Handicapped by Technology

Over the weekend as I was trying to ward off the residual remnants of sleep and was making an attempt to salvage whatever was left of the weekend I heard the pleasing splatter of rain!

In the part of world where I stay the earth has been smouldering at 40 degree Celsius and any whiff of rain is a welcome relief. What I did next, sent me down the lane of self-assessment or discovery. What was I doing ? Now dont let your horses of imagination run wild. I was not doing indulging in anything spooky or something which might make the reader raise their eyebrows.

What is your first instinct when you hear the pit-pat of rain drops ? Yes right you run to window to check? That's the normal human reaction or reflex action . But what did I do - I was frantically trying to fish out my phone from the jumble of quilt and pillows?What for -to check the app for weather - if its raining in my city?

 SWAP SWAP 

Such dependence on Technology that too  me - what happened to running to the window to catch glimpse of the downpour? I then went on a path of self discovery. I realized there was a time when I remembered all the important numbers by heart, that is now delegated to the List called "important contacts ", "family" , etc ,etc ( some lists have cheesy names)

At that point in time a famous line by "Billy Cox" - the motivational speaker, trainer, mentor ,etc. started haunting me. It goes as below 

  

Come to think of it - technology is no doubt helping us but overuse / over-dependence is depleting our natural skills of memory and fast thinking -perhaps.

No I am not a Nay Sayer , I love technology and the wonders it does , but as advent of calculators has made us let go of our swift manual calculation acumen , I fear certain aspects of technology may lead to blunting of some of our skills. We should try and make an effort to reduce our over-dependence on technology such that our human thinking skills dont become rudimentary.

As a famous American historian has rightly said - 

 Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our Technology.

 The fog of Information can drive out knowledge.

I am signing off today hoping that I and others too would use technology judiciously and not in way that it undermines our natural reflexes and mental prowess.

A tale of two love stories

Today morning while sipping my morning concoction- news of two love stories caught my imagination. Both from different parts of the world. One was a testimony of “Triumph of personal freedom” while the other showed how executing one’s “right to freedom” may have a violent end.

One of the stories was from my beloved country while the other was from “Japan”. How badly I wanted the “Triumph of personal Freedom” story to be from my country (Though my country and its constitution ensures sweeping freedom to all its citizens so much so that there are people who can openly abuse the country and get away too- that’s another point of debate , lets drop it today!)

The story of princess Mako giving up her “royal status” to marry a commoner (as they call it) is heartening as it has the blessing of the Emperor, though one hopes she could have retained her royal status too. (I have a little bias towards Japan as people there are very gentle in their behavior ,peaceful and very proud citizens.Japan is a patriarchal society and surely they can improve a lot w.r.t. gender equality which I can talk about in another post.)

In contrast of the above story is the story below where a son-in-law is allegedly killed by his father-in-law. Obviously the alleged murderer is no king or emperor but has the audacity of sniffing out life from a human being. 

What caused him to do it:-

1. Failure to have control on his offspring’s life
2.  Just ego
3.  Lack of respect for human life
4.  Lack of compassion
5. Lack of respect for rule of law

It’s necessary to remind people that “right to life and right to freedom” are supreme and no nation can call itself modern if its citizens don’t recognize its importance. Also what surprises me is lack of outrage from the masses and general public. This incident should shock us and draw sweeping outrage and criticism from all quarters – aren’t we a secular, socialist country, etc, etc. or are they just words in the constitution. While "banning beef" stirs so much political noise why this incident is met with measured silence. Is human life is of lesser value.

I think an emperor should have have had much more at stake that the "nobody" who killed this son-in-law mercilessly and he doesn't realize he has scarred his own offspring for life- but I think those are all secondary to the alleged murderer.

