Kolkata….the city of joy, now more popularly, the city of Dharnas and rallies. The city that almost all Bengalis living outside the region has a relative in, the city where childhood memories are carved in, the city where strangers come and make it their home and as a friend recently told me, a city that is politically conscious and not religiously divided.
Yes it is a city with hordes of problems, it is a city where the Red mark is etched out in every corner (and recently the flower of the Trinamool Congress) and where taking public matter to the streets is the only solution. Like almost all Bengalis living elsewhere, I have had relatives here and thus every winter I would visit this place. Unfortunately for me, I was cut out from the hustle-buslte of the city as my relatives decided to stay some kilometers away from the centre. Thus I, as a child, saw a part of Kolkata that was serene, green and filled with common faces. Very unlike the real Calcutta (as was known then).
But that did not mean I did not visit the centre at all. Most of my experiences were bitter feeling a bad impression on my young mind. Whenever, we would come to Park Street or Park Circus, we had to battle the terrifying bus rides, having to quarrel with all the passengers and the conductors for a rupee or even lesser than that. If this wasn’t enough, such matter would become public matter and everyone would join either side to battle the cases (as if it was required). This was something I faced every time I traveled to the centre. Naturally, my idea of Calcutta was bad. My child’s mind did not understand all these matters and I simply didn’t like the place.
Coming here after a long time and actually getting to stay in the centre has made me change my opinion a lot and also the fact that it has been some years from that experience now. I am commuting to my workplace everyday without any hassles though I should state that I am not traveling in those buses any longer but in the metro. Yes, the rallies are still there, the loudspeakers still cracking with those voices but I feel there is a change. I am feeling that the people are changing, their attitudes are changing and ultimately there is chance for some progress to take place. Mamata Bannerjee has already spear-headed the campaign for a wind of change with ousting the Left in many local elections and with the upcoming State Elections coming up soon, things are likely to change much more.
It may take many more years for the city of rallies to go back to being the City of Joy. For this to happen many things will need to change. Firstly, the people, who as I said are already change. I feel it is time for the people specially the politicians to realize that battles can also be fought in places other than the roads shouting slogans and calling bandhs. This only cripples the lives of many and makes the country loose millions in the process. It is also time for the private investments to come into the state and make it once more a prosperous place. It is time for the city to be the centre of developmental process.
As for me, right now I am liking the place and the amiable people who are ready to help you at every step.
Sitting in a university and talking big stuffs is always easy. Most of the world’s intellects do that. But going there to the place where the problem lies and trying to finding solution is quite another thing. Though many may say that both the aspects are important and change in the field cannot happen without the help of the intelligentsia, the truth remains that theories and seminars and conferences hardly ever reach the people it should. Seminars and conferences are always attended by the same group of people (the people who formulate the ideas and the theories). In many few important seminars do the field workers find place .
As part of the course, recently we were to do a street play in the tea gardens of Assam. Our play was on witch-hunting, a common menace among the tea tribes of the state. There are frequent reports on how innocent women are killed by frenzied mob on the pretext that they are witches. However, for me (and I am sure the most of the performers), it was just a topic and we had to play our part for the sake of marks. We were provided with an excellent teacher, a theatre artist, a ready-made script, dialogues in place and whatever we required. With some struggled efforts of collaboration, we managed to carry on with our rehearsals, most of the times in the AC studio of the department or otherwise, much to our distress, in the open field. (I am here mentioning the location to prove the point that we were in comfort zones, still we didn’t stop complaining).
After about two weeks rehearsals we were ready to go to the place and perform. We chose Balipara, one hour drive from our university, as they had been recent cases of witch hunting. We were helped in our efforts by the field workers of the Mahila Samita. They guided us to the heart of a tea estate were we were to perform. We gathered people and put up a good show with most people being impressed with the acting. We too were satisfied with our efforts. After the show, the field workers had arranged a small tea party in our honour. While sipping some delightful tea, one woman narrated a recent incident of witch hunting. She told how she and her husband rescued the poor woman and averted another death during the festive season of Diwali.
That was the time, reality struck me. Here we were cocooned in the serene atmosphere of lush green campus, merrily arriving at our “spot of performance’ as if we were going for a picnic, we acted our parts without feeling any of the emotions and there were a group of people struggling for were doing something with conviction. Specially for me, it was nothing more than an assignment we were pushed into. But after listening to that lady, I realized what was just an assignment for me was the reality she lived with everyday. We can afford to come in buses and perform and have tea and go away, she can’t. She has to think of ways of stopping this superstition and educating the people. What was more touching was the fact that her husband came to us with folded hands thanking us for the encouragement our play gave him. The whole idea that we encouraged him was ludicrous. He did not see us arguing and complaining for having to do this assignment.
