Hey, for the past fortnight or more the blog has been giving me a lot of trouble. It was some problem with the server and blah blah blah.
But finally we are through all that. And now hopefully, just hopefully there shall be no more problems.
Sorry for any inconvenience it might have caused.
And hey, Happy New Year to all of you. May 2008 truly make lifeamaZing!!
Popularity: 70% [?]
Modi won. Gujarat won. Gujaratis won. People won.
Congress lost. Media lost.
I live in Gujarat. I have seen it from the urban areas and from the most interior and undeveloped villages. I have seen the developed countries as well and hence I believe my views about Gujarat are not myopic. I write all this to make my readers understand that what I say here, are my views, but they are a reflection of lakhs of people of Gujarat too.
Okk now coming down to Modi’s victory. He deserved to win. His work and determination spoke for him. People love him truly, madly, deeply. But why they love him
a. Because they trust his words. They know, if he says it, he will DO it.
b. Because development is tangible and they have experienced it.
c. Because he has reached the heart of every citizen in Gujarat not with publicity but in spite of unending media vilification.
d. And last but most of all because they need a leader with an iron-like will. They have had enough with moderate, indecisive, non-conclusive, sloppy, faint-hearted slogs. Gujarat is not blind to his errors but they would rather choose an erroneous man with power and vision than the one with no agenda or identity.
This I believe is the real cause of his victory. India is changing and so are Indians’ expectations. They want quick decisions. They want emphatic stands. ‘Chalta hai’ attitude bogs them down.
And if you doubt anything that I have said here about development, his charisma or people’s love for him, I have a few honest instances to enumerate. The instances mentioned here are my personal experiences and no suni-sunayi kahani.
24 hour power supply
I went to my village in North gujarat before a couple of years. And in the hot summer afternoon the electricity went off. In dismay, I couldn’t help but scream ‘NOOOOO!’ But my cousin who lives there consoled me, “Don’t worry, it will be back in 2 minutes. Our village has participated in Jyotigram, so no problem”, he said. I didn’t believe him but he was right. Within two minutes the fan started tweaking and blew hot air all around. Then I learnt that the Gujarat govt, ruled by Modi, had started with Jyotigram Yojana under which any village could get 24 hr electricity by paying some upfront amount. And 24 hrs meant 24 hrs.
Earlier the connections for village homes and bore-wells or pump-sets in farms were same. The fields needed 3 phase electricity and providing that much power 24 hours was not possible. But under Jyotigram, villages could get a different connection which would provide them 24 hr power for the village and for limited hours in fields. Hence nobody slept in dark. This was the first way in which Modi reached the common man.
Government servants were made accountable
My uncle was the Sarpanch (Mukhiya) of our village till last year. At that time Modi started with Krishi Rath whereby he and the entire revenue department of respective district from the District Collector to the gram sevak everyone got together and heard the problems faced by the villages, as represented by the Sarpanch. My uncle too went to meet the Krishi Rath at the district headquarter and made his appeal of a pending amount that the govt was supposed to disimburse to our village since a decade. The note was taken and the meeting was called off after several such appeals. My uncle came home from there by the afternoon hoping for an answer within a week. But to his utter surprise and shock withing two hours the District Collector himself came to our house (Sarpanch’s house in this case) asked for the exact details with absolute politeness and kindness- something that Sarpanchs are not used to by the Collectors. The officer promised to deliver the amount within a stipulated time and again uncle was not sure of whether this would happen. But it DID. Within a week the amount pending since a decade was delivered to the gram panchayat’s doorstep. This is why the entire village and my uncle a life-time Congress supporter salute Modi.
Prevention rather than damage control
In another similar instance, on one such sultry morning our door bell rang at 7:00 am and the servant came rushing to inform my parents that some pili-batti wala saahib i.e. some govt officer has come over. Dad went down and it was the Deputy Commissioner of the Ahmedabad Municipality who also happened to be dad’s friend. Dad was surprised to have him home in these wee hours and on inquiring about his purpose, dad found out that there was a danger of Plague in the city, due to excessive rains and stuff and they (the municipality) had been asked to check every part of the city personally and report directly to the CM. And hence in order to complete his work within the time frame they had started working since 6 in the morning and the commissioner did not have his tea yet. Now that he was cleaning up the area around us, he thought of taking a short break and coming over for tea. That was a Class I officer of the Indian bureaucracy at our door step. Ahmedabad never got caught up in plague and we were probably saved without direct efforts.
