Ceasar's Wives, All!

The year 2010 is coming to its very end. It is that time of the year when one begins to wonder how this year has been with us. But how have these times been for us as a whole? How have our citizens fared - netizens, tweeple and the man on the street deprived of bandwidth - in our country and the world in which we live today? Have things changed? Or has nothing changed at all?

Amongst success stories for India, the successful hosting of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, which finally ended as a spectacular show and the winning streak of our cricket team this year; and the much talked about aspirations for a permanent seat at the UNSC. [Much talked by ourselves, we are told by a certain Wikileaked cable]. The continued run in the economic growth measured by our GDP is another reason to be pleased with ourselves as a nation on the move. At a time when much of the world has been struggling with their economy, this feat means in effect that India is the most happening place (next only to China), where the action really is!

From the highs of the moon-landing last year when India planted its flag on the moon and the high-pitched crescendo of the cheering for our athletes’ record-breaking performance at the CWG, we also landed low on the revelations of financial irregularities, besides nepotism in postings reportedly committed by all those associated with the Organizing Committee of the CWG. If that was not enough, what followed were reports of the Adarsh Society scam, Land allotment scams in Karnataka and the mother of all scams, the 2-G scam, followed by revelation of lobbying for the ministerial position by corporate lobbyist Niira Radia through the tapes leaked to the Indian Press. [Pardon me if i have missed any scam]

The inclusion of Army officials and judges in scam tainted has achieved in some sense our wish to have “inclusive growth” in our country – we don’t leave out any one out of the party! Finally the Radia tapes also pointed to the possible involvement of journalists in engineering ministerial berths and currying corporate favoritism. These findings were followed through by various retired editors posting blogs about their experiences about how industrialists wooed media even in their times and bribes offered and paid news is not, after all, a new phenomenon. It has been proved beyond doubt that the very media - that character assassinates suspects without so much as a fair sound-byte in defence - indulges in wrongful practices themselves!

So what is new is that we have begun talking about it – and acknowledging that it exists. The rot can’t be hidden anymore - the stench tells us about it’s existence. Gandhiji’s Teen Bunder [Bunder - Hindi, for monkey] could well be Chaar Bunder with another holding his nose to avoid the stench emanating from all around!

hey,we employed another bunder!)

A Raja is not yet questioned inspite of losing 20+ days of business in the Parliament! Even our own Prime Minister is facing charges of inaction in the telecom scam, although the PM, like Ceasar’s wife, wishes to be above the law.

So much like all of us, no? Everyone seems to want to be, or already think they are, above the law.

Everyone bears the “holier-than-thou” approach, while erroneously believing in it. The media wouldn’t have to explain their role, but for the tweeple who incessantly demanded an explanation. We don’t like being frisked, being asked questions, asked to show our identity cards or PAN cards or any such document. Anywhere anytime! “You suspect me?”, we ask scornfully. In that sense, we are all aspiring to be Ceasar’s wife!


The year is drawing to a close with food prices rising unabated - onions bringing tears without even peeling them. Petrol prices, which were de-regulated only this year, have also risen quickly. Traders seem to be enjoying the freedom offered by pricing decontrol to their full advantage. Leaving us ordinary folks struggling to beat the inflation (which could be another scam, I guess) all our lives, without indulging in scams or swindling others in our society - unless of course, you are tempted to beat the inflation by acquiring the necessary skills by joining this institute – A C-School here.

We can certainly hope that the New Year 2011 will clear the prevailing stench and bring new aspirations of belonging to a cleaner society in the world around us.

After all, hope is all that remains!

Bloggers’ Post-Script – What according to you is the Indian Word of the Year 2010? Do write in the comments space with your suggestions and why you chose that word!

The Info-Leak-Age

One could be on cloud nine after being served with dollops of praise from just about anyone, but when the offering comes from none other than the President of the United States of America, it is certain to stir the common man from his dreary stance to spring up in joyful celebration! He said we are not an emerging nation but an already emerged nation! We are not “developing” but “developed” – in substance we had already arrived, just in case we happened to miss noticing the decorated, flashy gates of the elite club of nations who lead the world of the 21st Century for having gate-crashed into the lavish dinner table.

Suddenly we felt as though we had not only arrived, but also taken our rightful place at the G-20 or UNSC or any such elite gathering. Our upbeat mood was only natural – when was the last time that our country was praised so much for having done so much for shaping the world, for giving the world such gems like the Mahatma and so many heroes, for being the largest democracy in the world or for that matter for our diverse cultures and yet for being one voice the world was dying to listen to? Can’t remember, can we?

Come to think of it, let us do an exercise – try remembering a time in your own personal life and career that one would have been praised so much for all that one is or has done for your organization or for being a great person to have known or been associated with. Chances are, that you’ve heard these words of high praise at a send-off party while leaving your organization after a long-stint for better pastures or even at retirement. That is when you hear all the words you always wanted to hear when you’ve been working hard all the time – just for that appreciation and recognition –(although nobody seems to know)!

The only other instance when one may have experienced unconstrained showering of mighty praise has been when one is contemplating a large value purchase, either for oneself or for the organization one represents. Suddenly, marketing professionals will wax eloquent about your attributes and praise you to the heavens for all that you are – and even for all that you’d hoped to be; all the skills that you have and several that you hope you had possessed! Although it is really an occasion to introspect and work on these missing attributes, human nature being what it is, leads us to believe that there is nothing for me to do, but to accept the praise in all its glory and celebrate the moment.

President Obama had his wares to sell to boost his countrymen’s job prospects - and India would have been working on its shopping list for its nuclear energy program, other clean energy initiatives and several such developmental budgets to keep the pace of GDP growth going for the coming decades. Get the drift?
High praise, like the good old spirits, is indeed intoxicating. It gets to one’s head faster than truth, which takes a longer time to sink in. We had been in a celebratory mood, albeit only until the same news channels suddenly started doling out scam after scam, making one wonder where are we heading and whether we are really getting there at all? Will the Wikileaks comment citing Hillary Clinton to have dubbed India as being “a self- appointed front-runner for the UN Security Council seat” bring our feet firmly back on terra firma? Or will we just brush the Wikileaks information aside as an apocryphal account and continue to celebrate?

Talking about leaks, we are living in times, which future generations may call as the “Info-Leakage”. Classified documents leaking into public domain is being witnessed in India too. The Nira Radia tapes found their way into blogs and media websites and shocked the scale and spread of the malaise in our political and social fabric. The flip side of the Radia Tapes leak is a host of websites got busy transcribing the conversations. The involvement of media bigwigs in the corridors of powers is being hotly debated. Although those involved are defending themselves of the allegations - of going beyond their call of duty and engaging in power-broking activities alongwith lobbyists - by explaining that they were only stringing a potential news source or humoring them for future utility, it is to many a sighting of a tip of the iceberg that one cannot afford to simply brush aside.

The media has of late assumed a larger role, sitting in judgment and trying citizens for their misdeeds in extra-judicial court-rooms having high national visibility unlike the real judiciary. In that sense it was a rare treat to find political news editors, being big names in the industry on the other side of the table defending their actions and inactions and discussing the ethics of journalism. Satish Acharya, the well-known cartoonist has been kind enough to work on this creation, working on the idea provided by me, indicating the dangers of the newsrooms in our TV channels. Collaborative blogging, we may say. Thanks, Satish Acharya!


We are witnessing a High Level of RADIA-ACTIVITY in Newsrooms!

Festival Times in Mumbai

Times were when crackers were burst only during Diwali – not so today. Crackers are being burst at cricket match wins, political rallies, Ganapati visarjans and the neighbourhood plumber’s (and his uncle’s) wedding and the consequent naming ceremony of their offspring! The same goes with the consumption of sweets, which would be consumed only during festive times in the good old days – puranpolis during Holi, modaks during Ganesh Chaturthi and so on and so forth, whereas modern times have meant that these sweets are available all year long diluting the real joys of a festival!

So a Mumbaikar today looks forward to a Diwali for only the holidays one gets and not so much for the noisy and polluting celebrations or the sweetmeats. Or so it seems. The 2010 Diwali however was rather unusual for us Mumbaikars- we had the high-profile head of the most powerful nation in the world, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle visit us bang in the middle of the celebrations to add to the sparkle of our festivities! So we watched them dance with our schooling kids and talk to our young student in college, while the TV channels featured experts, politicians and editors, who debated ad-nauseum about what the US President would or would not say, should have or should not have said between those delightful glimpses of the charming couple’s graceful appearances beamed live into our living rooms.

