Monday, December 8, 2008

Excerpts from Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's speech .. A must read !

I got this text as a mail forward from a friend of mine and i felt i 'had' to post it out here. A must read for every Indian.

Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in
India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our
achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success
stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a
self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements
but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I
was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day
after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The
Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a
Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid
and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The
gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the
newspaper, buried among other news.

In
India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so
NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign
things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign
technology.

Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that
self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in
Hyderabad giving this
lecture,
when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal
in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed
India. For her,
you and I will have to build this developed
India. You must proclaim. India
is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.

You say that our government is inefficient.
You say that our laws are too old.
You say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
You say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke,
The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
You say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.

You say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?
Take a person on his way to
Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a
face - YOURS. You walk out of the airport and you are at your International
best. In
Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in
the stores. You are as proud of their Underground links as they are. You pay
$5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim
Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. You come back to the parking
lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or
a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity... In
Singapore you
don't say anything, DO YOU? You wouldn't dare to eat in public during
Ramadan, in
Dubai. You would not dare to go out without your head covered
in Jeddah. You would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange
in
London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD
calls are billed to someone else’. You would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph
(88 km/h) in
Washington and then tell the traffic cop,
'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son.

Take your two bucks and get lost.' You wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand.
Why don't You spit Paan on the streets of
Tokyo ? Why don't You use
examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in
Boston ??? We are still
talking of the same YOU. You who can respect and conform to a foreign system
in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and
cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an
involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the
same here in
India ?

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of
Bombay, Mr.
Tinaikar , had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the
streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And
then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the
authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the
officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure
in his bowels?
In
America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job.
Same in
Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to
the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.
We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do
everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the
government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all
over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper
and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms
but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.
We want Indian Airlines and Air
India to provide the best of food and
toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.
This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to
the public.

When it comes to burning social issues like those related to
women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room
protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the
whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my
sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?
What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our
neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the
government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually
making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with
our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far
away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a
majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to
America to bask in their
glory and praise their system. When
New York becomes insecure we run to
England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out
to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and
brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape
the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is
mortgaged to money.

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BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD !! :)



Sunday, December 7, 2008

A near miss ! :)

Yesterday, sometime in the middle of the night, i was disturbed by some noise. Sounded like it was coming from the ceiling fan. I tried to ignore it and continue sleeping. But then, it showed no signs of stopping and it was getting really irritating too. Finally i got out of bed to investigate and saw that the fan was swaying dangerously .. Thinking it would fall down any minute, i switched it off and what a surprise i got ! The third blade was missing ! ( or nearly was ) Looking down i found it near the foot of my bed. It had just cut in half and fallen down ...Only in the morning did i realize i had had a close call :P Had it fallen on me, i wouldn't be writing this right now ! :P

So friends, beware of ceiling fans ! :P

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Chak De India !!

Cheers to the indian cricket team ! Winning a test series against the world champions and a one day series against England, IN STYLE, by nailing them down with 5 consecutive wins !! awesome ! way to go team india !

Cricket news aside, it s surprising that, with a population of 1 billion, India finds it hard to win even a few medals at the olympics .. Why is India failing to produce world class sports persons ? (now this happens to be most popular topic for a debate!) Is cricket the culprit ?? To a certain extent, yes, maybe ... but i feel it isn't fair to hold one sport responsible for the misfortune of another (and cricket surely is one very entertaining game ! ) so ... what could possibly be the reason ?

Government policies ? lack of world class coaching ? lack of sponsors ? all these factors surely do contribute to the condition of sports in india but i have no say in the matter, simply because i have no detailed idea about our government policies or any other, to make a comparison :)

So i better stick to the little knowledge i have and write what i have actually seen and experienced ....
In my opinion, india has a problem at the very grassroot level ....that is, the mentality of the people ... to what heights could sports grow when it is considered 'a waste of time'??

Schools .. That is where talents need to be recognised ...Does that always happen ? What priority does sports enjoy in schools ? Holding a sports day each year serves the purpose ?? Yes, with a sports day held, a school can no doubt, boast about their objective of getting an all round development in students ... What actually happens on a daily basis ?Isn't that more important ?