Helping the marginalised
A two year old child of my grand-mother-in-law’s best friend, who is economically backward, was detected with a severe heart problem. The child required to be operated upon and regular medicines. Under a scheme of Gujarat govt any child within five years who develops such deadly diseases is treated for free. And our relatives child WAS treated and that too without any cost and the child is well off now. Other states might be having such schemes but it is the implementation that has won the Gujaratis.
These are a few instances of his work. Of people’s love for him, I have many more to enumerate like the one of the old man who has finished all his social and economic obligations but wants to live just a few more years because he wants to see Modi work; or from that dholi who had put down his dhol since the day Modi filed his form for elections and vowed that he would play the dhol ONLY if Modi won. And he let go of his earnings of the entire marriage season for his vow. Modi won and he played the dhol!!
I can still hear that dhol playing. And anyone who can’t or who finds it difficult to separate it from media and congress rantings needs to clear his mind and ears. The message is loud and clear. Work wins.
Adding this video for those people who feel Modi works for a particular section. PLEASE check this out!
Popularity: 99% [?]
Yes, chilling, literally!
Well, my husband was going on a conference to Paris and how could he do that without taking me along!
So with or without his wish (I actually never asked, just said) I decided that I too would accompany him there. However when I said that two months ago, it was hot and humid in Ahmedabad and hence I never realized that I was talking of going to Europe in December, a time when most people come back here!
But well, wintry, chilly Paris is better than no Paris!!
I have bought this Fodor’s Guide to Paris and nowadays I am acquainting myself with all this French. Bonjour, bauggette, arrondisement, etc. However I have learnt two words by heart. Au secours (help!) and samu (ambulance)!! You never know when calamity strikes 
So, me leaving tomorrow. Will try and enjoy despite extreme vulnerability to cold. Wish me luck and if you have any tips please give them before tomorrow evening!
Ohhhh, I am going Paris!!!
Popularity: 56% [?]
“The age of superheroes is catching up in India.”
“Krrish is first modern day example of Indian superheroes”
“Ohhh, we have to long time to go before we have our own Spiderman or Superman”
Heard these often? Well, I have too but it makes me wonder do we actually don’t have superheroes? Is the era superheroes yet to catch up on us??
And suddenly it dawns on me–NO. Indian superheroes are far older than Hollywood, Bollywood or even Christ!
Well, let us list out a few basic characteristics of superheroes
–>They have superhuman powers
–>They appear and disappear at will
–>They usually work for the betterment of human life
–>Disguise is a part of their personality
–>They have some enemy or dark force that they fight and mostly defeat
Well now Spiderman, Superman, etc. have this all but has it ever struck you that Krishna, Ram, Hanuman, Vishnu, etc. too have it all??
Amazing but we have been programmed to see superheroes only as people with blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin and unreal costumes (i would truly want to meet the costume designer of Superman who designed the underwear-which-is-not-worn-under). It has never struck us that we didn’t need the bollywood badshahs to help us take a fantasy leap. Our ancestors have taken it centuries before the West even learnt to spell f-a-n-t-a-n-s-y!
Let’s understand the powers of our superheroes.
Hanuman has the capacity to fly, fight an an entire nation ( Lanka), carry mountains and still be humble. He saves Lord Ram’s brother by flying with a huge mountain on his back.
Krishna, the master of all superheroes has all the acts of magic to his credit. He can create a silhoutte against the Sun when need be and even remove it with one sweep of hand, can take over devils like Putna as an infant, save thousands from flood (Govardhan Parvat), and of course fight and defeat the evil whether it is Kans or Kauravs.
Ram, the epitome of human-superheroes he has to his credit the incredible fantasy of having rocks float over water just because they had ‘Ram’ inscribed over them. He had the powers to call for wind, sun and rain with his bow and arrow and of course the capacity to fight for nine long days with unqualified soldiers against a mighty army and still come out victorious.
