Wednesday, September 30, 2009

தேவை: ஒரு புத்தக அலமாரி

எனக்கு ஒரு சௌகரியமான, அழகானதொரு புத்தக அலமாரி தேவை. இடத்தை அடைக்க கூடாது; நவீனமாக இருக்க வேண்டும். இந்த தேடல் ஒரு இனிமையான அனுபவமாக இருக்கிறது. ஒரு சிறுகதைக்கான அழகான கரு இருக்கிறது. காத்திருங்கள்!



I am in search of a bookshelf - a comfortable, an elegant one. It should not occupy space, it should be modern. The search of itself is a great experience. This makes a theme for a short story. Stay tuned!

Unnai Pol Oruvan: Reflections

This is not a movie review - but reflections after watching Unnai Pol Oruvan movie.



The movie is all about common man's anger on why terrorism cannot be handled in the right way.



All the criminals, corrupts spend endless days in the jails which is not really a punishment. Jail life is just a restriction from the public life. But they still have access to everything. They control the world they want to conquer.



Our laws are very weak that it takes a revolution to change the system. Some stories say that Haiti is the no.1 corrupt country. We dont know what is the measurement system but there is nothing small and big in corruption.



There was a news a couple of days back that a brave lady killed a militant. But these are not everyday happenings. Like terrorism should be handled with terrorism, the corrupt also should be treated with zero-tolerance.



There should be no escape for anybody who is corrupt. Do not keep them in jail. They should be treated with same feel for terrorists.



The movie just made me think on these lines. But this will not provoke anybody to action.

Breaking away habits



There are two strong habits that I got rid of recently. One is Coffee and another checking my horoscope.



How bad are these habits?

Well, I was a coffee addict. All my days started with a bed coffee. I nicknamed it as my starter fuel. But too much of coffee brought in a lot of negative things - I was highly dependent on coffee. I easily get head ache when I missed the coffee break. I had a temporary energy probably. Too much of coffee affected my sleeping patterns.



Reading horoscope on the newspaper was a daily habit. My eyes would automatically go to the 'daily horoscope' section in the Bangalore Times. I took a lot of proud as a Leo and was 'cross-checking' if things are happening according to the universal law. Its all my mental association to what was published to what would happen that day.



How did I break them?

Simple,

I replaced coffee with Green Tea.

I stopped reading horoscopes.



How easy was that?

I developed a great love for Green Tea. There are a lot of benefits in drinking Green Tea. (This blog was created when I was a Coffee Lover, hence G Coffee. But now I am a Green Tea fan, this template has a Green Tea theme!)



I frequented Nilgiris dept stores where I get various flavors of Green Tea: Mint, Lemon, Ginger, Hibiscus. Because of its inherent bitterness, nobody would steal my Green Tea.



I just skipped the horoscope sections whenever I come across.



Now, its few weeks gone, I am free from those binding habits.

Salary Issues & Strikes



Salary issues and strikes are becoming a common thing in India now. 3500 government doctors have served notice to the govt as the latter failed to meet their demands. Similarly, Air India pilots are on strike protesting the salary cut. On one side, Govt. is failing to improve the standards of the society and its serving community. On the other side, the employees also compare themselves with the high standard lives of MNC's.



There is a huge difference on how doctors charge their services. For example, Dr.Bhatt whom I visit for general cold, fever treatments charge just Rs.30. If I go to any other hospitals like Diwakars, Rajasekar, they easily charge Rs.150. The same kind of treatment but different charges - almost 5 times higher. Why did not the government regularize it? We also have come across many gentlemen who treat the patients for almost nothing. I am looking out for those articles in rediff that came in the past. My neighbour's father has given free service for poor in the past. My friend's father has been doing it in Gulbarga. There are also doctors who studied in govt scholarships but serving the global hospitals. Govt doctors also have established their own clinics and charge more due to peer pressure.



In the case of AI / Jet Airways / KingFishers - the companies would keep their employees in a sophisticated environment when financially things are fine. Otherwise, they go even upto 70% salary cut or workforce reduction.



A company is a marriage between the employee and employees. There should be a fabric of devotion and sacrifice, and sincerity in that relationship. If the relationship is only that of commercial, the 'marriage' fails.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Essence of Holidays


I am just wondering what holidays are meant for? Every Indian gets hand full of holidays to take rest / relax or spend time with the family. But what are we attributing the holidays to? Something else? - traditional celebrations , sudden death of a leader like YSR (from another state), national bandh, heavy rain.

Is that we need a break that we dont get otherwise?

My colleagues spent the last weekend at Pondycherry. I was also invited with my friend booking me 2(!) KPN tickets on each direction. Due to personal commitments, I had to cancel them. My family friend in the apartment also planning for a trip this weekend. Unfortunately, the beach resort and hotels in town were completely booked owing to the long weekend. All these bookings (blockings) have been done 3 weeks back.

People certainly need break.

Will moving from 5-days work schedule to 4 day create more job opportunities? And also reduce pressure on an individual?

Quality of consumable milk



We really dont know the quality of consumable milk that is available in our cities. Selling them in the easily-tamperable packets, puts us and our families under risk.



Also, the TV advt watchers should by by now aware that the milk shown is actually white paint to lure the imagination of the audience.