The World Around and InTeRpReTaTiOnS

Memories of a dead bird

2022-03-06T01:41:00.020+05:30

Once...

I felt your memories like

torn cotton strewn everywhere...

I wished for them to make a warm blanket

to enwrap me through the cold, cruel nights...

But, now...

Your memories are like scattered feathers

of a dead bird flying in the sky

Will a blanket made of them

keep my heart warm?

*******

The only puzzle, My dearest, is this: Did I blow a bubble In your dreams And burst it before You saw it for a bubble? Was it a bubble, Or was it real?

****** Do you see the tsunami waiting to rise up inside me? Don't you ever come to my world again, even by mistake... The waves trying to escape from me will spell doom for us, drowning both of us

An odyssey of exploration—of the self and the world

2019-06-18T13:22:00.007+05:30

"We are going to Tirupati in June," announced my co-sister, sometime in March. And I was elated— not because I'm a believer, but this was my chance to trek the 11-km climb to the Tirumala temple from Alipiri.
The next few weeks were spent with zero preparation for the trek, and the D-day arrived in no time. On a hot Saturday afternoon, we were standing at the foot of the hill, while I stared at the steep steps and told myself, "no, I can't do this."
But then, this happens each time, and I know I can march on and reach the top. Armed with a water bottle, a towel and glucose tablets, and no slippers on our feet, we start climbing up. The stone steps scorch the feet, forcing us to climb faster.

Three minutes into the climb, my heart starts beating rapidly, and sweat starts inundating my body, when not even a few hundred metres of the trek are covered. The next 10+ kms seem impossible, and I just want to give up and start resting on the side platforms meant for it.
And that's when I notice the sea of humanity climbing up. A thin woman with all-white hair... a man with a toddler on his shoulders.. a woman applying turmeric and vermilion to each step while climbing... another girl placing camphor pieces on the steps, and the boy behind her lighting them up.. a foreigner lady with her Indian partner… a man pepping up an elderly lady, probably his mother, who is about to give up.. the cute couple chatting jovially without a care in the world.. all headed to the same destination.

The steps look saffron with every other devotee applying vermilion and turmeric. The light and smell from camphor render it all a pleasant feel. And we sip some water and start moving up.
I can't help but notice how the whitewashed roof and the cement platforms are filled with names of couples written inside heart lines— scores of unwritten love stories, the ends of which remain unknown to the world.

On the sides of the walking path lies the forest of Tirumala hill. Devotees of the God of Seven Hills believe if they stack stones here, they'll be able to build their own houses soon. Thus, the sides of the path are filled with so many small small stacks of stones.

By this time, I stop caring about how steep the steps are or how many people who started after me have passed by me. All that matters is my journey, how enjoyable I can make it and how meaningful it can be. It is me, my mind and my lethargy that I have to beat, no one else.
The vendors who have set up shop on the sides are the saviours for a tired trekker. The cool buttermilk kept in a pitcher covered with wet towels, available for Rs 5 per cup, itself feels like a god.
All types of local fruits and other edible items help replenish the energy. Drinking water is available free everywhere, apart from packaged mineral water bottles that cost a bomb. We get to experience such reliefs even in the journey of life, don’t we?

Looking back, the view of the hill and the Tirupati city makes one realise how far one has come. The deer park, in fact, a deer breeding centre, helps kids and elders relax for a while, feeding the spotted deer across the barricades.
The magnanimous rocky formations invoke curiosity, but one cannot afford to diverge from the walking path and invite the wrath of the security guarding the area.

Once the first stretch is over, the path becomes less steep and walking becomes faster. Kilometres go by without difficulty. The walking path on the road, to the relief of the walkers, is painted in white to help keep the feet cool.

Administration in Tirupati-Tirumala seems to agree that 'Cleanliness is godliness' — steps and walking paths and all related establishments are cleaned often. Sights like this are heartwarming, for some strange reason...

In no time one reaches the foot of the last hill, which is steeper than the first one. Scores of people worship the steps here, and many start crawling up on the steps instead of climbing it.

One such woman was crying inconsolably, and I couldn't ask why. Is it a way to deal with the near-vertical ascend? “No, people want to punish themselves for the sins they have committed,” said my partner.
Every climb has to end—this too ends in a few minutes. For those without physical stamina, it is the sheer willpower that carries them along. For believers, this comes from their faith, and for nonbelievers, it is the thrill and happiness of reaching the zenith— the fulfilment that comes from achieving what looked impossible to start with.

The journey on feet uphill to Tirumala is a life lesson. For non-believers, it is an exploration of life, with parallels everywhere.

It shows how believers just want to latch on to something—an unseen power, a godman, a belief—which reassures them, absolves them of their responsibility, protects them, helps shed the baggage of the past and gives them the mental strength to move forward, for which they are willing to walk the extra mile. Faith is what drives them. The devotion felt and expressed by these is on a different level—which those who visit the Hills in helicopters and private cars or subscribe to expensive sewas can never be able to match.

Postscript: Incidentally, the free darshan of the God of the Seven Hills guaranteed for those who climb the Hills was cancelled on the said day, as the next day the Prime Minister was supposed to visit the Hills. This meant the walkers had to wait for 18 hours in the regular queue for free darshan. And no one grumbled. "He is our Prime Minister, he has so much to do, we can wait for our darshan," said one devotee, while also asking, "Will we get to see him?"
x

An infected branch and the tree that needs to survive

2018-10-23T20:55:00.001+05:30

The floodgate of #MeToo cases has me thinking deeply. While I too have a few #MeToo moments, I don't want to share them right now. They are not as serious as the ones that I'm hearing, and I don't want to trivialise the movement by adding to frivolous stories. May be I will try and explain one of the incidents someday - but I don't even remember the name of the person. The question that's haunting me now is, how to treat these cases in a fair and just manner? How to do course-correction?
*****
A tree has an infected branch. What do you do? Do you not eat fruits from the unaffected branches, which are perfectly fine? The infected branch might have contributed to those fruits, but does that make the fruit inedible?
What's the solution? Shall we disown the tree and its fruits totally? Shall we just cut off the branch and save the tree from infection? Or, shall we check for symptoms and cure the infection so that the branch becomes healthy?
The last option is generally never thought of - because it is usually a messy process and it takes a lot to do it. The branch will never be seen in a new light - a reformed, rejuvenated branch is out of our imagination.
*****
A work of art is bigger than sum of its parts - a cinema is greater than an individual actor, director or a jerk who takes his position of power for granted. A newspaper's journalism is much bigger than one person who abused the power - it is a collective outcome of years of hard work by many committed folks.
A person's body of work is much greater than his dark moments in which he takes his position for granted and feels entitled to do horrible things. The work they produce doesn't get reduced in its quality even when the producer of that work is rotten in another compartment.
It looks like a throwing-the-baby-alongwith-bathwater moment, with the Phantom Films getting dismantled and many people discrediting the work done by The Wire. But is there hope?
******
A workable solution in workplaces is to have a proper code of conduct, personally, professionally and socially, and to have a few boundaries that should not be crossed. A lot of issues get solved/avoided with these. Next thing in workplaces is to have a complaints mechanism in place, to address the cases of people crossing the agreed boundaries.
******
There's no doubt that women refusing accept the macho tendency of entitlement is good for the society as a whole - the next generation will be sensitised towards it from the very beginning and we can hope for better society and workplaces.
And, here's the silver lining: All men do not abuse women (more like, all people do not abuse others) Why? What are they made up of - those who don't abuse others, those who value their positions and are sensible towards others? What needs to be changed in society and in personal lives to produce more of them - sensible men and women? Can we move towards corrective action as a society, while the actions and inaction of the past cannot be undone?
*******
But what of the rotten and misogynistic system we have now? What of the men and women in those family WhatsApp groups who make fun of the movement as if they never underwent any harassment? Won't they inculcate the same values among their kids, who might continue to act entitled when they can? What do we do with it? We see the symptoms of the rot already - how do we stop the branch from getting infected, and infecting the entire tree?
#MeToo

Tumbbad: A cinema to take you on a trip to dark corners hidden inside you

2018-10-18T07:55:00.001+05:30

All reviews have said so much about the visually stunning quality of the movie, Tumbbad. The rain shots, the dark and gloomy scenes and the visual effects... A less bollywoodish movie, way different from the visually loaded movies made in bollywood with extravagant graphics. It sure has graphics, which is just apt, not luxurious at all. It's a story that says greed breeds sorrow and destruction. Remember the story of goose that laid golden eggs? Never cut the goose, you will lose everything.

