Tears...

Tears...

Has it ever happened to you… that you want to cry and the person in front of you telling you are strong and you’ll make it through. That person loves you and can’t see you cry… still you feel like bursting out… what the hell I am not strong I want to let go of pain I want to cry I want to talk… And what you actually do is take a deep breath gather your entire courage n smile… you’ll be fine………but does the frustration go away?!
I don’t know why so much fuss is made over tears… I agree I’d cry only in extreme conditions but then at that time I do need to cry… what is the use of holding back all the grief and letting it mount to an unbearable degree. Tears don’t mean that I am incapable of solving the problem… or that I have lost all hope and strength… I just want to express the pain I am going through. I am free to smile when I am happy but not to cry when I am sad… why so?!
A smiling face always looks better but not everything in life is beautiful some things are just the way they are… not beautiful but they aren’t bad. I feel it’s ok to cry. Like it’s ok to make mistakes and learn from them… it is also alright to feel sorry for yourself if you don’t change it self pity drag your life on it… excess of anything can be bad. But sometimes we can let go for our inhibitions and cry… can’t we?!

Letting go

I had read somewhere that it takes more strength to let go than to hold on, now I have truly learnt how difficult and how important it is to let go. I have always said this, that no matter how close I am to someone there is absolutely no one without whom my life would stop… I’d be lonely for sometime and will always miss the person but life really doesn’t stop. I was wrong… life does stop even if only for a moment, it does. And if life doesn’t stop you do. We hold on to the memories so tightly that it fills our future dreams with just getting that particular thing back… we forget that without the present there is no past and no future. It takes so much courage to face the facts, like accepting that a loved one is dead and we’d never hear from them again.

We fight so many battles within ourselves and with every decision we win and lose at the same time. I guess it’s the same thing as learning to forgiving yourself. To know that it’s ok to make a mistake and that it is important to learn the lesson well and keep it for life…

Homeless Homemakers

She makes food for the family, yet she can’t eat with them she first has to feed her in laws. She gives birth to the child but if she tries to discipline her child she is abused. She earns her living both in the house and in the outside world, yet she puts up with abusive language and mental tortures. I used to think these stories have become history but a better view of the world has shown me that this isn’t history it’s the present of many a women. And I am not talking of the rural areas but of urban educated families.

One family where the wife thinks that she isn’t good enough and finds security in the confines of her house… but how secure is she?! She is abused by her in laws, and works day and night like a slave… prays each night for her death. Another family, the girl is educated she is working, she puts up with abusive language and mistreatment, alienated in her own house… she can’t leave cos she doesn’t earn enough to support herself and her son… her in laws tell her son that she is going to kill him. A beautiful girl, extremely talented is married in to an educated rich family, she is tortured so much by her in laws that she had to leave her house, her daughter and son… which shouldn’t have been difficult cos the kids were taught to disrespect her, but who can over look the fact that she is the mother.

The girl leaves her parent’s place to make her own home, ends up in her husbands house…… Where is her home?! Where does she belong?!

Can one Dan Brown and one Hollywood Movie harm a 2000-year old faith??? Then why all this fuss!

Never been a fan of censorship...hate the idea. Da Vinci Code- Here's a fantastic book....a movie i have been waiting to watch...and all we're getting from these so called beaureaucrats is this... "We need to see it first before the film can release" nonsense.

And looks like our tolerance levels are just dropping by the day. Water, Fire, earth..... every time an issue is raised...there are those...who're just not willing to let a new perspective shine thru. Riots, protests......why cant we just come to terms with the fact the some people might just think different from the way we do.. Is that really so difficult!

Such a cliche' i realise...but "the Earth is Flat" story...we've all heard that one havent we now. Are we really as closed minded to not see another perspective? Or worse...are we so weak...that we're not able to fight these fundamentalists...and tell them....they might not want to see something new...but some of us do...

I mean...I wanna watch this film. I wanna know how it goes..and Ron howard says....if you think it's going to hurt your sentiment...dont watch it!!

But lets get rid of this black blanket stratergy of ours....lets give our selves a lil' more credit and understand that no one can shove anything down our throats if we dont want to savour it. And just because you watch something, see something..listen to something...dosnt mean you have to buy the idea....but alteats it gives you the chance to understand that you have the power to have a perspective...I mean how are you possibly supposed to break out of that shell...if you never see another side? How can you have make choices....if you have nothing to choose from?

"At the end of the day, as the character played by Tom Hanks says in the film, "theories don't make a difference; what makes a difference is your faith." And that is the truth.

Positive nuggets...

