Thursday, March 19, 2009
"Order,Order,Order!!!!"
"Order” is a word when repeated thrice, ushers my imagination in a flash ..into a court room setting. I see vividly in my mental image , a picture of a court room.. jam packed with audience brimming with curiosity, incredulity and repugnance. I hear a case being argued about and counter-argued(??) in a foreign language that I am unable to comprehend….I see a man with a grim face at a distance who has been convicted of some abhorrent crimes and I hear the verdict of the judge
“A life imprisonment”..
Well.. what is all this???....This was the projection of my mind (which had been quite dormant of-late) … when I read the news of the verdict of the Austrian Josef Fritzl‘s case. A case that has shocked the entire world!!!! Perhaps half of my imagination is a bit of an intumesced version of the court room scenario in reality!!!!..
But what is the undeniable reality??!!!… Austrian Josef Fritzl, locked his daughter in a cellar and fathered her seven children. The very statement emphasizes the fact that the torment undergone by the daughter has not been a short lived one…but has extended to a gruesome 20+ years… The cellar had been maintained as a dungeon..deprived of sun light and typically characterised by lack of moving space.
All this sounds like a horror story …. A story that one might think could possibly happen only in movies. It is scary to even think that perhaps horror movies take their inspiration from real lives.
I was pondering on what could be the root cause for such a behavioural trait of Fritzl which defies all logic and reasoning. First few thoughts pointed towards a possible psychiatric disorder, mental instability and what not. But his Modus operandi of the entire torture process that has happened surreptitiously …..definitely seems to be a product of a rather sane, intelligent mind albeit a perverted one. One cannot fail to notice the ingenuity of his crooked mind in making the cellar a secret location which was so well hidden that when the police searched the property they failed to find it until Mr Fritzl showed them where it was.
Further shocking is the outcome of analysis of the convict by psychiatrists and experts in the related professions. They have tentatively stated that Fritzl is quite a “sane” person and his authoritative and domineering natures have been the root cause for the entire problem.
What remains baffling to me is… How could even one of his behavioural abnormalcy ..not have been spotted by anyone around him…his friends, his colleagues, his family ?!!!!...Or was it that… it was noticed, but not reported of ???..Or worse still ..was it not noticed at all??!!!!
This brings to question the very mode of functioning of our social structure of the current days. Are we so less concerned about the people around us and so busy with our own lives that we fail to take notice of people , their traits and happenings around us?.. Have we got too much used to the concepts like “personal space “and “intrusion into one’s privacy “ that we formally create a safe distance between ourselves and the rest of the world and create a bubble around ourselves??. Getting in and out of the bubble becomes our own discretion as and when required and we do not let others decide the dimensions of our bubble for us.
Are we struggling to draw a line between being too judgemental and being too tolerant and accommodative of shortcomings of others??. As a community and as a society what should be our responsibility and course of action towards preventing such crimes from happening in the future?. Are we going to be lamely blaming the Government for anything and everything that happens around us or are we going to address the root cause of such problems ourselves??. How do we prevent such Fritzls in the world from continuing to be so menacing of unimaginable magnitudes??.
Although these questions keep reverberating in my mind….I do not know of a conclusive answer to any of these.. …The pondering continues!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Greeting the New Year
With the New Year just around the corner it is time for new new hopes to spring and for the hope of resurrection of peace and prosperity to unfold across the globe.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Dhoom Machale!!!!
Life in UK for a few years now .. a few thousands of miles away from the homeland had in fact alienated us from hard core celebrations and rejoicing of these festivals . In comparison to jubilation in India ...I should say that whatever we observe in the foreign land on the festival days is just downsized version of the original one.
I still remember ...during my childhood days I would stay awake and restless the whole of the Diwali eve night in anticipation of the next day (Diwali day).Every single aspect of Diwali would be so exciting ... New dresses, crackers, sweets, relatives visiting our house, special TV programmes and what not!!!..More than anything ...we did not have to go to school on these festival days!!!!!!! I would secretly put up a row with the great GOD asking him why there was only one day of Diwali in the whole year....I would yearn for every day in my life to be as special as Diwali day.
