Cutting Chai !

'Hazare' Khwaishein Aisi

2011-08-25T03:05:00.000-07:00

With all the stir going on in our nation these days, I feel, as a blogger, I gotta share my views on the topic. Maybe I should warn you that my views may not be liked a lot, but then, we do live in a democracy, right?
To address the issue, I'd like to use the W-Questions. I feel I may be able to express my opinion better this way.

Who?
Anna Hazare: One man army, capable of inspiring the ever-procrastinating and uninitiated youth and the non-demonstrating, ever-enduring middle class. Whoa!! Hats off ~

How?
By raising an issue which is close to most of us. CORRUPTION. We all have paid a price. Be it bribing a cop, TC, Postman or the MSEB guy. Any govt. official/agent for that matter.

When?
We may have had to pay through our nose to escape punishment. Or felt lucky to be let off lightly for errors/mistakes which would otherwise cause us to end up in prison.

Typical Scene: In a hurry, you skip a signal? (You may argue here that there was no oncoming traffic at that point of time). Thanks to your 'lucky' stars, you get caught by the 'mamu' hidden somewhere who springs at you...damm, you resign to your fate...there goes the 100. You reach for your wallet while trying the 'student/I'm new in the city' face...You normally feel its easier to bribe here than get into the whole nitty- gritty of paying the entire 500 fine, wait of a receipt and waste time. The cop doesn't disillusion you either. You finally reach your destination (just in the nick of time) and some friends claim 20 to be the bribing norm...damm...should have tried to bargain!

Why the noise?
Not that I endorse any of the above behavior, but this is generally the routine. We all know it. Many of us have done it. Some may put their foot down and pay the 500. Some may argue that 'I will never break the law, hence, this does not apply to me'. In my view, law-breakers should pay the fine for risking their lives as well as the lives of others. But what I want to point out is: Plainly, how will the JAN LOKPAL bill help me?

In order to post on this, I did some reading. The bill claims to be the tool to end corruption !!
The Jan Lokpal Bill aims to effectively deter corruption, redress grievances of citizens and protect whistle-blowers. If made into law, the bill would create an independent ombudsman body. It would be empowered to register and investigate complaints of corruption against politicians and bureaucrats without prior govt. approval.

Our country is 65years old. But corruption has been existing much, much before that. How else do you think the babu system has come into place?
Its a carcinogen, eating into the system, which people feel, one day, will become gangrened and fear that it will have to be cut. We are all party to this form of society. If anyone claims he is untouched by corruption, then I can show you a guy trying to garner media attention.

I believe we all have values, we all want to live in an honest country. BUT will fasting, demonstrating, mass gathering, slogan shouting and the rest help one reach this goal? I respect Mr. Anna Hazare, but, I feel like he's throwing a tantrum. The next guy who want's his really wonderful bill to be passed will follow suit and cause another stirring. Who knows, maybe the corrupt officials will fast so that the bill won't be passed. There are many ways to look at the scene. Some believe that the Gandhian way moves mountains and it surely does. But will a bill help the root cause. It may takes years to get corruption out of the system. Only to find that the corrupt have moved on to better techniques to escape the system. Sometimes I feel that all we are trying for is "a quick fix". The problem , however, is so deep-rooted, that a quick-fix may only serve as a pacifier. Surely, the corrupt may shy away from asking anything in these times and even if the bill is passed, as Anna wants it, who will guarantee the end of the evil cancer?

We the people of India think with our hearts, are passionate in what we believe and are willing to do all it takes for a just cause. But issues like corruption need more than just a bill. No governing body would want to accept the bill as it is, coz it will shoot off their creamy benefits right away. But instead of fasting and trying to hold the country at ransom, there are many ways that the problem could be tackled. One method proposed by Mr. N. Nilekani, Chairman (UIDAI) is Tariff card corruption. (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/this-withusoragainstus-is-the-kind-of-line-used-in-the-iraq-war/835125)
There are many more practical ways to address the issue, but sadly, no quick fixes can be offered by any.
So there you have it, my view to the ongoing drama, event, or movement.

