I'm sure many of you readers must've seen the really nice film, 3 idiots. Now i loved the film, some good lyrics, dialogues not so great music. But all in all a fantastic movie, will rate it even better than Paa.
Now my problem is NOT about the fact that there is a puny skinny, sukdya man spoof on my hottest fav James Bond, but the fact that even Aamir Khan has NOT bothered to give attention to some fine 'detailing.' That is called jockeys, panties, chaddis. Now i am one woman of those types for whom the look of panties, socks, bras, banyans, briefs matters tremendously. Puhleeez it was an assault on my visual senses to see multi coloured typical 'Indian' chaddis on display. Dark brown, light brown, brown, grey, black, dark black, light grey, white. Then in-between one sky blue, electric blue, orange & hideous red was squeezed in. They all looked mass products picked up fm Mohammed Ali road, Hill road or Lokhandwala, where all inner, outer, all types of wears, wares are displayed brazenly in your face!
See, if they are spending crores on a film they can buy jockeys, more so Victoria's Secret or some such leading brand, where the male boxers, in this idiots case jocks, chaddis 'look' decent. I mean all the cast of whatever background were shown to wear modern clothes, so then why these mass produced chaddis with pathetic look & colours? Why were the crew, production people, director & main star Aamir stingy about it?
Then worst eye sore were unhealthy looking back sides, arses or bumbs. Dark i can deal with bcoz thankfully NONE of them are related to me, but hairy (ugghhh)flabby, fleshy shoved into my face as they stare from the screen?? i wanted to scream. If they can pull a fast one on James Bond, they owe themselves this one least qualification to show their back sides - toughen up guys. Their arses shook from side to side like spounges, urgggh...my eyes hurt even now...side splitting? No way, the sides hurt seeing how Indian men do NOT, i reiterate do NOT bother to give ample thought and care to their back sides.
There is NO point trying to look hot, with Six ab pack if you can't maintain a good 'butt.' Is it important you may ask...well It is most important to a woman. I talk openly about, because i believe in my likes, which by now you must've gathered are pretty strong. Stronger are the dislikes.
Few years ago when i was going out with a foreign photo-journalist our common firend colleague had asked us in a circle what attracted me to a man. I said the man's eyes, face & more so the butt. I told him i don't look at most Indian men, because they IGNORE their butts completely. They are not tough, tight which look as attractive as the face. The other men at the table laughed, thought I was insane, mean, tough benchmarks & Neeta has her own Idiosyncrasies. The women shyly, coyly half smiled, because they just have NEVER told what they like or not & i'm sure as a result their men presume on behalf of women. May be their spouses have never really cared to find out. They looked like 'no one asks us, but we agree with Neeta..' type of expression they wore.
Now coming back to idiots, that is exactly what i felt. Pitied the women spouses of the male star cast who openly displayed their back sides so frequently, which i thought was very very cool. But for some stickler, perfectionist like Aamir, this was such a gaffe it is unforgivable...hope he reads this & falls down laughing. I mean it's like seeing a shaky Pamela Anderson with half the size of her boobs shaking & sagging loosely...well yes that is exactly how the arses/butts of most men looked.
I am tremendously biased. I luvvvvv Daniel Craig, he is on my home page of twitter. Just see him rise out of the water, he beats Ursula Anderson man...!! He looks awesome, what tight butt, that John Abraham tried his best to show his wotever in Dostana, but sorry guys i wrote then...flopped badly..firstly wooden dead pan face...in marathi we say maashi he halat nahi naka varun, then that thin abso NO worked out butt, did NOT click...with me...i'm sure women of all age groups paid to see it..I saw the film free..
so kick the butts guys..
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
BORN ON 26/11 In the shadow of terror
Around the time Ajmal Kasab and Co were on their ruthless killing spree, little Goli opened her eyes to life. A year later, her parents write a thank you letter to the Cama Hospital staff for putting their own lives at risk to give them this precious gift
It was not without reason that one-year-old Goli Chavan was given a dramatic name. While most newborns arrive in the world to a warm welcome and swaddled sleep, she had to lie on the floor of Cama Hospital next to her mother as bullets flew around the labour ward.
Her mother, Viju Chavan, had gone into labour on the night of 26/11 around the time Ajmal Kasab and his terror team started firing randomly inside the hospital. The terrorists were aiming at slaughtering or grabbing as many hostages as they could. Had it not been for the immense courage and presence of mind shown by the hospital staff and the mother herself, we would not be getting set to celebrate Goli’s first birthday four days from now.
“Every day we send up a prayer thanking God for saving us that fateful night of 26/11 and giving us this gift, our daughter,” Viju Chavan tells The Mag, remembering that
horrific night.
Goli of course has another, more proper name: Tejaswini. But her parents say that they prefer to call her by a name that reminds them of the fact that she was born in the shadow of terror and is a symbol of human endurance.
SURVIVAL INSTINCT
The story of that night the Chavans lived through reads like an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Shyamu Laxman Chavan, a dock worker at Sassoon Docks, and his wife Viju have an older son who is now six years old. When Viju became pregnant for the second time, the family had rejoiced. Around 8pm on November 26 last year, Viju started feeling the contractions. Her husband and son rushed with her to Cama Hospital for the delivery.
“At 8.30pm we were inside the hospital. We waited for half an hour to complete the admission procedure. Everything was quiet. I took Viju to the labour ward when she complained of pain. They asked us to wait. In the meanwhile, the gynaecologist gave me a prescription and asked me to get some medicines,” recalls Shyamu.
On his way down to the pharmacy Shyamu saw people running in panic. He also saw a guard lying in a pool of blood. Even then, Shyamu and other visitors to the hospital had no clue that the hospital was under a terror attack.
“The liftman came and rounded us up with his baton. He gave us five minutes to clear out of the ward,” says Shyamu. But something told him they were all better off indoors.
Shyamu is blessed with a strong physique — he exercises in the morning and his work in the docks keeps him fit. Without any idea of what the crisis was about, he used his strength to herd people into the hospital interiors. He had a gut feeling this was different from anything he had experienced.
“We saw people running into the hospital from CST. I realised that this was not an underworld gun-battle because they fight it out on the streets,” he recalls.
WARDBOY’S COURAGE
In sheer panic, the relatives and those seeking shelter in the hospital began banging on the doors of the labour ward. Men are never allowed into hospital maternity wards but these were exceptional circumstances.
“We had learnt of the terror siege by then but we knew that most of the patients and relatives had no clue,” recalls Jayshree Kurdhunkar, who was a nurse on duty that night.
Viju went into labour amidst the firing and was moved to the delivery room. She knew by then that death was waiting outside the door, and bit back cries of agony as she delivered her child, so that the sound would not alert the
terrorists.
“No amount of resolve can alleviate labour pain but I did not shout or scream. I prayed that my baby be born soon and sure enough Goli’s birth was very smooth,” says Viju.
Shyamu has a special word of appreciation for the wardboy Dhondu Raghunath Parab. Parab inspired the people in the ward to face the worst and not panic.
“I will never forget Parab’s words. They still ring in my ears. He said that the firing was so intense that it could easily kill all of us, but instead of just waiting for sure death why not do something to protect our families. He got us to gather the heavy metal equipment lying around the ward and pile them at the door. We all stood behind the barricade, ready to jump at the terrorists if they pushed their way in,” recounts Shyamu.
Parab now gets misty-eyed when he is told by The Mag that Goli’s parents remember him fondly and in admiration. He is just a contract worker at the hospital, but that did not dull his sense of duty towards the patients.
“We were informed that there were terrorists on our premises. So I thought the best way to keep panic at bay was to involve the patients and relatives in some operation. I simply told them we were in a situation where death seemed probable, but that we should not die in vain. We should at least die saving the women and children,” says Parab.
BETTER THAN A MEDAL
The minute Goli was born, she was quickly cleaned and put down on the floor alongside her mother. “There was a window in the delivery room and bullets could easily fly in. So we all huddled under the bed,” says midwife Gohil.
The air finally cleared around 2.30am, almost four hours after Goli’s birth. The family went home with their newborn child, grateful for the exemplary courage shown by the hospital staff. Shyamu and Viju wrote a letter of appreciation to the hospital staff. The Chavans are Banjaras from Karnataka, and the letter is in Kannada, which is Greek to Parab. But it is still a prized article for him.
“I am touched that the parents wrote us a personal letter. We cannot read Kannada, so we got our friends to translate it for us. Their kind words mean more to us than any medal,” he says.
The staff bursts out laughing when they are told that the baby is named Goli. They cannot believe that the couple had taken so seriously a joke they had cracked during the delivery.
“Really? They have named her Goli? Aho, the doctors had told Viju jokingly ‘Tumhi ya mulila goli mhana karan te golyanchya varshav madhe janmala aleli (call her goli because she was born in the midst of gunshots),” says Kurdhunkar.
The Chavans meanwhile are looking forward to celebrating the first birthday of their daughter with a cake-and-chivda party for the neighbours. “We want to mark the day our jewel arrived in this world. We want to share this moment with all the children around us,”
says Viju.
It was not without reason that one-year-old Goli Chavan was given a dramatic name. While most newborns arrive in the world to a warm welcome and swaddled sleep, she had to lie on the floor of Cama Hospital next to her mother as bullets flew around the labour ward.
Her mother, Viju Chavan, had gone into labour on the night of 26/11 around the time Ajmal Kasab and his terror team started firing randomly inside the hospital. The terrorists were aiming at slaughtering or grabbing as many hostages as they could. Had it not been for the immense courage and presence of mind shown by the hospital staff and the mother herself, we would not be getting set to celebrate Goli’s first birthday four days from now.
“Every day we send up a prayer thanking God for saving us that fateful night of 26/11 and giving us this gift, our daughter,” Viju Chavan tells The Mag, remembering that
horrific night.
Goli of course has another, more proper name: Tejaswini. But her parents say that they prefer to call her by a name that reminds them of the fact that she was born in the shadow of terror and is a symbol of human endurance.
SURVIVAL INSTINCT
The story of that night the Chavans lived through reads like an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Shyamu Laxman Chavan, a dock worker at Sassoon Docks, and his wife Viju have an older son who is now six years old. When Viju became pregnant for the second time, the family had rejoiced. Around 8pm on November 26 last year, Viju started feeling the contractions. Her husband and son rushed with her to Cama Hospital for the delivery.
“At 8.30pm we were inside the hospital. We waited for half an hour to complete the admission procedure. Everything was quiet. I took Viju to the labour ward when she complained of pain. They asked us to wait. In the meanwhile, the gynaecologist gave me a prescription and asked me to get some medicines,” recalls Shyamu.
On his way down to the pharmacy Shyamu saw people running in panic. He also saw a guard lying in a pool of blood. Even then, Shyamu and other visitors to the hospital had no clue that the hospital was under a terror attack.
“The liftman came and rounded us up with his baton. He gave us five minutes to clear out of the ward,” says Shyamu. But something told him they were all better off indoors.
Shyamu is blessed with a strong physique — he exercises in the morning and his work in the docks keeps him fit. Without any idea of what the crisis was about, he used his strength to herd people into the hospital interiors. He had a gut feeling this was different from anything he had experienced.
“We saw people running into the hospital from CST. I realised that this was not an underworld gun-battle because they fight it out on the streets,” he recalls.
WARDBOY’S COURAGE
In sheer panic, the relatives and those seeking shelter in the hospital began banging on the doors of the labour ward. Men are never allowed into hospital maternity wards but these were exceptional circumstances.
“We had learnt of the terror siege by then but we knew that most of the patients and relatives had no clue,” recalls Jayshree Kurdhunkar, who was a nurse on duty that night.
Viju went into labour amidst the firing and was moved to the delivery room. She knew by then that death was waiting outside the door, and bit back cries of agony as she delivered her child, so that the sound would not alert the
terrorists.
“No amount of resolve can alleviate labour pain but I did not shout or scream. I prayed that my baby be born soon and sure enough Goli’s birth was very smooth,” says Viju.
Shyamu has a special word of appreciation for the wardboy Dhondu Raghunath Parab. Parab inspired the people in the ward to face the worst and not panic.
“I will never forget Parab’s words. They still ring in my ears. He said that the firing was so intense that it could easily kill all of us, but instead of just waiting for sure death why not do something to protect our families. He got us to gather the heavy metal equipment lying around the ward and pile them at the door. We all stood behind the barricade, ready to jump at the terrorists if they pushed their way in,” recounts Shyamu.
Parab now gets misty-eyed when he is told by The Mag that Goli’s parents remember him fondly and in admiration. He is just a contract worker at the hospital, but that did not dull his sense of duty towards the patients.
“We were informed that there were terrorists on our premises. So I thought the best way to keep panic at bay was to involve the patients and relatives in some operation. I simply told them we were in a situation where death seemed probable, but that we should not die in vain. We should at least die saving the women and children,” says Parab.
BETTER THAN A MEDAL
The minute Goli was born, she was quickly cleaned and put down on the floor alongside her mother. “There was a window in the delivery room and bullets could easily fly in. So we all huddled under the bed,” says midwife Gohil.
The air finally cleared around 2.30am, almost four hours after Goli’s birth. The family went home with their newborn child, grateful for the exemplary courage shown by the hospital staff. Shyamu and Viju wrote a letter of appreciation to the hospital staff. The Chavans are Banjaras from Karnataka, and the letter is in Kannada, which is Greek to Parab. But it is still a prized article for him.
“I am touched that the parents wrote us a personal letter. We cannot read Kannada, so we got our friends to translate it for us. Their kind words mean more to us than any medal,” he says.
The staff bursts out laughing when they are told that the baby is named Goli. They cannot believe that the couple had taken so seriously a joke they had cracked during the delivery.
“Really? They have named her Goli? Aho, the doctors had told Viju jokingly ‘Tumhi ya mulila goli mhana karan te golyanchya varshav madhe janmala aleli (call her goli because she was born in the midst of gunshots),” says Kurdhunkar.
The Chavans meanwhile are looking forward to celebrating the first birthday of their daughter with a cake-and-chivda party for the neighbours. “We want to mark the day our jewel arrived in this world. We want to share this moment with all the children around us,”
says Viju.
Thali dearer
Putting a decent thali on the table is now twice as expensive. And what is worse, there is no sign of the prices going down
For those who have been hoping that the late monsoon will ease food prices, here is a dampener: the government believes that it will be a while before the prices of grains, pulses, sugar and oil ease up.
“Over the next three months the prices of grain especially tur, sugar and oil will stay high. But through the PDS network we will be selling palm oil at Rs30 per litre, sugar at Rs20 a kg and tur dal at Rs55 a kg,” says Anil Deshmukh, food and civil supply minister.
The prices of dal particularly have been highly volatile. Tur dal has been the worst hit: the superior Latur type now stands at Rs90-92 a kg and the cheaper variety at Rs82. Wholesale dealers say they are hoping that the prices will fall but they also add that if it happens it will only be a short-term decline.
“The market has been volatile with a daily rise and fall primarily in the tur dal category. We are hoping that prices will fall a bit, but if they do then by December-end they will shoot up again,” said Ajay Shah, runs a wholesale store.
Inflation-hit consumers have now started cutting down on consumption of tur dal and replacing it with moong and masur. Moong dal at Rs82-83 per kg is not cheap either because it is mainly imported. “Our main dal sources, China and Burma, are selling at high prices. The market for pulses is very bullish right now,” said Shah.
