MAKING CLOTHING A MATTER OF CONCERN I used to see an elderly woman resting near the foot path, on my way to office. There is always a dog beside her coat .She may be above 80 years old and sleeping in the winter climate of Delhi near path way. There are extravagant functions and celebrations at one end .Few students of Delhi enjoy pocket money of 6 figures a day. Another man has built a shelter for his family which is 27 storey and 4 helipads, a swimming pool etc. Another Indian spent few crores for marriage of his daughter. An IAS officer couple in Madhya Pradesh, India, thinks 3 crores liquid cash as small money to meet their daily paltry expense. Their unauthorized wealth comes to about 400 crores.A film star appeared in public without the adequate minimum clothing and boasted that she forgot it to put it in due to hectic schedule. Yes, India is incredible and a land of negations. Countless people suffer due to lack of warm clothing in winters. In some parts of India people dig a pit in the ground to make their children sleep. Women face major health hazards due to the lack of a clean piece of cloth for using during their periods and there are many who can’t even take a bath as they have nothing to change into. Clothing is therefore not just an issue at the time of disasters. You would agree that for people who ran around shivering in peak winters or die because of cold, winter s are a much bigger annual disaster than floods. Make some effort, create awareness, and organize forums and gatherings. It will inevitably make a difference. Make clothing a matter of concern. If there is no avenue for you to donate your old but useful clothes, contact me.

Migrate, Adapt or Die

Migrate, Adapt or Die I happened to see an article in Newspaper the other day on Migration. It refers certain birds which travel more than 70000 Kms to adjust the climatic changes .Species face with climate change have got only three choices viz., Adapt, Migrate or Die. If the climate change is so fast, then the species cannot adjust to the new situation and may extinct. This is right for human being also. Just by sticking on the same location for years, migration may help one to perceive and visualize various situations in life. This is right for human being also. If you are not able to adapt, you may not survive or become unsuitable to the place or position .The title may seem a great philosophy, but a simple truth. If you don’t migrate or adapt, it will eventually show the way to death which doesn’t mean a physical extinction, but emotional. As Charles Darwin observed, all living things on the planet are compelled everyday to make one of three choices. This is not limited to animals or to plants, but even to business as well. No matter how you feel about Darwin or his theories, you have to agree with this. The world and life are constantly changing around us .Doing nothing means you are not adapting to any changes happening every day. You have to adapt to the changed environment or working place. The society, culture, language, food etc may be different in new place. I’ve seen my friends of southern part of the continent, in Delhi traveling long distance even sometimes in Metro, to have south Indian food especially Dosa and Rasam.Migration though temporarily inevitably result in loss of a sense of home and belonging, but fine-tune to the changed circumstances and realize you are who you associate with.(2/10/2010)

The Soofi-Kathak dance by Malini Chathurvedi

The Soofi-Kathak dance by Malini Chathurvedi My knowledge of dance and music is next to nothing. That‘s why I said a firm no to my friend who invited me for a Soofi-Kathak presentation by Ms. Malini Chathurvedi. There was nothing to do in the evening and when he commended that there is nothing harm in seeing a dance and that too by a solitary performer, I agreed half heartedly. The Kamini auditorium is closed from inside. Art lovers started coming. We too joined the flow. Sizable numbers are foreigners. We set a time frame of just 15 minutes viewing the performance. With my camera, we went inside and occupied a seat somewhere in front row expecting one or two photos .That went dry when the announcement came. Photograph is allowed, but not with flash light. I put my camera inside the bag. The ambience is good. Even the light and stage arrangements create nostalgia. Unfortunately, the description at the beginning was in Hindi which I could not follow. This could have been in English especially when sizable numbers of foreigners are present. I looked at my friend, who in turn looked down. Since the time frame is already determined, we decided to watch the program. The program started. Ms Malini appeared on the stage …………..The hybrid variety of music, dance, and costume all created a amazing feeling…… .She danced with her faces towards Heaven; whichever direction she turns ..............In fact she was not dancing with foot but dancing with her heart…… I just don’t know how the two hours gone…..The only thing not matching with her program was the song which carries a “roudra bhava”.The background instrument was wonderful both to watch and hear……At last, I satisfied with a photo of the display placed outside the auditorium.

