Self-sufficiency vs Interdependence

There are several weddings around the corner. Each couple seems like the best in town. So curious George started wondering "Is the need for each other keeps relationships going?" or being self-sufficient? Some of us wouldn't like others to be very dependent on us. This dependency is not just about materialistic things, but emotional dependency as well. For example, they need someone else to help them through an emotionally difficult situation. It can range anywhere between building confidence for a project/presentation to coping with a loss of friend etc. The situation may not always sound difficult to both the parties. Maybe we'd enjoy it in the initial days as a bonding process. But over time we scoff at them for not being able to manage things on their own. On the other hand if two people are self-sufficient as individuals, as a couple will they compete with each other? or are they more compatible and it's pure magical love which binds them together? (Now there can be different interpretations to the word "love")

Another question comes to mind - Is it true that marriage completes an individual? For example, a reserved guy ends up having a talkative wife. But does that also mean that if a person is really good, he/she ends up getting a wicked person as the other half? ... now that sounds unfair!!!

AID Candle light Vigil - ACTION REQUIRED

AID (Association for development of India - http://aidindia.org/main/ )is a non-profit organization which supports grassroots organizations in India and initiates efforts in various interconnected spheres such as education, livelihoods, natural resources, health, women's empowerment and social justice.

We are looking for volunteers to help organize a mass Candle Light Vigil on October 2, 2007 or (on a weekend closest to that date)in their respective cities to support Indian farmers and agriculture. Our target is 50 cities. We already have 40 cities participating in this event. You can look up the participating cities on http://agri.aidindia.org/node/12. We'd appreciate if people from other cities also can join us in our efforts. You DO NOT have to be an AID member to organize or participate in this event. ALL ARE WELCOME!

Interested? You can find more information on http://agri.aidindia.org/node/20 , http://agri.aidindia.org/node/14

Murder or Suicide?

After the bombs in Hyderabad, we all might have talked about the fear of terrorist attacks and unsafe home one more time. This was followed by the collapse of an under-construction flyover due to heavy rains. It speaks about the quality of construction and lack of any social responsibility on part of the contractors, officials, builders and others involved. Each one of them might have conveniently pocketed a part of the budget and hence the quality suffered. There might also have been design issues. Probably a not so qualified engineer or contractor might have bribed the officials to get the project. It's not something that we haven't heard of in the past. Another thing that caught my interest was "Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, who visited the scene of accident, did not order inquiry into the mishap. When contacted, officials of the CMO said that he would hold a full-fledged review on Monday and take a decision on ordering probe." (source: Deccan Chronicle online edition). I smell something here and it's pretty obvious. Does someone need to think a lot to even order inquiry into this incident? In majority of the cases, the guilty never come to light and even if they did, they escape the punishment without much effort. And in this case the fact that they are even delaying the inquiry speaks volumes of the state of affairs.

It seems like more and more people believe that it's acceptable to do wrong if everybody else does the same. I wonder what's the thought process in their bone-heads. "Survival of the fittest, whether it's by hook or crook?" A man who's really nice to his friends and family doesn't mind doing it as it increases his social or financial status and it's all for the sake of the well-being of his kids. His son can afford the latest brands and his daughter can have a lavish wedding and Benz to go shopping. Doesn't it occur to him that she might get trapped under the same fly-over or get electrocuted because of some cheap quality electric wires that he might have set up earlier as part of another of those projects? Imagine this kind of thing being done in every sector and by each official or each one of us. It may not take long for our worst fears to come true.

So what can we do to prevent this? When I heard of the fly-over mishap, I thought of using RTI act (http://persmin.nic.in/RTI/WelcomeRTI.htm). But then the reality dawned on me. If they can fool the government about the cost of the materials used, then the same information would be provided to me. Even if I had the right information, I'm not a specialist to be able to evaluate the costs and quality of the materials. Suppose I could take help from other professionals and was able to find the facts, then what do I next? Seriously, how can I help?

No laws can prevent corruption. It's the people's mindset that has to change (and at some point we all might have participated in numerous debates over this and corruption). The people in power and the elite should set the trend of following rules. And each one of us should have the ethics, moral values and responsibility to "not misuse power or public resources, to not cheat an exam as a student, to acknowledge the source to avoid plagiarism, to not just pass by an accident or some corruption but take the responsibility of fighting it......". We need to have the courage and will-power to not do the wrong thing just because everybody else is doing the same. Also, take care of other people and nature like they are our own family. Do not ridicule others for their ignorance but share your knowledge. We cannot change the past or others. But we can surely make this a part of our personality and maybe pass it on to our kids and so on. Alright, I'll end my preaching here.