Bhim, Arjun, Bhishma, and scores of other characters in Mahabharata and other mythological works provided (and do so even today) the excitement and zing that humans always needed. Whether it is through the creation of a utopian place (the satyug) or the fear of losing the loved ones or just the unleashed force of creativity. India has never been without superheroes. It’s just that our superheroes have become too super and we now don’t just have their posters in our homes we even have temples built for them.
So, we are miles ahead in the race of superheroes. Every mythological story ever written whether it is the Jai Santoshi Maa or the Jai Shakumbhari Maa, it has the element of superheroes. And don’t forget India has more superwomen or superheroines than what Hollywood has yet to think of.
So, pat your backs and be proud. We are not only far ahead in thinking of superheroes but even in dressing them up. We don’t need chuddies over pants to take millions by fantasy.
What do you say?? Do let me know how wrong right am i on my take on superheroes.
Popularity: 100% [?]
Every Sunday I oil my hair in the morning and wash it off by the afternoon. And after oiling my hair if there is some oil left, i oil Abhi’s already gray and short tresses. Almost invariably when I go over to oil his hair he is sitting on his PC fidgeting with it. I fail to understand that after six long days of work right before a PC how can he get himself to sit before it the first thing on a Sunday morning. However, he amazes me till date and I always find him there, neck-deep in something that i find truly useless.
However, as soon as I start oiling his hair, his fingers automatically tend to slow down on the keypad and as if he is under a magical spell he gently closes the lids of his eyes evading the presence of the (evil, according to me) PC. My fingers in his hair work far better in taking him off work than any of words do. With full concentration he enjoys being worked on and a naughty yet innocent smile appears on his face. The smile is programmed, like thousand other things in his life, to grow into a broad grin as I work vigorously in his hair and shrink into an unpleasant smirk as i am about to end the Sunday routine. But all good things come to an end and so does this.
But this makes me wonder about the effect of TOUCH. It is just sooo immense yet understated that at times people just don’t tend to realize that they don’t need anti-depressants but just TOUCH! A good tight hug from your loved one could tell you much more than a thousand words or million dollar gift could. Imagine receiving all the presents on your birthday but no one to hug you or kiss you to wish you a birthday. It would be so hollow.
Touch according to me is the most underplayed therapeutic tool. Most Indian families see hugs between friends or family as an overt and hence useless display of emotions. I don’t remember having hugged my father or mother since I became old enough to remember things. It is sad. Not that my parents were careless but they just believed that their daughter is too old to be hugged or to-run-fingers-through-her-hair. I realized I enjoyed the touch of someone’s hand in my hair only when i went to a parlour for a hair massage.
And as i was married by then i decided to extend the pleasure of that magic of touch to my husband. However he hates the idea of oil and his latest request is ” can’t you just massage my hair without oiling them?” The request is met with an emphatic NO but he knows better. He knows that i love to fidget with his palms, hair and forehead. And hence whenever we are watching TV, he discreetly puts himself before me in such a manner that just out of volition I would start running my fingers through his hair. Just as unknowingly as people start biting nails or picking nose. And hence he has his way of oil-without-oil! By the time i realize that i have been systematically induced to work in a particular fashion he has had his quota of touch for the day and he is happy with it.
Shobha De has mentioned in her book ‘Spouse’ about the immense value of such TV-time touch for a marriage and I don’t seem to mind being duped into it at times if guarantees me such a pleasurable marriage. However, I just feel that touch need not be limited to spouses or babies. We as adults too need it. Of course not the touch that you so often get in India thanks to our population density. The touch in mumbai’s local trains carry no such value except the increase it brings in our tolerance levels towards fellow humans.
So, I am convinced that at any age i would like to be hugged and held by the ones i love, to celebrate or mourn whatever life has to offer. And i pray that all of us find people around us whom we can hug so that we don’t have to wait for some Juan Mann to start a ‘Free Hugs campaign’ or a munnabhai movie to remind us of the jadoo ki zhappi!
So, what do you say?? Let the touch spread? Or do you know of something better? Do let me know.
Popularity: 44% [?]
This is fun. Being a teetotaler never actually saw life after a tequilas. But this is just awesome! Njoi!!
Popularity: 32% [?]
