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A Brand New DayTaking time off to smell the roses! June 24 If I were the PM of my country.... We all know that India is a country of great social inequalities. Much as we may claim to be marching to a golden future, plenty of work is to be done. One of the basic problems with our nation is the tremendous red tapism. "Justice delayed is justice denied." We prefer to keep confirmed rapists, terrorists, murderers and dangerous elements behind prison doors, feeding on the tax payers' money. WHY??
If I were the PM, I'd do away with the very S-L-O-W system of justice, for starters. For example, confirmed terrorists like Kasab ( Mumbai shoot-out accused, December 2008), Afzal Guru ( Lok Sabha attacker, New Delhi, 199...(?) ), Abu Salem ( much wanted underworld don, captured last year) and dozens of others, are blatantly LIVING, without any punishment till now, and getting three square meals a day with OUR, the hard working citizen's money!
Self styled social leaders like Mamata Bannerjee, who created havoc in West Bengal last year, stirring a hornet's nest by opposing the Tata Motor's plant at Nandigram/Singur, are actually made Union ministers as a reward!! Shouldn't this person be behind bars, with a life sentence for unleashing so much bloodshed and violence in the country?
Rapists are on the prowl. Apparently, rape is in fashion. We allow the rape to happen, because there are no stringent laws against this horrible crime. Rapists are everywhere, and come in the garb of any man aged 8 years to 80 years. They may belong to any profession, educational background, or socio-cultural background. Gang rape in cars is happening with alarming regularity, wherein women are being literally whisked off in cars, by drunken or semi crazed men. These men are later caught, and are beamed on national news, with black head gears on. ( I've often wondered why rapists need to be shown with headgear covering their faces: in my opinion, they should be shown in close-up, from all possible angles, in order to humiliate them, if they have any shame left in them.) Men in this country are known to rape a woman even by merely looking at her, and dressing her down mentally. I know, because I happen to hail from the crime capital of India, New Delhi, where I grew up travelling in buses with sex maniacs. Was it a trauma growing up under such circumstances? YES. Was it humiliating? YES. Did I feel afraid? YES. Did I show my fear and disgust? NO. And in those days, there were scant people or agencies to protect one from eve-teasers ( a quaint euphemism meant to denote dirty minded people).
If I were PM, I would have seen to it that rapists and eve teasers are paraded on donkey first, and then led to the gallows. They should have a humiliating end, a merciless one, as merciless as the crime they perpetuate on a helpless and vulnerable person. Do they even know what kind of MONSTER they are? No. So, society has to show them the way.
Anyone who is disrupting the peace and normal activities of the nation building process should be termed as a terrorist, and punishment awaiting this/these person(s) should be doled out accordingly. Justice has to be fast and quick. No endless court sessions, debates, and open forums. 99% of criminals are escaping because the court procedures are taking so damn long, that they are forgotten in the public memory.
Please wake up India. Wake up PM. Wake up every Indian citizen. It's time to act NOW!! June 10 AIRTEL : One Day at my Telephone Service Provider's Office. I happen to be a customer of my country's largest and most popular telephone service provider - Airtel. For reasons unknown, I am stuck to this particular phone company, as are several others. One visit to their offices anywhere in the city is enough to make one balk. Airtel has employed thousands of young boys and girls who have a minimum ( and maximum ) of a High School education. These young employees are inept, inefficient and lack enthusiasm to work. I have had the urge to shake these folks up from their state of sombulence, on many an occasion....or should I say EVERY time I need to go here, which is once a month.
Today was one of those days. I had spent an almost sleepless night over one mystery phone bill that they had sent me ON TOP of a fresh bill whose payment I had already made. Seeing the four figure amount made my blood pressure rise, and all I could think of were the situations that might crop up when I actually took them head on.
When I entered the office, there was a sprinkling of people ( which was why I had rushed out of the house early!), and I was quick to join a small queue on the counter labelled " Post Paid Counter". The boy-man who sat there had a pale complexion, and had barely started sprouting a moustache. He had a vacant, content look about him, which I thought was because I had seen him chatting amicably with a colleague minutes before. Anyway, he had taken up a position across the counter...and I happily sat on the red chair in front of him. Then I noticed that he didn't bother to look up from his computer......and neither did he register my presence. This made me enquire," Are you looking after this desk?"...to which Mr. Indifferent glanced up and said a flat, "No. It's the next desk." I gave up and silently moved to the next desk.