Experts believe that the government dragged its feet over importing foodstuffs when it saw early signs of shortage caused by the drought. “By the time the central government decided to import in August, the prices had already begun going up. The government should have started importing stock much earlier. It was clear by July that we were headed for a drought,” says Madan Sabhnavis, economist with the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange.
Traders and retailers plead helplessness. Tur dal is the staple in most Gujarati and Mahrashtrian homes and families have drastically reduced their purchases to stabilise their budgets.
“Consumers who once bought two kg a month are now making do with 500gm. We are incurring a loss too. We also cannot stock more and pre-empt the price rise because the government will not tolerate that,” said Sampada Mukadam, proprietor of a grocery store.
For those who have been hoping that the late monsoon will ease food prices, here is a dampener: the government believes that it will be a while before the prices of grains, pulses, sugar and oil ease up.
“Over the next three months the prices of grain especially tur, sugar and oil will stay high. But through the PDS network we will be selling palm oil at Rs30 per litre, sugar at Rs20 a kg and tur dal at Rs55 a kg,” says Anil Deshmukh, food and civil supply minister.
The prices of dal particularly have been highly volatile. Tur dal has been the worst hit: the superior Latur type now stands at Rs90-92 a kg and the cheaper variety at Rs82. Wholesale dealers say they are hoping that the prices will fall but they also add that if it happens it will only be a short-term decline.
“The market has been volatile with a daily rise and fall primarily in the tur dal category. We are hoping that prices will fall a bit, but if they do then by December-end they will shoot up again,” said Ajay Shah, runs a wholesale store.
Inflation-hit consumers have now started cutting down on consumption of tur dal and replacing it with moong and masur. Moong dal at Rs82-83 per kg is not cheap either because it is mainly imported. “Our main dal sources, China and Burma, are selling at high prices. The market for pulses is very bullish right now,” said Shah.
Experts believe that the government dragged its feet over importing foodstuffs when it saw early signs of shortage caused by the drought. “By the time the central government decided to import in August, the prices had already begun going up. The government should have started importing stock much earlier. It was clear by July that we were headed for a drought,” says Madan Sabhnavis, economist with the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange.
Traders and retailers plead helplessness. Tur dal is the staple in most Gujarati and Mahrashtrian homes and families have drastically reduced their purchases to stabilise their budgets.
“Consumers who once bought two kg a month are now making do with 500gm. We are incurring a loss too. We also cannot stock more and pre-empt the price rise because the government will not tolerate that,” said Sampada Mukadam, proprietor of a grocery store.
Mystery of the disappearing amti
Tiffin catering services have been hit by the price rise in pulses, finds Neeta Kolhatkar
Have you wondered why your dabba caterer has been getting generous with the runny sambar, rasam and kadhi in your lunch?
Here’s why. Tur dal, which is the favourite of all rice eaters, now costs the earth. Moong is not cheap either. Your caterer cannot reduce the number of items or axe the protein element altogether from your meal. Hence the rasam and sambar, which take up much less dal than the thicker amti. And kadhi is even more convenient because it uses the less-expensive curds.
Using a cheaper brand of dal is ruled out because contract terms issued by companies cannot be bent or changed. (Brands are clearly specified in the contracts.) Inventive catering is then the only way out.
“We cater to over a dozen big companies and provide over 100 tiffins to every company. Over the last three months we have been serving sambar, rasam, and kadhi more often, because the cost of tur has nearly doubled,” said Shivram Shetty, head of Shiv Catering.
Caterers are also cleverly mixing their dals. Moong for instance can easily blend into other dal types. The Maharashtrian cannot altogether miss his varan and amti, so the cook cuts a few corners.
“What can we do? We are mixing tur with moong, and sometimes chana, to add volume. If we make only tur dal, we make it a little more watery. You must understand that the hike in food prices has also pushed up the prices of masalas,” says Vandana Navalkar, chairman of Kutumb Sakhi Sanstha. “Being a trust we cannot make our business profitable, so we cannot even increase the tiffin price either.”
It’s a double whammy for the catering business. On the one hand, they’re battling the high prices of foodgrains and vegetables. On the other, companies are in an austerity mode.
“I have stopped providing tiffins to three companies because when I suggested that they pay more per dabba, they said no. Some have agreed to pay Rs5 more per head. This is not really enough,” says Sudhakar Shetty, head of Sudhakar Caterers.
Shetty has a central kitchen from where he dispatches tiffins to his clients. Where he once made a profit of Rs5 lakh a month, he now just about breaks even.
“I need to pay salaries, pay for raw material. Catering to corporates is no longer a profitable business. They say they cannot get their staff to pay more,” he says.
Facility managers of companies say the quality of food they get from caterers has fallen. Dal is a scarce item and prices have gone up too. “Till 18 months ago, we were paying Rs 45 per head to the caterer. Three months ago he told us he is finding it difficult to manage and he wanted us to increase it to Rs65 per head. Our staff likes the food, so we negotiated it to Rs50 per head,” said Prasanna Porde, facility manager of a studio.
Have you wondered why your dabba caterer has been getting generous with the runny sambar, rasam and kadhi in your lunch?
Here’s why. Tur dal, which is the favourite of all rice eaters, now costs the earth. Moong is not cheap either. Your caterer cannot reduce the number of items or axe the protein element altogether from your meal. Hence the rasam and sambar, which take up much less dal than the thicker amti. And kadhi is even more convenient because it uses the less-expensive curds.
Using a cheaper brand of dal is ruled out because contract terms issued by companies cannot be bent or changed. (Brands are clearly specified in the contracts.) Inventive catering is then the only way out.
“We cater to over a dozen big companies and provide over 100 tiffins to every company. Over the last three months we have been serving sambar, rasam, and kadhi more often, because the cost of tur has nearly doubled,” said Shivram Shetty, head of Shiv Catering.
Caterers are also cleverly mixing their dals. Moong for instance can easily blend into other dal types. The Maharashtrian cannot altogether miss his varan and amti, so the cook cuts a few corners.
“What can we do? We are mixing tur with moong, and sometimes chana, to add volume. If we make only tur dal, we make it a little more watery. You must understand that the hike in food prices has also pushed up the prices of masalas,” says Vandana Navalkar, chairman of Kutumb Sakhi Sanstha. “Being a trust we cannot make our business profitable, so we cannot even increase the tiffin price either.”
It’s a double whammy for the catering business. On the one hand, they’re battling the high prices of foodgrains and vegetables. On the other, companies are in an austerity mode.
“I have stopped providing tiffins to three companies because when I suggested that they pay more per dabba, they said no. Some have agreed to pay Rs5 more per head. This is not really enough,” says Sudhakar Shetty, head of Sudhakar Caterers.
Shetty has a central kitchen from where he dispatches tiffins to his clients. Where he once made a profit of Rs5 lakh a month, he now just about breaks even.
“I need to pay salaries, pay for raw material. Catering to corporates is no longer a profitable business. They say they cannot get their staff to pay more,” he says.
Facility managers of companies say the quality of food they get from caterers has fallen. Dal is a scarce item and prices have gone up too. “Till 18 months ago, we were paying Rs 45 per head to the caterer. Three months ago he told us he is finding it difficult to manage and he wanted us to increase it to Rs65 per head. Our staff likes the food, so we negotiated it to Rs50 per head,” said Prasanna Porde, facility manager of a studio.
Women power in the Assembly
They are from different parties and backgrounds, but speak the same language: That of change and hard work. Neeta Kolhatkar meets four first-time women legislators
Praniti Shinde, Pankaja Munde, Meera Renge and Yashomati Thakur will be among the newcomers seen in the Assembly this time. But while Praniti and Pankaja are not strangers to politics — their fathers, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Gopinath Munde, are seasoned politicians — Meera Renge is a complete newcomer. Yashomati’s claim to fame, on the other hand, is that she was hand-picked by All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi to be a youth leader and made national general secretary of the Youth Congress.
The journey of these women into politics is interesting. They see politics only as a means to bring about change and strongly believe it’s an arena which requires more women.
For Meera Renge, coming from the most backward area of the state, Marathwada, her win is against all odds. Renge was denied a ticket three times before — sometimes even before she could present her case. This time, however, she came prepared with a presentation and a challenge to Shiv Sena officials. “Give me a ticket because I deserve it,” she told them. “If I don’t win, I will leave politics forever. But how can you deny me a ticket without giving me a chance?”
Renge feels this is the best time for women to enter politics. She attributes a change in the social and political atmosphere that has made women realise they can be vehicles of change. “Reservation for women at the gram panchayat level has made a tremendous difference to the mindset of people, particularly women. We realise women alone can handle issues like public health, education and sanitation. We have our own problems, but male legislators often ignore them,” Renge says.
Praniti, the youngest of the four, feels that Rahul Gandhi has ushered in a change, resulting in more youngsters seeking tickets. “A lot of the elected representatives are on Facebook and Twitter, and interacting with the public. Everybody wants change in society today, but people don’t know what to do about it. Networking with them, the youth will feel that the young leaders speak their language,” she says.
The four legislators feel they are more likely to be taken seriously because they are diligent. “As a woman, I think we can give a different shape to politics today. Politics has become less rowdy, and people definitely take women seriously because we work hard,” says Pankaja Munde.
Yashomati, however, says politics needs more educated women. She feels proud to have been chosen by that she was picked by Rahul Gandhi. “The confidence Rahulji showed in me has made me feel more confident as a woman.
“He said we needed more educated women to enter politics, and I understand that today. Politics itself is changing and moving away from the traditional. Women are no longer showpieces; we have been told we need to ask more questions in the Assembly floor, and I am confident we will do more justice to issues like health, education and women’s rights than our male counterparts,” says Yashomati.
The interesting factor is although many of the women legislators are from different parties and ideologies, they feel as women they will bond better.
Praniti Shinde, Pankaja Munde, Meera Renge and Yashomati Thakur will be among the newcomers seen in the Assembly this time. But while Praniti and Pankaja are not strangers to politics — their fathers, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Gopinath Munde, are seasoned politicians — Meera Renge is a complete newcomer. Yashomati’s claim to fame, on the other hand, is that she was hand-picked by All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi to be a youth leader and made national general secretary of the Youth Congress.
The journey of these women into politics is interesting. They see politics only as a means to bring about change and strongly believe it’s an arena which requires more women.
For Meera Renge, coming from the most backward area of the state, Marathwada, her win is against all odds. Renge was denied a ticket three times before — sometimes even before she could present her case. This time, however, she came prepared with a presentation and a challenge to Shiv Sena officials. “Give me a ticket because I deserve it,” she told them. “If I don’t win, I will leave politics forever. But how can you deny me a ticket without giving me a chance?”
Renge feels this is the best time for women to enter politics. She attributes a change in the social and political atmosphere that has made women realise they can be vehicles of change. “Reservation for women at the gram panchayat level has made a tremendous difference to the mindset of people, particularly women. We realise women alone can handle issues like public health, education and sanitation. We have our own problems, but male legislators often ignore them,” Renge says.
Praniti, the youngest of the four, feels that Rahul Gandhi has ushered in a change, resulting in more youngsters seeking tickets. “A lot of the elected representatives are on Facebook and Twitter, and interacting with the public. Everybody wants change in society today, but people don’t know what to do about it. Networking with them, the youth will feel that the young leaders speak their language,” she says.
The four legislators feel they are more likely to be taken seriously because they are diligent. “As a woman, I think we can give a different shape to politics today. Politics has become less rowdy, and people definitely take women seriously because we work hard,” says Pankaja Munde.
Yashomati, however, says politics needs more educated women. She feels proud to have been chosen by that she was picked by Rahul Gandhi. “The confidence Rahulji showed in me has made me feel more confident as a woman.
“He said we needed more educated women to enter politics, and I understand that today. Politics itself is changing and moving away from the traditional. Women are no longer showpieces; we have been told we need to ask more questions in the Assembly floor, and I am confident we will do more justice to issues like health, education and women’s rights than our male counterparts,” says Yashomati.
The interesting factor is although many of the women legislators are from different parties and ideologies, they feel as women they will bond better.
Islam Benefits all spheres of life
Islamic scholars feel that prejudices propagated by people, who don’t understand the religion in its entirety, need to stop
The popular notion is that Muslims who hold on to their identities are the ones who get isolated. However, Islamic scholars across the globe are trying to deal with this issue.
That a true Muslim needs to follow ideals set down by the Prophet is unquestionable, according to the scholars. “Islam is very clear about the identity of Muslims. We have been stopped at airports because of our identity, but that doesn’t mean I will shave off my beard. Let the world realise that there are truly good Muslims, even if they wear long beards, or carry the Muslim identity on them,” said Ather Khan.
Muslim scholars feel that the western and non-Islamic world needs to understand the true meaning of Islam. A few jihadis seem to have sent a wrong message and Islamophobic people are adding to the worry by propagating wrong perceptions, they said.
“Islam is a way of life and includes everything — eating, dressing, lifestyle — everything described by our prophet Mohammed,” said Mamdouh Mohamed from Egypt. He added, “The same ideology is applicable to Sikhs — they wear their turbans — and similarly all communities in the world hold on to their culture in different ways.”
The scholars said that people need to see that Islam has given a special status to women, which does not exist even in other societies. “The exposure women get in Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Malaysia is far more when compared to other countries,” said Assim Al Hakeem from Saudi Arabia.
Islamic scholars said that the Islamic ideology is also extended to other sectors like economy and business. Islamic banking has saved their economies and also supported other forms of investment, like mutual funds. “When we say economies, we are talking about an amount which is close to three billion dollars. Anything that is within Islamic ideals, we are ready to adopt,” said Anwar Ibrahim, former deputy prime minister of Malaysia.
Ibrahim added, “In fact now we need to make sure that we use such business opportunities in a way that it helps the climate, involves and let mutual funding function according to the Islamic banking thought. I won’t be surprised if the Chinese government adopts this format soon. And they’ll make sure to not call it ‘Islamic.’”
The popular notion is that Muslims who hold on to their identities are the ones who get isolated. However, Islamic scholars across the globe are trying to deal with this issue.
That a true Muslim needs to follow ideals set down by the Prophet is unquestionable, according to the scholars. “Islam is very clear about the identity of Muslims. We have been stopped at airports because of our identity, but that doesn’t mean I will shave off my beard. Let the world realise that there are truly good Muslims, even if they wear long beards, or carry the Muslim identity on them,” said Ather Khan.
Muslim scholars feel that the western and non-Islamic world needs to understand the true meaning of Islam. A few jihadis seem to have sent a wrong message and Islamophobic people are adding to the worry by propagating wrong perceptions, they said.
“Islam is a way of life and includes everything — eating, dressing, lifestyle — everything described by our prophet Mohammed,” said Mamdouh Mohamed from Egypt. He added, “The same ideology is applicable to Sikhs — they wear their turbans — and similarly all communities in the world hold on to their culture in different ways.”
The scholars said that people need to see that Islam has given a special status to women, which does not exist even in other societies. “The exposure women get in Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Malaysia is far more when compared to other countries,” said Assim Al Hakeem from Saudi Arabia.
Islamic scholars said that the Islamic ideology is also extended to other sectors like economy and business. Islamic banking has saved their economies and also supported other forms of investment, like mutual funds. “When we say economies, we are talking about an amount which is close to three billion dollars. Anything that is within Islamic ideals, we are ready to adopt,” said Anwar Ibrahim, former deputy prime minister of Malaysia.
