LIFE IN A CONCRETE JUNGLE

I live in a metro city and I am enjoying the well-laid roads, sky-scraping shopping malls, and posh restaurants and coffee shops, transport facility with best connectivity, communication facility, best education, medical facility and job opportunities. The metro rail network is also coming up which will still shrink my traveling time. I am still not proud to live in a metro city despite the facilities listed above. Read on to know why.

I travel a long distance to my office and back home. In fact I spend 1/8^th of a day on travel. So I have a lot of time to gaze at my surroundings and pass time while commuting in my office bus. I see a lot of development. The development is not positive. I am denied with calm and stress- free environment, clean air to breathe, congestion-free roads, green patch of land, chirping sound of birds, rustling sound of trees etc. Lot of greener pastures has been turned into concrete jungle by the real estate developers. Farmers sell agricultural land to a builder and look for alternatives for survival. We can’t blame them either. The rain god is playing havoc, so farmers do not get proper yield for their crops. They also have loans outstanding at various banks which they are unable to repay. This puts them in a pitiable situation. The builder exploits their situation and purchases lands at cheap prices, builds a gated-community area and sells it for enormous profit. Considering the pace at which these buildings are coming up, our future generations will own an apartment in one of the gated-communities but will be left with no grains and vegetables on their plate. Instead they will be forced to eat energy tablets to sustain themselves.

People settle down in the outskirts fearing higher cost of living in the heart of the city. The city is ever-expanding with its radius increasing at enormous pace. One has to undergo a lot of struggle to commute even a small distance, thanks to the bursting of human and vehicular population. I have seen innumerable times how an ambulance struggles to find road in the evening traffic when the vehicles move at snail’s pace. There is no guarantee for the patient’s life inside the ambulance. The worried looks on the face of the patient’s relatives is painful to see. 

Most schools are not situated in a calm and peaceful locality. They are situated right on the main road where vehicles honk and honk endlessly even if they see “School Zone. Horns prohibited” boards. The children are not able to concentrate in the class and they get to inhale only carbon monoxide. Children are robbed off their evening play time because they either have to travel a long time or wait endlessly at traffic signals. At the end of the day, they are mentally tired and only get to bury their faces into the pillows when they get home.  

Working professionals also spend a lot time on travel but little time with their children. This deprives kids of the necessary attention and guidance from parents to mold their kids’ character. The wife and husband rarely meet due to erratic work timings or because of reaching home late. A strong bond is missing in the family which is very essential for a happy living.

Shopping malls and super markets were alien to us some time back. It was all western culture. But now I can see super markets on every street and shopping malls in every area. The trick used by super markets and shopping malls to increase sales is very simple. All products in different brands are kept on display. When a family enters the super market with a groceries list, they definitely end up buying more than required. This is because they want to try out different brands kept on display and also because their kids would be attracted to the colorful stack of chocolates or chips. Same is the scenario with shopping malls where all items are over-priced. People throng the malls on weekends to spend their hard-earned money in an unhealthy manner. Everyone wants to “eat, shop, dress and live western”!

I have not heard the chirping of birds ever since I relocated to the city. Squirrels, small birds like sparrows, owls are nowhere in sight. This is because there is a cell phone tower in nearly every home. Birds are not comfortable with the radiation from the tower. We are only creating an unfriendly environment to those friendly and lovely creatures. I have heard about Darwin’s theory: Survival of the fittest. The fittest will survive. But the human race will be alone on Earth in the distant future. The other creatures would have succumbed.

We can proudly say that we have developed in terms of economy, technology, culture and stuff. But according to me, this development is at the cost of all the above.

It has been a long time......

It has been a long time,precisely 25 months since I wrote my last blog. It is not that the flow of ideas ceased,it is because of lack of time and interest. Now that I have found time and forced myself into my chair and in front of my laptop, I thought of telling you all about happenings in my life and around.

Lot of things happened around me. Last month,one of my sister was raped and brutally beaten up by some bunch of thugs and was thrown onto the platform.She was lying there naked,shivering in the biting cold along with her friend who was equally beaten up with iron rods. Yes, I am talking about the brave heart from Delhi who battled for her life and finally gave up when she thought she will be 'safer' in heaven. Lot of people took to the streets,protesting against the brutal crime,demanding stricter laws be enforced and swifter punishments be given.Hunger strikes and candle light marches followed. I was thinking about the punishment that should be given to those 6 animals,one of them a minor. I have been hearing different opinions from people - some say capital punishment must be given, some are against it. I thought a little differently. All their photos have to be flashed in media. They have to be let out. The people on the roads will take care of the rest.RIP,sister!

