60 Seconds of attraction

Parenthood teaches you a world of good (& fair share of bad stuff as well).
How many memories of your childhood flash back when your own kid does something which is remotely related or unrelated to your own growing up?
For sure with this gadget generation all of a sudden you start getting a feeling you grew up in some ancient civilization.
Well late 80s & 90s was not a stone age by any stretch of imagination. We did have our fair share of fun in form of Cable TV & some pretty good movies on Star Movies post 11 P.M (I&B minister that time would have been hooked up himself). :-)
But that aint the point here. 
So what is this 60 seconds of attraction?
That is the time-span in a shopping mall or toy store or visit to neighboring McDonald's or TV commercial on Pogo/Disney/some other cartoon channel which either puts a hole in your pocket or gives you a guilt feeling for a week or so.
For all those unaware of these cues, I am talking about demand list of Kids and ever increasing choices to choose from which is readily available in your nearest toy mart.
But it is just not about the demands but also time-span of attachment to these kiddie toys once the little ones are in possession of them.
Which brings back memories of mine own childhood. How often we used to get lucky by getting something we demanded. very rarely. Throw some tantrums and for sure a tight slap was waiting just round the corner to decorate the cheeks. 
But what about the kids these days. Firstly they are extra aware of the stuff they want and how & where to get it. No matter how smartly you try to avoid an addition to the already tumbling toy collection, kids are smarter to ensure we welcome another one.
So what happens to the existing range of flashy stuff in their room. Well that anyway had become orphan a day after it entered the room. And you are really lucky if it lasts one day of love and welcome. Some have been unlucky enough to get orphaned in the car-drive back home. :-(
How vividly I recall when I once asked my dad for a Toy car which I could get in and drive and all I got was a sticker of same car. Well 2 hours of crying after that did not yield even another sticker. ;-)
But when I think over why my kid manages to get stuff out of me despite every time I am promising to myself not to fall for her tricks and demands, could be because of my own unfulfilled desires subconsciously. We did have our fair share of fun as kids with parents pampering us with whatever they could afford and felt was appropriate for us.
So point is that it is not kids who take us for a ride but deep down we still have that Peter Pan in us who goes over to Toy section in a retail store and admires each toy by imagining yourself playing with that...... :-)


60 seconds of attraction is just a facade.............

Independence

India celebrated its 63rd Independence day yesterday. And as usual Patriotism is in full swing in the fortnight. Everyone from FMCG, retailers to street hawker is in mood to offer you goodies at discounted price just in the name of Independence celebration. But all that just looks like a business deal nothing at all. Same discounts would be available next month for Onam & then for Diwali & henceforth.

But coming back to Independence & state of our beloved country. So much of stuff happening all across India that you wonder if this is what those heroes of freedom-fight had in mind when they were laying down their lives for Independence. Corruption, mis-management & chaos is the highlight of current day. Switch on any news channel & you are forced to switch to some other channel or switch off TV because all you get to hear is corruption, scams, violence, & lawlessness all around. Kind of news we get to hear & see makes daily soaps look all soothing to eyes, ears & heart despite all melodrama in them. Thank God I am getting to watch only cartoons these days because of my little one.

We Indians talk of being super-power & getting equal status in world matters with countries like US, China, UK, Germany & others. But do we even put 1/10th of effort these countries put in to have success they enjoy. See how US arm twisted BP to shell (pun intended) out big bucks for the oil spill. But India simply allowed the Bhopal tragedy kill its citizens without doing much. All they did was to allow Anderson flee country with red carpet rolled out to him. China organized one of the best (if not the best) Olympic games in history. India on other hand is still thinking if we can start CWG on time. All we see & hear is that OC (organizing committee) is busy in ensuring that they get all wealth possible not worrying at all about Games or common stuff. No national pride in mind at all. Just busy & occupied in milking the money cow.

We have such a good habit of asking others to fix our house for any & every thing. For any issue, we look towards US to say a few soothing words to make us happy.

Although India attained its Independence long back, there still are areas in India which dont get basic necessities of life like electricity, fresh water etc. Still every year we depend on Monsoon to cater to our agriculture needs. Some rivers are drying & some have floods every year but nothing happening on connecting the rivers linkage project. We have such a huge divide of urban & rural sector that guys in big cities dont even know what kind of life people live in rural areas.

Simple mantra is that if its not affecting me, I dont bother what happens in Kashmir, UP or North-east. But if you get affected then we say, why Govt does not do anything.

Common sense is so uncommon. Education & Literacy is something that is becoming more & more disjoint these days. so called literate folks behave like uneducated. Everyone is in a hurry to not even bother how their actions affect others. But will crib if you are on the receiving end.

As they say it takes a tiny step to start on a long journey. Hope some of us take this difficult part of taking tiny step towards the right direction.

I still get goose bumps on hearing the national anthem. And hope I can manage the courage to not fall into trap which makes me part of this herd which does not value freedom we have.

Wondering

Some random thoughts have been crossing mind from quite some time now.

Thoughts like corruption, cribbing, common sense, morals etc. But then these words are the most overused & abused in day to day life. Everyone has their own version for these words as per convenience.

For e.g. Traffic cop giving you a ticket for jumping the signal. You will crib that everyone does this in India then why give me a ticket? Some other day instead of giving 100 bucks as official penalty, you will quietly pass on 50 bucks to same cop. He will be happy to have those 50 bucks going in his pocket.

Now the same scenario needs to be looked from a different perspective in which you are a third party. You will say sitting on your cushioned sofa at home that this is corruption & India is corrupted. There is no future of this country & blah blah. But is not it very convenient to just avoid doing some introspection.