Ibrahim added, “In fact now we need to make sure that we use such business opportunities in a way that it helps the climate, involves and let mutual funding function according to the Islamic banking thought. I won’t be surprised if the Chinese government adopts this format soon. And they’ll make sure to not call it ‘Islamic.’”
Renewal of ration cards
Renew your ration cards before year ends
The government is conducting a survey to weed out invalid card holders. But some of them are only wondering where the ration shops are
In an effort to weed out invalid and dormant ration card user, authorities have started a campaign asking citizens to renew their documents.
For most well-heeled Mumbaikars, a ration card only means a strong proof of identity and residence and little else. Many hardly know where their ration shop is or what they can get with it. The more generous ones allow their domestic help to draw rations on their cards.
Many residents of the city were surprised to see a notice signed by the chief controller of ration (CCR) on their society walls. This is being done by the ration shop-owners of their localities. Not all societies have been thus informed. But few can be bothered with the trouble of finding and filling up the requisite forms.
“I am the only one in my building to have got this form. Others said they are not interested,” said Chetan Kothari resident of Warden Road.
Entrepreneur Neeta Deshpande says she would not have heard of the scheme had a friend not texted her. “Nobody in our building seems to know where the local ration shop is located. I have to contact an old house help to locate it. The government could have made the form available over the Internet,” said Neeta Deshpande, an entrepreneur.
The chief controller of ration authority says the idea is to weed out negligible and invalid card holders. Those who want to transfer their cards, change names and other details on their cards can do so later. Says chief controller Yeshwant Kerure: “Citizens will be divided into three categories A, B and C. The ones who possess a live card with all the necessary evidence will be put into A category. Those who lack valid evidence will put into B category. Those who don't fill their forms or fulfil this responsibility will be put into C category: if they don't comply within a month, their cards will get cancelled."
The jurisdiction of the Mumbai rationing authority extends from Colaba and Churchgate to Badlapur, Bhyander, Navi Mumbai and CBD Belapur. Its union members have complained to the government and the CCR that they have only 1200 staff to cover the requirements of the entire region.
“We are catering to a population of 3 crore and 39,65,000 cardholders. There are over 600 vacancies. We had done an earlier survey too. What happened to the results? There are forms lying all around our offices,” said a ration officer requesting anonymity. (The 2005 scheme too was an initiative of the central government.)
But Kerure says that the previous exercise was not a complete washout. “I admit we do have 40% less staff but the last survey was not totally wasted,” said Kerure. “We cancelled 6,50,868 cards in 2005.”
The deadline for submission of the forms is December 31.
k_neeta@dnaindia.net
The government is conducting a survey to weed out invalid card holders. But some of them are only wondering where the ration shops are
In an effort to weed out invalid and dormant ration card user, authorities have started a campaign asking citizens to renew their documents.
For most well-heeled Mumbaikars, a ration card only means a strong proof of identity and residence and little else. Many hardly know where their ration shop is or what they can get with it. The more generous ones allow their domestic help to draw rations on their cards.
Many residents of the city were surprised to see a notice signed by the chief controller of ration (CCR) on their society walls. This is being done by the ration shop-owners of their localities. Not all societies have been thus informed. But few can be bothered with the trouble of finding and filling up the requisite forms.
“I am the only one in my building to have got this form. Others said they are not interested,” said Chetan Kothari resident of Warden Road.
Entrepreneur Neeta Deshpande says she would not have heard of the scheme had a friend not texted her. “Nobody in our building seems to know where the local ration shop is located. I have to contact an old house help to locate it. The government could have made the form available over the Internet,” said Neeta Deshpande, an entrepreneur.
The chief controller of ration authority says the idea is to weed out negligible and invalid card holders. Those who want to transfer their cards, change names and other details on their cards can do so later. Says chief controller Yeshwant Kerure: “Citizens will be divided into three categories A, B and C. The ones who possess a live card with all the necessary evidence will be put into A category. Those who lack valid evidence will put into B category. Those who don't fill their forms or fulfil this responsibility will be put into C category: if they don't comply within a month, their cards will get cancelled."
The jurisdiction of the Mumbai rationing authority extends from Colaba and Churchgate to Badlapur, Bhyander, Navi Mumbai and CBD Belapur. Its union members have complained to the government and the CCR that they have only 1200 staff to cover the requirements of the entire region.
“We are catering to a population of 3 crore and 39,65,000 cardholders. There are over 600 vacancies. We had done an earlier survey too. What happened to the results? There are forms lying all around our offices,” said a ration officer requesting anonymity. (The 2005 scheme too was an initiative of the central government.)
But Kerure says that the previous exercise was not a complete washout. “I admit we do have 40% less staff but the last survey was not totally wasted,” said Kerure. “We cancelled 6,50,868 cards in 2005.”
The deadline for submission of the forms is December 31.
k_neeta@dnaindia.net
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Connecting to the world
I hear your fingers type on the computer
It is not music, but words surely flow
Trying to connect to the world
Ring-ring-pick you’re your phone
It is on silent, let me hear the tone
I want to hear your voice
Trying to connect to the world
It’s twitter, face book, my space & orkut
All a network but still virtual
All this, while trying to connect to the world
It is not music, but words surely flow
Trying to connect to the world
Ring-ring-pick you’re your phone
It is on silent, let me hear the tone
I want to hear your voice
Trying to connect to the world
It’s twitter, face book, my space & orkut
All a network but still virtual
All this, while trying to connect to the world
Some luxuries I willingly spend on
I come from a family where the head, as in my father has always been devoted to public transport. I continue this tradition. It is getting harder you see. But ofcourse we in Girgaum –believe me it is still a village –gaum- more congested, more towers, more vehicles, more crowds, more noise & traffic. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get space to park a car, although I am getting tempted though my rational mind overtakes the temptation, thankfully.
I used to enjoy my driving lesson classes. I am mortified of driving on Mumbai’s streets. It is a trauma for those driving around the city, may be a gearless car I would have considered. However I have come to a conclusion for this one issue –I will spend on taxis, air condition buses and when I have more money cool cabs. This IS on my top priority for luxurious spending.
Actually on par with this is also massages. When I was for a short stint of nearly 4 months scholarship in Bangkok, I spent most of my money travelling to see new places, massages & good food. Ofcourse clean, non cream, non-Tiger balm and non-oily massages. Also definitely NOT non-veg massages. I have had the luck of getting massages even in the Himalayas. Everywhere I go I like to get the authentic massages. They are rejuvenating, reviving and really makes my skin soft. But yes there is one catch I take a massage at home on Saturdays after a hectic week & then have to get to work. I simply detest that. Because I get a lovely kick, I float after this massage for nearly half the day. The lovely oil, vigorous massage and hot water bath actually takes a person to seventh heaven, one is supposed to rest for a while. Here I go back into hectic activity.
Then I like to spend on is good food. Authentic food, value for money and obviously good. I don’t care much for the kind of place. As long as the food is of the best quality, really tasty, not oily not spicy & has other spices & flavours than just chilly, I relish it. I also am not much of a only rice-dal, person. I like variety, more vegetables I love more than other dishes, accompaniments.
I spend on fragrances – good oils, body shower gels, exfoliating creams, body creams & perfumes. Yes, I love them. I am clear that I need to smell & feel good. I need to invest a little in them & I do exactly that. May be this streak has come from my mother. She loves all this. Actually she loves to dress & wear real diamond & pearl jewellery. I am a total rebel. I do dress but not like her & not in such lavish sarees, with such expensive jewellery.
I love to go to vegetable and fruit markets. The open ones, where my eyes are satiated fully upon seeing dark green cabbages, red tomatoes, purple brinjals-well the only vegetable I do NOT eat. I hate it, but my father loves it. Like my father, I go to the open whole sale markets where all the vegetables you can see, feel & buy. I love the smells of coriander, garlics, spring onions, spinach.
I get completely turned on seeing jackfruits being cut, huge ones aligned along the road stall. Deep orange-yellow mangoes and it’s strong fragrance lingering in my lungs till I go far away from the market. Ofcourse I include the flea markets again open huge markets with all the wares laid out wc you can see, feel, bargain & buy.
Lastly, most important, I love to travel I invest money in some good holidays, because last few years I could afford it. I think more than storing wealth it is best to invest it in knowledge. Travel, I connote to world knowledge. I have become a better person, more enriched & more emancipated after travelling. I believe that I must work for my next holiday. And I do feel my life would dull, poor & uneducated if I didn’t travel.
I used to enjoy my driving lesson classes. I am mortified of driving on Mumbai’s streets. It is a trauma for those driving around the city, may be a gearless car I would have considered. However I have come to a conclusion for this one issue –I will spend on taxis, air condition buses and when I have more money cool cabs. This IS on my top priority for luxurious spending.
Actually on par with this is also massages. When I was for a short stint of nearly 4 months scholarship in Bangkok, I spent most of my money travelling to see new places, massages & good food. Ofcourse clean, non cream, non-Tiger balm and non-oily massages. Also definitely NOT non-veg massages. I have had the luck of getting massages even in the Himalayas. Everywhere I go I like to get the authentic massages. They are rejuvenating, reviving and really makes my skin soft. But yes there is one catch I take a massage at home on Saturdays after a hectic week & then have to get to work. I simply detest that. Because I get a lovely kick, I float after this massage for nearly half the day. The lovely oil, vigorous massage and hot water bath actually takes a person to seventh heaven, one is supposed to rest for a while. Here I go back into hectic activity.
Then I like to spend on is good food. Authentic food, value for money and obviously good. I don’t care much for the kind of place. As long as the food is of the best quality, really tasty, not oily not spicy & has other spices & flavours than just chilly, I relish it. I also am not much of a only rice-dal, person. I like variety, more vegetables I love more than other dishes, accompaniments.
I spend on fragrances – good oils, body shower gels, exfoliating creams, body creams & perfumes. Yes, I love them. I am clear that I need to smell & feel good. I need to invest a little in them & I do exactly that. May be this streak has come from my mother. She loves all this. Actually she loves to dress & wear real diamond & pearl jewellery. I am a total rebel. I do dress but not like her & not in such lavish sarees, with such expensive jewellery.
I love to go to vegetable and fruit markets. The open ones, where my eyes are satiated fully upon seeing dark green cabbages, red tomatoes, purple brinjals-well the only vegetable I do NOT eat. I hate it, but my father loves it. Like my father, I go to the open whole sale markets where all the vegetables you can see, feel & buy. I love the smells of coriander, garlics, spring onions, spinach.
I get completely turned on seeing jackfruits being cut, huge ones aligned along the road stall. Deep orange-yellow mangoes and it’s strong fragrance lingering in my lungs till I go far away from the market. Ofcourse I include the flea markets again open huge markets with all the wares laid out wc you can see, feel, bargain & buy.
Lastly, most important, I love to travel I invest money in some good holidays, because last few years I could afford it. I think more than storing wealth it is best to invest it in knowledge. Travel, I connote to world knowledge. I have become a better person, more enriched & more emancipated after travelling. I believe that I must work for my next holiday. And I do feel my life would dull, poor & uneducated if I didn’t travel.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Unanswered questions
Since one year anniversary of the insurgency attacks on Mumbai city I’ve had innumerable questions.
Why did IB not give inputs to Mumbai police?
The RAW sends alerts that are generic, who looks at them?
Who decides which of these alerts are generic, usual
Which of these alerts are specific & URGENT?
Why is it that all intelligence & security agencies worked in their own comfort zones?
It is said Karkare, Kamte & Salaskar were near the SBI office when they got a message on wireless saying 2 terrorists were in the bushes, yet they went ahead
They told the CP Gafoor do not send a back up team
However the wireless for Karkare & Kamte that Gafoor sent asking them to go to Taj & Trident was never sent…why?
The trio rejected a back up, despite knowing that encounters usually take place in staged managed environments. Yet they said NO back up? Why??
Thereafter when the officials knew that the back up is needed it wasn’t sent, why??
The Home minister said stupid things like “Such small things keep happening in large cities?” what was that? Why??
Why no one took the terror attack seriously??
Why was the CM slack about all handling of the things, instead of being on top them all?
Was it a zoo, the burning taj to take a sidey film maker with his actor son?
Most of all why was Gafoor removed?
Ram Pradhan headed a committee, till he met up wt Home Secy Narayan & Min P Chidambaram, he was fine
Then he began leaking information (allegedly) to the media.
Pradhan has said all is fine, Mumbai Police did a good job, But the leader wasn’t upto mark??
How is it that the team has performed well yet the head of the force should be removed? No where in the world do they do head hunting in this manner
Why did the Maharashtra govt not stand by him?
Just because they got 2 minority stat ministers of state for home, Nitin Raut (OBC) & Naseem Khan (Muslim) they made Hassan Gafoor a scape goat??
Why is it that all the police officers who died were Maharashtrians?
Because ONLY they were on the field.
Why is it that the 4 mentioned allegedly by Gafoor in an informal off-record talk – Prasad, Venkateshan, PB Singh and Deven Bharti were not even injured?
How could they? They were NOT on the field. They claimed to Pradhan committee they were waiting for Gafoor’s orders??
Who will hold them responsible??
Who will hold the majority culprits responsible??
I’m sure no one.
But just because one IPS officer from Maharashtra cadre, who happens to be a Muslim and has the guts to stand up to any pressure said, “Yes I’ve spoken everything off the record,” the spineless govt rejects his statement?
They are upset he spoke off the record?
Then Ashok Chavan, RR Patil, more so the foursome IPS cops should be first imprisoned for always talking to the press, off the record.
These and many more questions will remain unanswered, as usual.
Why did IB not give inputs to Mumbai police?
The RAW sends alerts that are generic, who looks at them?
Who decides which of these alerts are generic, usual
Which of these alerts are specific & URGENT?
Why is it that all intelligence & security agencies worked in their own comfort zones?
It is said Karkare, Kamte & Salaskar were near the SBI office when they got a message on wireless saying 2 terrorists were in the bushes, yet they went ahead
They told the CP Gafoor do not send a back up team
However the wireless for Karkare & Kamte that Gafoor sent asking them to go to Taj & Trident was never sent…why?
The trio rejected a back up, despite knowing that encounters usually take place in staged managed environments. Yet they said NO back up? Why??
Thereafter when the officials knew that the back up is needed it wasn’t sent, why??
The Home minister said stupid things like “Such small things keep happening in large cities?” what was that? Why??
Why no one took the terror attack seriously??
Why was the CM slack about all handling of the things, instead of being on top them all?
Was it a zoo, the burning taj to take a sidey film maker with his actor son?
Most of all why was Gafoor removed?
Ram Pradhan headed a committee, till he met up wt Home Secy Narayan & Min P Chidambaram, he was fine
Then he began leaking information (allegedly) to the media.
Pradhan has said all is fine, Mumbai Police did a good job, But the leader wasn’t upto mark??
How is it that the team has performed well yet the head of the force should be removed? No where in the world do they do head hunting in this manner
Why did the Maharashtra govt not stand by him?
Just because they got 2 minority stat ministers of state for home, Nitin Raut (OBC) & Naseem Khan (Muslim) they made Hassan Gafoor a scape goat??
Why is it that all the police officers who died were Maharashtrians?
Because ONLY they were on the field.
Why is it that the 4 mentioned allegedly by Gafoor in an informal off-record talk – Prasad, Venkateshan, PB Singh and Deven Bharti were not even injured?
