The biggest fault I see in him is his utmost reluctance to wash dishes ,when it is finally his turn.O and i am very articulate about my resentment.But he couldnt care less!
Counter contentions run on for hours , how not washing greased plates can save energy and reduce the carbon footprint.."I will do it just before we sit down for dinner tomorrow" - Thats usually his opening line of attack when I remind him of his chores...and so, the argument continues.....Aaauugghh!!!
The situation worsens during winters, then, even getting him to the sink is an ordeal!!
Is there a pill that makes husbands more sink friendly?Anyone listening?
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Do we know them enough?
How much do we know our leader,our prospective head..That he could be kickboxing champion?That he gets to watch movies with famous movie stars?When his birthday is and which sunsign he belongs to?O, ofcourse we do get to read,predictions famous astrologers make about famous men in the new year.But is that all there is to know about men and women who will play an important role in the lives of a billion people?
Is it enough to know that a leader does not have criminal charges?Enough to hear the election campaign speeches and promises ,most of which are never fulfilled anyway.But come on,we can forgive a few lapses!After all,it stands proved that Indians have the highest tolerance ( for nonsense ).
I dont think I am interested in most of those statistics at all.Although I cant deny that they prove to be juicy reads from time to time.
Is it audacity to ask what my next Prime Minister thinks about abortion?Or what is his take on homosexuality?Does he think infiltration on our eastern borders is a matter of concern?That even the most vulnerable people,who work in the unorganized sector are losing work to illegal immigrants?The ordinary tax payer's money that is supposedly used to run welfare programs for the disadgantaged among us, Indians,eventually do good to illegals?There is no crackdown ofcourse,because these people are provided voting rights by the ruling political party and ultimately serve as props to keep an inefficient and corrupt regime in power.Does he plan to tackle that?Or is he going to use the same method,if he comes to throne and hence these 'trivial' issues are brushed under the carpet?
In his opinion should a retarded pregnant women get to keep her baby?Should the state provide assistance in such situations?
For that matter, I want to know,what he thinks of reservation and quota and whether he would agree if one said that it provides more political mileage than social equity.What does he think about merit based opportunities,atleast to a larger extent than is now prevalent?
Honestly, he never had to compete to prove his merit,not even to get admitted to the best universities of the world - those little things,lesser mortals call achievements, were served on a silver platter to him,it would be especially interesting to know what his take is, on the matter.
Well there are so many things we keep wondering about the illusive elite,but unfortunately,in our culture,there is no platform where "great leaders" are quizzed about sensitive issues.So much for free and responsible media.
Only when a wrong is done we all love to sit and judge.We dont care to use our mind to decide if there is any potential in the man to do right at all,before we bestow greatness upon him, and proclaim him our king and master.
Do we really ever get to know who our leaders (leaders:read the crown prince and princesses of the royal family in the indian political scenario) are ?How do they analyse?How they think?What their value systems are?What do they really represent? Are they progressive?Are they conservative?Or radical?To what extent?
Isnt it time he came down from the ivory-tower and open up a bit more. How long will only glamour hold us swaying?
Is it enough to know that a leader does not have criminal charges?Enough to hear the election campaign speeches and promises ,most of which are never fulfilled anyway.But come on,we can forgive a few lapses!After all,it stands proved that Indians have the highest tolerance ( for nonsense ).
I dont think I am interested in most of those statistics at all.Although I cant deny that they prove to be juicy reads from time to time.
Is it audacity to ask what my next Prime Minister thinks about abortion?Or what is his take on homosexuality?Does he think infiltration on our eastern borders is a matter of concern?That even the most vulnerable people,who work in the unorganized sector are losing work to illegal immigrants?The ordinary tax payer's money that is supposedly used to run welfare programs for the disadgantaged among us, Indians,eventually do good to illegals?There is no crackdown ofcourse,because these people are provided voting rights by the ruling political party and ultimately serve as props to keep an inefficient and corrupt regime in power.Does he plan to tackle that?Or is he going to use the same method,if he comes to throne and hence these 'trivial' issues are brushed under the carpet?
In his opinion should a retarded pregnant women get to keep her baby?Should the state provide assistance in such situations?
For that matter, I want to know,what he thinks of reservation and quota and whether he would agree if one said that it provides more political mileage than social equity.What does he think about merit based opportunities,atleast to a larger extent than is now prevalent?
Honestly, he never had to compete to prove his merit,not even to get admitted to the best universities of the world - those little things,lesser mortals call achievements, were served on a silver platter to him,it would be especially interesting to know what his take is, on the matter.
