Saturday, March 22, 2008

Perspective :-)

So there we were chugging down the interstate towards Las Vegas or was it Red Rock Canyon..ummm
anyways it was evening and the 8 of us were singing our hearts out on the way to enjoy the long weekend in Las Vegas and its environs .. when what should happen but that we lose our way. It was getting on to be dark and we had taken an exit to ask our way back and there was hardly anyone around.
Worried, we were glancing around, discussing what to do next, when this lady walked out of the gas station to her car.

My friend, who was driving, immensely glad to see a human around at last, picked up the paper with the route on it and went hurrying towards her.
The lady gave him a most startled look and went running and scrambled into her car and locked it. My poor friend was waving the paper at her and only got a face full of exhaust fumes and sand for his attempt. By then we had come out of the car and were laughing at his befuddled face.
Maybe she thought he was thug or something . We were just grateful, she did not start screaming or pick up a gun and shoot him or something.
Of course we eventually found our way out and had great fun teasing him about frightening ladies in the dark.
While it was just a case of our missing someone to guide us out and startling a lady in the process for us...
What a story that lady would have had, to tell her family and friends.
There she was, late in the evening, in a deserted gas station, when a van stops and this strange foreign guy, in leather jacket and stubble, gets out from it waving a paper and walks straight to her. *Phew* straight from a movie with murder and mayhem, no wonder she went running. She probably spent the next few months thinking she had had a very close shave with something very dangerous.
Funny how perspectives work na?

Friday, March 14, 2008

Are you God Fearing?

If yes, then my next question has to be WHY?
Is not God supposed to be a kind being? Why would one fear what should be loved?

If you are wondering what triggered this tangent of thought?
I was checking out some matrimonial candidates' expectation. Invariably everyone wants a housetrained (doesn't this sound like something you expect of a new puppy... aargh!!!) God fearing girl. Or they describe themselves as God fearing.

Why did the term even get coined? Who dya think first thought let us use Gods wrath to frighten people into our control? After all Power is a great aphrodisiac.

I have read and seen movies and documentaries about how the christians were threatened with everything from maiming to death for the least bit of blasphemy or crime against the church, how the church is the highest authority in all manner of things, especially from around 12 the century to the regency period
Kali ma punishes her offenders with Chicken pox and Paralysis until she is appeased (usually with a song and walking on fire or lighting camphor on the palms etc etc)
Even the oldest Epic of Illiad and Odeysseus has its basis on the roman gods' petty nature and tendency to play with humans for entertainment.

People who can ill afford it, still clean their pockets to bribe Him with all kindsa stuff, asking for all kindsa boons. Praying is a serious Business transaction (oh! I try it sometimes too *sheepish*)
But God to me is a buddy, a pal, someone I can confide with , go for help and sometimes wonder if He exists at all.

But coming to back to my point (and yes I do have one :-))
Why should God be feared if he is not the good guy? (Isn't being evil the work of Satan or asuras or all those zillion other creatures??)

I would, of course, love any opinions/ thoughts on this topic from y'all

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Bringing Superheroes home!

The kids all over the world are familiar of Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Sheena, The fly and all the comics superheroes
But India has always had its own set of superheroes for a loooong time.


The sad fact is that with the increase in nuclear families and yuppy parents, children depend on the TV and comic books for their entertainment. There are no grandmas or grandpas to tell them about these superheroes.Yes, I am talking about all the lovely mythological stories that have come down generation after generation.

How can Superman and Batman compete with the Pandavas, Krishna, Ram and all the tempermental Sages of old? Their magical powers, even when they reincarnate as humans is just way cool!
Can Dr.Who and Skeletor come near the Asuras and Kauravas?
Most definitely not! and unfortunately the kids had no way of knowing this.


But now our movie makers and animation experts have created a great series of Animation movies that bring Heroes of the Indian mythology home. Starting with Hanuman, now there is Krishna, The Pandavas, Chota Bheem, and Ganesha...(there could be more.. But I am aware of only these so far)


And even better news is that POGO is featuring these movies, every Saturday at 2 PM this month and next. Check it out and have fun!!

Friday, March 07, 2008

Sari on Women's day!