I don’t know if I will ever be able to do anything in the level the couple are working but that day I understood that the intellects sitting in the comforts of their office need to come out and share their knowledge with these field workers. If only this happens effectively will many conditions change.
Reading a lot of other blogs now has made me come back to my dear old blog. Its nice to write and publish. Slowly and quite steadily I am giving up the habit of writing in my dairy. Blogging is taking over. I keep wondering, is it because of the medium or is there some other reason?
The day the announcement came that Barack Obama has been conferred with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, I just gaped unbelievingly at the newspaper. It seemed so sudden and out of place. My novice notion of a person eligible for a Nobel Peace Prize had been a person who had done some substantial work for peace process in the world. US President and peace process? Doesn’t seem to go together somehow, or does it? So I did a little reading on the world opinion and here is what people have to say.
Most people that I have read up are criticizing this selection. Some say it is too early to award him when he hasn’t been in the post of the President for even a year. Just the promises of his election campaign does not make his words come true nor does it make him a prime peace-keeper. Many cynical pieces can be found on the net as reactions. The most interesting of them, as I observed, was that just a couple of days after the announcement of the prize, the US sent thousands of troops to Afghanistan to fight against Taliban. So much for the peace process! According to Washington Post a total of 34,000 troops have been sent since Obama took office in January. Some say it is a wrong moment to confer the award to him. He isn’t making any progress with the peace process around the world at the moment but surely has the potential to do so. In the Middle East, the Palestinians have now declared that their hopes in the new US President have "evaporated" while the Israeli Foreign Minister has openly stated that he doesn't believe peace is feasible. In Iran too amenable relationship has been stopped over the confrontation of Tehran’s nuclear plans. In Afghanistan, an example is already cited above.
US, being a super-power is always poking its nose in everyone’s matter. It believes it has the right to settle issues remotely related to it. Of course, now everyone has agreed more or less that this is the way America is surging on its super-power tag, but sometimes it becomes to much even for a critic. Obama is no less an American in taking this “super power” dream of US forward. But all interference is always in the name of PEACE. With his declaring that he is going to donate the prize money to charity, it just goes to show how “considerate” a person he is, doesn’t it?
As for us, the beares of this peace process, we can just sit and sing…YES HE CAN or may be better still…CAN HE???
During the 16th century, the Mughals termed India as a “Golden bird” not only because it had the riches but because it had the human resources too. The mystic country has been exploited by many over centuries. Mughals, British all had laid their hands in this “Golden Bird” and exploited it too. While the former became part of the customs and lifestyle, the latter tried to change the same to their style. Through these periods of accession, India learnt and gained many things. The diversity that we so commonly speak about today is nothing but a legacy of this heritage. It should also be remembered that India as a country is an amalgamation of many former regions like the the Rajputana, Punjab, Hyderabad, Bengal, Oudh and many more such small regions that were ruled by various dynasties since time immemorial. Only after the british came to India and with theor subsequent conquer of all these small territories did the amalgamation came together. This union of various regions have led to people of differentculture, religion, race come together and live in the same political embodiment.
India is till today made of people who are tied down to their culture yet battling to make a mark on the modern world. As the common cliché goes, “India is a land of paradox”. At the same time, India is an ancient civilization and a young Republic, there is stark poverty and undulating richness in the same street, there is health in one house while the neighbour is filled with illness. If one part of the country is progressing extensively in technology, the other part is still battling a quiet fight with bullocks and plough. India is an agricultural country yet today it is known for its Information Technology. The statement the “the rich gets richer here, the poor poorer” cannot be more true as it is in India. India boasts of many richest people in the world yet at the same time hesitantly admits that 42% of the population falls below the international poverty line of $1.25 per day. If we have the best human resources who gladly settle in the Silicon Valley, we also have about 40% illiterate in the country. This is India for the world. Yet it does not stop to attract people from everywhere for various reasons.
India has been making technological advancements like never before. Today, the country has a huge hub for science and health. Many significant inventions and innovations are coming out of the country’s larder and the world is taking note of all this. Very recently, India climbed a few steps in international recognition and standing when the international journal Science affirmed that images from India’s first moon mission Chandrayaan-I confirm that our only constellation has water in it. The fact that even after many missions to the moon by Russia and US, it was through an Indian satellite that particles of water was found in moon has a lot of signification for the country. India spent an estimate of Rs. 386 crore (US$ 80 million). It is a lot of money that has been spent on a mission to the outer world. Though the mission had to be called off within a year of its launch (its target was a two year revolving around the moon), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) now claims that the mission was 95% successful. Already plans for another moon mission is underway and it expected to be launched within 2013 with a projected cost of Rs. 425 crore (US$ 90 million). This only shows that a lot is being invested in this but the question that necessarily arises is whether this investment is required or not.