A few nuggets of Optimism, Hope and Motivation

1. When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2000-step process."

2. Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. She was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralyzed left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on and began to walk without it. By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last.
For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit,but she kept on running. One day she actually won race. And then another. From then on she won every race she entered. Eventually this little girl, who was told she would never walk again, went on to win three Olympic gold medals.

3. In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record audition for the executives of the Decca recording Company. The executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of musicians, one executive said, "We don't like their round. Groups of guitars are on the way out." The group was called The Beatles.

4. In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modeling Agency,told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married." She went on and became Marilyn Monroe.

5. In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry, fired a singer after one performance. He told him, "You ain't goin' nowhere....son.You ought to go back to drivin' a truck." He went on to become the most popular singer in America named Elvis Presley.

6. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it did not ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, "That's an amazing Invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?"

7. In the 1940s, another young inventor named Chester Carlson took his idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in the country. They all turned him down. In 1947 - after seven long years of rejections! He finally got a tiny company in Rochester , New York , the Haloid Company, to purchase the rights to his invention an electrostatic paper-copying process. Haloid became Xerox Corporation we know today.

*The Moral of the above Stories: *

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face.... You must do the thing you cannot do. And remember, the finest steel gets sent through the hottest furnace. And even GOLD is tested against fire. A winner is not one who never fails, but one who NEVER QUITS!

We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way.

Life's Good! Dun juz exist, live life!

An Eye-Opener...

Juz received a thought - provoking forward after a long time...so thought of blogging it down!

The debate on economics, culture, politics and society is always a very heated one... And i intend to fuel it further because it is necessary... As always, i apologise for any of you taking offence to my statements... But before i proceed let me take the discussion from the point of view of the "other side"...

1. Without ethics economic growth is manipulation and oppression... agreed... but who defines "ethics"??? ethics are subjective and are a set of rules which would not suit all people or cultures... on the other hand moral values are universally accepted... please refer to the document in the following link to make things clearer... http://home.flash.net/~bob001/basics.htm We are talking about moral values and not ethics here...
2. In a truthful society, everyone accepts that only SOME people are not practical enough to realise that economics drives the activities of the masses, not ideals...
3. Capitalism is NOT centralised economy, but socialism/communism is... as a simple proof, just answer to yourself whether china or russia allow democracy being communist countries... russia allowed democracy and the communist economy collapsed... china can still run because there is centralisation in communism... capitalism is essentially decentralisation and socialism is essentially centralisation... we are generally misguided by the fact that large corporations mean centralisation... it means more power away from government in case of capitalism... we need clarity of concepts before we voice our opinions...
4. Growth of economy should follow right means... i agree perfectly... but capitalism with labour care and no labour unions or socialism with labour exploitation avoidance unions??? i prefer the first...
5. Industries should help humanity in the long run... perfectly acceptable to me...
6. Technology ALWAYS USES science never abuses it... the choice is of man, not of technology... in fact, phones help me talk to my mother every week...do we think of phones as bad because people have phone sex??? the fault is of man, not the phone... the fault is of improper imbibing of culture and not of something external called technology... who is responsible??? is it science because it allows misuse or the parents of my friends who could not teach their children moral values??? it is always easy to abuse external objects that cant speak for themselves rather than accepting our own faults... i can go into psychology details to explain this, but i dont think such an obvious thing needs such a comprehensive explanation...
7. IMF was formed along with World Bank at the Bretton woods conference with a motive to make third world economies dependent on the developed ones... it is modern imperialism... just like we had british colonialism for resource capturing 50 years back... anyone who has studied modern economics and history can easily confirm this... we dont need nobel laureates to tell us such obvious stuff... we probably need nobel laureates to say such things so that the so called "ordinary insensible people" can be shown this as proof...
8. i am highly doubtful that labour intensive methods remove poverty... please give me one example of a country which has successfully removed poverty by labour intensive methods... all countries that dont have poverty use capital intensive technology... they simply outsource work to save costs... and by doing so they help so many unemployed people in India to get good salary jobs... technology helps people to put more emphasis on studies and do higher level work so that no human has to be a labourer...
9. Pepsi and Coke have never affected the sale of fruits... if they have, please show me evidence... they have increased sales of fruit juices helping fruit farmers to earn stably incomes... in fact, coke was developed as a brain tonic... even if it is junk food, no morals stop me from having it...i have freedom of choice...
   
10. and one more thing... isnt eating vegatarian food also killing life??? why not just eat food which fall from trees... why grow crops just to kill them??? is it simply because they cant speak we dont need to respect their right to life??? we dont ask such questions because they make us uncomfortable... please realise that lines here are hazy... we do things which we feel are right for reasons we believe in... we cant force our reasons and sense on others...
11. Local solutions should be there for local problems... a point very well taken...