No News...Good News?

2011-07-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

News make no sense to me anymore !!
Winners quit, dopers win and the media has a galore.

The last time I read, someone was dead, shot just because he knew,
The wronger had done, knowing twas the time to run, as if there was nothing better to do.

The hide and seek, the watergate-like leak...
The omnipresent dam, the 2G scam...

The nuclear reaction, the opposition's retraction...
The cheap adulteration, the soaring inflation and infiltration...

The underworlds flexes and excessive taxes,
No points for guessing who is making the most of these nexuses...

Will history see the innocents defeat,
What lessons to our children shall we teach?

Need we act? Need we react?
Has the last frontier been reached and breached?

Or else should we pretend to move on as we always do?
To hell with corruption, the charade and more importantly, the common man...thats me and you.

Changed minds~

2010-12-13T02:35:00.000-08:00

The day moves past, sunset atlast!
The cold beautiful night awaits...
The day had its share of the fireball sun,
The cool moon light rushes through the gate.

The night moves to darkness, wilderness spreads...
The roads takes on the silent glee...
Then the moon decides to hide, behind a spare cloud
and that adds to the enchanting mystery.

The night stretches on, the silence begins to deafen...
We begin our wait for the golden ball to rise!
The cold boring night must pass away now...
change is something we must not be denied!

We actually dont know what we really want...
Do we want the sun and all the forced activity?
Or do we want night to remain in the darkness...
and all that goes with the inactivity?

We change our minds ever so often,
we can never choose or decide for sure,
Given a choice we stand up like puppets,
waiting for the task to be endured.

- SJ

I wish to...

2010-12-06T01:23:00.000-08:00

Books have always captivated me! How often does one find themselves so lost in another's words... in another world? The story unfolds in front of them, with visual and audio effects that are beyond the imagination of any 3D movie ever created. The words carry you through the ebb and flow of emotions, mysteries and journeys and leave you back!
But I haven't been able to read much these days. The last book I had my hands on was the one by J.Archer- Short stories- And thereby hangs a tale! Need to buck up...so many literary gems have entered the book shelves since I last had a look. My vocab is decaying, fed with boring marketing words...my poet brain rests, gathering dust. There is not actual respect for creativity...only for glamour!
Drawing has always been something I wished I could've done ! After all the art classes in school, I don't think Ive flamed this hobby of mine much! The last thing I tried drawing was the doodle of my name! That's quite pathetic, well...working with a firm does allow you just that...
The last time I tried singing was...(no, not in the shower...) on the way to the farm, along with the MP3 player in the car! Poor dad had to endure my so-off tune voice, but he didn't complain...maybe it wasn't as bad as I think it was...ohh... need to get back to at least being the good ol'faithful chores singer !

Yeah...I wish to sing, I wish to read, I wish to draw !
I envy those who have all that talent and time...

A new post !

2010-09-30T09:30:00.001-07:00

Life has changed ! Its been months since I have written. Before I start the deluge of updates, I'll try to reign my thoughts on a few issues plaguing us today.
On the occasion of the babri-rambhoomi verdict, I personally feel the adage 'too little, too late 'fits perfectly.
Even if one party did win, the Govt. will intervene, so that their vote bank doesn't get divided. No one can be made happy, completely. Anyways, happiness is so overrated! If one issue is sorted, ten more will line up!! The courts have enough to handle already! Apart, why the fuss over the religious place? Don't we have enough of these places to last a life time? God won't listen to prayer only from that particular piece of land, will he? I feel issues like these are way to barbarian to deal with, we live in the 21st century! No one has the right to demolish any one's religious sanctity. But the Hindu and the Muslim are no better! Both the parties played arson, although in different times in history. Both are equally stupid, rash and impulsive as they think the other is!! Grow up! The elders did crazy things...hopefully, we the youth will learn and make new mistakes of our own!