Festivals have been an integral part of our culture and have been handed over from one generation to another for so many centuries now. In my opinion ..it appears that such occasions have been created with the intention to strengthen our social spirit . The modes of celebrations of both festivals and weddings seem to focus more on social gatherings ..renewing relationships, reinforcing the already established hierarchical structure of our society where elderly people are held in respect. Values like sharing, giving, recognising are being vehemently reminded and triggered. These were purposely meant and designed to break away from the monotony of routine life ...provide an opportunity to think of the next of our kith and kin which is very much needed especially in the current set up of a self centred life .
More than anything these occasions help us to open the doors of our culture and traditions to our kids who are being born and brought up in a completely foreign land. These create a binding to our roots and help our kids in understanding the true substance of our values.
Of course ..it is completely understandable that it is very difficult to emulate the Indian festive ambiance in a foreign land . That is why we should try and spend at least one such occasion in India so that our kids get a real time and firsthand experience of what it is all about..in reality. On the flip side be prepared to endure a heavy damage to your money wallet and get spoilt for choices in terms of shopping.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Ooh Aah Ouch!!!
For a few quarters now, Bank of England has been attempting to keep the situation under control by keeping its base current unaltered. How far this decision of Bank Of England has really helped economy get back to its track is being subjected to a lot of criticism. Lots of mortgage lenders have tightened their reins and there is a dip in the number of first time home buyers trying to climb up the property ladder. The current downward trend is also an effect of the global economic setback and its cascading impacts.
Well ...what does all this mean to a common man and how does it boil down to his day to day life?.
Wife: hey John...why don’t you take me to some place expensive and make me feel special?
Husband John: Oh sure honey..I shall take you to the gas station.
This was a joke published in Readers Digest. One can just not be practically oblivious to the changing times. The prices of all the commodities have been steadily increasing. Petrol seems to be ridiculously overpriced. Although the supermarkets are fiercely competing with each other to offer the cheapest prices for its products..one still can’t escape the pinch of steadily and sneakily increasing grocery bills . The energy providers are adopting a very impressive way to declare the increase in the charges. They claim:
“We are one of the last companies in UK to increase the energy prices ” .
As though.. this is going to be a source of solace for its customers, especially with the winter fast approaching.. At least I am happy that these energy providers know how to break a bad news with a sugar coated wrapper. There are waves and waves of price increases .Such is the state in UK today.
But what do we really like to hear???
It is not all gloom and doom
We could console ourselves that this condition of uncertainty and instability has not been forecasted to hang around forever. The general word is that by the end of 2010 , we could see a change for the better. I hope it is ok to believe this.. as it helps to keep my chin up during difficult times and keep hoping for some positive changes to happen soon.
Another area that we could capitalise on ...is the attractive interest rates offered by the banks in return to our savings .Some short term and long terms saving accounts have been offering interest rates between 7 and 10% .This is a good news for people with a considerable amount of cash to stash away. Personally I have found the Motley fool’s site:
http://www.fool.co.uk/
to be a very informative and a useful site that gives me regular updates on almost every financial aspect under the sky.
Regular use of price comparison sites and hunting for the best deals in supermarkets and high street shops never fail to offer an advantage over impulsive shopping. The clubcard deals offered by Tesco is truly a wonderful opportunity for us to visit a lot of places or enjoy a variety of experiences from days out, activities and holidays.
http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/
Make the most of all this and Enjoy!!!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Cradle of the Great!!!
Let us now move our focus from the legs to the face ..OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH it is none other than Shah Rukh Khan and what I just wrote above is a scene from “Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham”. Am I going to write a review of the movie???..I can hear you mumbling “it was a movie that got released in 2001 and enough has been written and talked about it. It would almost be an anachronism to write about it now!!!”.
Let me give you some relief that this post is no review of a movie ..but of the famous palace that appeared in the movie “Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham”. It was none other than the Blenheim Palace located in Oxfordshire in United Kingdom. The palace is notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
Last weekend was our much planned and much procrastinated trip to Blenheim palace. For those who have visited Windsor Castle before Blenheim palace, the interior of the palace would seem relatively less impressive. Just as I finished writing the previous line, it occurred to me that it is only too obvious that a Queen’s abode would be any day be classier than any other palaces in UK. Every attempt would indeed be pursued to glorify a Queen’s palace to make it matchless.
We basked in the scenic beauty of the parks and gardens surrounding the palace. It is a realization of the vision of John Vanbrugh, an architect, who wanted to see a messy valley get converted to the splendid beauty as it is seen today. The formal gardens include Water Terraces, Rose Garden, Arboretum, Cascades or the Secret Garden. I do not want to get into the task of recounting the technical details, as I am pretty sure that there would be a dearth of adjectives in my limited vocabulary to bring out the splendour of the scenic beauty in its entirety. So to compensate for that, please find a few pictures of them that I have tried to capture.