All that 'expert talk' turned out to be phuskas (the crackers that fail to explode) compared to the real phatakas (the crackers that explode with a bang) that came from our young college students like Afsheen Irani and the likes who breathed fresh life into the debate by bringing to the table the real questions and even correctly judged the geo-political situation, unlike the misreadings by “experts” all day long! All one can say at the end of the visit was, we can hope for a brighter future with these kind of youngsters amongst us!

Just as Diwali, the Festival of Lights drew to a close, another Festival, the first of its kind in Mumbai was being announced in the Times of India – the Literature Live Festival! Having tasted success in Jaipur, the think tank headed by renowned Anil Dharker, the Festival Director got their plans moving by roping in the much-needed sponsors to initiate what will hopefully be a small beginning of a bigger event in times to come. Our country has seen many new writers in recent times. Indian writing has been making its mark on the globe – with more authors bagging the Booker Prize and such other international forms of recognition besides a global readership. It is about time to cash in on this emerging trend.

Having been able to attend some of these sessions at the NCPA at Mumbai, one found a unique possibility open up, when readers and aspiring writers could interact with Indian authors and some of the new publishers, who are also being drawn to the party of Indian writings like never before! Besides being treated to the thoughts and novel ideas (pun intended) behind the successful authors about their approach to writing, increasing trend of relating to mythological themes, travails and tribulations with publishing houses, one also found that writers still fighting shy to come out and talk openly about compensation issues.

When will writers be able to proudly tell the world that they are just writers, without being asked the inevitable next question, ‘but what do you do for a living’, I asked. A publisher promptly replied that there had been more successful writers amongst us than ever before and we could be getting there sometime soon! Until that happens, writers may have to look for day jobs to fend for themselves and their families, I guess.

The festival is certainly a good beginning! But what seems to be the need of the hour is a great amount of effort on the part of schools, colleges, NGOs, teachers- just about everyone to encourage people to put of their idiot box………

………………………………AND JUST READ A BOOK!

Blogger's Post-script:
1. The icing on the cake for me had been a chance meeting with my favourite humour columnist, the adorable and humble, Bachi Karkaria and have my pic taken with her!

A pic with Bachi Karkaria, the most humorous columnist with the Times of India.

2. Read more reports about the festival here:

Is Banning Books Justified?

Thank you Blogadda for picking this post for the Tangy Tuesday posts!

The Mumbai University recently got removed Rohinton Mistry’s book, "Such A Long Journey", from the syllabus upon facing pressure from the young cub, Aditya Thackeray of the Shiv Sena, who, sort of, made his debut with this roaring success in the political landscape in the city of Mumbai. Read about it here.

While all authors, bloggers, free-spirited readers of the modern world are up in arms against the banning of books and censorship in any form, I have some "hatke" views on this subject.

Before we get to the subject of banning books, let us examine why an author undertakes to write a book in the first place. An author would’ve been just another creature walking this planet had he no urge to tell all that is in his mind, waiting to be told, wanting to be said and itching to be devoured by hungry minds. It could be an amazing story of a person or the tale of a spirited struggle of the people of a certain era, that one encounters in life.

An author of a book may not have taken all the efforts to write, re-write, edit the matter to be narrated, if there hadn’t been such lovely creatures called ‘readers’. Lastly, the author wouldn’t have been able to get his created work to the voracious devourers of the printed word without the existence of the publishers, who don’t necessarily read the book, but certainly have all that it takes to judge whether people would shell out money to buy the book. So it is that from being just an idea in someone’s mind to the writing of a book that gets published and is available for sale at a swanky book store in the city is itself, such a long journey!

Hey, but the journey is not yet over, my dear friend! The book’s got to be launched, sold, reviewed by critics, marketed, publicised, talked about, debated, loved or hated - and does all this really mean your book sales will soar? Not really until finally, if you’re lucky enough, the book is BANNED! Yes, you read that right – banned! Or better still, burnt in public glare! How many authors can boast of writing books that have been banned? All they can really hope for is to be chosen to be awarded the coveted Booker Prize. Being banned or burnt is the ultimate success of a book!

If you don’t believe me, watch the sales figures of any book before and after a ban. The counter behaves like it’s been administered a generous dose of steroids. I just happened to ask for a copy of the latest Booker Prize winner, “The Finkler Question”, but was disappointed to find that they hadn’t even heard about it! Just a small mention somewhere in the innards of a newspaper doesn’t attract as much attention as a political rally where a book is burnt or torn with a host of TV Channels vying to get the best shot for their “breaking news” edition, does it?

You’ve certainly got it right, Dr Rajan Welukar – giving in to the demands of the goons was surely the best way you could have dealt with the situation you were facing. On one hand the agitated and offended cub has his say, and on the other the author finds more readers and laughs all the way on such a long journey to his bank! Don’t you worry about all these writers - who think they are great thinkers too – they will vent their anger, rant about losing their freedom of speech, appear on television debates, and tell the world about how the book bans are depriving the reader of a marvellous opportunity to enrich the mind. But let me tell you a secret – in their hearts they all pray and hope that some day their great works are banned and they would be the most sought after celebrities on every national TV channel and their book is flashed across as they hide their immense joy and feign to be the victim of some political vendetta. Why dont they respect your freedom - the freedom to ban books - or, more precisely, remove them from the syllabus, that is?

Dr. Welukar, you’ve done a good job – but, I would urge you to go that extra mile and change the way educational institutes function. Stop this age old practice of prescribing books for the syllabus. Students don’t like to read any book that is forced upon them, you see. Have you not seen how these youngsters doze off as soon as a prescribed text-book is opened? Don’t we see how they take immediately to books that are ‘forbidden’ instead? Let the Mumbai University bring about the much-needed change – go ahead and publish a list of banned and forbidden books instead! Make sure to include all those books that urge you to think, to change the wicked ways of this world, to make things happen in your lifetime. They challenge the way we are, they way we think and work – they ask us to change our ways! Well, some of us are sure to be offended by something or the other – they ought to be banned – each one of them. Go that extra mile, Dr. Welukar! There’s nothing better one can do to make people shut off the idiot box and settle down to read a book!

Foo(le)d by a Diet!

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Thanks, Blogadda, for picking my post for the Spicy Saturday posts!

Although, I am not exactly a health food fanatic, i have been taking some interest in health foods along with some of my acquaintances. I get my regular dose of information about what we ought to eat and what we ought to avoid via email forwards. Such emails, however, do not stop me from digging into my favourite Bengali sweets or fried foods. All these messages do, is to tell me that eating fresh fruits, dry fruits, raw vegetables would do us a great deal of good, unlike binge eating and gorging on fast foods like burgers, samosas or doughnuts – and – you guessed, it my favourite Bengali sweets!

Some years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a unique life-improvement corporate program conducted in-house by our company, in which an iota of “realisation” occurred – that God had arranged to produce fruits, vegetables for us to savour in its purest forms. I guess it must’ve been some primitive Stone Age man who invented fire and forced his wife to cook his meal for him! Calling us to shun processed foods, cooked foods and returning back to nature, Urging us to turn into “Vegans”, who eat only raw foods was just one aspect of the many beneficial aspects of life that this unique, useful and enlightening course offered – like pranayam and meditation.

Although one could completely agree with the thought process, it was quite a task to completely give up biscuits, cakes, sweets and more important the home-made meals cooked so lovingly at home! All that one achieved was to increase the proportion of fresh fruits and raw vegetables in our meals and observe a one-day-in-a-week vegan diet to “detoxify” ourselves. While rest of the week one merrily “toxified” to one’s heart’s content!

But looking around, we find many people around us becoming more conscious of their diet and seek to bring about some rewarding lifestyle changes to lead a better life. Take the plight of one such friend, who has largely switched to a fresh fruits diet. “We don’t get any green bananas these days”, he mentioned to me, “Only yellow bananas!”

“You mean the Velchi variety?” I asked.

“No – the yellow as in the ‘golden yellow’ variety. The ones which we initially thought to be some superior form evolved by the laws of evolution - and we even paid a premium for them! They turned out to be ripened using some chemical, perhaps calcium carbide, by scrupulous traders to make a fast buck. So I cannot eat bananas anymore!”