Alright, lets move on to the updates:
I am officially done with my post-graduation, got my results and have been placed...It feels now that time literally flew me by~ Maybe it did. I had a great time. I have made great friends and I have met intriguing people. Work comes with shoes of its own size. Gotta fit into them some how and make it look comfortable!
I actually have begun to understand (and surprisingly, like) how maximum city functions. I have yet to discover so many food places that Ive missed. heheh!
Enough for now...
C'est la vie!~

An ode to GB, from a puneite…

2010-02-16T06:01:00.000-08:00

It was just yesterday, I sat there with donuts and coffee,

Great friends, loads of carb and sweet memories…

It was just yesterday, my friend asked me out,

We met up right outside, and then we didn’t want to get out…

It maybe the day before, when I heard all about the place,

How lovely the crowd, how pretty and full of solace…

It was a landmark, a place to hang out,

For anyone who wanted to feel the real pune, went to check it out.

And then today, some loser came through,

Played deception and the ripped whole place through.

What benefit did the ripper gain?

He killed several, and just left behind fear and pain.

Not that the city stood still, in spite of the chill,

there was strong determination and will.

He who brought sorrow to others, may receive the same,

Pain is always bargained for more pain.

Hope people who thought this and brought this realize,

Heaven will be gated, for murder of innocents’ receives no prize.

Now-A-days...

2009-09-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

Time is so relative…and forever changing. This makes it impossible for a person like me to write blogs on all the opinions, ideas and thoughts I have, coz: I have a lot of them!

Well since I’ve obviously found the elusive time, I shall write, hopefully a lot, though not too much to bore you guys!

The things of foremost importance to me right now are: a) Research. b)ReSearch c)RESEARCH. (heheh) I have been knee deep in work doing my research on “ metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents” . This needs to be published somewhere, for I have been dedicating quality of my time on this topic. How? Why? What? You may want to know…So let me start, well, at the beginning. I happened to stumble on this topic, thanks to my guide, the best, Dr. Shubhadra. She directed me and I fell for this topic: hook, line and sinker.

About the research: I have basically been working on childhood obesity, one of the MAJOR paradoxes in our India. We have people dying of starvation and sad pictures of marasmic & kwashiorkor kids on one end, while, on the other side, we have an obesity epidemic on the rise. I pity the government, for, policy making ahead is going to be tough.

Childhood is the time to make the most of everything, least of all, to become FAT and unfit to do anything! These children from different schools in Mumbai are, say, 30% at risk for all the complications their fathers and forefathers had, at the age of ^+_ 12 years!!! They will be diabetic, hypertensive and obese individuals with heart problems. Most of these kids belong to the notorious ‘Middle class’, sadly. Being middle class, their parents hope for their child to be a doc, engineer, lawyer, architect…Im sure they wouldn’t want to see a diabetic youth, unable to climb a flight of stairs, coz the heart is choked with cholesterol. But seemingly so, this may be a reality for many households. Most parents/grandparents manage and continue to ‘buy’ love and affection in the form of ‘junk’. Children continue to splurge their parent’s hard earned cash on ‘junk’. No one wants to move their behinds for anything these days, thanks to tech-savvy attitudes ans home delivery! Well, it must be brought to notice that: Being the plump boy is not cute!!! The baby fat is going no where. I say boy, because, the boys in my study (on a minor majority) are plump, while the girls are catching up, as the usual trend.

Hopefully, by the end of my research, after working with delightfully bright, co-operative and amazingly intelligent intellectuals (I would rather call the children and youth I have been working with as intellectuals rather than individuals, for they are truly a smart bunch, something that makes me proud of them), I shall be able to guide them to a better lifestyle, something our generation skipped on.

Till then, hoping for the best and sure to keep you’ll posted.

