Sarahah - why is it suddenly so popular?

My Facebook homepage is completely flooded with messages from this application as people flock to use it - its like a candy bar from childhood! Or is it?

I suddenly started thinking about why this app was suddenly so popular.

So, what basically is sarahah? 

As per this Indiatoday article, the term "sarahah" itself means honesty and the app lets you be "honest" (more on that later) ?! You get to choose an anonymous identity while posting a message to anyone (who has the app) and it supposedly leads to fun and a good amount of guessing!

Suddenly my thoughts went to childhood and a red landline phone that we had. Missed calls were fun! No caller ID, so you could not guess who it is who suddenly remembered you! You could say a lot without saying anything and it was left solely to the perception of the person hearing the missed call.

Perception meant - to each his own.

My mother probably thought - one of those irritating wrong numbers. My father probably thought - a test from the local telephone department and I... I thought - may be 'that girl' was giving me a call? (Smiles) Teenage... I tell ya!

So, after all these years and all (well, almost all) kinds of experiences, when I see people posting messages with this app and reacting strangely, I get a strange feeling. Sometimes the reactions are funny, sometimes silly, sometimes angry... well in short, I get to see almost all kinds of reactions.

But question is, does it really promote honesty? Does honesty imply, you hide your face, say something and then go into hiding again, secretly feeling elated at the reaction of your anonymous post? Sorry, is that honesty or hypocrisy?

I see, why this app can have a dizzying effect on teenagers... yes its the same feeling I had with missed calls (God knows who!), but is it honest? I do not think so! Now all of you are entitled to your own opinion and I would like to hear from you.

I did have a different idea about anonymous blogging. There used to be a platform, but it has been taken down. Anonymous blogging is not targeted at anyone. But sometimes, people just need to say aloud things to no one, not because of the need of being heard but because of the need of expressions.

We may or may not need a ear, but we cannot have our voice stifled. That is worse than death!

How is sarahah (haha!) is different from anonymous blogging?

Sarahah is designed to elicit a reaction.
It is targeted at specific people.
The expected reaction after seeing the message is the prime motivation of the one posting it.

Anonymous blogging is not designed to elicit a reaction.
It is used to vent out, free up the mind, rant.
The motivation to it is simply to be at peace with self.
Disconnection from the whole material world.
Yes it is honest, brutally so!

Anonymous blogging is honest, brutally so! Sarahah is just a passing fad! People will get over it!

Agree? Disagree? Not formed an opinion yet? Come on! Write in comments. Would love to hear from you!

Random observations

So much to observe, always. I make it a point to observe everything around me whenever I travel, specially when solo. Today was no exception. I was waiting patiently at the Baguiati bus stop, when I noticed few interesting situations.

Situation 1:
4 guys, labourers by profession, suddenly begin arguing and 2 of them are almost on the brink of a messy fight, when rest of the guys stop and pacify them. The dialogues were all difficult to make out from a distance.
They say , "Never raise your voice, improve your argument".

Situation 2:
A couple on a motor bike stops near where I stood and begin arguing. The lady seems older than the man, but the relationship is not clear apparently. She suddenly breaks down and shake the guy. Then she sits hopelessly on the nearby footpath. The guy sits next to her. They continue to chat. The lady is still emotionally charged. The guy looks cooler and I understand that he has noticed me observing them. I look away.

Situation 3:
Suddenly it starts raining. Kolkata these days have some good covered rickshaws. I noticed one locked near me. I sneaked in under its shade. The owner was having his tiffin somewhere nearby. He saw me and came back. He then scrutinized me without saying a word as if evaluating if I am capable of stealing his rickshaw. Somehow he seemed convinced that I do not pose a risk and got back to his den.
I thanked him silently for letting me keep my observations going from the temporary shade offered by the rickshaw.

CM

Quote: "I am a guy, that's why they did not like me..."

Hello World!

Long time truly!

I took a hiatus from blogging in between. You know - work and stuff.

But anyway, 2:39AM IST now and I have been thinking of posting something.

Let me narrate an incident from this evening today.

While returning, I saw an auto rickshaw standing by, with a queue of people there, but curiously no one was ready to board the auto.

I was in a hurry and decided to avail it without looking at who were my co-passengers. The moment I sat inside, I was greeted by my co-passenger.

Co-passenger1: "Ei je dada, apni to sundor uthe boslen.. aar oi dekhun oi lok gulo keu uthlo na! ki hoto bolun to uthle?"
Translated: "Hey brother, see how well you sat beside me and those guys standing in queue.. they were not ready to sit beside me.. come on! what could I have done?"

[The fact was - this guy was drunk - completely, hopelessly drunk. I could smell him no matter how I wished I would not. This guy was apparently very happy with me. In his report card, I had got letter marks already, simply because I chose to sit beside him. 
Drunk folks identify only two kinds of people - the "my dear" ones, their favourites and the ones they bitterly hate and would kill if given a chance. Anyway, he continued blabbering...]