In the mean time I was fasting for Sabari Malai Ayyappan. I was satisfied with my fasting and puja. My dad and I, along with 8 others including our guru swami visited the holy place of Sabari Malai. HE was mesmerizing as usual. Everyone will fall in love with HIM. Such is his power.The power of attraction. We had 5 darshans, one with Irumudi. 5 darshans does not suffice and we were not satisfied. But HE is not only for us but for everyone. While on our way back, we had the privilege of visiting some of the holiest shrines in Kerala.Kerala is known for its temples and its size. There is not much of architecture with lot of sculptures as in the temples of Tamilnadu. But they were astoundingly big and vast.Each temple easily covers a football field or two. We went to Ettumanoorappan temple,a Shiva temple in Ettumanoor. We even visited Guruvayur and sought Guruvayurappan's blessings. The best temple I had even been to is Vadakkanathar temple in Thrissur.The temple was vast in terms of area and had all deities inside it. There was extreme silence except for the rustling of the trees and chirping of birds and occasional ringing of temple bell. My mind was at peace. I totally enjoyed the trip and this pilgrimage trip will continue next year also.

My friends and I had planned something big for New Year's eve celebrations. The plan doomed due to various reasons.So instead we decided to have some fun during the subsequent weekend.I had never been to Barbeque Nation,a restaurant loved and recommended by many of my colleagues. According to them, they served the best buffet in a calm and pleasant ambiance.Since it is the most preferred destination for many, it will be packed during weekends.So I had booked a table 3 days in advance. We also planned for a movie - The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey. Everything went as planned - the food,movie and the journey. No hassles,delay or hurdles whatsoever. Had a perfect and memorable Saturday - 5th of Jan.

Ang Lee's Life of Pi was released. Many flocked the theaters and came out satisfied. I did not want to watch the movie. I thought I can live the experience by reading the book, a best-seller by Yann Martel.I was not disappointed. Martel's style of narration and the story was very gripping.A definite page-turner. The book is much better than the movie minus the visuals. Now that I have imagined the whole story in my mind, I am dying to watch it come into life in front of eyes. Currently reading 'The Discovery of India' by Jawaharlal Nehru.

At present I am recovering from my CAT result debacle. This was my third attempt. All attempts were without attending proper coaching.I realized this was the reason for my failure,realized a tad too late.I was not sure of a 90 percentile, but I was not expecting it to be this low either. I do not want to disclose my percentile because of sheer embarrassment. The way I was campaigning that I will be writing CAT and showing off those fat books 5 months before the test date resulted in more embarrassment when the results were out. People around me started asking me the marks and I had to hang my face down. I was not able to say it to my parents either.I even felt that I let myself down,I let my friends down and also my parents down. Two days passed,now I had gathered some confidence by saying "You are not a failure.You are not an idiot.You are not a good-for-nothing lad.It was just the lack of preparation.Better luck next time.". I was back on my feet!


Lot of other things also in mind.I do not want to bother you guys too much as of now.So, see you next time.

Importance of Soft Skill.

Soft skill plays a very prominent part in an individual's quest for survival and trouble-shooting in both professional and personal life.It is a very basic and mandatory skill to run a business organisation.This is also the skill expected of every employee in an organisation.Soft skill does not imply only communication skill but a group of other skills like listening skill,understanding skill,presentation skill and negotiation skill.  

Let us first manipulate the importance of soft skill in an individual's professional life.Listening and understanding skills come into play when an individual attends an interview.The individual,now a candidate for the job,grasps the question from the interviewer by listening to it keenly.Then he/she understands the question and shoots the answer,thus making use of his/her 'power of communication'. The candidate successfully makes it through the interview.The candidate,now an employee of an organisation,is put into a business world where soft skill is GOD.In future.the employee might be asked to do a presentation highlighting the company's technological prowess,achievements,progress and growth during the industry's tough times to impress the new clients,.Holding the microphone and taking center-stage will require a whole lot of courage.The employee can easily fight nervousness,clarify doubts and field tough questions from the clients by making use of his/her presentation skills.When the clients are impressed,they will take the deal to the negotiation table where the 'power of negotiation' will yield the company the massive deal.

