Chitthi Aayi Hai.......

Today after so many days i got a chance to visit the post office. My roomie was supposed to pick up some kinda parcel from the post office. So we reached there at 10. It was in a kind of broken down building. I went there with a preconceived notion that it would be "sunsaan" as it was saturday morning. But what met my eyes upon reaching there was a pleasant suprise to the eyes. It was buzzing with activity. There were post-mans,sorters(if thats wat you call them),clerks. The whole atmosphere in the office brought a retro look to it. I felt i was back in the malgudi days where children would run after postman, when postmen were welcomed with open arms, when the song "chitthi aayi hai aayi hai" was a super-hit. There was the sound of a dot-matrix printer, sorters sorting all teh letters with a half a blink on it, the manager of that office meticuously noting down all the things and post-men taking their load for the day. It literally felt for some time that i had done a time travel and noone was able to see me. Their management i guess is still unmatched. There is never a delay nor any kind of address mismatch.   

As i stood ther witnessing all this i realized how things have changed nowadays. Our new post-men is the e-mail. There is noo excitement surrounding the postman. We only see them as time waste. We dont even say thank you let alone giving that guy something to eat or at the least water to drink. I do agree that e-mails are much more convenient but with the post office there is a human touch which cant be matched. And the feelings that can be felt or expresed in a handwritten letter can be never felt in an email. It just doesnt come out the same way. Lastly I do feel that with a decline in the use of post office somewhere down the line we have lost a bit of humanity and innocence tooo...... 

Feminism

What do we actually mean by feminism?? It refers to any movement, any actions taken towards the betterment of the position of women in our society. Women have always been looked down upon in our society whenever it came to matching the opposite sex. There always has been a notion that woman’s place is at home. 


In the early 1960s, a woman looking for a job would open her newspaper to find two lists of employment advertisements: one for men, and another for women. Not surprisingly, the jobs available to men were challenging positions with potential for advancement, while those available to women were typically low-paying and involved mundane clerical tasks. Regardless of their education or abilities, women were systematically excluded from opportunities in the workplace.

Though we have come a long way since the start of the feminist women we can’t still deny the fact that discrimination still exist In the Indian society. In today’s generation discrimination against women is subtle rather than blatant. Still there are sections in our society who do not allow women to express themselves. Women who have the desire to work and are very much capable of handling both personal and professional life are suppressed. Its considered a crime for women to work.

If we have to change this, women themselves have to change their thinking. They have to believe in themselves that they can match step to step with the opposite sex. They are the future. They need to believe that they can perform both roles with equal efficiency. Any working female can be considered as a feminist. The fact that she has taken a decision of supporting her family by taking up a job deserves a round of applause. Its true that women have to work much much more harder to achieve something on the professional front which a man can achieve with much more ease. So any women who defied all odds and fought for her rights deserves the greatest of respect.

Today as a direct result of many feminist movements and various fights for gender equality there has been an expansion in women’s job opportunities. Many women have attained positions of prestige. Even in India the growth of women in public or private sector jobs has been noticeable. Indra Nooyi, Chanda Kocchar, Kiran Bedi, Sonia Gandhi are some of the best examples to illustrate the same. A glaring statistic to back it up is that 11% of the chief executives are women. Clearly, the advancement of women within the workplace is among feminism’s many accomplishments, successes that include voting rights, economic independence and property rights for women, equal opportunities for education, and a greater awareness of rape and domestic violence.

So to all the females of India be proud of being a woman because you have the capability of doing things which we (men) can only dream of.

No More A Worry!!!!

Why did you play with my feelings?
You left my life reeling
I loved you, I cared for you
But then i came to know that all you care about is you
You let me go, you let me be
Though i never wanted to be
My mistake was i expected too much
Because i loved you so much
But being a friend you couldn't even fulfill this much..