Friday, July 18, 2008
The Greener Side Of Life
We had just returned from a nursery carrying a set of potted plants to adorn our patio. Although we intended to do this as a measure to primarily beautify our backyard..a strange feeling crept in just after we lodged those plants. It was as though they were an extension of our family and that we now had the responsibility to help these life forms thrive and flourish. I felt it a bit weird to feel so sentimental about something that was not even half the size of my daughter. I thought this be some impulsive, transient, ephemeral feeling which would decamp after a short nap. Perhaps I was wrong in thinking so!!!!.
Shutting the door that leads to my patio..I came into my house..I could not help taking a second look at my patio through the glass doors of my home. We had carefully selected the plants in such a way that no two plants birthed flowers of the same colour. There were gorgeous red roses on one end and the lavishly elegant Marigold French on the other. Marigold French bear flowers which have a brilliant combination of bright yellow, orange and red. One look at them, we tend to wonder how nature is the master and superior most of all artists. Could colours be even blended more tastefully? In between them we had arranged the plants that gave out pure white, lavender and pink flowers respectively.
Each flower is a soul opening out to nature.- Gerald De Nerval
My daughter became a little uncomfortable in the last half an hour or so as she was brimming with jealousy. She just felt undue attention was being given to some other entity at her home other than her own self. This attention was something she had got so much used to, being the indisputable boss of our home. It was as though she started to harbour “sibling rivalry”. In an attempt to cheer her up, I told her that she could have an allowance of two flowers per day and that she could place them over the pictures of GOD in our prayer room. We began this ritual on the first day itself. She was really excited doing it and little did I know that it was going to become a regular feature in her typical day in the forthcoming weeks.
Next morning, as even I woke up I made up a mental note of the list of tasks for the day and was quite amused to find that “watering the plants” cropped up immediately after the task of feeding my daughter. The unconscious sequencing of the tasks made me wonder if I considered both the tasks to be almost of equal importance.
Yes subconsciously this addition to our patio has brought about a subtle change in all of us. The following weekends, I observed S getting his hands dirty with “Compost” to provide nutrition for these plants and was busy changing those plants to bigger pots. Every time it rained during the day(the crazy British weather!!!) my daughter and I would run almost involuntarily towards the glass door which would unfold the view of our patio. My daughter would point out at the plants and would make a gesture as though she was feeling sorry for them getting wet.
Where flowers bloom so does hope.- Lady Bird Johnson
For those of you who have not ventured into gardening yet, I can say with certainty that you are missing out on a great source of pleasure and gratification.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
blah blah kiddie corner
Instead of staying “ you should wear your shirt”, it could be put forth as “ shirt on”
Their WORDS mean a lot to their parents who in turn mean a WORLD to the kids themselves!!!!
Online games like the ones below come to our aid as well:
http://www.fisher-price.com/us/fun/games/phonics/default.asp
Friday, May 30, 2008
The Karma Chameleon
In India, this word has got so much integrated with our thought system that with or without much contemplation, we are instantaneously able to relate this to “As we sow, so we reap” . Hinduism elaborates on the laws that are pertaining to karma and how the entire phenomenon of creation is governed by the laws of karma. We shall come to it later.
Let us begin from the standpoint of a novice. Throughout our lives we see all sorts of diversities and disparities around us. There are always opposites in every aspect of creation ...the rich and the poor ..the able bodied and the disabled...birth and death...joy and sorrow.
What could we possibly attribute these differences to?.
Can we dismiss all these differences as a random outcome of creation?.
But then as the Vedic exponents have claimed and propagated :
There needs to be an answer to all this. The only difference between the other elements of creation and the rational human beings are that we are blessed with the faculties of “free-will” and “intellect”. The omnipotent creator of the universe has empowered and authorised us to decide and enact our actions and thoughts in a way WE CHOOSE TO ,while the other elements of creation have been deprived of this faculty.
But the next question that crops up in our minds is:
Then all good people should lead a blissful and gratifying life and all wrong doers should be punished intensely in their lives. But sometimes we do see contradicting happenings in our own lives and the ones around us. The answer proposed by Vedas is that we should not confine our assessment- only with regards to our current lives. We have to take into consideration that we are all a part of cyclic and multiple courses of birth and deaths in the cosmos. So the effects of our actions could be felt in either the current life or any one of our reincarnations.
