Bharat MAATA ki Jai

why is it that women are particularly unsafe in India and even elsewhere ??? is it only because Men are stronger than women ? but by that logic a lot of men could be unsafe too considering a large number of men having homosexual tendencies and certain physically stronger men could overpower and rape them. This does not happen often except odd incidents in hostels and prisons if one was to generalize.

Women are a symbol of family's pride in some manner, which is why all the high voltage abuses  a are also hurled at your enemy's women, mostly related to your enemy, generally abuses accuse your enemy of having incestuous relationships with the female members in his family. 

its quite clear that eve-teasing/ molestation/ sexual exploitation is not fully an act of sexual fulfillment as it is also an act of showing the weaker sex their space in the society, as a rape can hardly be pleasurable

The reasons why women are getting raped & molested in India lies within ourselves I feel and just like a lot of people I feel that its impossible to stop it completely but these incidents can be minimized to a great extent but that shall happen over a generation it would tale immediate efforts from the executive but more important and long term efforts from us

• Kids are an extension of what they see in their family, probably not in entirety but your character builds up with what you are taught at home. What you see your dad doing is what you usually perceive to be right and cool, even if that involves aggression If you are rightly taught  with examples that your sister or you mother is as important as any male member in the family, its unlikely that you would degrade women in any manner. Easier said than done as we are all very hypocrite when it comes to women and their rights especially in the important decisions like finances, major purchases etc.

Men who are not brought up properly are the ones who are most likely to objectify women and get threatened by women who are independent and successful.

• While bringing up our kids we have to teach them to trust us and to communicate and express themselves to us completely. Sometimes kids are dominated and bullied in school for years and neighborhood or teased in public transport, such kids grow up to be less confident when the kid is out in the real world. When the statistic says that more than 70% of rapes are committed by persons known to the victim, its not a result of a day its a culmination of series of incidents that your daughter or your sister would not have been able to talk to you about which results in the act of rape.
• Bullying needs to be finished from the very young age, it harms the perpetrator and the victim as the perpetrator starts enjoying the act and the victim becomes too scared to talk. The schools and parents should come together to watch this bullying.

Most importantly we all need to have a spine to stand up to all forms of molestation and eve teasing in public. This is the toughest thing to do. I feel the criminals would be shit scared if they know that the public would beat them hollow in case they misbehave. Lets pleadge for once that we would all have the spine to stand up to any such incident if we witness it.

If anyone has any doubts about this, try and misbehave with anyone in central Delhi right now, with the way moods are you could be beaten to death. There is no greater force in this country than the society

The policing needs to be better in terms of patrolling and compassion and there is a lot to be desired, but the government should release their pictures of all the accused in rape cases in the media so that even when they get out of the jail due to some reason, their names are permanently tarnished, and everyone is scared of this especially if the perpetrator comes from a sound background, therefore all the potential rapists shall be extra-careful in their misadventures.

I am not in favor a stronger law on rape as like every other law its likely to be highly misused, but what could be done is that in cases of Gangrape or rape of a child or something, police should be allowed to finish off the criminal, its not worth its while for the courts to 

This evil which is scaring the shit out of each one of us can be and will be countered. And in case we really want to do something constructive in this side after protests are over, we should try and see in case can help NGO's looking after rape victimes by cash or by kind and do our bit for our country and for our souls.

JAI Hind and We will win

The Country needs you and me

" WORRY is thinking about the worst, HOPE is believing in a better future"

Independent India turns 66 today and while its a great feeling for all of us and we all would be exchanging greetings and would be displaying status's that we are all proud to be Indians, something that does not make sense. 

How can we be proud of something that we have not earned or have had an option of???

I feel great that I am born in India and not anywhere else, as this country gives me advantage of history , culture, resources, democracy and humanity like no other, no matter what any one says.