How could they? They were NOT on the field. They claimed to Pradhan committee they were waiting for Gafoor’s orders??
Who will hold them responsible??
Who will hold the majority culprits responsible??
I’m sure no one.
But just because one IPS officer from Maharashtra cadre, who happens to be a Muslim and has the guts to stand up to any pressure said, “Yes I’ve spoken everything off the record,” the spineless govt rejects his statement?
They are upset he spoke off the record?
Then Ashok Chavan, RR Patil, more so the foursome IPS cops should be first imprisoned for always talking to the press, off the record.
These and many more questions will remain unanswered, as usual.
Mahajans, a family legacy finished
A lot has happened since 2006, when Pravin Mahajan allegedly killed his older brother Pramod. Pramod died after battling many hours in the hospital. Today, the man who killed is battling for life in a Thane hospital, since Pravin suffered a brain haemorrhage, & has slipped into a coma.
Reasons for Pramod’s killing are official & unofficial. Official being that there was some jealousy & animosity regarding the money that Pramod had amassed & not distributed among his brothers. The unofficial was alleged by cops & politicians was that the womanising of Pramod was such that he was said to have an affair with Pravin’s wife.
Now a lot will never be known. The third being (which I believe the most) that Pramod’s wife was fed up of his womanising ways, philandering and took the help of her brother-in-law to bump off the husband. Now we will never what transpired. But according to police chargesheet Pravin went holding a gun to Worli police station & told the cops “arrest me I have killed my brother Pramod Mahajan.”
Pramod was a legend created by the Brahmins of the BJP & RSS. The Mahajans were abso middle class Brahmin teacher family from Ambejogai, Marathwada. This region is the most backward & drought stricken of the country & our state Maharashtra. The young lad Pramod who was a teacher was groomed for bigger political picture. People projected him as the future prime minister. I would shudder that this person was someone who would be our PM??
His personal life was a joke by now. Young girls, their mothers, journalists, politicians, wives of police officers, galore, he did not spare a thought of the consequences of his actions. The young Brahmin leaders of BJP actually looked upon this man, they thought his over active sex drive & life was actually a reflection of his success. Problem with nouveau rich class of India is that they think materialism, money are symbols of success. Quick money doesn’t necessarily mean it is true success. I believe it is short lived which in this case happened.
Pravin shot his brother allegedly. The reason I don’t believe this part is that there are gaps in facts & evidence. His sister-in-law Rekha was in the house, apparently cleaning & cooking – which I absolutely do NOT believe..they had a dozen domestic help. Plus a middle class Maharashtrian housewife doesn’t wear gloves.
Plus Pravin always considered his vahini like a mother & gave her that status & support. He has written a lot about it in his book. Now according to the police she was busy in the kitchen wt gloves on (gloves would burn into her skin whilst cooking I thought), when she heard gunshots & saw her husband die. According to the book, which Pravin wrote in his book, Pramod-Rekha’s marriage was over. He was busy screwing every second woman, or girl. I still feel the wife who is now the widow too has a role to play in this whole mess. Not as what many believed.
In fact a BJP person told me Pravin wpould be out on parole in a year, except it happened in 2 yrs. The minute Pravin was out on parole he spoke to DNA & I don’t know why he seemed cool, mentally at peace. The slain brother has ensured Pravin’s family would get monthly income…so I do not believe finance was the issue. I also do not believe that Pravin’s wife Sarangi was ahaving an affair wt Pramod that is why out of jealousy he killed the brother…NO way…Pravin’s book actually indicates who & why.. Since the time I heard Pravin is battling for life, I don’t know why I strongly feel, we will NEVER ever learn the truth of what transpired that day, when Pramod died.
Reasons for Pramod’s killing are official & unofficial. Official being that there was some jealousy & animosity regarding the money that Pramod had amassed & not distributed among his brothers. The unofficial was alleged by cops & politicians was that the womanising of Pramod was such that he was said to have an affair with Pravin’s wife.
Now a lot will never be known. The third being (which I believe the most) that Pramod’s wife was fed up of his womanising ways, philandering and took the help of her brother-in-law to bump off the husband. Now we will never what transpired. But according to police chargesheet Pravin went holding a gun to Worli police station & told the cops “arrest me I have killed my brother Pramod Mahajan.”
Pramod was a legend created by the Brahmins of the BJP & RSS. The Mahajans were abso middle class Brahmin teacher family from Ambejogai, Marathwada. This region is the most backward & drought stricken of the country & our state Maharashtra. The young lad Pramod who was a teacher was groomed for bigger political picture. People projected him as the future prime minister. I would shudder that this person was someone who would be our PM??
His personal life was a joke by now. Young girls, their mothers, journalists, politicians, wives of police officers, galore, he did not spare a thought of the consequences of his actions. The young Brahmin leaders of BJP actually looked upon this man, they thought his over active sex drive & life was actually a reflection of his success. Problem with nouveau rich class of India is that they think materialism, money are symbols of success. Quick money doesn’t necessarily mean it is true success. I believe it is short lived which in this case happened.
Pravin shot his brother allegedly. The reason I don’t believe this part is that there are gaps in facts & evidence. His sister-in-law Rekha was in the house, apparently cleaning & cooking – which I absolutely do NOT believe..they had a dozen domestic help. Plus a middle class Maharashtrian housewife doesn’t wear gloves.
Plus Pravin always considered his vahini like a mother & gave her that status & support. He has written a lot about it in his book. Now according to the police she was busy in the kitchen wt gloves on (gloves would burn into her skin whilst cooking I thought), when she heard gunshots & saw her husband die. According to the book, which Pravin wrote in his book, Pramod-Rekha’s marriage was over. He was busy screwing every second woman, or girl. I still feel the wife who is now the widow too has a role to play in this whole mess. Not as what many believed.
In fact a BJP person told me Pravin wpould be out on parole in a year, except it happened in 2 yrs. The minute Pravin was out on parole he spoke to DNA & I don’t know why he seemed cool, mentally at peace. The slain brother has ensured Pravin’s family would get monthly income…so I do not believe finance was the issue. I also do not believe that Pravin’s wife Sarangi was ahaving an affair wt Pramod that is why out of jealousy he killed the brother…NO way…Pravin’s book actually indicates who & why.. Since the time I heard Pravin is battling for life, I don’t know why I strongly feel, we will NEVER ever learn the truth of what transpired that day, when Pramod died.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
This is one cute story
Way back in my school time having penpals or pen friends to be precise was a BIG thing. There was some newsletter that one kid - in our case inavariably a girl, since we went to a all girls school-would get. Then we would all fall over each other to get hold of that newsletter. Then there would be loud screams, shouts and would nearly tear the sheet of addresses. Because each one was possessive, each wanted to ensure their territory & not allow other girls to share pen friends.
We did not have much pocket money then. Also, our fathers never could fathom this whole pen friend business. Yet i don't know how, he would relent & we had a good set of pen friends. In fact that pen friends newsletter was available at the cost of Rs20 then which is equivalent to Rs250 now, with inflation et al added.
I had a good set of few pen friends. One English, 2-3 German who were really veryyy nice & one Brazlian. English was Jane or Janet, she had a good pet dog. German was Ulrike Shwarz & the german male was Mark i think, he took good pics like me...the Brazilian was Ricardo F Nardi. I can't remember the Swiss girl's name. Don't know how i remember their names & i'm sure i had forgotten. Now recently a senior cop reminded me of the penpal days. Since i have done a story on how the social networking sites have come under threat from terror & narcotics groups.
The Facebook is definitely one networking site that i'm glad my younger friends got me on to. I persuaded other friends of mine & have given them tips about it, like my young colleagues help me. I've been wanting to get off FB, I'm highly bored with it. But i do admit there are many & i mean it, very many people who i have re-connected with. A lot of school colleagues (can't call them friends) i've reconnected with, many friends, some new contacts and many strangers who i've covered in various stories or have met me on work.
Today however i was immensely surprised. Ricardo suddenly sent me a pvt message. He said "do you remember neeta long ago, many yrs ago we used exchange letters." I needn't have read his message, i only read his name & i was dead sure this was THE Brazilian pen friend of mine. Except ofcourse it was a hunch.
I read the message & was thrilled. You know what he wrote?? "I remember u telling me that you wanted to be a journalist." He wrote "CONGRATULATIONS" in full caps. Hehehe...i couldn't remember at all ofcourse. But wow! I was so clear? More so i was brave enough to have shared it with my pen friend. He is soooo cool. He remembered that? Isn't that extremely sweet? How many decades ago that was. wow...i'm speechless.
I think this is one cute story. Where do you read that pen friends have grown middle aged (yeah shit man...40 plus we are) changed in looks i'm sure, he looks much fairer & more handsome too (he was good looking like any Brazilian). We have NO clue about each other's life. We have gone down our own paths with NO exchange of information for over 2 decades and now there we are reconnecting, piecing our lives together. I think this is a story NYT should do. Well NOT many Indian journalists will understand the nuances (most are young so pen friends thing they won't understand, considering it would take a month or more for letters to reach the other country!)and more so the importance of re-connection after 25 more years.
So here's to the pen-friend letters! I wonder when the tech grows more & more where most of communication is trashed after reading, people do not archive beyond few months, how will people reconnect? I am sure there will be ways. I still have their photos, i admit. Because i treasured their friendships.
We did not have much pocket money then. Also, our fathers never could fathom this whole pen friend business. Yet i don't know how, he would relent & we had a good set of pen friends. In fact that pen friends newsletter was available at the cost of Rs20 then which is equivalent to Rs250 now, with inflation et al added.
I had a good set of few pen friends. One English, 2-3 German who were really veryyy nice & one Brazlian. English was Jane or Janet, she had a good pet dog. German was Ulrike Shwarz & the german male was Mark i think, he took good pics like me...the Brazilian was Ricardo F Nardi. I can't remember the Swiss girl's name. Don't know how i remember their names & i'm sure i had forgotten. Now recently a senior cop reminded me of the penpal days. Since i have done a story on how the social networking sites have come under threat from terror & narcotics groups.
The Facebook is definitely one networking site that i'm glad my younger friends got me on to. I persuaded other friends of mine & have given them tips about it, like my young colleagues help me. I've been wanting to get off FB, I'm highly bored with it. But i do admit there are many & i mean it, very many people who i have re-connected with. A lot of school colleagues (can't call them friends) i've reconnected with, many friends, some new contacts and many strangers who i've covered in various stories or have met me on work.
Today however i was immensely surprised. Ricardo suddenly sent me a pvt message. He said "do you remember neeta long ago, many yrs ago we used exchange letters." I needn't have read his message, i only read his name & i was dead sure this was THE Brazilian pen friend of mine. Except ofcourse it was a hunch.
I read the message & was thrilled. You know what he wrote?? "I remember u telling me that you wanted to be a journalist." He wrote "CONGRATULATIONS" in full caps. Hehehe...i couldn't remember at all ofcourse. But wow! I was so clear? More so i was brave enough to have shared it with my pen friend. He is soooo cool. He remembered that? Isn't that extremely sweet? How many decades ago that was. wow...i'm speechless.
I think this is one cute story. Where do you read that pen friends have grown middle aged (yeah shit man...40 plus we are) changed in looks i'm sure, he looks much fairer & more handsome too (he was good looking like any Brazilian). We have NO clue about each other's life. We have gone down our own paths with NO exchange of information for over 2 decades and now there we are reconnecting, piecing our lives together. I think this is a story NYT should do. Well NOT many Indian journalists will understand the nuances (most are young so pen friends thing they won't understand, considering it would take a month or more for letters to reach the other country!)and more so the importance of re-connection after 25 more years.
So here's to the pen-friend letters! I wonder when the tech grows more & more where most of communication is trashed after reading, people do not archive beyond few months, how will people reconnect? I am sure there will be ways. I still have their photos, i admit. Because i treasured their friendships.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Forgotten shops
I remember in my school days when a shop by the name of In-Style opened on the junction of Napean Sea & Warden Road in elite South Bombay. The name- In-Style had some revolving door & it was 2 storeyed. I can't remember anything about that place, coz I was too small to retain too many events, maths, science, things & developments in life-to be on the lower side- to retain in my tiny brain. But i still remember preening my neck from the BEST buses to catch a glimpse of that shop.
As kids i don't know why, but for some odd reason me & some my types, born in the mide sixties, had fascination for seeing from vehicles life outside. It's a habit i like doing till today. One learns of the changes in the city life, street life, new horizons, structures, so on & so forth.
Now coming to the shops, same is with the other leading shops. In-Style i guess would store 'imported'clothes. This is one obsession wt Indians. To purchase & possess everything 'imported.' There are admissable reasons. We had a closed economy for nearly half my life. Yes, considering at 42+ i can buy anything in this city, which may cost more sometimes twice or thrice the price, but we get freely sauces, cheeses, chocolates-what a sin to deprive any rightful child of it- soft drinks like fanta, coke. We have a track record of banning things, places, books, in India. i'm NOT funny, I'm serious. hahaha
Earlier imported was truly bought from Hongkong, US of A, (Real United states, not the Ulhasnagar), Bangkok, UK (my Indians always think anything English is most sophisticated. Yess even more than US of A..believe me there are still few Indians who think blue blood is royal).
In today's days the 'imported' is mass goods bought in huge caskets from Bangkok. I've seen shop there in Platinum, rasta-asin roads- the wholesale goods shops & markets like Indira mkt. All shops in Bombay like Lokhandwala store BKK goods.
Then the so-called imported goods were sold in In-Style, among the new shops. Then there were Premsons -it's now revived. It has mass imported & local goods. In fact i heard of Ben10 at this shop few months ago. Didn't know wot it was...pl i'm cartoon challenged, television challenged (except for films & news), i'm partial tech challenged, NOT at full...I'm defintiely fashion-challenged.
So, Premsons houses BKK goods, clips, fancy stoned studded jewellery, yesss very much chunky. Nothing dainty dahlings..this is India. Bling all over. Then adjacent to Premsons is Amarsons. This Amarsons was a favourite with all my Gujju friends & relatives. I never understood how different was the cloth sold in this sghop from that we bought in Girgaon. Look, print, feel was the same, but cost 10 times more. The rich told me Amarsons Is the place to shop, lower mortals like me would look blankly trying to imagine the 'difference'that could NOT be felt or seen.
A feew metres down that road is Benzer's. It was known as luxury shop earlier. Now i don't know of any human walking in there. See, basically i'm a BAD shopper. Oh! I forgot to add, I'm veryyyy shopping challenged, mall-challenged, close door shopping phobic. So Benzer was another place wc i thought intelligence & common sense challenged people shooped in. I mean you have to step into that place to know wot a turn off any child will feel. Child's instinct is THE best...
After all these names or around the same time a leading designer store by name of Sheetal came up. The owner some Shah-not worth knowing, his names features in the crime files of this city-signed up wt leading fashion designers of this city. The owner tried to drive out tenants from the shop area, as he wanted all the property. This shah thought-like few other names sakes like him-sumant shah for example, who got Ramesh Kini killed- that money could buy him property & drive out the poor middle-lower middle class tenants. He then hired the services of a leading gangster Arun Gawli to threaten the tenants & bump them off. It didn't ever happen.
Today NO one hears of that shop, sometimes they advertise, but NOT as much they were all over the media. The designer has got lost obscurely (thank god). They are true professionals who know 'business' & are NOT conencted with reality like crime world, gangsters, wc we lower mortals know of & deal with.