Now let us shift focus to the individual's personal life to see how soft skills play a small,but crucial role.Although presentation skill is of no use here,the other skills do have a part to play.If we take a simple conversation between a husband and wife,the husband has to be all ears to what his wife is saying.Else,the wife will 'file the papers' in court.This situation might seem silly but it is definitely not a matter to laugh at.This happens and has happened in many households. The 'understanding problems' have played havoc in many individuals' love life.The boy would have meant a thing and the girl,due to bad listening and understanding skills,would leave him for no mistake of his.Vice versa is also possible when the boy has some listening problems.One piece of advice.A sore relationship can be avoided if one keenly listens and understands what the other person is saying.The negotiation skill comes into play when one is looking to buy a house or land deals or even 'dowry deals'(No pun intended!).Better the power of negotiation,better the profit.

Thus one must be equipped with soft skills and must know how and when to use it to reap fruits in both professional and personal life.                                                                                                                                                                           

LONELY!

When I finished my schooling,I had a big dream of going to college,just as everyone.College was going to be FUN.As I entered my college,I had a feeling that I was a deer in a lion's den. Lions were none other than my seniors.I don't know  why but most of my friends were ragged(Ragging meaning asking one's name,which department we belong to and where we were from.Strict anti-ragging laws changed its meaning),except ME.

     As days passed by,I made some good friends(only boys!) with whom I used to sit,chat,eat,roam around inside my college,visit the toilet and what not.They started becoming part and parcel of my life.I used to feel bored when I reach home and would wait for the sun to rise the next day.I would also try to keep in contact with my buddies over phone or a social-networking site.I started enjoying each and every day of my college life

     Two years went by and I was in my third year.I was a guy with a shy attitude having a friends circle limited to only boys. Then came situations where I had to talk with girls.After a lot of hesitation,I began interacting with my class girls.Initially,I thought this was not going to be right.But with time I came to know that the girls are as cool as boys!
    In the beginning of my final year,we were on a college tour for 10 days.That was the best time of my college life in particular and in my life as a whole.I am in search of the best words to express the joy we had during our tour.We started the tour as friends and ended it as a family.The bond between us grew stronger and it is still inseparable.At that point in time,I had the mental and physical strength of facing anyone in the world,anyone!

    The tour came to an end but neither our joy nor our happiness.We used to come to to the college and sit in our classrooms only to hear that half of our lecturers are not present and the only thing we did : CHAT,CHAT,CHAT! Then an announcement regarding the project was done which reminded us that we were final year students.Doing project was fun and submitting things for the project only after the due date was more fun,be it  project documentation,presentation and even the project!.

             After the project submission was over,a thought struck my mind: My college days are over.My friends are no longer going to be with me.I cannot come to college anymore. These thoughts were driving me crazy.I had a feeling that I was in hell when those thoughts flashed in my mind. I began to feel weak  and dejected.

Now,my college days are OVER.I am confined to the four walls of my room with only my computer,my study table and my inner-self as my companions and thinking all day of my lovely friends,my college life and those beautiful moments we had together in our college.Even today,when I get to drive past my college, my 4 years fruitful flashback just zooms past me in seconds and my eyes become moist.

        My friends were my strength when they were with me during my college and now,when I look around I can find none.When I look back,I can see some of them way behind me.I have come a long way and I am feeling LONELY now!

6 things I hate about IPL!!

The following article was written by Rahul Fernandes,product manager with in.com. I came across this fabulous article and thought of sharing with all.


''
The facts first: I've not missed a single IPL match this season. I'm a cricket junkie. And I quite like the IPL. However, I've somehow developed a love-hate relationship with Lalit Modi's billion-dollar baby. Here's why...

Aankhon-Dekha (Be)haal

Have you dared to tune into the Hindi commentary? Arun Lal, Atul Wassan, Saba Karim and Co have forced me to use the mute button. To say they are intolerable is putting it very mildly. If you want to speak in Hindi, please go ahead. But don't call a bread-and-butter shot 'nashte ka shot'. I prefer watching the games on YouTube (despite the five-minute delay and my poor wi-fi connection) just to hear the English commentary.

Environmental Tokenism

The IPL has tied up with the UN Environment Programme ostensibly "to become one of the most environmentally-friendly major sports events in the world and bring environmental awareness to millions of sports fans around the world". So, before every match, one of the commentators spells out a simplistic environment protection tip. Three hours later, there's a flurry of hazardous firecrackers to celebrate one team's win over the other. The sky is bright enough for you to be fooled into believing it's New Year's Eve or Diwali. The truth: it's a league match of the environment-conscious IPL. And we're not even getting into facts like how much power could have been saved if the matches weren't played under lights.

