US congressmen would be going to school to learn 'bout constitution soon per constitution 101. The reason being, politicians do not understand constitution. Do we all agree that it's only applicable to US? It would be a sheer lie if we say Yes. Knowing a constitution is definitely not a requirement for becoming a politician, is it?
Being an auditor, a thought immediately came across what if we put a preventive control in place? After all, selecting a bad person and then trying to educate him/ her doesn't make a sane sense. I mean to say what if all inspiring politicians have to pass an examination on their knowledge about constitution of India or probably a psychometric test for finding out what's going on inside their politico mind?
The test at the bare minimum would ensure that all politicians are educated but would also let us know what kind of leader we are selecting. After all there has to be an interview and selection process before any organisation starts paying you money.
Besides an exam, there has to be some more controls (some of them may be rationalized later):
1. The results should be monitored by an independent private agency. That agency may be an MNC where FCPA like regulations play a big role in governance.
2. The results should be made known to public so that smart decision can be made (at least in the urban areas).
3. If possible, their KRAs should be set and they should be appraised like every normal working human being. Misbehaving politicians should be sacked. Please see some of the videos here for refreshing the memories:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXvw0Jtjfk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI2p4xWWioo
4. If possible, English language should be given due importance cos if globalization is a food for any nation, English is its mouth. For fun, see this video which i saw recently through FB (although from our neighbors)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNvV3VqHjw0
These thoughts may be naive and not sure if something like this is possible, but still thought of committing my thoughts in a post for remembrance. =) May be something better would happen in future. Amen!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Everything sells!
An year back MTV premiered a useless (i can say it after watching two seasons of it) TV programme called "Jersey Shore", which soon became The most rated show in MTV's history. If you've been fortunate enough not to have heared about it or seen it, then let me throw some light on the subject.
It's a reality show, where 8 Italian-American "unknown & practically unemployed" youngsters - Four men and Four women (claiming to be in their 20s) are living their life under 24*7 camera surveillance. To be distinguished from Bigg Boss or Big Brother, they are allowed to go out of the apartment, interact with public and do whatever (literally!) they want to do.
All of them work during day (on rotational basis) and party at night without fail. As it is shown, the only purpose of their life is to:
1. Find an opposite sex partner and bring him/ her back to the apartment (or crib as they call it) for hook-up
2. Gym and Tanning (freaked about tanning, to the extent of getting skin cancer) for boys
Besides these two activities, there is a third most common activity is 'house-hold barney. That's it. Period.
All crew members use extremely high quality abusive language all the time (bare minimum Four letter word in a sentence). Thus, the show is able to add few new words/ phrases to the American english. Some of them are (filtered out):
All the erstwhile ''unknown and unemployed" crew member now earns minimum $ 30 grand per episode. Not to mention, they've been invited almost daily at premier pubs/ bars and night club for appearance - huge money. Each of the member has earned millions of dollars in a year. Like celebrities, some of them have introduced clothing and cosmetics brands, have got ad contracts, have been hired by another TV shows.
To top it all, the Jersey Shore crew appeared in Barbara Walters show (ABC TV) as one among the most fascinated people in US. Even the crew was highly surprised! :-\
But the wise people of US continue to say that this is not what a youth of US is all about. However the reality is quite bitter. Unfortunately, the youth wants all the fun (probably a relief from saddening and darkest recession in US history).
The show had a successful season 2 at Miami beach, although the name of the show remains Jersey Shore. A point to highlight for season 2 - principles and values remain the same so nothing has changed from season 1. It's still a big hit. With all this great news, MTV is all set to begin the Season 3. Believe it or not, Jersey shore has managed to get registered in the history of US television.
Caution: This show can be highly addicted! :)
It's a reality show, where 8 Italian-American "unknown & practically unemployed" youngsters - Four men and Four women (claiming to be in their 20s) are living their life under 24*7 camera surveillance. To be distinguished from Bigg Boss or Big Brother, they are allowed to go out of the apartment, interact with public and do whatever (literally!) they want to do.
All of them work during day (on rotational basis) and party at night without fail. As it is shown, the only purpose of their life is to:
1. Find an opposite sex partner and bring him/ her back to the apartment (or crib as they call it) for hook-up
2. Gym and Tanning (freaked about tanning, to the extent of getting skin cancer) for boys
Besides these two activities, there is a third most common activity is 'house-hold barney. That's it. Period.
All crew members use extremely high quality abusive language all the time (bare minimum Four letter word in a sentence). Thus, the show is able to add few new words/ phrases to the American english. Some of them are (filtered out):
- Grenade: Ugly woman
- Landmine: A good looking woman only until you find a woman prettier than her
- Smoosh: Hook-up
- Diarrhoea in the stomach: used for the one who cannot digest news (equivalent of pet me ghaddhe)
All the erstwhile ''unknown and unemployed" crew member now earns minimum $ 30 grand per episode. Not to mention, they've been invited almost daily at premier pubs/ bars and night club for appearance - huge money. Each of the member has earned millions of dollars in a year. Like celebrities, some of them have introduced clothing and cosmetics brands, have got ad contracts, have been hired by another TV shows.
To top it all, the Jersey Shore crew appeared in Barbara Walters show (ABC TV) as one among the most fascinated people in US. Even the crew was highly surprised! :-\
But the wise people of US continue to say that this is not what a youth of US is all about. However the reality is quite bitter. Unfortunately, the youth wants all the fun (probably a relief from saddening and darkest recession in US history).
The show had a successful season 2 at Miami beach, although the name of the show remains Jersey Shore. A point to highlight for season 2 - principles and values remain the same so nothing has changed from season 1. It's still a big hit. With all this great news, MTV is all set to begin the Season 3. Believe it or not, Jersey shore has managed to get registered in the history of US television.
