Love is not life,its only a part of life....

This one comes from "Direct Dil se".The agony of a failed relationship took yet another high profile celebrity's life and I wont sympathize .Rather it creates an anguish within me for people wasting their precious lives such as this one.

Yes, I dont know about the intricacies of the big bad glamour world but surely I can relate the events in my own sense.There is this girl who dreams of becoming big in the fashion world,comes to India ,gets opportunity and reach the zenith after much toil and compromises. All is going well for her when suddenly she falls for a man. Everything goes fine for them initially and then suddenly things turn around. They have frequent quarrels and face-offs.Unable to bear, girl goes into depression and then suddenly she took her life. This is my view of things. And this story doesn't holds for just one ,it stands true for hundreds of other couples.

I have just one question in mind.Why are mostly girls the victim of failed relation? Isn't the guy also a part of it..He never thinks about taking such drastic steps. Why so? Do girls get more involved and serious in a relation than boys?

The answers to these questions might vary from couple to couple, but it is surely a general tendency of the girls to get more emotionally involved in a relation.I am particularly saying this in context of middle class families of which I am myself a part of. I have seen many female friends of mine who have not only risked their personal lives but also professional career because of the words "Love and commitment".Guys always tend to be more practical than girls. They may be into a relation but when it comes to testing times, they take decisions logically as against girls who will go to any extent to make their relation work.

Being a girl myself and having faced such a situation before , I would like to advice few tips to those girls who face similar situations. Yes, its true that when relation doesn't seem to be working or has eventually failed either due to your fault or of the guy's, depression and loneliness does surround you. But then always think of moving ahead in life.It might seem tough at first ,but you have to be strong. Don't let your mind think of what happened again and again. Engage yourself in something that interests you .It may be anything like reading novels, watching favorite movies , shopping your fav. clothes, hanging out with friends etc etc. The point is that you need to come out of that thought.Once you do that, you will realize that there are ample of things that are better and can bring satisfaction to you. Remember that you had a life before you met that guy. Infact you were more social and had variety of activities to do . The same is the case now.

Having said all this, I never meant to defame guys. We cant change the way God has created us. But yes, it is always up to you as to how you shape up your life, how wisely you take your decisions. However, if a mistake has been committed, try to learn from it,don't let yourself get shattered.Maybe, after few years when you think of what happened, you might smile at it as I do. Remember that Love is a feeling that makes you smile and complete . One that brings frustration and tension is not love, its a failed compromise.

Are we really Envious people??

Recently I read an article in TOI by Chetan Bhagat which claimed that we Indians have a strong tendency to be envious towards the affluent and eminent people of the society.He exemplified his point by mentioning two famous personalities.First was Aishwarya Rai Bacchan. As per the author, the media and subsequently the general public has formed a negative opinion about the actress because she has earned peerless name and fame for herself despite being from a modest background. Time and again , Aishwarya had been in the eyes of media glare either for her wrong choice of apparels in social events or for her incapable acting skills which as per the author is not correct. Second name mentioned was Shashi Tharoor who has been described as an incapable politician by the Indian media because of the same reasons. The author believes that it is a widespread Indian metality that "Only the children of the rich and famous have the tendency to be rich and famous as well".

As the member of the same society which Chetan Bhagat mentioned in his article I would like to elicit my views on this issue. The point which he has aroused is definitely worth consideration but I would not agree as to how the author has kept his point.Infact most would not, I believe!!

Yes ,it is a natural human tendency to win in the race of life. And for "that win", he has to overtake his competitors. But that does not mean competing with each and every individual. There are some exceptions in this game which I will discuss in the coming lines. But to say that we envy personalities like Aishwarya is not at all justified. If she is from a modest background so is Sachin Tendulkar, Shahrukh Khan, Kiran Bedi and if stretching too far then even Mother Teresa as well.Do we envy them as well. Sachin is a God for Cricket lovers and Shahrukh for bollywood fans. Kiran Bedi is a role model for women and who in the world can think envying Mother Teresa ?? Even Aishwarya herself ,if not liked by mass, is popular and a role model for majority of Indian public. Yes she is termed plastic, and rightly so but that is something more to do with her acting skills rather anything personal.