Co-passenger1: "Ei jodi kono meye bosto, bindaas uthe bosto pashe... chhele to ami! pochhondo holo na..."
Translated: "If I was a girl, anyone there in the queue would have jumped into this seat. I am a guy, that's why they did not like me."

[Meanwhile co-passenger 2 speaks up from the front seat, equally drunk.]

Co-passenger2: "Ki re... meye ra to aageo bosto na, ekhon chhelerao boschhe na... tor ki hobe re?"
Translated: "Hey buddy! Earlier women would avoid you, now even men are avoiding! What will happen to you?"

[I heard a snoring sound and figured out that there was another one sitting on the opposite side, probably the worst affected by the ordeal, snoring already.]

Co-passenger1: "Ki re lalu! Oth oth, ese gelo je!"
Translated: "Hey Lalu! Get up buddy, we have almost reached."

[We did reach soon and Lalu had a tough time maintaining his balance and keeping his shoes intact in his feet. I glanced casually and got going.]

Our flawed reasoning

How we depend on our faith -

When we do good, we say - its all His blessing.
When we do bad, we say - its all His curse.
When we are inflicted pain, we pray for His mercy and pray for punishment of the perpetrators.
When we inflict pain, we say we are doing justice, as per His wishes.
When we die in conflict, we say we attained immortality and bliss in heaven ruled by Him.

What really happens -

We are actually good at passing the buck at someone, without taking responsibility of our actions. We are weak inside!

When we do good, we have worked hard to achieve whatever we do.
When we do bad, we have actually not done justice to our capabilities.
When we are inflicted pain, we allow those to inflict such pain. We become weak ourselves!
When we inflict pain, we are blinded by rage, by envy, by greed, by ego and we attribute it to a "cause".
When we die in conflict, we are bruised, hurt, injured before... we are in pain and yet, it gives a mental satisfaction to think we will have something better in another world. Ironically, we are imagining a world that no one alive today has ever seen.

My research and experiments on past life regression does give ideas on happiness and peace, but in no way, conforms to the detailed accounts that people world-over believe in.

Albeit faith is strong, but faith alone is not sufficient...

May the uniform ability of mankind to question scenarios be ignited indefinitely with an end to his blind belief!


Image source: Internet, no copyright infringement intended.

Social Networking - Security and Privacy - Part 1

People often ask me about the best ways to achieve optimum privacy on a social networking site like facebook. You know, friends, I am an avid Facebooker and I do get a lot of inspiration from interacting with friends and also from my daily philosophical intake. But there are a few things I feel each one should follow.

What is a profile?

Think of an analogy. Let a Facebook profile be a real image of yourself. You stroll in a market full of strangers. What do the strangers see? You! Your face, how you look, some may notice. Others may not.

Makes sense to give a profile snap. But wait, there is a difference. People who hit your facebook profile are deliberately checking you out without you even knowing it. But in real life, we can sometimes get to know when someone checks us out. So why take chances?

To do - 

1. Make sure that the photo is visible to public, but not clickable. Advantages - You are preventing downloads of your photo on someone's personal machine, which further lowers the chances of the photos getting photoshopped or worse, misused. 

2. Watch out for posts that you share with "public"... posts like - "I bought a diamond jewellary from zaveri brothers" could be tracked by someone stalking you. Do not take chances! Facebook has wonderful custom setting. If you wish to tell someone something, will you go and shout on a loudspeaker? unless it is an announcement? Probably not... Share stuff only with those who need to know. That way you are minimizing information overload on friends and also refraining from blurting out information to people who could do without it.

Followers?

Hmm... welcome to the age of publicity! That I am writing this post may mean I am expecting some likes? Well, not really, I feel, so I write. If it is helpful to someone, I'll feel good. Off late I have come across non-celebrity profiles followed by thousands of people. I was puzzled by the reason as seriously I did not find any worthwhile "content"... but wait a minute. Two things - 1. The profile belonged to a girl, 2. The profile had attractive snaps! Bingo! Thats the reason for likes! It is understandable that people wish to become leaders. But unless you are a celebrity like Aishwarya or Hrithik, trust me you would not wish for that kind of publicity. The hard fact is - sharing and download is rampant for Facebook photos. Anything you post on internet today stays there forever. Take care of what you post! 

To do - 

1. It feels good to get some publicity. But it is even better to know why you are famous! If it is looks that people are after you for, well, unless you are pursuing a modelling career, watch out! You are being stalked with thousands recognizing you and following your every movement!

Know your friends

There was a time when I took pride in the number of friends on my friends list - not any more. What matters is quality, not quantity! Unless you know the person in real life or have interacted enough to know that the person is genuine, please do not add him / her. Might feel bad, but you are asking for trouble, otherwise!

That's all for now.. ciao! 

The hypothetical case of two cages

This is a purely hypothetical situation. I create two cages.