“Cant eat apples either – they apply wax and some toxic red colour to make them attractive”. Soon enough, we got several email forwards telling us how fruits are being pre-maturely ripened using toxic chemicals or waxed and coloured! These mails went around the world a dozen times…

So now the entire universe knows about these malpractices! But there haven’t been any reports of any crack downs on fruit vendors or wholesalers. On the contrary this recent TOI Study about Honey containing a number of antibiotics is another blow to those who may want to use Honey instead of Sugar to sweeten their lives! So what can we expect in future? Steroids in milk? (So our athletes can give an excuse of unknowing consuming some undisclosed ingredients when they test positive at dope tests?) Or maybe aphrodisiacs in eggs? Or better still, we may learn about some secret ingredient providing longevity found in our favourite brand of whisky?

Jokes apart, the question that comes to our mind is: Have the regulators, namely our Food and Drug Administration, lost the plot? Or have they lost their soul - and the very purpose of their existence? Even hard-nosed advocates of government deregulation would bend to their knees, begging them for better regulatory measures. After all it is a matter of our health – which is above everything else in life, isn’t it?!

No wonder we read about citizen activist groups exposing milk adulteration rackets, that dodge these regulators so easily! Apparently, the only way to go for those really concerned by these developments is to follow the footsteps of those, who have already being concerned about the pesticides used in growing vegetables, taken to rural lands to grow vegetables in their own farms and even offer “organic farm produce” to citizens willing to pay a premium for good old natural veggies. One such initiative from Vandana Shiva is NavaDanya.

For Heaven’s sake – let us get what we choose to have. Hey we call ourselves a democracy! Even if we really want to be toxified – let us choose our own toxins – and get us the very same toxins we ordered for – not any other!

The (Mis)Interpretation of Lucid Dreams

Before movie reviewers and armchair experts convince you that the recent Sci-fi action thriller, INCEPTION, is a story that most Indian viewers have found difficult to understand, let me assure you, that it is not so. It is amazing how youngsters are influenced by columnists and bloggers these days and wear the puzzled look like the latest cosmetic fad – coming out with a sulky face with question marks written all over implying they haven’t understood the plot! The truth is that there are as many versions of the story as viewers of this mind-boggling blockbuster.

For those who haven’t watched the movie – it is about how to steal business secrets by going off to sleep and entering competitor’s dreams to find what’s in his subconscious mind and what plans and fears reside there. Then there is a plot to plant an idea in his mind. An idea, we’re told is as potentially dangerous (or was it helpful?) as a virus, bacteria or superbug like NDM-1 or a New Delhi Minister.

Being privileged to mingle with government officials of the central, state and local municipal bodies, dealing with some of the scores of indirect taxes levied in our country, one found that prime-time activities in these offices included discussing how completely they understood the movie. After being offered free tickets by their assessee firms, they confirmed how completely they could understand and identify with the new professional heist who “steal dreams“, for a living!

“In totem” they said! Maybe they meant “in toto”.

Once back in my office, I began to wonder, what is it, that they would have liked about the movie? For one, it could be the profession of the protagonist, Dom Cobb, an “extractor of dreams”, may have had many similarities with theirs. To begin with, both enjoyed the perks of sleeping on their job! With a lucrative offer from warring business barons, Cobb designed joint-dreaming, sort of like team-work. Ditto in Government offices, one learnt.

Secondly, the more the team dreamt together, more were the chances of extraction - of real-life moolah, of course. So as not to provide spoilers, one would not elaborate how it worked with the on-screen characters, but let me tell you in real life – the longer one slept on an application of urgent requirement of the enterprise wanting to capture the universe with its aggressive business expansion plans, the better the prospects of “extraction”.

Thirdly, if one who has ever been assigned setting up manufacturing operations by getting government clearances, would have experienced sleepless nights and constant daymares, which are difficult to come out of - without a kick(back). All that these wonderful folks could not understand was the need to transgress into dreams?

Such sufferers of lack of sleep may find their way to mendicants handing out potions to induce slumber, very much like Cobb’s team in the movie. Having tried several pills, my professional friends with similar predicaments, recently invited me to deliver a lecture on such mundane subjects as coping with the professional hazards that one often found daunting to overcome in our trade. It was not long before one learnt that none of the participants really wanted to learn any new trick that one may have up one’s sleeve, but that my delivered lecture had all the qualities of the best sedative to put one to the deepest of sleeps possible under the given circumstances for the sleep-deprived brethren, whose projects are always “IN LIMBO” like the deepest dreams in the movie.

One also encountered a completely different view-point from friends, who felt that our local film industry, popularly known as Bollywood, would have done greater justice to the plot! One would have witnessed several romances, once one gets into someone else’s dreams, which could inevitably culminate in lavish marriage ceremonies breaking out into a mass hysterical song and dance sequence, in which one could wed partners of your choice, without really upsetting the reality carts in the real-life world. There is a distinct possibility of “projected characters”, usually in the form of ex-lovers, could fight over the bride at the ceremonial occasion in various joint dreams. The music rendered for the production could be a heist of a kind - although without really having to enter anyone’s dreams. Heists of different hues are, one would bet, debating the need to put one to sleep to enter their dreams, when the preferred modus operandi was to do it in broad daylight under the very eyes of the vigilante forces and concerned activists in public life over a cup of high tea.

Blogger’s Postscript: 1. Inspite of the attempt to convey the meaning of this post to all readers including those who haven’t watched the movie - INCEPTION, it may be a good idea to watch the movie and though, I cannot guarantee that you will understand the plot in the movie, but you will certainly appreciate this post a wee bit better.

2. Then there is this piece i read today in Bombay Times supplement of TOI by Nikhat Kazmi, which may contain spoilers.

The Meter Jam Campaign

I have always been wondering whether commuters can demonstrate their ire against errant auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers for refusing to ferry us to the destinations of our choice. Recently I promised a friend to visit him after my office hours to return a book I had borrowed from him. I was refused by no less than 15 autorickshaw drivers to ply to that destination. I called him up and expressed my regret. May be some other day, I assured him.

On another instance, I was with my wife wanting to return home from our shopping expedition, when the same happened. This time around a friendly Traffic cop asked us to get into the next rickshaw that arrived and told us we ought to tell them to take us wherever we want them to go and not ask them whether they would go! It worked. But I just wondered whether if not for his presence, whether our insistence would work? When I tried it out again – it didn’t! I had to get off huffing and puffing at the adamant guy.

When I received some email forwards providing the web-links to the Traffic Police sites where complaints of such nature (including higher fares etc) could be entered for them to take action against errant licensed auto-rickshaws and taxis.

Here are the links:
For Mumbai

For Thane Area

For Navi Mumbai Area

But frankly I did not try them out. Often I foun that these guys cruise past you at a quick pace making it difficult for you to note down their vehicle numbers! We need to hail them to a halt and get in and note down their number before leaving in future!

So one keeps wondering what can we harassed commuters do if the dadagiri-attitude of the licensed service providers continues unabated?

The recent initiative by Three advertising professionals Jaidev Rupani, Rachna Brar and Abhilash Krishnan, by launching the "Meter Jam" campaign on Wednesday is an answer to this question on every Mumbaikar’s mind.

Do read about the Meter Jam campaign in the links below:

Article in Hindustan Times

The Website of Meter Jam Campaign

Facebook Page

and Twitter Page

Do join the Meter Jam campaign – I am certain it is only the beginning – a good one at that – though there is lots to do - perhaps an extended and intensive campaign - to get what we deserve – a better life in Maximum City!

The C-Words of the day!

The Common Wealth Games 2010 to be hosted in New Delhi, our capital, brings into focus some aspects of India that concern the common citizen of the country – the Big Cs that threaten to engulf our nation – Corruption, Carelessness, Callousness, Compromise! The TV cameras are concentrating on Calmadi (sorry, Kalmadi) ever since the allegations made by channels about rampant corruption in handing out contracts is being aired.

While it is too early to comment about the corruption charges levelled against the Committees entrusted with the construction of stadia, the general reaction is to believe that cash has (Read: Crores have) been made in the awarding of construction contracts! The common man finds it convenient to believe that corruption in such projects is the norm rather than the exception. Why are we such harsh critics of ourselves, one wonders?

But this post is not about the singular Big C – Corruption, which has pervaded our landscape and spread like Cancer - but several others like Carelessness and Callousness. Channels have highlighted the slipshod work carried out like the open electrical wires, which could be a safety hazard for those planning to grace the sporting events scheduled there in October this year.