Caution: This show can be highly addicted! :)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Being thankful and appreciative
This post is dedicated to all those people who are too busy in their life and have not given much attention to the family, friends, this beautiful world and life in it.
How a normal week day looks for all of us? I am trying to pen it down and we may all compare:
How a normal week day looks for all of us? I am trying to pen it down and we may all compare:
- Morning Ablutions
- Religious rites
- Breakfast
- Reach office after an hour in traffic, check emails and work for 10-12 hours (or do household chores/ errands)
- Have tea/ coffee, lunch and snacks
- Mental pressure for perfoming well and getting increment/ promotions (it's always there in the subconscious! - Hard-coded)
- Do some miscellaneous activities (Play, gossip or stroll during breaks)
- Spend an hour or 2 hours in traffic before reaching home
- Have dinner and watch some TV/ news
- Doze off
And it's pretty much the same for all week days. We all have more or less same plan for the weekend (movies, games, TV shows/ news, internet, grocery, weekend trips?). Mostly, we get so focused in our lives and spend it like a racing horse with blinkers on. Honestly, how many of us feel jovial about reiterating these activities day in day out?
While all of these are important things to do for survival and earning bread, we should not forget to appreciate the treasures of life which God has given to us. One cannot be just happy by himself. We cannot ignore the environment in which we live. The happiness we get while we are appreciative and thankful to the people (friends, family, relative, society) around us, it's unfathomable. Most of such treasures (also rhyms with pleasures) we can find in our routine life:
- Always be thankful to the Lord for giving another beautiful day full of life
- Pray before you eat and give a warm hug to your mom or wife or any family member for cooking you meals (breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner). Be thankful to them and appreciate everything they cook from the bottom of your heart. It takes a lot of love, time, and patience to cook any food.
- If you cook yourself, be thankful to the Lord for giving your daily bread. Whenever you talk to your family member, tell them that you miss their hand made food.
- Love your mother-father a lot and EXPRESS it. Naturally, we all love our folks but mostly we fail to express it. Basic thing, one is always indebted to one's mother for what she went through in bringing you to this world (it's inexplainable unless one becomes a parent). And to father, for he kept you safe, cared the most and provided means to the family. And to both your mother and father for bringing you up and making you capable of earning bread and butter.
- Make a life-long friends and commit to be with them in thin and thick of life. Be thankful and appreciative of the support they provide, even the smallest ones. I am so thankful to all my colleagues and friends, who actively or passively helped me in my work and life.
- Be kind and greet everyone - be it your neighbours, a newspaper vendor, a grocer, a relative, colleagues, your boss or a peon/ security guard at office.
- Don't forget to breathe in the hustle-bustle of life. Whenever get time, breathe deeply in the open air. I am sure, you'll be thankful to the Lord for the joy you'll get.
- Talk to your family members/ relatives and listen to them. We mostly tend to ignore them, their needs and their expectations.
- Spend no time in talking bad about people. It a sheer loss of time and energy - absolute zero gain!
- Talk through the problems with family or friends. Find a mentor or confidant. Care to share, it will solve many issues.
- Give time to yourself. Have your lonely time and go for a walk.
- Appreciate what you have (things or the living)
- Whenever possible, find time to seek the truth, the power which is running this world. Pursue it. Sooner or later, every one has to invest some time in this area.
Each one of us may find happiness in different things. I am sure some of the above-mentioned are already part of our daily life but it's just a matter of consistency and expression. Some of these constitute our social life. Once we give time to it, our work-social life balance will automatically come. The balance will bring happiness. Both self-happiness and happiness in the environment (family, friends, relative and society) we live. With happiness comes every other thing including contented life.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Pacman - The pride of Philippines
I never felt so much excited about boxing match ever until i saw a recent match between a filipino boxer Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao and mexican boxer Antonio Margarito. You would find that this post is more about Manny (AKA Pacman/ Mexicutioner) and little about Margarito. It's partly because of my attachment with Philippines and partly for the kind of "player" manny is.
The match is announced and here comes Margarito surrounded by his coach and other fellas, moving on the ramp with gladiator looks. Then follows manny and astonishing to notice,
1. He comes smiling on the ramp, passing on his hi and hello to everyone. Who's seen a boxer like this? I never did. And, the commentator announces "He is such a nice man outside the ring but inside he is something else".
2. The moment he gets inside the ring, you would know that he is a devout catholic (being a filipino). He will offer his prayers at his corner and you can see him making "holy cross" sign many times during breaks. Surely, he remembers His grace and power. Common to see that devotion to God goes when riches come.
3. Manny is pretty small (5.6") against margarito (5.11") and lighter by 17 pounds. it's implied that Margarito definitely has better reach and heavier punches.
4. The first few rounds, it's going okay like a normal match and all of a sudden, i saw manny moving at the speed of light and hits margarito right at the bottom of right eye and the stream of blood comes right though. This was the first time Margarito took a back step. All through round 4 or 5, margarito was so stubborn and he was moving forward and forward so the he can take manny to the ropes or corner him for taking a whack at him. Because in an open space, it's almost impossible to get hand at manny, he moves like a jumping jack.
5. I don't know how but manny can hit several jabs within a second (seems like a challenge to rajnikanth) ;)
6. But Margarito is too stubborn to give up, he kept on moving forward and tried to knock-out manny. I totally appreciate his courage. It's scary if a tall and heavy man keeps on moving forward like a robot even though bleeding profusely. There can be a Knock-out at any point of time.
7. Margarito's eye is almost getting closed. Then like a god's own man, Manny asked referee to check if he is doing okay. Who does that? Only a gentleman!