You admit you took me for granted
You never  asked me what i wanted
I still stood there waiting for you
So stupid not realisingthat it was not you
You dont have to worry I will still be there for you
Hoping you would realise what yu have done too
The light is getting dim and you are nowhere insight
I no more have the power nor the will to fight
Now its too late for even a sorry
Good for you i am no more a worry......

Steve Jobs:His I-Way to heaven

Steve Jobs-role model,fighter,enterpreneur,genius.... These are just some of the adjectives that can be used to describe this i-conic man!!!!! Ya ya the 'i' was meant to be that way. Born on February 24th 1955 to a syrian father and an american mother, Jobs was slated to be adopted right after his birth to a couple who were lawyers. But a change in decision of the lawyers saw Jobs being adopted by a middle class couple-Paul and Clara Jobs.

Steve Jobs childhood was like a normal child. He grew up and later joined Reed college. Its Tuition fees ate most of his parents savings and after a few months Jobs felt that college was doing no good. So he decided to drop out of college. This proved to be his best decision in life. But life wasnt easy at first. Since he dropped out he had nowhere to stay. He slept on the floor of his friends dorm room, sold coke bottles for five cents and ate a fulfilling meal every sunday at the Hari-Krishna temple near-by. But one thing that worked in his favour was he could take up courses of his choice. He was not obliged to stick to a curriculum. At that time Reed college provided one of the best calligraphy classes in the country. Jobs took it up. Noone would ever imagine a harmless calligraphy class would revolutionise computers so much. That class which he took proved instrumental in Mcintosh(first computer by apple) having beautiful typo-graphies. As Jobs himself said-"you can never connect the dots looking forwards.... you can only connect it looing backwards!!!!" He implied we should learn to have faith in something,it could be anything-God,Karma!!!! At first things may look haphazard but in the end it will all make sense!!!

Steve Jobs started Apple along with Steve Wozniak at his garage. They designed their first computer-Mcintosh and it was a big hit!!!! In two years Apple went out to be a 2 billion company with more than 2000 employers. A new kid had arrived in the silicon valley. He revolutionized personal computers. But then he took a decision which he would regret forever in his life. He lured John Sculled from Pepsi to become Apple's CEO. At first they worked well in sync but then as Steve turned 30, he and Sculley had a fall-out regarding the future of Apple. The board of Directors sided with Sculley and Jobs was thrown out of the Company which he had started.

Steve Jobs was completely devastated by this. He felt he had let himself down. He even thought of running away. But one fine day a thought struck him, a thought which would change the rest of his life. He still loved what he did. According to him its quintessential that we must find that one thing which we love the most. He still loved wat he was doing so there was no use of running away!!!! After that he started a company named NeXT and Pixar. Pixar went on to make the first computer animation film-Toy Story!!! And both the companes made progress leaps and bounds!!!! And as fate would have it Apple went onto buy NeXT and Steve was back to wat he had found. Later on Pixar was bought by Disney and Jobs went out to become the biggest individual shareholder in Disney with a 7% share.
He went on to release the I-Pod,I-Phone and I-Pad while being the CEO of Apple all of which were pure work of genius.

But in 2004 Steve Jobs announced that he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At first the cancer looked incurable but after a close inspection it turned to be be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer which could be removed by surgery. All seemed well and Jobs was fine again. But it wasnt meant to be a fairy-tale. Jobs continously battled against cancer for seven years. He resigned as the CEO of Apple and went on a permnent leave. On October 5th,2011 he lost the battle against cancer. He died in his home. But his thoughts about dead were for all to admire. He never feared death. In fact according to him death was the single most beautiful creation by God. It cleared the old and made way for new. He said and i quote-"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me… Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me." 

His speech at the 2005 Stanford commencement is nothing short of a masterpiece. Whenever i feel the need to be inspired i hear it. I would advice you the same. He will always be remembered for the person he was- a good human being!!!!

                                                              R.I.P STEVE JOBS



Will The Real Anna Please Stand Up!!!!!!

THE GRAND OLD MAN OF INDIA OF THE
MORDERN AGE!!!!