Agreed everyone wants to avoid any kind of unease which comes their way by following rules & guidelines. But these very small acts are no different from large scale scams being unearthed every day. Government ministers openly take kickbacks & continue to enjoy the luxury of being ministers just because of coalition politics. How different is this from where you simply agree to part some money to an official in Govt office to get your work done as you dont want them to take ages to do their job & keep you running in loops.

We all will say that this is the system & this is how it works.

But then why crib when you see bigger fishes going for bigger bites. Is not it that deep inside we feel envy from these sharks? Given a chance we wont miss taking such a bite ourselves. I know some of us might not agree with this analogy but then who said world has to be in alignment for everything.

Just collection of random thoughts & before anyone gets an impression that I am trying to be a Saint here then its not the case. I aint Saint myself.

But then I strive & try to be Saint in some ways. ;-)

Heart & Mind

Heart & Mind conflict has been in place ever since Adam & Eve. Heart has its own mind & Mind has its own heart or something in similar nature. Its always a conflicting thought which originates from heart & mind. So the point is what one should pay heed to?

Mind in all probabilities gives you a scientific & practical ideas whereas Heart usually has emotional & sentimental angle attached to it.

Reason I am dwelling on this age-old conflict is that I have also been getting these conflicting ideas from Mind & heart for sometime now. And they are related to everything from job, personal life, etc.

If someone is practical with no emotional strings attached then it is pretty simple. Go with what your mind says. But when emotional tangle comes into picture then mind starts taking a beating from heart.

Now I know every person has their own way of thinking, some even club the heart & mind to take their decisions. Some go by just with the heart which some even say as gut feeling.

I have seen friends who keep emotions on backburner and just go by what the mind says and for the world they are doing good. The very same folks had no qualms about doing stuff which their wives/GFs might call acts of infidelity if they get to know. They dont care about if their decisions will have any bearings on friends/family. But then why give stress on heart which already has so much to take care of.

Just for the record this blog is not about infidelity or anything related to that.

Point I am pondering upon is how one can just keep sentiments on one side and go with your mind. But then that is easy said than done. For some folks (like me) emotions play a huge part in the decisions they make. But I have seen emotional folks getting a beating from folks who know how to curb their sentiments.

Guess this question & debate will go on. I better get back to what my mind telling me right now. For a change heart's idea is easy to ignore here.....

Agony & Pain

Almost one year has passed since the unforgettable & hideous act of terrorism in Mumbai. Image still so fresh in mind, fear still so palpable. How I was so scared to go out and feel safe.
What has changed in last 1 year? New issues, new politics, and over all time.
But has that really healed the pain or just subsided it?
By chance I happened to see this TV program on same yesterday and as soon as I saw the visuals of baby Moshe, Major Unikrishanan's dad and many others who lost their dear ones, something inside me also died. Tears started rolling out on its own looking at those visuals.
Many random thoughts started arguing with each other.
What kind of mindset you need to have to kill so many innocent people without even knowing the religion, color of skin, language they speak?
What do you tell a kid who lost both of the parents?
What does an old father do on loosing the only son?
What about the psyche of person who survived this? Is not it scarred for life?
What did I do as I know that none of my friends/relatives were affected by this?
What really made those killing machines to even think of doing such things?
Many more such thoughts. Might be Politics of some superpower is affecting a person sipping coffee in the hotel lounge. Could be suffering of an innocent made another one to become a crusader of holy war....

But what really has changed over the last year? Nothing really. Some new Kasab will be thinking of doing the same again. Some new Major Unikrishanan would be ready to defend his country against such an act. And I honestly pray and hope, no new Baby Moshe looses his parents for this.

I know this world is not going to change and many more such events will happen in future as well. I might continue to be busy with my own life and issues.
Politics will go on and so is life.

Love for humanity, love for mankind. Amen....

Wisdom

Another birthday & 1 more year gone out of life.
Pessimistic view of life? for sure, yes that is.
Lets look at this differently. Another year of Wisdom attained. What say.....
What is wisdom? Some new experiences and learning form those. Is that it?
But what about the unforeseen future... At times its scary... at times life looks beautiful.
People tend to get so busy with life that they don't even see what today has in store for them leave aside future....
One blink and life can change forever. But does that mean, don't think about future? No, certainly not.
Uncertainty is itself which spices up the whole thing. So looking forward to another year of challenges and unexpected turns & twists....
Someone said: Life is short & so much to do.... So go on Tiger, conquer the world...
Amen....

Corners

Diversity is good. Diversity is bad. Who knows?
Convergence for sure is something which is based on divergence.....
Someone said once that India is a country of Ironies. Did not get this point that time.
Now having lived in 4 corners of India, I know what it was and how convergence is just something divergence gives birth to...
How people from different corners of a country react to life & its surprises...
How they live in a place which is not their area of comfort.
Northerners will think of themselves very highly. Being one of them I know how it goes around. Everything is discarded as of low value in front of their high-headed thinking (at times proud). Easterners often feel hurt at kind of ignorance others have for them. Having someone very close to me from that area, I know how these folks are some of the best when it comes to open-minded & open-heart souls. Southerners for very valid reasons think very highly of their culture. Educated but at times conservative in thinking. Nice folks who will give you harmless advice.
Westerners are some of the innocent at heart folks I have seen.

Coming to convergence which for sure drives its very existence from diversity of these 4 corners.
For very same reasons you have 1 shape which has 4 corners. Otherwise it would have been just 1 dot in place.