Thursday, 26 July 2007

Honking syndrome

Ever wondered why we need so much of honking to make way for our vehicle to speed ahead of chunk of vehicles travelling ahead or besides us or even honk when there is no vehicle or anyone around, walking or blocking the road. Is it a style to impress that an immensely great personality is passing by or poor punctuality, trying to catch up a few seconds of getting late by speeding up through road to make it 58 and not 60 minutes of getting late.

And if one has ever observed that honking is contagious in nature, it’s like a virus - spreads so quickly. When one vehicle driver thinks that honk is the only way to sever the traffic and honks, in reflex u hear another ten honks to retort. Have a little fun, check out for yourself, one honk of yours and another ten in response and more so funnier is the response of people, the way they look at you when you pass through. Yet another thing to notice, honking pattern goes according to the thought pattern in the mind. Louder the thoughts in mind, louder is the horn to chuck the person who comes in your way. One can’t stop the flow of one’s thoughts or one’s urgency but one can control how to respond to the situation, keeping in mind the external situation.

Funny this honk mania is.. but equally true is, why cant people wait for others to give way instead of honking incessantly or why cant we start our journey on time to reach the destination on time without creating stress for self and others. Why not be a little civilized and have a little more patience. In this aspect we do need to learn some from the developed nations who have diligent followers of traffic norms, where undue honkers are given a stare. Let’s observe some decency… what say?

26-7-2007

Monday, 23 July 2007

O7W vs N7W

how abt a recap of the most churned topic off late..

O7W
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Lighthouse of Alexandria


N7W

The Great Wall, China
Petra, Jordan
Christ Redeemer, Brazil
Machu Picchu, Peru
Chichén Itzá, Mexico
The Roman Colosseum, Italy
The Taj Mahal, India

Wow the 7 wonders..

Recently the new 7 wonders of the world were voted for ..and the outcome of aggressive campaigning for Taj Mahal to be included was finally successful… huh!!…thank god, we did show our patriotism by voting to keep it in the bandwagon of top 7.
(Our people have found out easy means to show their patriotism also.. )

But at the end of the day, who were successful, bearing in mind that UNESCO was not involved in this poll at all, were the ones in the media doing all the publicity, the telecom operators, and the companies providing online voting facilities, everyone of them got their share from money spent on the millions of online votes and SMS’es. This new 7 wonder was a stint by …Mr Bernard Weber ( Swiss Businessman) & Mr Fedrico Mayor (a former UNESCO director –general )

And now again to earn that extra dime our very own TOI , has come up with its own polling for wonders in India and since last 4 days, they have come up with 20 wonderful sites like Ajanta Ellora caves, Khajurao temple, Brihdeshwara temple etc
Some more roll of money from consumers pocket to the pockets of media, telecom company etc etc.. Now they may come up with an argument that they are trying to educate the importance of the same to the public through media by such means. But then educating can be done by printing them like any other news items, is polling required in that case? And how could we compare the charm of one with another and bring out no. 1 and no. 2 and no. 3 etc ? Isn’t it mean?

To pay tribute to such stupendous places why not pay a visit ourselves and learn about them, their history, and how to preserve their charm and cherish them live rather than by mere means of voting. Let the tourism industry earn a little and in turn spread the wonders of these amazing wonders through word of mouth followed then by using media and mobile phones for the same …

If we see it - we will value it and if we will value it - we will preserve it by all means …

( Being a travel freak this is the first thing that comes into my mind, of exploring and cherishing the places by self , people can have different views and directives to support their views )

23-7-2007

Thursday, 19 July 2007

I & I = more I ..... random musings on I

Was just pondering over why does it hurt us more when someone says bad of our mom , dad, bro, sis, our close relative, our favourite teacher etc etc… is it because ‘I’ is attached to all finally…
________ X ________
Why do we always want to prove that we are the best of all and inturn compete to prove to be the best using fair/unfair means..

________ X ________
Why does that “I” always want to show itself superior than the rest and cover its charisma across the whole world..
________ X ________
Would it not be a peaceful place to live – this earth, if all just live for themselves without the power of showing the superiority of “I”

And no I would not leave that “I” till that “I” leaves me…
________ X ________
Many a times when we stop listening to the inner “I”, do you think we would give a dime if we are to listen to other “I’s” …
________ X ________

Supposing, the inner voice was fitted to a loudspeaker somewhere in this world .. should we ever feel ignominious for our selves if we happen to hear that voice ring back while we were in a coterie of people …
________ X ________
And supposing all the creatures in this world start evolving to the caliber of the humans , how would the world be, thinking of the mess created by humans alone..
________ X ________

Monday, 16 July 2007

dose of laughter..

Seeing an auto rickshaw wala drive from far is really interesting .. too near is fatal of course. The bigger rickshaws being called “Chakda” are a power house, with the diesel engine making all the bhak bhaks of sound..