Then don't know why but Mumbaikars, Bombayites ALWAYS take the name of Roopam in the same breath as Sheetal. You may think they are brothers or as names suggest (females) sisters. But no they are not related nor are the owners. That is another interesting fact Roopam is owned by Dhiren Shah. Ya these shahs I tell you, have all the money...huge community, so it's ok.
Now Roopam has tried to re-invent itself all the while. Kept away from crime world. The former case tried to push out tenants. The Dhiren Shah in fact bailed out Kesari the original Lokmanya Tilak's house in the building that houses Roopam. Dhiren also tied up with designers, more known & authentic ones. It still is known as the place to buy woollens from in Bombay. Except one needs NO wollies in our part of the tropical world. But when we go to cooler shores this is where we still buy our thermals from.
Aomng the last few is Akbarallys. The one place where we got all goods under one roof. Especially electronic gadgets. This shop is in the old Fort area. Interestingly, outside this famous shops hawkers line up selling duplicates sold inside or smuggled goods. The sex toys are found with these hawkers. so popular wt men folf of every colour & race.
Akbarallys is still popular for electronics, some kind of clothes, furniture & stuff like this. COmpared to all other shops above, it is still thronged by people. It is still taken seriously. But the other shops? Big names but now forgotten. May be everything has a shelf life?
As kids i don't know why, but for some odd reason me & some my types, born in the mide sixties, had fascination for seeing from vehicles life outside. It's a habit i like doing till today. One learns of the changes in the city life, street life, new horizons, structures, so on & so forth.
Now coming to the shops, same is with the other leading shops. In-Style i guess would store 'imported'clothes. This is one obsession wt Indians. To purchase & possess everything 'imported.' There are admissable reasons. We had a closed economy for nearly half my life. Yes, considering at 42+ i can buy anything in this city, which may cost more sometimes twice or thrice the price, but we get freely sauces, cheeses, chocolates-what a sin to deprive any rightful child of it- soft drinks like fanta, coke. We have a track record of banning things, places, books, in India. i'm NOT funny, I'm serious. hahaha
Earlier imported was truly bought from Hongkong, US of A, (Real United states, not the Ulhasnagar), Bangkok, UK (my Indians always think anything English is most sophisticated. Yess even more than US of A..believe me there are still few Indians who think blue blood is royal).
In today's days the 'imported' is mass goods bought in huge caskets from Bangkok. I've seen shop there in Platinum, rasta-asin roads- the wholesale goods shops & markets like Indira mkt. All shops in Bombay like Lokhandwala store BKK goods.
Then the so-called imported goods were sold in In-Style, among the new shops. Then there were Premsons -it's now revived. It has mass imported & local goods. In fact i heard of Ben10 at this shop few months ago. Didn't know wot it was...pl i'm cartoon challenged, television challenged (except for films & news), i'm partial tech challenged, NOT at full...I'm defintiely fashion-challenged.
So, Premsons houses BKK goods, clips, fancy stoned studded jewellery, yesss very much chunky. Nothing dainty dahlings..this is India. Bling all over. Then adjacent to Premsons is Amarsons. This Amarsons was a favourite with all my Gujju friends & relatives. I never understood how different was the cloth sold in this sghop from that we bought in Girgaon. Look, print, feel was the same, but cost 10 times more. The rich told me Amarsons Is the place to shop, lower mortals like me would look blankly trying to imagine the 'difference'that could NOT be felt or seen.
A feew metres down that road is Benzer's. It was known as luxury shop earlier. Now i don't know of any human walking in there. See, basically i'm a BAD shopper. Oh! I forgot to add, I'm veryyyy shopping challenged, mall-challenged, close door shopping phobic. So Benzer was another place wc i thought intelligence & common sense challenged people shooped in. I mean you have to step into that place to know wot a turn off any child will feel. Child's instinct is THE best...
After all these names or around the same time a leading designer store by name of Sheetal came up. The owner some Shah-not worth knowing, his names features in the crime files of this city-signed up wt leading fashion designers of this city. The owner tried to drive out tenants from the shop area, as he wanted all the property. This shah thought-like few other names sakes like him-sumant shah for example, who got Ramesh Kini killed- that money could buy him property & drive out the poor middle-lower middle class tenants. He then hired the services of a leading gangster Arun Gawli to threaten the tenants & bump them off. It didn't ever happen.
Today NO one hears of that shop, sometimes they advertise, but NOT as much they were all over the media. The designer has got lost obscurely (thank god). They are true professionals who know 'business' & are NOT conencted with reality like crime world, gangsters, wc we lower mortals know of & deal with.
Then don't know why but Mumbaikars, Bombayites ALWAYS take the name of Roopam in the same breath as Sheetal. You may think they are brothers or as names suggest (females) sisters. But no they are not related nor are the owners. That is another interesting fact Roopam is owned by Dhiren Shah. Ya these shahs I tell you, have all the money...huge community, so it's ok.
Now Roopam has tried to re-invent itself all the while. Kept away from crime world. The former case tried to push out tenants. The Dhiren Shah in fact bailed out Kesari the original Lokmanya Tilak's house in the building that houses Roopam. Dhiren also tied up with designers, more known & authentic ones. It still is known as the place to buy woollens from in Bombay. Except one needs NO wollies in our part of the tropical world. But when we go to cooler shores this is where we still buy our thermals from.
Aomng the last few is Akbarallys. The one place where we got all goods under one roof. Especially electronic gadgets. This shop is in the old Fort area. Interestingly, outside this famous shops hawkers line up selling duplicates sold inside or smuggled goods. The sex toys are found with these hawkers. so popular wt men folf of every colour & race.
Akbarallys is still popular for electronics, some kind of clothes, furniture & stuff like this. COmpared to all other shops above, it is still thronged by people. It is still taken seriously. But the other shops? Big names but now forgotten. May be everything has a shelf life?
Thursday, October 29, 2009
tweets twitter
Are you a tweet? What happened? why do you look so hassled? Not troubled, then flammoxed? Oh it's only a tweet, sweet...write a blog entry in 140 characters. Is that a challenge? May be once i may have thought so, now i enjoy it the most.
Off late i have blogged less..much less...there were many many incidents & events that took place in Bombay, my state & country...but it's fun to tweet from my cell...I enjoy the random thoughts, conversations we all tweets have.
Opinions on everything..which matter to one self..these are then shared with others who too hold their views, opinions equally dearly. It's a good interaction, sharing. From tv shows, regional issues, geo-political, sex, food, urban menace, elections, name it.
But most imp, i have come this close as virtual proximity allows to get into the realm of Michael Jordan's life. He is the hero of my life. He is my inspiration. Air he is..Jordan is simply awesome.
I follow him on twitter..i get to see him and read about him daily. I love it..I thanks my professor Craig for it, he sent me an invite. When i aired my skepticism he was most positive..i had NO clue i would come as close to Jordan as to Mohammaed Abbas, Queen Raina, Bono (U2) & his holiness the Dalai Lama...i'm proud to be a tweet...
Off late i have blogged less..much less...there were many many incidents & events that took place in Bombay, my state & country...but it's fun to tweet from my cell...I enjoy the random thoughts, conversations we all tweets have.
Opinions on everything..which matter to one self..these are then shared with others who too hold their views, opinions equally dearly. It's a good interaction, sharing. From tv shows, regional issues, geo-political, sex, food, urban menace, elections, name it.
But most imp, i have come this close as virtual proximity allows to get into the realm of Michael Jordan's life. He is the hero of my life. He is my inspiration. Air he is..Jordan is simply awesome.
I follow him on twitter..i get to see him and read about him daily. I love it..I thanks my professor Craig for it, he sent me an invite. When i aired my skepticism he was most positive..i had NO clue i would come as close to Jordan as to Mohammaed Abbas, Queen Raina, Bono (U2) & his holiness the Dalai Lama...i'm proud to be a tweet...
Losing weight, heavy issue
I was always thin. My head was bigger than my body. Then when i was an adult & earthquake shook Latur, in which over 10,000 people died, i didn't know my life too was to change permanently.
The earthquake took place in Marathwada dist of my state -Maharashtra. It's backward, deprived & drought prone. Now me, a thin, pretty attractive girl wanting to change the society embarked on a Earthquake rehabilitation mission. From 1993 September till few years ago i oscillated between gaining weight & losing it.
If agassi says he was hooked on pain killer drug, i was on steroids, as my family doc said that was THE only way for my survival. My intestines were bugged by Amoebic Dysentry. For commoners like me it basically means worse form of gastro attack. Basically i would run to the toilet nearly 10 times fm Morning to Night. That also led to immense hyper acidity.
Cut short the crappy part, i still ate sensibly. I was then on asked to watch my food intake, the body's reaction to all that i ate & drank. Yet, i would diligently eat boiled food, not eat out, etc..then i was either to be hospitalised or put on drugs. The doc said 'steroids.'
This was beginning of a roller coaster ride for me & my body. The steroids did NOT make hungry at normal food hours. I'd feel full, as if waiting to puke most of the times i or any other normal person is expected to eat their meals. Instead at odd hours i would crave for food as if i could eat a human right then. I went thru' depression.
I was NEVER fat...suddenly my hips grew out of proportion, my arms looked like a body builder's...people began laughing at me, when i'd visit so called relatives would open their doors, look at me hahah how fat you have become neeta!! then like most of billion Indians i would be given great talk on how to eat properly.
It would presumed Neeta has simply kept aside all her work, stopped functioning & keeps eating, hogging rather the whole day. I went fm being defensive to aggressive then eventually taking humour...i realised we r just insensitive people.
This took it's toll on me. Can anyone imagine what this does to any self-respecting person? I had flat feet, yet competed till the state level, got water in my knees yet continued playing basketball as i love that sport & my hero always has been Micheal Jordan...
I went fm normal size to XXL size...now it's come down to L...but like today i sometimes binge on sweets..now that is the next to go off my list soon...
fm immense exercise i went to normal yoga which has increased my stamina. changed various diets & forms of exercises...i have got lazy i admit..more than lazy i gave my whole life, passionately to sports...after this i have made compromises...i will cut back on sugar in tea/coffee...so i don't add sugar or sweetner..i eat sweets...sometimes i go nuts..but i want to live healthy & i have decided
ONLY for my sake i will live my way...that is to be happy & love myself...& yes my body.
The earthquake took place in Marathwada dist of my state -Maharashtra. It's backward, deprived & drought prone. Now me, a thin, pretty attractive girl wanting to change the society embarked on a Earthquake rehabilitation mission. From 1993 September till few years ago i oscillated between gaining weight & losing it.
If agassi says he was hooked on pain killer drug, i was on steroids, as my family doc said that was THE only way for my survival. My intestines were bugged by Amoebic Dysentry. For commoners like me it basically means worse form of gastro attack. Basically i would run to the toilet nearly 10 times fm Morning to Night. That also led to immense hyper acidity.
Cut short the crappy part, i still ate sensibly. I was then on asked to watch my food intake, the body's reaction to all that i ate & drank. Yet, i would diligently eat boiled food, not eat out, etc..then i was either to be hospitalised or put on drugs. The doc said 'steroids.'
This was beginning of a roller coaster ride for me & my body. The steroids did NOT make hungry at normal food hours. I'd feel full, as if waiting to puke most of the times i or any other normal person is expected to eat their meals. Instead at odd hours i would crave for food as if i could eat a human right then. I went thru' depression.
I was NEVER fat...suddenly my hips grew out of proportion, my arms looked like a body builder's...people began laughing at me, when i'd visit so called relatives would open their doors, look at me hahah how fat you have become neeta!! then like most of billion Indians i would be given great talk on how to eat properly.
It would presumed Neeta has simply kept aside all her work, stopped functioning & keeps eating, hogging rather the whole day. I went fm being defensive to aggressive then eventually taking humour...i realised we r just insensitive people.
This took it's toll on me. Can anyone imagine what this does to any self-respecting person? I had flat feet, yet competed till the state level, got water in my knees yet continued playing basketball as i love that sport & my hero always has been Micheal Jordan...
I went fm normal size to XXL size...now it's come down to L...but like today i sometimes binge on sweets..now that is the next to go off my list soon...
fm immense exercise i went to normal yoga which has increased my stamina. changed various diets & forms of exercises...i have got lazy i admit..more than lazy i gave my whole life, passionately to sports...after this i have made compromises...i will cut back on sugar in tea/coffee...so i don't add sugar or sweetner..i eat sweets...sometimes i go nuts..but i want to live healthy & i have decided
ONLY for my sake i will live my way...that is to be happy & love myself...& yes my body.
Seller blogs
hellos everyone..off late i have been wondering. Why do i write? is it because it is my profession? Is it because i want talk to myself? Is it because i feel there is something that anyone out there can read, may not necessarily gain anything, at least they can read something...is it because it is my own space that I have created that is for my thoughts? Whatever, all that is inconsequential.
There are films like Julia & Julian, they have highlighted how theirs is the most read blog, people buy-sell, advertise, & get money. There are examples like some Mahadevan Reddy & other women whose blogs sell. Why? Because they write on sex & food.
I write about what is important to me, concerns my living world....then i was told make space for advertisements...which i did & guess what?? I may be one of the veryyy few persons whose blog garners NO penny! Is that a surprise? Not at all.
But that makes my mind tick...what is this space for?? DO i also have to write things that will attract revenue? Sometimes these things matter.
And strange as it is our production head came by & told me, "What cool cat?" "Your are naughty cat"..hope You are earning something from your blog. I burst out in a heavy roar...laughter..i may be the only one who writes diligently,never thought of making profit. Now i think why not? this is my profession -writing. I Only know how to write & that too well...so then? the problem is making it more attractive to the readers. Now that is thought provoking.
There are films like Julia & Julian, they have highlighted how theirs is the most read blog, people buy-sell, advertise, & get money. There are examples like some Mahadevan Reddy & other women whose blogs sell. Why? Because they write on sex & food.
I write about what is important to me, concerns my living world....then i was told make space for advertisements...which i did & guess what?? I may be one of the veryyy few persons whose blog garners NO penny! Is that a surprise? Not at all.
But that makes my mind tick...what is this space for?? DO i also have to write things that will attract revenue? Sometimes these things matter.
And strange as it is our production head came by & told me, "What cool cat?" "Your are naughty cat"..hope You are earning something from your blog. I burst out in a heavy roar...laughter..i may be the only one who writes diligently,never thought of making profit. Now i think why not? this is my profession -writing. I Only know how to write & that too well...so then? the problem is making it more attractive to the readers. Now that is thought provoking.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
strange names & recollections
Suddenly the other day i remembered a song that would blare fm loudspeakers in India once upon a time. I was a toddler, many were not born then. "Beshaq mandir, masjid todo bulleshaa ye kahataa.." i text Khalid Mohd my dear friend asking the name of the singer...it was at the tip of my tongue, but just couldn't remember...Chanchal was his name... he really could scream well, dunno recollect much of his singing though. Khalid wanted to murder me, bcoz i told him wots his name ya...he called back saying 'Paani don't give me scares, he's ancient chanchal something...!!"
Names of singers are funny, but some sang funnier songs man..we give ample scope to all sorts of creativity in India.
After chanchal we just fast two decades and we have Altaf Raja, who sang "Pardesi Pardesi jana nahi..." which was another screeching bout. Our Hindi films songs give ample scope for all sorts of songs, singers
Some Mehta who sang, "Mein chahe yeh karu, mein chahye woh karun," meaning i may do this, that or the other..wc made it to the songs & silver screen!!