Cage 1

------

Rules -

I am good and pretty much kind. I will take care of anyone who enters this cage. I will kill anyone who speaks against me or who refuses to enter this cage. The ones who stay in this cage, are obedient etc. will be treated lavishly by me. The others will be killed. I am basically a good person, so no need to worry. And by the way - once you are in this cage, you cannot go out. The more people you bring in this cage, the more reward I bestow upon you. Just remember, anyone who revolts has to be killed. But I am very kind. If anyone seeks apology or needs help, I will help him. I will advise those in my cage to also help him.

Cage 2

-------

Rules -

I am good and pretty much kind. I will take care of anyone who enters this cage. But this is an open cage. You can go out anytime you wish to, but no one ever goes out, not because of me, but because of their own free will. I am kind also to those who speak against me, as I know, one day they will understand their folly. I am all for love and brotherhood. Love everyone, even your enemies, even those who speak against you. However, if someone tries to kill you, make sure to retort with full resistance and if needed, kill him. But I feel, the souls of each one are bound to the one eternal single source of light, so best to avoid killing your fellow species.

I WONDER, WHICH CAGE WOULD YOU RATHER BE IN?

India - Media reporting and repercussions

There are two distinct parts of India as we see today -

one that dreams of becoming a superpower some day, one where the daughter of an auto rickshaw driver secures first rank in one of the most coveted exams, that of the CA, one where we proudly see some sort of slow and staggered development, one where analysts still maintain that we have a chance of surpassing many of the biggest economies of the world by 2050....

And there is another part of India that consists of separatists, losers, sex maniacs who are hellbent on deriving the pleasures of the moment with no regard whatsoever for the dignity of individuals or unity and integrity of the nation. UNFORTUNATELY, not many people know the name of the girl who topped the CA exams, but ask anyone - "Who raped the girl in Delhi?"... everyone knows!

THIS IS THE PROBLEM we have! We are making our villains famous and forgetting our heroes! When the US gun fire incidents occurred recently, Morgan Freeman had an interesting take. He said that we are making a sad nobody famous by flashing his names everywhere. Not many people know the name of the teacher who hid her students and saved them from the gunman! But everyone knows that gunman! Same with our media. They are hellbent on sensationalizing news and deriving more viewership. A news on rape probably grabs eyeballs right away, but a news on a patented invention by a certain IITian may be ignored by an average reader. At least that's what our media houses think!

That is something that even APJ Abdul Kalam mentioned in one of his speeches. This is what he said -

Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.

And we are also falling into the same trap someway or the other. Negativity has its own blunt force, a ripple effect. It brings out more negativity. The Delhi rape and all repurcussions after it - candle light vigils, protests unfortunately did nothing to stop the brutal acts. WHY? Because, people who actually did it felt immortalized! People who have no potential of becoming heroes would rather become villains and be famous nationwide than live their whole lives like a loser and die like a sad "no body"! I do not say that is what they think before committing crimes, but that, definitely is one of the driving factors.

How about this?

Let our media report all incidents, but not flash the name of the criminal. Let the victim only be immortalized and the names of the criminals as well as all details about them be hidden, made classified information. If a Times of India article prints 3 bad news articles on the front page, let it also print 5 good news articles on the front page itself and not move to page 5 or 6. 

We do need positive vibes!

And friends... lets not feel ashamed of being an Indian due to all of these saddistic incidents.

We do have a collective responsibilty to rectify the situation! 

Let me become an audiophile for a moment and do some filtering on the "sound"... amplify the "purest of notes" and minimize the "noise." Keep doing it, till the "noise" causing elements feel demotivated and stop creating "noise" altogether! 

No, we do need all criminals to be punished, but lets not give them any sort of limelight and media attention. Trust me, they do not deserve it!

Rants - useless? :-)

In case if you are wondering why I do not post much these days. Well, the reason is - most of the thoughts are too personal and fit for my diary...

Sometimes, it is good to stay in a dormant state. When I started blogging, there was a time, when I would write upto 4 posts in a single day!!! Can you imagine? ;-) And nowadays, I pick up the pen (read cursor), may be once in a few months.

Thoughts fail me... nothing really to write about.

For the reader, if you think there should be something for me to write on, do let me know!

Lol..

Has it ever happened to you, when it seems as if life came to a standstill.

Imagine yourself as standing neck deep in a pond filled with cold water... surrounded by mountains all around. Not a soul around. Fall has long gone.. The trees are barren.. The sun prepares to set behind the mountain range close-by. The sky displays an amazing aura befit only for a painter's imagination. There is beauty all around... a fiery beauty... a beauty that does entice you, but does not necessarily make you happy.

In spite, you are standing neck deep in the pond.... and then you close your eyes...

Nothing to worry about.... its so peaceful out here.... so so peaceful....

It almost reminds me of my favorite tune from Enigma - Mea Culpa -
"Take a deep breath, close your eyes..."

Lull before the storm

I do not need to generally write in third person, coz. views expressed in this blog are public and I do appreciate and respect that. I have my own diary, which is a blog too, to which only one person has access and that is ME! lol! :D

So, matters too private, are left for that blog.

Now, you may have opened this post after reading the title "Lull before the storm". Well, why did I choose such a title? :-)
To be frank, the weather outside is bright and sunny here at King of Prussia, my current place of stay. So, it is more of an internal feeling, an intuition if I may say so.