The way he severs the jam packed vehicle through the traffic with barely some space to breathe some fresh air, undauntingly is quite thrilling. Out of the whole lot of traffic traveling at a given particular instance, it is he who has all the hurry to get his passengers reach their destination before time.. overtaking other vehicles, with a full turn by just showing a leg as a sign of taking the turn along with the full confidence that it will not overturn is quite funny to see.. and dare you speak the way he side passed you and you would be into a soup of all the bad words for you and your poor driving skills that are to follow …being a girl u may still be spared with just the words , but if u are a guy who tries to teach that learned fellow, you will be shown all the muscle power..

Some people, seems, never tend to look behind or around with the chaos they would be creating, as they are too much into their own world of reaching from one destination to the next at the top gear.. and its probably this state of mind which gives them the required confidence to ride through relentlessly..

13-7-2007

Sunday, 8 July 2007

my take..my story...

Pls link this with the previous post..

The sunshine on the face made him open his eyes and take a look at the surrounding.
The morning was bright and welcoming. He lay on this hospital bed since quarter of a month as if it had become his second home. Cool breeze from an open window blew past his face and caught a twinkle in his eyes while turning to see the curtains, making a fluttering sound did give some glow on his face. While looking past the window, out there was a government garden carrying a joggers track and a children recreational park stretching till the sea beyond. It was morning 8 but still the garden was buzzing with the elderly and few others walking past the walking tracks while some others cherishing the company- sitting and chatting, mothers getting their babies and making them play in sand, some children playing in their groups, some own their own in the swings and the ladders, hawkers trying to settle down their larri. In the gardens were beautiful flowering shrubs and shady trees, which gave so much serenity. With a look back from the window, faith was overflowing at the moment; he clubbed his hands and closed his eyes for a short prayer. Behind those closed eyes flowed the brisk memories of how he became a crippled boy interspersed with the happy scene of children playing in the park. “Sushanth” hit the soft words of his charming lady doctor, so was it. His favourite doctor and his only pal at this hospital had come to greet him and take his daily progress report. He was pleased to see her back, she was like a messiah to him. Gently did her lady doctor do her job of checking the movement of the hands. A whimper of pain caused by that hand movement made him go to the lapse of flashback. Immediately he landed into that scenario of how on his way to school he had met with an accident - walking, he got hit by a fast and reckless motor bike enthusiast, who didn’t even care to stop and look at what he had hit and whom he had left flying to hit the ground with most of the parts of his body broken like a glass shattered to tiny pieces if thrown with significant force. That pain was enormous. In the background was the murmur of his pal doctor who kept saying “ Sushanth is a brave boy, he is fit and fine and is going to run in a couple of days” “Sushanth is a courageous boy, who is going to fight this back and is going to catch hold of that rouge motor bikist to the police.” “Sushanth” . And immediately Sushanth snaps back to reality. With his gaze at the floor, he spots a single slipper. He pauses to look at the doctor lady with a lot of pain smoldering from his eyes , doctor lady catches that glaze, says a word or two of encouragement , rolls a gentle hand over his head and presses her cheek to Sushanth’s and kisses him goodbye and promises to return quickly after her rounds. He passes a silent smile. With the passing hour it’s the onset of the regular activity at the hospital. Sushanth’s mom is back with the juices and all the healthy home made food allowed to be given to the patient as per the doctor’s prescription with a daily dose of the medicines. Sushanth cuddles his mom slowly as his arms allow him. His mom kisses him back. She is an epitome of love to him. As the day progresses his mom reads him stories with the regular doses of food and medicine at the right time. On instruction he is to take a short walk around the hospital with the support of a walker every single day to improve and recover speedily. Diligently he follows the same with the support of the walker and his mom. While taking on those words, today he takes a different route to the corridor which led to the ICU. As they walk past the ICU slowly but steadily, Sushanth spots a frail child patient lying on the ICU bed, still, living on the fibrillator, oxygen mask and all the bottles providing various fluids to the veins and various others taking out fluids from this little child. Inquisitively Sushanth asks his mom, “ Maa , what happened to this child, even she got hit by a vehicle?, and what are all these bottles doing ? why is there a mask on her face? Will I have to put those masks as well? ” Mom spotting from his questions that he was on the verge of going back into his past, so before a flashback of his accident hits him and makes him mentally crippled, stops him half way “ Sushanth ” , “ She is a child of god, god’s favourite child- like you. She is brave, fine but is a bit naughty cos she doesn’t eat properly unlike you and hence has to be brought here so as to give her back all the energy she needs to work and play” “so my brave child, you need to follow all what your doctor aunty says, and we will be out of this place quickly- will you follow it – my child??”. With a waiver in her voice she turned her face away from Sushant, not knowing what else to explain him without knowing what was wrong with that poor child herself, hiding her tears back. Back to their room were a storm of relatives and guests who would flock on timely basis to fulfill their duty by showing their undue faces, each one adding a pinch of salt by quoting a few encouraging words engulfed in the ruthless and depressing words, making him unnecessarily realize that crippled life forward was going to be his reality. But now Sushant was lost in his own world, lost in the faith that he was a “child of god” “god’s favourite child” like that sweet, little, naughty girl in the ICU and calmness covered his face.
_______________________________________________________
pls note : this was a novel effort by me to yarn a story according to the words selected hurridly but cautiously , story took its own shape as i sat down to write... hope you enjoy as much as i did while writing..