Baba Sehgal though takes the cake for singing, "Aja mere gaadi mein baithja!"
Anand Shinde who sang 'Tava naveen popat ha lagla mithoo mithoo bolaila,' wc was then sung in Hindi.
Among the new ones is Gurudas of Rab De banani Jodi...they all are basically folk singers, NOT supported by godfathers or big shots of music industry so they get picked up for some out of sorts films, tracks & they render passionately their songs. They love singing, music and committed to their profession. They are revered by their local folks, who think even that one song wc has made rounds across the country or abroad is enough. Small pleasures they enjoy.
today, they may be forgotten, but there are some strange ones like me too who recollect these numbers! (People or works that i call as numbers)..they are not lewd people, just could not make it big...
Names of singers are funny, but some sang funnier songs man..we give ample scope to all sorts of creativity in India.
After chanchal we just fast two decades and we have Altaf Raja, who sang "Pardesi Pardesi jana nahi..." which was another screeching bout. Our Hindi films songs give ample scope for all sorts of songs, singers
Some Mehta who sang, "Mein chahe yeh karu, mein chahye woh karun," meaning i may do this, that or the other..wc made it to the songs & silver screen!!
Baba Sehgal though takes the cake for singing, "Aja mere gaadi mein baithja!"
Anand Shinde who sang 'Tava naveen popat ha lagla mithoo mithoo bolaila,' wc was then sung in Hindi.
Among the new ones is Gurudas of Rab De banani Jodi...they all are basically folk singers, NOT supported by godfathers or big shots of music industry so they get picked up for some out of sorts films, tracks & they render passionately their songs. They love singing, music and committed to their profession. They are revered by their local folks, who think even that one song wc has made rounds across the country or abroad is enough. Small pleasures they enjoy.
today, they may be forgotten, but there are some strange ones like me too who recollect these numbers! (People or works that i call as numbers)..they are not lewd people, just could not make it big...
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Profile of an rapist
Everytime a rape occurs and the accused is a rich, elite man I get goose bumps & really don’t wish to read the newspapers. Yes, despite the fact that I work for a newspaper.
The reason being simple, I & the rest of millions of readers are forced to read utter crap like how innocent the accused – most often safely addressed as ‘alleged’ accused.
The latest being India’s actor SHiney Ahuja is now serving a jail term, deservingly. The day the information of his heinous act occurred the first reaction of most middle class elite Indians was of shock & disbelief. Why? Because the victim was a domestic worker, cleaner at his house. He had asked her to bring a glass of water, when she did, he locked the door, grabbed her & finished his act of unleashing violence on her.
The young girl a minor couldn’t get out of the house and her friend another domestic worker brought her out of the house. She ofcorz looked dishevelled, trembling with fear. But was the average Indian’s reaction “Oh! Poor Shiney, this one is a gold digger.” “He couldn’t find anyone else? How low could he stoop to rape a domestic worker,” “She must have lured him, see now his innocence will be proved.” Worse things were said of that poor child.
Years ago a sex worker was summoned forcibly into a car of an abso doped, insolent brash drunk driving son of an industrialist. She was raped. So the general India was appalled. “How can anyone rape a sex worker?” “She must’ve only done something to attract this poor boy,” etc etc..blah blah…utter rubbish was published in innumerable reams of expensive newsprint paper.
What I don’t understand is how news reporters of my clan presume the man is always innocent? That the rich can never do any harm, that how the victim is always guilty, while the accused ain’t one till proven so?? There are NO written or otherwise rules that say who is guilty or not….however we continue to presume wrongly.
I shudder to think how reporters agree to go the immediate relatives, family members and neighbours of the accused who ALWAYS say: “We have seen playing with our children, he is so nice, warm, caring, he is very polite. He doesn’t ‘look’ like a rapist!!” who is a rapist? Who looks like a rapist? Can anyone tell what is a profile of a rapist? Is there any rule book, police act or law that says how a rapist looks like, which caste, class, income group? What are their personality defects? Is he clean shavem bearded? Is he from lower, higher caste, class? I mean what are we saying every time a young rookie or more so a wanna be investigative journalist goes & does a reaction based in-put of ‘How neighbours of the alleged accused say he is innocent!’ Absolutely insane things are allowed to be published.
I want to know does anyone know there may be a sexual assaulter sitting rt here next to us? May be within the family, in the neighbourhood. Some are brazen, others not so open, these are predators and get away always because there is a hidden sanction from the rest of the society a bloody license given to someone to be free when he should be sitting behind bars for the rest of his life. Often the people around run to the rescue of the predators who then get escape routes like in Shiney’s case. He had on his side India’s leading film diretor Mahesh Bhatt who promptly said it was ‘consensual sex.’
The another important that worked in the victim’s favour is that she was promptly taken by her friend’s employer to the police. The police in turn sharpened their claws and took her immediately for medical tests. Before the semen could get dissolved or washed in crores of rupees of bribes or hidden in dirty cupboards in form of suppressed police files. The case has all the formula of a Bollywood movie…sadly at the cost of one innocent life – whose innocence is forever lost.
However our faith in a poor, vulnerable girl/woman being innocent has been lost since long…we simply do not faith in ourselves, sadly even women suspect such victims, what makes it worse is that it includes young, up-coming girl journalists!
The reason being simple, I & the rest of millions of readers are forced to read utter crap like how innocent the accused – most often safely addressed as ‘alleged’ accused.
The latest being India’s actor SHiney Ahuja is now serving a jail term, deservingly. The day the information of his heinous act occurred the first reaction of most middle class elite Indians was of shock & disbelief. Why? Because the victim was a domestic worker, cleaner at his house. He had asked her to bring a glass of water, when she did, he locked the door, grabbed her & finished his act of unleashing violence on her.
The young girl a minor couldn’t get out of the house and her friend another domestic worker brought her out of the house. She ofcorz looked dishevelled, trembling with fear. But was the average Indian’s reaction “Oh! Poor Shiney, this one is a gold digger.” “He couldn’t find anyone else? How low could he stoop to rape a domestic worker,” “She must have lured him, see now his innocence will be proved.” Worse things were said of that poor child.
Years ago a sex worker was summoned forcibly into a car of an abso doped, insolent brash drunk driving son of an industrialist. She was raped. So the general India was appalled. “How can anyone rape a sex worker?” “She must’ve only done something to attract this poor boy,” etc etc..blah blah…utter rubbish was published in innumerable reams of expensive newsprint paper.
What I don’t understand is how news reporters of my clan presume the man is always innocent? That the rich can never do any harm, that how the victim is always guilty, while the accused ain’t one till proven so?? There are NO written or otherwise rules that say who is guilty or not….however we continue to presume wrongly.
I shudder to think how reporters agree to go the immediate relatives, family members and neighbours of the accused who ALWAYS say: “We have seen playing with our children, he is so nice, warm, caring, he is very polite. He doesn’t ‘look’ like a rapist!!” who is a rapist? Who looks like a rapist? Can anyone tell what is a profile of a rapist? Is there any rule book, police act or law that says how a rapist looks like, which caste, class, income group? What are their personality defects? Is he clean shavem bearded? Is he from lower, higher caste, class? I mean what are we saying every time a young rookie or more so a wanna be investigative journalist goes & does a reaction based in-put of ‘How neighbours of the alleged accused say he is innocent!’ Absolutely insane things are allowed to be published.
I want to know does anyone know there may be a sexual assaulter sitting rt here next to us? May be within the family, in the neighbourhood. Some are brazen, others not so open, these are predators and get away always because there is a hidden sanction from the rest of the society a bloody license given to someone to be free when he should be sitting behind bars for the rest of his life. Often the people around run to the rescue of the predators who then get escape routes like in Shiney’s case. He had on his side India’s leading film diretor Mahesh Bhatt who promptly said it was ‘consensual sex.’
The another important that worked in the victim’s favour is that she was promptly taken by her friend’s employer to the police. The police in turn sharpened their claws and took her immediately for medical tests. Before the semen could get dissolved or washed in crores of rupees of bribes or hidden in dirty cupboards in form of suppressed police files. The case has all the formula of a Bollywood movie…sadly at the cost of one innocent life – whose innocence is forever lost.
However our faith in a poor, vulnerable girl/woman being innocent has been lost since long…we simply do not faith in ourselves, sadly even women suspect such victims, what makes it worse is that it includes young, up-coming girl journalists!
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Ride on Sea Link
I’ve always had one recurring dream, that I am flying…yes I have the immense sense of freedom & although I had to fight for it earlier or now simply get it, I feel the ultimate symbol of freedom is to fly literally…NOT fly a plane as pilot or fly in a plane as a passenger.
I envy birds & after seeing Iron man it gave me more & more the itch to fly. I thought with this sea link my one dream can be fulfilled, sadly it won’t! Recently I went on the Bandra –Worli sea link as I suggested to the editor our auto-journo should take a high-end car and take a test drive across the Mumbai’s new sea link. He first thought I wanted a free ride! I explained in my style I would be paying for the toll & going personally in a taxi don’t need free ride…rather nothing free…when I said it is for the Sunday edition his news sense surfaced!
Finally he alerted the auto journo, she gave me couple of names of cars which really didn’t sound worth the drive. Later she said the Audi showroom had agreed to send the new Q5 vehicle…now we were talking I felt. We left for Bandra in her car, she loves driving is an understatement…anyways, this was the very next day after the launch we were heading to the Sea link. I was quite excited to see how Mumbaikars have received the news of the new link.
We took a little while to get to the sea link, however not as exaggerated as many have stated. It was a village jatra –fair. Mood of festivities & we were the cynosure of all people. Imagine where people have hired cars, taxis, brought out their Hondas, here we went in the Audi Q5 with the hood open & windows all rolled down!
The way people showed us their appreciation was not out of any jealousy, but a positive envy admiring a grand vehicle on a grander sea link…it was amazing, I’d never have imagined. One young exec rolled down the glass of his window and said, “This car’s worth it all,” he clapped his hands. While yet another old uncle, actually must be a grandfather rolled down his window and waved at us.
We had quite a few attractions one being the vehicle itself. Then the fact that my lady colleague was at the wheel was a bigger attraction. I too stood up and looked out of the roof. It was thrilling, my closest to flying, really speaking. I mean if we minus the plane journeys which don’t give you the flying feeling, no way man.
The people’s encouragement and appreciation actually changed this test drive story totally. From an ordinary auto story I am sure it has become a mood piece, it should. Considering this IS the spirit of Mumbai city. The fact that someone else’s luxury is not seen in an evil way. It was admiration in a positive way. I definitely think this positive
I also admire the way the taxi drivers after their gruelling day took their family to enjoy the sea link. Even the otherwise most average middle-class Mumbaikar who is caught in their daily struggle went out of their way to enjoy the ride. Yes, the reason being the Congress politicians got their demand to remove the toll tax for first three days. It is a political decision, so is the inauguration which was rushed, so what. We have had worse political decisions being taken regarding the slums.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sex over coffee
There is a saying at the Café Coffee Day or CCD as its called here in India – “A lot can happen over coffee.” This is their slogan, which I say is true.
Really a lot happens over coffee. People engage in long conversations, sit staring into each other’s eyes for hours; some others indulge in long drawn out debates or discussions and many simply sit around staring into space. Many others strum guitars, come in groups to chill & enjoy, some for intense personal conversations and generally a lot happens over coffee.
Initially when my friends would force me to go with them because I am not much of a coffee drinker. Rather I detest coffee. I get totally turned on by the brewing smell of tea, chaai. I was most disturbed when I went over to the US. I could smell a Starbucks or any other coffee from a distance of miles…my stomach would churn. It still does, but much less now.
Hence when we would all meet I had to first deal with a severe churning stomach…over a period of time I began adjusting & preparing myself mentally. Coz I think the mind controls all our senses. Last few years even in our office I’ve had to adjust to sipping some absolutely milky (I detest milk) coffee, since I can’t bear to drink ready made milky tea form a machine.
Now this far too milky coffee drinking would go one for hours. I prefer eating at these cafés –one gets good snacks & more so great pastries. Over a period of time I realised one needs to ‘look’ busy at these cafés rather than eat or drink anything. So like in Pune’s Vaishali & Rupali cafés what the Brahmin kids do, is what one needs to do at the coffee shops. Here we all go & buy our coffees or drinks together. Instead like the Brahmin kids one must order one coffee at a time, sit sipping it or like a scotch nurse it for over hours, then according to me we ‘look’ busy & are spending money.
The young college kids know how to wisely spend their money & divide more time at the cafés. They strum guitars, stare for long into each other’s eyes.
I love one hobby & that is to observe people pass on the streets. And with this observation one morning at Andheri opposite fame ad labs Anne & I sat at a CCD. We were waiting on a friend. We were sitting in the air-conditioned section & suddenly we saw a yucky man…the typical pimp, gigolo looking types.
Yes these gigolo, pimp types are recognisable in India. This one was straight out of a Hindi film…the gigolo pimp shady looking character.
Most of the pimps have ugly coloured streaks or colours on their hair, they were gold earrings, they have thick gold bracelet flashy in every sense of the word. They are on their cell phone which is not one…they speak in code language & are loud.
We saw one Russian whore…to be politically correct, a Russian sex worker walk in the porch wt a trolley bag. She was white that’s about it. Not great looks –well ofcourse I am aware looks has nothing to do with sex! Especially as regards many Indian men are concerned, they are more interested in the colour, whatever may be in front of them. The pimp kept himself busy on the cell & was networking all the while. In few minutes we saw a typical Marawari businessman walk in….a fat slob, in a shiny shirt, tight pants, bursting out of his clothes (I’m sure by now he was, considering he was close to fulfilling his dream of sleeping with a white woman) and chewing the famous paan…how can even their wives sleep with them is a question I always have.
Anne & I sat looking bewildered, since the whole sex call unfolded in front of our eyes. We were like she is a hooker & this businessman wants her & the pimp was striking the deal. Yes, hands were shaken, money exchanged between the pimp & the Russian walked away wt the Maru dragging her trolley behind.
Sure besides love, singing & staring, sex seems to have happened over the coffee. Yes, the pimp had ordered a coffee and sat showing he was interested in it!
Friday, May 22, 2009
My tribute if I can say....
Hemant Karkare: Progressive and Secular to the Core
Here is one of the best, and most revealing, obits of Hemant Karkare. It appeared in today's DNA.
Ramakumar
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1210370&pageid=0
'He always led from the front'
Neeta Kolhatkar / DNA
Sunday, November 30, 2008 03:26 IST
Hemant Karkare, the Anti-Terrorist Squad chief was born into a Maharashtrian Brahmin family in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh where his parents lived. His father, Kamlakar worked in Central Railways as a guard and his mother was a teacher.
The family moved to Nagpur when Karkare was in the sixth standard. His mother Kumudini who had both bachelor's and master's degrees in education, after her marriage, taught at D Dinanath School.
Karkare's childhood friends remember the family as warm, simple, rational and highly educated. "Kamlakar and I were worked together. He was an active trade unionist of National Railway Mazdoor Union and All-India Guards Council," recalls Narayan Rao, secretary of Maharashtra unit for All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation, an affiliate of World Peace Organisation.
Kamlakar was a great influence on Hemant. "He inherited his father's qualities of being rational and able to identify with the masses," Rao says.
