er eyes were grey in colour. It made a riveting sight for me since grey is not a colour that you associate with kids’ eyes. Yellowish grey is more like what her groggy eyes looked like. A crumpled sheet that looked more of a hybrid between a boy’s shirt and frock was covering her excuse for a body. Her hair was bronze in colour and in between those highly jumbled up strands were huge chunks of dirt, a gift from the endless lines of vehicles emitting some of the most poisonous gases.
Her eyes ( yes again I will come back to that same feature which captivated me so much) -so high was the melancholy in those small eyes that all the tears that I shed for my silly sorrow seemed an insult to that kid. She was selling ear buds on the roads of Bangalore. Of all the items, why ear buds? She was selling it for 5 bucks. A packet of 50 ear buds for Rs. 5. It got me thinking as to what will be the amount of profit that she might make out of selling such a strange product in the middle of the road. Just imagine the little angel banking on - the upwardly mobile yuppies of bangalore’s corporate maze - to stop their cars and bikes to buy a panacea for cleaning their ears. Yikes, I can already see the lady in the red colour Maruti Swift smirking in disgust at the very thought of cleaning her ears of the yellowish orangeish sticky substance that is for some strange reason produced by her own beautiful body.
Anyways the girl did not study consumer behaviour, finance or sales, for her to know what would sell and where. It was the lucky folks like us who never need to use this knowledge who end up getting the education. Hey is that not strange that whatever we learn, we hardly need to put to use whereas people who need to desperately use this kind of knowledge, never end up receiving it.
Some thoughts these are.. and my dear readers, I am not trying to find answers to these questions as I think that there are not cut and clear answers to these intricacies of life. My blog is a medium of raising a few questions and then collectively trying to answer them and not just go by what I say or you say as the final answer. I am getting a bit preoccupied with my thoughts to write any more meaningful stuff ( not that the earlier was meaningful anyways)
So chalo I will stop now.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
cheap people
Today the unthinkable happened !!!!
I just realized how cheap people can become. I am amazed that I am still smiling.
Did you guys ever get a feeling in life when you felt that you are actually hated by someone you thought would never hate you?
How can people become so cheap that they lie to you all your life and when we are no longer with them, they abuse your character to all an sundry.
I just got the taste of it all today.
I just realized how cheap people can become. I am amazed that I am still smiling.
Did you guys ever get a feeling in life when you felt that you are actually hated by someone you thought would never hate you?
How can people become so cheap that they lie to you all your life and when we are no longer with them, they abuse your character to all an sundry.
I just got the taste of it all today.
The Paradox of our age
The Paradox of our age
We have bigger houses but smaller families;
More conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
More knowledge, but less judgment;
More experts, but more problems;
More medicines, but less healthiness;
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back,
But have trouble crossing the street to meet, the new neighbour.
We built more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever,
But have less communication;
We have become long on quantity,
But short on quality.
These are times of fast foods
But slow digestion;
Tall but short character;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It’s a time when there is much in the window,
But nothing in the room. :-)
- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
We have bigger houses but smaller families;
More conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
More knowledge, but less judgment;
More experts, but more problems;
More medicines, but less healthiness;
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back,
But have trouble crossing the street to meet, the new neighbour.
We built more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever,
But have less communication;
We have become long on quantity,
But short on quality.
These are times of fast foods
But slow digestion;
Tall but short character;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It’s a time when there is much in the window,
But nothing in the room. :-)
- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
I, am Eagle !!!
Small, small and small, but what would it have been if not small? The question was what was big though. And yet floating in the wave after wave of such insensible questions inside my head
I am the free one, the carefree one my. Listen oh ye men whom I always look down upon, listen up and if you can, then do feel pity for yourself. Pity is an interesting emotion that gives you a way to escape the onerous task that you in reality do not want to do. Is it not oh you mentally demented fellows? I clearly do not understand what makes you do the silly things that you do, considering the fact that you are such lower grade of God’s creation. Oh ! you didn’t know that I can also subscribe to the Superpwer’s existence! Again how foolish you are to not understand that even I am a creation of the God and there cannot be a creature who will escape the overwhelming feeling that they are being watched by someone up there….Hey, why do we have to look up , why the concept of ‘ up ‘ or ‘ down ‘?
Why is always up considered to be more better and a parameter of superiority?