8. Such a gentleman ...but only for a moment, he's been dodging margarito's jabs and hitting him in every possible nano-seconds. I never thought that a small man can do so much damage to a big guy. Margarito stood and faced all jabs until round 12 and manny was declared the winner. Manny managed to win without a scratch on the face (except little flossy blood in the teeth). But no one would notice it when he is smiling mollar-wide. He is the only boxer in the history to win 10 world championships in 8 different weight categories. Amazing, isn't it? Not even Muhammad Ali did it.
There was also an interview on the TV, where a old person (skipped the name) who arranged several fights for Muhammad Ali and he proclaimed that Manny is a better boxer than Muhammad Ali. When asked why, he explained that Muhammad Ali is a one hand man, but Manny can hit with both hands with same force. I wonder if our school books will have a chapter on Manny Pacquiao just like one on Muhammed Ali.
One of the news correspondent asked manny how much did he make when he had his first fight. He answered 100 pesos (appx INR 100). Then he asked how much he earns now, with no hesitation (like a lamb of God) he said "Millions" and laughed. I never heard any celebrity being so open about the money or compensation.
The catholic chuch in Philippines changed the mass timings because of the match. You would not find anyone on the philippines road/ streets during the match. Entire population is glued to TV, wherever they find place. Besides the pristine beaches in Philippines, they have manny to be proud about.
The match is announced and here comes Margarito surrounded by his coach and other fellas, moving on the ramp with gladiator looks. Then follows manny and astonishing to notice,
1. He comes smiling on the ramp, passing on his hi and hello to everyone. Who's seen a boxer like this? I never did. And, the commentator announces "He is such a nice man outside the ring but inside he is something else".
2. The moment he gets inside the ring, you would know that he is a devout catholic (being a filipino). He will offer his prayers at his corner and you can see him making "holy cross" sign many times during breaks. Surely, he remembers His grace and power. Common to see that devotion to God goes when riches come.
3. Manny is pretty small (5.6") against margarito (5.11") and lighter by 17 pounds. it's implied that Margarito definitely has better reach and heavier punches.
4. The first few rounds, it's going okay like a normal match and all of a sudden, i saw manny moving at the speed of light and hits margarito right at the bottom of right eye and the stream of blood comes right though. This was the first time Margarito took a back step. All through round 4 or 5, margarito was so stubborn and he was moving forward and forward so the he can take manny to the ropes or corner him for taking a whack at him. Because in an open space, it's almost impossible to get hand at manny, he moves like a jumping jack.
5. I don't know how but manny can hit several jabs within a second (seems like a challenge to rajnikanth) ;)
6. But Margarito is too stubborn to give up, he kept on moving forward and tried to knock-out manny. I totally appreciate his courage. It's scary if a tall and heavy man keeps on moving forward like a robot even though bleeding profusely. There can be a Knock-out at any point of time.
7. Margarito's eye is almost getting closed. Then like a god's own man, Manny asked referee to check if he is doing okay. Who does that? Only a gentleman!
8. Such a gentleman ...but only for a moment, he's been dodging margarito's jabs and hitting him in every possible nano-seconds. I never thought that a small man can do so much damage to a big guy. Margarito stood and faced all jabs until round 12 and manny was declared the winner. Manny managed to win without a scratch on the face (except little flossy blood in the teeth). But no one would notice it when he is smiling mollar-wide. He is the only boxer in the history to win 10 world championships in 8 different weight categories. Amazing, isn't it? Not even Muhammad Ali did it.
There was also an interview on the TV, where a old person (skipped the name) who arranged several fights for Muhammad Ali and he proclaimed that Manny is a better boxer than Muhammad Ali. When asked why, he explained that Muhammad Ali is a one hand man, but Manny can hit with both hands with same force. I wonder if our school books will have a chapter on Manny Pacquiao just like one on Muhammed Ali.
One of the news correspondent asked manny how much did he make when he had his first fight. He answered 100 pesos (appx INR 100). Then he asked how much he earns now, with no hesitation (like a lamb of God) he said "Millions" and laughed. I never heard any celebrity being so open about the money or compensation.
The catholic chuch in Philippines changed the mass timings because of the match. You would not find anyone on the philippines road/ streets during the match. Entire population is glued to TV, wherever they find place. Besides the pristine beaches in Philippines, they have manny to be proud about.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Go developing, go semi-automatic or go manual!
After spending most of my time in India and almost a year in US of A now, i again dared to do a comparison of few means that create jobs in India. Although most of them are of a lower class of the community and may represent small section in a developed country yet they are a source of employment. They provide means to the millions of families in India. It's not that there are poor people only in India, there is a poor class in every big and developed country. Few of the things noted:
1. All gas stations (petrol pumps) are only manned by one person, who is running the Grocery shop at the petrol pump (AM-PM stores, in & out, etc). There is no other person at a petrol pump to fill the petrol in car or check the air-pressure in tyres. A petrol pump in India at a minium employs 20 people, however less the wages may be but atleast there is a job. I am sure no corporate/ lala company will employ a person if there is no work.
2. There are huge shopping/ grocery malls all over America but there'll not be any sales person to help you out. There may be ONE but you have to find him/ her first in the countless aisles of big mall
3. Most of the domestic call centers will have a machine asking questions and providing answers. There will be no option to talk to an executive. Why would you do that? (I think being an Indian i find it extemely exasperating to pronounce words containing alphabets "T" "P" "B" 10 times before the machine understands it) ;)
4. There is almost no public transport in most of the cities. Why it's the only country where there is no good network of buses/ trains/ trams? Why these roads were created only for cars/ trucks? Public transport is success everywhere, not everyone wants to spend money on buying cars, fuel and insurance. A good public transport is a win-win for people and government.