I sign off with the hope that modern India showcases stories of personal liberty and its respect by fellow citizens and stories like these become a distant obscure memory

Barbarism of Crime – something endemically wrong with our society

Crime is a global phenomenon – its omnipotent and happens in varying degrees through-out the world. When one analyses crime in India and the barbarism involved in crimes against women one realizes there is something endemically wrong with our society. What can that be?

1. A dis-passionate society which is continuously running in pursuit of material achievements
2. A glaring divide between privileged and deprived citizens
3. The blatant eulogizing of material achievements
4. Lack of moral compass w.r.t. right and wrong
5. Survival and self-reliance are only priorities we learn as we grow up
6. An unequal education system where the rich will be spared as they take refuge in the private education system but the poor are left to mercy of government run schooling which varies in its quality from state to state.
   While states like Maharashtra and Gujarat have good public education system in other states its on the mercy of the people in charge.
7. Family and school are two places which infuse moral foundation in a human being if these are defunct then it all boils down to the individual. We Indians have to on a war footing ensure good basic schooling for all and a community structure which infuses the basic fabric of amiable human nature in one and all.
8. We don’t have time – I hear this from me and others as we go through the motions of life – this reminds me of a line in hindi -  “ Agar Hum waqt ko tavajoo nahi denge to ek din waqt hame chusi hui narangi ki tarah fek dega” – “If we don’t give value to time then one day time will discard us like a chewed waste” – similarly if we don’t realize today that we need to invest in a healthy society we will live to see and bear the unhealthy consequences.
9. We have to let go of the hypocrisy and provide healthy source of information to the society at large – people getting answers about their questions through movies and other non-educational sources is dangerous and detrimental to the growth of a healthy outlook.
10. 1.      We need to invest in society as a society – everything can’t be left to the government. Government can’t tell us be honorable in behavior to:-   

a.      Fellow females / males

b.      Foreign citizens

c.       Help foreign citizen

d.      Don’t fleece foreigners

e.      Keep the roads clean

      We need to salvage ourselves  from the mess or the hole we have dug ourselves into.

Nihon no yasai ga suki- Vegetables Japanese folks like

During my brief stay in Japan making jaunts to the "Super Market" and the local markets was something I loved ,though I was handicapped by not being fully aware of Japanese language. It never deterred me ,I used technology , sign language and limited stock of Japanese words to navigate my way through.
These trips helped me understand Japanese food habits and other facets of Japanese life-style. "Niku" or meat has a prominent place in Japanese food but I discovered gradually that Japanese love their vegetables or "yasai" too.
My trips to the local veggie market not only helped me buy relatively economical produce but I got valuable insight into the popular preferences of the Japanese taste buds.
I discovered "Hakusai"  or the chinese cabbage.
It is a relatively new vegetable introduced in Japan from China in the twentieth century  and now its one of the most consumed vegetables in Japan in winters. It forms an important ingredient of the popular Japanese winter comfort food -the "Hot Pot".I used hakusai in preparing soups,salads, stir fry , noodles and pasta. The next vegetable which was very popular was the "sweet potato". I found that in most Japanese fairs and handicraft bazaars the cups of fried sweet potato chips was a big hit. Thejapanese love their sweet potato both baked and fried. One should surely try the piping hot cup of fried sweet potato finger chips.

The poor man's meat or also called mushroom is the next "yasai" which I will dwell on.

Mushrooms in Japan have such an extensive variety. Though "Shitake" is the most revered of them all. The other varieties found in Japan are

• Maitake
• Bunashimeji
• Enoki
• Eringi

But among them Maitake,Bunashimeji and Enoki are easily found off the shelves of most super-markets or local vegetable shops.

Enoki

Bunashimeji

Shiitake

Maitake

Japan is a heaven for mushroom lovers as the variety is extensive and quality is exemplary. I started writing this blog to neutralize the drudgery of going through the technical documents of my next project , but it seems I have replenished my energy and its time to go back to vetting those documents , till I write my next one. 