As for the enviousness prevailing among we Indians, I would like to clear that such kind of feeling arouses within every individual be it be Indian or not. But that doesn't mean at all that we have grudges towards each and every person. There are certain factors which alienates some people from this competition.

First is the" feeling or passion we have for a person".There are few in the crowd who are very close to us and with whom we are very much attached to.They may be our friends,relatives, siblings. They are those few in a million for whom we truly pray for, their joy gives us pleasure and their sorrow makes us sad. Competition and enviousness towards them is completely unimaginable. Second factor is the "field of work". If I am a painter, why will I envy a successful writer or a successful doctor. I would want my work to excel and be the best among all the painters. If I am not a politician nor dream of becoming anytime, why will I envy Shashi Tharoor??? In fact , I would like him to correct his mistakes and move forward as he is people's representative. Third factor is " Age and Stature". Ok, I am a software engineer and I want to perform better than my colleagues. I will have a direct competition with my fellow joinees and not with my boss as there is considerable difference in our work experience.

Summarizing, the point which I wanted to convey is that every game has its classifications and the players are classified accordingly.But at the end it is same mantra of "survival of the fittest!!" that works and which keeps all thriving for better results in this competition.

Is Death Penalty the only solution for Rape Convicts?

Today inspired by an article from one of my friends, I would share my opinion on one of the most heinous crime prevailing in society-Rape. Women had always been a soft target of crime in the human history.Often they become victims as they are weaker in physical strength than then male members of the family. Most often we find that this rape is committed not because of sexual pleasure but to avenge from the victim's family. She might not be the cause of the restlessness of the rape convict but often gets trapped in his animosity against her family. Often other crimes such as robbery, dacoit, murder are preceeded or followed by rape as well.

Rape is such a filthy crime that it destroys the victim emotionally and mentally apart. In addition the physical pain inflicted upon her just creates a hell life for the victim. Rape mostly prevails either in the extreme lower sections or the upper higher classes of the society.As compared, the rate of this crime in the middle classes is very marginal. One that occurs in the rich society is often a consensus sex and thus cannot be termed as rape.Dwellers in the slums, chawls who dont have a proper regular income are most vulnerable. It is often found that the male lead of the family is unable to earn bread for the family,in such a situation the female member goes out in search of work.They get landed in the hands of corrupt ,rich brokers who find it easy to attack these poor ladies. This might sound like the story of some old Indian bollywood flick but this is true in real life as well. One finds such kinds of reports being published daily in local Hindi Newspapers.

Time and again ,I have criticized the Indian judiciary for its method of tackling the pending cases. But now the laws have become stringent against the rape accused.Some 7 years back, a rape convict Dhananjay Chatterjee was awarded capital punishment for the rape and murder of a school-going girl.Subsequently, he was hanged till death.But its still agonizing that we have to reverse the calendar 7 years in history to exemplify the fate of rape perpetrators.

But the big question still remains unanswered as to whether is capital sentence the only solution for rape? Clearly we have other alternatives as well.As this point I would like it to make it clear that I am not at all against legalizing death sentence for rape convicts because if such a law gets passed, it will clearly send a strong message to those who ever attempted or conducted such heinous crime. But we can ponder over other alternative as well. Life imprisonment, regular monetary compensation, marriage of the victim of the convict(if possible in case both are unmarried and adults) are some other solutions. But whatever it may be, the ultimate decider should be the victim in this case. She should decide solely and without any pressure as to what she wants to be done with her torturer.