Kamlakar was close to AB Bardhan, general secretary of the Communist Party of India. "Kamlakar helped the poor, he would give them homeopathic medicines," he added. He was also inspired by his mother's resilience and was his role model.
"The one thing that stands out about the Karkare family is that while they were Brahmins, who were not atheists but were never pro-RSS. His family was far from fundamentalist Brahmins you meet in this city," says Rao.
Hemant studied at the New English High School in Nagpur. "When the bigger boys bullied him, he would just ignore them," says his friend Colonel Rahul Goverdhan.
Hermant later went on to study Mechanical engineering. He then joined Hindustan Lever, appeared for his UPSC exams and joined the Indian Police Services.
Karkare was an excellent sculptor. He made lampshades and artefacts from wood. As SP, Chandrapur, he had learnt these skills from local artisans. He even helped them sell their wares. Hemant would make gifts for his friends and family like photo frames," recalls Avinash Joshi, a friend.
Goverdhan says Karkare liked to take charge of things. "The day he was to take over as SP Chandrapur, there was an attack on the police. Hemant went and opened the police station and lead the attack on the Naxals. He always wanted his men to know they could count on him,"says Goverdhan.
Karkare's colleagues from the ministry of external affairs remember him as a teacher to them. "We worked in Vienna many years ago. He was my guru," says Kamaldeep Khanna, an officer with MEA.
Hemant was just 54 when his career was cut short. He is survived by his wife Kavita, a teacher, the backbone of the family.
k_neeta@dnaindia.net
Posted by R. Ramakumar at 2:49 PM 1 comments
Labels: Mumbai
Here is one of the best, and most revealing, obits of Hemant Karkare. It appeared in today's DNA.
Ramakumar
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1210370&pageid=0
'He always led from the front'
Neeta Kolhatkar / DNA
Sunday, November 30, 2008 03:26 IST
Hemant Karkare, the Anti-Terrorist Squad chief was born into a Maharashtrian Brahmin family in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh where his parents lived. His father, Kamlakar worked in Central Railways as a guard and his mother was a teacher.
The family moved to Nagpur when Karkare was in the sixth standard. His mother Kumudini who had both bachelor's and master's degrees in education, after her marriage, taught at D Dinanath School.
Karkare's childhood friends remember the family as warm, simple, rational and highly educated. "Kamlakar and I were worked together. He was an active trade unionist of National Railway Mazdoor Union and All-India Guards Council," recalls Narayan Rao, secretary of Maharashtra unit for All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation, an affiliate of World Peace Organisation.
Kamlakar was a great influence on Hemant. "He inherited his father's qualities of being rational and able to identify with the masses," Rao says.
Kamlakar was close to AB Bardhan, general secretary of the Communist Party of India. "Kamlakar helped the poor, he would give them homeopathic medicines," he added. He was also inspired by his mother's resilience and was his role model.
"The one thing that stands out about the Karkare family is that while they were Brahmins, who were not atheists but were never pro-RSS. His family was far from fundamentalist Brahmins you meet in this city," says Rao.
Hemant studied at the New English High School in Nagpur. "When the bigger boys bullied him, he would just ignore them," says his friend Colonel Rahul Goverdhan.
Hermant later went on to study Mechanical engineering. He then joined Hindustan Lever, appeared for his UPSC exams and joined the Indian Police Services.
Karkare was an excellent sculptor. He made lampshades and artefacts from wood. As SP, Chandrapur, he had learnt these skills from local artisans. He even helped them sell their wares. Hemant would make gifts for his friends and family like photo frames," recalls Avinash Joshi, a friend.
Goverdhan says Karkare liked to take charge of things. "The day he was to take over as SP Chandrapur, there was an attack on the police. Hemant went and opened the police station and lead the attack on the Naxals. He always wanted his men to know they could count on him,"says Goverdhan.
Karkare's colleagues from the ministry of external affairs remember him as a teacher to them. "We worked in Vienna many years ago. He was my guru," says Kamaldeep Khanna, an officer with MEA.
Hemant was just 54 when his career was cut short. He is survived by his wife Kavita, a teacher, the backbone of the family.
k_neeta@dnaindia.net
Posted by R. Ramakumar at 2:49 PM 1 comments
Labels: Mumbai
Thai government changes its approach to the stateless
Thai government changes its approach to the stateless
Neeta Kolhatkar
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 21:01 IST
Bangkok: Boon is a 44-year-old, barefoot lawyer who heads the human rights clinic in Mei Aai district, Northern province of Chaing Rai in Thailand. Aided by UNICEF, she visits villages and district authorities to pursue the cause of stateless people in the country.
Neeta Kolhatkar / DNA
Nasoh is a 12-year-old student, born in Chai Sen. Her parents are Thai, but hold a pink card
Boon herself is a victim of the stateless problem. She was 22 when she learnt that although she was born and lived in Thailand, she had no nationality. "My mother missed the census and although she is Thai by birth, I am not a citizen. In 2002, some of my relatives got Thai citizenship. I got an identity card and then realised I was not a citizen of this country," Boon says.
Boon began making enquiries with district-level authorities, who told her she needed to prove she was a Thai national. "I was frustrated with the system but I did not get bogged down. Instead, I decided to take this up as a challenge. I studied law and began to pursue my citizenship," she says.
She went to her birthplace and spoke to relatives, a midwife, neighbours and relatives who had witnessed her birth. She drew a family tree of those relatives who had received Thai nationality, and was helped by professor Phunthip Sasoonthorn, faculty of law, Thammasat University, lawyers and UNICEF. "They took DNA samples from me and my relatives. The cost was exorbitant, but finally, my case was admitted in court and I won it," says a beaming Boon.
Human Rights Clinic has paid for the families of two of us and it came to nearly 80,000Bahts because of the distance between the relatives.
After 2006, 1,243 applicants could be admitted. There are more than 100 students and a total of 3,000 people who have applied for citizenship. Till now, 100 of them have received Thai nationality.
Apart from Boon, others, like Panee Sukom, 25, are suffering despite being the children of Thai nationals. Sukom's mother came to Thailand from Myanmar over four decades ago; Sukom was born before 1992, and under Thai law, that makes her eligible for citizenship. But her civil registration certificate says she was born in Burma, while her birth certificate says she was born in Thailand.
"In my case it is the local officer who made a mistake in my civil registration. I don't know if it was deliberate, because my mother is illiterate and could not read it at the time and correct it on the spot," Sukom says. Today, she is married to a Thai man, has a child who is a Thai national, but still has a long fight ahead.
"The fact is, not having Thai nationality or citizenship means one is deprived of all rights. I get no voting rights, I can't own land or a house," says a sad Sukom.
Nasoh, a 12-year-old student, was born in Chai Sen. Her parents are Thai but hold a pink card. When the refugee problem escalated, the Thai government came out with a proposal to give refugee cards to Burmese migrants. Nasoh's parents took the card with the hope that they would get benefits, not realising that their citizenship would be nullified.
"My parents took it because they could not read. They thought the pink card was free and would give them some benefits, but it changed our status completely. Today we have zero status," says Nasoh.
Her parents gave her up for adoption to her aunt and uncle, who were childless and who notified her as their daughter. However, last year, when volunteers came to tell her of her status, Nasoh realised she had zero none. "I began to feel different from others the minute I realised I was not a Thai national. In class, nobody treats me badly or excludes me, but I feel odd about this whole experience."
The fact is, the Thai government has been trying to address this issue based on the national security concern. The Thai national human rights commission, civil society organisations and academicians have pressured the government into seeing this with a humanitarian approach. In the last three years, three acts - the Immigration Act, the Nationality Act and the Civil Registration Act - have been amended to solve this problem.
"The stateless people's issue is of concern to the government because they see it as being related to national security. This is the mainstream, conventional way of seeing things," says Dr Amara Pongsapich, anthropologist with Chulalongkorn University.
The shift in this approach, Amara says, came when the sub-commission roped in academicians and human rights groups. However, victims face problems at the district level because officials are not accustomed to the human-rights approach.
"A paradigm shift was pushed by civil society and academicians. However, district officers who work on this issue are caught in a dilemma - whether to follow the law to the letter, or be humanitarian. They don't have an open mind about human rights. Although information has been passed down regarding the amendments to the law, they seem reluctant to implement them," Amara says.
The government Human Rights Commission says one of the biggest hurdles is making other departments and ministries understand the human security issue and help them shed their traditional roles as security officials.
"We are not only the implementing agency, but the monitoring agency as well. Cabinet ministers take our views and reports seriously. It is not easy at the district level," says Ekachai Pinkaew, a senior officer of the Human Rights Commission. "On the other hand, it is equally hard working with other ministries. I have to convince and negotiate with the military and immigration officers. We need their support but this is a typical characteristic of the bureaucracy," Pinkaew adds.
An important development this week was that the Human Rights Commission could get the approval of the National Health Commission to pass the right to health for stateless people. "Ministers are open to new ideas; this week, we discussed the right to health for stateless people as it has already been passed by the National Health Committee. It will soon be passed in Parliament," Pinkaew adds.
Poems of girls
A girl
She suffered in silence
She held herself guilty
What had she done to attract this crime on herself?
She was a young girl, he an uncle
She woke up one night to a hand feeling up her thigh
She threw her blanket and woke up with a start
She felt like a kitten
He had tried but couldn’t penetrate
She was scared but had shown her strength
She transformed her hatred & got empowered
She didn’t want to be a martyr, but she bid time
Her confidence had given her more power
Many looked upon her with awe
By then she had blocked out the past
A Lesson
The girl knocked on the door
Dogs greeted her by jumping with glee
The man came and lost colour on his face
He didn’t welcome the lady at all
The man turned away to the house
But the man’s partner welcomed the niece
Memories came flooding to them all
The uncle remembered the day he had set up the girl
Her escape had emancipated her
She no more feared
She looked up and ignored the man
He shifted around the room uncomfortably
The silence was eerie for them, the girl was serene
The dogs barked in the passage
Finally the uncle spoke on deaf ears
It was a day of reckoning
The stakes had changed
The powerless was empowered
While the philanderer was a loser
Saturday, May 16, 2009
India’s mandate
Who said the Indian voter has no brains? Who said that the Indian voter can be easily bought by illicit liquor and money? Who said the Indian voter is predictable? Yes, the sephologists and media had run down all the voters and the Indian mandate.
We did see faces of the poor, malnourished Indians who seemed to have attended many a rally. Those who were paid to mark their presence for ‘crowd’ factor when big wig political leaders came to talk down to them. Huh! Few leaders took that effort to go the extra mile to walk and plead for votes. Most have now got detached. Fewer still like Sonia Gandhi and her children Priyanka or Rahul break the cordon and walk to greet the ordinary people. Most simply step out of their air conditioned cars and wave.
The voter has seen them all. Come, promise, not deliver, come again, promise again and simply disappear. This time the stalwarts came, folded hands and said, “vote.” The voter by now has been used to been taken for a ride. As if this is not enough, the political leaders took advantage of the November 26 carnage and militancy attack on Mumbai city. Some political parties like the Bharatiya Janta Party, Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena tried to emotionally black mail the voters. They actually said go out and vote to prevent militant attacks!
Now I have never heard this before, that if I voted, then elections would protect me any possible terror death in future. Such was the joke of the politicians in these elections. Then us, the media, that nearly put the Congress down. The infilteration of the chaddiwallas or the right wing thought people in our media immense. Right from bottom to the top most level the chaddiwallas have taken over news rooms. So, we had pre-polls predictions saying that the BJP alliance is surely winning.
The voter was quiet. There were new trends in this city of
Yes, I personally would like Maywati to win some day. Only because she is a Dalit. That should not be criteria. I agree, she now needs to do a lot of introspection. She needs better strategy. But the fact is she can be formidable and we do need alternate thought.
Like the right wing extremist thought there exists for donkeys years a left wing etrmist thought, ideological party, Communist Party of India. They need to realise that they cannot hold a government to ransom. One man, Prakash Karat, who is not even an elected candidate heads a party and over the nuclear deal holds the nation and government to ransom, he thought he could get away with it.
The Congress too had to resort to dirty tactics, of horse trading, of bribing, paying to keep the government. Well, better late than never. Finally they woke up to a harsh reality, they needed to change with the modern times. It had to shed a lot.
They woke up a bit late but better they did. They began to give the power mantle to the next gen. So we see more like Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, types who are new faces, brining in new hope.
The old right and left wing candidates began mud slinging match. They called names to stalwarts of other parties. They picked on women –Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka, other women candidates by calling them names. Whatever it is, the Indian voter has heard and seen it. The emotional cords make a difference in this country. For years the male leaders have tried to get away calling names to women in this country. There is a time for change.
The likes of Narendra Modi who now harp on ‘development’ have forgotten vital factor –HUMAN RIGHTS. He was the conduit and abettor for crimes and murder in his state the
Today we have to listen to a abettor of murders tell us that he will teach us a lesson. He claims to be the prime minister candidate? All these events and developments made some ‘intelligent’ extra politically wise and enlightened people say that the American model can only work in
Dude, one needs to understand to this country and its set up. We voters choose a council of ministers who elect one man as Prime minister. But we choose people who are able or at least considered. They and an even more able administration are supposed to draft pro- people policies and ensure the mandate benefits. That many have failed to fulfil this basic right or principle is another matter. That doesn’t make a system redundant. The people elected were wrong or not worth it. Some in fact are the ones who now claim of given a chance they could have made a difference, made a better govt. All have been given a chance. For the sake of petty politics they have sacrificed the whole good. They sacrificed people’s power for their own power – like the BJP and CPI (M).
The people have realised this all petty politics doesn’t work. This time for the first time in years people have reposed faith in the Congress, the old able party. This time the youth came out to vote, the rural and urban voter though alike. We want change. We want the country to go forward, develop and we want policies for ourselves. This clear majority of Congress is definitely a way the Indian voter has rubbished misplaced claims by the elite intelligentsia (who has no bloody clue of people’s pulse), media and regressive right, left wing people that the Indian voter does not understand. We do and we surely know that the issues of the national level are different from local and state.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Being positive in times of Economic Recession
Now I do read financial and economic news, especially because 0ver 10 years ago i used to cover the stock market, economic news & even did stories on the interest rates. That apart, initially i could not differentiate between the Blue chip & other companies...that understanding was as good as my understanding of 'windows' & dos when it first was launched.
According to my sister i was total embarrassment to her IT super speciality types...because when I first heard of 'windows & dos' i thought doors & windows open and some software comes out of it.. now i am a creative, communication person, although highly logical...but that is so different from IT which is unnecessarily complicated and sorry for me these IT types are as good as bank clerks or tech up loaders...similarly was my understanding of the stock market..i never understood why any company was called 'blue chip' company. Chip i always associated with software chips, blue...i thought was to do with blue collared workers. Now that too baffles me, why certain types of workers, managers basically humans were called blue-collared...i know there is colloquialism, but it need not stretch to such an extent.
Coming to the modern economic news - the banks in India were working well, till some dumb white fellows asked us to roll back on nationalism on every front..everything got privatised. Privatisation means NO public service or welfare. This is true, because if you see how the power companies world over have taken consumers for a ride with the pricing of per unit, rates & their total lack of public commitment, this should have given an indicator to the bloody Americans that privatisation has simply NOT worked. Yet, they went ahead & introduced privatisation of banking processes.
