A sadhu

A village woman

Abhishek bacchan

Deepika Padukone

A demo of democracy

This year is a special one for us. “Us’ refers to India and Indian citizens who have given a good demo of democracy in these elections, voting out goons and using their vote-power up to a good extent. The voter turnouts have been good with a higher percentage of the first- time voters. The young citizens have finally awakened in a true sense and seem to be spirited. Hope this spirit goes a long way. I am happy because Mayawati is out (prayers do work yaar!) ; Shibu Soren, and Paswan are out too while Laloo has been adequately humbled.  Apart from modeling, politics is another career option wherein there is no place for inhibitions. All the politicians, be it Lalu or Soren, go upto limits of obstinacy and shamelessness. The injured tigress Mayawati is bewildered after defeat and has asked 150 officials for their resignations. This time politicians have seen only a small trailer of the power of the people.

 Singh is king again. Sonia is the undisputed mastermind at the helms of Congress affairs. Defying the forecasts made by all the astrologers who said there is no ‘yoga’ in his ‘kundali’ of becoming PM again, Singh has secured his place once more, and I personally feel he is one single decent man who, even for his hardest opponents, always uses decent words, unlike many others,  like Narendra Modi who once called Rahul Gandhi a ‘hybrid bachchda’ (A mixed breed calf). This also forms the impression of a party overall.

 Coming to the kundali of Congress; if your enemy makes a mistake, you win by default. Much of this happened with congress. When country has many a crisis to deal with and is juggling with serious issues like terrorism and recession, Rajnath Singh had ‘Ram mandir’ on his mind. He declared before elections that as soon BJP would gain power, it would build the temple. And then Varun Gandhi and his ever burning fire of ‘herogiri,’ all these factors combined with BJP’s image of being a Hindutva chauvinist party, events like overtly or covertly supporting Muthaliks’s Ram Sene  (which subsequently got a slap on its face in form of ‘pink chaddi’ campaign), Bal Thakery’s Shiv Sena and V-day ‘tod-phod’ made voters change their minds and go for other parties, automatically paving way for the defeat of this pro Hindu party.

 

The Taj hotel attacks have outraged the public and it vented its anger and frustration like never before, although I personally feel had this happened in Dharavi, no one would have bothered or actually given a second thought, and it would have been just another headline but since rich people and celebes were involved, it became a big issue of international discussion. As the saying goes ‘a rich man’s joke is always funny’ and so, the attack on a rich man is always serious. Anyways it’s not the point here that for whom the attack was actually intended but it’s after effects that changed the face of democracy in India. I could not cast my vote because my name was missing from the voters’ list. But I am really happy to see this year Indians, youngsters in particular, being serious and aware well as excited over their rights and making thoughtful choices rather than skipping or casting votes for the heck of it.

 

Watz ur pick ??

A person is made up of a whole lot of things, circumstances and experiences. It’s not just the zodiac signs or the native region. Btw 1/12 of the world’s population is of my zodiac sign or rather we are of the same sign, but that does not make us similar; every one is unique. The point of this post is, our personalities and attitudes are clearly reflected in the colors we choose. Here the object is car. Almost every urban middle class family now a day owns one car at least. Low priced or high, but one car a family is surely not rare.

Henry Ford manufactured the black Model-T (first use of assembly lines also) a superstar car, a super selling one, It was available only in one colour- jet black, and definitely not because it was Mr. Ford’s favorite color or it had some astrological significance for the Ford company but because no other color could dry as fast as black. Now, with the ever advancing technology new chemicals are added to speed up the drying process, thus more colors to their palettes.

It is absolutely true that the color of your possessions speaks volumes about your personality and habits. Talking about cars, a big thing with a substantial investment, a car can be sometimes an object of desire, love as well as nostalgia. I personally know people refusing to part with their old Noah-aged cars that are no better then show pieces, but since it was their first or their father’s first it still adores their garages. Business people and executives prefer cars with darker shades and metallic darks, while students, young professionals and girls like lighter colors, and sports cars drivers often choose cars with strong staring colors and fundu graphics (I love such cars haha!)

