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Monday, July 31, 2006

Its been a long time...

....since I blogged. That's becos rite now am on a long break to India. Its been a very hectic two weeks with a lot of visits to relatives' place, lots of travelling and loads of shopping. From chennai to trivandrum and now in delhi, its been a great trip. Coming back to your native place is such a happy thing.

Scribblez and Has to be me have complained that I dont visit or comment in their blogs anymore, let just tell u guys, I havent visited any blogs. First thing the Blogs were blocked temporarily when I was in chennai so couldnt access any site. Between then and now, didnt have net acess! Anyways once am back to base, I will definitely visit all my favourite blogs and surely comment too.

Till I get back, all u guys take care and keep blogging.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Random ramblings

Me going down to India (home sweet home!) for two weeks. It will be a lot of travelling......may not get time to blog. So dont miss me guys!!

Ok, here's something that's been on my mind for sometime now. Looking at all these incidents of terror and crime in India, I somehow feel the problem mainly lies with attitude of ppl. I have a feeling people take law lightly. Corruption plays a huge rule in increasing this slack. Ppl have this opinion that by giving a few extra bucks u can get the job done. People dont realise the bigger picture.

What starts with a simple chocolate to get the homework done by a kid can lead up to bribery in higher levels. Initially the money would have been to avoid a long wait in the queue but finally the money ends up doing illegal stuff too. And god knows, a simple mistake by a corrupt peon can end up with a national disaster. Is it not possible? Do u think its difficult for malicious minds to get info in India, no its all the more easier! Give a wad of notes, and they r ready to serve u like slaves.

Its not only corruption, the general attitude of going above the law is very common. The goons fleece common ppl and share this with some corrupt police. There are some specimens in the police dept who think they r above law and go about torturing innocent and raping women. Politicians think they can get away with anything be it bribes, scams, abduction, or even murder. Why go that far, take the common man. How many times in a day we ignore the law? We go through one-ways, we jump red lights, we bribe to get better treatment in hospitals, we dont want to be witnesses in a theft or hit and run and chose to ignore it, and so on. We are not willing to obey our laws or implement them.

Is all this not an invitation to outsiders to divide us? These terrorist claim that minorities are ill-treating. It may be true. But who are these ppl to deliver verdict? How can the govt allow outsiders to interfere?

Coming to the point of minorities, I think this whole concept should be done with. There should be no discrimination based on caste, creed or religion. All citizens of India should have equal rights in everything no special cases. The problem arises when there is provisions for special cases. The guy in torn rags working his butt off and the rich businessman who rests his delicate butt on rich silk cushions should be treated equally when it comes to basic rights. Money should not be a factor when it comes to providing justice. A poor man cant afford to fight a case in court then the govt should make provision for it. A rich man can fight a case in court then the system has to make sure he doesnt use his money power to alter the course of law. Similarly with education, make education a must for everybody. Let the govt provide education to all those who cant afford it, make it easy.

At present, many good laws may be in place. But how many are being used effectively? A clever lawyer will use loop holes to bring out a rich man but will he help a poor man with the same law....no he wont. He doesnt stand to gain anything, that's the prb. The POTA law was framed to make it easy for holding terrorists but the politicians are using it against their political enemies.

One more thing, the Right to Information Act is a good thing. But do u think it will actually be delivered well. Will a common man actually get answers? What answers will he get? What will the govt say if I ask why the roads are full of holes or why there is no ration left in the ration shop? If the answer is corruption, will that be my answer? what will i do with knowing what i already know? If the question is Were the ppl responsible punished or when will they be punished, what answer will I get?

I know there are so many other issues connected with democracy and what I have written here might have already occured to thousands of ppl and the ppl who form the constitution. But I dont know why these are not in place now. What stops the govt from implementing the already present law, leave alone the utopian ones. Why ppl like the Mumbai Don has not been arrested? Why corruption has been allowed to grow so far? Is no one ever going to take action?

One thing I definitely know is if I can do my bit to stop this corruption, I will. And I definitely hope everyone who realises how bad the bigger picture is getting should also do his or her bit! If someone is ignorant, then I will definitely try and explain. Will you?

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Tears and Rage.

Another horrific and cowardly act by baseless ideology.

Hunderds of lives snatched away, leaving a big vaccum in many more lives.

No one gains by this. There can be no solution through violence, only more violence.


My prayers and tears with those affected by terrorism.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Sudden showers


Friday, July 07, 2006

Interesting.....

Sitting lazily on the couch I was enjoying myself watching tv when I got a call. Picked it up and there was a sweet male voice on the other end.

Sweet Male Voice (SMV): Can I speak to Mr X?

Me : Well, he's not home. Can I take a message?

SMV : Is this Mrs X?

Me : Yes, what is this regarding?

SMV : Congratulations Madam. You have been selected by Oriental Travels for a $1000 holiday all expense paid package.

Me : Really, but how?

SMV : For the past 5 years we have had good profits and we decided to share this blessings with all of you. We selected 50 couples through referrals and you are one among them.

Me (Not very impressed) : Is that so. hmmmm

SMV (Quickly interrupting me) : We need to verify a few things madam, is your telephone number 666666?

Me: yes but...

SMV : Is ur husband's name Mr X Y Z?

Me : yes. Can you give me your number so I call back?

SMV : Sure mam. Our number is 11111111111

And then the call got disconnected at the other end. I was having a feeling there was something fishy....come on who gives u a $1000 all expenses paid trip just for good will. I wanted to check this Oriental Travels for myself, so I quicky googled for info. And thanks to dear old Google, I found out that this is the latest scam to hit Singapore. I even found a message of an ex-employee of the call centre, apologizing to all the couples he had conned.

Like they say there is no such thing as a free lunch. Earn your money well, spend it wise. Dont believe in free offers. Be safe.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Sin and the sinned!

A temple in south india is going to undergo a purification process because an non Hindu actress offered her prayers.
Source : chennaionline.com

Come on, how ridiculous can it get!!! Am stumped. How can ppl be so narrow minded? Traditions have to be upheld i agree but who gave the right to these ppl - the so called keepers of the tradition - to decide who enters the premises and who doesnt. And to go to such extremes, its such a shock to me.

In the olden days when these rules were made, the caste system was so important so no one opposed this. But now, in every field ppl of every race and caste work shoulder to shoulder. The temple became impure just because that lady is a non-Hindu or rather a born Christian (which btw is generations of branch away hindus following christianity).

What about those ppl who are murderers, rapist, cheaters, robbers, wife-beaters and what not sinner Hindus who visit the temple....? This applies to any society, any religion that discriminates ppl from other races. I want to ask these authorities who decided this "purification process" was necessary just one -thing - does this mean these ppl dont allow anything non-Hindu in their lives. Dont think so ...then why this discrimination?

Its my god and me. Who can come in-between us? Do I need a middle man/woman to tell me the importance of god in life? No i dont. It doesnt matter which god u pray to, it is only important that you r sincere in what u do and ur intentions are good.