You know, when I was a kid, I used to react to situations instantaneously, sometimes without thinking. And often I paid a heavy price for it. As I grew older, with time, I realized that one should never do or say things in haste, without thinking thoroughly each pro and con. In the process, decisions may get delayed, but chances are more that I would not make a wrong decision. When I look at myself today, I do try to maintain that.

So, whenever there is a situation that tends to provoke me, I try to stay calm, keep a cool head on my shoulder and then decide. Silence does help too, as I am able to do much soul searching and introspection.
In today's age of social networking, people tend to stay busy, looking at home pages, friend's status messages, 'liking' stuff, commenting etc. But in the process, we probably tend to think less. We do not invest the much needed time. Its as if OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) only and not OLAP (Online Analytical Processing). My friends from the Data Warehousing background would know well the difference between the two. LOL :D

Sometimes I feel, life was simpler during the pre-social networking era. Relationships tended to be less complex. People had lesser chance to peep at each others' personal lives, so everyone tended to be content.
Times have changed.

A study recently published said that people who spend maximum time on social networking sites tend to get more frustrated over time. You can read through the article with the hyperlink I provided.

Anyway, it seems that solitude would be ideal for now...

Sorry, I thought I could explain my title more in this post, but figured, it would best be left for my private blog.

Until next time...

Lets not expect :-)

Hmm... in a mood to write something down. Not sure what... lol

Well, the thing is, I wish to stop expecting. But "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."

So, I am trying to write myself a dummy's guide on how to stop expecting.

First and foremost, let us do away with the idea of give and take. Life is not a trade, is it? Most of the times, the issues arise because, we are trained to expect favors in return for favors. When that does not happen, all hell breaks loose.

Second, let us have this notion that the grass is not greener on the other side. Come on! Look closely. Each one of us have problems - one way or the other. Even the ones who think they do not have problems are in the illusion that everything is good. Its a fact - NO ONE IS HAPPY. So, let us try and appreciate the qualities others have instead of giggling over shortcomings. Let us be empathetic towards each other. Here let me point out I am not talking about sympathy, I am talking about empathy. There is a marked difference between the two.

Sympathy is what we feel when we see a homeless begging for food on the street. We look and move on, forget the feeling after a moment.

Empathy is what we feel when we imagine how it would have felt had we been in that person's shoes... begging in the scorching heat, hunger burning inside, perspiration taking a huge toll, countless glances towards us which show more of hatred towards a germ of society, rather than love. Yes, if you have ever felt that, that is called empathy.

Anyway, the third point would probably be in being complacent with what we have. Yes, in developing countries like India, the difference between "haves" and "have nots" drive people crazy. They compete against each other fiercely trying to be the first to hit the jackpot. However, one fine day, we realize that while we were busy merely running after an illusion, we forgot to live life. We forgot to have fun. We forgot to appreciate what we had. Our hair turned grey and we lost precious moments of our life.

So, it is probably important to be complacent at times, being happy with what we have, rather than brood over what we do not have.

In short, let us not expect. Let us plant a seed each day, rather than dream of reaping dividends.

At peace with myself

Hmm... a gradual home coming to the stability of my thoughts, feelings... a feeling of settling down... going back to my roots, going back to where I belong... the feeling of being grounded... accepting adversities to be a part and parcel of life... Its like that illusion of an obstacle I saw in a movie many years back... You see an obstacle, get terrified, limited by it... But someone tells you - go ahead, there is nothing there.. its only an illusion... The protagonist walks ahead, circumspect at first... But then he just transcends through it unaffected...

Obstacles in real life are just like that. They are obstacles as long as we make them as such. The moment we take them head-on, they let us pass through unaffected.

So, was there an obstacle that I faced? Probably not... probably yes.

My sense of justice and being fair to everyone does get the better of me at times, does leave me drained and strained. But that's how I am. Take it or leave it.

At the end of the day, the only feeling that I sincerely hate is the feeling of guilt - the feeling of doing wrong to someone. I would rather take the blow, than give it... :-)

I am finally at peace with myself...

Same here ;-)

We use "Same here" every day - spares us the agony of repeating the other person's mannerisms or words all over again. We preserve our energy. Its almost like using a pronoun instead of a noun.

View this: Mohan had to go to Mohan's friend Sohan's birthday for which Mohan decided to buy Mohan's friend Sohan a beautiful umbrella!! [err... umbrella because I could not think of a better gift... brain jam, you know]. Anyone who has been to elementary English classes would know that use of pronouns would improve this sentence.