So, according to psychologists

    1.    Red- full of zest, energy and drive, brave, ambitious and impatient characters, who also think, move and talk quickly. The color red is a symbol of sex, speed, thoroughness and dynamism.

2.   Brown or orange- you are practical, independent and like to race

3.   Yellow- idealistic, novelty loving, intelligent and warm.

4.   Green- careful and unsociable, but also has hysterical tendencies!

5.    Blue- imaginative, loyal, and trustworthy people.

6.   Pink- gentle, loving and affectionate drivers.

7.    Silver and grey- cool, calm, and slightly aloof and who is prone to criticizing other drivers!

8.   Black- stubborn disciplined people, who like classic cars and elegance. They are not easy to manipulate!

9.   White- status-seeking, extrovert drivers, who are also optimistic, simple and who you can rely upon.

 Also, according to the Du Pont Automotive Color Popularity Report, up to 40 percent of consumers will switch car brands to get the colour they want. ²

Silver

Silver has been the most popular car colour in North America for the past seven years. Perhaps that's because metallic shades symbolize luxury and class. This high-tech hue says you're a sophisticated driver who likes to show off your vehicle's design. You're also calm behind the wheel. A recent study shows silver cars are 50 percent less likely to be involved in a crash.

Black

If you drive a black car, you’re no pushover. This sexy shade represents authority and power. You also appreciate elegance, style and timeless classics. But you may also have a darker side; black is often associated with villains and mystery.

 

Red

A bold colour choice, red says, “I want to be seen!” This hot hue has been found to raise blood pressure and stimulate the senses. You’re dynamic and sexy with a need for speed. Red gives off high-energy vibes and people drawn to the colour may take more risks — gamblers tend to place higher bets when seated under a red light.

White

hite symbolizes innocence and purity, like the traditional image of a bride on her wedding day. But white is actually a daring choice when it comes to cars — dings and mud splotches have nowhere to hide on this light-reflecting shade. Drivers of white cars might be seen as fastidious and refined.

Blue

lue is cool and serene. It calms the mind and creates a sense of tranquility. If you drive a blue car, you may be seen as conservative, loyal and quiet. But you may also be tuned in to trends.

Green

reen is an easygoing and refreshing colour. It evokes a sense of the natural and organic — especially when going green means caring for the environment. Drivers drawn to green are thought to be trustworthy and well-balanced.

Yellow.

Yellow cars signify someone who is idealistic and novelty loving. A gold car represents wealth and pride. If you have a gold car, you likely want to be noticed. You want people to know you do not lack financially and you are independent.

Today cars are available in any colour imaginable. Even the unconventional car colors like orange, purple, green and yellow are finding fast acceptance. It was not imaginable a decade back to drive a car in bright orange color but since these are gaining acceptance so can we say the people and their personalities are changing? We no longer wish to hang on to old traditions and customs and are now much more open to new experiments and are confident of ourselves like never before.

So, what’s your colour pick??

1 http://nuvolo.wordpress.com/2006/11/05/your-choice-of-car-colour-says-something-about-you/

2 http://www.caamagazine.ca/caadvice_articledetail.aspx?ContentId=458

Has India managed well in the times of recession?

The global recession is perhaps the most used, or rather misused word today, being quoted by everyone from semi-literate laymen to the ‘hyper-literate’ pundits of financial world alike. There is no dearth of theories, explanations, figures of losses, forecasts for short and long durations, advices, fears, hopes, bail-out packages, job cuts; anything we could think of that is even remotely connected with the recession. The point here is not the technical details, figures or analyses of the situation; they are plenty everywhere. It is the spirit of India and its instinct of survival in this scenario that is the subject.

To start with, the present recession can be considered a classic example of what is known as the ‘butterfly effect’*, or ‘domino effect’**. Briefly saying, the origin of this crisis lies in the greed of realtors in USA who started sub-prime lending, i.e. lending to the borrowers with dubious capabilities of repayments who then resorted to sub-lending the loans. This chain ultimately lead to gigantic bad debts and swallowed the multi-billion dollar US housing-finance giants like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Their collapse in turn triggered fall of other big investors who suffered losses in real estate investments, finally causing a panic in the financial markets, resulting in heavy selling and pull out of money and consequential free fall of share indices. The reaction grew only worse and spread to other parts of the world. The end result was free fall of global markets, shrinking or total collapse of many a business entities and massive job-cuts all over the world.