Is it not ironic coming from my own beak? Yes I have flown on the back of the soothing and the turbulent winds , silent breeze and caressing air. I have experienced the adrenalin rush while flying higher and higher, faster and faster…. laughing at the inability of the other base creatures to experience the same heady feeling. Mind you, I always felt pity for them, for it was none of their fault that they could not fly. I was wondering what made God make me fly… Was I not the best ? Oh you bet I was the best or else why would I be bestowed with the most joyful feeling in the whole wide world.?
That day too I was flying, smirking, feeling the wind hit my feathers…. And then there I was near a place that seemed to be built by you all on top of a hill. Yes there were many people thronging the place like only they can. Why would they not learn something from those wretched ants who for some reason always walking kissing each other’s butt! But still they maintain some order … Anyways , there was I in all my majesty doing my gyrations over the belly of the wind that was gushing over the poor soul making their way into that structure.
Then I felt I needed to get out of this place, I needed to get back to sanity of the carefree winds and not these gushes… so I spread my wings… spread them long and hard, showing off the beautiful shape to all those humans down there. Air filled up my wings and then I was all ready for my surge … a huge flap of my wings and there is a deafening sound of air becoming agitated due to my mischief. I smiled and found myself floating in the air….. er… wait a minute… floating? I am supposed to be gliding ahead… why was I floating… oh no I was not even floating… I was just stagnant. Stagnant,… yuck that is not a good word… its not supposed to be associated with free creatures like me. L
Yes oh ye fools, I was not able to make use of my majestic, powerful wings to make my way to where my heart wished. Why was I still there? On top of that stick with a cloth tied to its end, on top of that structure where those humans were making a beeline… why was I not moving.. Hell I gave a curling shape to my wings, ‘ rip curl ‘ – I call it… my rip curl is my secret weapon against all those useless birds who disturb my calm every year in my habitat. Anyways there I was not even able to use my ‘ripcurl’ … why I still stood there, wings spread apart, all my muscles contorted in effort to fly… fly… fly!!! Fly is what I am supposed to do, but was not able to… Why.. I am still there… some force is still keeping me stationary on top of that mast … people have come and gone.. I still am there. My wings are tired from all the flapping, I have discovered a few muscles that I never knew existed… now I do not even make an effort to keep my wings apart.. but strangely even my wings are being acted upon by some strange force… there I am the best creation of God , destined to kiss the sun’ s rays, caress the winds, experience the company of clouds, the friendship of the leaves adorning the trees … the perfect symphony of God’s emotions… left stranded on the altar of the God !
Yes oh ye humans, I am an Eagle !!! And I am stuck on top of the Temple !
BUT WHY !!!! THAT’S THE QUESTION.
I am the free one, the carefree one my. Listen oh ye men whom I always look down upon, listen up and if you can, then do feel pity for yourself. Pity is an interesting emotion that gives you a way to escape the onerous task that you in reality do not want to do. Is it not oh you mentally demented fellows? I clearly do not understand what makes you do the silly things that you do, considering the fact that you are such lower grade of God’s creation. Oh ! you didn’t know that I can also subscribe to the Superpwer’s existence! Again how foolish you are to not understand that even I am a creation of the God and there cannot be a creature who will escape the overwhelming feeling that they are being watched by someone up there….Hey, why do we have to look up , why the concept of ‘ up ‘ or ‘ down ‘?
Why is always up considered to be more better and a parameter of superiority?
Is it not ironic coming from my own beak? Yes I have flown on the back of the soothing and the turbulent winds , silent breeze and caressing air. I have experienced the adrenalin rush while flying higher and higher, faster and faster…. laughing at the inability of the other base creatures to experience the same heady feeling. Mind you, I always felt pity for them, for it was none of their fault that they could not fly. I was wondering what made God make me fly… Was I not the best ? Oh you bet I was the best or else why would I be bestowed with the most joyful feeling in the whole wide world.?
That day too I was flying, smirking, feeling the wind hit my feathers…. And then there I was near a place that seemed to be built by you all on top of a hill. Yes there were many people thronging the place like only they can. Why would they not learn something from those wretched ants who for some reason always walking kissing each other’s butt! But still they maintain some order … Anyways , there was I in all my majesty doing my gyrations over the belly of the wind that was gushing over the poor soul making their way into that structure.
