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January 22 What's the hue and cry about?? Whats the hue and cry about??
Slumdog Millionaire is in news and has bagged the nominations for 10 most popular and prestigious awards.
There are different reactions and emotions
"Its not an Indian film . Then why are we excited ?"
"They ( the producers/director) have no right to potray the poverty of our precious country"
" The title should not have had slumdog....very derogatory"
After 26/11 the image of India in the international eyes has fallen. The lapse in security and our vulnerability has been starkly exposed.
Then the booker prize for Aravind Adiga's "White Tiger" showing our country thru a poor " servant's "eyes was definitely not very flattering to our image- the class and caste conscious ( But a great must read book though. I would say. )
Then came the Satyam fiasco and our corporate governance took a beating.
And then the rcognition for a movie that shows the vulnerable section of the society- the street children ....... our shame knew no bounds.
We have always wanted validation from " firangis" ( especially the westeners) and wanted them to see how progressive, modern and rich ( heritage of course) we are.
What a shame that the truth is finally out!!
Its time we learnt to except the fact that we do have all these problems that have surfaced through all these different cases and no amount of 'tch-tch ing 'will make it go away.
Lets open our eyes and think about what we can as an individual or in a group do to be part of the change we want to see around us.
All of us are in some way or the other responsible for the mess we are in.
Let's get up , pat the dust off our clothes and think about changing our perspective to our society a little and that will add up to a lot of positive change .
Lets ask ourselves these point blank questions-
" Why do we pay the traffic police a bribe to escape a penalty of a couple of hundreds?"
" Why do we bribe the government offiicials all the time ?"
" Why do we refrain from voting when as a citizen it is your duty to do so?"
" Why are we silent spectators to the dirty games our politicians play and feel helpless?"
If you are thinking, " What can I do to change?"
Let me give a few simpl suggestion
Lets take an oath not to brake any civic discipline.
Lets take an oath not to take or give bribes
Lets all be vigilant and actively participate in bringing about a healthy political system .
.
Few of us here in Bangalore asked ourselves the same questions and decided to come together and think of ways to bring about small changes in our society around us. . Do we have all the answers?
No, not now atleast.
But with more and more like minded people joining together we can find solutions to these problems.
If Gandhi could lead the whole county to freedom with just non- violence as his tool and no media , poor transport about 60 yrs back with all these support we as a group should be able to do more.
Together we can and we should.
Intersted people could join our brigade.....look up in
May 08 What's the great fuss about? I was seeing a half an hour program about Bhubaneswar's Budhia- the little marathon runner.
A week back when the running Budhia was flashed all over the TV channels ,I also had mixed feelings about this.
On one score I was amazed that a little child could accomplish such a marvelous feat. And sad thinking probably he has been forced into this marathon by money and attention seeking foster parent/coach.
After seeing the program abouit the life of Budhia this afternoon I 've changed my mind.
I do also feel that a child of his age should not be forced into aggressive sports at this tender age .
In Buddia's case .....the child is the youngest of many children in a very poor family.
His mother had sold him to a person , out of helpessness and poverty.This coach , runs a residential sports club and trains many poor children in fitness and sports in a professional manner.
This caoch, brings him home and takes him in his fold training him- like he does with all the children.
He realized soon that the child was a prodigy and had the stamina of running long streches.
Then on he was trained to become a runner.He was obviously taken good care of -with nutritious food and massages every day.
The question Budia's mother asks of the govt. officials is what made me take a different view at this ...
"Where were these officials when I had to sell him due to poverty?",....." Where are they now when my other children and many others in this slum are so poor that they do not even have proper clothes to cover themselves?"........" Why haven't they helped us?....
If Budia had not been adopted by this coach who is running a very positive and healthy sports club for all these poor kids....It has opened up job oppurtunities for many, ( police, BSF etc)......,then he might have become a child labourer or a street child....Is that what you want.....A poser to all from the coach. I think we should commend the coach's efforts in helping all these children......negative publicity will be bad for his club and the children who depend on him.
What govt can do is put in proper monitoring systems to see that proper care his taken to see that the childrens' health is not affected.
P.S:
In my personal experience in working with the slum children (with families) and street children if the children are not oriennted towards positive and educative activities they get mixed up in all kinds of crimes big or small.......society is not kind to them . These kind of vocational training helps them to put all their energy into something good...and it also disciplines them
April 22 What's in a name?.....III was reading an article in the editorial of "The Times of India'.......it was titled i_me@myself .com
We talk of identity crisis in various situations like living in an alien country and losing identity, changing name or identity for hiding from police......(the 'bhai" ishtyle).
Many a time this kind of loss of identity has frustrated individuals ,but have nevertheless been accepted with a feeling of helplessness.
The loss of identity the article in Times.... was talking about is the one in the virtual space.
Our name might mean something special to our parents, or in our language or religion but in the virtual land...we are always given wierd options to choose from
for example it would say...'try vasuda 2365' because that is available.
My sons have interesting ids too. The elder one has qwerty as the 2 nd pard of his id.If you do have to adopt some strange 'string of variables' why not make it easy for everyone by just keying in the first 5 letters of the keyboard?
The younger son's id has sehwag and multan in it.......Guessed it...a cricket fan who wants a little part of that glorious match with him forever..( remember the 3 centuries sehwag took in Multan, Pakisthan.)
The funny part is if Sehwag himself wanted to get an id with Multhan added to his first name the computer will ask him to choose something different.Sorry about that sport.
Your identity is now my son's.