5. Two men can lay a gas pipeline or repair a road or relocate you from one corner of the country to another or any other work under the blue sky. Both are supermen! It's not a bad thing after all, but they deserve a rest, don't they? :)
6. I asked a doctor that why her staff can't inform us when she is not on time and patients have to wait. She said we have limited staff. There are two receptionist at the medical center but it's not in their job to inform patients. Hire more people - create jobs, everyone knows doctors have lot of money!
7. Multi-tasking is alien to most of people here. You cannot ask a person to do additional work, when asked, it may imply that you are asking that person to either come early or go late or are willing to pay more. I think everyone knows why did jobs move outside US long time back.
8. Stop making pre-fabricated wooden houses. They just can't bear any windstorm and are prone to fire too. So much of damage happens every year/ season. Brick and mortar houses will generate more employment opportunities for mason and labourers and are more sturdy.
Seems like most of the low level jobs were eliminated in a process to become efficient. We may call it Job rationalization (from control rationalization =)). There are all kind of people in every nation (rich, poor, educated, illiterate, sick or handicapped), a better decision should be made by both country and corporates. I hope India doesn't elimiate all these jobs one day, just to be known as Developed nation. Actually, all first world nations should know from this recession/ bad time that there is nothing called developed nation. It's developing every day, every moment.
1. All gas stations (petrol pumps) are only manned by one person, who is running the Grocery shop at the petrol pump (AM-PM stores, in & out, etc). There is no other person at a petrol pump to fill the petrol in car or check the air-pressure in tyres. A petrol pump in India at a minium employs 20 people, however less the wages may be but atleast there is a job. I am sure no corporate/ lala company will employ a person if there is no work.
2. There are huge shopping/ grocery malls all over America but there'll not be any sales person to help you out. There may be ONE but you have to find him/ her first in the countless aisles of big mall
3. Most of the domestic call centers will have a machine asking questions and providing answers. There will be no option to talk to an executive. Why would you do that? (I think being an Indian i find it extemely exasperating to pronounce words containing alphabets "T" "P" "B" 10 times before the machine understands it) ;)
4. There is almost no public transport in most of the cities. Why it's the only country where there is no good network of buses/ trains/ trams? Why these roads were created only for cars/ trucks? Public transport is success everywhere, not everyone wants to spend money on buying cars, fuel and insurance. A good public transport is a win-win for people and government.
5. Two men can lay a gas pipeline or repair a road or relocate you from one corner of the country to another or any other work under the blue sky. Both are supermen! It's not a bad thing after all, but they deserve a rest, don't they? :)
6. I asked a doctor that why her staff can't inform us when she is not on time and patients have to wait. She said we have limited staff. There are two receptionist at the medical center but it's not in their job to inform patients. Hire more people - create jobs, everyone knows doctors have lot of money!
7. Multi-tasking is alien to most of people here. You cannot ask a person to do additional work, when asked, it may imply that you are asking that person to either come early or go late or are willing to pay more. I think everyone knows why did jobs move outside US long time back.
8. Stop making pre-fabricated wooden houses. They just can't bear any windstorm and are prone to fire too. So much of damage happens every year/ season. Brick and mortar houses will generate more employment opportunities for mason and labourers and are more sturdy.
Seems like most of the low level jobs were eliminated in a process to become efficient. We may call it Job rationalization (from control rationalization =)). There are all kind of people in every nation (rich, poor, educated, illiterate, sick or handicapped), a better decision should be made by both country and corporates. I hope India doesn't elimiate all these jobs one day, just to be known as Developed nation. Actually, all first world nations should know from this recession/ bad time that there is nothing called developed nation. It's developing every day, every moment.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Failure of Technology!
Whenever i hear or see this term "Product Recall" it gives me a fright. If we look back, there have always been product recalls but not as many as in past few years. If we are going technologically advance day by day, then it makes me think why more products are being recalled by companies almost from alll manufacturing segments.
All the big computer hardware manufactures must have recalled laptop batteries atleast once in last 5 years. It was a big concern until Toyota came up with a sticky gas pedal. Everyone knows it brought a huge negative goodwill to Toyota. People in US are making fun of people who think of buying a toyota today. They say the only risk of buying Toyota is the "risk of being killed in an accident" soon. People always take others opinion when buying an asset and who would buy a product if the opinion is going to be like that. People and government left no stone unturned in brutally murdering the image of a non-US giant.
Recently McDonald's recalled its promotional "Shreak forever after" mugs due to risk of potential poisoning from its paint, Kellogg's recalled its few million breakfast products, Johnson & Johnson recalled its medicines and there are so many other companies whose products are being recalled and they go unnoticed in the world market. Probably, because they are US companies.
But the issue is not about degrading countries or their products. The issue is much bigger. I would call these recalls a failure in a non-compromising preventative control. How can there be a failure in checking the quality of a product before a product leaves the company? Although its good for the consumer that there are strict regulatory agencies and faulty products are being taken out of the market as and when identified yet there are consumers who run the risk of their life by consuming or using these below-standard products in all good faith. A big corporate should not forget that a huge segment does consume their products thinking that they are paying for the promised quality. Paying compensation for the damage is not a solution at all. Life once lost cannot be recuperated by any amount
Good for western world that there are agencies and they take detective/ correction actions if the faulty product idenfied. Come to think about a country like India where tens of thousands of companies are making and selling their products to 1.3 billion Indians. As far as my knowledge goes i have not yet heard a single recall. There are people who die in India and the cause of death is never identified. I am not sure if both preventive (internal quality checks) and detective controls (external agencies) are working effectively in India. But we definitely need awareness about our rights in India and there has to be a system devoted to the nation and its people. Most of such instances are brought to light in West because people exercise their rights without hesitation and a life is considered precious.