Teachers never manage to finish off their lessons in time and they greedily eye the already inadequate physical training hours and manage to get hold of them too!! Amidst the groaning and grumbling of the students they go on with their ranting, literally beaming !!
Dare to ask for an extra PT hour? Man, that is considered a big mistake in itself !! " Exams are round the corner students !! Make good use of your free time ... Study ! We expect a 100% result from you in the board exams! " blah blah blah ... thats one never ending lecture ! ;)

Now coming to the sports facility in schools ... are they well equipped ? most of the times they are far from impressive .. my school never had a basketball court . ( who knows, maybe i would ve emerged a star basketball player ;) lol thats a joke, considering am a disaster at sports ..physical trainer's least fav student :P ) Students don't get a chance to discover what they are good at .. That's the point i wanted to make...

Does the treatment improve at our very own homes ?? Parents only dream is to see their kids study well,score well, get a good job with a sound income, which means emphasis is always on the studies ... Sports is secondary .. Most of the parents would say "Son, it's studies first ... You ve to give your boards this year and sports would take too much of your time .. Give it a rest this one year, you can always continue it later "

Well, excelling in any field requires a lot of hard work, dedication, sincerity and sacrifice ... Sports is no exception but unfortunately, sports is not getting the respect it rightly deserves .. Do we have any statistics which says how many talents have gone unnoticed even before getting a fair chance or how many more haven't been able to deliver their true potential ? I can surely say it would be a staggering number ...

Well it's never too late for a revolution :) India's performance at Beijing olympics made every Indian proud ... We do have a long way to go, but it surely marks a new beginning for Indian sports and the brighter days ahead !!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The other day i got this SMS from a friend of mine .....

Recruitment Drive :
HR : Suppose i select you, where do you see yourself three years down the line ?
STUDENT : At home waiting for the joining date :P

Looks like all the frustration is improving the sense of humour in students :)

Monday, November 17, 2008

City Bus karmakaanda ;)

It was just another day .. I was waiting for my bus, after a long day at college ..
N there it comes ...

Crap, does it always have to be so crowded ? Damn my luck i stay at one of the most populated areas of Mangalore ...

There are many gals getting in and somehow, it so happens that am the last one to get in ( like always ! ) n i end up on the footboard hanging on to dear life ...
LESSON NO 1 : U need to acquire the skill of getting into the bus before others , something which i haven't mastered till date :)

I hang on, using all my strength and after 2 stops, i somehow make my way into the bus ... The conductor comes to collect the fare and thats when i remember I don't have the change in my hand ! oopphh .. It's in my purse, which in turn is inside my bag :( Getting it out is a nearly impossible job, considering the situation .. ie a file in one hand ( which means you are not catching on to anything ) and the driver applying brakes every once in a while ...
LESSON NO 2 : Always have the change in hand before getting into the bus

Well, using all my balancing talents, I somehow manage to get the change out n pay the conductor but not before i get some cold stares from him :)

People here dont need to go to the gym to have a workout .. Travelling by buses serves the purpose at half the cost ;)

Making way for someone to get down is another pain ... A whole bunch of people, who amount to some multiple of your own weight, lean on you ... These are the times when I thank God for providing enough protection to our internal organs ;) If not, by now my kidneys would have broken in half :) I guess he had this foreboding that humans would have to endure such bus trips and come out of it alive !

Well... well... My stop is nearing .. some have got down ... others have got in ... am stuck somewhere in the middle of the bus ... and the bus is still crowded ...

I start making my way towards the exit .. not an easy job .. U have to squeeze yourself through the narrow crack of space made for you ... Thats your door to freedom .. lol .... There are times when "Excuse me" s don' t work ... Shit .. next stop is mine and am still nowhere near the exit .. My "excuse me" s get a lil more louder, i hurry and try to pull myself, my bag, my file ....
Oh no !! My stop is here !!
Excuse me ! Excuse me plz !!! EXCUSE ME !
NO ! NO !! There goes the dreaded whistle !
The bus pulls away from my stop ....

LESSON NO 3 : One needs to use power , polite "excuse me" s don't work :)

There are many more lessons to be learnt, but too many at one go ain't good for health .. So i apply my brakes here :)

Here s the story s happy ending .. I somehow manage to get down in the next stop and walk back home, fuming !!! happy s... endings .... ;)

Hello !!

Here i am with a blog of my own and wondering what to write :)

First things first, am neither a good writer nor do i have a remarkable English, so please forgive my grammar n vocabulary ..

After some nagging by a friend of mine i decided to go ahead and give this a try .. Hmmm .. i just hope i ll be able to put something nice on the platter !