Sugoi Japan - Images of Japan

A country which should be in every person’s itinerary is “Japan”. You might have heard about its ubiquitous vending machines, or state of art toilets and their Manga, but my images includes some other facets of Japan and Japanese lifestyle. As I used to walk down from the railway station to work I used to take my time to absorb what I saw around. The Japanese mothers riding the “Mamachari” bicycle and taking their kids to nursery or kindergarten, is an image which I recollect fondly. Japan should showcase the “Mamachari Bike” world-wide and they would be surprised by the response it gets!

The typical and smart school uniforms of school going kids was the next thing which captured my imagination.

The most striking feature of the school going kid’s attire is the hat. Also you will be surprised to see Japanese kids commuting alone in the metro from school to home and vice –versa. Perhaps the low crime rates and the Japanese culture is responsible for this phenomenon. It seems if a kids gets lost in Japan it will not be a problem to ask a stranger for directions as Japanese folks are very helpful by nature. The Japanese school bag – also called randoseru- also is pretty striking and very characteristic part of Japanese culture. It is said Grade schoolers across Japan carry leather backpacks or “randoseru” (ランドセル). Randoseru, which comes from the Dutch word “ransel” or “backpack”.

This is probably the first in the series of blogs I will write on Japan. Its an asian country which is very both modern and traditional at the same time . Its modernity is showcased in its ultra-modern infrastructure . The traditional aspect is showcased in the customs of the Japanese society, its handicrafts, customs and array of gardens and shrines. 

Shastri should have bowed out Gracefully

Public show of emotion always makes you look to be on the wrong side irrespective of facts!!

How would you feel if you bake the perfect cake and almost did the perfect icing and then  tragedy strikes and your perfect creation is not so perfect anymore! Heartache!!
I think that is the feeling Ravi Shatri must be going through in the hind sight !
A bull in a China shop is never a good sight!
Though a Bengali will always side with "Dada" irrespective of any reason! He is larger than any Icon West Bengal has ever had - he is Rajnikant of West Bengal - no questions asked !! There is a show on Zee Bangla called - DADAGIRI  ( roughly translates to attitude is everything or who is the boss) which is modeled around him such is his popularity. Again popularity many can achieve but winning love of the masses is a difficult task and he has achieved that , I may dare to say only bypassed by Netaji or Tagore!!

But coming back to Ravi Shastri whose hugely famous victory lap in Melbourne stadium in the Audi he won after becoming "Man of the Series" post India's victory in the 1985 Benson Hedges World Cricket Championship is a red lettered day for Indian cricket. Many of us got initiated to cricket on that day or in that series, but little did I know he had won an Audi all I knew we won and it was some big car which Shastri won!!

After achieving such greatness - Shastri should have bowed out with grace and not like a child kicking , fretting and fuming in public!
If any thing seems to be snowballing into a public show of emotion

its best dropped and damages cut or minimized !

My craze for cricket has ebbed since IPL and match-fixing fiasco,I am not a big cricket fan anymore, but I hope now that the famous five of the Indian cricket are at the helm - they may finally cleanse the game of the abnormalities it was picked up on its journey so far!!

Dhanteras - Did you know lord Yama is worshipped on this day!!!

There are many stories which are prevelant about Dhanteras.

One famous story is about Lord Dhanvantari and his service to mankind. Lord Dhanvantari, who is considered to be the physician of Gods and an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, came out of the ocean that was churned by the Gods and the demons on the day of Dhanteras. Lord Dhanvantari appeared with Ayurvedic for the welfare of the mankind. It was because of this reason that the Dhanteras was celebrated in his honor. 

Another interesting story famous about Dhanteras is related to the son of King Hima and his intelligent wife. It was predicted about King Hima that he would die on the fourth day of his marriage and the reason behind his death would be snakebite. When his wife came to know about such a prediction she decided not to let her husband die and for this she made a plan. On the fourth day of their marriage she collected all the jewelery and wealth at the entrance of her husband's boudoir and lighted lamps all around the place and started telling stories and singing songs one after another in order to not let her husband sleep. 