Whether in India or abroad, there is a definitely a need for stricter regulations and checks before a product is dispatched for consumption/ usage. There should be zero compromise on this aspect. With the workforce, infrastructure, facilities and technology available today, it is very much possible to plug this loophole completely.
All the big computer hardware manufactures must have recalled laptop batteries atleast once in last 5 years. It was a big concern until Toyota came up with a sticky gas pedal. Everyone knows it brought a huge negative goodwill to Toyota. People in US are making fun of people who think of buying a toyota today. They say the only risk of buying Toyota is the "risk of being killed in an accident" soon. People always take others opinion when buying an asset and who would buy a product if the opinion is going to be like that. People and government left no stone unturned in brutally murdering the image of a non-US giant.
Recently McDonald's recalled its promotional "Shreak forever after" mugs due to risk of potential poisoning from its paint, Kellogg's recalled its few million breakfast products, Johnson & Johnson recalled its medicines and there are so many other companies whose products are being recalled and they go unnoticed in the world market. Probably, because they are US companies.
But the issue is not about degrading countries or their products. The issue is much bigger. I would call these recalls a failure in a non-compromising preventative control. How can there be a failure in checking the quality of a product before a product leaves the company? Although its good for the consumer that there are strict regulatory agencies and faulty products are being taken out of the market as and when identified yet there are consumers who run the risk of their life by consuming or using these below-standard products in all good faith. A big corporate should not forget that a huge segment does consume their products thinking that they are paying for the promised quality. Paying compensation for the damage is not a solution at all. Life once lost cannot be recuperated by any amount
Good for western world that there are agencies and they take detective/ correction actions if the faulty product idenfied. Come to think about a country like India where tens of thousands of companies are making and selling their products to 1.3 billion Indians. As far as my knowledge goes i have not yet heard a single recall. There are people who die in India and the cause of death is never identified. I am not sure if both preventive (internal quality checks) and detective controls (external agencies) are working effectively in India. But we definitely need awareness about our rights in India and there has to be a system devoted to the nation and its people. Most of such instances are brought to light in West because people exercise their rights without hesitation and a life is considered precious.
Whether in India or abroad, there is a definitely a need for stricter regulations and checks before a product is dispatched for consumption/ usage. There should be zero compromise on this aspect. With the workforce, infrastructure, facilities and technology available today, it is very much possible to plug this loophole completely.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Oye Amrika!!
This thought came up from my experiences in India and abroad and also from various stories i have heard and seen.
Right from the time Indian gains conscience after birth, we are influenced by Western world, negatively or positively. There are various things, which play important role in building our strong desire to go to US. The skin color plays an interesting role in our awareness of the world. In olden time, we used to be very excited about finding a foreigner in the streets/ market and entire "mohalla" would be out on the road for having one glance at the gora. I have seen Indians in great pride when a gora is walking with them. More than a decade ago from my memories, some of my friends used to go to "Palika Bazaar"/ Purani Dilli just to catch some time with stranger gori mem so that they can polish their english language skills.
Some portion of Indian movies have always been shot outside India, so they play an important role in building our desire to go abroad. With a huge population base and great democracy (people having right to abuse anything or everything), and less of tall buildings, beautiful landscape, clean roads, nice-cars, beautiful french houses, we're always attracted to West courtesy Indian movies.
Above all, every firangi is tranditionally being considered rich in India, either because they flew to India by hawaai jahaj or because one dollar is sum of lots of Rupees. So it is said if you go to Amrika, no one in the world can stop you to become krorepati within a year or couple of year.
Oh by the way, all gori chamdi is said to be amrikan and all kali chamdi is afrikan. We (Indians) have adopted a macro-level view here.
All things are more or less same in India today as well.
Some of the facts which i found are in Amrika are eye-opener and are expressed here (they may be different for illigal immigrants):
1. Here you need a good credit score if you want your basic necessities, unless you are a cash rich person (which is unlikely the case if you are here for money). For establishing a credit score, you need to have a credit card for buying your daily necessities, loan liabilities and successful track record of payment.
2. No bank will give you a credit card, the moment you land in Amrika. Even if you show them your million dollar appointment letter. You need a corporate sponsor.
3. Be ready to pay huge deposits for everything you want to buy until you have a good credit score. Without credit - If you need a post-paid phone, deposit 500 dollars. Rental deposits are very low here for normal person but with no credit, deposit is a month's rent.
4. There are four kinds of non-avoidable taxes one has to pay every month (Federal, State, Social Security and one another), which almost leave you with 65% of the promised figure. The hack-saw doesn't end here.
5. One cannot afford to fall ill in Amerika without having an insurance. No it is not allowed unless you have your own money-making machine. If the cost of treatment is high, one cannot expect cost of insurance to be low or moderate.
6. Everything is very expensive here, thanks to the US economy which is running on the products which are manufactured either through machines or outside US. They may be cheaper to Amrikans but not to an Indian, who immidiately converts every dollar to INR. Everything where Amrikans are involved in the production (labor intensive), don't even dream that their prices will be low. Here man is valued more than machines. Top of all, Indians have special food needs, dare to imagine cheaper Indian stuff in US.
7. There are one million vendors of each product you want to buy, and are trying to sell one billion products. It's extra transparent but mostly gets convoluted in confusion.
8. If you are living on rent, you have to take renter's insurance for your guests/ neighbours/ side-walkers. If due to your mistake anything happens to them, you can be in big time law-suit/ soup. Without this insurance, no apartment complex will give a house on rent.
9. There are more numbers of lawyers in Amrika than anywhere else in the world, and there is nothing you cannot sue upon. It is even possible to sue God here. The TV channels are full of advertisements displaying for what all things you can sue whom. The lawyers will fight for you without fees, they'll just take their commission from the claim money. I was surprised to see an advertisement where you can sue IRS (Internal Revenue Service) if you have a huge tax
demand but cannot pay. I like that sometimes, but mostly i dread.