In India, rape is one of the most frequently committed crime after robbery and murder. Delhi ,the national capital is considered to be the most unsafe metro for women and rightly so because number of eve teasing and rape incidents are at an all time high. The law which safeguards the integrity of the women needs to be enforced at the earliest and additionally it is upto the women too to protect themselves from the savagers of the society because the law can help them get a justice after the crime is conducted.So why not try to reduce the crime itself...

Rahul Gandhi:Undisputed Future of Indian Politics

19th June 2010 marked the 40th birthday of Rahul Gandhi.There was much activity in the media regarding the same. And there has always been something magical about Rahul which doesn't allow me to avoid any news relating to him.This propelled me to pen down my opinions on the man himself. I am fully aware that some of the content might not be agreed with all but as mentioned in my very first blog "Blogging:A new experience" this is what blogging is all about.

A member of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, Rahul's destiny always had him entering into politics one day. He did it sometime in 2006-2007 by contesting and winning for the Amethi seat held long by his family members including his grandmother Indira Gandhi,Father Rajiv Gandhi, Uncle Sanjay Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi. But unlike other MP's who merely fight elections for a seat in parliament,Govt. bungalow and other perks ,Rahul had a vision in mind for the people of his constituency. Ever since his inception in Amethi, his number of visits there have been innumerous and each time he tries to bring in something new for the people. He has made a point that not even the remotest of the village remains untouched. His Self-Help groups have helped rural women bring small and new methods of employment for themselves. His unique style of bringing in International approach in his work has helped pour in more media glare and monetary funds.Recently, Microsoft Founder Bill Gates visited Amethi along with him and promised the development of IT sector in and around UP.

These efforts of the youth leader shows his capability at the grassroot level. Although he has a strong alignment for the infrastructure development like roads,schools ,home for the poor but he stills lacks the vision of industrial growth.I say so because so far in 3 years he hasn't spoken or done much about any industrial development in UP.His agenda is to reach the masses individually. One of the reasons for his growing popularity is his attempt to alienate the caste politics prevailing in UP. He gave a tight slap on the parties playing dalit politics by resting a night out in a dalit women's hut. It is widely speculated that in 2012 Assembly elections in UP, Congress will emerge in a much stronger position than it currently holds. Not only in UP but Rahul has tried to make his presence felt in other states as well.In 2010 beginning ,when Shiv Sena tried to woo the Maharashtrian public by marking Rahul's visit with black flags,he answered them back by travelling on road and even in local train successfully interacting more with the public.

Rahul has always tried to answer his critics not verbally but by his actions.One hardly sees a leader of his stature interacting rarely with the media.So far,in current political scenario none of the youth leader has matched to his potential.Yes there have emerged leaders like Sachin Pilot,Omar Abdullah,MadhavRao Scindia but they have maintained their regional politics.In 2009 when the then firebrand chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Mr.Y.S.Rajashekra Reddy suddenly died in a helicopter mishap,his son Jagan Reddy was asked to take his father's position.People wanted him to be what Rahul was seen after Rajiv's Gandhi demise.But then Jagan Reddy himself clarified that it will be too early for mass to presume him in the same position as of Rahul.

Much has been said about the leader now. I would like to conclude by writing the same what every common man thinks of Rahul, to see him as the PM of the nation someday.Not because he is a Gandhi but because his work has shown that he possess the ability and vision for a better and developed India.

Social Networking Sites...Everyone's Invited!!!!