In the mid night Lord Yama, the God of death arrived there in guise of a snake. The bright lights of the lamps lit by the wife of the king's son blinded his eyes and he could not enter their chamber. Therefore, Lord Yama found a place to stay comfortable on top of the heap of the jewelry and wealth and kept sitting there for the whole night waiting to get a chance to bite the king's son but as the wife of the king's son kept telling stories and singing songs for the whole night therefore he could not get any chance and in the morning he left the place quietly. Thus, the wife saved her husband's life from the cruel clutches of death. Since then the day of dhanteras is also known as the day of 'Yamadeepdaan' and it has become a tradition to light a diya on dhanteras and to keep it burning throughout the night in reverential adoration of Lord Yama, the God of death.

Durga - The Slayer Of Mahishasura

Mahalaya is the auspicious occasion for the whole Bengali community and the people of Bengal as it marks the advent of Goddess Durga on earth, the goddess of supreme power, to annihilate all evils. It is the period when Pitri Paksha (Shola Shraddha or food offering) ends giving way to Devi Paksha (Goddess Period). Mahalaya is thus a kind of invocation or invitation to the mother goddess so that She descend on earth and help the mortals lead an evil-free life.

There are several stories / anecdotes associated with Maa Durga or each festival India has , here’s one which tells why is the goddess also called Mahisasur Mardini.

Goddess Durga is also called Mahisasur Mardini, as she annihilated the notorious deamon Mahisa.

This is how the story goes ....

nce upon a time there lived a demon (Asura) named Mahisha. He found great happiness in hurting people. Once, he decided to pray to lord Brahma, who he thought would give him a boon, which would make him invincible. 

Mahisha performed severe penances praying and fasting for months as he stood on one foot. The three worlds trembled under the strength of his penances and a pleased lord Brahma came to give him a boon. Mahisha asked for immortality, which the lord said he could not have as every creature that was born had to die. Mahisha decided that he would ask for a boon that would make him as good as immortal. He asked that no man should be able to kill and, if he had to die it should be only at the hands of only a woman. He was sure that no woman could ever fight against him however strong she may be.

Now that Mahisha was invincible, he and the other asuras went about hurting and killing everyone on earth and then went on to the heavens to fight the Gods. Even Indra's thunderbolt could not withstand the asura attack. Mahisha drove out the Gods and took over Indra's throne. Mahishasura started harassing all pious people who continued praying to Vishnu or Shiva. The Gods and people were depressed and decided to ask lord Shiva for help. Lord Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma concentrated hard and used their radiant energies, which were joined by the energies from Indra, and the other Gods. This godly energy took the form of a divine lady with thousand arms. In each arm she carried a weapon belonging to all Gods. This was Durga Devi. 

She mounted a fiery lion and roared. It was a roar that shook mountains and created huge waves in the seas. Even Mahisha was worried for a second, but his vanity took over when he saw that the terrible form was that of a woman. Durga created a large army from her breath to fight Mahisha's army and then fought with Mahisha who came in the form of a Buffalo. As he struggled to set himself from the Buffalo form she killed him with her sword delivering the earth and heavens of the Burden called Mahishasura. 

Onion and Garlic folklore!

There was a time when one wept as one used to chop onions , but times have changed drastically now-a-days one is teary when one thinks of buying oinions.Yes - the onion has suddenly turned wicked . This made me wonder there may be many fables and folk-lores about onions too.