I have already let you all know about my feelings on Women's day.
Nevertheless when all the ladies (of which we are 4) in my project decided to wear sari and I tagged along too.
We entered the office and met our PM at the elevators, the guy who has never bothered to smile before, suddenly had a huge smile and a big hello for us.

By some weird coincidence all four of us entered the ODC at the same time.
The reaction was quite explosive and very amusing.

Today I knew what the models feel when they walk the ramp.
There was such a huge exhalation of surprise from the guys (of which there are many)... that people from other projects started peeking in to see what the hungama was :-)

One kid could not stand the excitement of seeing everyone in sari... he kept running around trying to see who else was in sari.
Everyone came down to our place to ask what was so special. I shan't even talk about the reaction when we walked into the cafeteria. :-)

Of course we also got sarcastic comments about how much of a shock wave it creates to see a woman in sari as they hardly wear it anymore.
And then some of the guys started cribbing about how unfair it was that there was only a women's day and not a men's day ... on which they could wear dhothi. (Guys I couldn’t agree more!!! Let us just start treating y’all like women are generally treated in the society and we shall not only have a Men’s day but I shall initiate the whole process too :-))

So far we have been getting a lot of compliments and getting teased to death. But the day is still young... let’s see what else it has in store for us.

PS: well waddya know … this is my 100th Post :-) … Thanks to all my readers (who I like to think are galore :-D) for having patiently read and commented on my many blogs.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Demo-crazy

While I absolutely love Chennai, I pity any one who lives here.Tamilnadu has always been known for its conservative society, but now it is trying to come out of that shell, and not very successfully. Other than the mentality of the people, the reason for this conservatism is that the government here always leans towards extremes and people here are forced to tag the line or else....

They are told ...
=> what to wear (Remember the actor shreya has cases filed against her because she was not "dressed" properly for some function, of course what I do not understand is how come it is ok for her to wear even skimpier dresses on screen and everyone drools over that?)


=> what to talk (Remember the case against actor Khusbhoo for sharing her opinions),

=> How to pray (Only in tamil, even sanskrit slokas must be translated and told in tamil)

=> Who to pray (Ram is not a god and neither is his "sister" Sita, as told by a senior politician in an National News Channel. I am just thankful the other religions, other than poor hinduism escaped, as the government, in its bid for "equality" opposes only hinduism and the so called forward class)

=> When to Pray (I hear the tamil New Year's day has been advanced by two months)

=> How to spend their evenings (Anyone going to Discos and pubs are asking for it... they will get arrested and harrassed by the Police).

=> What to study (Those unlucky people who fall in the forward class cannot study most of the courses as they will be filled by the so called lower caste people)

=> who should study (Dalits need not even get 60% to get scholarships and admissions etc whereas the people of the forward class need to get 99.9% and still NOT get any scholarship or admissions anywhere)

All in all Tamil nadu in general and chennai in specific is the very epitome of demo-crazy. The same kind of demo-crazy that was followed by Monarchy of old. Even the crown prince is chosen by the reigning king. :-p And the best thing about all this is that we do not so much as mutter a protest. We listen to all this and go on with our lives like it has nothing to do with us.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Carefree Childhood???

Anyone who says they had a carefree childhood is either lying or has forgotten their childhood. Happy, yes… Carefree, no.

Couple of days ago I saw an adult telling a child how lucky she was, because she had no cares and responsibilities in her life. The child, being in a mood to play, just nodded her head and ran away. But it made me think back. Sure I had a great childhood, definitely happy but would I call it care free and without responsibilities... Nope.

I definitely did not have to think about how I was going to earn my bread or what my manager would say if I did such and such and I was not accountable for my actions as much as I am today, I still had to worry about what would happen if I did not finish my homework or How to make peace with my angry friend or even how not to get caught after whatever mischief I had perpetuated.

While from today’s perspective they seem so meager and petty, at that time it was of immense importance.

And in the current world, the Kids have so much to do that they hardly have time to enjoy their childhood. School, tuitions, music class, painting class, dance class, martial arts class and if they are lucky maybe meet up with friends in between all this and play, that they do not even know the meaning of a carefree (so to say) and irresponsible time.

Looking at them sometime I feel that maybe I have a carefree and irresponsible adulthood while compared to what passes for their childhood.