It actually amazes me to think that some 5-6 years back, we in India had never listened to what actually were social networking sites..In today's era, they are such immense part of our lives that more than 80 percent of the online community make it a point to visit them at least once a day.With growing awareness, popularity of these sites is souring and communication is becoming better.The main factor behind this is that what was restricted to just the urban masses have reached rural population as well.
As always to explore my database further I referred wiki and yes again,I found some information of my use.Social networking as a concept emerged some 15 years ago.Some of the initial sites were Theglobe.com, Geocities and the Tripod.com.These early sites did not had the concept of separate user profiles.Rather the most they could offer was a home page where some basic information of the user was provided and an email id.This id was the source of contact with fellow users.By the end of the 1990's,Friendster and LinkedIn were introduced.Major revolution as we all are aware came with the inception of Facebook in 2004 in United States and in 2006,its expansion to non US boundaries.Four years hence,it has still retained its top position.
In India there is vast following of orkut.Its a google controlled site named after its developer Orkut Boyukokkton. Orkut has highest number of members in Brazil followed by India. Facebook and Orkut together account for 16 to 17 million users in India. The simplicity and diverse features have helped them gain immense popularity. Picture and thought sharing,recent status and updates,knowledge sharing and ofcourse meeting up with old chums are their salient features.
Initially there were issues with the security of the users particularly the female members. There were no restriction to the amount of data that could be accessed by the outside user to one's profile.But now with advanced technical skills like AJAX feature of newer orkut version,amount of data to be share could be restricted.Further creation of "Hate Communities" was also a grave issue.There were instances in Africa where there were racial abuses.Technology and advancement as always faces hurdles, and they need to be sailed through with a proper solution. But this opportunity of opening up the mind and heart and socializing with peers should not be let loose. After all friends are the best gift of God after parents!!!

Justice not denied..but Buried.......

So its prooved once again.....Nobody can beat Indian lethargic judiciary...A wait of 26 years has been thrown as a mere garbage.A time , a year when I was not even born,people have been waiting since then for a justified decision from the court in order to punish the offensive and get some amount of financial help from the government.But 26 years on,the wait still goes on.
With Bhopal District Court convicting the 8 convicts for merely 2 years, its clearly a mockery of the whole governance system.These convicts were put to jail and then granted bail within hours.To add on to the miseries, Warren Anderson , the then chairman of the Union Carbide plant didn't even feature in the names of convicts.And now post verdict, as always the ministers and the bureaucrats have started playing the blame game.
For those who are not much aware of the facts, let me rewind that I am talking about the Gas leakage tragedy that struck Bhopal on midnight of 2-3 December,1984.People woke up in the morning inhaling the toxic pesticide gas,Methyl Isocynate which had "accidentally" released from almost 20 sites of the Dow Chemical,then named as Union Carbide plant. From the reports presented aftermath,some suggested that accidental flow of water into the tank containing methyl isocynate led to an exothermic reaction producing high temperature and pressure which could not be beared by the iron tanks and their vents opened up releasing the gas into the air.Poor maintenance and corrosion of pipes added further to propel this reaction.More than 20,000 people have died due to this carelessness till date and over 2 lakh have been diagnosed with some or the other kind of after-effects.Some of these include major problems like neurological disorders,visual impairment,failure of reproductive organs in females etc.
Looking into the seriousness of the issue,the CBI had then ordered for the arrest of the chief of UC plant ,Warren Anderson.He was,but later released the same day only to leave for UK and never return back.And now every minister,committee is trying to put the blame on other's shoulder as to who was responsible for the extradition of Anderson at that very time.Will these politicians ever able to understand that how does it matter to the affected people whether Rajiv Gandhi or Narasimha Rao was responsible in his escape.What matters to them is the treatment and the quality of life they and their future generations will lead.The amount of compensation which was nearly US dollar 3.3 billion asked by the government of India from the UC was turned down to dollar 470 million .Still nobody knows what amount have actually been delivered to the victims and how much rests with the mediators. And yes aggravated people surely wish to see the perpetrators punished who made life a tough challenge not only for them but for their children too.

Coming of Age.....