Even the work related to the profiling of visitors and related security measures to prevent terrorist attacks are behind schedule and may need to be circumvented if the games are to proceed as scheduled, if newspaper reports are to be believed. This means we would have compromised on the security measures as well!

One would have hoped for the hosting of the Commonwealth Games 2010, would have promoted camaraderie amongst participating nations and boosted competitiveness amongst citizens of participating countries rather than the wrong C’s becoming the Central focus! Yes, like Good Cholesterol, there are Good C's too! One can only pray and hope that there is no commotion and the event will be remembered more as a Celebration than a Calamity!

Blogger’s Post-script - If we cerebrate for a moment, the aforesaid Cs are part and parcel of everyday life of our countrymen – but let us concentrate on the Common Wealth Games for now and leave the other manifestations of the Cs for another post – or perhaps, a Book of epic proportions!

Now you too can 'Palinate' !

It sounds like an English word, but isn’t one, proclaimed one and all, when Sarah Palin uttered the hitherto unknown word “refudiate”.

Sarah promptly urged her followers on Twitter, to celebrate the formation of a new word, instead of mocking at her gaffe, pointing out how even William Shakespeare loved to coin new words thus.
“English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!”

One wonders how the world reacted when Shakespeare coined ‘lonely’ in a world that only recognised ‘alone’. They probably had been the well-known bard to do what he was best at – to coin new words. Here is a list of words coined by Shakespeare which are today part of every English speaker’s vocabulary.

The press instead compared her slip of the tongue to the recent Bushisms that we had been treated to not in the distant past. So Sarah was, in a sense ‘misunderestimated’ - to borrow George Bush’s coinage, another word having originated under similar circumstances. Since Bushisms cover a wide range of oral goof-ups, maybe we ought to have a new word for the phenomenon of creating a new word, unintentionally, lets dedicate it to Sarah Palin and call it

“Palinate - v. to palinate – to unintentionally create new words”

But then, we all do use words that don’t exist in the dictionary, knowingly or unknowingly. You may be aware of the vastly common word used by Indians – “prepone”, which incidentally does not exist! Now this word makes a lot of sense and ought to shake away its “non-word” tag to enter all dictionaries right-away. If putting of a meeting is postponed, advancing one ought to be preponed, what say?

While language critics have posted online messages rubbishing Palin’s comparing her coinage to that of Shakespeare, who coined words with distinctly different meaning, unlike her Freudian formation. So a word like ‘prepone’ not only score over refudiate, in that it conveys the intention and have a distinct logical meaning.

And while we used to always get invitations for events, we now begin getting an ‘invite’. “Didn’t you get my invite?” I am asked, to which I cannot resist the temptation to reply, “Anyway, I am busy and would have sent you my ‘refuse’, in any case!” If ‘my invite’ s OK, “my refuse” got to be OK, I guess!

Troubled by the question about “when does a word really become a word”, I had posed this question to the well-known Anu Garg, founder of “Wordsmith.org”, whom I had met during his visit to Mumbai.

A word, according to him becomes a word, the moment it is formed – there is no need for it to enter a dictionary, which it will eventually do if the word is in use reasonably frequently by well-known publications.

Lexicographers have their own standards for admitting words into their dictionaries, but they all need the word to be widely used. But celebrities appearing on media channels have a special charm – Sarah Palin’s word ‘refudiate’ made it to the online Urban Dictionary in a matter of days!

“Refudiate: A term used to indicate the underlying racism of the speaker. If you as a racist need another group to give up their culture you ask that group to refudiate their beliefs and culture. Users of this term reject the English language, facts, rationalism and black people.” Sarah Palin asked NY Muslims to "refudiate" their mosque near the 9/11 WTC site.

You can even print a T-shirt and have a mug with this creation on it here!

Writers are not so lucky, though. They’ve got to coin it and then even popularise it before their coinage is acknowledged and widely used for this purpose. Though I have been able to publish my own coined word, “predictament” – a predicament to predict - in my blog and my recent article in the Times of India, the word will need wider usage and more appearances, before it enters a dictionary. Do let me know if you find it in a dictionary you use!

Blogger’s Post-scripts:

1. 1. Sarah Palin’s popularity in India was soaring in late 2008, but was shocked to see a restaurant serve Palin Dosa! Read about it in my post “Palin Talk” here.

2. Regular readers of my blog would be aware of my penchant for new words. But for those of you who aren’t may want to read the following posts.

A million words.

Words of the Year 2008

Words of the Year 2009

Aur Kya, Pak?

So after all the best efforts from our side, Aman ki Asha has turned into a Nirasha. I am saying ‘our side’ because I am not sure about the other side. In the past several months, columnists and bloggers have been debating over how to deal with our wayward neighbouring state, which has gone from strength to super-strength in the field of new-age worldwide terrorism – from setting up training camps to nurturing masterminds drawn from military bodies to plan and execute terrorist attacks on innocent civilians and yet escape from international action of the UN, by calling them actions of “non-state actors”!

This ‘non-state actors’ card of Pak, put us Indians in a dharma-sankat of sorts. How can any country fight another, if their home-grown, but not state-sponsored mind you - terrorist outfits - act spontaneously and attack innocent people in other countries? It would need to distinguish between the people of that country from the unlawful terrorist outfits thriving therein. Wont they? While some of us have been insisting that dialogues with Pakistan must continue, others have been sceptical about the “lets talk” proposal, demanding tougher options and discarding it as a sign of weakness.

Some have argued that when we say we must talk, does not mean we must speak “sweet nothings”, but instead talk – talk tough – demand action on terrorists – put a stop to the only visible exports from that country – of fully trained, highly motivated, trigger-happy jihadi youngsters, who have no other options to earn a living. So that is what most of those who wanted talks wished the negotiating team to do – talk tough!

“Stop it – or else…….” Or else, what, one wonders?

Reminds me of a joke about a Texan cowboy who rode on his horse to a wayside inn for a drink and meal and then went off to sleep. When he woke up, he found that his horse had been stolen! He climbed to the rooftop of the wayside inn, fired a round into the sky and shouted “Hey listen you guys! If you don’t return my horse, I will do, what I did in Texas!”.
Nobody turned up with his horse. After delivering the threat on a higher pitch couple of times, he returned to his seat to find the owner of the Inn waiting to ask him “What did you do in Texas, Sir?” “Well” he replied, pulling his hat over his face, “I walked back home!”.

Our situation is no different. We want them to sit up and listen and to take action on what they call ‘non-state actors’. But how committed are they to do it? If the leads from the investigation of David Coleman Headley, were to be believed, we could now say that the officials of the ISI were involved in the terrorism attack on Mumbai. If this is proved….hey wait, but Pakistan will demand evidence - something that their eyes are not designed to spot, even if it were to stare in their face…. that would mean they also have “State Actors” playing along “Non-State Actors”!

Indians will have debates, more debates, talks, and more talks. Some experts are still saying we should continue to have people to people contacts. Sure we can continue our pak-pak, as we usually do over cellphones - never hang up and ask “Aur kya?”, "Aur bata" - It will keep us talking forever!

So there you are –
Pak has “Non-state actors” and “State actors”
India has “State non-actors” and “Non-State non-actors”!
And Pak knows that!

Blogger’s Post-script – Like the remaining Billions of Indians, yours truly is equally at his wits’ end about how to deal with Pak. Without really wanting to hurt any of those, who think they know, of course!

My Paulished ArticKle in TOI

Last week witnessed an electrifying finish to the FIFA world cup spectacle, which was held in South Africa. Though India does not figure anywhere on the football playing countries’ map, there were pockets of passionate footballers and enthusiasts following the games at SA. Twitter and Facebook was also abuzz with the goings on – the teams they backed, the players they pinned their hopes on, etc.

But the real fun tweeple were having, clearly, was posting humorous lines about the Vuvuzela, Shakira’s Waka Waka and Psychic Paul, the celebrity octopus, who predicted accurately the winner of Germany’s games, the semis and the finals! For a writer or blogger, looking out for a subject to write about forms the biggest challenge and online networking sites give us some of the masala to mull about. Soon ideas took shape and I found myself able to weave together some word-plays, humorous propositions, were Psychic Paul to accept offers to come to India!



I sent in my submission on Saturday 10th July and on Sunday, I was overjoyed to get a response from the TOI editorial staff that my articKle would be published soon.