A lot of effort has gone into making the movie suit the time period it is set in - right from the metal pipe used in kitchen to blow air into fireplace, to the old jeep-like BMW. But the scenes haunt even after you come out - after all, you just went into a dark, magnificent and magnanimous womb of the sacred feminine that protects the world from a darkest hidden secret... a cave of greed and bloodshed... and above all, you came out unhurt! Whether you will be able to come out of the cycle of greed in reality so easily, unhurt, remains a personal quest in your life.

Even in reality, wombs have darkest secrets, which shock the world if they come out. If you are a thinking type, Tumbbad gives you a lot of meaningful matter to mull over.

Sohum Shah is exceptional, and his wife played by Anita Date too. I like it when the actors are not so famous and known - it gives the story a lot of scope to shine. Music is just apt, non-intrusive. The movie is crisp though it took years to make it. The wadi set is magnificently eerie, and looks real.

Last movie I saw, Sriram Raghavan's Andhadhun focused on karma - it gave a sense of poetic justice where people who erred got it back in a grand manner. I kind of liked it. That way Tumbbad is also great.

Tumbbad is a multilayered film depicted through a non-existent mythology - the story doesn't exist in folk culture as per my knowledge. Watch the movie, then apply it to what's happening around you - it resonates everywhere - personal level as well as social and economic levels.

In a macro-level, all environmental issues resonate with it perfectly. Mining of natural resources... Genetic engineering to increase crop productivity... Big dams to store more water.. Big roads to carry more people.. Nuclear power production to get more out of less... All have proved harmful in their own way while they bring their benefit. And we can never escape the cycle. Keep this in mind and watch the movie, it's a beautiful one!

The crazy me had tightly held onto my companion when the scenes got a bit scary, and closed my ears to the music - a mute cinema doesn't scare one, it is the combo of visuals and audio that scares people :-)

****

What made me a bit uncomfortable is the character of the boy - how he grows without a sense of rights and wrongs and ethics. It's a personal conflict in my head that makes me wonder whether we are in an era that yearns for perfection in human beings. While I thought we humans had become much complicated creatures full of rainbow colours, there are still absolute rights and wrongs, which keep changing according to the time and its trends. In such an era is it good for a cinema to show layered characters that are neither black nor white? Will these directors be judged in future? What is the benefit for the director by showing a boy like this?

This conflict is in my head because of the way society has changed right now, and the way I see it. I'm a creature that almost always bothers about the social impact of a movie and judges a movie based on what it tries to say.

I also found the quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi strange though it perfectly relates to the theme. The movie ended at the time when India got Independence, before Gandhi died, I thought. It is more for the audience than being a part of the movie itself.

Please don't make children watch this movie. It has A certificate, is scary and has concepts and scenes that should not be seen by children. If you yourself feel drawn into the gory dark the movie paints, just close your ears :-) it works! 😊

****

Next movie on my list is Ship of Theseus, involving Sohum Shah and Anand Gandhi duo, which again looks like a layered, my kind of film. Going by this video, Sohum Shah looks like a person who brings his life philosophy to the films he is involved in, and his philosophy is attractive enough!

This cinema explores a characterless city and its people

2018-06-14T19:00:00.000+05:30

Gurgaon is a characterless, scary city that is expanding with no respect to the indigenous character of the topography and land. (Perhaps all cities are, but I got scared in Gurgaon for no reason!) I had been there in February 2017.
I had attended a workshop that focused on how to restore water table in Gurgaon's residential and farming areas. A rich farmer who came in a Bolero to the workshop struck a conversation with me, and I got a hint of what they are made of. He went to the extent of inviting me to his hotel, which I declined, and after a week he even called me. When I came to know it was him I didn't want to continue the conversation.

The Metro line cutting through the now-developing city had an eerie character to it in the area I was staying, with only malls and high-end buildings, no dhaba or no public transport - basically meant for only those who had cars and who could afford to go to restaurants in malls. DLF wanted Metro connectivity to CyberCity, and a bidder IL&FS Rail Ltd got the contract for Rapid Metro there. The government "saved" money as there was no investment needed, but other than Metro, last mile connectivity was a pain.
An ex-IAS officer I met at the workshop told me how the land was "gifted" to DLF by one of the "toughest" prime ministers in 70's. He had so much to say, but he had no documents to support his claims, and I couldn't pursue it due to distance and lack of communication channels.
Because of all these associations I watched the movie Gurgaon. Gurgaon Movie depicts what lust for money and land can do to people. It shows how in Haryana's farming class daughters are rejected and even killed, and revered when it suits the overall scheme of things. It shows a slice of what farming community in India is going through, with ever-expanding industries and need for more and more land.

The movie leaves you with a feeling of bitterness and insecurity, that is similar to what comes to you when you watch the movie by Anurag Kashyap, Ugly (though that feeling is much more intense in the latter). To me, it was a haunting one because of the subject it dealt with, and the make too - there were no other takeaways.
#Gurgaon

Weaving dreams and eternal optimism: Cinder-ella

2017-11-22T20:55:00.001+05:30

There is hope, there is light. And it isn't elsewhere. It's in our hearts. And minds.

I waited for two days to see whether this novel stays in my mind, before writing anything on it. It did, so I thought I should write.
You know the first thing I did after reading this? I went to the first page of the novel on kindle, and gave a search for the word 'secular'. And the search returned with zero results.
I am a fan of TN Seetharam's serials, though he doesn't do them anymore. What was it that made me wait for TN Seetharam's serials? It was the script /dialogue, and the story I was looking forward to. The twists and turns, political and legal thriller drama - different from other soap operas adhering to ready TRP formulae.
The satisfaction of watching a TNS serial is what I got when I finished reading Soumya Aji's Cinder-ella. When I started off, I didn't know what to expect. As I proceeded, it looked like a triangular love story, and the author's dedication of the book to Nirbhaya looked out of place. But it wasn't, as I later realised.
The reference to murders of an intellectual and a journalist brought back the haunted memories of the Gauri Lankesh murder that occurred recently, and not yet solved. And since the story is set in our own Bengaluru, it becomes all the more familiar and makes one want to read. The politicians featured look familiar. Kalasipalya, Goripalya, Cubbon Park, Vidhan Soudha.. All real locations and relatable situations. And the inescapable dilemma of left and right here too! And, the ubiquitous traffic jam too No novelist can afford to forget it if it is a novel set in Bengaluru... And, it's set in 2017 itself, not before or after, where people use Twitter, Facebook and Periscope! Notable Kannada and English literary works find mentions here in dialogues and descriptions.
At one point I was a little bored of the novel as I felt the fimly elements were dominating the plot, and probably it would be a triangular love story laced with romance and some crime drama.. But I held on to it as I was curious to find out what this political journalist had in her mind when she wrote it. Pure romance and love story isn't my kind of stuff, I look for something more. And I'm grateful to myself for holding on to the book, for it really had a serious political, social drama to offer, with a truly liberated central woman character, with nontraditional outlook.