10. There is no life without a Television and there are no free channels. You have to shell out money if you want your TV to work else it's just a box. You cannot just survive with a small TV, because most of the programs/ news channels are designed for minimum 32 inch TV (some may be for bigger size). If you are trying to watch these channels on the small TV, a portion will be cut. You cannot read the full text of news/ advertisements.
11. Dare not to dream without internet. Lots of things are cheaper on the website than on the store. Not to say it comes with extra cost.
12. Cannot do without a car unless you are in NYC or couple of other places.
The list will never end. Considering all these, it's a challenge everyday in US. Things are pretty much sad here and makes me think the best place for an Indian is India and no where else. It's not that tough back home though. Home Sweet Home!
Right from the time Indian gains conscience after birth, we are influenced by Western world, negatively or positively. There are various things, which play important role in building our strong desire to go to US. The skin color plays an interesting role in our awareness of the world. In olden time, we used to be very excited about finding a foreigner in the streets/ market and entire "mohalla" would be out on the road for having one glance at the gora. I have seen Indians in great pride when a gora is walking with them. More than a decade ago from my memories, some of my friends used to go to "Palika Bazaar"/ Purani Dilli just to catch some time with stranger gori mem so that they can polish their english language skills.
Some portion of Indian movies have always been shot outside India, so they play an important role in building our desire to go abroad. With a huge population base and great democracy (people having right to abuse anything or everything), and less of tall buildings, beautiful landscape, clean roads, nice-cars, beautiful french houses, we're always attracted to West courtesy Indian movies.
Above all, every firangi is tranditionally being considered rich in India, either because they flew to India by hawaai jahaj or because one dollar is sum of lots of Rupees. So it is said if you go to Amrika, no one in the world can stop you to become krorepati within a year or couple of year.
Oh by the way, all gori chamdi is said to be amrikan and all kali chamdi is afrikan. We (Indians) have adopted a macro-level view here.
All things are more or less same in India today as well.
Some of the facts which i found are in Amrika are eye-opener and are expressed here (they may be different for illigal immigrants):
1. Here you need a good credit score if you want your basic necessities, unless you are a cash rich person (which is unlikely the case if you are here for money). For establishing a credit score, you need to have a credit card for buying your daily necessities, loan liabilities and successful track record of payment.
2. No bank will give you a credit card, the moment you land in Amrika. Even if you show them your million dollar appointment letter. You need a corporate sponsor.
3. Be ready to pay huge deposits for everything you want to buy until you have a good credit score. Without credit - If you need a post-paid phone, deposit 500 dollars. Rental deposits are very low here for normal person but with no credit, deposit is a month's rent.
4. There are four kinds of non-avoidable taxes one has to pay every month (Federal, State, Social Security and one another), which almost leave you with 65% of the promised figure. The hack-saw doesn't end here.
5. One cannot afford to fall ill in Amerika without having an insurance. No it is not allowed unless you have your own money-making machine. If the cost of treatment is high, one cannot expect cost of insurance to be low or moderate.
6. Everything is very expensive here, thanks to the US economy which is running on the products which are manufactured either through machines or outside US. They may be cheaper to Amrikans but not to an Indian, who immidiately converts every dollar to INR. Everything where Amrikans are involved in the production (labor intensive), don't even dream that their prices will be low. Here man is valued more than machines. Top of all, Indians have special food needs, dare to imagine cheaper Indian stuff in US.
7. There are one million vendors of each product you want to buy, and are trying to sell one billion products. It's extra transparent but mostly gets convoluted in confusion.
8. If you are living on rent, you have to take renter's insurance for your guests/ neighbours/ side-walkers. If due to your mistake anything happens to them, you can be in big time law-suit/ soup. Without this insurance, no apartment complex will give a house on rent.
9. There are more numbers of lawyers in Amrika than anywhere else in the world, and there is nothing you cannot sue upon. It is even possible to sue God here. The TV channels are full of advertisements displaying for what all things you can sue whom. The lawyers will fight for you without fees, they'll just take their commission from the claim money. I was surprised to see an advertisement where you can sue IRS (Internal Revenue Service) if you have a huge tax
demand but cannot pay. I like that sometimes, but mostly i dread.
10. There is no life without a Television and there are no free channels. You have to shell out money if you want your TV to work else it's just a box. You cannot just survive with a small TV, because most of the programs/ news channels are designed for minimum 32 inch TV (some may be for bigger size). If you are trying to watch these channels on the small TV, a portion will be cut. You cannot read the full text of news/ advertisements.
11. Dare not to dream without internet. Lots of things are cheaper on the website than on the store. Not to say it comes with extra cost.
12. Cannot do without a car unless you are in NYC or couple of other places.
The list will never end. Considering all these, it's a challenge everyday in US. Things are pretty much sad here and makes me think the best place for an Indian is India and no where else. It's not that tough back home though. Home Sweet Home!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
One Father and One Way
The world was already a prison and we made it more complicated by creating a maze inside it. A Jantar-Mantar, biggest in the Universe.
I believe all would agree that We all are sons or daughters of the one and only God, we all belong to him. He is our spiritual father. If Father and children are no longer together, the reason for that is "at some point of time, we're sinful" so He went away from us. And, everyone who comes to this earth is mortal. We have been given limited time (age) to wash our sins and return to the father. It is said that those who go back to the Father, they get everlasting life, they never return. Because the kingdom of God is beyond the realm of life and death. So, if we exist in this earth today, that means we were never with the father. Those who do not believe in re-birth, think once again - over & over again.
The generation which exists today have been circling around in this mortal world (life and death race), we just die and come back in the form of either human or animal or bird or insect or a tree or anything which is created by God (based on how we lived our last life). By saying this, i do not want to say there is no way to go back. We'll talk about it in some other posts (I still have to collect relevant verses from scriptures).