Well there are so many things we keep wondering about the illusive elite,but unfortunately,in our culture,there is no platform where "great leaders" are quizzed about sensitive issues.So much for free and responsible media.
Only when a wrong is done we all love to sit and judge.We dont care to use our mind to decide if there is any potential in the man to do right at all,before we bestow greatness upon him, and proclaim him our king and master.
Do we really ever get to know who our leaders (leaders:read the crown prince and princesses of the royal family in the indian political scenario) are ?How do they analyse?How they think?What their value systems are?What do they really represent? Are they progressive?Are they conservative?Or radical?To what extent?
Isnt it time he came down from the ivory-tower and open up a bit more. How long will only glamour hold us swaying?
Friday, December 11, 2009
Wishes..cont
It had been raining all morning so the air was damp and cold.After sundown, draped in a shawl,I sat on the porch in the big armchair, reading a book, with a hot cup of coffee on the sidepiece,patiently waiting for him to come home.
After a couple of hours his car pulled up, outside the gate.I stood up and stepped forward to greet him.
We went inside together.A little later we sat together in front of the hearth in his favourite white couch immersed in our own little world
After a couple of hours his car pulled up, outside the gate.I stood up and stepped forward to greet him.
We went inside together.A little later we sat together in front of the hearth in his favourite white couch immersed in our own little world
Wishes
When I looked out of the grounded glasses of my window, the sky revealed a dull grey, drops of water had formed on the glass.I pushed open the window to be greeted by the early morning drizzle...it brought in a fresh whiff of fragrance though not of any familiar flower.I breathed in once,deep and full.There was a slight chill in the air.
I stood there for a long time. A white veil slipped over the green serenity in front of me, almost looked as if many strings of pearls dropped one after the other...there was no sound except that of the falling raindrops on the wooden rooftop of myhouse.
The silence broke when he called my name.I turned to face him,wearing a mischevious smile , he came closer ,put his arms around me but reached out to close the windows.He closed the windows before closing his arms on me draping us both in a shawl.
I stood there for a long time. A white veil slipped over the green serenity in front of me, almost looked as if many strings of pearls dropped one after the other...there was no sound except that of the falling raindrops on the wooden rooftop of myhouse.
The silence broke when he called my name.I turned to face him,wearing a mischevious smile , he came closer ,put his arms around me but reached out to close the windows.He closed the windows before closing his arms on me draping us both in a shawl.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Not all that bad (Part2)
You need to look beyond.Say, you take a walk from the metro station to my apartment.
First, you will learn to ignore the whistles and provoking comments by the pan chewing, gutka dribbling bidi fuming men who idle aorund there all day.Next you will have to learn to be oblivious to the well-practiced but heart-afflicting appeal for spare coins from the few street urchins(that will be easy as time passes especially if you discover them smoking bidis behind the metro car parking area,and hurling offensive abuses at each other for making off with one of their 'bottle' or something of similar nature).
In the next 100 metres you will come to the line of furniture shops,this is the most irritating of all.Every half hour or so,the men in the shops gurgle and like skilled showmen,throw the jet stream from their mouth ,right in the middle of the street.They may hold the water in their mouth a little longer ,if a car happens to pass,but not for passers-by on foot.
By now,you may curse the place,but just then you see a teen-aged school boy guiding a blind-elderly man by the hand,to safety,even as his mom yells at him,from the balcony overlooking the street and threatens him with dire consequences if he doesnt come into the house immediately.He turns a deaf ear to his mom and an attentive ear to his young conscience.You smile inwardly,first at his obstinacy and then ,at his thougtfulness.
Walk a few more steps, and you cross the half crazed destitute who wears a bandage on his forehead for as long as you have seen him.He is peacefully sleeping on the footpath, you know that he sleeps here .All day,he loiters in the nearby streets.Someone who lives in one of the apartments closeby,provides him blankets every night and warm clothes too.Someone else provides him 2 square meals a day.
Finally,you reach the rented apartment called home.On the stairway,you meet your landlady.First thing she asks is"have you eaten anything today?".Reminds you of mom,years ago,asking the same when you got back home from school,sensing you skipped lunch.
Even though you smile and nod your head,your landlady assumes the authority of your mom and orders you to change and quickly come down to her for some lunch."You will collapse soon,if you dont eat well."
You did come down.Inspite of all your reservations and shyness,its hard to refuse her.
And at the end of it all,you will see that there are many wrongs in this large strange dirty Indian city,still some things warm your heart towards its people.If you stay long enough,they will have won you over.