Desk #2 was manned ( or is it womanned?) by a fat, plump and laid back girl. She was instructing a customer on various do's and don'ts of subscribing to Airtel. Simultaneously, she was asking her colleagues for help related to his questions. The colleagues would answer back with a mumble here and a shrug there. I couldn't believe my eyes. Was this how the country's top, privatised phone company functions? The man sitting in front of her was full of queries. Finally he handed her a Rs.500 note. Ms. Daisy Cow (aka Ms. Laid Back Wobbly Creature), asked indolently around whether any of her colleagues had change. Again the half smile-and-shrug response. The Cow-like creature got up and waddled up to another desk to ask for change. By now by blood pressure was hitting the roof, but who cared? The man-with-a-thousand-queries was filling up another long form, which requires CAPITALS ONLY. He started out on his handwriting test. I could take it no more. I asked whether he could kindly move to another place to fill up his form while I made my necessary enquiries? The Man-with-queries got irritated, and said, "I've been waiting a long time in queue too....you will have to wait". I stared at him in disbelief. "Is there any queue here at all?" I asked, "This is a stagnant, still line comprising of two persons, and we have been watching you fill up forms ever since we've entered this office. In an unexpected move, the man suddenly got up and told me that I could sit, and he'd move away.
Finally I came face to face with the Cow who was still grasping the ropes at her new office. I told her to clarify my doubts regarding my bill. Which she did. I made the necessary payments, but still clueless as to why the company had sent me such a huge bill when all that was required of me was to pay a small outstanding amount.
Anyone who visits an Airtel office had better go armed with plenty of patience and time. This is a place for the spiritually bent of mind, because at each juncture, you have to keep forgiving people silently and blessing them eternally. May God Bless Airtel!! May 27 Old friends have come back into my life! Isn't it strange how life somehow comes full circle ? Maybe it's the universal law, some Divine Will operating here. Maybe it is the way things were meant to be. Forgive me for sounding abstract; what I am really driving at is how stunned I am at my success rate at searching out old acquaintances via the internet. Each time I've made contact with a person from my past, the experience of reconnecting has always been a joyful one. We may never meet in person, but the amazing pace at which old friendships can be reforged, is something to be marvelled at.
Mimi, or Sushmita, who is on my Friends' list here is one of the first persons I searched out from the Net. She is my first cousin, with whom links had snapped due to many reasons. However, the memories of childhood are something which is so hard to wipe away, overtake all else in the end. Today, she and I have found a common footing once again, and it's great to know that she is well settled with a satisfying career and family life.
Many more old friends have re-surfaced in the meantime. Aditi, a shy, girl who was a year or so younger than I was, was a neighbour from my early teen years. She and I got along well together, because at that point of time, we scarcely had much choice of friends to choose from. Perhaps this was what drove us onto a path of everlasting friendship. At that point of time, she was my contact point to the Western world, having freshly arrived from London, armed with a baggage of the latest music releases, music system, and books. We'd gloat over the pop divas and movies of that time (it was Abba and Boney M, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and Star Wars at that time). Thanks to the latest social interfacing site called Facebook, I have now rediscovered Aditi, happy to know that she is living in the very same house that we had met years ago, and living as a single, career lady with her widowed mother.
Many moons ago, I shared a wonderful friendship with an equally giggly girl, called Sarita. She and I would share comic books, discuss world issues, and take long cycling routes through desolate routes. Entertainment would mean hanging around the newly opened ice cream parlour or the local lending library, sharing "Papri Chaat" and "Paani Puri", or simply playing Badminton.The kind of stuff we did back then would strictly be a strict no-no in today's day and age, where security and traffic are the two major concerns. Sarita and her family were ex-Singaporeans, and I would listen with amazement to the tales of a foreign country I had simply no idea of then, in the Net-deprived times.
Sarita and I have talked for the first time since then, this evening. I cannot even describe the feeling of elation I'm experiencing. It turned out that she and I live in the same city, and in adjacent localities!! And we never even knew about each other all this while!! Life is simply amazing....and that is it's beauty. Friends last forever......no amount of time can ever separate true friends. A big thanks to all my friends, past and present, for giving my life so much meaning.