Some 8-9 years ago, as a small kid I was a avid fan of hindi films.Since I was living in a small town there were not many theatres to watch out the movie.And to add more, cable connection came very late at my home.I remember we had weekly movies and other related award ceremonies coming every weekend nights at doordarshan. But since we would be having our school early morning the next day, we were forced to sleep without being able to watch the complete movie.I would feel frustrated and at times lying in my bed and would think "how nice it would have been if I could have a mini TV of my own in which I could see the complete movie...that too without anybody noticing!!!!!!"
Well that dream has been fulfilled with the coming of 3G technology.With mobile TV being a distinctive feature of it, a TV channel can be redirected to the subscriber's mobile where it can be viewed directly.
Although introduced in India currently, the same has been in use in South Korea and Japan since 2005.BSNL introduced the mobile TV application in India through its application "isee" in 2007 itself,3G features have further enhanced its features and coverage.High bit rate providing better resolution and dynamic swtching are some of the essential features. Peak bit rates of atleast 200kbit/sec is provided by the 3G.MTNL has been the first service provider for 3G in Delhi and Mumbai.With the successful bidding for 3G among all the private telecom operators for different regions ,this application is bound to play a major role in people's life by the year end or so.
Such great had been the impact of Science and technology in individual's life that now what still appears to be impossible will surely be possible in couple of years.Only point to notice is that uncontrolled use of any technology would only lead to problems. Imagine if I would have really got this 3G phone at that time...I would have watched my movie the whole night and might have skipped my school......which is not a good indicator either....

Shifting Colours

After 12 years of struggle and survival for existence, didi is finally cruising towards her goal.Didi for the masses of West Bengal Mamta Bannerji. With her recent success in the civic polls of West Bengal, it is quite evident that the mass is in a favour of change. They wish to see what benefit a different party with a different ideology can bring in their lives.
Rightly So!For almost 30 years they have riding on the promises and governance of the left front.And frankly what result have they got?Bengal is still in the initial phases of development. Kolkata is still struggling for big projects ,highly rated infrastructure whereas its counterpart such as hyderabad,bangalore have gone far ahead in the race. With didi's growing influence in the state politics, it will not be false to predict that there might be a turn around in the next state assembly elections slated for 2011.
And even when there is a time for the left front to reconsider their policies and their shortcomings, it is unlikely that they will ponder much about it. When it comes to development and new policy formation,CPI(M) are ought to take a backseat. Similar stories did happen in the past when the left front was a member of alliance in the previous UPA government. After much hoolah, they took their support back because of the Indo-US nuclear deal. Such attitude of the left was not taken in good spirit by the general public.
However, if we consider the reputation of Trinamool Congress in the state, just 2 years back, it was no less bad. With the Singur Nandigram episode where the Tata Motors had to shift their plant out of Bengal finally to PantNagar in Gujarat,thousands of people had lost their jobs.The land which she claimed was of farmers in which the plant was constructed had already been used therefore shifting it out did not do anything good but added to the chaos of the people.
But now people have changed their mindset.They want to give her a fair chance.Lets see if she can succeed in getting herself this opportunity at the next year polls.At the same time,she should avoid riding on two boats. As it is clearly evident that her main focus as of now is Bengal politics, then she should hand over the change of her Railway Ministry to some able MP from her party as her inability to perform in the Central Cabinet might hamper in her chief ministerial plans too.

Star Child....

In this competitive era,everyone is in a race to reach the zenith.From kids to adults all want to prove their might.They want to get the better of their competitors, neighbors ,relatives and even siblings. It takes my heart away to see young kids fighting it out hard for survival. As rightly mentioned by Aamir Khan in one of his movie, "everybody is in a race to win,no body wants to gain pure knowledge".Deserving or not, one wants to leave the other behind by hook or by crook.
Whether it may be for selection in some competitive exam, or participation in any reality show, kids are at tremendous pressure everytime. Whats even more concerning is that once they succeed they tend to feel superior than the one who made them what they are.
Lets take the case of little stars appearing on television ,films.At a tender age, they try out thier luck big.Or rather I would say that it is their ambitious parents who make them try big. For some parents its matter of just showoff in front of one and all and for some it is recognition of talent of their child. Once the child succeeds, he becomes a popular face with all. In some cases, these kids leave out their education for their work.This is not correct.One should remember that this fame and popularity can be taken away anytime but knowledge cant be. During hard times,it is your degree and your knowledge which will remain with you. I have seen many examples where the child left his education to become something big and later on losing wings from both sides.
Also children should be taught to be generous and humility should be his first virtue.We have many examples where these children go on to fight with their parents when they achieve big name.Imagine the condition the parents go through when a child humilates them in public eye.
Always remember that it takes years to build a name for yourself but one wrong step can instantly defame it. Being famous and successful is good, but one must be able to handle success with poise and dignity.