We all have to participate in the movement they call India

• VOTE VOTE VOTE: As Ambedkar once said this is the only instrument that truly empowers us and for voting discuss and debate so that you are able to make the right judgement. Lets not vote any jokers back to power again, lets send them back to Italy, Switzerland or whatever.
• USE INDIAN: Buy Indian made stuff or atleast stuff by Indian companies as much as possible, this gives Indians jobs and the Indian companies profits that is shared  by Indian shareholders. Obviously this would seem like a stupid suggestion but we would rather have the scale to make world buy our stuff rather than we buying their stuff like China or Germany. Psst I am typing this on a Chinese Lap top sadly.
• PAY TAXES: We build the nation, we have to start saying no to Black Money, no matter how good it seems, its gonna hurt us in the long run as prices would keep going up and we would not be able to catch up at all times.
• DONATE: As much as possible to as many persons as possible, there is no greater happiness than this. There is just too much poverty all around, not necessarily to organizations but to that labour who is working in your house, that rickshaw puller outside your society and donate not just money but also respect.
• WORK HARDER: Lets face it, all of us have benefited from India's rapid strides economically and are all overpaid for the work that we do, its time that we work harder to ensure we don't have to change our lifestyles and contribute to India's GDP 
• GET FIT: We all need to get fit and now, health is the biggest challenge that our generation shall face especially in such times of stress.
• WATER HARVESTING & SAVING ELECTRICITY if we really think we can live for 20 more years.
• Using public transport as much as possible, saving fuel, money , time and hassle for everyone

This is our country and its time we give it back, this list is not comprehensive it can never be but hey any start is good.

JAI HIND

Divine intervention needed

The world seems to be slowly breaking apart for so many people, friends acquaintances everyone suffering and there is no end to this suffering in sight. Our world both social and economic seems to have given up, we seem to be way ahead of the best times of all our lives that we saw in the last 20 years.

20 years back was a time when the families usually stayed together, when you had friends you could keep up with, you had a job security, you did not bend your back to meet your expenses, second or third car did not mean additional happiness.

What would I prefer????? More money and more disintegration of social values all around, impatience, aggression, diseases, more holidays. more cars OR less money along with real friends and family.

In India for us post liberalization era opened a lot of options in terms of career opportunities, entrepreneurial options, international exposure and with international exposure came the problems of the western world which are even more difficult to handle.

More jobs for men and for women, more independence for both, long working hours in order to progress on the corporate ladder more time spent at work than with ones partners or family all in trying to make more money to try and buy happiness via a holiday in an exotic location or something.

Even the one sided progression that people saw in their careers seem to be in danger with our economy collapsing or atleast slowing down and people not being used to the any slowdown in their life. This is the effect of the west and although we have benefited from liberalization but with concepts like social security and free medical not a reality in India simply copying the west might not have been the greatest idea but is now a mundane talk.

Well at 30 today people are able to build up net-worth in crores and feel great, but with this comes the problems like depression, stress, isolation , seperations, divorces, break-ups etc etc. Its a reality that people prefer their careers over their families 99 times out of 100 and lots of time neither their personal lives nor their professional lives have any chance.

Whats happening, I wish God intervenes and provides all of us with balance in our lives so we get back to the innocence that was all over our friends and family not too long back.

The price that we paid fof capitalization is not quite worth it

Health and Happiness for all

Superstar- Aamir ; QSQT to Satyamev Jayate

The verdict has been drawn, people wither love him or hate him yet again. Some of the responses that I have heard on twitter are like “A person charging 3 cr per episode has no moral right to suggest what’s wrong in our society” or some others who say “How much money are the producers of the show donating to charity” some have gone eccentric and believe that he is a hypocrite “Okay so we know what the problem is, now what” some non serious tweeters have termed the show as a little too boring , one comment was “Okay this guy produced Delhi Belly full of abuses and now he wants to clean the society”. Well everyone is entitled to his or her views and that’s the beauty of social media like twitter that you get to learn and understand someone else’s point of view that you would otherwise not even want to listen too. Sometime listening to others views can be quite enlightening.

In my humble opinion Aamir Khan has always set the benchmarks and has created a mass appeal to people which is unparalleled for any actor or politician atleast in present. He is one of the few celebrity to openly express his support for issues like Narmada Bachao Aandolan or Anna Hazaare’s fast in Delhi, something which most popular celebrities like to keep hands off.

Commercially speaking, he is not a public servant, he works for money but has delivered quality product in the last few years both as a producer and as well as an actor, Films like Rang De Basanti, 3 Idiots and Taare Zameen Pe have been very effective both socially as well as commercially. As a star one has an option to be like the other Khans and make as much money as one can and there is nothing wrong in that as actors are public figures and not public servants that they should not be making extraordinary money.