Wicked Onion

Look what I stumbled upon - an Indonesian folklore about Onions and Garlic. In Indonesia, "garlic" is called white onion and onion is commonly referred to as red onion. By color association, garlic is seen as "good" and onion, as the "bad" one. This is how the local folklore goes:-

Once there lived a small family of father, mother and a daughter - named Garlic,
They lived in a sleepy village in Indonesia.The father was a trader and mother a homemaker. The three lived very happily, but one day the mother fell sick suddenly and died . The demise of the mother made "garlic" and her father very sad. In the same village there live a widow. The widow had a daughter named "Red Onion",Both mother and daughter used to come to Garlic's house and help her with cooking and other daily chores.After some time Garlic's father thought of marrying "Red Onion"'s mother presuming- that it would give little "garlic" a mother's care and much needed company.

Little did the trader realized what fate had in store for him and her daughter "garlic"! Soon after marriage "Red Onion"'s mother started treating "Garlic" badly.She would make little garlic wash utensils and clean clothes at the river bank. Garlic never used to complain and bore everything with silence. One day garlic's father too fell sick and expired in some time. Garlic was overwhelmed with grief.
After garlic's father's demise her stepmother started treating her more cruely. She would make her toil from dawn to dusk. Little garlic had to clean , wash and cook.

Little garlic had to toil very hard but she maintained her composure and never complained. One day as she had gone to the river to wash clothes.Suddenly one of her step-moyher's dress was washed away in the river current. Little garlic tried her best but could not find it. 

`

When Garlic came home with the washed clothes, her step-mother became furious at not finding her red dress. She thundered at little garlic "Go find my dress. Dont come home without the dress?".

Poor garlic started following the path running parallel to the river to find the dress. On her way she met a shepherd. Garlic asked the shepherd -have you seen a red dress? 

 The shepherd replied I have seen one in an old lady's garden by the river. Hearing this garlic went down the river to the old lady's home. On reaching there she saw the red dress hanging on the cloth drying wires in her garden. She knocked on her door and requested her to give her the "red dress". The old lady said she will give her the red dress on one condition - garlic had to stay with her for one week. Garlic agreed.

She lived with the old lady for one week and helped her in her daily chores. When one week was over the old lady gave her the red dress and also asked her to choose from the pumpkins in her kitchen garden as a parting gift. Garlic took a small one and bid the old lady good-bye. On reaching home she gave the "red dress" to her step-mother and also the pumpkin. As they sliced it open it was full of precious gold and jewels. Now the step mother became greedy and asked garlic how she got such the pumpkin? Garlic told her the entire tale.

Now the step-mother wanted more jewels , she sent her daughter "red onion" to the old lady's house. The old lady asked "Red Onion" to stay with her for a week.Onion stayed for one week but never helped the old lady with her work, she just lazed away her time. After one week as she was about to leave she asked the old lady -wont you give me a parting gift? The old lady asked her to pick a pumpkin from her garden as a parting gift. "Red Onion" took the largest one. With great difficulty she reached home. As she arrived her mother lost no time in slicing it open. She thought jewels will fall out but alas! Out came venomous snakes and insects and killed the wicked step-mother and her daughter "red onion". Garlic was thus freed of her tormenting step mother and sister.

Ganesha's wise devotee

Om Ganapatai Namo!!

Lord Ganesha is well known for his wit and wisdom, but this folklore is about his smart and wise devotee, an old lady. There used to live ages ago an old lady in the village of Timarpur, a sleepy village on the banks of Tista river.

The lady resided in her small house with her son and daughter-in-law.

She was an ardent follower of lord Ganesha and prayed daily without fail.

The lord was so moved by her devotion that he used to appear before her everyday and granted her a wish. The lady used to say that she couldn't decide what to ask for. This routine continued for many days.

At last the old lady thought of consulting her son and daughter-in-law. The son asked her to ask the lord for wealth. The daughter-in-law asked her to ask the lord for a grandson. 

The lady wondered my son and daughter-in-law are suggesting what they think is important, let me consult my neighbour. Her neighbour advised her to ask for good sight. Now lady thought that all the three sugestions were valid for her family as a whole and started thinking of a way to get everyone's wish fulfilled.