Named after the financial capital of our sister country, this bakery in Hyderabad helps everyone irrespective of their caste and nationality, with nicely flavoured cookies 😉 To me, Karachi bakery is a great social unifier... I hope they don't rename it ever!

The solutions the story offers are interesting. Out of many, I liked the idea of Manjari-Sudugadavva dalit start up fund! (Is there a fund meant for such causes already?) And Sudugadavva - what a name!
As I said earlier, Soumya hasn't used the word 'secular' anywhere in the novel, though it hugely supports secular nature of our constitution and talks about food rights extensively, especially from economics perspective. It gives a new perspective on the businesses that liberate people from poverty and bring social equality. I hadn't thought about it in this light earlier, though I always felt good about Swiggy and Freshmenu and other food delivery services.
The novel is a tribute to the women power we see everyday but don't recognise. And only someone who still has the idealistic, socialistic dreams can write with such conviction about the issues that bother society every day. Anyone can write a romantic fairytale. But it takes a seasoned journalist who hasn't stopped dreaming of a better society, to write something like this.
The novel isn't without its flaws — it could have been tighter, without too much beating around the bush in the first half of the book, or without too much drama. Some loose ends could have been stitched better, to hold curiosity and quench it for the reader, in a rewarding manner. For example, I would have loved to know who was the LED scamster Or what the minister had done that only a 'smart activist' can find out! The typically 'filmy' depiction of some scenes was a bit too much for my taste, but it's just me.
Is it a literary masterpiece? No. Better proofing would have helped it make flawless. But we see proofing errors in most of Indian authors' novels. I had got irritated when I read Ravi Subramaniam's one crap novel, that had a loose plot where he wasn't sure what should be highlighted, and ended up messing up the entire story. I had then vowed not to read any of his work anytime soon, and have stuck to it.
Were too many elements stuffed into one novel? Probably, but why not? There's no set rule on what a novel should be. Ultimately what matters is what the novel leaves in you when you reach the last page.

And in such books, written by those who dare to dream

It's a different kind of gripping read — especially if you are a new reader who wants interesting stuff to read, go for it! Ditch all Chethan Bhagats and Ravi Subramaniams of the world, and go for a Soumya Aji, you won't be disappointed. You will only get enriched by reading something like this!
I wish more journalists wrote novels, because books are forever. That's a way to dream and have it on record too! We need dreams to live on with hope, after all.

Why you should watch Bahubali-II

2017-05-06T13:44:00.002+05:30

I'm a student of cinema, and will remain one forever. What I write below is my experience of watching the cinema Bahubali-2 on a big multiplex screen, a result of my own learnings, experiences and world view. I don't expect anyone else to feel the same, and recommend not reading this if you have always differed with me on political and social issues. Also, do not read my review if you feel cinema has no social responsibility.
*****************

First things first - as many have already said, this is a movie made for multiplex big screen viewing. Don't go to ordinary theaters because you may miss the dialogues that will be lost in the cheering of the crowd, and the sound effects may be better on a big screen. You may not be able to feel the graphics to the fullest effect on a low quality screen.
The graphics, animations, the editing that beautifully weaves in a magical story together... Everything technical is magnanimous. To have something like this in an Indian cinema is totally new. That too, produced by we the dark-skinned South Indians! The movie is worth watching for that sake, this being one of the reasons. Mistakes, if any, are forgiven for these reasons It's just audacious, the faith Rajamouli had and the risk he took is totally worth the output.
As you watch and marvel about the sheer gambling this cinema is, you will see resemblances to many other movies, right from Disney movies to B R Chopra's Mahabharat we had earlier watched on TV to Gladiator. But yeah, to club it all in one product of art which still looks unified is an achievement. The graphics in some scenes, defies all logic and outgrows the cinema and the story, sometimes even becomes laughable, but it's all in the game. The bull-scenes are amazing, but the graphical part I loved the most was the boat-cum-aeroplane scene, from the Hamsa Naava song! Whatta visual feast, straight from Disney movies! (Don't try to check on Youtube - there's not even a single still of the graphics work from that song that impressed me )
The story is very ordinary, not too different from any Chandamama or Bombemane stories we might have read in our childhood. But it's very primal in its character - every character is full of lust for power - unpretentiously so - some of them subtle in chasing it, while the others are more primal and raw. It's the way the story has been packaged, that matters in Bahubali-2.

The characterisation of Devasena, regality and arrogance personified, wins hearts. I looked at Ramya Krishna with awe - I had loved her characters in Yugapurusha, and never watched her in any other movie. And Prabhas... After one & only Annaavru, if I have become a fan of a movie star, it is this guy. Where was he so far? Why didn't I watch any of Telugu movies where he acted?
Different people focus on different things in a cinema. I pay attention to costumes as a habit. I loved Devasena's dresses in every frame, including all those handloom sarees! But not accessories - they could have chosen little more finer accessories, be it the nose ring or the necklaces or the bangles - it would have added up to the fineness of the cinema. Afterall one can't argue that goldsmiths in Maahishmati were not skilled enough - surely everyone there was skilled enough, else how would they build such a magnanimous palace and other stuff?
Now, what made this movie a block buster? The movie contains adundant stuff that pleases a 'proud Indian' heart. Be it the advanced war techniques like landing into the territory of the enemy with the help of a technique that defies all laws of physics, or the raw telescope that uses diamonds as lens. The black and white characters that have a linear sense of justice, and full of revenge and no forgiveness. Sense of territorial ownership that we have always read in all our mythologies. The working class that's ever-ready to obey the masters. The gods, devotion, the rituals. The crime, and the punishment (Death penalty for molestation. Yes, the safest state for women would be Maahishmati.) Martyrs, the promises and the sacrifice. The wars. The innocence or dumbness of the characters. And the unapologetic way all these have been woven together. I would be surprised if a national award doesn't come searching for it.
This cinema holds a mirror to its viewers. Are we tired of trying to comprehend the shades of grey in life? Are we a generation that yearns for the simplicity of black and white? Would we have loved the movie if there were forgiveness in it instead of revenge? What if the characters were not-so-black & white? Or did we just fall for the visual grandeur?
A movie that leaves an impression in your mind, unsettles you and makes you think, is a successful movie. Bahubali 2 is one such movie, but in a very very different sense.
If you are interested in good cinema but haven't watched this one, I would say, go, watch it. Watch it for the visual grandeur Bahubali 2 is. Watch it, as a humble student of cinema. You may not like to join the herd, but watch it to understand why a generation is appreciating it - it's something very important. Watch it, to see how it could have been made more meaningful and something that you like, what would have bettered the message that the movie carries. If you are a storyteller, watch it, to understand our society better, and to design something better. What we need really in a cinema that influences large masses of people and the society, is stuff that will work better for our world that's full of rainbow colours.

Dummies' guide to countering whataboutery on Bakrid animal slaughter during Deepavali

2016-11-05T07:32:00.003+05:30

Haven’t you started hearing / seeing arguments equalising animal slaughter and crackers, and asking why animal sacrifice in Islam is not banned, but cracker bursting in Hindus is? Supreme Court became anti-Hindu recently, with its ban on crackers and green cracker advocacy. Finally they had to clarify that it was applicable only for Delhi.