Then I felt I needed to get out of this place, I needed to get back to sanity of the carefree winds and not these gushes… so I spread my wings… spread them long and hard, showing off the beautiful shape to all those humans down there. Air filled up my wings and then I was all ready for my surge … a huge flap of my wings and there is a deafening sound of air becoming agitated due to my mischief. I smiled and found myself floating in the air….. er… wait a minute… floating? I am supposed to be gliding ahead… why was I floating… oh no I was not even floating… I was just stagnant. Stagnant,… yuck that is not a good word… its not supposed to be associated with free creatures like me. L
Yes oh ye fools, I was not able to make use of my majestic, powerful wings to make my way to where my heart wished. Why was I still there? On top of that stick with a cloth tied to its end, on top of that structure where those humans were making a beeline… why was I not moving.. Hell I gave a curling shape to my wings, ‘ rip curl ‘ – I call it… my rip curl is my secret weapon against all those useless birds who disturb my calm every year in my habitat. Anyways there I was not even able to use my ‘ripcurl’ … why I still stood there, wings spread apart, all my muscles contorted in effort to fly… fly… fly!!! Fly is what I am supposed to do, but was not able to… Why.. I am still there… some force is still keeping me stationary on top of that mast … people have come and gone.. I still am there. My wings are tired from all the flapping, I have discovered a few muscles that I never knew existed… now I do not even make an effort to keep my wings apart.. but strangely even my wings are being acted upon by some strange force… there I am the best creation of God , destined to kiss the sun’ s rays, caress the winds, experience the company of clouds, the friendship of the leaves adorning the trees … the perfect symphony of God’s emotions… left stranded on the altar of the God !
Yes oh ye humans, I am an Eagle !!! And I am stuck on top of the Temple !
BUT WHY !!!! THAT’S THE QUESTION.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
My Home Town - Vadodara ( India )
The winds that blew still blow the same, but the smells are different,
The roads that were still remain the same, but the places they lead to are different,
The sky that was still is, but the vastness has changed.
The trees have changed, the people have changed, the celebrations have changed, and the reasons for joys and sorrows have changed. What has still not changed is the soul - the body like any other of its ilk, has put on various clothes. Yes, the city of Vadodara has also been a part of this new trend that swept across the nation or rather the country – globalization. Sweeping changes is what we associate with globalization and not for unjustified reasons. But when I look back at the city that was and the city that is of Vadodara, I still can’t term it as “sweeping”. There have been changes in the city as has been in the rest of the cities of the country, but then it is very difficult to see the huge change as far as the tangible signs of globalization go. But it would be very unfair to say that the city has escaped globalization. The changes have been more in the psyche of the residents, social norms, accepted way of behaviour etc. Once we complete this retrospect, only then will we be able to make a somewhat safe assumption on whether globalization has been good for the city or not.
Vadodara’s identity as a cosmopolitan city has been mainly due to the patronage of its erstwhile rulers, the Gaekwads. Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad who took the throne in 1875 was responsible for the modernization of Vadodara. I have been living in Vadodara since 1982 and I had never really looked into the different changes that have taken place ever since. It’s true that it’s only when one stays away from their hometown for a period of time and then when they come back that they tend to notice many things that have changed in that place. The city of Vadodara according to me has developed leaps and bounds as far as the infrastructure is concerned. The buildings that have come up are sleek and modernistic, a far cry from the buildings of ‘the Raj’ era. The typical houses of Vadodara of the old were one storey houses with good amount of garden space. But now they are being replaced by the smaller, efficient, modern houses that try to utilize every inch of the space at their disposal. The quintessential element in every Gujarati household used to be a “hinchko” – a big swing for the members of the household to sit and swing on. This swing or “hinchko” has suddenly disappeared from most of the household maybe due to space constraints or due to the more modernistic choices of the members.
Alkapuri, one of the oldest and most affluent residential areas of Vadodara had the rich and the influential persons as the residents till some time back. But now that area is full of offices of banks that have either rented or leased the big bungalows and converted them into plush offices. The whole area which once had a quiet look has now turned into a very busy business centre in the city. The past 4-5 years has seen the opening of a large number of restaurants and eateries all around the city and all of these are doing very well. To add to this, the variety of restaurants has also come up to very good standards with theme based, ambience based and cuisine based restaurants being the flavour of the season among the masses as well as the glitterati. It’s as if the whole city is giving testimonial to the fact that they love eating out and were earlier deprived of it.