How to get into Guinness book of World Records or Limca Book of records?

People are trying different novel methods to make an entry into Guinness Book of record s or Limca Book of records. Few are working physically tough to achieve this covetable recognition, yet others think out of box ideas. Some doing tricky spheres, some by virtue of their natural talent succeed. If you have no specific talent still there is a way!!! Avail a MTNL -Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited –internet connection- broadband -at New Delhi. Wait till it becomes faulty. Call customer care (Number 1504) and lodge a complaint that the internet connection is faulty. They will be very prompt in giving you a token number rather than attending the work. Wait for a couple of days (I’m sure the net connection will not be set right) Again give complaint to customer care center and repeat procedure shown above. Mean while give complaint in writing to higher officers in Kidwai Bhavan also. Let the complaint be there enjoying the breeze of wind and seeing the panoramic view of the city. You can try giving complaint through FAX also. But don’t forget to tender complaint at customer care center which is the entry point for entering into Book Of Records. Meanwhile my index finger has shortened by half an inch the other day. My family doctor told me that it happened due to pressing of telephone buttons for lodging complaints to higher officers of MTNL and this disease is wide spread wherever there is service of MTNL.There is a collusion between Orthopedics’ doctors and MTNL,I ‘ve every reason to believe. I’ve half a dozen of complaint token numbers with me and my internet is totally down for the last 3 weeks. If this is the plight of city dwellers, better not to speak about the rural folks. Moral There is little difference between public and private Internet Service Providers (ISP) .One sleep during the day time and the other remain wide awake at night.

Today is July 4

This day reminds me two events. 1. The effort made by my beloved father to develop courage, honesty and truthfulness in me, when I was a small boy. 2. The courage and intelligence of the people of Israel. How these two are related together? When I was a small boy studying in 3rd or 4th standard, one day my beloved father showed me the pictures appeared in newspapers regarding a hijack by terrorists and later how the hostages were rescued by the Israel Defence Force. I could not read the English newspaper. He explained me in detail, how the operation was meticulously done to rescue the hostages of Air France air craft from the Entebbe Airport, how the helicopter flew so low to escape from the eyes of the RADAR, how the black painted car carrying the soldiers entered at the terminal, How the life of the commando Mr Netanyahu was lost, How they managed to come back within 30 minutes of operation successfully etc. I still remember, his description about this small country and the people as ‘the most intelligent ’ men of the world. Today is July 4 I salute the brave men of the Entebbe rescue operation.

The ‘Lame’ Excuse

This New Year’s resolution was to take morning walk on all days. As usual, the resolution remains just as a resolution and tamper finder is regularly irregular.. The alarm bell rang with piercing sound. In the morning, when still in bed, tamperfinder think of various reasons to put the morning walk off. Any pain on head, hand or knee……...no Then look thro’ window……. any chance of rain or moisture? What’s the time? Is there any chance of getting delayed today’s schedule…? Has newspaper come? Is any special news? Has the movement of the men and traffic lessoned? Is there any visitors’ expected at home? If answers to all these questions are acceptable, he may think of going out. Then think of in which direction he should go for a walk. Today, it was postponed to evening and later to night! A health conscious friend reminded him of brisk walking. Hence decided to leave all lame excuses and walked fastly.. In the morning, there are so many interesting things to see in Thiruvananthapuram city. It’s not a city in the morning but just a village…no buses, trucks, whistling noises. ….. The city is quite, and also refreshingly unpopulated empty street, exercisers and dog walkers….. The darkness spread all over the area, the street lights are on, the road and field cannot be distinguished, thanks to Public works Department…..Few street dogs do not like the activities of tamper finder in roaming their area, as if it were their sense of duty ……. He has been thinking about various things to be done at office in perspective planning. The road and gutter are existing side by side and only an expert civil engineer is able to say which is road or gutter Eventually it happened.Tamperfinder find himself landed in a gutter….about 1 meter depth Now understood that he cannot think and walk at the same time! The right leg ankle twisted….limping and hobbling…he slowly returned to home, this time without thinking anything… Put a bandage around the shaken ligament part………and now nursing the leg …….. Now find another reason for not going for morning walk A ‘Lame’ Excuse. Is there any gender advantage in withstanding pain? Some wild thoughts came to mind while nursing the sprained leg. Of course, woman can withstand more pain because they create more pain to self and others! Piercing little cute nose, ears……………..Are these not causing them any pain? Pain is something we feel emotionally also .That’s why tamperfinder considers pain of broken heart is severe than that of labor pain. Tamperfinder usually has pain in his eyes…..treated few doctors also….finally found the spoon in the tumbler is the reason for that. After the “accident”, tamperfinder moved out only with a bandage. People started asking him ‘what happened’? Now going to office putting bandage inside sox….nursing the shaken ligament, tamperfinder passed 3-4 days. General election is forthcoming. People started canvassing for their favorites… Tamperfinder also went along with them making an impression that he too is active in campaigning. ‘Comrade’, ‘u need not come with this damaged leg’ said one friend.”We’ll call u if required”. “Thank you” vanished tamperfinder Nursing the bandage, walking with pain, tamperfinder now saying ‘lame’ excuse to all. During morning walk today, after covering the Thiruvananthapuram city for a kilometer, Tamperfinder finds his friend in a scooter on ‘morning walk.’ U are quite unexpected here? Said tamperfinder. “Because” she replied,, ”my physical trainer told me to cover a distance of 2 kms every day. Today I didn’t have enough time so I took my scooter and now covered even 3 kilometers!!! She said in a triumphant mood Yes, that’s another way to keep fit. Moral Pain means different things to different people and different things to same persons at different times and…