Every time Deepavali comes, crackers burst outside my home, my kid curious to watch it all but scared because she is sensitive to polluted air, my kittens terrified and sitting next to us. Let me tell you, I have a huge list of things to be avoided, and things to be done — crackers are only one small part in the list. I avoid it because my kid is allergic to cracker fumes and had to be hospitalised once after getting exposed to Deepavali celebrations.

While a lot of people agree that chemicals in crackers are actually bad, some people feel crackers are not as bad as they are projected to be. Some of them think ban on crackers is an attack on their religion. They find conspiracy against Hindus, and ask: “Why are you not protesting against Bakrid animal slaughter?” Some of them suspect Congress conspiracy behind campaign against crackers. Some people wonder why cracker is not opposed in other occasions like new year, but only during Deepavali.

While arguing is fine, it should lead to enlightenment. Some of us are left wondering why on earth we are opposing crackers, and get into self-doubt mode. This is for those of you at this stage — because, crackers are bad, no matter what the argument for them is. Let me do a postmortme of all the popular arguments for crackers.

Why isn’t Bakrid animal slaughter opposed?

Bakrid animal slaughter has its own importance religiously, unlike crackers which are NOT originally a part of Deepavali. Deepavali is the festival of lights, a celebration of good over evil, a festival that symbolises knowledge and enlightenment. Crackers aren’t a part of any story associated with Deepavali.

Crackers aren’t Indian by origin. The first example of fireworks dates back to 9th-century, being used in medieval Chinese Tang Dynast. It is a business opportunity today, at the cost of environment.

Why aren’t we talking about animal sacrifice? Because India is a secular country, and everyone has religious freedom. Also, the society and communities have the power to modify the religion which they are a part of. We did away with Sati and tonsuring the head of widows etc long back, though they were once part of our religion.

If a protest against animal sacrifice has to come, it has to be from WITHIN the community, NOT from outside. Outsiders talking about it can only make the communities defensive about it, and won’t make them think about it. When Hindus are offended about cracker bans and link it to religion, Muslims can also do it easily because it is afterall religious. Cracker isn’t — cracker is just fun.

So why should we talk about another religion?! We have no business to interfere in it. Don’t we have animal slaughters in some of our own temples? Though it’s banned under law, isn’t it happening? Is even the law stopping it? Again it’s our own folks who are talking about it and protesting, not from the other religions. That is how it should be — we should clean up our houses first before doing anything else.

There’s another issue here. If one is batting for kindness to animals, it should extend beyond pointing at Bakrid slaughter. Animals are food material — many among us eat nonveg. And a global city like Bengaluru doesn’t even have scientific abattoirs (scientific slaughter houses) that conform to international standards against animal cruelty. Is anyone talking about it at all? Does anyone even know about it? Why point out Bakrid slaughter when we don’t have systems to deal with everyday animal slaughter which amounts to much more than Bakrid slaughter annually?

So please stop comparing crackers to animal slaughter — both are totally different, and not comparable. The argument that questions why people are ok with the latter while they are against the former serves a certain propaganda and political ideology, which doesn’t go anywhere as far as policies are concerned. It’s a reflection of our own insanity, a product of our own ignorance to refuse to see things as they are.

2. Why aren’t crackers opposed in other times?

Crackers are bad for health due to the toxic composition they have, so they must be opposed whichever occasion they are used — be it a death burial ceremony, an electoral victory or a cricket match victory. There is no doubt about it. But the debate about crackers reaches a peak during Deepavali especially because it is winter and cities like Delhi become unlivable due to pollution, and crackers worsen the situation. And the celebration is mass and much wider than any other firecracker celebration.

Cracker sellers put up special stalls during this time and sell their stuff at highly discounted price. Crackers come flying from different directions in the bylanes of Bengaluru, making it unsafe to go out in vehicles during Deepavali. Someone loses eyes, someone faces an accident, someone’s vehicle catches fire. Eye hospitals are on high alert during this time, and eye injury cases see a spike. This might happen during new year celebrations too, but access to crackers is low during that time.

Irrespective of when they are burst, crackers are bad for health. Why do we need such a health hazard?

3. Why are you not doing a, b, c, d, e and f, why campaign only against crackers?

Someone asked me this actually sometime ago. They assumed that people who campaign against crackers do only that and nothing more. That’s not the reality — everyone fights on so many fronts, but they needn’t advertise about it.

Also, each one of us can do only so much, only what each one’s bandwidth permits us to do. One cannot become an activist in every issue — so people choose what matters to them immediately. ‘There are so many issues out there, and we have to pick our battles,” as a friend of mine puts it. Doing what one can is better than doing nothing, or questioning people who do something, however small it is! Rather than asking the other person why they are not doing abcdef&g, you do it, if it’s your calling and if you feel like doing it. Don’t question the motive of others. Don’t judge others.

4. What about other types of pollution? Vehicular pollution? Industrial pollution?

There are laws to deal with all types of pollution. But corporates hoodwink the authorities and do what they want. An individual can only lament that they found superbugs in Bairamangala tanks, but further action is beyond individual’s scope — it’s a bigger battle that needs to happen in a different level. Comparing that with crackers is totally problematic.

In fact, all cities are waking upto the realities of pollution. A collective of cities around the world called C40 cities systematically organises exchanges regarding pollution, and member cities have started taking conclusive actions and building up pressure. Recently a few mayors asked car manufacturing companies to stop producing petrol and diesel cars. Electric cars are the future. Cities like Bengaluru will get electric vehicles for last mile sooner than other cities. Stories of air pollution and impacts are everywhere, globally. Pollution is unacceptable, whatever is the source.

5. Congress conspiracy theory

No. It’s not a conspiracy by any political party. In fact, All parties including Congress and left pollute atmosphere by bursting crackers when they win elections. So the argument that it is ‘a lot more than environmental angle’ as one of my friends puts it, is just hilarious. It also reflects the lack of awareness on environment we have.

But the times are changing. Awareness is a lot more these days. School children go around campaigning against crackers in the school neighbourhood, and hopefully will carry forward the message in their life too. So people like me don’t have to write such long boring posts on social media some day in future.
So let’s not find fault with the theory that crackers are bad. We buy and burn them and have fun, justifying it by saying ‘okay to use it once in a while’ etc, just like we do many other bad things, with excuses. That’s our problem.
Campaign against crackers cannot be won fully unless there are laws and regulations on manufacturing, or people become aware enough because of their own circumstances, or unless we move over from 45 to 55 degrees in Bangalore and collectively realise the myriad ways in which we spoil our own surroundings.

We can only rant on our own FB walls, but education / awareness has to come from within, not from other’s FB posts or WhatsApp forwards — we are doing it just for the sake of our own peace of mind, that’s it. If you don’t like it, you have many options ranging from unfriending the person to going and buying more crackers in revenge, so no need to raise the blood pressure and get into argument mode

And lastly to all those who become one-time environmentalists during Deepavali for whatever reason:

1) Having no crackers is not the only eco-friendly stuff you can do in life — if anyone thinks that please change yourself. There are so many other ways that promote eco-friendly living — right from thinking what you should buy in shops, to where you choose to live to what you wear to how you travel to what you invest on. In Bengaluru, garbage burning is the seasonal hottest thing that’s causing much more damage than crackers regularly. Avoiding crackers is a smallest in the scheme of things. There are bigger things happening, so please expand the horizon beyond the realm of your own pets or your own intolerance to noise, if you have the bandwidth for it.