If you have not yet read my humorous piece published in the Times of India on Tuesday, 13th July 2010, (now that was real quick) do read it by clicking on the link below:

Chasing the Oracle

I would like to share with you some of the lines edited by the TOI editorial team due to its Hindi content:

1. Paul, don’t think you are “Paul do Paul ka Mahir” and that you will go into oblivion after the FIFA finals, you could make it to the IIFA next year. From FIFA to IIFA!

2. Get on from singing “Paul bhar ke liye koi hame pyaar kar le, jhootha hi sahi” and make your moves to your rightful place in Bollywood.

3. dance with your co-stars around plastic trees to the tunes of Ashtam-da, or at least that is what the industry will call him after the release of the film.

4. Phillumy people will say “Atthon ungliyaan ghee mein aur sar kadhai mein”


Blogger’s Post-Scripts (usually containing more stuff than the post itself):
1. Paul may just be available to our folks interested in Astrological predictions but then he may call himself Be-bhaan Aath-pav-wala to give Bejaan Daruwala, who turned 80 last weekend, a run for his money. Or being attributed to Psychic powers may also mean he dons saffron robes and call himself Paul-Anand baba and build an ashram to serve his followers.

2. My friends were equally creative in their feedback, one of them reminded me how I had missed mentioning the MET department – to which I respond – I did not forget them – they were victims of paucity of print space (word limits, you see).

3. Another picked up the thread from my piece and wrote in to tell me that my article was “well-written in a Paulished language”. Thanks, buddy for getting the beat right! And also to a fellow blogger, who renamed me ‘Paulikar’ for this moment, atleast.

4. Thanks to all my friends, who sent in encouraging words of appreciation by SMSes, emails, calls…

5. Thanks TOI for picking my article and understanding the topicality of the subject!

6. Finally, I cant forget to thank Psychic Paul, the Octopus, for finally giving me a gr8 subject to write about, can I? !!!!!!!!

Jargonic Park

"Would you please bring me upto speed on this?”, asked a colleague in a separate one-on-one mail to me. Not able to grasp what he sought from me, I called up another colleague who interacts with him regularly. “Oh, he just wants you to provide the background of the matter and what all those chain of mails really mean since he’s unable to figure it out”, he explained to me. In today’s corporate communications, one man’s simplicity seems to be another man’s maze of incomprehensible buzzwords.

While this fact seeker was out of touch on project updates, I was out of touch with communication trends - it is not uncommon to find office goers lost in the maze of corporate jargon. English speaking Institutes may have mushroomed for those who have been through vernacular medium schools, but what would you suggest a convent educated, urban youngster boasting of a good English medium education, when he flounders at corporate discussions, often held across continents, each participant offering a diverse variety of pronunciation, accents and intonations? Of course, those seeking jobs in voice-based BPOs (call centres) are required to undertake specialized courses on American English to cater to customers in USA.

One then braves the conference calls, and as time elapses, begins to get used to the different oratory flavors, but what about the business phrases, fresh from the corporate ovens, that are hurled at you all so often? One may have pitched his best to be in the loop on the subject, but you may still have to hold teleconference calls across continents to make sure that everybody is on the same page. One cannot assume everyone to possess the bandwidth or be able to process the thought showers contained in office emails – a post-lunch conference to thrash out the contents the way, going forward, in most progressive organization that believe in object-oriented knowledge transfers adopting the best practices in the industry.

One calls for a paradigm shift, wanting to be proactive and revisit these phrases and chalk out an action plan. The post-lunch conference comprises of the very few with a bird’s eye view, which is now known by a certain flying height of 30000 feet or so of late. Being goal-oriented and result-focussed, they constantly think out of the box – often the cranial one though, to push the envelope and propose such measures as “360 degree performance measurement” of all initiatives to “invent real-time ecosystems” or to “evolve the necessary hyper dynamics” or “to synthesize extensible networks”.

If after substantial efforts, if success continues to elude them, one quickly looks for low hanging fruits. While these distinguished high flying head honchos keep hurling such urban inanities, the young just-out-of-management-school newcomers often appear seriously making notes of what needs to be done. A keen eye, however, would stumble upon the discovery of a corporate game resembling housie or lotto, in which boring numbers give way to bizarre corporate lingo. "Going forward - haa - i have that now i just need someone to say at the end of the day"

Those facing such colleagues armed with such corporate astras are advised not to develop any animosity to such lingoistic weapons that are meant to demolish your confidence or to sort out the truly deserving from the professionally qualified promoters of self-image with their liberal garnishing in what would have been a boring office meeting!

Developing an allergy to such modern-day terms is harakiri - professional suicide. One is advised to seek professional help from those that excel at this game within or outside one’s organisation, until a good institute springs up around every street corner to help folks like you and me to master the game and set our foot higher on the corporate ladder. It would be wise to gather some astras such as acronyms, that don’t throw up on search engines or technical terms that your colleagues from diverse functions are least expected to know, which may be hurled back at an opportune moment in your career. Or better still invent them!

At the end of the day, every employee wants to leverage their skill-sets and contribute their two darts towards effective corporate communications.

The Power of a Smile!

This post has been written in response to Corinne Rodrigues’ appeal to participate in her blog hop on the occasion of “The Power of a Smile” day on 15th June 2010. Other bloggers are requested to submit their entries if they wish to participate.

Whenever I return from my office, I find several kids playing in and around the building having fun and are all smiles. One look at them and they are so generous with their 1000-Watt smiles. I have been staying at this place for over the last couple of decades and have seen these kids growing up from infants to toddlers to hyperactive school-going kids. Never have I been deprived of what I am looking for – some smiles. These smiles have been the best stress-buster for me after a day’s work. I collect them like some people collect coins or postage stamps. They work wonders!

Soon these kids will grow up and stop smiling at me – they will appear business like. Like the ones that have already grown up and are now college-going teenagers or have graduated and have taken up jobs somewhere in this busy metropolitan megacity of Mumbai. One wonders what they will think now? Why am I staring at them expectantly? Maybe, but I continue to look, wonder whether my smile will tell them or at least drop a hint…that I was just looking for the same old kid that would readily oblige me with a smile, some years ago.

I have nothing to worry, though - I will make new friends who smile at me even though they don’t know me or about my hobby of collecting smiles to relieve my stress. Nature will surely oblige, I am sure of it! The eternal optimist in me assures myself of unlimited supply of newer kids and newer smiles! But one still wonders – why do we stop or at least limit our smiling as we grow up? Why do we hoard this precious commodity and create a global shortage which cannot be exchanged with money, gold or bartered with some other like goods?

Did he/she not read that email forward which told us about how a smile takes lesser muscles than a frown? Am I becoming more like the common man in the RK Laxman cartoon, who apparently seems not to be around and yet all over the place trying to figure out what’s going on?

A smile certainly means a lot more once you grow up! I learnt this from my boss, a professional Materials Manager of a reputed organization some years ago. He would smile at one and all with the same ease and warmth. Everyone would like it – his colleagues, his juniors, our vendors, our bosses. It was at a farewell function, when I left the organization when I mentioned about his great quality, that he told us as to what great pains he had to take to ensure that the distance between the corner of the curled lips from the ears had to be painstakingly maintained lest someone think he favoured any particular vendor! That’s when all of us were in splits laughing at his presence of mind at cracking this masterpiece at us!

Certain professions, it is believed, have to check on their act of smiling – like Judges, Principals, Executioners, etc. A smile at the wrong place could jeopardize their career! But lighter moments do descend upon courtrooms, but, sadly not so the executioners. A recent incident of a smile that brought upon immense pain, was when SPS Rathore smiled at the court ruling in his favour! Little would he have imagined that the father of the victim (Ruchika Girhotra) would object and cry on national TV demanding to wipe out the smile on the face of their tormentor for decades! A demand that woke up the national media and gave the protest the much needed booster dose and millions sought justice for Ruchika, spearheaded by her close friend, Aradhana!

Another recent incident I would like to cite is the victory of Trinamool Congress in West Bengal – Mamata Bannerji was highly charged that evening when Rajdeep Sardesai asked her several probing questions about her fire-brand variety of politics, but she never smiled. Not even when Rajdeep requested her to! But then politicians are a different breed...