Yes. I feel everyone in their lifetime should go rafting at least once. It is a once in a lifetime experience. And if you are a non-swimmer, pack your bags right away and head to the best rafting destination you can find.
Well, we took a trip to Dev Prayag and the major feature of it was rafting. It’s called white water rafting and it is basically all about testing your guts. I cannot swim and neither can Abhi, my husband (he has a certificate that he can save lives, but I would be happy if he saved his own!) and nor could all the other people we went with. So in short we were a bunch of novice, non-swimmers who had decided that life needs some excitement. And rafting provided exactly what we were looking for.
Before we started for rafting, I had a million questions. Questions after which I am sure our instructor must have felt like asking me to go to hell. But he was better acquainted with people like me. They had arranged for a raft, life-jackets, helmets and the instructor was himself qualified (unlike my husband, he was properly qualified) and they even had a kayak (a small boat like structure which can house only one person) piloting us in case one of us fell off and needed to be rescued. But my questions were far from the general
What if two people fell off the raft? Whom would the kayak-fellow save?
What if i fell off and was swayed away by the current to some far off place?
How deep is the water here? What are my chances of hitting rocks in a rapid?
What if the raft is punctured?
What if a crocodile were to catch hold of me?
After all these and many more impossible questions Abhi pulled me into the raft and we started for the most untested terrains. But the most fearsome fact that I had not questioned about was the temperature of the water. The water of Alaknanada is nothing but melted ice. It was simply CHILLING. And with the first splash of water on my body I could empathize with the victims of Titanic. Somehow I could just portray myself being afloat and frozen on Alaknanda. Ghosh!! It’s freaky!
Then came the rapids. Rapids are those parts of the river where the water gushes with extreme speed and a lot of waves and at times whirlpools are formed. Rapids could be because of rocks in the path of the river or changes in the terrain of the riverbed, they could be due to anything but rapids are freaky.
However the best part of rafting is rapids. As you approach a rapid, slowly its sound grows on you and you start panicking as the sound levels increase. And once the rapid is visible you feel like leaving the raft and sitting on the river-bank and wishing others best of luck. But because it’s too late and you are already into the rapid, you start paddling harder. The instructor says the better you paddle the lesser are the chances of your raft being overthrown (he feels its a positive statement that there are lesser chances of being overthrown but to a person like me it means only ONE thing- that there ARE chances of being overthrown!) And to shove away that ominous thought I paddle harder. So hard that I don’t find the time to panic. But as soon as the raft is swayed by the huge wave of water it almost flies in the air, and I find myself paddling in the air. But the very next moment I am down and again there is a bigger wave awaiting our raft. A huge amount of water is splashed across our bodies and we scream our lungs out because it is scary and freezing in the real sense. But team work wins and we go past the rapid without having to meet crocs, or to call for the kayak-fellow.
And then we look back at the rapid and feel PROUD. Wah, wah, we say to ourselves. Because we realize that it’s not just the rapid that we have crossed, it is is also the fear of it. It is the testimony of trust that we placed on each other as a team (rafting is team-work. If your team members don’t paddle, you are bound to go down). It is a reinforcement of our faith in science and God at the same time. Without life-jackets and helmets and such rafts, we too would have been threatened by the monstrous river and would not dare step in the river, let alone raft. And God is something you just can’t help thank. After all it is the brilliant force of the Almighty that makes Alaknanda what it is, and us too!
So, get hold of your fears and go rafting. You deserve it. And in case you have something similar to share please go ahead. Would love to read from you.
Popularity: 44% [?]
It is diwali and why i love it and how much i love it is something i have already mentioned earlier but now i have one more reason to add.
Diwali means holidays, and holidays mean outings! So, this diwali we are headed to Dev Prayag, Haridwar. Don’t worry I am not seeking salvation or going there for moksha, its just that The Ganges make up beautiful treks and that is what has fascinated all of us.
We are eight of us and will be traveling on 11th and should be back by 16th. Quite a break isn’t it?
Well, a well deserved break or not is something to think about because i work with schools and am on holidays since two weeks. I know many people go green with jealousy after listening to it. But schools have their own advantages. So me is going to make the most of those adavantages and am going on a holiday.
