If the world was ruled and run by gals

Serendipity is a great thing. It strikes at the most unexpected time. The following ideas and points are a result of my vivid imagination and a consequence of my conversations with my friends. If girls were to rule and run the world what would it be like. Just a few points which come to my mind:

1. Baby pink to be made national colour.
2. All houses to be painted pink with flower patterns.
3. Fashion spending to replace defence spending in budget.
4. Economies of countries would collapse as the government would begin to feed stray animals for free.
5. Boys to be admitted to attitude correctional facilities from their birth where they would be taught to cry and would be trained to watch epic movies such as '51 first dates' and 'When Harry met Sally'. No schools for the boys.
6. Metal and hard rock to be banned and songs by Boyzone and Westlife to be sung at all solemn occasions.
7. All big electronics companies would be taken over by Archies and Hallmark.
8. Teddy Bear to be the national symbol.
9. Words like 'manly', 'macho' and 'muscular' to be deemed unconstitutional.
10. Olympics to stop any sport involving contact or exertion. Such sports to be swapped with games such as fashion shows and model hunts. The most coveted prize would be for the game 'barbie doll decoration'.
11. Instead of Gold medals the winner would get a day of shopping at a shopping street of their choice.
12. Separate constitution for boys and girls. The boys'  constitution to have only fundamental duties and no fundamental rights.
13. All shops and outlets no matter what they sell would be allowed to carry on business only if they have the latest Louis Vuitton, Prada, Jimmy Choo and Gucci brochures on display.
14.  Boys' study syllabus to include knowledge on female accessories and greater understanding of colours and their shades.
15. The names of weekdays (viz. Monday, Tuesday, ...) to be replaced by more expressive day names like 7th February to be called Rose day, 9th February to be called Chocolate day, 14th Feb to be called Valentine's Day, etc.
16. Male graduate students to be quizzed on these day names to be able to get their degrees.
17. All offices, institutions and public places to have fashion accessory shops and it would be mandatory to have huge mirrors at all places.
18. Any male driving within a 2 km. radius of a female driver will automatically be booked for rash and negligent driving. 
19. All geared automobiles, especially motorcycles to be banned. Companies can produce only gearless motor-vehicles. Two wheeler companies to produce only scooters.
20. All parking spaces to have 20 m. clearance on front and back after each vehicle slot.
21. All offices to have mandatory makeup breaks after every 1 hr.
22. All mining efforts to be directed towards important and useful things like gold, diamond, silver and platinum. Mining of dirty things like coal, iron ore, etc. to be made illegal.
23. Along with Financial management and marketing management, all MBA colleges to run compulsory courses on Face and Hair Management.
24. Karvachauth and Teej to be made national holidays.
25. All Hindu unmarried girls would be allowed 16 or 32 Mondays off from their workplaces or schools depending on their requirements.
26. Death penalty and life imprisonment to be replaced by mandatory daily walks among friends and social gatherings wearing poorly fitted and ill conceived dresses, and a prohibition on applying makeup.
27. Chicken and fish killing would be banned, still food outlets would be expected to dish out the bucketfuls and chicken wings when ordered.

(Disclaimer: The above statements are made in humour and any damage or harm caused to the physical, mental or material well-being of anyone is unintended and deeply regretted.)

Earning less than Rs.1000 a month: You ain't poor

What has India come to. In a country which boasts of being the most sought after market in the world and which has a GDP of US$1.6 trillion the poor has been defined as someone earning Rs.28 a day. Which is not even a $1 a day. Inflation has been at an all time high for the past 2-3 years. Cost of living and basic articles has been spiralling upwards and in the wake of all this comes this definition of the poor in India. Pitiable and shameful to say the least. The government is more engrossed in its domestic fire-fighting within the coalition than its job of framing the policies for public welfare. The multi-party system though leads to representation of all the voices but in India's case has only aggravated the policy paralysis where the government is not able to take any decisive action and all its acts are stymied by the parties within its ranks. The situation is critical and needs urgent response and action. I don't propose any solution but certainly the issues are imminent. SM

Are we killing Hindi?