Some people say I post humorous stuff on my blog, forward funnies sent to me on email, tell jokes for the smiles. That may not be entirely correct – those are for the laughs - the Laughing Out Louds (LOLs), and for some, a physical exercise regime is limited to Rolling on the Floor Laughing (ROFL)s! Not smiles. It is a lot more difficult to bring on smiles. Can we bring on the smiles on the faces of people who are suffering, neglected, deprived, I ask myself? But there are folks amongst us who are doing just that - so when I find some people do just that, I feel like just a small being on this planet - I feel like someone who set out to tickle everyone and got tickled in the process!

Recycle! Recycle!

I am soaking in the Greens..."Recycle, Reuse, Reduce" is the Mantra.
So let me give in to the need of the hour and Recycle my posts.

Let me force feed you "ArTickles" addicts to my interview on WebNeetech.com website by posting the text here. Now stop howling for more... i am likely to be tied up with my office work for a fortnight and cant think up any funnies because my head is cluttered with only one word - Deadlines! And Dead Lines, i know wont interest you guys... so just read this crap below:


Interview with blogger Gopinath Mavinkurve
19 November 2009 3 Comments
“Humor is the rubber sword with which I can make my point without drawing blood”
- Gopinath Mavinkurve

The Text begins here:
So here is our one of the most experienced blogger on webneetech.com, Gopinath Mavinkurve, 52, a Management Professional runs Gopinath’s “ArTicKles“. The blog is filled with his thought, observation and many good opinions too.He posts humorous write ups on his blog and makes his point in his own funny way.
The blog was started in 2008 and receives around 1500 views a month.
Read the exclusive interview with Mr. Gopinath, to know more about him and his experience as a blogger.

Blogger’s Details:
Blogger’s Name: Gopinath Mavinkurve
Age: 52
Occupation / Profession: Management Professional in the field of Foreign Trade especially EOU/SEZ, export facilitation, Government liaisoning and logistics working for an MNC in Mumbai
Blog name and URL: http://whatnonsanz.blogspot.com/
Blog Focus Area, domain: humorous observations, insights, comments about incidents, issues, current happenings, lifestyle and language trends, word origins, anecdotes, interesting trivia, personal experiences
Blog launched on: 10th April 2008
Monthly visits on website: About 1500
Do you have team of bloggers? No.
Interest / Activities: Reading newspaper columns, books magazines and blogs; writing; tourism and photography; music and movies are my hobbies
Located at: Mumbai India
Contact Details:
Twitter Id: @gopinathmm
Facebook Id: Gopinath_Mavinkurve
Email ID: g_mavinkurve@hotmail.com

THE Interview (Q&A Round) :

Q. What motivated you to start blogging?
Well I never wanted to blog nor did I really know what it was to be blogging. I just wanted to revive my writing habit and began posting my write-ups in websites like MSN Contribute, when I found many other contributors’ links to their blogs. I thought it was a good idea to back up my pieces on blogspot (in case MSN vanished one fine morning or deleted their archives). Soon I found other bloggers coming over and leaving some encouraging comments on my blog! Soon enough I bluffed myself that the entire universe loves my ‘whatnonsanz’, so go ahead and post more of it and it worked!

Q. Tell us in detail about your blog, your idea and how it can benefit others?
Though I began my blog without any particular theme or subject, soon enough I made up my mind to post humorous write-ups. “Humor is the rubber sword with which I can make my point without drawing blood”, I declared on my blog. That was when I had made my choice – no ranting or complaining – just making my point in my own funny way. We had our own Chintan Baithak with the editorial team, which comprises of my mouse, keyboard, monitor and my right index finger which clicks on the Publish button (or doesn’t depending on its mood). The editorial team decided (which is unusual, though) that if one wanted to make fun of the world around you, one would rather begin with making fun of oneself. It’s a lot easier and buys some acceptability before I turn on my rubber sword on others (mostly our dear politicians and our social quirks). That’s when we decided to call my posts “ArTicKles”.
The effort is to at least put some smiles on the reader’s face. That some of the readers tell us they ROFL at our posts, is simply because it’s their personal exercise routine, I guess. I also share some real life experiences, lifestyle trends, inspiring incidents, anecdotes, language trends, neologisms and word origins which may interest readers. I avoid posting any email forwards in my blog.

Q. What area or topic you generally cover in your blog, any special reason behind it?
Anything above the sun – because everything under the sun has been blogged about anyway. Well, I try to avoid subjects that others have already blogged about, unless I feel very strongly about or have something different to say about it. I don’t want to be predictable – surprises can work on my readers too!

Q. Which blogging platform you are using (wordpress, blogspot, bloggers etc), any reason about it?
Blogger or Blogspot. I never knew other platforms existed. Some bloggers did move to Wordpress and sounded thrilled and excited about their change and wanted us to “convert”, but some how, I felt that Blogspot served my basic needs

Q. How frequent you update your blog? How many post your blog is carrying at present?
I try to post one per week, usually over the weekend, but then if the idea I am working on is not good enough, I would prefer not to post it rather than posting it just for the sake of regularity. Besides, reading, writing and blogging are my hobbies that are to be pursued in one’s spare time. I have 80 posts on my ArTickles blog till date.

Q. What tools you use to increase your blog readership and bring people on your blog? Do you use social networking sites?
I have listed my blog with Indiblogger, BlogCatalog, Blogadda and Labnol’s (Amit Agarwal’s blog) ‘List of Indian Bloggers’. Labnol brings in a lot of traffic to my blog, *Hey, Thanks Amit* and of late, Blogadda’s Tuesday Tangy Picks and Saturday Spicy Picks have featured my posts and have brought in some new readers *Thanks, Blogadda!*. I am also on Twitter (follow me @gopinathmm) and Facebook, where my tweets get automatically updated. My comments on other websites/blogs bring in some new readership. My occasional contribution by way of guest posts to Tickledbylife.com, Trak.in and India Tweets also help me reach to more interested folks across the globe. Interestingly, when I write about current events, more people land on my blog through Google search. “Google Maharaj ki jai!” (and thanks Feedjit for letting me know).

Q. Any specific tips you have for new bloggers who want to make it in the blogsphere?
Well, now that I know several bloggers, each one is out there for different reasons. But certainly one thing runs through all of them – they want readers to come and read their work and get hooked to their stuff. One’s got to be original – give your own perspective of the subjects and say it in your own unique style. Readers are sure to get addicted! Its content, content and quality content all the way.

Q. Do you earn revenue through your blog? If yes then how a blogger should monetize his / her blog? If no, then any plans in future?
No. I am not in this for earning money and am unlikely to try to monetize my blog in the near future.

Q. What are your other favorite blogs which you follow, can you list the top 5 such blogs?

Now you’re being cruel with me! I love several blogs and listing only five of them would mean leaving so many good ones out in the lurch. I have listed my faves in my Blogroll – just click on them and check them out.
And for being so mean with your parting shot, I will not let you get away without me getting back at you in equal measure – Read all my 80 posts and tell me the top 5 posts in my blog!

Thanks for this wonderful opportunity to feature in WebNeeTech! Wishing your team all success in all your endeavours!

LINK TO THE ORIGINAL POST HERE IN CASE YOU NEED IT

Playing God!

“Scientists have created the world's first synthetic life form in a landmark experiment that paves the way for designer organisms that are built rather than evolved”
Read the complete news item here.

When US Geneticists researching in Craig Venter’s team announced their success in producing “life” in a laboratory from chemicals, mankind has seemingly “progressed” in its capabilities to develop the rudimentary forms of life in a test tube. Media was quick to observe how the human race had crossed the threshold of divinity by developing the ability to create life forms, albeit just micro-organisms at this point in time, thereby describing the development as “playing God” by creating “life”. Some writers have been quick to imagine the consequences of such scientific advancement to lead to some disastrous results. Such life forms, some religious groups argued, are capable of forming variants and mutants, which can develop into other life forms and spread on our planet and cause environmental and ecological havoc! Besides, they would not be in our control – at least not in control of those who created them!

Skeptics would wonder whether we need these micro-organisms or their variants or mutants or whatever to cause environmental havoc on this wonderful planet when we have been doing a perfectly good job ourselves? Or do we really think we can create life in our laboratories and then have complete control over these synthetic creations? Must we not first try and control our teenage sons and daughters before even contemplating control over other life forms? Come to think of it, one wonders whether creators even seek control over their creation.