Since 1962, the year which saw a spurt in the industrial activity in the city, the city’s people have always had a special relationship with the big companies and industries like ONGC, IPCL, Gujarat Refinery, Alembic, Sarabhai etc. The big townships that surrounded the city were a symbol of pride for the residents. But now there has been a steady moving away by the employees of these companies from these townships to private houses in other parts of the city. More and more people want access to the ‘happening parts’ of the city and prefer staying in the busier areas rather than the outskirts. There has been a shift from the reliance on the big companies to the smaller and more efficient ones as far as the employment sources seeking youth are concerned. Hence the big companies like Sarabhai (which used to employ thousands of employees in its heydays) have practically closed down. There is more influx of the skilled professionals into the city and this has added a more than ever cosmopolitan flavour to the city’s population. The city was always know for its diverse population and the refined tastes of the citizens, but now since most of the companies and firms have started having serious offices in the city, the spectrum has broadened. The buying behaviour of the customers and consumers has also changed to a more aggressive approach. By this I mean that the consumer will spend a considerable amount to get the desired product or brand. The brand consciousness has increased and this has been evident in the large numbers of branded products’ showrooms that have opened up. The opening up of multiplexes and shopping malls has been a welcome trend according to the masses.
Another interesting observation can be made about the medical facilities. Earlier the government hospital used to be the only multi-specialty hospital in the whole of the district. But now the city is home to at least 5 multi-specialty hospitals with a good listing of specialist doctors who are very well versed in their respective fields. The confidence in the doctors of Vadodara is so high that there have been even instances of patients from the developed countries like the UK and USA coming to Vadodara for treatment and surgeries. The globalization has helped the city doctors to fulfill their dreams of a thriving practice right at home. The fantastic education provided by the Medical College is a very good contributor to this and the standard of the education in the city colleges has been very well maintained due to the access to the cutting edge education tools and instruments.
The city is widening at a rapid rate and there are fears of it growing bigger than it has capacity for. Already the roads have started becoming congested and the pollution levels have gone up considerably. This is destroying the basic inherent strength of the city of being a developed but peaceful city. The people of the city used to be very humble and polite and were very peaceful in nature, but now it’s been reversed. With the riots that happened a few years back, the city’s reputation has taken a beating in the country. The people are visibly more aggressive and extreme in their views. My friends who are normal guys and gals usually get very animated and extreme when issues such as Hindutva, religion and riots come up. I never had experienced such bitterness in the past. There has been a tectonic shift in the ideals, ideas and perceptions of the people for the past 5 years or so and this is a very disturbing sign. The politicians blame globalization for this and those in favor of globalization blame the inability of the politicians to cope up with globalization for this. All in all, although the people are happy with what is happening to Vadodara in terms of development is concerned, yet the ghosts of the past do tend to rear their ugly heads every now and then.
The roads that were still remain the same, but the places they lead to are different,
The sky that was still is, but the vastness has changed.
The trees have changed, the people have changed, the celebrations have changed, and the reasons for joys and sorrows have changed. What has still not changed is the soul - the body like any other of its ilk, has put on various clothes. Yes, the city of Vadodara has also been a part of this new trend that swept across the nation or rather the country – globalization. Sweeping changes is what we associate with globalization and not for unjustified reasons. But when I look back at the city that was and the city that is of Vadodara, I still can’t term it as “sweeping”. There have been changes in the city as has been in the rest of the cities of the country, but then it is very difficult to see the huge change as far as the tangible signs of globalization go. But it would be very unfair to say that the city has escaped globalization. The changes have been more in the psyche of the residents, social norms, accepted way of behaviour etc. Once we complete this retrospect, only then will we be able to make a somewhat safe assumption on whether globalization has been good for the city or not.