The past month has seen one of the biggest public movements to have ever happened in India since the freedom movement-the fight against corruption, the fight against all the black money that rightfully belongs to the country and not in the purses of our babus!!!!! The Adarsh Scam, The 2G Scam are all examples that our leaders, the ones whom we have chosen are more interested in serving their pockets than us. Crores of rupees are stashed away by these greedy hyenas while majority of India still lives below poverty line. The West still sees us as the third world country and they will continue to do so. because nothing substantial is being done to change that image. We do hear from time to time that India is developing and soon it will be a superpower. Aint we a little behind schedule in that matter??? Shouldn't we have been a superpower already??? I am afraid the answer to these questions is a 'yes'!! We dream of turning Mumbai into the new Shanghai. Forget it guys. It aint gonna happen. Atleast not under the current state of affairs. It was only a matter of moment before someone stepped up to give a proper rap to the government, to unite the people and start a revolution. And the one man who has been the father of this revolution is Mr. Anna Hazare. He has united the country just like Mahatma had done.  He has literally single handedly carried forward the movement. He managed to make a million people say in unison-NO CORRUPTION!!!

What Anna has done for the country is commendable. In fact i think commendable might be the least we can say for what all he has put into for the betterment of us. Uniting a million people is no child's play. The past month saw the whole of India coming out of their homes in support of Anna and voice their displeasure against what was long since known. There were rallies,candle marches organized all over India to show Anna that the whole nation is behind him.

Many people think that the passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill will mean that victory is ours, that Anna has managed to do what he had set out for. I certainly don't think so. I do feel Anna wants to see a corrupt-free India but I dont think he wants to limit it only to our netas. I feel victory will be truly ours only if we ourselves become free of corruption. Let face it guys!!! Most of us have done corruption of one sort or another in our lives. We think that it is too small in front of what our leaders have done. Rubbish!!!!! It is as good as killing someone and saying i just choked him, i didnt cut all his body parts!!!!! A sin is a sin, how ever big or small. I would like to ask all those who had come down onto the streets the following questions

a)Will you never ever bribe a traffic policeman again??
b)Will you never ever try to look for a easy way out when someone close to you gets arrested for any reason??
c)Will you never try and enroll your child into a prestigious college if a paid seat is available??

If any of these questions has put some question marks in them then I'd say better look deep inside as to why you have come out of your house. Its no use telling if they can do it why cant we. We need to be corrupt free ourselves as well as stop those who are doing. Doing only the latter is nothing but an utter waste of time. What our country really wants is an Anna to be in all of us. So the real question lies in Will The Real Anna Please Stand Up??? And then only the phrase "ANNA TUM AAGE BADO, HUM TUMHARE SAATH HAIN!!!!!!! " will make any sense at all. And if we manage to do so then Anna will be proud of us and it will be his true victory!!!!!!!

WE ALL ARE ANNA!!!!!

The Impersonator!!!!!

 

 

The men’s side of tennis is at its competitive best. It’s hard to remember the last time when at everygrand slam there are four contenders!!!! Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray have developed a healthy and stiff competition among themselves. It’s hard to predict the winner when these warriors come face to face. Gone are the days when Federer and Nadal were the favourites at every grand slam. There is a new guy on the block-Novak Djokovic!!!!

Let’s face it guys!!! This guy has been nothing short of phenomenal this season. Losing just 2 matches in the whole season is something that no one would have imagined let alone from this man. After his triumphant 2008 Austrialian Open many people judged him to be a one slam wonder. But 2011 shut all his critics right up. I think the 2010 loss at the U.S. Open final to Nadal was the changing point. He underwent a whole new fitness regime and also undertook a new diet after that which allowed us to see the Novak he is now. I also do think that participating in the Davis Cup has helped him immensely. He himself has said that he has found a belief that he can defeat the top players in the world. Defeating Nadal in five finals is no mean feat. And the victory at Wimbledon will be one which he won’t forget the rest of his life. His passion for the game is nowhere in doubt. Seeing him eat the Wimbledon grass after the historic victory made me believe he just loves and respects the game.