The next day as the Lord again appreared and asked the old lady to make a wish. The old lady bowed to the lord and wished-" Lord please bless me such that I can see my grandson drinking milk from a golden bowl"

The lord smiled the witty old lady had asked for everything in her wish smarty. He granted the wish and blessed the old lady.

Ingenious Ganesha!!

As the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration slowly comes to its culmination .. here's another very interesting story on Ganesha which teaches us to find simple solutions to any challenge in life.

One day Ganesha , Kartik and Mushaka were playing when they were called by Goddess Parvati. Both Kartik and Genesha ran towards Parvati,on found her standing with a plate full of delicious "Modaks". She gave them the Modaks but as both Ganesha and Kartik were muching the delicious "Modaks" to Parvati's delimnea there remained one last "Modak" to which both Kartik and Ganesha staked their claim.

So goddess Parvati and lord Shiva decided to have a small contest between Ganesha and Kartik. They said that they had to take 3 rounds of the world and whosoever did it first will get the "Modak".

As soon as Kartik heard about the task he zipped off on his vahana (vehicle) the "peacock". 

Ganesha fell in deep contemplation - his vahana- Mouse was very small and slow. How could he win? 

 Then an idea came to his mind , he mounted on his vahana -Mouse and took three rounds of his parent - "Shiva & Parvati".

When Shiva and Parvati saw this they asked him why is he not going to take three rounds of the world? To that he replied "Dear parents you are the world for me so I took three rounds of my parents - that is equivalent to the trip across the world."

Lord Shiva and Godddess Parvati smiled on hearing Ganesha's point of view and declared him winner and gave him the "Modak"

Moral - We should make the best of the resources we have without whinning about lack of amenities. 

Parents are to be  revered !!

Ganesha - teaches Parashuram humility !!

Lord Ganesha teaches simplicity and urges all to be humble. Once he was playing with his dear friend and vahan (mode of transport) - "Mushak" (mouse) at Kailash Parvat. In excitement he and mushak created lot of commotion. Hearing the noise Parvati came there and reprimanded both of them and told them to maintain silence as his father lord "Shiva" was meditating and was not supposed to be disturbed, else he will get angry. Ganesha and Mushak started playing silently. After some time saint Parashuram came there and demanded to have an audience with Lord Shiva but Ganesha said he couldnt allow anyone to visit as he was meditating. He requested the saint to come again. This angered the saint and he engaged Ganesha in a fierce battle. Parashuram's all weapons were destroyed by Ganesha. Then Parashuman took out the weapon granted by Lord Shiva - seeing his father's weapon Ganesha did not neutralize it and took its impact on his tooth. This led to the breakage of his tooth.
So great was the impact that the lord gave out a cry in pain and fainted. This brought Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati to the spot. Seeing his favourite son in pain Lord thundered on Parashuram and both Shiva and Parvati reminded him that with great power comes great responsibility and humility.
Parashuram realized his folly and begged to Shiva and Parvati for forgiveness.
On repeated pleas by Parashuram Lord Shiva and Parvati forgave him.
Due to his loss of his tooth lord Ganesha is also called "Ek-Danta".

Ganapati Bappa Maurya !!!!

Why Moon is a taboo on Ganesha's Birthday!!

As Lord Ganesha is worshipped in many houses this Ganesh Chaturthi do you know why one is not allowed to see the moon on Ganesha BirthDay?

Well this is how the story goes ... We all know the cute and adorable lord ganesha was very fond of delicacies !!
Once he was invited on his Birthday for dinner at a devotee's house ...
Ganesha went there and the devotee treated the God to best of preparations !!
He had a very heavy meal. He blessed the devoted host and then started his homeward journey. 