(For more information, suggestions, ideas and thoughts, feel free to email me at: shirinjanoos@gmail.com)

Hope and 62 years of freedom...

2009-08-16T12:01:00.000-07:00

This is those one am posts, where sleep is far and distant... Ive been wanting to write for a while now. I have so much to say. The things essentially occupying my thoughts are waiting to be typed...so here goes...

Its 62 years of being free, we have democracy, we have a youthful demography, we have what other nations don't...we could be all that we want! We've also had our share of bummers, as a nation. But being 62 years as an independent nation should have brought some grounded faith within us citizens. But I sadly must re-enforce that I belong to the disappointed population of this potentially great nation. What could have been achieved if...This "if" list is long!

But to start somewhere, I feel our 'high tolerance' attitudes are to blame! 'Mainu ki farak phadta hai'!! The typical delhi-ish phrase springs to my mind. We don't care! That is a fact, as long as things don't bother us much. We will live in a polluted city, adding to it daily, never dread the consequences of mosquitoes sharing our living space, spit on the roads shamelessly, but...for the fear of contracting an 'imported' flu...we shut our livelihood, don't send anyone to school and add to panic by spreading rumours! This disgusts me.

Apart from the ancestral crimes of 'reservations for the minorities(~read "so called" backward classes)' and the 'partition of a wholesome nation' , we clearly endorse these acts conveniently, religiously follow these trends, protest vociferously in support (the only thing we seem good at, at this point at least) and display our hypocrisies.

We are willing to 'greedily' hoard on stuff like 'face masks' (which may not necessarily protect us from the 'so dreaded' swine flu/H1N1 virus) and tamiflu tablets (which have serious side-effects), but using a condom, so freely available and efficient, maybe looked upon as an embarrassing thing! This disgusts me...

Before I'm being thought of as unpatriotic, I want to clear my stance. I love India! This is true, inspite of all the above mentioned. I write this, not to ridicule, but with the feeling that we could somehow change. We the youth (so truly wasted on us), could bring in new trends, set new examples , not 'go with the flow' for once. Maybe that day is not so far in the future...This keeps the flame somewhere in me flickering~ Hope its soon!

The obsoletes..1

2009-07-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry, not written for a long time now. What to do? I'm not finding any motivation, (classic writer's block reason)...or am I just being a lazy bloke? I can't say. Today I write, coz someone commented on my blog. See, that's motivation enough for me. (Read between the lines ppl!)

Okay, I have been busy with my research (soul depleting I must add) , but its not like I don't have any thoughts that I want to share with u ppl...blog worthy stuff is always going on in my brain, somewhere. So what I have been wanting to write about is this:

THE OBSOLETE.

The audio tape.

I knew I was never gonna mention the 'records' played on gramophones. Those went away well before I was brought to earth. (Not that I wouldn't like to have them as a collectible). But,

have you wondered where that old audio tape went, the one which you forced Mom to buy, when you were a little child, just so that you could add to 'the collection' of your household (read Dad's)

Well, my Dad is a solid fan of 'good music' , so he always was happy about me adding, though I did not have a taste to boast about then. The other day, when I was home, I happened to stumble across those tapes...and was hit by nostalgia. The good old days (mostly the week ends), when music was always around to cheer me up from the dreadful weekend homework. I remember learning nursery rhymes along with tapes...those days were FUN!! It also struck me that...: I don't think I will ever be able to listen to this...the good old audio tape, thanks to those new music players, who provide only for CD or the KB music (the ones converted to kilobytes, or whatever that is). So there, the audio cassette is an obsolete. out dated...and that too, in my life time. It makes me feel OLD and sad. No rewinding...ahh! And to add here, I miss my walk man days too!

The handkerchief.