First, you will learn to ignore the whistles and provoking comments by the pan chewing, gutka dribbling bidi fuming men who idle aorund there all day.Next you will have to learn to be oblivious to the well-practiced but heart-afflicting appeal for spare coins from the few street urchins(that will be easy as time passes especially if you discover them smoking bidis behind the metro car parking area,and hurling offensive abuses at each other for making off with one of their 'bottle' or something of similar nature).
In the next 100 metres you will come to the line of furniture shops,this is the most irritating of all.Every half hour or so,the men in the shops gurgle and like skilled showmen,throw the jet stream from their mouth ,right in the middle of the street.They may hold the water in their mouth a little longer ,if a car happens to pass,but not for passers-by on foot.
By now,you may curse the place,but just then you see a teen-aged school boy guiding a blind-elderly man by the hand,to safety,even as his mom yells at him,from the balcony overlooking the street and threatens him with dire consequences if he doesnt come into the house immediately.He turns a deaf ear to his mom and an attentive ear to his young conscience.You smile inwardly,first at his obstinacy and then ,at his thougtfulness.
Walk a few more steps, and you cross the half crazed destitute who wears a bandage on his forehead for as long as you have seen him.He is peacefully sleeping on the footpath, you know that he sleeps here .All day,he loiters in the nearby streets.Someone who lives in one of the apartments closeby,provides him blankets every night and warm clothes too.Someone else provides him 2 square meals a day.
Finally,you reach the rented apartment called home.On the stairway,you meet your landlady.First thing she asks is"have you eaten anything today?".Reminds you of mom,years ago,asking the same when you got back home from school,sensing you skipped lunch.
Even though you smile and nod your head,your landlady assumes the authority of your mom and orders you to change and quickly come down to her for some lunch."You will collapse soon,if you dont eat well."
You did come down.Inspite of all your reservations and shyness,its hard to refuse her.
And at the end of it all,you will see that there are many wrongs in this large strange dirty Indian city,still some things warm your heart towards its people.If you stay long enough,they will have won you over.
Not All that bad
At a gathering,a young man with sparkling eyes,who worked for the army announced, how proud he was to have been born in this country, and given a chance,would smilingly lay is life down for it.Hearing this , a drunk cynic remarked, "Sure , you ought to be.Because if you live to retire, you may go home with a few medals and a pension benefit, perhaps.But if you get your 'chance' the media will cover you,and the country will thank the hero-that-was.Atleast for a little while you will be a celebrity.Nevermind that after a few days your memories are trashed with the old newspapers.O ,Dont wonder about your family at all, the country promises 25 kg of rice every month, at Rs3 a kg.What fortune that you were born here!"
There indeed are no ends to the atrocities prevailing.The deserving dont get their dues.The corrupt,prosper.The ruthless are celebrated,the gentle are taken to be fools.Those in authority and power treat others as their inherited slaves and keep the seats within their family.Those who can make a difference if they wanted , do not have the much needed vertebra.The poor are hapless ,rich are crushing while the rest in the middle - think that the whole country is an extension of their dumpyards.
One is awestruck at the sheer lack of basic civic sense or responsible parenting - leave alone the hope of contemplative responsible citizenry.Its quite commonplace to find the neighbour carry his three little children together on one bike ,to school everyday.Or the shopkeeper dispose his waste just on the sides of the pavement, or the pedestrian spit his phlegm in a parabolic motion - nonchalant whether it landed neatly on the other man who walked barely a metre behind him.
Apparently, there is no reason to be proud.But there is more to this country than meets the eye
There indeed are no ends to the atrocities prevailing.The deserving dont get their dues.The corrupt,prosper.The ruthless are celebrated,the gentle are taken to be fools.Those in authority and power treat others as their inherited slaves and keep the seats within their family.Those who can make a difference if they wanted , do not have the much needed vertebra.The poor are hapless ,rich are crushing while the rest in the middle - think that the whole country is an extension of their dumpyards.
One is awestruck at the sheer lack of basic civic sense or responsible parenting - leave alone the hope of contemplative responsible citizenry.Its quite commonplace to find the neighbour carry his three little children together on one bike ,to school everyday.Or the shopkeeper dispose his waste just on the sides of the pavement, or the pedestrian spit his phlegm in a parabolic motion - nonchalant whether it landed neatly on the other man who walked barely a metre behind him.
Apparently, there is no reason to be proud.But there is more to this country than meets the eye
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
What if?
Someone suggested to me that regular practice and discipline is the key to creativity..Or is it?Have we not come across those who have written spontaneously and engagingly from the time they ever begun to write?Remember those essay competitions in school which were invariably won by only a handful,and in every grade the same faces won?
But, I like to believe my suggester..That gives more hope and more control over one's abilities
But, I like to believe my suggester..That gives more hope and more control over one's abilities
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