 

His Prized Catch-Wimbledon!!!

Now moving onto why I simply love this man. I do find Nole to be a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. I perceived tennis to be a serious game until I saw this man. His antics on and off the field has made me believe that you can have fun in this sport. His impersonations are worth a watch. Andre Agassi said in his auto-biography “THE OPEN” that tennis is one of the loneliest sports in the world and that its players are like boxers who exchange blows through their racquets. I do think Nole might not agree with the former point of view and as for the latter he does make the boxing an enjoyable one. His antics at the Australian Open earned him the name “Djoker”. His passion for the game is nowhere in doubt. I even copy his chest-fisting or whatever you call it when I am pumped up. I just love the way how his whole family turns up to support him at each and every match.

As I write this the U.S. Open is underway. Too bad that I can’t watch his match as it is telecasted early morning here. But I never miss his highlights. I would pray for his victory so that I can tell all my friends who are either Nadal or Federer fans “in your face”!!! J I hope he continues his form and I am sure he will be regarded as one of the greatest players to have ever played the game!!!!

 

And We All Say "INDIA.....INDIA!!!!!!"

Before a match!!!!!

One of my finest and cleanest memory I have of my childhood is that of getting a cricket
bat on my birthday. And I will be perfectly honest with you when I say that though I remember
the gift but I definitely don’t remember how old I was back then. And then the journey of dreams
started, dreams that every child in India dreams while growing up, to become a “Cricketer”. I
vaguely remember hitting a lot of shots with that bat. You hit every ball thinking that you are
next “Sachin”. If you didn’t play cricket back then, you would surely be branded a ‘loser’. But
who can blame us. On the contrary we are not the ones to blame.

Just one of the examples of the craze of cricket
in India!!!!

Cricket is a religion here. We eat, sleep and breath cricket throughout our lives. We speak
the names of our cricketers more than any other word in our lives perhaps. And this craziness
doesn’t limit itself to India only. Indians all over the world are the same. They share the same
passion, same love for the game. One of the finest example to highlight this fact was given by
one of the England captains when he said at the toss that on arrival to the ground he felt as if his
team were the away side although the match was being played in England itself. A typical match
in India is marked by people standing outside TV selling stores. And if the match is between
India and Pakistan then you can be rest assured that it will be a public holiday. A recent Shah
Rukh Khan ad rightly projected the love for the game. A person will stop and ask a complete
stranger “score kya hua”? The stadiums will be jam packed and one look at the crowd will be
enough to make you believe that there are more people than seats. Long queues will greet your
eyes outside the stadium. And if you happen to have the match bickets then you are well advised
to leave your home a good two hours before the match in order not to miss a single ball.

The moment when a billion hearts are broken!!!!!

We have all grown up hearing the words “Time Never Stops”. There is only one

exception to this phrase. The moment when there is an appeal against Sachin Tendulkar. Time
does stop for the Indian fans. Their heart does skip a beat. Everything seems to come to a
standstill. And if the dreaded finger goes up then a billion hearts are broken. I feel pity for the
umpire who has to face the curses of a billion people for no mistake of his icon. An Indian loss is
equivalent to a personal loss. It hurts. I used to cry whenever India lost a match when I was
small. I used to request my mom to change the result of the game somehow.

We Indians pride ourselves to be the best analyst of the game. Every adda will have

cricketing topics to be discussed whenever a series is going on. And let me assure you each and
every aspect of the game is discussed over a cutting. Each player is scrutinized over and over
again. There is nothing as a perfect shot in our dictionary. Each one will have a different view on
what should have been done to the ball bowled. If we had our way then each ball would have
been a boundary. Cricketers are more than God to us till the time India is winning.

On the eve of the match each and every person, rich or poor, will be glued to heir TV sets

and ratio’s and when the Indian team takes to the field a billion hearts just say one
word “INDIA….INDIA!!!”

They made us proud!!!!!