The truth remains that we don't need terrorists or insane people to destroy our nation or the world. A majority of us have the talent to do it to ourselves. It's just the trade off between "Is getting murdered better or suicide?"

Murphy's law

Why is it that you end up with multiple choices when you don't care or are totally not expecting something? Why is it that when you badly need something, everything seems to go wrong? So I thought I'll pretend I have no expectations from life hoping that'll fool the playful ghost or God or chance and will give me atleast one thing that I need. Multiple choices would be good but that'll only confuse me trying to choose between "what's best for me" and "what I want". Also, I don't want to be greedy. Do people know of any other strategies to counter the actions(or the lack of it) by the playful one?

The Magic Faraway tree

I came across a picture of the book (The Magic Faraway tree by Enid Blyton) the other day. The image brought back memories of the happy times I had as a kid reading this book and others (Famous five, The Five Find-Outers and Dog, Chandama, Tinkle). It used to be such fun imagining the characters, their adventures, all the goodies that they get to eat (yummy :) ). Thanks to orkut for bringing back sweet memories of friends, videos, books and other things, which I once loved as a kid but which were forgotten over time! And thanks to all the people who introduced me to these wonderful books! No movie, no ride in any amusement park can get me as excited, happy, peaceful and wise too (all at the same instant) as a good book does .

My life needs a rewind and erase button
-Calvin

My life needs a rewind and replay button
-Karts

Action Required!

I was on my way home from the AID weekly meeting. My dad reminded me to buy some vegetable seeds which my uncle can try out back in India. The topic moved onto how it's getting difficult to cultivate crops or find any farm help as people are migrating to the cities or getting used to easy money through the various schemes (funded by the Indian government) which were actually meant to make them independent and self-sufficient. Since there are no workers, there's not much cultivation and people are increasingly becoming dependent on the farm produce that come in from other places. It's a shame that this is the case for vegetables or other food materials that were originally produced locally. We thought about alternative ways such as frozen food but it needs continuous supply of electricity(which may not happen in our villages anytime soon) and we've already tried ways through which we can make them want to stay back in their hometowns (like offering quality education to their kids etc). It doesn't seem to be working - people are trying to hoard as much money as they can by misusing the funds now and they fail to see the long term benefits for the future generations. It may not seem like a big problem at present but few years from now we may all have crisp notes but no food to buy with them. I have to stop here as I don't have the facts in numbers to substantiate this ranting. I have a vague understanding of the cause of the problem (based on only the information spread through word of mouth). But I believe that the effect of the problem is not favorable to anyone if proper action is not taken at the right time(which is now!!!) I've always day-dreamed about doing some idealistic stuff like starting a school for the underprivileged, becoming a jeevan-saathi in an NGO ... blah blah and chickened out soon after I thought about all the comforts I have to leave behind. This time, I believe I can do something with the few resources I have. But I need the facts. I know I have to talk to the people first in order to understand the cause of the problem. But here I am several thousands of miles away from the place that I am concerned about. Despite such advances in technology, I'm unsure as to how I can communicate with the common man at the root-level. Where and how do I begin? All the smart, practical, environmental conscious people out there.. please help me find the facts and some feasible solutions...

Raga Lahari

I was watching a telugu movie "Swathi Kiranam" - A Ray of talent. The story is about an egoistic music teacher who is jealous of the extraordinary talent of his disciple. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swathi_Kiranam), (http://www.dishant.com/album/Swathi-Kiranam.html). Naturally music is an integral part of the story. When I was a kid one of my bed-time stories was about how Tansen(court musician of Emperor Akbar) could light a lamp with his music(raga Deepak) etc. The music in this movie may not be as good as Tansen's, but it would surely light up one's soul. One has to hear "Aanati neeyara", "Pranathi Pranathi" atleast once to know what I am talking about. Such rich lyrics and tunes - one song(Pranathi Pranathi) in two different ragas(tunes). The warmth of the early dawn, high energy and exuberance of the morning light, the binding radiance of noon rays, gradual receding of the glow during dusk seem to be embodied in the music(Quoting Srinivas Kanchibhotla). Kudos to K.V Mahadevan! Truly, music is divine!

(Sigh! I don't have the voice to do justice to these songs but thankfully my auditory processing is good )