Man may not have yet understood how the human body works – but one cannot take away the credit for the success for having developed some kind of life form to the 20 scientists who toiled for 10 years , spent Millions of US$s and achieved just that! And although skeptical, religious, social opposition of the kind that had previously opposed the scientific advancement into cloning, takes effect and announces some kind of ban for the creation of such life forms in laboratories on this planet, let us salute this great achievement! I would also like to thank the scientists for naming the first synthetically created life form with a name that is more difficult to remember than mine:
1.08-Mbp Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 genome!

That said, I continue to wonder about the “playing god” by “creating life” part of the news item. What exactly is playing God, btw? To approach this question, one must face the sorting hat of the Harry Potter kind that one sees in society today. We have, I learn the following kinds of people on our planet:

Theists – who believe in the existence of God – Monotheists believe in one God. Polytheists believe in multiple Gods.

Atheists – who don’t believe in the existence of God. How boring!

Pantheists – those who believe that all existing living forms are one entity – God!

Agnostic – those who find it difficult to decide whether god exists or not. Coined by Thomas Huxley, he originally meant it to mean those who would not believe anything until proven or disproven.

But for the purpose of simplicity, let us restrict the discussion to Theists of any kind (btw I belong to the Polytheist category and am comfortable with 330 million Gods and my pranaams to each one of them).

So “Playing God” to us, Theists, is creating this universe to which this wonderful planet belongs, all the lovely life forms on earth (except of course 1.08 MBP-whatever-whatever genome) and – hold your breath – controlling all that’s going on here! Now that’s a long way from creating a microorganism called 1.08 whatever….. Nevertheless, we Theists cannot stop marveling about the several life forms – the several thousand species of birds, animals, insects, fish, trees - their beautiful manifestations in nature, their role in maintaining the ecological balance of the earth. Theists would be eternally amazed and grateful to the Creator for the world in which we live.

One cannot but admire how thoughtfully, God has given the camel its hump to store water in the desert or the giraffe the long neck to reach higher leaves on which it lives or the pouch in the Pelican’s beak to store food for more than a week; and a pouch for the Kangaroo to hold its offspring… ! One could go on and on. How could HE have done it all by HIMself, one would wonder? For Theists, it is a matter of whether to believe in one god or 330 million? But for a Monotheist, One God is enough - HE is God, after all!

But after spending some time appreciating the thousands of species of animals and birds, let us turn to the latest creation from God – Mankind! Now this animal is capable of intelligent thinking, analyzing, talking, discussing, debating, socializing, - finally of making scientific inventions! Inventions to make life easier and inventions that could blow up this planet with the nuclear arms build-up by superpowers. Mankind had already acquired capability to destroy all God’s creations on earth – before beginning on the path and taking this first step – of creating life in its micro-organismic form!

Like CERN, who believes that if matter exists, so would anti-matter, theists too believe that if God exists, so does anti-God, the Satan or Shaitan (wonder Shaitan came from Satan or otherwise). So we have plenty of scientific advancements that are depleting our resources, polluting our rivers, polluting the very air we breathe, posing a threat to the ecological balance of our planet.
One can only hope that we are closer to playing God and saving this planet than playing Satan and destroying it! Just had to post my thoughts that came to my mind on this World Environment Day 2010! Wishes for the World Environment Day to all!

Blogger's Postscript: My apologies to my readers if this post didn’t make enough whatnonsanz. You'd rather be polite and say it makes a lot of sense! My apologies too if it was too long – but then I did not even touch upon the subject of destiny – who decides about my next post btw…

Cut Diamond with Diamond

“Cut diamond with diamond”, he used to say often. “If you have a bad cold, eat deep frozen icecreams! If you’ve a nagging back pain, pinch your hand hard until it pains you more than the pain that’s constantly nagging you. Don’t you know how they treat snake-bite? They inject small doses of the poisonous venom – and soon you’re on your way to recovery! Again, the vaccines – what do you think they contain? A mild form of the same micro-organism, which helps you build its antibodies…” he could go on, my old friend, who later grew up, one learnt, to be a professional in the financial field!

After a couple of stints in reputed finance companies, he took to consultancy. I don’t really remember his name….nor did I ever heed his advice, but I am sure he has prospered and become an advisor to the likes of Ben Bernanke and his counterparts in several European countries. How else could one explain the rising belief in worldly monetary policies, that debilitating debt that threatens to engulf countries all over the world, ought to be treated with ……., you guessed it - more debt?

I am sure, his wisdom, which may have been otherwise lost its significance, if it was continued to be spent on fools like me. One would have partaken of large dollops of icecream, perhaps only to have the common cold transform to pneumonia, while my doctor, jubilantly declare, “Congratulations – you don’t have common cold, which has no known cure yet, but pneumonia, which does!”

Fortunately for the world, such great thinkers usually succeed and their popularity grows exponentially. Financial wizards are made of such stuff and one may not be surprised if they would want us to believe that the only way to remove poverty is to inject more poverty in our masses! Maybe suck out whatever little money that’s been meant to be going to them by way of NREGA or any of those obscure-sounding schemes, that you hear of only on the budget day – that too only if you hear our Hon. FM speak at the annual parliamentary ritual.

So kind-hearted government folks, toiling in our rural areas, ensure that the money doesn’t reach them and continue to enrich those afflicted by money-related diseases, albeit, of the excesses kind. After all, we’ve got to get rid of poverty, don’t we?

So we find everyone out to heal the world – NGOs, GOs (government offices), industrialists, entrepreneurs, politicians, judicial bodies, extra-judicial bodies… all of them! But the method remains the same – the best way to avoid a hangover is to drink all day!

So how do we handle insurgency? Create more insurgency! If Naxals are a problem, let’s create Salwa Judums! Create new small Frankensteins to handle the old BIG Frankensteins, that our previous governments created! Until the small ones grow BIG and join the BIG Frankenstein they were meant to destroy!

The members of the public, of course, should not sympathise with any of them – they’re waging a war against us! So we shall have extra-judicial panchayats to deal with problems that the judicial bodies cant deal with (or have been the cause of having created them in the first place). Call them Khap, Baap or whatever! We need urgent solutions to our ever growing ailments.

And I am sure we will have them as long as my old friend (cant remember his name...) or his types thrive on this eager planet, willing to offer their advice to anyone like me, who is languishing in my miseries and is willing to lend his ear!

As for me, I just thought I must offer readers some anti-dote for my humour! And if this proves to be too strong dose for an anti-dote, you may want to read my article published in “The Indian Weekender”, a weekly newspaper for Indians settled in New Zealand.

Go to page 44 of this link!
To read my article, click on this link

An artiste's touch to Seashells!

Thank you, Blogadda, for selecting this post as a Saturday Spicy Picks!

“You’ve got to meet her!”, my cousin’s wife urged us some time ago. So off we went to meet Smt. Leela Puthli at her residence at Mumbai, to see the wonders her dexterous fingers had painstakingly created from god’s creation that could be found aplenty in nature – in the oceans across the world. Seashells!

It was indeed a pleasure to meet a 74-year old artist, who had laboriously created lovely objects by lending her magic touch - transforming seashells into lovely flower arrangements like beautiful dahlias, exquisite jewelry boxes, breathtaking jewelry pieces that could be worn as bridal décor or by models featuring on fashion magazine covers. Those who adore the beauty of seashells and consider the numerous forms that one finds in the deep, blue sea or by the sandy beach side or rocky promenades, may wonder what can one do with such things as seashells, except display them in one’s show-case?


A flower arrangement made from seashells

“Lots!” would be Ms. Leela Puthli’s prompt reply. Having taken up the fascinating hobby in the mid 60s and a keen interest in Conchology (study of shells), she ought to know! Cultivating a hobby of collecting a wide variety of shells, she had royal company in Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Emperor Hirohito, King George III and Queen Victoria, who were all shell enthusiasts! But Leela Puthli went the extra mile by painting and transforming them into life-like flowers and plants! Soon enough, her family and friends began to appreciate her rare art form, by which she produced some rare masterpieces. There weren’t many who had made a mark in the field of shellcraft in those days. With her nimble fingers and hours of hard work, oodles of patience and a strong urge to be creative in her work, she would weave the shells into exquisite patterns, paint them and then paste them onto such mundane articles such as broken kitchen cabinet doors or throw-away cake bases!


