lecture hall ( by the way the lecture hall was similar to that in Munna Bhai MBBS) and she figured out a sit at last row( that means the topmost). And just as she reached there it happened! She proved what goes up comes down. She went tak! tak !tak!..... and on the floor startling the Professor of Physiology. Oh! poor thing we pitied her.
While you read it, you might recall a similar incident and may be smile at yourselve.There was no moral purpose of writing the article. Just the idea of the gravity's favourite trick on the gorgeous gals fascinated me.( I know you have watched the video before finishing to read the article.) So the next time you walk just remember that gravity may prove itself again and if does just make sure to put on the best smile you have!!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

BACHPAN KE DIN BHI KYA DIN THE.....

When i was a kid , monday evenings on the national television aired a children's programme called 'NANHE MUNHE' . I watched with great delight when school children of my age and younger did those cute group dances and sang out of tune songs. The world has taken a giant leap since then . I am awstriken when I see little boys and gals singing all possible hindi songs in perfect 'sur' and on top of that match up the latkas and jhtakas of bollywood. With their mesmirising talent and pure innocence the entire act is hypnotising. No wonder the reality shows are the best bet after an undying era of saas bahu potrayals. From the bindi's to blouses the reality shows were a real fresh breath or air. But excess of nothing is good. And when something sells there are a lot of rats. I mean a rat race. So no wonder the myriad channels are plagued by
a mascarade of reality shows.
I know what humiliation is. During my post graduation days in med school I have faced it. But to be a kid . To face humiliation on National television after an awesome performance . I dont see the relevance. I can't relate with parents. What for are we pushing are children and why on earth we are pushing childhood out of their lives.
When Shinjini got paralysed the sitution became grave. Are few seconds of fame so important. Hell !there are so many reality shows and so many winners, I have lost track of them and definitely can't remember the names. So people simply forget. People have short term memories.
I have vague memory of what a little girl said, in a world convention on environment ,in context of the way earth is getting polluted. She said if things were to be like this maybe our posterity would'nt even know what butterflies are. But my fear is greater what if the future generations don't know what childhood is. We can device drugs to do away with wrinkles and retain libido's but where will we recover a lost childhood from??

Friday, July 11, 2008

Crpc 125 the right of maintanace in live in relationships

Last month a new law came into existence that gave the right of maintenance to a live in partner.This implied that a women who lives with a man without legal marriage would be entitled to maintenance in case the man leaves her, same as a wife is.I watched a discussion on the topic on a channel that invited a supreme court lawyer, a clinical psychologist and a social geographer ( all women). While the clinical psychologist was concentrating on the misuse of such law by females to harass men and that the more needy would not get benefitted, the lawyer and the social geographer were more convinced that people would be more intrested in getting married now as this law would prevent them from taking live-in relation casually.
The thing that live-in relationships are getting popular was explained by the fact that the present generation is getting 'committment phobic' and may be some clinical condition may soon be coined to define the same as it is getting common. The educated men and women tend to delay marriage definitely for carreer reasons. To be free from emotional demands might be so very welcome . May be its more about choosing the better emotions , lesser hassels and no pain. It is amazing to live in a society where matrimonials are still classified according to caste and laws are passed regarding live-in relations. But it doesn't seem so weird as we still walk on roads where we can see rickshaws and the latest brand of cars, burka clad women and young gals sporting low waist jeans , road side thelas in front of the mall. The charming coexistence simplified chaos. So I was talking about live- in relationships. I would call it wanting to become a mother without labour pains ( well as the joke goes people talk their work).
The law being misused was an issue in the discussion and the amusing counter point was that why are indian women thought to have such criminal minds and to be blood suckers. The law is needed to protect women and the for the fear that it might be misused and not reach the ones who need it doesnt mean the laws should not be made.
It is a personal choice what kind of relatioship one has to be in. The circumstances and perceptions differ. But there are so many times out of certain emotional perceptions one comes into a relationship. So many times the emotions may not be similar and the male counterpart may be casual about the whole thing. In such circumstances such a law could come to rescue and besides that it gives a kind of legality to a newer form of human relationship. Well modernization and individualism has taken us from a world of joint families to nuclear families and now live in relatioships. The world is changing . But i dont think the emotions we try to stay away from , we can actually do without them. Love is so sought after. But never comes hassel free..... and when one decides to have a family things are not happily everafter. I can't do without my family. I wonder what the world without actual families would be like.
As women are concerned. I have high doubts about their being modern. They may be in a new avtaar but intrisically things are pretty old fashioned. The National Council of Women has introduced this law . I feel it was an intelligent way of telling men that they rather marry and get into relatioship that has a social and parental sanction.

TO CLARITY

This is my attempt to soar above confusions. To have an opinion of 'my own'. Pure ,untouched , uninfluenced.