Lucky are those who had names that were unigue or teased at in schools......They may be allowed unchanged.
Are we o.k with this mauling of our id's ?
I suppose so.....................Do we have a choice ?...............Can we fight with the machine now to save our identity?
I don't think so.
May be that's the reason we make it a point to say our id and invariably follow it up with the words, "all are in smaller cases,", not wanting to shout out from roof tops the completely 'not you' sounding ids. April 07 What's in a name? What's in a name?
Its not Bombay................ ..its Mumbai
Its not Madras....................its Chennai
Its not Poona.................... .its Pune
Not calcutta ......................but kolkata
And finally.............It will no longer be Bangalore......but Bangalooru from 1 stNov '07.
Whatever may be the justification for changing it .....why should we continue the names which Britishers gave to these cities for their easy pronunciation?......it gels with our reguional culture ....etc....all of these are pure rubbish, according to me.
The names Bombay , Poona, Madras and Calcatta bring back nostalgic memories to all of us.I for example grew up in B'bay and did my schooling till 10 th there, in Chembur.
"Bombay" means, playing in our building, challenging the scorching heat during the summer vacation, from 8 am to 8 pm.
It also means having fun during Ganesha chaturthi.......singing bhajans, in a Mahrashtrian neighbour's house , collecting the handful of Prasad and relishing it all the 10 days........till the viserjan .
It also means visiting tamilian homes during dusserra pooja , singing ourselves hoarse at the top of our voice.......(you have to keep in mind that our society has put in strong stipulations against me singing even in Bathroom ...) and collecting our 'choondal' and promising that aunty ( or should it be threatening) to return every evening for 9 days and sing a new song ......
Diwali, Holi, ...Gokulastami, you name it ...No city celebrates all the functions with the same zest and enthusiasm.
On 'Roja' days we used to wait for our next door Muslim aunty to break their fast ..........we would also get sherbet and some mitai every evening.........
Bombay also means wearing new crips raincoats over your huge school bags and walk all the way to the school.Every season had a character to it, in Bombay.
On the flip side Bombay showed the Mumbai side of it also then....
Shivsena creating havoc in Mumbai, targeting southindians ( Madrasis),
killing them, humiliating them.
I was part of all that...
The name "Bombay" has a cosmopolitan feel to it. Mumbai, sounds too regional.
All cosmpolitan cities should not shed their cosmopolitan character.The name " Bombay" makes people of all relegion and region welcome on the other hand the nomenclature Mumbai is a result of narrowmindedness of a few people.
Same could be said of all the other cities I have mentioned above.
Isn't it a contradiction - we talk of globalization and name change to suit the local culture in one breadth?
I will always call these cities by their old names only.
February 28 Generation -XI was watching a black-n-white '50 's movie sometime back and a line caught my attention-the father says," The younger generation has absolutely no resposibility and do not care for the values...blah...blah....."
The irony -the so called younger generation of the '5o 's is saying the same line again. And its always like that.
The older generation always thinks that they are the resposible ones and the younger gen-x in turn thinks they are the mis-understood ones.
My generation ( the cats-on- the wall middle- aged generation, the -40+ something generation) are the ones who have to look at this objectively.
The older generation is a stubborn lot-they do not want to accept the fact that the times are changing and with it a few practices. What was appropriate or right in their times may not make sense now.Many of the tradition or values they are talking about are nothing but a few rules put down by their parents to discipline them. The parents of today may have a different way of looking and controling their children.
The gen-X should also understand that the older gen is talking from experience and respect that.
I do not agree that the gen-x is irresponsible.
In my visits to various NGO's I have always been amazed at the fact that all the volunteers are young. It is very very rarely that I have come across people over 45yrs.
These young boys or girls come there after finishing school, or college or work and find the enthusiasm to volunteer also.
We have to appreciate the fact that education , work and every activity around them has become highly competitive and they go through a lot of pressure .Inspite of that if they are able to set time aside for social service, ....I would say I am proud of them.
Look at the reaction to Jessica Lal case. See how the young of India are creating a furore now.
It's time the older gen. comes out of their narrow frame of mind and sees all these.
The older generation should inspire by setting an example.........come out and see what is happening and motivate the young instead of pointing a finger at them.
I am just speaking in general terms ................hope I did not hurt anyone's sentiments.
...........................vasuda..............................................................................................
February 22 Adoption Just read an article about a 60 yr old lady delivering a baby after going through all the expensive medical proceedures.
I was shocked and angry on reading this.
It is natural to want to have your own child.But there is a limit as to the extent one would go to have it. It would have been perfectly fine and right if she had been below 40yrs maybe.
A person having a baby at 60 plus should consider other pros and cons and a very important factoe-THE BABY
Did the couple for once think what would happen say after 10 -15 yrs when they are no more?
Even if we do not let ourselves to think morbid thoughts like this one -will they be fit enough physically and prepared emotionally to deal with the adolescent problems when the child grows up.
........I pity the child.
There is one perfect solution for all these-adoption.
My sister has adopted a beautiful girl-(the cutie pie has now been in our family for 4 yrs.)and I know that it is a right option.
This brings happiness in the lives of all of those involved.
Nowadays,doctors are not allowed to reveal the sex of the baby before birth.That is absolutely right.
Doctors should also have some ethics against helping women above certain age to conceive with medical help.
I may sound harsh but I am thinking of the baby'a future here.Doctors may hve achieved a medical marvel but the marvel in this case is a life and they are playing with its life.
Encourage adoption and discourage pregnancy after 50.
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