There are professors who talk with nobel laureates in economics... they can prove that corruption has proved beneficial for the economy... we have people from IITs talking about the futility of technology... there is more advancement in war torn nations than peace loving ones... these are facts... see, we cant choose what our future generations will do...
We can only leave examples to learn from by doing things which we think are correct... If they disagree, we are already dead !!!

From rags to riches, in 18 minutes...

Ms.X was on her way to work and Murphy's Law had struck in the form of a traffic jam. In an attempt to dissuade her cab driver from blaring Himmesh Reshamiya's latest assault on music, she began to chat with him. In the course of his discussion, Ms.X asked him if the taxi he drove was his own or was he on a shift system like many others.

'His reply had Ms.X speechless. Not only was the taxi he was driving his own, but he also owned six other Fiat taxis, one Toyota Qualis, which he hired out and was now debating between a truck and bus for his next acquisition. Wow!

'Ms.X asked him where he got the money from. . . slightly nervous that she was riding with a possible hitman for Dawood. And his answer was even more surprising.

'He said: "Madam, whenever you need to go some place you take a cab and go. When I have to go some place and I don't have a fare going in that direction, I park my taxi some place and hop into a bus."

'She listened as he spoke. "How much does it cost you to travel from your home to your office?" Rs 100, she said. "Well, Rs 200 for a round trip?" he continued. "Well, let's say you travel through the month by taxi. How much would that cost you?" Some quick math later, Ms.X came up with the answer: Rs 6,000!

'Ms.X was spending Rs 6,000 a month to travel. Then he said: "The bus ticket costs you Rs 10 and say another Rs 20 to get from your home to the bus stop. That's Rs 60 per day for a round trip. You are saving Rs 140 everyday. That's Rs 4,200 a month. . . nearly, Rs 50,000 a year. If you invested that in something, you'd be able to buy your own car!"

'What could she say? Ms.X now travels by bus. And she is doing a Systematic Investment Plan in a mutual fund and paying a monthly premium in a Unit-linked insurance plan."

"What Ms.X could not do in 18 months, a taxi driver had done in 18 minutes."

Source: www.rediff.com

Internalizing vs Plagiarizing!!!

A few hours ago i was having a chat session with one of my professors on this current controersial issue of Kaavya The Harvard student!!! I noticed his status on Google Talk as "Hail Kaavya" n buzzed him to know more...And he infact was very strong on the point that what Kaavya did was not actually wrong! This spurred me to write down my views on this...

Chennai-born Kaavya Viswanathan, a sophomore at Harvard, has been accused of plagiarising upward of 30 passages from two books by author Megan McCafferty, "Sloppy Firsts" and "Second Helpings". Her book "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life" received a much-publicised $500,000 advance, has apologised for the similarities, saying they may have crept into her book "unintentionally and unconsciously".

Vishwanathan added a strange and to date most unique twist to authors rationalising liberal lifting of other's work as their own: 'I wasn't aware of how much I may have internalised Ms. McCafferty's words...

All credit for originality should go to Vishwanathan for this excuse. By feigning ignorance of how original source material influenced her eventual product, she is definitely being honest. Most artists of any sort have experienced that unconscious moment when the styles and voices of their creative ancestors speak through them. It is a humbling experience and affords the unwitting plagiarist time to reflect and re-shape their creative direction. Those of us who toil in the creative arts, internalise all our inspiration at every moment, unabashedly and without reservation. It takes perspective and wisdom to completely distil these influences from our finished products.

Writers -- fiction or journalists -- are nothing if they do not have a distinctive voice. Faulkner reads like Faulkner. Russell Baker could not be duplicated when he wrote for The New York Times. A would-be novelist without the creativity to create is nothing but a skilled typist. Kaavya may have great talent. She got into Harvard, didn't she? She may have been led down the garden path out of Eden and into the cold, horrible world of six-figure movie deals. I don't know, and I don't care.

Language is what separates humans from cable television talk show hosts. It is not to be treated casually. We all internalize what we read and hear. There are books that inspire us and spur creative ideas. But it is an implausible plot line that Viswanathan is spinning. A sentence or a single situation -- maybe a writer does not realize where the idea came from. But dozens and dozens of similar situations cannot be mere chance.

Factual errors can -- and do – happen, but they cannot happen often if you expect to remain employed. More than continued employment and paychecks, journalists care about getting it right. There is no victory in a front-page story riddled with errors. But there is a lower level in hell for the plagiarist than for the "fictional" news writer.

Getting it wrong is unacceptable; getting it from someone else is unpardonable.