2) Don’t get abusive on anyone — even if someone burns crackers they will have their own justification for it. These are not issues that can be won by arguments — change of heart takes place at a different level, so don’t ever argue. If someone bursts crackers, avoid the area, tolerate it, or plan a trip to a quiet place. Someday we are doomed to die in the mess we create. It will only be preponed a bit, that’s all.

3) Lastly, please do not argue on social media against crackers, if you don’t know how to justify your arguments — that makes the entire lot — all folks like us — look like jokers!

And the GOOD NEWS IS: a lot of people find sense in these arguments, cracker sales have gone down, and cracker bursting has reduced with each passing year. Officially as declared by Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, the pollution levels have reduced every year. A real indication of this for me has been my own kid, who suffers every year after Deepavali with health issues, but none last year. Thank you Bengaluru, for listening to people like us, and making sense of it, and changing the actions.

Take my eyes...

2016-02-17T08:48:00.001+05:30

Dedicated to the new generation smart phones and social media that have made content creation and sharing so easy and compelling, at the cost of caring for the fellow human beings. Penned as a reaction to the news broadcast on television, and to the fact that the victim donated his eyes before he died. This is not intended to pass judgement on the onlookers, but each one of us is free to judge ourselves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His body ripped apart into two,
With both the parts still alive,
Every moment life changing its hue,
He screams, 'help, I want to live!'

Was it a cinema — with all
Pale-eyed viewers around
He cannot trust it, was it his,
The blood spilling on the ground...?

Did anyone see the number
Of the monster that mowed him down?
He has no idea, but they are all mum
Their faces bland, with not even a frown

Then the fallen man sees Him -
The man with the funky gadget
There he is, standing, with
A good view of the dying body and spirit

Capturing his moments of fight
And the victory of his fate
All in full HD movie mode,
"But sorry, no helping hand...

It's a once-in-a-lifetime video thriller
Let me shoot it all, don't bother
To ask me for help, I can't call a doctor
Once I finish this, it'll be an honour...

TV channels will play it over and over
Both of us'll become heroes, brother!"

No light left to look out or within
In the dozen eyes staring at him grim
Rest of the world has moved on,
With the traffic, and the golden time