So NO people interaction, NO people giving or taking slips, cheques...now over a period of time this whole complicated process got majorly marred by vested interests, greedy officials, so now we landed with major economic recession. In the midst of this recession, me with 21 other fellows got selected for the international rotary course for peace & conflict resolution. I was constantly plagued by only one question that my friends & well wishers had, "How has your office given you permission? What about your job? etc, etc" Their concern was basically how would i survive this job during recession times.
Everyday i saw on Al Jazeera (My sensible window to the world it was), how older & more experienced professionals were being asked to sit at home, losing jobs & facing the worst time of their lives. I do not need to see recession for that, i have experienced it few years ago, for sticking my neck for myself & standing up to my own rights.
On this note, our office i am told was sacking people. I got emails from certain friends who confessed they were asked to put in their papers. The whole sacking was done decently & sensitively, but the persons were asked to leave. Then came the news of pay cuts. Which again has been done with caution & thoughtfulness...they have tried to save our cash component, etc. I am sure no person likes to tell another person to sit at home or tell staff that their pay is being cut. I have no problems to the latter, because if cutting my pay can save jobs i am absolutely satisfied about. Yes, because i also strongly believe if my job has to go it will, if it has to survive it will...but i have also realised a few complications that are beyond my understanding. Like why windows was called as windows for a bloody software programme...
The complications are as follows - the restaurants have NOT increased prices, but they drastically cut down on the portions they serve. They have NOT reduced prices, like our salaries, but you get to eat less. Imagine, as it is we earn lesser now we get to eat lesser...this equation i have NOT understood.
Then some products their prices keep mounting -like the darn Apple products! How their prices have increased when stupid ones like me go to buy them on zero EMI instalments??? I wonder.. they are still bloody expensive...
NO utility has reduced its fares because there is recession. If there is No or lesser money around every sector is affected, the diesel, petrol, CNG rates haven't fallen. A a result the bus & cab fares haven't decreased. So we as consumers continue to spend as much or more than what we have been till now, except the value for what i get in return seems to be decreasing.
Now i thought is a good time the stupid governments announce that the interest rates will increase, so the savings will at least double or become one and a half times...no but we don't get such bonanzas. Our tipping by the way has NOT decreased. If the portions have decreased, salaries have decreased, we continue to be weighed down by the social responsibility & guilt for paying less tips. But how does NO other person get weighed down by the cut in my salary. My working hours have not decreased, the pressures have not decreased, rather they have doubled. My work load has been modified & more has been added. More output is expected...
so the law of economics do not work in our favour, but they work for in those above and below my category. I n all this some bloody evil-minded person stole my expensive Ipod (of 8gb memory), that too a piece i bought on zero EMI on instalments...I'm supposed to forgive that person for his/her misdeed & pray i am able to afford it again?? I cursed the person & said that the person should & will incur 5 & a half times my loss for causing me such immense grief.
I have now given my status line as, "pay cuts, hot weather, no houses at cheap rates, bad candidates, NO better opps & people stealing my Ipod...yet i am told be +, this too shall pass...." i mean i really should be given a meddle for being positive, optimistic & surreal hopeful!
According to my sister i was total embarrassment to her IT super speciality types...because when I first heard of 'windows & dos' i thought doors & windows open and some software comes out of it.. now i am a creative, communication person, although highly logical...but that is so different from IT which is unnecessarily complicated and sorry for me these IT types are as good as bank clerks or tech up loaders...similarly was my understanding of the stock market..i never understood why any company was called 'blue chip' company. Chip i always associated with software chips, blue...i thought was to do with blue collared workers. Now that too baffles me, why certain types of workers, managers basically humans were called blue-collared...i know there is colloquialism, but it need not stretch to such an extent.
Coming to the modern economic news - the banks in India were working well, till some dumb white fellows asked us to roll back on nationalism on every front..everything got privatised. Privatisation means NO public service or welfare. This is true, because if you see how the power companies world over have taken consumers for a ride with the pricing of per unit, rates & their total lack of public commitment, this should have given an indicator to the bloody Americans that privatisation has simply NOT worked. Yet, they went ahead & introduced privatisation of banking processes.
So NO people interaction, NO people giving or taking slips, cheques...now over a period of time this whole complicated process got majorly marred by vested interests, greedy officials, so now we landed with major economic recession. In the midst of this recession, me with 21 other fellows got selected for the international rotary course for peace & conflict resolution. I was constantly plagued by only one question that my friends & well wishers had, "How has your office given you permission? What about your job? etc, etc" Their concern was basically how would i survive this job during recession times.
Everyday i saw on Al Jazeera (My sensible window to the world it was), how older & more experienced professionals were being asked to sit at home, losing jobs & facing the worst time of their lives. I do not need to see recession for that, i have experienced it few years ago, for sticking my neck for myself & standing up to my own rights.
On this note, our office i am told was sacking people. I got emails from certain friends who confessed they were asked to put in their papers. The whole sacking was done decently & sensitively, but the persons were asked to leave. Then came the news of pay cuts. Which again has been done with caution & thoughtfulness...they have tried to save our cash component, etc. I am sure no person likes to tell another person to sit at home or tell staff that their pay is being cut. I have no problems to the latter, because if cutting my pay can save jobs i am absolutely satisfied about. Yes, because i also strongly believe if my job has to go it will, if it has to survive it will...but i have also realised a few complications that are beyond my understanding. Like why windows was called as windows for a bloody software programme...
The complications are as follows - the restaurants have NOT increased prices, but they drastically cut down on the portions they serve. They have NOT reduced prices, like our salaries, but you get to eat less. Imagine, as it is we earn lesser now we get to eat lesser...this equation i have NOT understood.
Then some products their prices keep mounting -like the darn Apple products! How their prices have increased when stupid ones like me go to buy them on zero EMI instalments??? I wonder.. they are still bloody expensive...
NO utility has reduced its fares because there is recession. If there is No or lesser money around every sector is affected, the diesel, petrol, CNG rates haven't fallen. A a result the bus & cab fares haven't decreased. So we as consumers continue to spend as much or more than what we have been till now, except the value for what i get in return seems to be decreasing.
Now i thought is a good time the stupid governments announce that the interest rates will increase, so the savings will at least double or become one and a half times...no but we don't get such bonanzas. Our tipping by the way has NOT decreased. If the portions have decreased, salaries have decreased, we continue to be weighed down by the social responsibility & guilt for paying less tips. But how does NO other person get weighed down by the cut in my salary. My working hours have not decreased, the pressures have not decreased, rather they have doubled. My work load has been modified & more has been added. More output is expected...
so the law of economics do not work in our favour, but they work for in those above and below my category. I n all this some bloody evil-minded person stole my expensive Ipod (of 8gb memory), that too a piece i bought on zero EMI on instalments...I'm supposed to forgive that person for his/her misdeed & pray i am able to afford it again?? I cursed the person & said that the person should & will incur 5 & a half times my loss for causing me such immense grief.
I have now given my status line as, "pay cuts, hot weather, no houses at cheap rates, bad candidates, NO better opps & people stealing my Ipod...yet i am told be +, this too shall pass...." i mean i really should be given a meddle for being positive, optimistic & surreal hopeful!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Confidentiality of rape victim
Yet again a girl has been raped in the so-called 'safe' city, Bombay, alias Mumbai! Guess if some incident occurs frequently it means a few things. Firstly, there is something drastically lacking in the very systems & structures - here its primarily secuirty, law & order; more so self-control & respect for a girls / women. It also means the safety of women in the city has fallen down drastically. The secuirty i mean the whole city. Who is secure? Can anyone of us claim to be? I really don't think so.
It also means that there is some sort of sanction or sniggering approval for such violent acts. Because so many are silent & tight lipped when such incidents occur. Somehow the hypocrisy of the Indian society gets thoroughly exposed. Yes, because the men folk can roam around late at night, they can be arrogant, forceful & flaunt their sexuality. But if women even remotely show similar attitude, they are termed as 'fast' women who deserve the consequences. The very faith they have in the system is destroyed, rather crushed to bits...
Last week an American Indian student from a social sciences college went out with her female friend for drinks. The whole episode till here & thereafter has many a loophole. Was there any breach of trust between these two? Why did this girl go out with 'friends' of her female friends. so on so forth is now coming out. I have a question. Do we not trust our own friends? Do we distruct every person we meet? I travel alone, i interact with people and its interesting what one can see around. I don't drink with strangers except close friends, this is a rule. On tour or travel i restrict myself to only a glass of beer. Plus a BIG lesson, NO mixing drinks...However this has been soemthing i have been able to stick with come what may. Sometimes like in this case of Ms R things didn't go her way.
She couldn't resist the forceful men. They forced her to drink, offered her LSD marijuana ciggie, etc...a lot is being said of what she could have done. I know one thing i can imagine is she could have just shouted out for help. Would she have got it i can't vouch, it would've at least put some pressure on the horny males with her. Poor child, a lot of mixes happened & eventually she landed in a huge personal, emotional & physcial trauma - she was raped.
But as if this wasn't enough. She had the courage to go to her hostel officials & tell them. They went to the hospital, police station, underwent all tests, etc. She filed a 'First Information Report.' Now this is supposed to be CONFIDENTIAL. Interestingly, the media in India has become very 'investigative.' The editors more pushy. so according to what my colleagues told me many news organisations & people had been given by the police the copies of the FIR.
The FIR is a real weapon for the victim. That is also confidential a document. Also if a journalist gets the copy of an FIR, one is NOT supposed to reporduce it verbatim. Here we had an over-excited tabloid newspaper male reporter who went ahead & published all details. Every action that the poor child could remember was described like a D grade sex film! Readers were subjected to the Gory details...instead of publishing the excerpts from this FIR, the whole darn paper was reproduced.
It was the most disgusting & repulsive piece of journalism i have read or seen in modern times. I sincerely believe such journalists should be castrated or flogged...Not for once did the bloody editor of this tabloid stop to think she is a woman & how she is encroaching upon a vulnerable, already shattered girl's privacy. Every word was published as if the reporter & the editor had relished & enjoyed every word that was printed on their paper. It nauseated some of us.
I did write to the network for working women journalists, asking us to file a suit against this third rate paper & its editor, especially since she was a woman. Pathetic is the situation in India i feel. To what extent will journalists go to get a story. In Our paper the bosses acutally pulled up the crime team for 'missing' out on this story. I want to ask do editors forget they too are humans. We all have women in our households. Would we allow something to be written abt any woman or girl we know in our private life? We owuld mover every stone on the way to protect that girl's relative's identity.
Why then do we not follow the same rule? Why do we not do things we'd expect others to follow? The paper failed in its very commitment to send the message of the incident to the masses, or readers. Instead it tantillised the readers, it made them curious and more so it perpetuated false perceptions of girls & women. This piece of tabloid journalism actually made people talk ill about the victim. Except for her name they had gone to town with every detail that the honest victim had recorded with the police.
It definitely brings us to the roles of ; living & suffering in a patriarchial society. The boys are being made out to be 'poor' boys, 'misled inccocents' "who did not rape but only gave the apartment to rapists." Even to know a rapist is a scary thought. How can men go beyond to help him. It is scary...The police first need to go inside the jail. Plus write ups about them need to come out more openly. The editor got her due. The women's organisations from the city went to that newspaper's office & they actually lodged an FIR with the azad maidan police.
We all suppoted this protest. I do hope this makes the editors, journalists realise the true meaning of 'confidentiality & it breach.' i only hope people use the same parametres for others that they will like to use for themselves.
It also means that there is some sort of sanction or sniggering approval for such violent acts. Because so many are silent & tight lipped when such incidents occur. Somehow the hypocrisy of the Indian society gets thoroughly exposed. Yes, because the men folk can roam around late at night, they can be arrogant, forceful & flaunt their sexuality. But if women even remotely show similar attitude, they are termed as 'fast' women who deserve the consequences. The very faith they have in the system is destroyed, rather crushed to bits...
Last week an American Indian student from a social sciences college went out with her female friend for drinks. The whole episode till here & thereafter has many a loophole. Was there any breach of trust between these two? Why did this girl go out with 'friends' of her female friends. so on so forth is now coming out. I have a question. Do we not trust our own friends? Do we distruct every person we meet? I travel alone, i interact with people and its interesting what one can see around. I don't drink with strangers except close friends, this is a rule. On tour or travel i restrict myself to only a glass of beer. Plus a BIG lesson, NO mixing drinks...However this has been soemthing i have been able to stick with come what may. Sometimes like in this case of Ms R things didn't go her way.
She couldn't resist the forceful men. They forced her to drink, offered her LSD marijuana ciggie, etc...a lot is being said of what she could have done. I know one thing i can imagine is she could have just shouted out for help. Would she have got it i can't vouch, it would've at least put some pressure on the horny males with her. Poor child, a lot of mixes happened & eventually she landed in a huge personal, emotional & physcial trauma - she was raped.
But as if this wasn't enough. She had the courage to go to her hostel officials & tell them. They went to the hospital, police station, underwent all tests, etc. She filed a 'First Information Report.' Now this is supposed to be CONFIDENTIAL. Interestingly, the media in India has become very 'investigative.' The editors more pushy. so according to what my colleagues told me many news organisations & people had been given by the police the copies of the FIR.
The FIR is a real weapon for the victim. That is also confidential a document. Also if a journalist gets the copy of an FIR, one is NOT supposed to reporduce it verbatim. Here we had an over-excited tabloid newspaper male reporter who went ahead & published all details. Every action that the poor child could remember was described like a D grade sex film! Readers were subjected to the Gory details...instead of publishing the excerpts from this FIR, the whole darn paper was reproduced.
It was the most disgusting & repulsive piece of journalism i have read or seen in modern times. I sincerely believe such journalists should be castrated or flogged...Not for once did the bloody editor of this tabloid stop to think she is a woman & how she is encroaching upon a vulnerable, already shattered girl's privacy. Every word was published as if the reporter & the editor had relished & enjoyed every word that was printed on their paper. It nauseated some of us.
I did write to the network for working women journalists, asking us to file a suit against this third rate paper & its editor, especially since she was a woman. Pathetic is the situation in India i feel. To what extent will journalists go to get a story. In Our paper the bosses acutally pulled up the crime team for 'missing' out on this story. I want to ask do editors forget they too are humans. We all have women in our households. Would we allow something to be written abt any woman or girl we know in our private life? We owuld mover every stone on the way to protect that girl's relative's identity.
Why then do we not follow the same rule? Why do we not do things we'd expect others to follow? The paper failed in its very commitment to send the message of the incident to the masses, or readers. Instead it tantillised the readers, it made them curious and more so it perpetuated false perceptions of girls & women. This piece of tabloid journalism actually made people talk ill about the victim. Except for her name they had gone to town with every detail that the honest victim had recorded with the police.
It definitely brings us to the roles of ; living & suffering in a patriarchial society. The boys are being made out to be 'poor' boys, 'misled inccocents' "who did not rape but only gave the apartment to rapists." Even to know a rapist is a scary thought. How can men go beyond to help him. It is scary...The police first need to go inside the jail. Plus write ups about them need to come out more openly. The editor got her due. The women's organisations from the city went to that newspaper's office & they actually lodged an FIR with the azad maidan police.
We all suppoted this protest. I do hope this makes the editors, journalists realise the true meaning of 'confidentiality & it breach.' i only hope people use the same parametres for others that they will like to use for themselves.
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