Where are those men, who in dire times, help a damsel with a kerchief, hand embroidered with their initials, by someone who loved and cared for them enough (read mom/wife/sister...i wonder why boys didn't find the need to express their love through embroidery... just a though...it was never that women had 'no work'...I'm sure they always had something to do, better than embroidering for their sons/husband/brother...well, that's another issue)

Its gone these days...and I think we owe today's fashion responsible. Where will one stuff a hanky...the pants are so tight anyways...lol! But I have found a few ppl adhering to this obsolete ritual, only to be frowned upon by uber cool people... who never care about anybody but their butt! So there goes the hanky...

The fountain pen.

Maybe its old and still around, but schools these days are not very strict about this one. Ive studied in a convent where writing should be done with an 'ink pen, specifically an air-mail'. Today, all I see is kids flaunting their 'china' pens....ahh...I miss my airmail days...I loved the idea of drawing alphabets on paper, rather than scribbling something with a ball point , something that I have got used to these days....research is taxing!

I'm kinda short on time, so I'll continue with the other obsoletes SOON...Plz feel free to comment, would love to hear whatever you wish to say!

The Illusionist.

2009-05-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not here to dissect the beautifully crafted movie, (one of my all-timers) but I'd rather like to use the title as a comparative gesture of today's political scenario. The illusion of an India recession free, not tied by mass unemployment and still a shining bird has been pulled off real well. Hats off! Whoa! How did that happen? Why wasn't the common man angry enough even to register the actual thruth and then go on to create a speculative poll scenario where the politicians should have been biting their nails (heck chewing their finger for all I care) until the results were out. That was the least we could do! We behaved like sitting ducks! Not that I have any particular political party to blame, for the ideologies of parties and their leaders change as per convenience and I never did once believe in any of the crap the ever put forward. ( If they'd care enough to voice it , it could have been done as well)and before I'm looked at accusingly by many of my friends and colleagues I'll like to add here that, Yes! In spite of the lack of good politicians I didn't let my precious vote go waste!!
After clearing that, now, that the results are finally out (after wrecking havoc to many students' exam schedules) I must declare that I found it utterly difficult to choose a candidate for whom I could vote without having to clench my fists!
All of them, including the one I voted for are mumble mumble. (the choicest abuses are ready to spring out, but Ill refrain from stooping to their levels)
Now tell me. I know we must vote! Its our right and It totally makes sense. But how can one choose 'the jack with one eye in the kingdom of the blind'. Its unfair and the idea of democracy is surely not making the choice of the guy who is bad among the worst. The illusionist claims that he will fool and yet why do we have the tendency to fail to see critically and believe blindly!
However, there is no point voicing this now, you may say, and again I fear, I shall disagree, coz, if not now, then I'm sure we shall repeat this ahead ~ Voting is our right , but making sure there are people worthy for our vote is our duty! Hopefully the next time round we enjoy both our right and duty!
Till then, Cheers!

The First Post~Cheers!

2009-05-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hello all you people! Hope everything is going smooth... Now that I have started a new blog session, it does not mean that I have changed my writing style or anything else. This blog has been started with the intentions of not just giving "my take on life" but something which has more mass appeal...Thus the blog is aptly (?) named Cutting chai!

Chai traces its origin to our neighbour (read China, not Pakistan)...aur jo apne neighbour ka, woh apna hi samajna, right? And to top it all, how can we forget to Indianise everything we copy...okay borrow! No, we don't like the green rubbish they serve in mainland china, or any other fancy-shancy chinese restaurant, we love masala chai aka. the CTC variety of tea. Some can chalao with the normal green tea, but I'm sure we don't consider drinking tea as an art form, do we? So here, in a country of tea lovers, a cutting chai is always (hopefully) welcome, I believe. I mean, we never say no to a cutting chai, coz we know its not just the tea, there is more to it than that hot liquid. Its more of a symbolic thing, this cutting represents the ability we have to share with our friends and colleagues and loved ones everything that is dear to us... Its the thing we do, that makes acquaintances friends and friends family.

So here is my Cutting chai, Cheers to good times!