He decides, it's time to do the right thing,
While the soul is ready to fly, flapping the wing
He folds his hands hurriedly and screams,
"Take my eyes now, you need it, please!"

~~~~ In memory of the man whose body was severed into two parts, in an accident, and the man with the gadget who helped us see him die, in a viral video.

Ola launches boats in flooded Chennai area

2015-11-17T16:47:00.001+05:30

Do you know what it means to "take the stones they throw at you and use them to build your castle?"

Here's a great example of this.

When Chennai was flooded with incessant rains, people started joking on twitter - they said Ola will launch boat services soon.

And Voila! Ola sensed the opportunity, caught the idea and actually went on with boat service!

Local fishermen and Sports Authorities helped Ola with the numbers of boat owners. The company has provided raincoats and Ola stickers for the boats. The boats are used to transport food and water to people as well as ferry stranded people to safety.

This is also a great example of taking business ideas from social media. Read the Times of India report here.

Whatt an idea, Sirji!!

The story of peanuts and monkeys

2015-08-21T14:57:00.001+05:30

This article has an incident - a small proof of why the media is in such a mess today with no unity among themselves, and no integrity or truth in the content that comes out - be it television or online or print.

Paid Media is a deep-rooted problem - deeper menace than any of us can imagine.

Earlier, in 2000s, it was one person, one reporter here and there, demanding 500 rupees for a TV byte of 20-25 seconds or more, and more for a story. It was also the live telecasts in favour of political parties for some favour to the reporter unknown to the rest. Cash, laptops, car, even flats and other stuff. There are tales of reporters cashing on scandals of politicians -crores of rupees. The colour of reporting changed in accordance with the gains.

Clicked by me during one of the trips to my hometown. Symbolises the situation.

Then came tele-programmes, soft in nature (cookery, fashion, astrology, cinema, health) but the guests had to pay to appear in such programmes.

The problem thus far was in the way journalists were treated by companies - pay peanuts and expect them to get "high quality" content, while it is only monkeys that you will get for peanuts. Why wouldn't a reporter want to earn extra income if it is as easy as doing his or her own job, but interpreting differently? Is brain work behind journalism any less than any IT/coding/management work? Is the time taken any less? If not, why not pay them well?

Some media houses understood this and started paying well to those in top jobs and those who topped visibility and exposure index in the organisation. However, once you taste blood and have compromised your integrity, why would you withdraw from it?

Then came the even more dangerous trend: Earn your salary by doing this officially. Journalists today in many mainstream media houses work without salary for months. Media houses officially promote the trend, with internal deals with politicians or companies. There are also jokes making rounds currently that if X media gives salary to its employees once in three months, it means that the senior chaps in the company have been able to strike a deal with some big gun on some story/scam.

Why do we even talk about transparent media that is "fourth pillar", while by design it is not allowed in this society/ economy? I'm becoming pessimistic after each day. Have totally stopped watching TV. God knows when I will quit media totally.

A visual feast: that is what RangiTharanga is

2015-07-30T20:19:00.001+05:30

RangiTaranga.

I thought it was an art film of sorts, then came to know it was a suspense thriller. But before going to the movie I seriously didn't expect such a commercial drama with a psychopath killer! Hats off to the director Anup Bhandari and the team for pulling it off!

The movie is full of visual glory, including the colourful dressings of the characters. That, along with the cinematography and music, in my view, is the hero. The actors did their bit too. I loved the look and acting of Radhika Chetan, who plays the main heroine. For some reason I loved the song KeLe Cheluve too.

The capturing of the bhootharadhane, yakshagana and the landscape - all beautiful. The plot doesn't let anyone to guess what is coming up next - that also is the hero in this cinema.

In many scenes, particularly two murder scenes, the black screen leaves the viewers to imagine the goriness of the scene, though no blood is shown. That in my view makes it all more sinister. All you see is the sword cutting off supposedly the target, and a silhouette of the headless body hanging from a tree. The technique is not new but we are used to seeing real blood and violence in movies that even a small lack of it looks worth highlighting!

There are successful attempts at comedy too. So one gets to laugh a lot.

Not that the movie is perfect. There are fighting scenes, especially underwater, which probably added no value to the movie other than the fancy of underwater photography that was not visually very perfect. Could have been avoided, and made simpler.

Some dialogues are artificial and don't go with the flow. There are continuity problems in shooting, sequencing and story (Eg: The husband is busy in a function and is with the psycho killer, but at the same time the wife gets attacked. By whom, if the psycho killer is in another place?) And it looks like the old haunted house where the killings take place and the main house in the story are pretty nearby, but oftentimes that connection is not made. Similarly why the watch stolen from the house was lying in the forest, what is the significance of it? If not important why show it?

If such loopholes were to be avoided the film would have been perfect. But these are negligible when the audience is lost in the suspense of the drama - matter only to critics because ordinary janata is much more forgiving.

What I didn't like: The twisted South Canara Kannada accent that mocks the real accent, spoken by many characters. It should have been natural.

All in all, the show was houseful. I personally don't like such thrillers that play on fear and emotions and project psychos, but this one was a unique experience, may be because I haven't seen them for a long time. This is another song I liked.

And the song Dennanaaa Dennaana makes the connection to the old forgotten serial Guddada Bhootha which we as kids used to sit and watch every week. The plot almost becomes guess-able with the song, but only one part of it, not all!

*****
Trust me, what you see in the movie is only fiction. Real undivided South Canara is not so mysterious and scary, and there are no ghosts whatsoever. In my part of the area (Kasaragod), you actually get to see dancing peacocks whose population has multiplied in recent years. The terrain is actually cool, serene and will rid your soul of any negative influences. Come, visit and enjoy!

Outgrowing the Greed

2012-07-03T23:18:00.000+05:30

Got to share this seemingly unimportant yet touching event that I experienced today, and many a times before.

I have a strange habit of forgetting things. My purse is something I usually forget - in terms of frequency, it stands next to forgetting writing. It usually contains a credit card, a debit card, my office access card, canteen coupons and some loose change. Earlier my mobile also used to be in it, then after losing my purse for a couple of times I realised that keeping everything together doesn't work for my good. So I started keeping mobile separately.

Yesterday I had again forgotten my purse on my work table, along with the pile of papers. Usually I clean up all the papers so purse safely gets tucked inside my handbag, but yesterday was a strange bad day for me, so I forgot to do it.

I went home, kept my bag aside, and slept with my little one. This morning I did not care to check my bag, and when it was 4.15, I just left home with the handbag. Sat in an auto as it was late. I reached office, and checked my bag for auto fare, and found out that the purse was missing.

Well, I knew where it would be, so went to office, and waited for my saviour to reach office.

He arrived at 6.30pm - a veteran staff at my office, attender by profession, but very good human being at heart. While cleaning up the desk at 1.30am after everyone finished the work, he found my purse under the papers scattered on my table, took it and locked it safely. He knows I will be coming and asking for it the next day - it has become a habit for me! This was I think the 5th or 6th time I lost it this way, and got it back in the same fashion.

But look at the integrity of this person - once I had kept around 4,000 rupee in my purse, and lost it, and everything was intact when I got it back the purse next day. I'm really puzzled at this man's honesty. He might be getting around 9-10k for his work, as he has served here I-don't-know-for-how-many-years... who asks him? He must be in his fifties. At his age, I can imagine the responsibilities he might be shouldering, and wondering about the way he is managing without yielding to the pressure and temptations. It really takes a lot to outgrow temptations - especially money, because that's what rules most of our decisions.

He is the least-noted of all the staff here. He could have just said "I haven't seen your purse" to me, but he chose to return it to me every time. I feel it takes a lot of courage to live this way! How many of us can outgrow our greed and live like him?

No Rain, No Relief

2012-07-02T23:27:00.000+05:30

Hi friends, back again to my blog backyard, for some random ramblings.
Well, where to start?

ABCD of Rangoli

Today I officially started learning how to draw Rangoli. I drew a few strands, and a few designs in front of the Tulsi vrindavan, that's there in front of our house. Know what, it looked exactly like what my two-year-old daughter draws! I learnt how to draw 8-petl flower, and Shankha (counch), and couple of other designs.

Don't laugh... I'm still a learner yaaa. We the people in South Canara don't cherish such things much usually, but when in Bangalore, act like a Bangalorean. That too, when married to a Madhwa family to head that family, you have to be well-versed in all these! :-)

Gardening Mania

There are currently around 12 pots in front of my home, four of them just waiting for right plants to be planted. All those pots were kept by our aunty by the side of the house while the construction of new house was going on. It all caught cement, all the plants seemed like they were destroyed. All the pots, covered with cement, were just waiting for me to come :-) And when I saw these pots, for a few days I did not have any idea.
After some days it started drizzling, and some life started coming up on these pots. The Amritha Balli (Tinaspora Cordifolia), 'Brahmakamala' or 'Rathri Rani' (Saussurea obvallata), Aloe Vera and a croton plant had survived all the constuction activity, and with the first rain, they all sprang to life. Plants in the rest of the pots had been spoiled.

Looking at these, it struck me, that I can make use of these pots, regrow those plants, or grow something new. Bingo! For the pilot project, I cleaned up a small pot, containing 'Brahmakamala' or 'Rathri Rani' (Saussurea obvallata) by removing the cemented mud from the upper part, till I got clean soil inside the pot. Then watered it and kept it neatly. Then next day I took Aloe Vera pot and Amritha Balli pot. I kept Amritha Balli by the side of the house, in a harmless corner, so that it can climb upon roof via the grill of the shed.