Now, view this: The use of "same here" or "same pinch" or "same to you" goes on similar lines. We wish someone Happy New Year and he/she replies... "Same to you". Yeah, right, it would have taken much more energy to say.. "Wish you too a lovely new year ahead" :-)

So, energy conservation is the order of the day. Personally I never liked "Same pinch". Oh come on why the hell would you want to pinch me only because I tried to wear a colorful shirt today and as luck would have it, you happened to wear the same color!! Then there would be a "New pinch"... why coz. I had made the mistake of wearing a new shirt as the old shirt was stinking already. I mean - Do you want me to stink even more by continuing with the same damned faded old shirt? :-D And not to mention -- "Ooh it hurts!" During the school days, people used to look for opportunities for "Same pinch" and "New pinch". If the opportunity was to pinch the guy who had complained about me to the teacher a week back, NOTHING LIKE IT!!! :-P :-P :-D

[don't think I did it... :-P :-D]

Now, back to the topic "Same here"... imagine the following conversation between two people...

A: How are you?

B: Good and you?

A: Same here.

B: You know something, I watched the movie "Gili gili foo" yesterday and absolutely loved it.

A: Same here. Lets go to the nearest coffee joint and sit and discuss. Need some coffee... had a hectic day today.

B: Yeah... same here.

A: Arreh I did not notice you are wearing the kurta I gave you on your last birthday!! New pinch!! **pinches B hard**

B (almost numb with the pain inflicted by now): Ahh.. yeah.. hmm.. ok..

Now... why do we need a same here, here? We could replace Same here with say, alpha. Only Oxford dictionary would need to define Alpha as :

Alpha(n/v): Implies 'same here'. When a person notices his emotional state or dress or belonging is same as the person to whom he or she is speaking. So, the same conversation would now look like:

A: How are you?

B: Good and you?

A: Alpha.

B: You know something, I watched the movie "Gili gili foo" yesterday and absolutely loved it.

A: Alpha. Lets go to the nearest coffee joint and sit and discuss. Need some coffee... had a hectic day today.

B: Yeah... Alpha.

A: Arreh I did not notice you are wearing the kurta I gave you on your last birthday!! New pinch!! **pinches B hard**

B (almost numb with the pain inflicted by now): Ahh.. yeah.. hmm.. ok..

However, in the good old days of 20th Century, when "same here" had not been invented (in all probability), the conversation would have gone in the following manner:

A: How are you, B?

B: I am doing good. How about you?

A: Yeah, I am doing all right too.

B: You know something, I watched the movie "Gili gili foo" yesterday and absolutely loved it.

A: Yes, "Gili gili foo" has a wonderful story. The acting and direction were simply top class. Lets go to the nearest coffee joint and sit and discuss. I badly need some coffee... had a hectic day today.

B: Yeah... it is terrible these days. The work pressure gets onto you and often, you find it difficult to handle.

A: Oh I had not noticed before. That's a new Kurta that you are wearing tonight. And how lovely! Is it not the one I had gifted you on your last birthday?

B: (with a mild smile) Yes, it is..

PS. The movie "Gili gili foo" does not have anything to do with Adam Gilchrist's retirement from Australian International Cricket! :-D

PPS. Let me tell you a secret. Someone once wished me "Happy Birthday" and I replied "Same to you" in the flow, although it was not his birthday that day! :-)

Note: If you thought this was an entirely useless post, well, you are not alone, I too think on similar lines. In fact, "Same here". :-D

Life here and the life there...

Life goes on...

I just wonder why everything is reverse out here.

List of things that are reverse (ultaa):

1. The chauffeur's seat is on the left side in a car.

2. The zip of jackets are attached to the right.

3. The switches get turned on in the reverse direction.

4. The plug sockets and pins are of a different kind altogether which ensures that gadgets bought here have to have a converter for them to work properly there.

5. These people need to save day light and all, which means that the difference between IST (Indian Standard Time) and EST(Eastern Standard Time) which was 9.5 hours till November mid, is now 10.5 hours. This will continue till around March next year.

However, I am really happy with the courtesy sense of people in general. Whoever, you meet, never mind you know or not, will greet you with a smiling face and say "Hi", "Hello". This really leaves you with a happy state of mind and you never feel that you are an alien.

Onsite life isn't easy by any stretch of imagination. You are in charge of your own life and be assured, your sense of responsibility will be thoroughly tested. If you have a tendency to be lethargic, all I can say is "Best of luck", coz., then only luck can save you.

I came to know after coming here, why USA is considered to be a developed nation while India (in spite of being a nation to watch out for) still has miles to go.

Let me jot down few of the points:

1. Work Ethics - People are not really bothered by what you wear. You do not need a costly suit to show that you work. But what matters is - how efficiently you work and how dedicated you are. No one knows the definition of a strike. Work needs to be done and that's it. Full stop. Time management is vital.

I wonder in India, when will people understand the importance of this. We still hear - strikes being called - no one knows why! Does it really make an impact? Ambulances are still being smashed. Office windows are being broken. Doctors are taken out of their vehicles and beaten up only because they wished to attend the need of an ailing patient on the day of strike!

Our so called 'leaders' - excuse me, I call them 'dealers'... most of them are pure illiterates, with scant regard for the common mass.

logon ko burbak banaye rakhne mein hi bhalayi hai -- their motto! And man power available for cheap. Throw cash, hire goons, buy power. Simple, eh?