Vadodara’s identity as a cosmopolitan city has been mainly due to the patronage of its erstwhile rulers, the Gaekwads. Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad who took the throne in 1875 was responsible for the modernization of Vadodara. I have been living in Vadodara since 1982 and I had never really looked into the different changes that have taken place ever since. It’s true that it’s only when one stays away from their hometown for a period of time and then when they come back that they tend to notice many things that have changed in that place. The city of Vadodara according to me has developed leaps and bounds as far as the infrastructure is concerned. The buildings that have come up are sleek and modernistic, a far cry from the buildings of ‘the Raj’ era. The typical houses of Vadodara of the old were one storey houses with good amount of garden space. But now they are being replaced by the smaller, efficient, modern houses that try to utilize every inch of the space at their disposal. The quintessential element in every Gujarati household used to be a “hinchko” – a big swing for the members of the household to sit and swing on. This swing or “hinchko” has suddenly disappeared from most of the household maybe due to space constraints or due to the more modernistic choices of the members.
Alkapuri, one of the oldest and most affluent residential areas of Vadodara had the rich and the influential persons as the residents till some time back. But now that area is full of offices of banks that have either rented or leased the big bungalows and converted them into plush offices. The whole area which once had a quiet look has now turned into a very busy business centre in the city. The past 4-5 years has seen the opening of a large number of restaurants and eateries all around the city and all of these are doing very well. To add to this, the variety of restaurants has also come up to very good standards with theme based, ambience based and cuisine based restaurants being the flavour of the season among the masses as well as the glitterati. It’s as if the whole city is giving testimonial to the fact that they love eating out and were earlier deprived of it.
Since 1962, the year which saw a spurt in the industrial activity in the city, the city’s people have always had a special relationship with the big companies and industries like ONGC, IPCL, Gujarat Refinery, Alembic, Sarabhai etc. The big townships that surrounded the city were a symbol of pride for the residents. But now there has been a steady moving away by the employees of these companies from these townships to private houses in other parts of the city. More and more people want access to the ‘happening parts’ of the city and prefer staying in the busier areas rather than the outskirts. There has been a shift from the reliance on the big companies to the smaller and more efficient ones as far as the employment sources seeking youth are concerned. Hence the big companies like Sarabhai (which used to employ thousands of employees in its heydays) have practically closed down. There is more influx of the skilled professionals into the city and this has added a more than ever cosmopolitan flavour to the city’s population. The city was always know for its diverse population and the refined tastes of the citizens, but now since most of the companies and firms have started having serious offices in the city, the spectrum has broadened. The buying behaviour of the customers and consumers has also changed to a more aggressive approach. By this I mean that the consumer will spend a considerable amount to get the desired product or brand. The brand consciousness has increased and this has been evident in the large numbers of branded products’ showrooms that have opened up. The opening up of multiplexes and shopping malls has been a welcome trend according to the masses.
Another interesting observation can be made about the medical facilities. Earlier the government hospital used to be the only multi-specialty hospital in the whole of the district. But now the city is home to at least 5 multi-specialty hospitals with a good listing of specialist doctors who are very well versed in their respective fields. The confidence in the doctors of Vadodara is so high that there have been even instances of patients from the developed countries like the UK and USA coming to Vadodara for treatment and surgeries. The globalization has helped the city doctors to fulfill their dreams of a thriving practice right at home. The fantastic education provided by the Medical College is a very good contributor to this and the standard of the education in the city colleges has been very well maintained due to the access to the cutting edge education tools and instruments.
The city is widening at a rapid rate and there are fears of it growing bigger than it has capacity for. Already the roads have started becoming congested and the pollution levels have gone up considerably. This is destroying the basic inherent strength of the city of being a developed but peaceful city. The people of the city used to be very humble and polite and were very peaceful in nature, but now it’s been reversed. With the riots that happened a few years back, the city’s reputation has taken a beating in the country. The people are visibly more aggressive and extreme in their views. My friends who are normal guys and gals usually get very animated and extreme when issues such as Hindutva, religion and riots come up. I never had experienced such bitterness in the past. There has been a tectonic shift in the ideals, ideas and perceptions of the people for the past 5 years or so and this is a very disturbing sign. The politicians blame globalization for this and those in favor of globalization blame the inability of the politicians to cope up with globalization for this. All in all, although the people are happy with what is happening to Vadodara in terms of development is concerned, yet the ghosts of the past do tend to rear their ugly heads every now and then.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
The first one !!!
Om shri Ganeshay Namaha !!
My new blog.... Chutkut World... Well, well !!
I guess I might just start writing now... Please folks, give me some time and then you can read the crap that am planning to post... ( got loads and loads of them in my comp, just got brave enough to think of posting them though)
Do not even ask the name of my earlier blog... please.... :-) This is for real though....
cheers !
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