Then I cleaned up empty pots and filled some clean soil in the place of the cement removed, and kept them ready for planting something. I found some pebbles which our aunt had stored. I arranged them on the pots, surrounding plants, so that when water falls with force, it does not spoil the soil. I sowed a few red chill seeds.

I had brought a pot with Tulsi, and one with 6-7 lemon saplings. I shifted two lemon plants to the new-found pots.

Today all the pots except a pot with big Aloe Vera have been arranged in front of our house. My dear darling daughter waters them all in the morning as soon as she wakes up - that's a ritual for her.

However, rain is something I'm waiting for these days. Rain gives life to all, it can spring more life out of these pots! Bangalore has seen no rain these days. Sometimes it feels like it will rain cats and dogs, clouds galore, and drizzle starts, and some unkind wind takes them away, leaving me hopeless! No rain, no relief. Rain brings relief to my outer world - and the inner world too.

I'm just waiting for the days when I can just sit cozily by the window and watch the shower outside. Please come, rain, I want to grow more plants! :-)

Rain is Raining All Around!

2012-04-27T17:58:00.018+05:30

I feel like running into the rain lashing around now... and letting the rain wash my soul, too.

How therapeutic it is to open my mouth and hands to catch those falling pure drops of life...

To get drenched in pureness and fill my soul with pureness...

My poor soul needs a lot of healing... the disrupted and devastated state it is in is never imaginable - it has shattered into pieces!

They say time heals.

But does it, really?

Maybe it's all consolation in action.

Or maybe it's all psychological.

But we should give it a chance...

In my experience, Rain, too, heals. It melts away the disjoint pieces of soul and forms a new mixture out of which a phoenix is born again.

Words fail me when I start describing rain and its beauty... The happiness and peace I get in the presence of rain... It's beyond all descriptions... it's just ethereal.

To me, rain means a lot. Rain is the outcome when the foul-mood cloud, loaded with worries, breaks down and clears itself, catapulting itself into the mode of happiness!

Rain is associated with many of my cool, painful and delightful memories. It always brings peace of mind. I just love rain; I want to be a small child, shatter those walls of dignity and age around me and play in the rain again... forever.

Let it rain like this... forever... forever.

Great Indian Blunders

2011-05-27T12:55:00.002+05:30

I was going through the emails of Rana / Headley revealed during Chicago trial - It was interesting to check these mails from one Mr. Rajaram Rege, known to Headley as PRO for Bala Thakre.

See how well he has narrated the process of government and private tenders in India... It was all well-known, or at least we had doubts - he has just openly unfolded it.

These are the very people who rob our nation, heap up black money and become richer themselves, by making the poor poorer. These people don't have any party - they are all-pervasive.

Considering that this fellow is in the business for minimum 6 years, just imagine how much he might have robbed from India. And how many people like him India might have? What might be the amount robbed by all these? Just think, imagine - your heart is sure to stop for a while.

So nothing can be done to stop this nonsense? Yes of course, a few major things can be done by the central and state governments, and from the corporates.

1) Make the process of tender more transparent
2) Get rid of the middlemen from tender processes / outsourcing works
3) Not to award tenders to foreign companies - no one knows what kind of trap lies where.
4) Not to outsource works related to sensitive departments like defense and power to any company
5) Government should make the corruption-laden, almost-non-existent Public Works Department strong and accountable so that public roads and infrastructure can be developed by the government itself, no 'PPP' model that will rob people some day in future.

If all these are done, where will the esteemed players of Great Indian Political League go? How will they make money? So never never will they let all these happen.

Here are three examples of fence eating the crop, which I have experienced myself directly, and heard from others, though all of them are not related to political or national security angle:

1) Art of making 'cut's
While I was working for an ad agency, we had a so-called client. Working as an area manager, he used to take the details of hoardings, FM commercials, newspaper ads etc, and never used to get back to us. While introspecting, we used to think in plain terms, about giving best rate for him, or about the mistake we did in presenting him the output etc. and were thinking it was our mistake.
One fine day we came to know that he used to take details from us, and was dealing with the third parties directly, avoiding us, and thus getting the commission himself. If we had been little more clever and able to strike a deal with him regarding his 'percentage', we would have bagged projects worth crores of rupees from him.

2) Quality check in regional TV channels
We used to do a teleprogram. The programme had to get clearances from the technical department of the TV, during the quality check. After a few initial weeks, our programs started facing 'rejection' due to 'low quality' and 'grains' in the feed. We pondered over the reason, did the best to avoid errors in shooting and editing as much as possible, still the problem of 'rejection' persisted. Meanwhile we used to wonder how the programs of lesser quality were getting telecast in same channel.
Finally the 'cat' was out of the bag - this human cat which does the quality check, needed a different kind of 'milk' - haalu in Kannada - alco-'haalu' ! Once the he-cat started getting ample treat every week on behalf of us, there were no more rejections for our programs!

3) Bharath-Rakshak!
Don't ask me how I know this. We boast of having the strength of defense missile launchers and radars - Rohini, Agni, Brahmos. All these are constructed by private bigwigs in India. These private companies are dependent upon UK-based or China-based (there may be other nations too) equipments for the supporting functions.
Dependence is such that, one small faulty controller in a generator set stops the whole functioning, and engineer of the foreign company which manufactured the controller has to repair it in the spots which are supposed to be confidential and not accessible to the public. I know of one instance of Rohini radar that was used to spy Indo-pak border lying idle for more than three months, due to faulty spares.

How can we trust the foreign company that provided the spares? Or such engineers who get access to the inaccessible, to repair work? There is a rule that such tenders should go to Indian-based companies, but what is the use of this rule if the spares are foreign?

See how vulnerable is our system. Corruption tops all other priorities. No wonder if terror plotters get easy access to our establishments.

Stories of My Cutie-Pie - 1

2011-05-21T17:48:00.000+05:30

One day my little princess was playing inside the home, near the pram. I was in the kitchen. After a while I noted that she became silent all of a sudden. I came out to check the reason.

I saw that she was chewing something. I thought it must be a piece of paper or something. She had already had her breakfast; there was nothing else I gave her to eat.

As I went near her, I could smell the pleasing fragrance of mint - I placed my finger in her mouth and dragged the thing out of her mouth - tried to figure out what it was - yes, it was a Chewing Gum!

I wondered who gave it to her... Everybody at home is aware of my reaction if at all they make her eat some junk. So it is unlikely that someone gave her that to eat.

I searched all over the home. Finally found the culprit - a pink piece of half-eaten chewing gum, know where? Firmly gummed on the little wheels of the pram, on which we take her on the road for a round in the evenings... !!! :-(

These days we carry her out ourselves, not on pram!

Water Wisdom

2011-02-07T22:31:00.003+05:30

Ever wondered what is this water filter all about? Do you still think the need to have it in your home? Then there are some insights for you here.

Water is one precious resource on earth that doesn’t have any replacement. Though our planet is filled with 2/3 of water, most of the water is saline and not potable. Rain, ground water and rivers fulfill most of our drinking water needs. Water has never been created by man so far, but it has easily be polluted everywhere in the world by human activities.

Rivers and ground water can be contaminated through chemicals from industries. Negligent discharge of drainage or household waste to water sources also pollutes water.

The spilled oil in your kitchen which you poured to the wash basin, chemicals in the detergent powder that reached your drainage from the washing machine, and all organic and inorganic waste pollutes water. Inorganic substances add various metals to the water, while organic things cause various bacteria to grow.

When there is pit system for toilets with no drainage connection, nearby water bodies get easily polluted with nitrate content. Nitrates and other biological polluters like bacteria and microbes get released from human waste directly, thus making the water impure. Fertilizers also release lot of nitrate to ground water. Apart from this, there is natural pollution of water by fluorine, generally in rocky areas and in mining hubs.

Polluted water when consumed causes numerous health hazards. For example, a bacterium named Escherichia Coli in water causes serious gastrointestinal diseases. Other water-borne diseases include amoebic dysentery, gastroenteritis, vomiting, diarrhea, malaria etc. Number of water-borne diseases increase with the quantity and intensity with which one consumes polluted water.

Nitrate pollution of water leads to Blue Baby Syndrome in infants, a disease where an infant’s blood is contaminated resulting in death when the condition is untreated. Other ill-effects include stomach and gastrointestinal disorders. Sometimes it can result cancer too.

Fluorine contamination leads to a disease called Fluorosis. This causes awkwardly developed bones, yellow teeth with no strength and a poor health ultimately. Zinc is so poisonous that when pregnant ladies drink it they give birth to mentally challenged kids.

Water is the base for human body, with 70 percent of human body containing water. Water is inevitable for human being, so sometimes people are compelled to drink water though it is polluted, and are on look out to use safe water.

Boiling the water before drinking can kill many bacteria, but nitrate concentration increases as the water boils, so the very purpose of water-purifying fails here, when water has nitrate contamination.

Chlorination of water is another method to treat water. Chlorination settles the dirt down, as a result water appears pure. But it also kills many useful bacteria along with harmful ones. Sometimes taking bath in chlorinated water leads to hair fall. The taste of chlorinated water is not natural. Too much of chlorinization is lethal to human beings, as it causes internal damage to the organs.