If we are not with our father, wherever we are (Earth or Hell or elsewhere) - I'll call it a prison, where i cannot meet or see or hear my spiritual father. In this prison, we are subject to the atrocities of age, environment, relations and death. There cannot be constant peace and happiness in this world.
But when He sent us to this earth, we got involved in the worldly pleasures. We can all can see the change we are bringing to the world (Huge towers, aeroplanes, computers, various machines, etc). We are eating away the natural resources every second of the day. God did not go way from us so that we can do wonders on the land. It was a punishment. In the book of Genesis, God said to Adam that "Now you will have to stretch your hands to pluck the fruit from the tree of life". By stretching He meant that we'll have to do some "labour". But coming to earth, We fell prey to the senses and the mind and we kept on drifting away from Him. But some of us did or do remember our relationship with the God. God is described as a source of light, sound and a supreme soul in all the religious books. He has no form, no name. He always sends his pure soul in the form of a human, who can talk to us at our level, who can show us the way back home and who can take care of us. And, i am not talking about "after-death" care. The path to God-realization has to be found when we are alive. There is no guarantee what will happen after-death.
From time to time, he sent Rama, Krishna, Jesus, Muhammed Pagamber, Guru Nanak, etc. to take care us. They assured then-existing people about God realization and showed them the way. They were sent to take care of their alloted souls only, not the entire-populatoin which existed at that point of time or those who will take birth in future. None of them ever proclaimed that, through them the entire world would be saved. They did their tasks and went back. They cannot help us today wherever they are. But we sill are worshiping those people and hope to get salvation through them. Do we think, His alive representatives do not exist today? Do we think, that our Father is so unkind that he no more wants to take care of good souls?
Neither of the representative every said that He/ She is a God. However, what they said is "We are the way, you must pass through us". Today, we cannot pass through Rama, Krishna or Jesus, they are one with God now. It only meant that we need a live person to show us/ guide us through the way to God. Since we do not find any more saint around us, within our religion and we have not seen God, so after they die we created idols of His representative and started worshipping them as God. This was never the intent of God or His representatives. He is formless. The negative power does not want us to pray the right way so it is involving us in all the ungodly things. And, we as of today are just following what it says. It makes us do all the ungodly things through our mind. Our mind is devil's advocate,it has made everything so convoluted, while some say it is leading us to development, most of us will realize some day that it is leading us to "Destruction".
We do not want to go beyond the walls, we have created within this prison. We care more about the walls than the humans. 24X7 we are involved in the maintenance of the walls. If someone tries to put a nail on the wall, we'll not hesitate to put a nail on one's head. Something like this, we did with Jesus, sikh gurus and there'll be many examples in the history. But, what are these walls made of? These walls are made of our religious beliefs.
If we believe in One Father, He only created one way to reach Him. He did not create separate way for Hindus, one for Christian, another for Muslims or any other for that matter. He did not create a shorter route for one region over other. He has no preference for any religion. Because it's not He who created religions, it's us. Since our mind always resorts to the easy way of doing things, we created a convenient way of reaching father by worshipping Him in idols and following some man-made rituals. It is not that easy, somebody said, the path to God is very strait and path to evil is broad. Following words resonate in my mind - "Ek aag ka dariya hai, aur doob ke jana hai".
We live in the Karma-bhumi today, in english we can translate it as "Land of actions". Although each one of us has come with a destiny but our action decides what our future would be. If we decide to do all good in the world, however bad our destiny is written - we can change it. This is the power of God, which He gave us when he sent us away. He's one kind father, who sent us away but kept the secret to return home inside us. Only the true representative, who has come from the father - can show us the way to get back to Him. Christ said "Those who seek, they shall find it".
Focus more on our actions and give some time to finding the true representative of God, who can show us the way back home. And, ask for his grace.
I believe all would agree that We all are sons or daughters of the one and only God, we all belong to him. He is our spiritual father. If Father and children are no longer together, the reason for that is "at some point of time, we're sinful" so He went away from us. And, everyone who comes to this earth is mortal. We have been given limited time (age) to wash our sins and return to the father. It is said that those who go back to the Father, they get everlasting life, they never return. Because the kingdom of God is beyond the realm of life and death. So, if we exist in this earth today, that means we were never with the father. Those who do not believe in re-birth, think once again - over & over again.
The generation which exists today have been circling around in this mortal world (life and death race), we just die and come back in the form of either human or animal or bird or insect or a tree or anything which is created by God (based on how we lived our last life). By saying this, i do not want to say there is no way to go back. We'll talk about it in some other posts (I still have to collect relevant verses from scriptures).
If we are not with our father, wherever we are (Earth or Hell or elsewhere) - I'll call it a prison, where i cannot meet or see or hear my spiritual father. In this prison, we are subject to the atrocities of age, environment, relations and death. There cannot be constant peace and happiness in this world.
But when He sent us to this earth, we got involved in the worldly pleasures. We can all can see the change we are bringing to the world (Huge towers, aeroplanes, computers, various machines, etc). We are eating away the natural resources every second of the day. God did not go way from us so that we can do wonders on the land. It was a punishment. In the book of Genesis, God said to Adam that "Now you will have to stretch your hands to pluck the fruit from the tree of life". By stretching He meant that we'll have to do some "labour". But coming to earth, We fell prey to the senses and the mind and we kept on drifting away from Him. But some of us did or do remember our relationship with the God. God is described as a source of light, sound and a supreme soul in all the religious books. He has no form, no name. He always sends his pure soul in the form of a human, who can talk to us at our level, who can show us the way back home and who can take care of us. And, i am not talking about "after-death" care. The path to God-realization has to be found when we are alive. There is no guarantee what will happen after-death.