While there have been doomsday predictions every where equating the present crisis with the worst ones in the history, comparatively India has managed and fared well, so far. That India is insulated from the global crisis is nobody’s case. There have been visible effects of the global slowdown. But certainly the effect here is much less than the macabre scenario of financial markets that is projected in the more developed nations.

 The fall in the GDP growth rate and loss of jobs has not been as heavy as was initially feared, although the share market indices have since fallen steeply. In some cases, there have even been pretty good fresh investments and job-inductions.

When the USA and Europe look frightened of the future, an average Indian does not seem to be so badly hit. Things are still moving, albeit at a slower rate. The reason is not far to seek. Indians are known the world around for their perseverance and capability to adapt. Another factor is the Indians’ somewhat emotional and social approach in every sphere of life, business included. This explains our way of dealing with the present crisis, with far less lay-offs than anywhere else.

But a rather least noticed fact is that in our country a very major part of population is in fact NOT involved with the investments in share markets, realty or other such financial activities, but is still largely dependent upon the informal trading at local level, say in the small time markets nearby the living places for daily needs- local fruit, vegetable or grocery shop, milk vendor, domestic and other personal services etc, due to lower earning and living standards, and partly because of a conservative approach towards money. These are market systems which are somewhat insulated from the large scale formal financial network of national level, which is affected harder by the global crisis. It is this second level informal social trading system which is still holding strong like a steel framework that keeps us going even in face of the worst global financial crisis.

[* Metaphorically, a butterfly fluttering its wing in one part of the world could possibly trigger a hurricane in another part of the world.

** One event triggers a spate of similar events that propagates like a wave going long distances.]

 

 I wrote this for my college magazine :D

EVER ' GONE TO DOGS' ??

There is no dearth of interesting things; we just have to look around ourselves, focus a bit and keep our senses open. After so many days and couple of sketches I felt like writing a post, (which is also my first love!) but today I could not stop myself from expressing through words what I felt. It has made me happy, elated and yes, more sensitive too. The matter is very simple but is quite deep. What happened is...

We have many stray dogs in our colony. One such stray, quite young (btw, it’s my fav too) gave birth to one pup. Surprising but yes. Not a litter but just one pup. Another such stray too gave a litter (let’s call it Monty). The only pup of the first one (I call it Tommy) expired after a day. And since motherly love knows no bounds, our Tommy was depressed like any thing. It stopped eating and refused to part with its dead pup. Then what happened, a twist in the story followed. The second stray Monty met with a car accident and died on the very spot, leaving behind three cute 4-days old pups. Tragic, but what to do. We (me and my auntie) tried our level best to take care of those innocent, hapless creatures. Then, Tommy adopted them, fed them and took care of them like a mother. I was really astonished and surprised. I sat down to write this post as soon as I returned after spending my daily quota of time with Tommy and her new family.
We are humans, (supposedly) much more intelligent than other beings, but we use all our extra intelligence in vices, crimes, and all sorts of devilish activities.

( real pic of one of the pups)

This act of kindness by my sweet Tommy always reminds me of Puja (name changed), one of my old school classmates. Her mom died when she was 2 and her father remarried a year later. Her step mom made her life miserable by inflicting mental torture on the poor girl, while her father chose to look other way. Many a time I found Puja really apprehensive on returning back home after school and what not; let me not get to the horrid details I know as one of her good friends. Later I came to know from somewhere that she was married off as soon as her BA got over.

We humans, the super intelligent and the most evolved, are worst than dogs and other animals when kindness and humanity is concerned. If you watch carefully, only humans kill or torture another being for fun and draw a certain kind of satisfaction from cruelty, something which no other animal does. Animals kill only for food or in self defense.

Sarojini Naidu ( 1879-1948)

This poetess also known as Nightingale of India, was also the very first Indian women president of Indian National Congress.

MOTHER TERESA