It is no mystery to anyone that India is still a developing country and there are many areas that need immediate attention. The health care is one such area where immediate attention is needed. As already known India is a young nation with the average age of people being below 40 years. However, India contributes to 5.6 million child death rates in a year due to malnutrition. According to UNDP Human Development Report (1997), 88% of pregnant women (age 15-49) was found to be suffering from anemia. Only one-third of Indians have access to proper sanitation. India right now is waging under the threat of Swine Flu like the rest of the world, yet no one takes notice of the fact that 700,000 Indians die each year from diarrhoea. Though the situation is improving, it remains concentrated in the urban areas where most of the specialized treatment takes place. In the rural areas, the minimum health-care facility doesn’t reach.
According to the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the UNDP, education is one basic requirement of development. However, in India, as already mentioned more than 40% are illiterate. The condition is such that even after the laucnch of schemes like the Sarva Shikya Abhiyan, the penetration of education does not seem to reach the grassroot. Even at the higher level, the Quota system and privatization of education has made the situation into more of a profitable business rather than a human development index.
In light of all these realities, the fact that India spends so much on a moon mission is sometimes unbelievable and laughable. If looked in perspective, it can be seen that India has now completely come out of its non-aligned stand and is actually fighting for a place among the “Big Nations”. Even though finding water, for example, was a big technological advancement, the question that looms over again is whether that is the requirement of the day or nor? Why cant a country like US send missions to the moon where their people are not battling for the basic requirements of life and their isn’t any abject poverty. India, at this moment need to improve the living conditions of its people rather than finding life in other planets. The debate that US is using this eagerness of India to get into the mainstream of “Big Nations” for its capitalistic goals will ever remain with having some truth in it. (it is to be noted here that though images of water on moon was found through an Indian mission, the device that recored it was a NASA product).
India needs to come out of its dual nature and face the realities of the day instead of building fantasies of the other world. It needs to solve the problem of its people first and than that of the world. Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director of Tata Group, called India the “land of paradox-a country that likes to do the most obvious thing after exhausting every possible alternative.” It seems the time is showing us just that. India
For a Mass Communication student, the best time probably during the course is the exams! Atleast, that’s my idea. I just relish these few days where others are studying, crying, squealing and going to unknown levels of frustrations and I get to sit relaxed and watch them all go by. Well, actually the course comprises of such practical work that exams seem nothing. Not that we don’t study, we do but lesser than others do. It’s all practical based.
The past week has been just great. Recently I have taken it as a habit to observe people. It’s so fascinating to do so. You get to see so many aspects of life just by seeing and observing people, you may get to learn many things. Just as I am writing this, I can catch glimpses of the girls from the other hostels running in frenzy to reach their examination halls. Probably they are getting late. Some are even running with open books in their hands. As if they can run and read at the same time! Well maybe they can! While some others are walking with a calm in their gait, looks like the silence before the big storm. My roommate just left too with a smile on her face. It’s so nice to see people going off with a smile. She hopefully is happy that today is the last day of this “torture”. Well this is an hour before the exams so the last minute emotions are what I am catching
In the evenings, sitting on the verandah and again observing the girls is another time of immense pleasure. Some then are busy eating (like filling up as much as they can before starting the battle of studying once again),some are over the phone (now I do want to know who do they talk to because that will make another interesting observation) while the rest do what girls like best. Yes, gossiping. Cummon, even during these trying days, you can’t take the real element of girls, their fodder, their survival instincts- gossiping! It makes what we are!
Staying at a girls’ hostels surrounded by another couple of similar hostels, another interesting observation I made is the boys coming up right to the gates of our hostels to get the notes. It’s so typically boys to do that, isn’t it? I mean cant they gather their own notes?? Do they need to come to the girls hostels?? Umm…..interesting.
During meals, well, I won’t repeat myself again. The girls mix studies with gossips so easily as if it’s one and the same thing.
As the others run for their exams, let me get back to the depressing mode of studying! Well, I too have exams, can’t forget that even though “its practical based”!!!
For a Bengali the most awaited event of the year is surely the Durga Pujas. Its always what we look forward to. It’s the time when not only Maa Durga comes home to her fathers place, but we want to go home to the place we belong. Every year it’s the same and every year its special.
This year too Puja came and Puja went. Maa came and Maa left. One of the most memorable if sad pujas for me. I literally struggled to go home this time and after much hardships I did manage to go home. There the time I spent was special. Met up with friends, family, cousins whom I now meet only once a year. All in all a good time.
But this time when Maa was leaving, I had tears in my eyes, just wanted to stop Maa and tell her to stay back, no to go so soon. Yes this time it was too soon. Before the childhood like excitement could build up it was all over and Maa was on her way back. In our locality she even decided to not show her face but just leave. Never did I feel this bad. She left giving us a sense of emptiness that will take some time to fill.
