BANNED :)

Finally some relief to anti-smokers like me *sigh*For those who are wondering why am I suddenly being so sadistically happy at plight of the smoked up segment of the society, heres my earlier rant over the issue.

Defending the Ostrich

Disclaimer: This post is not aimed at raising awareness about the endangered species.
Why are you in the habit of running away from facts? Y don’t you confront them? Closing your eyes wont make them go away……blah blah blah. I have lost the count of number of times I have got this gyaan in some form or another about this ostrich syndrome of mine.
While I have no trouble with listening to something good, I fail to understand this up-against-arms attitude people have towards this. First the basics: Ostrich syndrome basically refers to a state of mind where you refuse to accept a situation as real.
Your 1st reaction would be criticizing this thought process. Running away from reality after all isn’t a nice thing na..or so we preach.
My question is what if this so called reality is an impossible and terribly painful proposition? A situation or a truth that you cannot undo by any means and moreover, if you face it, it can hurt you big time. Now tell me, in such a case do u still advocate that one should face it and bear the pain it inflicts? Or simply avoid the confronting it and live in blissful ignorance.
I remember something I read in The Zahir by Paulo Coelho..It was something like If you ask yourself if you are happy is a trap..coz if the answer is no then you have to do something to make the situation better or you’ll be worse off then before (des wrnt the exact words but this is the crux of what he wrote). So in such a situation, I am not asking myself if I am happy with what I have or not coz in case I think im not, den I have to get what makes me happy and if I cannot..den Im doomedL So think what you may have to, preach what you do but for me…ostrich is a savior.

Talk Talk Nonstop

TRAI says Indians talk the most on mobile phones after their counterparts in US. Well so we do.
Its interesting to note how people talk on phone. If he/she is on the move as in walking, they stop in their way to talk while there are others who if sitting will starting walking (mostly in to-n-fro motion).
They'll whisper while talking to someone sitting across them in a restaurant but give them a call and they'll scream at the top of their voice.
And the most interesting one is when someone receives a call while in a noisy place like a bus. "Hello. Im in bus rite now n its too noisy. cant hear you properly. Will talk to u later ok...haan bolo...achcha? toh usko bolo ki kal aayega...nahi aaj its not possible. baad mien baat karta hun ok...haan...kal? kitne baje? see if u can arrange for the tickets...ok..haan...." and it goes on getting regularly punctuated with talk-to-you-later!
And man the stuff people talk about. You can find housewives discussing some recipies, latest twist in daily soap, maid trouble, kids-dont-listen-to-me, where to buy what from and ofcourse the latest purchase...ofcourse list dosnt end here.
Shopkeepers and vendors require cell phone to take orders for home delivery of vegetables, fruits n grocery items. "Madam, aap hamara number le lijiye. phone karke bata dijiye kina samaan chahiye. hum pahucha denge"
Maids (who des days are almost as imp in running the house as lady of the house) need to keep track of all the houses they need to go to. "Hello madam, haan main aa rahi hun. Abhi 506 mein hun. Aadhe ghante mein aa jaungi. Arrey nahi madam main chutti pe nahi hun"
And ofcourse there is another segment of people like yours truely for whom mobile is a means to overcome boredom, occasional bouts of insomnia when i call up my friends @ 2AM in the nite only to ask 'Wassup? Sleeping kya?'. (hahahahaha..im sure one of des dayz, i'll be murdered for this.)
Besides boredom, keeping in touch with your friends, bitching, gossiping (dats true only for gals...maybe), cribbing blah blah blah. So many things you need this phone for.
My dad sayz phone is a added hassle which people have made out as a necessity..world functioned perfectly fine 2 decades back.
Well dad. i dunno how people lived in dos times (i was too small) but 2day, I dont think we can and..oh 1 sec..i got a call.

Also read Talkative Indians

Why do u smoke?

"I like to think of fire held in a man's hand. Fire, a dangerous force, tamed at his fingertips. I often wonder about the hours when a man sits alone, watching the smoke of a cigarette, thinking. I wonder what great things have come from such hours. When a man thinks, there is a spot of fire alive in his mind--and it is proper that he should have the burning point of a cigarette as his one expression."

-Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)

No offense to the great thinker but I personally don't endorse this view. Before I go any further, let me clarify one thing...I HATE SMOKING!! AND ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT- the smoke, the smell even the people (*Ahem, well ok so there are a few exceptions to the last one but ...whateverrrrrrr)
Dunno when it all started and how but some how i alwayz had this problem with Smoking. so much so that i grew allergic to this cigrettee smoke (I puked once with too much of this passive smoking!).
Someone once said, how can u hate smoking without knowing what its all about. So here I am..trying to find out the reason people luv to hold this flaming stick between their lips. Please vote here...

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Results will be displayed soon. Watch this space:)

Blaming the Social Communities?

The Social community haters now have another reason to rant against these sites. Esp orkut which is almost alwayz drawn in middle of some or the other controversy. At times it is misuse of profile, child pornography and now lo n behold..A MURDER!! Of Kaushambi Layek by some guy called Manish Thakur.
The love story started in the AC three tier compartment where the accused met Koushambi Layek who was on her way to the training centre of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The relationship gradually evolved through scrapping on Orkut. (See Kaushambi & Manish's profiles). As per the reports, she was killed coz manish dint want his wife (Yup! he was married!) to know of his fling.
Sad. Depressing to think that someone so young (she was 24) met such an ill-fated and undeserving end.
But while i do feel bad for the tragic and untimely demise of Kaushambi, I cant help but ponder if it is right to blame orkut and other social communities for crimes like these. They simply provide a platform for people to meet each other. That's it! You decide whom to talk to, you decide whom you trust,you decide whom you give out your number to & you decide whom you actually meet! Then where does blaming orkut and sites like these come from?
And though the rate of cyber crime has increased by leaps n bounds (for example in delhi), by no means it justifies abolishing and bad-mouthing the cyberworld. Going by this ideology, tomorrow if a mishap occurs due to a Mobile phone conversation, will we blame the service providers?
While we do remember there are quiet many weirdos and psychos out there and we ARE careful, somehow we choose to think otherwise in the cyberworld. The people we meet online are very much real persons and even though they might fake their identities, they cannot fake their thinking and mind frame. and here toh u cant even see them!
Now few friends of mine might be rolling their eyes with a look-who-is-talking look. For them i wanna clarify that Im NOT suggesting that makin friends online is a complete No-No. Hell..i myself have come across wonderful people through orkut itself. But one needs to be careful keeping few pointers in mind as one is while crossin a road.
As for Kaushambi, May god rest her soul in peace.

Ooops! Its 8PM!!

So while the majority thinks that the increasing incedences of rape & sexual assault against women are result of various cultural & social factors (some even think its due to globalization!)apparently the Karnataka government has a different point of view. As pwer them, the cause is WOMEN!!!! They move out of the house at night and thus call for trouble themselves..So the solution..Ban on women working after 8PM!Talk of thinking out of the box huh.
While terribly irritated with this line of thought, it got me thinking. What if someday our very own Delhi gets inspired by this! Considering that Delhi tops the list of most unsafe metros in India, it seems like quiet a possibility. Gaaawd..im already getting jitters to think what all we'll face if this law is implemented in delhi. (to make the scenario more hideous, lets assume that it
forbids women to move out of house after 8PM!)
Just imagine:

• No jobs in call centres (night shifts)
• No late nite movie shows. forget that, not even evening shows ending 9PM!!
• Forget what a disc looks like from inside (or attend one in the afternoon, if any. Eeeewwww!)
• Late night parties? wats dat?
• You mite even have to pay fine if you are found out after the 8PM deadline. It doesnt matter that u got stuck in a traffic jam. (keeping a fake moustache handy mite help;))
• No evening gowns/evening wear dresses will be designed
• Nite outs?????
• No late nite eating out.
• and missing out on those late nite long drives

too depressing. i cant think more.
Meanwhile, the only thing im sure of is, Im not shifting my base to Karnataka.
Bye for now.