Beauty and Brain

Beauty and Brain Beauty parades are always source of everlasting laughter and fun. You just have to listen to the contestant’s answer to a question asked during the contest………. A recent example: At the Miss Teen USA pageant, Miss South Carolina was asked: “Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can’t locate the US on a world Map. Why do you think this is? The ‘ intelligent beauty’ answered……….. “I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so because uh, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and uh, I believe that our education, like such as in South Africa and the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here in the US should help the US, or, or should help South Africa, and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future for our children.” She won the 12th place coz there were only twelve participants ……… After the contest, she contacted Jon, her fiance………. And told him how cleverly she dealt with all tricky questions… …..and complained him about the prejudice of Jury in asking her irrelevant questions………… She left the theatre…There is another beauty contest next month…..and determined to face it. She is driving the vehicle along the valley…………. Birds chirping of to her left accompanied by the sound of water rushing down the hill in the form of a stream. Water headed back to the ocean to evaporate and begin its run down the stream again days from now! She likes latest musics..Though not sure about the lyrics and its meaning…..she simply listen to the music..Coz listening to music is a fashion and what others think if I don’t ….. No mile posts went by to inform her about the progress of driving. . She thought about various things……. There are many other questions they could have asked. Like who invented Electric bulb? Who is the highest paid hero in Hollywood? .What is the name of the pet of Richard Gere or Julia Roberts? At What price can we buy a Jeans and top?. What is the expansion of (A+B)2...so on…..But these fools have got only this question to me…..She felt very bad……… It was international day of Brain &Beauty The goddess of Brain &Beauty was observing all what is happening at the stage ….. The car came to a sudden halt …..She could see nothing in front..Except the goddess of brain and beauty……emerging from thick fog... She came out of the car The goddess smiled at her…and consoled her… Be brave…my lass…..I’ll give u three wishes…the last one is a special offer for today only….she said But only one condition……your fiance will get 10 times what u get. ‘Agreed’? The goddess asked ‘Why not’? After all it’s Jon, and we are going to marry soon. Ok… then…What’s your first wish? ‘Make me the most beautiful woman’…. within no time she became the most beautiful woman…no wonder Jon became the most handsome man…. ‘We ‘ll be made for each other’ she said to herself And your second wish? ‘Credit a billion dollar to my bank account now itself’…….. No problem…The ATM card of JON is with me…………. and I’ll change the pass word today itself. She said to herself… And what about the last wish? The goddess was in a hurry mood as she wants to participate in 2-3 seminars on the occasion of International day of Beauty and Brain and to inaugurate a protest meeting against asking difficult questions to contestants in beauty shows….and in reality shows.. And the third wish is…..’a mild heart attack’.she said imperturbable. After granting the wish, goddess disappeared in horizon …. Moral It’s not true that beauty and brain can’t go together. If you have brain you will seem much beautiful than a stupid one who just have good looks…………