Now that I am back to work, I wish, like I always do, for the next Puja, for the next season for excitement, fun, frolic.
This weekend has really been just “passing moments”. Life suddenly decided to play a prank on me and bang!! Surprise me!! And did I get surprised? Well, it really isn’t a million dollar question, I did. These days (as is quite evident in my blogs), I am into an introspection mood. Whenever, I sit to write for this space, I just love thinking “differently”. So today too, I am just going to do that.
When I school, I read a short story named “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov. The story was so brilliant that even today after so many years, I remember it distinctly. The story was about a silly bet between a banker and a young lawyer. While on an argument about the morality of life imprisonment and capital punishment, the lawyer says that he would choose life imprisonment over the other as to “live anyhow is better than not at all." This leads to a bet among the two wherein the lawyer stakes his freedom and the banker two million for a period of 15 years. What happens is how at the end of the term, the lawyer through his solitary confinement learns the real lessons of life and foregoes the money to proof to the banker what he learnt. The story talks about what imprisonment is all about and how people see it.
It may seem strange to be narrating this story but I couldn’t help but recollect it this weekend. The term “imprisonment” can bring horrors in one’s mind (it surely does to mine). I mean today living in an independent country (I’ll not get into the controversy of the statement) I enjoy many things which the history books tell me my ancestors probably didn’t. I live in a global village, in a unique blend of cultural roots and modernization. Even the rules that are set for me are okay by general standards and most of it is acceptable. But still there are many instances when I feel someone has breached into my independence and all is so wrong. The rules seem to be bad, authoritative and I just don’t want to abide with them. But hello! Ultimately I listen to those rules and abide by them too. There are very few of us who has the courage to stand up and tell that something displeases us.
I am alas not one of those who can stand up and say what displeases me. I hate many things around me and wish to change a lot of them but look at me. I am sitting here and penning my thoughts. Well, I don’t think doing this is just that bad; it has become my window to the world. I love doing this and love the fact that atleast somehow I vent out my feelings. Every time I blog, I say a silent thanks to the people of thought of this wonderful medium. Just love doing this.
Born and brought up in a town, a town that grew as I grew. A town that slowly turned into a city, a town that now is becoming a major place for trade and commerce….a town that is slowly opening up to the world. Just when militancy and violence was becoming the order of the day, things started changing in a “Scotland of the East”. Peace and solidarity among the people became common. And in this place I grew.
Coming out of this dreamland, I realized what life really is. Today while attending a lecture on development, I got a glimpse of the “real” world around me. Rather the “real” India. We so often talk about “real” India, “real” people but till today I never really understood this “real” thing. But today I did. For me, people towns and cities constitute “real” people (I can’t be hypocrite, I know I am being a snobbish fool). Village was and is still a place far removed from who I am. I have never been to a village, the backbone of our country. I have never seen agriculture or farming. I have never seen a farmer toiling a hard day in the farms (except the glimpses from trains). I have only read about it. So these “real” people have been very “unreal” for me.
In school geography taught me the bare details of agricultural practices, how new variety of crops are grown, etc. From newspapers and the mass media I got to know about the terrible conditions of the farmers; the increasing number of suicides among them, the droughts, the famine. But I was never affected by them. How could I be, I never felt the scarcity of food, never had to work as hard as they do. It’s true that I had a certain amount of sympathy for them but never empathy for them. I never understood them. And I guess I never needed to. Even today I don’t need to. I am working towards my goal that is far away from these villages, these farmers.
However, on perspective, I don’t seem to fit in the hotch-potch of a metro as well. A month there sometime ago and I suffocated. As the days pass by, I sit here and think, where am I heading towards? Who are we, these middle-class-aiming-to-be-rich people?
Even in this day of high technological advancement, we human beings still rely on our five senses for perceiving any information. Technocrats have often wondered if a device could be developed that could take place of the abstract concept of the sixth sense. The Media Lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under Pattie Maes, has come up with an unique device which is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use the natural hand gestures to interact with that information. This is the “Sixth Sense” deviced by Pranav Mistry, a research scholar in the Media Lab of MIT.
According to the developers of the Sixth Sense, in today’s increasing consumerism, the internet has become our constant companion to get added information about things and people. We also use our mobiles to connect to the internet and get any information about anything we want. But the point here is, “whenever we want the information, we search for it”. The information does not come automatically. Sixth Sense will help in getting any information (like the quality of the product, the current rating of the product on the internet, the significance of the product etc) about products and purchases automatically when we are choosing something. Basically the device will help us to make the correct purchasing decision about any product. Further, if seeing a scenery, we want to take a photograph, we will no longer need to take out our mobile cameras to do so. Just the standard hand gesture of framing a picture will take the scene and store it in the mobile computer. There are many other things that can be done with the Sixth Sense.