2. Discipline - Law is a law - not meant to be broken. But, when breaking law is fashion, who can help! Burning buses, mob lynching, burning the national flag... we do have a long way to go. People respect law and order here, and there are far fewer mishaps and vandalism. Police is feared. I do not say, there is no corruption. Everywhere, there is.... But the extent of corruption is far lesser, which is why the whole system is far more organized. The only catch is -- too much system dependency sometimes come in the way of common sense.

3. Population - This should have been the first point. Hum do, humare do... is still not working for a humongous part of the population. The result - geometric growth of population. Add to that - the growth of illegal immigrants. Whatever be the GDP growth, every penny is being eaten up. USA does have stringent immigrant rules and they DO implement them properly. Not so in India. Bangladesh, Nepal especially have extremely porous borders - not to mention Pakistan and China.

4. Education - Let me give a simple example. If you go to a Big Bazaar or City Center in India, or any of the shopping malls, go to any section and start looking for items. In no time, you would see a sales 'associate' appearing from nowhere. Even if you don't ask for help, he or she will continue to notice your every movement. Come on, are we all kleptomaniacs? Besides, this is so disrespectful. However, it happens only in India. The reason.... mishaps happen, things are stolen. Remember? ...breaking law is the fashion. So, normal people bear the brunt of a few miscreants. Not so in the US. You are left alone. Do whatever shopping you want. They do have technology (read spy cams) to take care of the monitoring part. But at least, it is not disrespectful. The trust is very much there. Now, why did I write all of these under Education... because education alone instills moral values. When you have moral values, when you know - snatching and stealing things is immoral, everything has a value and needs to be paid, these things do not occur. I don't care - how many million graduates pass out every year. What I wish to see is - those disrespectful glances should not hinder me, when I am trying to decide which shirt would fit me better. Way to go.......

Back to onsite life. The good part is - I can cook confidently now! So, you won't understand how happy that makes me feel. I always felt handicapped, when my friends used to boast of their culinary abilities. I can confidently match them now. :P

However, all said.... do I miss my country? Oh yes, I definitely do...

Bits and pieces

Hello World

I have been bad! I have been irregular! I have neglected my blog!
Curse me... and when you are through, let me pause and then start afresh with a brand new post.

Not sure if that would interest you, but I work in weird hours these days. Skeptics love to call me the watchman!! LOL :D Yeah.. that's my work on demand for now.

I may look rusty in this post as I have not been writing since quite some time now. So apologies upfront.

Being awake till 3-4 AM every day does take its toll, although the watchmen of my building won't complain. They have a new colleague in me, for free that is. More sincere (seriously) and more alert.

Let me brush up on few of the updates which needed my comments:

1. The surprise wedding of Mr Dhoni with a certain Sakshi
2. "Meow"ist uproar all over India
3. Rise of Paul - the octopus


Well, there are many more, but these caught my attention and probably of most of you.

1. The surprise wedding of Mr Dhoni with a certain Sakshi:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, after a string of pseudo-affairs and hush hush media coverages hurriedly took position beside the bride in Sakshi Singh Rawat. The whole affair was done in such quick time, that the Indian media was literally caught napping. Since enough have already been said about the wedding, I would shut my mouth and let you read through the links.

One can only hope that the Indian Cricket Captain's fortunes take a correct turn after entering this new phase of his personal life.








2. "Meow"ist uproar all over India:

This is not the cute 'hulo' I am talking about. This is a fierce member of the cat family which has sharpened its nails so much that the security forces are biting the dust. With all kinds of arrangements and 'booby traps' (as they say in the army), the ratio of police personnel killed with respect to the cats is still close to 1:1. Blame it on the politicians and their lack of foresight, which contributed to the situation. Today they are as powerful as some of our paramilitary forces. What is happening is not good for the nation, however why this is happening can probably be attributed to the mismanagement of people and resources at the grass root level and the ever lasting politics.


3. Rise of Paul - the octopus

Hail the king! Hail the king! - They say. They are not German for sure. They are the Spanish crowd. As an octopus is being given credit for correctly guessing the results of 8 out of 8 matches in the just concluded World Cup. One thought Shakira was the biggest attraction in this World Cup, but an octopus has overshadowed her popularity in a matter of few days. Scientists say that 8 out of 8 guesses is not that big a deal if we take into consideration the probability theory of mathematics. But the common men wish to believe the uncommon. So from Bipasha Basu to Maradona, everyone was left stunned.


I could not resist myself from sharing this image of Maradona with the legendary Paul, albeit a cartoon, is very realistic. [Photograph courtesy: Facebook]Finally: The latest joke doing the rounds in India
Someone asked Paul: "Will we see India play in any FIFA world cup in our lifetime?" Hearing the question, Paul faints."

There is a humorous article on this @Faking News. Read on and enjoy!!

Please donate for a good cause!

Hi friends

Please visit this page and donate for a good cause.

http://www.giveindia.org/give/pledgepage/chiranjib

Give India !!

When was the last time you provided food to an orphan?
When was the last time you gave clothes to a beggar?
When was the last time you fed ailing babies on the streets?