Just a couple of days back I was watching one of the leading hindi national news channels, the story was about leaders of BJP using very tough Hindi, the clip that they showed to back their claim left me absolutely flabbergasted. I mean have our general sense and understanding of our mother tongue stooped to such abysmal levels that we as literate beings having passed out of a school system which teaches us Nirala, Dinkar and Pant, can't even understand our own mother tongue. I mean I don't expect a lay man to be familiar with that language but when a political leader addresses a gathering of reporters who thrive and earn their living mincing and manipulating language and words, he is well within his rights to use language and terminology which should not be foreign or alien to a literate mind. I find it actually shameful that such a thing was being shown by a leading channel on national TV.

As I have always said, Hindi needs protection and we should be proud of our language and not mock people who actually know it and are using it. Any developed nation has a thread binding its people. In most of the developed world it is religion and language. If not religion then let atleast language be the binding force. Only then can India rise as one.

Signing off....
SM

The Rejuvinated New Government

Finally the portfolios have been allotted and the new ministers are raring to go. It is really heartening to see some new faces which were badly needed in key ministries. The appointment of Mr. Sibbal in the HRD ministry is particularly welcome as the ministry was tottering and badly needed some drastic change of guard.

The new ministry looks reassuring and somehow the confidence in the team rises on seeing some very prominent and able people in key ministries. Also the step of moving Mr. Kamal Nath to the Roads and Highways ministry is a welcome step as it would certainly improve the kind of roads which have been neglected during the past tenure of UPA. Call it the Rahul effect or whatever but somehow I as a citizen of India feel more secure by seeing the current group of ministers at the helm and am optimistic of India rising and growing during the next 5 years though my optimism might soon fade away as it generally does when the thing comes to action. Politics is a dirty fabric and somehow or the other even the extremely effective and efficient tend to get self indulgent and defensive. It is due to this that the work on the ground suffers.

I certainly do wish the new government well and hope that it presents a tough stand on the Australia racism issue. It is extremely necessary that something is done about the blatantness with which racist attacks happen in Australia and the world community as a whole should condemn it. Even more condemning and shameful is the prosaic attitude of the Australian government towards the issue. The world should work as one against the problem.

The US also wants India to sign the NPT. The response and the course of negotiations would certainly be interesting. Another major issue is the obvious, which is the Recession.

Thus, there are numerous issues facing the government and it needs to be very meticulous and methodical in its handling. Good luck to them...

Signing off....
SM

My unfateful encounter with an Indian Ignorant Hedonist

A big, fat, OBNOXIOUS, ignorant, happy about nothing guy whose ultimate aim in life is to spoil himself in the petty and frivolous - No, he is no more only an American anymore but rather he has finally arrived... in my dear old India. Today I had the fortunate (read as 'unfortunate') encounter with this very being in my college canteen. He came with a beaming smile and a chuckle ever so nauseating which seemed to arise after every end, and sometimes even in the middle, of a sentence. Happiness and bliss was oozing out from him and somehow he always seemed so compelled to give his own bland solutions to every global and political problem being discussed there and was quite efficient in relating it to his own solutions. I don't know if it was just me or my perception of the person but somehow I ended up analyzing that my friend believed that all the world's problems could be solved if one is happy. Everything else was immaterial, be it the ever so imminent threat from terrorism or the recession looming large in the global economy, if he could get a burger with fries along with a coke in a McDonald outlet on his way to a two star rated movie, the world was perfect. His analysis and comprehension of our overzealous and effervescent debate on the condition of the India was that if you don't have the power, who are you to debate on the issue. He was not only critical in pointing out to us our shortsightedness in having a debate on an issue which we could not change as we obviously did not have a hand in it (and I thank God for it). Our data and information laden rationale was obviously just numbers and it was always in mankind's interest in just shutting its mind, eyes and ears and in looking around to find a TV remote to change the channel of the TV ,which had almost changed to a News channel, and switch it back on to watching the actual idols on the music channels battle it out on a biker show.