The prototype implements many applications that demonstrate flexibility, viability and usefulness of the system. Other interesting applications are the map application which lets the user navigate a map displayed on a nearby surface using hand gestures allowing us to zoom in, zoom out, resize and even pan the movement. In another application, we can draw on any surface. This will again be done by the device tracking our hand movement on the air. If we want a watch to see the time, just making a circle on the wrist will display the clock on the hand and when we have seen the time a simple erasing gesture will remove it. If a person comes infront of us, all information about him available on him over the internet will get displayed on the person’s body. If we want to log into our e-mail, the gesture of tracking the “@” sign will display our e-mail.
The Sixth Sense prototype is comprised of a pocket projector, a mirror and a camera. The hardware components are coupled in a pendant like mobile wearable device. Both the projector and the camera are connected to the mobile computing device in the user’s pocket. The projector projects visual information enabling surfaces, walls and physical objects around us to be used as interfaces; while the camera recognizes and tracks user's hand gestures and physical objects using computer-vision based techniques. The software program processes the video stream data captured by the camera and tracks the locations of the colored markers (visual tracking fiducials) at the tip of the user’s fingers using simple computer-vision techniques. The movements and arrangements of these fiducials are interpreted into gestures that act as interaction instructions for the projected application interfaces. The maximum number of tracked fingers is only constrained by the number of unique fiducials, thus Sixth Sense also supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction.
Sixth Sense is still in the labs and has not been launched for the general public. But even in this stage, it has cost just $350. If any easy calculation is made, when it will go more mass production, the value will come down further. Its creator, Pranav Mistry has already got the “Best Innovation Award, 2009” for this product. It is surely an innovation to look forward to. This has the potential for bringing the internet and added information all the more closer to us. There are certain points in the device that can be abused more than used, for example, the application of clicking a photograph without any visible device. The application which gives added information about a person is also controversial. It will take the product to be launched for the mass to see what its impact will be on our lifestyle.
Sitting idle, browsing through the various sites is what will describe my life right now. Passing moments it indeed is. I have missed blogging and actually haven’t posted anything for quite sometime. I am very lazy…lazy to the point where I become inactive. Everyday I come up with many ideas and think I need to tell my opinion about it through this blog. But the events pass, they became stale and no one will even want to know my opinion on it from me (ok…not many read my blog, I know) and I continue to pass my days saying “kuch nahi hoga”.
When I am in a criticizing mood, I ask myself, how can anything happen when people like me exist in India. We just love complaining. Sometimes, I believe that we can live without food but not without complaining. Life’s that pathetic for us. Right now sitting here, I can come up with ten problems I am supoosedly facing, when I should be looking at the brighter side and see that I am getting the time to blog. I know what this beautiful medium is all about. I atleast know I have a platform to tell people what I feel and I don’t just need to sit and complain. I can get pro-active if only I want to. But no, I like most Indians love sitting and idly passing the days. Everyday there are so many things that happen around us, so many things that directly or indirectly affect us. We need to form opinions and also share them with the world, specially when we are getting the chance and the platform to share it. I know and realize that I can share things and be a part of the process but no I love being complacent and satisfied.
Reality programmes have become a part and parcel of television today. From the days of [V] Popstars which some claim to be the first “real” Reality programme, to today’s overtly real shows, this genre has made everyone sit up and take notice. There was a time when the long running series of Sa Re Ga Ma and Antakshari, were the predecessors of this genre of programming. Today reality television has totally taken over other genres on television. Channels like Colors, Real came into existence because of reality shows. Today these programmes are becoming more voyeuristic than ever.
If there were programmes like Kaun Banega some 7-8 years Crorepati (that in todays’ context will be an innocent programme) today it’s about someone getting married on television (read Rakhi Ka Swayamvar) or someone telling the truth on television (Sach Ka Saamna). And for the past few years’ programmes like Roadies have been the best show for youth. MTV, which produces programmes like Roadies, is the youth television of India with reality shows like Splitsville (a very pathetic programmes if I may add) which always manages to get top TRP’s and the recent started Stunt Mania.
With this seasons reality shows up on the block, our MP’s in Rajya Sabha have taken a stand and voiced how shows like “Sach Ka Samna” are against our culture and denies all tastes of decency and goodness that as Indians we are quite proud off. This has sparked a new controversy and the concerned channel has been sent a notice asking for a justification for doing such a show. It is high time that voice should be raised against these pathetic programmes. On the name of reality they portray anything. Bitching, backbiting, use of foul language have been made a part of our society now. Otherwise why would a show like “Splitsvilla” survive which makes a complete mockery of the concept of love or even why would everyone glue to their television sets to know who Rakhi Sawant is getting married to? Saying anything about “Sach Ka Samna” will require the use of words that would not be acceptable in a platform like this.