A top star with some of the highest grossing films of all time he is a star who has experimented and tried to deal with social issues that most of us agree plague our society like corruption(Rang De Basanti), flaws in education system (3 Idiots) , dealing with children with learning disability (Taare Zameen Pe) or social issues (Satyamev Jayate). I would like to stick my neck out and say that there has been a fairly large percentage of people who get introduced to these issues in detail because Aamir Khan is involved, there is another large percentage who relate to such issues but almost 100% of people can empathize with the issues that have been raised. You can’t deny that Rang De Basanti did inspire people to conduct candle light vigils for various issues and get involved in corruption related campaigns, the support that we see for team Anna for various campaigns somehow did get accelerated due to the influence the film had on people. Notably Jessica Lal case had a documented impact due to the candlelight vigils inspired by RDB.

Some intellectuals might deny the influence a movie can have on people’s action but what one can’t deny is that its sensible to have a meaning to commercial cinema and to give a message to a very large number of people which is the film watching audience in the country.

Aamir Khan might be arrogant, he might be cocky and he might be selfish when it comes to the attention span that he is looking for from his audience but one thing that he is not, is that he is not using his stature for ONLY making money and nothing else. As I mentioned earlier there is nothing wrong in working only for money but someone who does a bit more deserves a little bit more from his audience. Aamir Khan is an artist not a businessman and artists do get stimulated by money but they get stimulated even more by the legacy that they can leave behind, which is why you don’t see him doing 3 films an year which he can very well do. Aamir Khan belongs to the category of actors who are uncommon to India, he wants success but NOT at any cost. He reminds me of actors like Tom Hanks.

Aamir in my opinion is the FC Barcelona of Indian film fraternity, there is a method, a culture, a connect with the fans but is not totally commercial and is a class act even for someone who is not a fan and is short in height like so many FC Barcelona players.

#satyamevJayate as a show is not something that would eradicate the ills from the society , neither would it get the guilty punished in no time, but what it can do is that it can compel people like us to think over these issues and to find out about instances that have happened with people, analyses the reasons for the ills and the impact that its having and eventually creating a consensus that would create a lot of pressure on the government machinery to act when they know that over 5 cr people are backing one single cause. This is not a gamble, its an initiative that forces us to think and create an opinion and then to channelize our energies so as to get justice or clarification from the govt or private machinery involved. I do not know in case we would achieve success but then there is no harm trying. Instead of using prime time for a song and dance show its probably something that can create far more difference in each one of our lives and if nothing else we can give this man respect for that. He is not doing charity and he does not claim that he does, but then he  does not even ask for tax exemptions or dance in marriages to make his bucks.

If nothing else he deserves at least a salute from all of us to venture into unknown territory more than once.

Being Sachin Tendulkar

"Indians are ruthless, when they love you they go overboard, when they don't they aim for your head" Anonymous

Its a curse to have talent if this is what you have to go through so many times while playing for your country I say. Ricky Ponting has retired!!!! so what dammit , since 2009 his form had gone from bad to worse and the selectors persisted with him even in Australia played some 25 tests(before India helped him discover his touch obviously). Our men Sachin, Dravid and Laxman are still the top 3 ranked Indian test batsmen as per the ICC ranking but no thats not enough for us, without playing even a single ODI from the WC 2011 till now Sachin is still 22 nd in the World ODI rankings and MSD's and media's current favorites(Raina. Rohit Sharma) feature much below that. So one thing is clear that the seniors might not be at their best currently but their mediocre form is a lot better than the rest of the team's pathetic form to say the least.

These times come in every great cricketer's life more than once, in 2007-08 Sachin himself was staring at retirement as his elbow injury was proving to be the Achilles heel for him but he did come back and came back stronger than ever before statistically and effectively. Sachin does not stop from other guys from coming in and perform, which is why Dravid, Dada, VVS and Sehwag did very well as together it was a great combination along with Sachin. These 4 batsman names might have almost carried Indian Cricket from a tag of also rans to World beaters that we were known as till an year back. However in the last 10 years there has not been a single player who has even threatened to deliver performances at the top to challenge these Gallaticos for the test spot, Look at the current pool of talent available and one would know why we need the big boys. India hasn't fully recovered from losing Anil Kunble as a strike bowler a couple of years back and letting go of our batting machine would be tragic. The fact is that Australia has a backup and we don't so lets not compare Ponting and Sachin.

Just becuase a player is 35 plus does not mean he should retire if there is a slump in form, interestingly Dravid was our best player in England, VVS the best against the Windies and Sachin was India's second best in Australia. Even if there is a fault in technique , they have to be given time and assistance to get it back in order.

