Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Why? :-(

- Why are trees always the victims of development and civilisation?

The narrow road between ECR and OMR used the be surrounded by quite a forest of trees. The road was really bad and I can understand the necessity of cutting some trees and making the road more navigable, but was it necessary to demolish the whole road and build a four lane highway there?One of those huge trees near madhya kailash had some branches spreading over the road. So why cut off the whole tree when just some branches would suffice?

- Why should religion always be synonymous to torture?

While I shall not comment on God, religion is something created by human. So why do we do so many inhuman things in its name? Not just talking abt the riots n stuff in the name of religion, have you noticed that every popular religion demands bloodshed in some way or the other. Animal sacrifices, torture to ones bodies in the name of appeasing one's deity ...Why do we not find God in a non violent religion?

- Why Blame the IT?

Why blame IT for all the ills thats happening in the soceity. Do u know where the work life of people in all other fields are probably 40 years, an IT professional hardly lasts 20. Its only fair that we try to earn as much as we can when we are still able to do it.

- Why do ppl think smoking relieves tension?

Nope, I have no plans of trying to see if it actually works. But it really pains me to see young kids just out of school and college, running out every two hours or so desperate for a puff. I have seen colleagues who get the shakes when they dont smoke after their dinner/lunch.Why try something when you know it is not good for health and addictive?

Friday, February 15, 2008

Clean India

Abdul Kalam has big dreams on the youth of India and all the big politicians/ scientists say they dream of this india or that india.
I am neither a politician nor a scientist but I do dream of a clean India.

I always feel like I have ants crawling inside my skin when I see people litter, spit or blow smoke in public places. I could understand if this was just the case of the illiterate people or those who don't know better, but most of the litter in India is by people like you and me.

I had just returned from Singapore and was discussing the trip with a friend who had already visited the place. Even as she was saying how clean and neat the place is, she was throwing the disposable ice cream cup on the platform on which we were walking. :-(.. She actually had the temerity to ask what it matters since everyone throws litter on the ground in India.

Just yeaterday I was walking down the road from one bus stop to another and there were these two guys, quite well educated and probably working in one of the top IT firms (which i deduced from the tag around their necks), walking just infront of me.
Suddenly plop, one of the guys dropped the paper cone from which he had been eating peanuts.Just 2 meters in front of him, was the trash can.
When I called him to drop it into the trashcan, i was given a very weird look and his friend mumbled that if I wanted to clean up behind them I should go ahead. Since I had opened my big fat mouth, I did throw the cone into the trash. Atleast the guy who threw it down on the ground had the decency to apologise and look chagrined.

While spitting pan on the walls and roadside is bad enough... the idiots actually spit from the bus windows and the side of the shareautos and autos. God forbid anyone going below or in the side of these vehicles.

There is supposed to be a law against smoking in the public places and I see that most of the smoking happens right in front of police stations...aargh!!!
Everywhere you go there is some cigarette, with smoke on side and a fool on the otherside happily puffing away. I make it a point to glare at these guys and wave my hand in front of my face. Not that anyone cares..sighhh!!!

I pray I could get magic powers so that I can put a curse on all the litterers. Everytime someone throws trash on the road, it will magically be transported to their homes and offices. Everytime some one spits on the ground, it will turn back and fall on their own faces and every time some one blows smoke in public places, their nose and tongues should start burning....

ummm!!! I only have coupla minutes to dream before I go back to work... so Adios.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

what weird people we are

I have mentioned this before and it still holds true.I hate change... but what happens when I know the said change is good for me every way and I have voluntarily sought it? Simple!
I still HATE it.

I recently made a big change in my life. Something I did with my eyes open.
But once done, I started missing my old way of life. After all the bigger the rut u have fallen into, the tougher it is to get out of it.
I was constantly comparing my new life with old life and finding it failing miserably and consistently.

To my great joy I found another friend who had done the very change that I had and he looked.... hmph! quite content with it...The traitor!!!
Needless to say I was a misery, moping around the place.

So, well, yesterday when I was talking to him.... he casually mentioned that he was thinking of making this new change temperory. Surprised I asked him why he would do that, as he seemed quite happy with it.
Haleluyah! Whaddya know? It seems he is no more happy with it than I...
hehehe! its miraculous... I dont feel quite so bad about the change anymore.

I guess its true... Misery definitely loves company :-)

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

The Olde Techies

Has ur father/ mother/ uncle/ aunt/ grandfather/ grandmother/ great uncle/ great aunt just discovered the world of computers and internet? Uhoh! you are in for a tough time.
Take it from a person who has experienced all (gives me quite a guru like aura to say things like this :-) )
Its amusing as hell and big time frustrating.

I remember attempting to teach couple of the "olde" gang the secrets of computers and literally coming to fisticuffs.
I had to explain why I was pressing every button." How do u know when you press this button, the system will boot?", " What exactly happens during the booting?", "How do I configure some xyz in the Windows?"...
Of course they would not take my word for it and so sighing, I tried to explain the intricacies in the labyrinth of computers and the Windows administration, only to get my head bitten off. "What are u talking about?, I do not understand anything, You just dont know how to teach"

Aargh! Finally we agreed to disagree and they went happily to an institute to learn what I was teaching them for free.
The next few weeks the house was filled with computer jargons :-) ... they could not speak a few words without including something related to computers.. gotta say it was kinda cute and amusing

You would think that it would all end there right???? Hah! thats what u think...Armed with their new found knowledge they keep trying to teach u how to send an email, how to use MS Word and every new thing that they have learned.... anything u say in ur defense will fall on deaf ears.
while that is exasperating enough what really got my goat was the patronising look they give when they think u have done something wrong by their standards.

While my mom was most amused by my plight... I wanted to bang my head on the monitor.


I got my dad a new cell phone that has all these fancy thingamagicks such as camera, email options, bluetooth and what nots. Half the time when we are walking on the roads and I am talking to him, I find I am talking to myself and dad has stopped way behind, having found something new to explore in his phone. He gets a huge kick out of taking a foto of something in his new camera phone and emailing it to his friends from it, then copying it to the desktop using bluetooth and taking a print out of it in his new printer. Needless to say our new printer/scanner/xerox machine has him beaming everytime he uses it.

But as the computers, cell phones and internet have brought a whole new exciting life to our elders that I find I really cannot begrudge their happiness in it.