Interestingly, all these programmes are adaptations of concepts from other countries. This just goes to show that such concepts have universal appeal and can work anywhere. They also work because as social animals we like to know what is happening to others and get immense pleasure in their discomfort and sometimes also in their happiness. But it is the time to draw a line between what is pleasurable and what becomes obscene. It is time that the MP’s and even the common man speaks up and says that these things cannot be accepted anymore. The producers cannot bring out anything on the name of entertainment. This needs to be stopped somewhere and surely the time has come.
One can’t deny that the European countries are just awesome. Look at the spectacular, picturesque landscapes, waterscapes and even the people. Everything looks picture perfect, out of fairy tales, something that just does not belong to this world (atleast not the “world” we live in). As Indians we are one dirty community, spitting on the roads is just normal, finding no dustbins throwing things on the roads is just a way of life and lets not even mention the habits of the our men urinating on the streets.
As human beings we are good, successful. We know how to make a life for ourselves. Education has helped us further in improving ourselves. (Let me just clarify, here by “we” I primarily mean the middle class and the upper middle class. I am not even getting into the major section of the population who are poor and without education). But when it comes to social awareness or even responsibility we prefer ignoring and turning a deaf ear towards them. If we hadn’t would not we make an attempt to keep our surroundings clean, be hygienic in the way we behave on the roads?
India is a very beautiful country. Very few countries have the diversity that we Indians often boast of. We have the mountains, we have the hills, we have the desert and we also have the seas and oceans. Our lands are filled with jewels in the form of minerals, soil quality and yet we don’t want to take care of it. Is it that we are not proud of what we have and always long for what others have? It is true that the grass is always greener on the other side but our grass isn’t bad either!! If we all start taking a stand and make our small efforts we too can have a clean and beautiful country. It is time to stop blaming the government (yes, they are to be blamed) and move on and see how things can be changed if we try.
As I am writing this, a thought just came to my mind. While visiting the many malls in the city one thing that comes out is that they are very clean. They just don’t fit into the otherwise dirty surroundings. Sweepers are always on the toes cleaning and making the area spic and span. We on our parts are also conscious not to litter the area and show how “classy” we are. But as soon as we step outside our etiquette goes down the drain and we begin our littering spree. Are the malls the real India or are our streets real India? It is time we shed our hypocrisy and behave in a similar manner whether it is inside a mall or on the streets.
As an Indian I hope the day comes when seeing India on television I can boast of clean roads, sparkling buildings, clear skies. Let them not fade away into a dream never to come true.
We often dream of many things, some quite impossible, some though within reach does not really come true. When I was younger, I had many such dreams, many have come true some haven’t. but today a little dream did come true. I visited Lady Sri Ram College. Well let me share this story.
When I was in my +2 much of my time was devoted in collecting information about institutions and one place that kept coming on and off was Delhi University. It was the place to be and it still is. Every time there was any information about graduation, the list started with the colleges in DU. As I was interested in pursuing History honours, LSR was always said to be the best college for that. Slowly that became my dream. I just wanted to go there and that was it. I knew that was a big dream and it would be really tough to fulfill it. But I just wanted to do that. The cut-offs were terrific (they still are) and for a mediocre student under the state board quite unreachable. But I kept dreaming. When finally the time came for me to apply, I could not even fill in the forms, as my results were not declared. And all my dreams were dashed immediately. I later took up something completely different and history as a career became a history.
Back from this flashback now its time to relate how the dream came true four years later. Well I entered LSR- the great college, the place that was supposed to be my destiny but didn’t eventually become. But my niece is there now doing the same thing I wanted to do. She is in LSR doing history honours. I went to meet her and than I also got a chance to enter the place. To be honest, I felt strange. I have moved on so much in life that the dream of going to LSR has been buried somewhere deep within me. Today it emerged, but I did not feel really bad. I have quite happy doing what I am doing. No real regrets. As a friend often tells me, if I had gone to LSR, I would not get to know some of the best people I call friends now and then today I am what I am for my graduation days.
But yes a small dream of entering LSR did come true.
Even since man took his fist step on the planet he has fought for supremacy. He started fighting the animals for food and then fought with other man over sharing of food. Slowly man evolved and fought for kingdoms and then for countries. But with the industrial revolution man fought over technology. The biggest, the longest and the fastest became the world wars. In the era of information technology Google and Microsoft have wedged a battle ever since Google came into the picture in the late 90s
The battle began with full force when Google on its official blog announced that by the end of 2010, they would be introducing their own Operating System- Google Chrome OS. This was seen as an open challenge to Microsoft, the biggest players in the market when it comes to OS. Nearly 90% of the users around the world use Microsoft OS. Google claims to build an OS that will be “the thing” to use for people who use the computer mostly to connect to the World Wide Web. “Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS”, so says the official blog of Google. They want to make it as user-friendly as possible (keeping their trademark on user friendly applications).