So what is the alternative to get pure water? How to filter the impurities out of water? Well, this thought of filtering lead to the innovation of water-filtering technology. Today we have many technologies like Reverse osmosis, Nano-filtration, ultra filtration, micro filtration, carbon adsorption, filtration through ultraviolet radiation etc. Combination of these techniques is used to get pure water from the filter.

While the water distribution systems in metros of the world use large scale filtration methods, water filter is for domestic purpose, just enough to supply fresh water on daily basis. Water filters good potable drinking water whenever we want, at our disposal. Buy one today, filter out your worries with safe drinking water.

People from nowhere

2008-03-12T18:33:00.005+05:30

It was suggested by someone to create awareness in our program, on the roadside sellers who put a tent and sell "Ayurvedic" medicines, and promise to cure all diseases. Topic seemed quite interesting, and we started off.

The moment we got into the topic, all tent-sellers seemed like villains who indulge in anti-social activities. For the first two days we sneaked around their tents and took lot of video. Then many of their customers were interviewed. There was mixed response on the effectiveness of their medicine. There were doubts too, on their activities.

Finally we got to interview the sellers themselves. To our surprise, they faced the camera boldly, and told everything about themselves. Most of them come from Haridwara, Hrushikesh and parts of UP. Their forefathers used to practise native medicine, and these people have learnt that by default. They get to know about what makes a person suffer, by checking the pulse. There are people who come to them, and get their small ailments like gastrouble, acidity and muscle-catching cured. Some go to them for bigger diseases, and when they don't get relief, turn traitors to them.

They don't know anything else to do, other than practising this traditional medicine system. They travel from North India to farther places in South in search of their daily bread.

To quote them, "Yahan pe hamare yahan jo Jadee-boothi milthe hain, vo nahin milthe. Yahan use bech diya tho thoda zyada paisa milega.. isliye hum yahan aathe hain..."

" Humko yahan se bhaga denge kya behenji? Idhar nahin tho dusri jagah jayenge, lekin aap hi sochiye, hum kuch alag kaam jaanthe hee nahin, hum kyaa kar sakthe hain?"

When asked what is government doing for them, answers were like, "Humko yahaan se bhagaya nahi, rehne ke liye problem kiya nahi, uthna hi kaafi hai, sarkar our kya mangenge?" "Haridwar me sarkar ne ghar diya hai, bachchon ko padhayi-vadhaai ka inthzaam bhi hai, lekin hum jaise banjaare wahan kaise rahenge?"

You know when a person is bluffing, just by looking into the eye. And I knew, they were telling the truth. I had heard about those tent-sellers who reside nearby highways, sold illegal drugs like ganja and opium, or those who indulged in robberies, or those who mediated or resorted to prostitution in the nights. Atleast those whom I met weren't among those.

These sellers usually choose strategic locations, near bus-stations, railway stations, near slums, near highways and ringroads. Through their attractive banners in all languages, they promise to cure Asthma, Diabetes, Arthritis, Sexual Dysfunctions etc. completely. Saying or advertising so is punishable under Drugs and Magic Remedies Act. They dont even know that. Police never has done any harm to them, because they stay away from footpaths, and their existance never obstructs movement of people.

At the same time, various doctors and experts were interviewed. Most of them opposed the unscientific and unhygenic way of selling medicines by roadside. But some of them were of the view that native medicine sellers sometimes have precious ancient practices and unique herbs and medicines that cure come troubles. This precious knowledge has to pass on to the next generation, officially.

There'z a governmental body under health department to regulate the native medicine systems. It'z called AYUSH Directorate (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy). We wanted to know what this directorate is doing. The day we went, there was a "Fake doctor" surrendering to the directorate. He din't want to face the camera. He had told in his apology letter that he'd learnt Ayurveda from his dad who'z a pundit, and practised it, and that an official of AYUSH helped him in getting the certificates necessary for practising Ayurveda. And that he's realized his mistake now, and requesting the directorate to permit him to practise if there'z a lawful means to do it.

That day we din't get interview. We waited for three days, but never got the interview of the state director, despite sending detailed questionnaire and getting the permission from Health Secretary.

Finally we winded up shooting session, and series was ready. First episode was based purely on the bytes of public, on roadside medicine sellers. Second episode was on the condition of the roadside sellers, their genuine problems, and the need for solutions. Third episode was on what is wrong with their practice, and the laws under which they are punishable. Fourth was on what is real Ayurveda, and what is not. Fifth was on when Home remedies will do, when to go for Ayurveda, and when Alopathy could be better option. Concluding episode warned that practising Ayurveda without proper knowledge and self-medication in Ayurveda could have side-effects, and could prove dangerous. It emphasized on the need to find a logical, humane solution to the genuine native medicine sellers who had to sit by roadside to earn their bread. Doctors and general public acclaimed our efforts. By the response we received, we know ratings too are going to be good.

But, on the day we aired third episode, I got a call from one of the sellers whom I interviewed. He said people are coming and telling him that there are wrong things about them getting telecast in TV, and he asked me, "Behenji, aap kyun hamare pet par laath maar rahe hain? Hum sadiyon se yahee karthe aa rahe hain, ye hamaaree khaandaanee cheez hai, hum iske lava kuch nahin jaanthe... "

My efforts to explain him what we did were in vain, and he disconnected the phone by telling... "Hum yahan nahin tho dusree shehar jayenge, lekin yaad rakhna, aap hamaree baal-bachchon ke pet par laath mare hain...."

His words lingered for a long time... I started thinking why did we put our hands to this Pandora's box. True. I'm no one to judge these poor sellers. I wonder what we telecasted can really solve problems of these poor people who belong nowhere. I know what they say is truth for them. I know that they have genuine problems to be solved. I know they have to be guided in the right direction, their kids have to be educated, they have to have right means of earning their bread. If government bothers about them a bit, they could even have a sort of do's-and-don'ts provided by a regulatory body, and a sort of licensing? But what if I know? What if I express all these? Who am I afterall?

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Few months back I had seen a printout stuck on the wall of a Unani doctor's crowded clinic. It said, "IF YOU HAVE A GIRL CHILD, AND IF YOU WANT A MALE CHILD, WE WILL HELP YOU TO HAVE MALE CHILD, PROVIDED YOU COME TO US WITHIN THREE MONTHS OF PREGNANCY, INSHA - ALLAH". I was stunned looking at that, and at the crowd at the clinic.

There are bigger fishes in the sea, who are violating laws and cheating people systematically. Do I, or anyone for that matter, dare to catch them? Does any law prevent them from what they are doing? 2007-2008 has been declared as year to spread awareness on Female Foeticide. But what has happened practically? Does anyone care?

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Couldn't help writing this, though I know this permeates the boundary of a blog and gets to the dilemmas of personal feelings and professional life.

2007-06-24T22:52:00.001+05:30

Life's too hectic... Can't come out of the silence here... :(

The Flowers at the Feet...

2007-05-09T20:27:00.000+05:30

This has been boiling inside me since so many days... the education system around me.

Multiple languages, multiple religions, multiple political ideologies, multiple cultures... India is already torn into hundred and one pieces. We claim of Unity in diversity, but the fact remains to be seen by all...

There are very few elements that bind all Indians together, most powerful among them being Cricket. If we search for such elements, there are very rare positive instances of this country becoming united... in expressions, views, deeds etc.

Added to this is the inequality planted by our education system, which makes privileged get good education, and underprivileged get government education. Of late I’m in dilemma... government education system is meant for whom, and what is the purpose. The rural children who are bright but don’t have access to the private schools are getting educated in government schools, deprived of the courses running the current trends.

Education is a booming business today in this country. Too many International Schools, Residential Schools etc, with hi-fi syllabus. All the privileged kids reared to international standards. Much sophisticated, capable of speaking English and meant to go places. India’z developing finally at a faster rate!! Sounds good. Feels good.

On the other hand there is Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, meant to ‘universalize’ the education system across India. More of activity-oriented, performance of student measured with grades, no marks, no ranking. The idea is novel.

Everything would be fine with this system till the kids reach 10th standard. Later they will have to enter same privatized / governmental colleges. Same entrance tests for Engineering/ Medical. (No other occupation is fascinating enough for most of the Indians..!!) Same old system with examinations, marks, ranks, merit-based assessment. The novel idea dies there.

The fear now is, these kids may not be competitive enough to deal with the system of examinations, marks and competition. A doubt, that how can a kid who doesn’t have the practise of writing any exam till 10th cope with answering so many questions in so and so time. The kids who learnt in private schools with the conventional exam-based system for 10 years would obviously be better than these..!!!

I see those innocent kids in my village who don’t know what is central syllabus or international syllabus, content with what they are learning. And the parents who are worried about the future of these kids, and how to make them competitive enough to be an engineer or medical graduate.

These kids are going to end up being second-class citizen, with no white-collar, high- earning jobs. The divide is going to be bigger.

No one cares a damn. Not media. Not educationists. Not the government. The few shrill voices against the wind are not heard.

The Sarva-Shiksha Abhiyan and the privatized education look like two opposite poles to me. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan appears like an ointment applied to a wound, keeping the thorn inside. If the media, educationists, government, and constitution can wake up so that something is done to remove the thorn...

Let’s not forget the flowers at our feet, while we aim high up in the sky...