On his way back home on his vehicle the mouse ...
A very black and scary snake crossed their path, it frightened the mouse so much that it fainted and as a result the lord fell on the ground and lord's stomach burst. 
The moon was seeing all this and the moon who saw this started laughing in a mocking manner!!
This angered lord Ganesha , he killed the snake and tied the snake around his stomach and chased the Moon!!
The Moon ran and hid in his palace and Ganesha came to his palace in search of moon!!
Ganesha thundered at Moon for his rude behaviour!!
Moon got so frightened of the warth of the lord and refused to come out!!
The moon hiding's in the palace caused havoc on earth and the cycle of day and night!!! Seeing this everybody prayed to lord Ganesha and asked him to forgive moon!!
Ganesha relented but he roared at the Moon- You hid in your palace like a thief I curse you that from now on whosoever sees you on my birthday (Ganesh Chaturthi) will be called a thief!!
Hence we are not supposed to see the moon on Ganesha's Birthday ....

Durva grass is dear to Lord Ganesh

There's a wonderful story related to Lord Ganesha " On why Durva grass is dear to Lord Bal Ganesh"
the story goes like this:-
Its said once there was a demon by the name "Analasura" whose eyes used to emit fire and wherever he went he caused destruction and devastation.
So much so that none could stop his trail of devastation- people prayed to lord Ganesha. Bal Ganesha confronted analasura who rained fire on the lord- evrything in the vicinity except for Lord Ganesha was destroyed and the demon started launghing in a mocking tone!!!
Bal Ganesha then took its Virata Avatar ( Huge incarnation ) and gulped the demon.
The fire spitting demon got annihilated but the Ganesha body temperature rose dangerously so much so that lord fell on the ground.
All Gods tried various remedies but to no avail...
Lord Bal Ganesh's burning did not stop. Everyone was worried.

Then, thousands of sages who came there with bunch of 21 Durvas and put on Bal Ganesh's head and a miracle happened. 
The burning sensation of Bal Ganesh was subsided and Ganesh became all right after putting the Durva grass on the head . 

Then, Lord Ganesh uttered that most of the Gods tried to help but only ‘Durva’ a simple grass made my agony into normal.

With this Lord Ganesh announced that whoever with devotion offer me Durva would be pious and get Punya which will be equal to thousands puja's,pilgrims, donations,etc..
Whether you offer flowers or not you should offer the Durva grass to Lord Bal Ganesh in his Puja.
The message this story potrays is - We should not think anyone to be small or insignificant,time changes in fraction of seconds and in that time everyone gets their chance to play their role.

Ganapati bappa Mourya!!!

Random Thoughts and Notes

Premonition
The dictionary meaning of Premonition is :-

1. a feeling of anticipation of or anxiety over a future event;presentiment: He had a vague premonition of danger.
2. a forewarning.

One does gets premonitions. While the happy ones are always welcome  but those pointing to some dangerous event are scary and  leave you shaken. One gets disturbed when you can relate them to a future happening.On second thoughts premonitions are a forewarning and a warning more often than not is about an imminent danger - how stupid of me? The other day over tea in office I was discussing about such fore-warnings with some colleagues  - that how unsettling they can be if its actually related to a real life incident. I recollect standing at one of the floors of my office and suddenly a thought crossed my mind that these unguarded heights had the potential of killing someone and I was terrified as I knew something will happen for sure in the coming days. Also another feature of Premonitions they keep recurring till its true or else you talk about it so much that they are rendered ineffective (that's my hypothesis that if you talk about the forewarning it may be averted though - irrational well I am a very rational person but with premonitions my rationale flies off the window). The same thought crossed my mind again as I was standing by the cafeteria window. To make matters worse a person jumped to his death in that building. Scary isnt it ... Also I think what good is a forewarning if the mishap cant be stopped I better not have a premonition.