 May 12 Dilemmas faced by parents and children during College Admission time. My heart goes out to students aspiring for college admissions. Not that I didn't know of their woes previously, but it just happens that I am now on the other side of the fence, and am helplessly watching the unfolding of events. My elder daughter has recently given her std. XII Board Examination. In times gone by, this would mean a long, relaxed holiday, in which the child and parent had enough time to unwind and forget about studies for some time. However, in these competitive times, society and the entire education machinery does not allow for such frivolous ideas. Instead, right after the all-important school leaving examination, you have to be on your toes, to answer a zillion other entrance exams to various colleges, both government aided and private. Each time you are appearing for an Entrance examination, you are expected to know the do's and don'ts of the exam format. For example, in order to answer the IIT JEE ( Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination) one has to have had prior rigorous training and tutoring to excel in that particular format of examination. As a result, the child seeking admission into ANY course...even if it's for BBA or the Hospitality Industry, has to come from an extremely supportive and financially strong background. Here's why:
1. You pay the school fees, buy extra reference books etc at school level.
2. Your child has attended interminably long coaching classes for "N" number of years in order that he/she qualifies for
joining the Science Stream at school in Std. XI.
3. After the much-dreaded Board examinations are over, you have to immediately admit your child into a coaching class or tutorial home that caters to the various joint entrance exams.
4. Simultaneously, you pay a huge package towards the prospectus and admission forms for a good number of colleges, since one is never too sure whether that all-prized seat will be available for your child at the time of admission.
5. If and when luck strikes, and your child has gained admission into a decent institution, be prepared to shell out MORE cash towards the fee structure that the college demands, including the personal expenditures for the student..
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I don't wish to scare any body here, but in many cases, in addition to all of the above, you are expected to answer National Level Aptitude tests, the scores of which just qualify you to approach the professional degree college(s) teaching the subject. This is particularly true for Architecture course, in which the student has to rely on self study for passing the aptitude tests.
Education has become Big Business, right from the Nursery School stage to the School Leaving stage. We as parents helplessly watch the turn of events and, like puppets on a string, follow the route relentlessly all for the sake of seeing our kids standing with dignity among his/her peer groups. February 18 Have you ever been cross-sold? The scene looks innocent enough: two friends sitting with me in a cafetaria. Soothed by the inviting interiors, we sink into the plush couches, amid a clump of cleverly placed indoor palms, giving the place a garden-ish look. Up comes the polite waiter, saying," Good day, ladies, what can I get for you?" We take in his warm tone, and in a chorus, we say, "Three cold coffees, please!!" The waiter took that down, and then added, " would you like it with cream or ice-cream?" Gullible us, again in unison sing in a chorus, " Oh, ice-cream, please!", for the day had been more than warm. The waiter smiled again , politely, and added, "would that be vanilla or chocolate or butterscotch?", and then again, unitedly, we opted for,"Chocolate, please!". Encouraged by our weak state of mind and body, the waiter again suggestively asks, "would that be with a chocolate-grating topping, or the cookie crumble one?" (whatever that means!)
Needless to say, we are left stumped when the bill arrives. We had ended up paying almost three times the amount we would have, for a normal, common, to-the-point cold coffee. In other words, we had been cross-sold!
I'm sure it's happened to all of you, in some form or the other. Take a look at those banks, and the attractive schemes they keep throwing at customers, cleverly omitting the finer details and hidden cost. " Zero charges for a credit card, Madam", is what they claim. Likewise with insurance policies. The flip side is, that one spends a lifetime getting back from these money-wise companies, when in dire straits. I remember my elderly uncle becoming a wreck chasing the insurance guys when his car was stolen. He ultimately won, but at a huge cost to his health and welfare.
Even shopping malls are not innocent bystanders. "Upto 50% off!", "Money-back guarantee", and "Buy for Rs.1000/- and get one kg. sugar free!" Naturally, customers are excited at such offers. However, on closer scrutiny, we find that the "One kg. sugar free!" offer stands valid only on shopping on weekdays, and not weekends! The hidden messages are seldom revealed to the public.
"Customer service oriented organisations....have realised how easy it is to increase their revenues and profit margins by selling more to their customers rather than seeking new customers. For example, notice how Pizza Hut never sells water. That's because they want you to order Coke, which they could have the pleasure of serving to you in a tall glass, full of ice, and a slice of lime, for a 400% margin!", says Shyam, writing for The Hindu.
Be wary of all kinds of freebies, discounts, and tempting offers at eateries. Each of them is loaded with double meaning, which means that you end up with lighter pockets,and THEY go laughing all the way to the bank. In the New Age scenario of commercialisation, it is upto the customer to decide how much of a thing he actually wants.
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