Will post a few pics and whatever interesting stuff I come across.
Till then,
Happy Diwali!!!
Popularity: 42% [?]
I am not sure how many of you witnessed this live (may be on TV, but live) during the academy awards but I am simply fascinated by it.I was sooo much in love with it that I decided to have our school (I work with a school) students perform something like this (exactly this would be impossible). But unfortunately the couch potato generation of today didn’t even manage to touch their heads to their knees. Hence had to forcibly drop the idea! I was truly disappointed. But then I saw this video again and was once again appalled by the precision and agility of the performers.
So, this one is for all of you, a refreshing sort of shadow dance. The group is called Pilobolus and I am always on the look out for their videos on youtube.
Popularity: 34% [?]
I LOVE DIWALI!!
I really don’t know how many people like it, love it or loathe it but i simply love it. The festival has a vibrancy about itself. New clothes, crackers, lights, diyas, family, sweets, holidays, outings, kaka-kaki, mausa-mausi, ohhhhh my GOD. No wonder I love it.
Now, i know there are a lot of people who have justified concerns about it. Like the choking pollution due to crackers, the unbearable sounds, the impossible traffic and all the mayhem that it creates. But you know what, with all due respect to all you caring and knowledgeable citizens, I am happily and purposefully ignorant in this case. I don’t want to be enlightened on an issue that would spoil even a little fun of diwali or make me feel guilty about it. So, simply SORRY!
Okkkk, what i enjoy the most about it? ummm i guess just about everything. Everything i mentioned. But it is the run up to diwali that i love so much. You know shopping for new clothes, all the malls and hoardings done up to woo us to buy a few unnecessary and extra things. The impossibly looooonggg hours of shopping and not to mention the queues at the trial rooms. The hiked up rates of simple salwar-suits and then the ishtyyle with which everyone flaunts them during festivals. Ohhh that is simply fantastic. Its like being kids and seeing what others are wearing and how good, bad, blessed are we in comparison to others.
Then another thing that i truly enjoy is rangoli. For anyone of you who does not know what is rangoli (i don’t believe there could be one but still) it is a form of art in which various designs are made on the floor in entrance of a house in a variety of colors that signifies festivities. Before I my marriage rangoli meant long family meets that would stretch till 2 in in the morning. My mother was the leader who would decided upon the size and the design of the rangoli and my sister was the designer who would talk of which color would go with which one and what color combination would make it simply stunning. And I was the junior artist. The kind of person you shove around and call upon only for menial tasks. I would be given bigger patches that would require little finesse and NEVER the borders. If I tried I would be reprimanded immediately for the mess that I would have undoubtedly made. But you know what, thanks to all that I managed to learn rangoli far better than I would have managed otherwise. And then when I went abroad for my Masters, the Indian Society at the Uni organized a Diwali function and I did the rangoli out there. Can you believe it, the junior artist was suddenly displaying her novice (for India) but expert (for phorren) skills in phorrren countries. And with no delay I sent my family back home the pics of that rangoli saying- see MY rangoli has been appreciated (and it actually was, stop grinning!) by phorreners, not yours! HA HA HA. How I reveled in that knowledge for years. I’ve added a few pics at the end. The phorren rangoli ain’t great, but for a junior artist- its quite a deal.
Then come the diyas. There is some incredibly rustic elegance about them. They suit just about any kind of architecture. Whether yours is a humble abode, a jhopadi, or a palace- diyas light it up to so well that you can’t help but smile. It’s gentle flame has a miraculous beauty that no electric series lighting or neon tubes can bring about.
Ohhh the post has become tooo long and it is time to light diyas and now that I am married and no one in my in-laws’ family knows rangoli so I am the Grand Master and my junior artists are calling for me to instruct them over the design and colors, I would better rush!! Ahaa I feel sooooooo promoted!;)
But to all you people here, you know what- TRY enjoying diwali if you don’t. Shop even if your pocket holes are bigger than you can manage, try rangoli- junior artists have a hope, and light a few diyas, believe me they make you feel special, even more than imported candles.
Okkk me running…. HAPPYYYYYYYYY DIWALIIIIIIIII
Popularity: 45% [?]
minal | 
01 1st, 2008| 