Live the moment....

First of all I would like to admit that my writing has got clumsier in the past few days as i have been out of touch with articles,news,writings...But as they say practise makes a man perfect so it will make this girl perfect too in some time.....
Today I will not write about the nation ,the government, the current affairs.I will neither be pessimist in my approach nor I will be in any sort of denial mode.Rather I would like to talk about life from my experience. I would like to share my experience as how life can be dealt in a happier and sleeker way.
Its normal for us in day to day life to get annoyed at petty things. Similarly small things make us happy too.We are excited at one moment and depressed at the very next.This is the way life carries on.Till life is there, there will be ups and downs.We dont have any control on that.But what we can do is to be happy in testing times.Yes ofcourse it's easy to write great quotes upon this but difficult to follow .I would like to share my personal experience to explain this to you.Recently I had to undergo some sort of small surgery.The thought of going into the operation theatre,with all the ECG,blood pressure measuring machines etc etc. haunted me so much that the night before operation I could not sleep just due to worry.I would suddenly wake up to panic imagining that Saline bottles, blood bottles are put all around me .Ofcourse all this sounds very stupid but this was what happening with me.The next day I had that surgery and ofcourse when I regained consciousness I was very relieved that finally this surgery is done but that night I could not sleep due to immense pain.There was ofcourse that saline bottle but it mattered none at all that night.I wanted to sleep but could not.There and then , I repented that the previous night inspite of being so fit and fine with no wounds, I wasted my sleep due to useless worry.
The summary of this whole story is that nothing in life is that worrisome as we take it.When it actually occurs it might not be that horrible as it appears.So try to live the present moment rather than moaning over the past or pondering about the future.
Young students before appearing for the board exams feels so much pressurized that they feel sacrificing their live is much easier than to face the challenge.I would appeal to all such students to atleast try and give out their best.Dont think it as a big task.Take life as it comes.
In testing times,always remember one thing.You are not the first one who is facing that problem.People have faced harder times than what you are currently and still are living their lives with flying colours.At such times just try to take inspiration from them and your burden will surely be eased.Atleast this is wht I have learnt from the past few months.
Cheers to the gift of God called LIFE!!!

India-a nation at war with itself...

So here I am again,back after a fortnight gap.In midst of this, witnessing one of the toughest week of my life. But to add to the dilemma, it was not only tough for me but for the entire nation. The downs by far exceeded the ups during this period.
There was a air crash, a rail crash , road mishap making people think twice before traveling in any mode of transport. Even after the death of close to 350 people in all these accidents, government and authorities continued to act irresponsibly. The Air India employees went on strike barely after 2 days of the mishap on issues of privatization adding to dilemma of the passengers. The zero tolerance level showed by these employees was inhuman. The state govt of west bengal and the rail minister still cannot get over their war and egos even after such a big rail tragedy.Perhaps both are too preoccupied with bengal civil polls to concentrate over this.As a result,maoists as always are set free to plan for their next carnage.
Every year we are witnessing rise in temperature due to global warming.Immense heat and temperature is also taking the toll on the people.Cyclone Laila hitting in the coastal regions of southern India caused a lot of disturbance and wreckage.
In short, the country witnessed one of the toughest times without any external threat. So is it under threat from its internal forces ???I think yes, the growing corruption, the declining tolerance are all enough for the people to worry about. Terrorists across the border can relax until the time India gets free from its internal issues as the damage caused by it is pretty much the same as by these terrorists.