From time to time, he sent Rama, Krishna, Jesus, Muhammed Pagamber, Guru Nanak, etc. to take care us. They assured then-existing people about God realization and showed them the way. They were sent to take care of their alloted souls only, not the entire-populatoin which existed at that point of time or those who will take birth in future. None of them ever proclaimed that, through them the entire world would be saved. They did their tasks and went back. They cannot help us today wherever they are. But we sill are worshiping those people and hope to get salvation through them. Do we think, His alive representatives do not exist today? Do we think, that our Father is so unkind that he no more wants to take care of good souls?
Neither of the representative every said that He/ She is a God. However, what they said is "We are the way, you must pass through us". Today, we cannot pass through Rama, Krishna or Jesus, they are one with God now. It only meant that we need a live person to show us/ guide us through the way to God. Since we do not find any more saint around us, within our religion and we have not seen God, so after they die we created idols of His representative and started worshipping them as God. This was never the intent of God or His representatives. He is formless. The negative power does not want us to pray the right way so it is involving us in all the ungodly things. And, we as of today are just following what it says. It makes us do all the ungodly things through our mind. Our mind is devil's advocate,it has made everything so convoluted, while some say it is leading us to development, most of us will realize some day that it is leading us to "Destruction".
We do not want to go beyond the walls, we have created within this prison. We care more about the walls than the humans. 24X7 we are involved in the maintenance of the walls. If someone tries to put a nail on the wall, we'll not hesitate to put a nail on one's head. Something like this, we did with Jesus, sikh gurus and there'll be many examples in the history. But, what are these walls made of? These walls are made of our religious beliefs.
If we believe in One Father, He only created one way to reach Him. He did not create separate way for Hindus, one for Christian, another for Muslims or any other for that matter. He did not create a shorter route for one region over other. He has no preference for any religion. Because it's not He who created religions, it's us. Since our mind always resorts to the easy way of doing things, we created a convenient way of reaching father by worshipping Him in idols and following some man-made rituals. It is not that easy, somebody said, the path to God is very strait and path to evil is broad. Following words resonate in my mind - "Ek aag ka dariya hai, aur doob ke jana hai".
We live in the Karma-bhumi today, in english we can translate it as "Land of actions". Although each one of us has come with a destiny but our action decides what our future would be. If we decide to do all good in the world, however bad our destiny is written - we can change it. This is the power of God, which He gave us when he sent us away. He's one kind father, who sent us away but kept the secret to return home inside us. Only the true representative, who has come from the father - can show us the way to get back to Him. Christ said "Those who seek, they shall find it".
Focus more on our actions and give some time to finding the true representative of God, who can show us the way back home. And, ask for his grace.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Where art thou?
“Where art thou?”! If some of you are not aware, as per the book of Genesis in the Old Testament this is the first question which God asked Adam (the first man) when he committed the FIRST sin. The sin was disobeying God’s commandment by plucking a fruit from the tree for the knowledge of good and bad. Do we ever wonder, why did God ask this question for He being omniscient and ubiquitous? He knew exactly where Adam and Eve were and what they did. He gave Adam the hint that by not keeping His commandment, you are at the place where even God is not able to see you. The soul became sinful. And, even a single sin is not acceptable in the kingdom of God so He threw the first man & the first lady out. Do we know how sinful we are today, if one sin was so enough to send Adam and Eve away then can we go ever back to the father?
In Bible you would find at various places God appeared to people/ prophets and had given them commandments, direction and guidance. But why did he stop appearing or talking to people now? Isn’t He the same kind God? He still is asking the same question but instead of one sin, our soul is laden with multitudes of sin. It’s buried under the bad karmas. It cannot hear the voice of God anymore.
How do we get back to the father? How do we find the fruit from tree of life? Can we be sinless when we are alive and be sure of going back to the father after we die? All these are questions, most of the world never try to work on. This is something all of us just leave at God’s disposal. We just hope that all our sins would be washed by the merciful lord after we die.
Do we ever think why he did not forgive Adam and Eve’s only sin? When soul is sinful, it’s not in His hand my friend. We all are applying our mind in achieving worldly milestones but very few are applying it in spiritual way. It’s very selfish of us if we leave everything to God. Bible says, Seek and you shall find it. Ask and it shall be given to you. Knock and the door shall be open. Are we seeking? Are we asking? Are we knocking? Are we putting in any efforts to realize God? Let’s find out the tree of life and be able to hear Father’s voice. Let’s all make a resolution to put in right efforts so that we regain our one-to-one relationship with the Father.
In Bible you would find at various places God appeared to people/ prophets and had given them commandments, direction and guidance. But why did he stop appearing or talking to people now? Isn’t He the same kind God? He still is asking the same question but instead of one sin, our soul is laden with multitudes of sin. It’s buried under the bad karmas. It cannot hear the voice of God anymore.
How do we get back to the father? How do we find the fruit from tree of life? Can we be sinless when we are alive and be sure of going back to the father after we die? All these are questions, most of the world never try to work on. This is something all of us just leave at God’s disposal. We just hope that all our sins would be washed by the merciful lord after we die.
Do we ever think why he did not forgive Adam and Eve’s only sin? When soul is sinful, it’s not in His hand my friend. We all are applying our mind in achieving worldly milestones but very few are applying it in spiritual way. It’s very selfish of us if we leave everything to God. Bible says, Seek and you shall find it. Ask and it shall be given to you. Knock and the door shall be open. Are we seeking? Are we asking? Are we knocking? Are we putting in any efforts to realize God? Let’s find out the tree of life and be able to hear Father’s voice. Let’s all make a resolution to put in right efforts so that we regain our one-to-one relationship with the Father.
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