Karbonn Footprints

Last time I checked, cricket was about fours, sixes, wickets and catches. Not DLF Maximum, Citi Moment of Success and Karbonn Kamaal Catch and what have you. Marketers can go to any extent to score high on brand recall in their next market research report. But this is pushing it a bit too far. Tweaking the rules of cricket is acceptable, but altering its lexicon is not.

Lalit 'I Am Everywhere' Modi

Yes, he gave birth to the IPL. Thank you very much. But he's like this over-enthusiastic single parent who won't take his eye off his child even for a nanosecond. He's in the stands, he's in the dug-out, he's in the commentary box, he's at the presentation ceremony and then at the after-party. He's also on Twitter. Even if you stop following him, he has enough cronies retweeting his posts. But it's too much to ask for any modi-fication, isn't it?

Dugout Blues

They may have spent precious millions on buying their teams, but the franchise owners have no business sitting in the dugout. It's not a place for cricketers to explain the difference between leg-spin and off-spin to their owners. If you've paid a bomb to hire a coach, let him do his job in peace. And let the players enjoy the guy-talk. You don't see owners chatting with players on the bench or on the sidelines during an EPL game. It's a professional league, not a family picnic. Though I must confess, it's nice to see Preity Zinta giving her boys the high-fives every time there's a, well, Citi Moment of Success.

Aggrieved Party

The cramped international calendar and equally tough IPL schedule leaves players with little time to rest. To make matters worse, the players have to now compulsorily attend after-parties in the company of some dishy women and, of course, ubiquitous team owners. It sure makes for mouthwatering gossip and glossy tabloid photos but it's tough on the players who are anyway under constant media glare. The idea of commentators speaking to players on the ground during the course of a match is equally unreasonable. The trouble is, there's way too much money at stake for anyone to dissent.

I think I've spewed enough venom for the BCCI to hit me for a DLF Maximum. It's time for a Max Mobile Strategic Time-Out.
                                                                                                                          ''

Book Review:My first attempt

"I don't read books" would be my prompt answer in the column of information in my profiles of all the social-networking sites.I had given the same answer even in my blog profile.I must find time to change it immediately.
The reason is that I've nurtured the habit of reading books and it is real fun.This miracle happened when I was wading through the folders in my computer and I found an e-book titled "2 States:The story of my marriage by Chetan Bhagat". I've heard about this young author and his best-sellers but haven't read any of his creations.

Bollywood block-buster movie "3 Idiots" was based on Chetan Bhagat's 2004 novel "Five point someone:What not to do at IIT".His various other novels are 'One Night @ the call center","The 3 mistakes of my life" released in 2005 and 2008 respectively.This young creator has graduated from prestigious institutions,IIT-Delhi and IIM-Ahmedabad.

"2 States:The story of my marriage" is the story based on his life.The title conveys an obvious meaning that he loved a girl from an another state and succeeded in marrying her.

The first page in the book mentions the following fact:

Love marriages around the world are simple:
Boy loves girl.Girl loves boy.They get married.

In India there are a few more steps:
Boy loves girl.Girl loves boy.
Girl's family loves the boy.Boy's family loves the girl.
Girl's family loves boy's family.Boy's family loves girl's family.
Girl and boy still love each other. They get married.

The protagonists are Krish Malhotra,a Punjabi boy who pushes himself into IIM-A after a hectic life at IIT-D and Ananya Swaminathan,a Tamilian girl from a conservative Brahmin family who makes it to IIM-A after completing her degree in economics.Ananya is rated as the best looking girl in IIM-A and Krish gets to meet her first at the canteen and wins her friendship by saving her from a quarrel with the kitchen staff.

The story moves on as their 'just-friends' relationship reaches higher levels and finally they fall for each other.They start doing night studies 'together' and they do the 'you-know-what' thing as most lovers do.Krish and Ananya are madly in love with each other.Ananya wants her parents to be happy over their marriage and so does Krish. So they decide to marry only with their parents' permission.Two long years pass by and  the placements in IIM are round the corner.Krish must find a job to make sure he doesn't miss Ananya.
Krish gets his job in Citibank and Ananya lands in Hindustan Lever Limited(HLL).Krish and Ananya wanted to make sure their parents' first meeting during their convocation ceremony ends up sweet but what happens is the other way round.
Krish's mom is not fond of South Indians because they're black and ugly-looking and she wants only a Punjabi to be her daughter-in-law because you get many 'surprise' gifts in a Punjabi marriage.Her thoughts are very  narrow and her loose-talks can instantly get the other person's BP rising.
Ananya's mom and dad are typical South Indian brahmin parents who want their daughter to be married to someone from their community and if the boy is in an overseas job,they are double-happy.