Well, the volley of questions above was not to baffle you, neither is in a bid to write something off-beat! Rather, the aim is to turn the attention towards something we forget while running through our daily chores - CHARITY! We forget that we, indeed, are more fortunate than many others. At least, we do not need to think about two square meals a day, a shelter over our heads, pieces of clothes to keep us warm in times of chilling winter. But believe me, there are people in this world who struggle for these BASIC necessities. Pity, we cruise through our fashionable clothes donning sunglasses ad what not! We feel overawed by a guy who just bought a brand new car, wishing, "Oh! I could not achieve that!". It is really good when we look up, strive for betterment, strive to achieve bigger goals. But, in a bid to do all of these, we often forget those people, who also had a dream - who dreamt for a shelter, a bowl of rice... those children, we couldn't care less about, still work in the roadside dhabas - to hell with the child labor laws and all - who cares! Yet, we never protest! Even, myself, the self proclaimed blogger and writer - I write, yet do not have enough capability to drag that child out of that damned dhaba and give him some food and water.

The question is - how much can we really do! Readers may argue - "We are busy with our jobs" "Careers take away most of the precious times" "But how can we help?"
Exactly so - I was indeed waiting for that last question. How can you help! Well, I just received a mailer from Indiblogger to write blogs for the cause of charity and I thought - why not!

Here is what needs to be done.
1. Visit the Give India page. What is Give India?

"What is GiveIndia?

GiveIndia is a NGO that raises funds for the poorest of the poor in India by helping you donate money to 200+ trustworthy charities. All NGOs on GiveIndia have been screened for transparency and credibility."


Please go to this page. Here is the url in case the click does not work.
http://www.giveindia.org/default.aspx
2. Register to the site. Go through the links. You would find plenty of Indian NGOs associated.
3. Login and find the links to donate. Options include getting an amount deducted from the payroll every month through your company payroll. Several companies are listed there which could be found in the drop down menu.
Last but not the least, this donation for charity comes under the purview of Income Tax benefits under section 80G (50% tax benefit). Yes, you would receive receipts.

Friends, let us come together! Say YES to charity! We would earn lots, but donation towards needy ones would really go a long way in putting a smile on some of these faces.

The Fat regime!

I was browsing my Igoogle page for the daily updates this morning and decided to add a new frame - guess what! The Fat Loss window! However, I am pissed off on seeing the tips! Whatever I love to gorge on are a strict NO NO! It's something like window shopping that I am doing right now - seeing the tips, appreciating it wholeheartedly, however I am apprehensive about trying them out.
Indian cuisine as such is very spicy and when we consider the subset Bengali cuisine which I am so fond of, things get hotter and spicier. Take the instance of the simply 'machher jhol' or fish curry in English. My mom is an artist when she cooks it for me. But take my word, it is spicy! Indian restaurants worldwide are a favorite destination for people from almost every nationality. However, many of them are either run by a Pakistani or SriLankan. Of course, food, in this part of the world is almost the same. Yet the name is in favor of "Indian" cuisine.
In a bid not to divert from the topic, today's tip in Igoogle tells me:
"No carbs after 9 p.m. Eat no bread, cereal, or pasta until morning. Extra carbs eaten at night often convert to fat."
Ironically, we follow sort of a reverse order. Our breakfast is the most light and this is the order.
BreakfastLunch>Dinner
We should have a heavy breakfast, then the body is able to burn out the calories gained during the entire day of movement. When we have a heavy dinner, and go to sleep immediately or sometime later, our body hardly gets the chance of burning down the calories, instead they get absorbed into the body and turn into fat.
With an work culture, such as mine, I hardly ever get a chance to exercise apart from the regular 20 minutes of walk that I do daily while getting back to home. Ahh.. I should not give an excuse, but really, that's the way things stand at the moment.

Are you a brand?

"Brand - Have you thought about it? Why is a Titan revered so much more than, say a certain HMT. Why people go gaga over Nike tees, when probably you can get the same sort of tee at 1/4th the price? Well, the difference lies in creating a brand value. These were mere materials. But these can well apply to professionals as well. Making a brand out of yourself truly matters. No two human beings look alike. But there are 'n' number of professionals who work in similar fashion day in and day out. So, give it a thought. What is it that makes you different from other peers in our experience level? Is there a difference? If there is, then work on it. If there is not, then work on it even more. In the process create a brand out of yourself. You should be known, not by your looks, your mannerisms or by your etiquette. Of course they go a long way in shaping up the brand. But they represent the 'look and feel' of a TITAN. The MAIN differentiating factor has to be in your longing for perfection, in your drive towards excellence, in consistency, in venturing in areas which others are afraid of. Then, my dear friend, you will be able to create a positive difference for yourself as well as the organization."

"Again, it all lies in the basics. Jot down your strong and weak points. Sharpen your strong points. Work on your weak points. Stay focused, committed towards creating value. A great way to stay motivated is to dream, to view yourself as the most successful professional you have ever seen. To create an imagery out for oneself is a big step forward towards really achieving the oh-so-dreamy dream!"