Another one which comes to my mind relates to my stay in Chandigarh ... The house in front of ours was undergoing renovation and the day their work was completed , I noticed that the father and son duo of that house were collecting the scrap woods into a pile ... As I saw the pile it quite awkwardly looked like an unlit pyre to me ... I struggled to wish away the thought ~ watched TV , read a book , even went for a walk but that thought just wouldn't leave me alone - at last sleep came to my rescue. In the morning I saw a big crowd outside our house and came to know that the son had meet with a fatal accident and was in a coma (he expired later)... I was thoroughly disturbed ... 

There have been quite a few - I remember getting a Premonition of 2 planes colliding mid-air just before the mid-air crash of 2 planes at Charkhi- Dadri ....

One gets premonitions about friends and family too ..

I have arrived at a prophylaxis- talk about them and render them ineffective ... though one runs the risk of being called crazy or paranoid ~ but its better than people losing their lives ..... 

Smells

Of late I have been getting nostalgic about the various smells and fragrances I associated with my childhood. In our ancestral home there is a storage room where one stores supplies for long periods - this storage room called a "Bhandar Ghor" has a fusion of smells of jaggery, semase, coconut, sour and pungent smells of pickles , smell of condiments, spices .. it was my favorite place to hide while playing "Hide and Seek" ...

The other smell which I fondly remember - is the smells and fragrances associated with the "Puja Ghar" where the smell of sandal paste, fresh flowers and burning incense sticks rendered the atmosphere divine - though at that time the Peras offered to the god did capture my attention and imagination!!!!

The burnt charcoal smell associated with the lighting of angithi too lingers on ...

    

Why are we critical of Anna Movement or Satyameva jayate!!

There are many who are skeptical about phenomenons like “Satyameva Jayate” or “Token Fast by Team Anna” at Jantar Mantar. Many crack unsympathetic jokes at them. I sincerely believe if one can’t be optimistic one should at least not pronounce doom for people who are trying to make a difference. If the issues raised are corrected it will only make our country/society a better place.  Many people may argue the people raising these issues have vested interests or their credentials are questionable. Point taken friends, but so does chemotherapy, but still its used to save lives.  Let’s not miss the wood for the trees; all of us want a better, civil, safer and a more cultured India. An India devoid of corruption, dowry, khap panchayats to name a few is I believe everyone’s dream. Like the most popular President of this country Kalam said I want to see India in the league of developed nations. We can be part of that August league only when we take everything with a pinch of optimism and true/unbiased self analysis. An India which truly recognizes the flaws it has and instead of pushing them below the carpet boldly and sincerely works for solution.

For those who see fault in things will find spots in the moon too (an old Indian proverb), while there are people who see a silver lining in every cloud. So the optimists please take over. Even I too accept all these people are not an absolute philanthropist but at least some leeway will be made in our ultimate goal for an Incredible India.

The following arguments are put forth by many for their criticism or indifference to such initiatives:-

• ·    Nothing has changed in India since independence and hence there is no merit in trying. à So you mean to say a spider is wiser than us humans, it keeps trying till it succeeds. Come on we are more highly evolved than that arachnid so we can try a bit more!!!
• ·    People question the credentials of people driving such moves à For example Aamir charging 3 crore per episode, well if he manages to change public opinion, its well deserved.   
• ·       Some of these movements are politically motivated à let them be we will employ them to achieve the goals that are important for us like get the economy back on tracks or put check on rampart corruption, I guess that concerns everyone and if its solved even by a politically motivated movement I am fine with that. For me what is important is resolution of things which are holding India back. Besides are we so gullible that we can be taken for a ride?
• ·         Many say these movements are becoming personality based that is there are other people doing much work in these areas but they are unsung. Well at least we have the attention of the people now, the next step would we be to focus on the real heroes. Come-on friends Rome was not built in one day!!!  Lets start taking baby steps towards our ultimate goal a Wonderful India!!!

They very fact that India is talking about these issues so openly and these issues trend on twitter the whole day is a good sign that we all Indians aspire for A Better India. Well 1 billion people having that dream will surely make mountains move!!! Being a pessimist has helped no one lets trying being an optimist this time around.