Krish and Ananya have to do a lot of things to convince their conservative parents.Krish tries and luckily gets his first posting at Chennai where Ananya is housed....

Hey wait,I guess this is a book review.. Then why in the world am I narrating the whole story to you guys.I'm seriously and completely engrossed in it...That is a characteristic of a good book.

So let me wrap it up.. Then how Krish manages to convince Ananya's parents and how Ananya wins the hearts of Krish's relatives form the crux of the story.Whether they join hands and marry or not forms the climax of the story...

The story is narrated in a very simple language that even a layman understands and the flow of events is well controlled by the author and that keeps your eyes glued to the book.

Verdict:This book is worth a read more than once.

To my readers:
This is my first book review.So please leave your comments based on which I can improve my writing. 

Women's Reservation Bill:My view

I guess many of my readers(if any) are thinking why I discuss too much politics in my blog. This is because a wide range of thoughts pierce my head if the topic is a political one. Moreover,I  like blogging the hottest topic in town and I feel fulfilled in doing so.Let me get the matter straight...

Tuesday,March 9 will be marked in India's history as the most momentous occasion as that day witnessed the passing of The 108th Constitution Amendment Bill or the Women's reservation Bill in the Upper House,also called the Rajya Sabha.It reserves 33% of the seats in the Parliament and state assemblies for women.The historic bill made it after struggling for 14 years.It was first planned to be passed in the Lower House or Lok Sabha when the United Front government was at the centre,headed by HD Deve Gowda in 1996.But failed to do so due to stiff opposition from other parties.So the idea was dropped then and there.

Later under the leadership of AB Vajpayee, the National Democratic Alliance formed the government in 1998,the bill was again wiped off its dust and passed in Lok Sabha.The bill met with the same fate as it did during the United Front regime.The bill was temporarily disposed off.

The NDA led government was knocked down by the United Progressive Alliance,a coalition government with Congress as its backbone.The Congress realized it was the right time to bring back the bill as it had successfully managed to get through its initial tenure(initial 5 years of government).The Congress did one-hell-of an intelligent move. It did not pass the bill in the Lok Sabha.Instead it did it in Rajya Sabha.The reason is the Lok Sabha has a total of 552 seats and for a bill to become a law,it should possess the backing of 2/3rd of the total strength of a House.In this case,it is 368 seats which is huge.Hence it passed the bill in Rajya Sabha,which has a total strength of 233.So it is enough if nearly 150 MPs voted in favor of the bill.

And to everyone's surprise the bill was successfully passed inspite of stiff opposition from some parties like BSP,SP,RJD,LJP and the Trinamool Congress.In fact,even the main opposition party,the BJP voted in favor of the bill.That must have come as a big sigh of relief to Sonia Gandhi,being a woman herself and the Chairperson of the most powerful political party,the Congress.

According to me, the bill should have been passed much earlier.This is because the top-most and powerful positions are held by women in our country.
Sonia Gandhi,Chairperson of the Congress,the backbone of the ruling alliance.
Pratibha Patil,Honorable President of India.
Meira Kumar,Honorable speaker in the Lok Sabha.
Sushma Swaraj,leader of the opposition in Parliament... to mention a few.

I'm dying to watch if this bill is going to be of any help to the people of India,especially some of the unrecognized and downtrodden women.Will this bill bring about empowerment of women or uplift the status of women in our male-dominated society?This question will not fetch an answer in the near future because the bill has to be passed in the Lower House and it requires the consent of the President.It definitely is going to take some valuable time,which we don't have much.

I personally believe that the passage of the bill will bring about change in India because 33% women in Parliament and state assemblies would mean there will be more women MPs and MLAs who would work for the country and for which 'Mother' India should be proud of.I'm not trying to offend the male counterparts here as they are equally competent. So my point here is that giving equal opportunity to women would prove fruitful for both the country and its people.

Disclaimer:The thoughts and views which I have mentioned above are completely mine and is not intended to hurt anyone.