They deserve to retire whenever they want, Sachin is the best cricketer i have ever seen, Dravid is the most effective test batsman India has ever produced and VVS Laxman is the greatest finisher of test matches especially when the going gets tough. And open your eyes they play for our team and its not a corporate its sport at the highest level and there needs to be a lot of dignity and respect given to these guys as they have given it all for the pride of our nation and sadly I dont see anyone in the current lot barring Virat Kohli who can even fill the shoes of their kids.

One more thing , Sachin would not become greater if he scores the 100th 100 and he would be no lesser if he retired at 99, and if the 100 was on Sachin's mind the way its on our I am sure he would have played the ODI series against Windies at home to complete it. Its NOT important at all for anybody except for the media and the retired useless cricketers who are like old men in wars, All they do is to talk about something and crib about another.

When I grow older I would like to tell my kids, I saw Indian cricket team play a test match against Aussies in Kolkata with Sachin, Dravid and VVS all playing together. WOW

Dealing with Job Loss

You lost a job so be it, shit happens wether you were good enough or there were problems in your organization or there was politics, all that does not matter after you have lost your job. The impact of losing a job is directly proportional to the experience and seniority that you enjoy in your organization. Here’s a quick reference as to how one should ideally deal with something which is the biggest price of modern day capitalism

• The basics: start spending less generally and stop spending on non essentials, YES you would find another job and things would be back on track again but then you never know. In a high probability lay-offs happen in tough market conditions and you don’t want to be eating out of your savings for too long.
• Psychological impact: Can be severe especially on persons who have been top performers earlier, and it’s difficult to suggest that it won’t be, but remember that You shall lose the fear of a job loss itself which has been our biggest fear otherwise. You can proudly say that you have been there done that. Now it depends on a person to come out of this stigma and the faster he comes out the better it is.
• The taboo: Historically there is a social stigma attached to getting pink slips and this is a wrong time to try and justify in front of people why this happened. People who love you anyways have belief in you and people who hate you would never trust you no matter what you say. Forget about what has happened and be very open about it, as such things are never hidden, especially from a prospective employer, professional contact or a client. You can’t help it so just enjoy it. Also the world is maturing and pink slips are gaining acceptability in the society and the market place.
• The opportunity: A job loss could be an opportunity for us to look at a change in career or to take a sabbatical that we have always wished for but never had the time for due to our schedules. Also one can look to further your educational qualifications during this time as in a high probability the job scene would not be too great.
• We have to be ready to take salary cuts, ok it might feel that its a step in the backward direction but then with each percentile of salary cut your probability of employment keeps going up.
• The big risk: More often than not its been seen that after pink slips most person look in for stable options in employment rather than high growth options that one always looks at otherwise. Its a subjective decision but since we are a part of an extraordinary economy I feel the prospect of growth makes a lot of sense especially in case you are young and chasing a dream. Getting into a SLOW job might just kill you before you die your natural death.

Lets always remember that whatever has to happen has happened and has happened for a reason, nothing can keep us down except our own motivation and hard work

“I’ll get knocked down, but I get up again, You re never gonna keep me down”

TUBTHUMPING: Chumbawamba

BCCI spoilt for choices

What all could BCCI do now?

The greatest cricket board in the world!!! It’s time to take leadership and make the following changes so that the money flow never stops in cricket and cricketers.

• Start opposing test cricket just like they opposed UDRS and force all the advertisers and boards to push for this. We should ask for a ban on test cricket totally.
• If the ban does not happen we should ban fast bowling as its dangerous and can cause serious injuries to player’s bodies, minds and souls.
• Push for 20-20 to be the only form of cricket in the future and ODI’s to be referred as test matches where our star batsmen would have to face premium spinners for a max of ten overs. These ODI’s would only be played at Indian pitches going forward.
• Push for a permanent No. 1 spot for India in ICC rankings, so that we never fear losing it.
• BCCI should push for a longer IPL season say for 8-9 months or something, as that would take most of the stress away of the international cricket from our players. A longer IPL would make more money for our players and they would also get all the money and women(remember EPL and Ashley Cole and David Beckham).
• MSD and company can start a career in films or TV, afterall even Fardeen Khan and Vivek Oberoi made money there, Maybe BCCI can produce such films.
• BCCI should take over some other sports as well like soccer and hockey so that those boys could also get Titan Sonata and TVS ads.
• We should move out of ICC and create a separate association for developing countires and not play against the developed countries like England and Australia where hostile fans need to be shown middle fingers.