Well obviously these are the after effects of passing out of our Hinglish education system Schools where the children are much more concerned and worried about preparing chits for the exam and getting micro xerox copies of a girlfriend's notes than studying for the exam.

May be I am an idealist but these acts of ignorance are intolerable to me. I want people to understand that before any change to happen there needs to be feeling of discomfort and anguish against what is to be changed. There needs to be knowledge of what is the system and where is it going wrong. A mechanic is able to fix and engine only because he knows it inside out. Hence change can only be done if we know and understand what is the actual problem and what needs to be changed. Considerable thought and discussions are a part of the change process. It is these discussions and exchanges that will enrich us and arm us and as and when power is bestowed on us and we become capable we would be able to sort the problems out because we know them. Our friends who think that thought is needed and necessary only when power comes would be caught unawares. Money and power are fickle things and change hands very quickly and frequently. Hence to make the most of it we need to think about it now and act when we get the chance and not lose our chance in understanding the problem during our tryst with power because there might never be a next time....

Signing Off...
SM

Losing their way or Yearning for Guidance - The Indian Gen Next

The much famed Indian Education system seems to have infected with some unknown disease causing virus as it is not infusing and instilling the future of India with what is most dear to it, the basic human and moral values. We have had great reverence and respect for intellect from time immemorial and our education system was based on the premise of teaching children to be good and effective human beings valuing relationships, morality and civility. But something seems to have gone wrong. There has been rapid degradation in the basic behavior of kids which can be seen in their general demeanor and their behaviour. There is an arrogance, a tendency of getting away with things, a know it all attitude, a general lack of respect and condescension. One, many or all of these attributes can be associated with most of the youngsters today.

In the name of preparing them for a tough world are we giving them the wrong set of values or a gloated sense of the self. Are we showing them the reality before making them believe that you are the best for the sake of making them confident. Do they have the fibre to work hard and then earn it or we are forcing them to take shortcuts?

I do understand that a present day youngster has to face immense pressures. I myself have and am facing them. Be it peer pressure of being the coolest and smartest or the pressure of fulfilling the expectations of your parents and loved ones or even the pressures of measuring upto your own sense of accomplishments. It is a very complex and difficult world and one has to manage himself with utmost composure and self restraint or it won't take long for things in his life to get ugly.

But I also strongly believe that though the pressures are there but we are fully capable and intelligent and reasonable enough to face them. But what if the whole concept of right and wrong in our system is flawed. Our yardstick itself is bent. I see around me lots of people who want to make it big. They are confident and self assured but lack the will to work hard in the right direction. They prefer to take the shortcuts even if it borders around being called 'wrong'.

But is it really their fault?? In today's world the schools are increasingly becoming tolerant to errant behaviour by children. I myself see it in my college and even a school for toddlers. They get away with things and are not punished. This lack of strictness creates a mental attitude in that one can get away with anything and hence the growing unruly behaviour of children. Moreover sycophancy has taken centre stage by being termed as being the lubricant for the smoothening of life. I see it pervading every facet of life. It is a cause of frustration to the real workers but what can be done. The world doesn't care for your work but rather who you are or who your relatives are and how can they help me. This is how and why many children are given 'special' treatment and they grow up with a wrong sense of the self. They have a bloated perception of the self and an equally unreal and minimized respect for the world.

The education system of the old was quite good and children need supervision and discipline. Obviously one does not have to be a Hitler but giving them advice and telling them wrong from the right is also our responsibility. They are children and do not know and in the name of independence should not be left to wander or else there are mazes of paths that go in the wrong direction and very few in the right. We have to guide them and show them the path, just show them and let them decide on their own.

If we become a little more realistic and responsible our next generation would not be a 'bad' one. It is very easy blaming it on the next generation that they have lost the way but we have to ponder about why they have lost the way. It might just be that no one has ever been there to show them the right path. We don't have to repeat our mistakes and have to realise our responsibilities also. We owe it to humanity to make them civilized, moral and ethical beings and if a little stick does the trick then so be it. After all the adage does go, 'Spare the stick, spoil the child'.