I told myself all of these in the morning today. Knowing what to do is one thing and doing it actually is a separate story altogether. What do you think, friends?

My 2009 resolutions reportcard!

Finally, the year 2009 is coming to an end.. looking back there are few things which come to my mind. But before I really take a deep dive into what went right and what did not, let me reflect on my resolutions for 2009:

1. Promise everyone with a small 'conditions apply' tag. <-- Yes, I did it! So am happy and safe
   
2. Stay away from girls and dogs. Both bite and bite hard! It hurts! oooh! <-- Ab-so-lutely! 10 on 10 in this as well!
   
3. Laugh often and never cry. <-- I could not keep this promise totally!
   
4. Make friendships only with boys (in a strictly non-pervert and innocent sense, NOT what you think, you *****!) <-- Hmm.. well... yeah..
   
5. Feign to be intelligent. <-- Many idiots, one intelligent.. guess who!
   
6. Whenever in trouble, speak the truth. <-- I do that! But sorry, that has landed me in more trouble!
   
7. Whenever not in trouble, also speak the truth. Oh! both sound so similar, isn't it? <-- Followed totally..
   
8. Research on how to increase the limits of blogger, so that I may never have to switch to another account and am able to write 90 years of blah blah blah.<-- This is a pending task
   
9. Make money out of everything! Am short of cash! Seriously! <-- I have spent more than I have made, well, almost... a jackpot anyone?
   

So, friends, what do you make out of all that? A mixed year for me? huh?

This year's resolutions would be different. Keep your fingers crossed till I am back with my list. And oh, by the way, have you shortlisted your top 'n' movies, shows, books, blogs, blog posts, music tracks, events and etc etc etc for the year (almost) gone by? What did you say? "Not yet" "Time kahaan!" "Forget it"??

Oh come on! Write something! Take a bit of time out of your busy schedule and prepare a list - say of music tracks. Sort in descending order of preferences. Play the tracks on the night of 31st December. Have an I-Pod handy. Watch the night sky explode with fire crackers all around and play back the songs. See if each of the songs bring back a specific incident of the year gone by! ...science calls this "associated memory".. for example, the song "hua hai tujhe jo bhi jo bhi" may bring back memories of your first (or last) kiss! (not me)! Close your eyes. Think about it.

You would feel nostalgic, feel good, rejuvenated, ready to take on the new year with new hopes and expectations... you would feel all charged up. Friends, try it for a change...

I would come back shortly with my list of resolutions for 2010 and also what went right for me and what did not..

So, (in the classic style of reality TV shows) PLEASE DO NOT GO ANYWHERE! I WILL BE RIGHT BACK!

Until next time, ciao!!


Image source: http://nnhs.newton.k12.ma.us/go/content/view/413/

Calcutta mood - Winter!

Finally, it is that time of the year - the Christmas, the New Year... festival time! Holidays!
Yeah, I know, many of you are gearing up for this season. Even Kolkata is getting ready for the "silent night, holy night...". Cakes and pastries are already out - luring people like me! :P (just in case you did not know, I love cakes).

In addition to these, there are Christmas trees, decorative lights, stars. Kolkata is an emotional city. People were mad with excitement when Maradona (with the 'hand of God' fame) arrived in the city. They cried when celebs like Princess Diana or the Pop Superstar Michael Jackson left this world. The same city did not care to have a single look at the badly injured guy who was left to his fate at night near the VIP Road. They embraced the kindness of Mother Terresa (she was an angel, really!). But they also burnt the Eden Gardens stadium when India lost a test cricket match against Pakistan. Every emotion, every mood is on display. People show what they love and they show what they hate! Strong display... nothing hush hush..

But then, no city is perfect! Kolkata is not! And yet... it is the city of hope, city of dreams.. or the "city of Joy" (as is more popularly known). I even loved the name Calcutta. Kolkata is bong, but Calcutta sounded smart! :P [But guys, please don't say Kolkotta/Kolkatta, that is nether here, nor there]... oops I don't want to sound like that authoritarian guy.. what's his name! Oh I forgot! He is not in the news nowadays! [till he decides to create a new controversy]... Forget it friends, as Shakespeare said, "What's in a name!"

So, the celebrations have begun! Although there is a strong indication that the weather would betray the mood! With temperatures hovering on and around 19-25 degree Celsius, it sometimes seems tough to believe that the season is "winter"! In any case, people would still wear jackets, well, even with the chances of perspiration! Farmville fields would still be covered with snow, even for the users from Kolkata! Hey it's winter, man!! (at least going by the calendar).. So, time for celebrations!!!

And also another year almost comes to an end. 2009 was significant for me, for us, for India and also for the world in many ways. 2010 should be interesting as well! I would shortly come up with the pros and cons of the year 2009 and new resolutions for the new year! New hopes... new expectations... new dreams... new realizations...

Until next time......................



Image source: http://video.ilovekolkata.in/seyretfiles/uploads/thumbnails/user_62/santa_3612.jpg