Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Just thinking aloud..

There are over 10 websites (at the very least) who have free audio books for download. There is bound to be some repetition. Now suppose, there was a website that searched ALL these sites and gave u a list of audio books that match ur criteria?

What do you think?

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Bringing it all together

What is an attritioned employee? An attritioned employee is a disgruntled employee who was not listened to in time.

What is a separatist movement? A separatist movement is a marginalised group that was not heard in time. And it is an axiom that the time, energy and resources required to please a marginalised community is miniscule compared to the time, energy and resources required to quell a separatist movement.

When does a spouse want a divorce? When the stress of living together is higher than the fear of loneliness.

Moral of the story? It is VERY important to take care of your marginalised groups, no matter who you are or what you do.
The disabled, the minorities - religious and otherwise, the women, the really oppressed poor..

Be VERY scared of those who are tormented, or left behind in your 'race'.. and be even more scared of those whom u torment.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Peepli Live

What does one say about peepli live? Nothing that has not been said before.. or discussed..

Only this... it deserves to be seen.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Female foeticide

Thats all this post is about. I was once moronic enough to believe that once they have to pay for their wives, they will start to respect their girls.
Then, Annie Zaidi blogged about the Shakti Vahini report which states that less women means even more exploitation. And a bomb exploded somewhere within. Of Course! They will buy the wives, but exploit them even more, and kill the daughters all the same so no one "else" can exploit them. What was i thinking??

Its important to save the girl child. And the woman. And her self respect. And her financial freedom. And her education. And her right to nutrition.
In an MBA style diagram, these would be the parts that make up a wheel like diagram. Because without one of them, the whole structure will collapse. It doesnt matter which part of the circle you start to protect, it will help save all the other parts of the structure.

As Gurdas Mann puts it so beautifully.... रब दे कम विच विघ्न पौगा, धी न मार दयो वे लोको, धी ना मार दयो॥ (It will impede God's work if you kill a daughter. Don't do it.) (What he means is, without a daughter, God will not be able to continue the Human race. Dont do it.)

It takes a lot to write this post while i am still grieving the loss of Tejaswee... but it had to be done..

Monday, August 16, 2010

To Tejaswee Rao

She is the daughter of someone i look up to. Then i met her- through her blog. And loved her.

Only, she isn't around to hear this. I am not sure exactly where she is, but am sure they are about having a ball there right now. They switched off the lights. She will brighten a room just by being in it.

RIP Tejaswee Rao. You will be a bright star wherever you are, and the Earth is at least 2 shades darker.

PS: Bhagwan kisi ki nahi sunta.. bachchon ki bhi nahi (Amrita Pritam). Dear God, i will know better than to trust you blindly again. This, i will remember.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Girls Like us...

.. are not for self alone. Girls like us, have to be very careful what we do. We carry the baton, not just for our own race, but also for the race of the others who come after us. One false step, and the baton that was to relay them out becomes the Cross that bears their corpse.

Girls like us, are born to families where girls are meant to study only as much as makes them marriageable. Where their primary job is to learn how to keep the home , the husband and in laws happy. Where girls are not meant for ambition, or love, or a wish of their own. Girls like us, are born to a social set up that sees nothing wrong with dowry, chauvinism and mental abuse. Sometimes, even physical abuse.

Every girl who gets out, and carves her "independence", carries on her shoulders, the burden of all the girls to come after her. Every girl after her who wants to study, have ambition, or get out of the vicious cycle, uses her as an "example". "Look what she did." - like ants crawling out of a flooded anthill, we ride on the shoulders of those who are safe, and then carry the others out on our shoulders.
One false step, and "Look what she did" becomes "Remember what happened with her?" The baton becomes the Cross, on which all such girls are crucified together. Girls like us, are not for self alone. We carry the burdens of many, many others, on our shoulders.