Now Microsoft, in a counter-attack, has announced that it will make its Office application free for the web. This is in reply to Google Docs, launched about three years back. About two months back Microsoft had also launched Bing, a re-launch of sorts of Microsoft Live again to compete Google’s search engine.
When Google entered the internet market MSN had the lion's share of the market along with Yahoo Inc but the California based company revolutionized the way people searched on the net. Google no longer remained a search engine it became a verb as far as internet search is concerned. Both the computer giants are venturing into each others terrains and trying to topple the other. Google is now an established firm when it comes to the World Wide Web. Today almost everyone “Google’s out information”. Googling is on. It will be very difficult to remove Google from its area. Similarly, Microsoft has been the Big Daddy since its start about three decades ago. It captured the market and home-users, businesses preferred (and still does) using their OS and other softwares like Office, Media Player. But when it came to internet, it always had difficultly. Though it managed to take over Mosiacs market in the Internet Browser market, soon it had to bow to Netscape Navigator and Mozilla Firefox.
This is just the beginning of the war and it will surely continue and get fiercer in the coming days. With new promises and launches from both the stables, who wins this battle only time can tell. Till then, we the users can happily be taking the advantages of both the companies!!!
Of the famous colonies of Delhi, one cannot miss the name Chittaranjan Park. A visit three years back has just become a memory of visiting relatives. But yesterday, my visit there will be engraved in my memory as a nice and livening experience. I saw a little bit of Bengal in the Hindi-populated streets of Delhi.
The market where I went, is one of the largest in C.R Park and has a completely ‘Bengali’ atmosphere. There were the typical Bengali Babus in their adda (and I am told this will be found only in this place in Delhi). We (that is my brother and I) entered the fish market first. It was quite a sight!! I felt I was suddenly uplifted from the crowds of the capital to the heart of Bengal. The shopkeepers were Bengali, everyone was talking in Bangla and it just seemed that a part of Kolkata was lifted and placed in here. The screams, the bargains, the men in kurta all were not part of delhi.
Coming out of that place, I heard tits and bits of some conversation. There were the older generations vividly talking about politics and the events of the day while the second generation young Bengalis were having their share of adda in Hindi. My brother later explained that these second generation Bengalis in Delhi have become a curious mixture of Hindi-wallas and Bengalis. There language just shows that.
Though I was there for a very little time, it was heart-warming to find that there were people from my place who had managed to build their own space that no other community has managed to do in Delhi yet.
You think you are getting bored and don’t know how to make your day special? Simple, log on to the internet and find out what special day it is today and there you can go celebrating it. There are many days that have been termed as being special, unusual, bizarre simply because they are unique and sometimes even hilarious. For instance, if you like chocolates, then there is a special chocolate day celebrated on July 7th. There is however another website which says that the same day is celebrated during the Valentine Week.
If you like something else there will indefinitely be some other day to celebrate your liking. In a similar manner everyday in the calendar is some special day. Sometimes these are just absurd while at other times the name of these days will make you laugh out loud. While there can be these hilarious days like Sugar Cookie Day, Swimming Pool Day, Monkey Day, Ice Cream Cone Day and many others, there are also on the other hand some meaningful days like Environment Day, Earth Day, World Aids Day etc. Though most of these special days just pass by, there are more famous ones that we are aware of and like celebrating. These are the very popular Valentine’s Day, Friendship’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and a score others. Interestingly the last Sunday of July is Parent’s Day.
If you happen to visit one of the e-card websites, a part of the website will be dedicated to the various “special days” of the month. Each e-card website have their own set of days, sometimes they match while at other times they do not. In a way these card companies specially the e-card companies have popularized these days. Though these “special days” are created on a lighter vein, there are many such days that are of national importance and have been recognized by the government.
In India we have the very common Independence Day, Republic Day, Teacher’s Day, Children’s Day. In the western countries, celebrating days are of much more significance. In the US there have been movements and campaigns for making a day known and special. In the early part of the last century, there were movements and mass awareness on establishing days of national importance for Mothers and Fathers. This ultimately gave way to Mother’s Day, Father’s Day celebrated on the second Sunday of May and third Sunday of June respectively.
As always people do have contradictory views on the importance of these days. Some opine that they are nothing but marketing gimmicks only to boost up sales and loot the customers. On the other hand there are also staunch believers in these days specially the ones when they get to salute relationships. One person says, “It gives me a chance to tell my relatives or friends that they are special”. Another college going girl says that though she does not believe in all these days at the same time they give her a chance to avail many offers like discounts on food, shopping which she rather enjoys.