Saturday, 7 July 2007

Lets yarn a story….

I will come with words interspersed by spaces and the dots as I normally do so as a reader can fill the appropriate word on his/her own discretion. You can make a story of your own with those words as put here or can change the sequence of the words as one suits…..

I have my story ready but will post it in the next post … so till then all my readers can come up with some interesting stuff and put it across.. would be glad to receive the responses..

Here we go..

Morning…bed …window….. garden……faith …. crippled boy, Sushath….whimper…pain…flashback….accident…..reality…..a slipper….support…corridor….ICU…patient…..flashback…relatives…depressing words…reality…faith…calmness….

Wednesday, 4 July 2007

The road beyond..

We are at crossroads to the concretization, modernization, materiality, and progress which can rather be termed as unidimentional on one hand and on the other the need to evolve from our poverty in all ways and senses..

The roads 10 yrs back which were barren, today bear a new look, a make over done from what it was to what it is today.. the road which lead to the end of the city where the university was situated, today is full of building structures till the end..
The university itself bears a modern look .. the concrete road all along, the landscaping done so beautifully, marking of various departments all along shows the efforts of the management ..

When the work is done remarkably or fairly well or the effort has been good gives a sense of pride and happy feeling.. it shows the effort put has not gone in vain apart from being cost effective..
Such should be our country’s progress, where even the minutest effort put by the government or an individual also to improve the living conditions should create positive results only – i.e. providing higher standards of living by giving better roads ( which doesn’t need repairing every monsoon ) , better planned urban development ( not just acquiring reaping lands in terms of agriculture for selfish reasons), purified drinking water, water solutions to the drought prone areas and the flood hit areas, good education system, good sanitation system and higher employment rates by creating jobs etc etc..

The effort should be so as to maximize the resources be it natural or human and not in wasting them for self centric reasons and short term gain. It needs to be a Sustainable Development so that future generations can also cherish the world where we live as much as we did…

4-7-2007

Sunday, 1 July 2007

on a serious note....

It’s a topic which people hate to talk of, a lot of drama involved around it, lot of pain with the very word … well its about abortion..

Wouldn’t have anything to quote myself till I saw a film on the same - courtesy my sister who happened to take this topic and enact a 5 minute mono-act on it in her professional people’s social gathering and an uncle of mine who helped with the CD...

Hadn’t imagined ever that abortion is such a horrible act of killing a child so ruthlessly..
Wouldn’t go into the nitty gritty of the killing I saw on the CD , but in short it was actually plucking the parts of the child out of the mothers womb one by one.. horrendous – terrible ….

Whatever the reason for abortion of the child either be it a girl child or family control – killing will remain a killing.. and enactors should be held equal to a killer in the court of justice.. and if not to the court of justice, they will remain culprits in their own eyes forever..

But on the other note – (mind it not to support this act but the flip side ) – suppose for whatever reason the child is saved from being aborted , would it live happily if the family was not in a position to support the living of this child for what so ever reason…and what would be the guarantee that the child’s life is not a living hell ??

1-7-2007

At the moment..

At the moment I am cherishing the Rajkot rains.. looking out of the balcony it’s more than a pleasant drizzle.. the pitter patter of the rain drops on the balcony wall, the view of the dark skies indicating of more such rains to come.. the rumble of clouds, the flight of birds, light sound of a song being played on the satellite radio, background noises of carpentry work in the near by area, sound of children playing in streets and beeps of cars and other vehicles … accompanied by the lovely smell of food being cooked at home .. hmmm.. absolutely pleasant and soothing…

Well as such this land is drought ridden mostly but since past three monsoons or so we are receiving good rains.. what I like of Rajkot rains is , it makes weather so pleasant with not so much and not so little rain but just the apt one to cherish it a lot not disrupting the daily living.. not so much like the Mumbai rains that it fills up the homes and makes the surrounding messy, and not so little that it just spoils the charm of monsoon…in short something which just brings to life the lifeless left plant from summer, the pleasant smell of the soil, the cool winds to cool of the heat.. and happiness to the child and the child-like…
I am loving it …
1-7-2007