A unique floral bridal-wear - a special creation for a special occasion

In this passionate indulgence, she had her husband, Ganesh Puthli, strongly by her side. He encouraged her to cultivate her hobby and also studied shells to their core – the myths behind shells, the scientific, historic, economic and ecological importance of these mere hard covers for soft, vulnerable creatures of the sea called molluscs, to protect themselves from bigger fish by hiding within these hard calcified beautiful forms, known to us as sea shells.


Another exquisite flower arrangement

Soon word went around her extended family and friends circles and people would pour in to see these lovely creations – plaques, vases, necklaces made of seashells - and, soon enough, would long to possess them! Having observed some displays in an aquarium, she decided to make some exquisite articles which she would want to be displayed alongside the ones at the aquarium. It was not long before her dreams were fulfilled. Soon orders began to pour in and even the Khadi Bhandar was impressed with her creations and wanted thousands of them! Her masterpieces, though, changed hands for “throwaway prices”, or shall we say one did not have to shell out too much? At times, she even gifted away some to her near and dear ones, because she valued relationships more than anything else in the world. And guess what they brought back in return? Various shells, fish scales (which she would use for the green leaves), broken doors, discarded boxes to help her with her next artwork!

But not all the shells the couple used to make flower arrangements were from well-wishers. Trips to beaches were often at odd times – in the mornings, to look for some fresh catch. Bivalves and univalves - Clam shells, cowries, scallop shells, tusk shells, chambered nautilus, gastropods – they would look for them high and low on several beaches along the coasts of India. The couple would also give talks and presentations at society events, she recalls, where her husband Ganesh, who is unfortunately no more, would, in a professor-like manner, explain all about this fascinating world to astounded audiences. Both Ganesh and Leela have written articles, which have been published in magazines like the Eve’s Weekly, The Illustrated Weekly of India, the Kanara Saraswat, Dharmayug (Hindi) in the mid ‘70s. Some prominent models and actresses have been featured in those pages displaying necklaces, bracelets, designer dresses using shell-work. Their work and passion have also been extensively covered by journalists in the Financial Express, Sunday Standard, etc.

Sadly, her hard work and the natural process of ageing have taken their toll on her fingers - with painful swollen finger joints, she is unable to pursue her hobby that brought her great satisfaction and a fair amount of popularity in her prime years. Considerate friends and concerned extended family members now call up to tell her not to exert herself and hurt herself any further! She talks about her large family and friends and often expresses her gratitude for their support, without which, she would not have been able to pursue her dreams. One cannot miss noticing the humility she has carefully preserved over the years. We seek her permission to capture the beauty of her works, which are on display at her residence, with the help of my digital camera to post on my blog for my readers and thank her for the time and kind courtesies extended to us.


Ms. Leela Puthli - the artist

While reading all the articles written by the couple and published by reputed magazines and the features carried by publications, I come across some great facts about wonderful world of seashells – anecdotes and snippets, being interesting tidbits, that I would like to share with you all along with some pictures taken by me of her amazing creations.

I do hope you enjoyed reading this post - as much as I enjoyed doing it!

Interesting Tidbits about Seashells from articles by the Puthlis:

1. The Hindu mythological tale about how seashells came into existence tells about how the Goddess Kanya Kumari, who plans to marry Lord Shiva and waits for the Lord bedecked in bridal floral grandiose, but by a quirk of destiny, this is not to be and so heartbroken, she throws away all the floral decorum by the coastline.
2. The molluscs live life safely in their shells, as we know. But perhaps it was the wish to have more space and just as we humans want to live in 2/3 BHK homes in cities, one variety of molluscs is blessed with chambers in its shells – something like rooms in our flats – that’s the “Chambered Nautilus”. It's design is an engineering and architectural marvel. A US submarine by the same name has been built based on the design of the chambered nautilus shell.
3. Cowries (kavadis) have been used as monetary units in the 17th to 19th Century AD. in parts of Africa and India. The cost of a cow was 2500 cowries and the Indian Rupee was worth 2400 cowries. An Englishman is said to have bought a mansion for 16 million cowries! Now we know why we say “shelling out money” for a big purchase!
Also explains the oft-repeated Hindi filmi dialogue “Ek phooti kavdi nahin doonga”!
4. Cowries have also been used in games like shatranj (in place of dice) in the olden days. After money – gambling! Now some folks gamble on cricket scores! Times may have changed – but we haven’t!
5. Shells have been used as tools and bowls in kitchens for serving (perhaps soup?) before the invention of modern utensils.
6. Broken shells have been used in horticulture being a source of calcium carbonate even today.
7. The scallop shell has been of significant importance in Christianity.
8. The Shell Company has a scallop shell as its logo to remind us of its humble beginnings - shells being their first business interest.
9. Indian conch shells (turbinella pyrum, shankha as we call it) enjoy prime importance in Hindu religion. A rare, left-handed variety (called sinistral) is believed to have mystical powers. The epic Mahabharata cites the “Panchajanya” conch that Lord Krishna blew before the Pandavas waged the war against the Kauravas. Each of the Pandavas had a separate conch, together blown was a clarion call for the opponents.
10. Some interesting web-links to explore the world of seashells (without really diving into the deep blue sea)
Some lovely pics here
Loads of information here
Explore the Wikipedia’s ocean of information here

Some of her plaques and articles made from shells

More of my PerkyTweets

Twitter has been one microblogging platform where one can post one's thoughts and views about various incidents taking place as they happen – in just 140 characters that make a tweet!

Since many of my blog followers have not yet come on to Twitter,
I would like to share some of my Perky Tweets here. I am sure this will prompt readers to follow me on Twitter! My Twitter Id is @gopinathmm

Most of my PerkyTweets have been featured by Blogadda.com

My #perkytweets

Pak Govt tells Shoaib his marriage was an act of Stupidity! Havent we all been told this by someone or the other if not d govt? #perkytweets

Hope they haven't counted folks like Balasaheb Thakrey in the 1411 we are all talking about thanks to Aircel ad! #perkytweets

Facebook seems to be desperate in trying to improve its own face - it seems to be having a new look everytime one logs in! #perkytweets

If you have some torn rags, do send them to Australia - our folks there have been advised to wear them to avoid being bashed up #perkytweets

My 500th Tweet! But who cares? Everyone just wants to know if My Name is Khandekar has been released! Kucch Paisedekar? #perkytweets

Amazing how folks in the Indian Govt think it is important to keep talking to Pak for peace but dont think so when it comes to Naxalites!

Direct Tax Code to be implemented wef 1.4.2011. So we have one more year to DE-CODE it! #perkytweets

A budget never stopped rich from being richer or poor from being poorer. Both unmindful of its contents.Middle class watch it helplessly!

This budget was no different - what the higher Tax slabs giveth, the increased fuel prices and excise duty rates taketh away! #perkytweets

Tiger population could get a boost - only if all the wild cats followed in the path of Tiger Woods - 1411, 1412...1499.. #perkytweets

I find believing in the existence of good cholesterol as difficult as believing in the existence of good Taliban! #perkytweets

Bees have this way of appearing at unusual places and causing anxiety to the hosts. Big Bee, apparently, is no different! #perkytweets

I can foresee a day when those having white money will become so rare that he will be prosecuted by law for hoarding it! #perkytweets

Lalit Modi was doing what every Indian wanted - to bring the black money stashed away back to India - and we want to fix him! #perkytweets

When the mind blanks out, you notice your blog has registered 25k hits, you retweet everyone, have perk hoping folks call this a #perkytweet

SRK strikes a deal with Balasaheb - offers to change name of the flick to "My name is Khandekar" #fakenews #perkytweets

International Lunar Geographic Society names lunar crater after SRK. So we now have evidence why crazy guys are called lunatics #perkytweets

One can now Tweet from Space! With workplaces blocking Twitter and FB, are folks hoping they'd rather be in space than at work? #perkytweets

Activists cry hoarse when they hear about children and women being sold. Why nobody minds cricketers being sold? #justasking #perkytweets

Some deemed Universities are now doomed universities #perkytweets

Tilgul Ghya god god tweeta, Tilgul sandoo naka, Twitter/FB var bhandoo naka! Requesting all tweenoos - tweeple in #marathi #perkytweets

Tiger Woods thanks NDTiwari, who in turn is thanks SPS Rathore, who is waiting 2 thank someone 2 take it forwrd - media pl help #perkytweets

From now on, will NDTV mean ND Tiwari Videos? #perkytweets

Tiger Woods voted Associated Press best athlete - for running from one girl to another, i guess? #perkytweets