The second effect being we can free ourselves from feeling victimised and getting entangled in the clutches of self-pity. To elaborate on this, if we believe that all the happenings in our lives are just random outcomes of creation, while we immensely enjoy the happy moments, we shall feel victimised when we are subjected to undesirable happenings. We shall wrongly conclude that the sorrow that we are undergoing has been unduly imposed on us. This would further reinforce the feeling of helplessness in us. On the other hand if we realise that only because of our “not-so-good “actions in the past , the current sorrows are inflicted upon us, then we shall reconcile to the fact and start thinking ahead on what needs to be done next to set everything right and do the needful.
The law of karma goes a long way in giving us a mental makeover to take control over our lives and feel the necessity to adhere to the Dharmic laws. It teaches us not to affiliate ourselves with the concept of fatalism. It reinforces the fact that how and what we want to be henceforth is completely in our hands and minds.
http://sastraprakasika.org/Swamijis/Paramartha/c_l_para.asp
http://www.vedantavidyarthisangha.org/
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Abode Of The Queen
Anybody living in the United Kingdom would be aware even in the deep slumber state of the following fact. Getting hold of a parking space for their car in any public place in UK is a nightmare. So to beat this, we left for the Castle much before a British(er) would wake up on a holiday. That was around 9:00 in the morning. The roads of Windsor looked deserted and we were bestowed upon with the rarest of the privileges of getting to choose a suitable parking slot for our car, amidst hundreds of vacant slots.
As we moved on to the State Apartments, we got to witness some of the finest pieces of art and collections belonging to the Royals. The resplendence and the sumptuousness of the palace was a testimony of sheer power and wealth that they held, once upon a time. A great portion of them were the acquired wealth obtained as and when the empire colonised and took over the other parts of the world. One of them worth mentioning is Tippu Sultan’s gold Tiger’s head. If only our fore fathers had been united in India a few centuries back, we would have had the opportunity of boasting the ownership of such marvels today.
http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/eGallery/
I could spot S distantly carrying our little one on his shoulders as she had fallen asleep hours before (and obviously had refused to get into the pram). The rest of the day got spent tending to S’s back pain and my little one’s crankiness due to lack of undisturbed sleep. Is this what people call as “paying the price???”.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Once Upon A Time
Meanwhile I went back virtually in time by more than a decade. Back then,I was attempting to be a studious and an attentive student in school. Whether I ever succeeded in becoming one or not , is a zillion dollar question.
Until the tenth grade we were not offered with many options with regards to the subjects that we had to hear the lectures of and take exams. “History” was one subject that never failed to lapidify me. I always used to think it was such an utter waste of time and the tutors who handled the subject were invariably vocalising the text books ,word for word. That “one hour” or so of the lecture would seem like an interminable torture. I always used to prepare for history exams with an intense dislike, as I failed to see a purpose with “History”.
I used to think :
What use is of “History” when compared to Science and Maths which were going to help us realise our dreams of becoming doctors and engineers in future.
I was on the first day of my ninth grade .Our Maths teacher had just completed her session and we were waiting for our history teacher to step in. “Oh My God” how many more days do I need to endure this torment was what I thought to myself. I was waiting for a miracle to happen.
The miracle did happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Much to my surprise, this new teacher never got on board with the textual lessons in the first session. She dedicated the whole hour for highlighting the significance of “history” and why it is so important to us.
I came to realise that, the present can never be fully appreciated and hailed without the information or idea of the past. What we are today is a consequence of what we were and what we did yesterday. It is from history we know what good was done in the past for us to realise its benefits now and what atrocities happened in the same past that has led us to where we are now. History shows us the correct path that we need to tread on and helps us distinguish the bitter from the better one.
The study of great civilisations, the downfall of great empires and dynasties, the study of renaissance , revolutions, the great wars and every other area of “history” casts light on some or other human behavioural tendencies and what man has been craving for from the beginning.
Instead of viewing history as a few lines in a text book, I learnt to treasure it as a snapshot of the world at any particular instance of time. It explains the evolution of mankind from being primitive Homosapiens to the ultra modern kind that they are today.
History teaches everything including the future-Lamartine
As long as there is a present , there will be a history- Itz Me!!!