There may be many reasons to celebrate and surely these sometimes absurd-sounding names can make us laugh.
At the start of a new week, I thought it was perfect to also start my new blog, Passing Moments. Over the past fortnight, my experience in a new city has been interesting. One thing I have realized is that if you can observe the world around you, there are many things you can learn. At a later stage they can be used as good anecdotes too.
Traveling on the bus everyday to office has been fun. Now people will say, how can that be? Sweating it out, fighting to find a place to even put a foot on the already over-loaded bus cannot be fun!!! But I don’t know, I am having some time observing people, seeing them and listening to their conversations (this part is not easy in a bus where every one talks at the same time). The one voice that rules over others in the bus is surely that of the conductor. “oh bhai, aage jao”, “India Gate walo niklo”, “bhai ticket”….and the likes continue. The patience with which they have to handle so many people at a time is simply wonderful. Had I been in the place, I wouldn’t have survived an hour.
Then comes the commuters. There are so many kinds of people to be found on the bus that it truly shows the myriad colours of India. Truly a nation with diversity. Sharing seats side by side, it is a common sight to find two women, one in chic clothes, hair nicely done, sunglasses tucked on the hair and an air of confidence in the way she sits while right beside her will be the quintessential Indian women in a sari loosely draped around her body, with bangles dangling on her hands, boisterous mannerisms and an attitude to survive yet another day. Both seem to mingle with the rest of the crowd seamlessly as if they are not really from different worlds but actually co-exist in the same place.
I thank the mobile companies for bringing out such new technologies to us that has given us a companion even when we are alone. Most of the commuters can be seen with the earphones on and smiles on their face. But at the same time I thank my father for not letting me indulge in such devices because if I had done so, I wouldn’t have got the fun I have been getting watching the people around me.
Today an interesting thing happened while I was coming to work. There are “ladies seat” reserved for the women and usually finding them empty, they are occupied by the men. Similar was the case when I boarded the bus. Seeing one such “gentleman” (I purposely quote the word) I told him that he was sitting in the ladies seat. Much to my surprise he looked blankly at me and continued sitting. I tried another time without any result. Not wanting any arguments I gave up. What I want to basically say is that he seemed to be a well-educated “gentleman”, who purposely wanted to ignore my request, in a very gentle manner. Usually this does not happen and people easily oblige to the request, but today was different so wanted to share the experience.
Right now, it’s just the start of the day and I yet have another trip in the bus left for the day.
At the start of a new week, I thought it was perfect to also start my new blog, Passing Moments. Over the past fortnight, my experience in a new city has been interesting. One thing I have realized is that if you can observe the world around you, there are many things you can learn. At a later stage they can be used as good anecdotes too.
Traveling on the bus everyday to office has been fun. Now people will say, how can that be? Sweating it out, fighting to find a place to even put a foot on the already over-loaded bus cannot be fun!!! But I don’t know, I am having some time observing people, seeing them and listening to their conversations (this part is not easy in a bus where every one talks at the same time). The one voice that rules over others in the bus is surely that of the conductor. “oh bhai, aage jao”, “India Gate walo niklo”, “bhai ticket”….and the likes continue. The patience with which they have to handle so many people at a time is simply wonderful. Had I been in the place, I wouldn’t have survived an hour.
Then comes the commuters. There are so many kinds of people to be found on the bus that it truly shows the myriad colours of India. Truly a nation with diversity. Sharing seats side by side, it is a common sight to find two women, one in chic clothes, hair nicely done, sunglasses tucked on the hair and an air of confidence in the way she sits while right beside her will be the quintessential Indian women in a sari loosely draped around her body, with bangles dangling on her hands, boisterous mannerisms and an attitude to survive yet another day. Both seem to mingle with the rest of the crowd seamlessly as if they are not really from different worlds but actually co-exist in the same place.
I thank the mobile companies for bringing out such new technologies to us that has given us a companion even when we are alone. Most of the commuters can be seen with the earphones on and smiles on their face. But at the same time I thank my father for not letting me indulge in such devices because if I had done so, I wouldn’t have got the fun I have been getting watching the people around me.
Today an interesting thing happened while I was coming to work. There are “ladies seat” reserved for the women and usually finding them empty, they are occupied by the men. Similar was the case when I boarded the bus. Seeing one such “gentleman” (I purposely quote the word) I told him that he was sitting in the ladies seat. Much to my surprise he looked blankly at me and continued sitting. I tried another time without any result. Not wanting any arguments I gave up. What I want to basically say is that he seemed to be a well-educated “gentleman”, who purposely wanted to ignore my request, in a very gentle manner. Usually this does not happen and people easily oblige to the request, but today was different so wanted to share the experience.
Right now, it’s just the start of the day and I yet have another trip in the bus left for the day.
