In a recent move, IIM Calcutta and Ahmedabad have hiked their fee for the two-year postgraduate management programme (PGP) by Rs. one lakh, reports the Business Standard. This raises fees to Rs. three lakh per student this year with a proposed increase to Rs. four lakh per student from 2009, and there are plans to further increase fee structures. With this change, the two schools are likely to have sparked off a trend among the other premier business schools of their fraternity, with several management aspirants in the country required to shell out the additional amount. This raises the concern that quality education in our country could become a privelege only of the affluent. This, in a system that already possesses absurd competition for admission. Seventy five percent of the seats are of general category, where almost 195,000 students compete for less than 1200 seats through the CAT based open competition method. IIM Ahmedabad is cited as a business school that is possibly one of most difficult to get into in the world and IIM Bangalore has an applicant acceptance to its postgraduate programme of as low as 0.2%.
This latest fee hike comes at a time when many Ivy League colleges in the US have recently increased their financial aid to middle class families. For example, Brown University announced that families earning less than $60,000 annually would have to contribute nothing towards a Brown education whereas families of incomes lesser than $100,000 would receive aid packages, entirely free of loans. And families earning more than $100,000 would receive aid in the form of loans but at highly reduced amounts. Brown has followed in the steps of Stanford that announced its drive to step up financial aid to middle class families last week, as did Harvard and Yale last year. This initiative takes shape despite these institutions having endowment funds of more than $1 billion each.
As of 2007, US embassies recorded an all time high of over 80,000 students leaving Indian shores to US for higher studies. It makes one wonder about the future of India with a chunk of the country’s brains leaving to contribute in another. But then again, when a world-class education is available for much less, or at least with much more aid to make it possible, along with hassle free procedures, can you blame those who leave? In view of these events, perhaps the IIMs should review their move. It might be difficult to retain a reputation of being a group of some of the best business schools in the world when a large number of prospective students find academic acceptance and financial assistance elsewhere.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Thank you Mr. Hosseini
Last night I turned the last page of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
During the three days that I spent reading it, I was transported to war torn Kabul, I was a silent spectator to Tariq and Laila's love story and I so desperately wanted to reach out to Mariam for all that she goes through. No matter what I write in this space, it will never do justice to the book. I can go on for pages as to how fantastic I thought it was, but you really have to read it, experience it, to understand. Khaled Hosseini is a brilliant writer. In simple language that you and I use every day, he tells a story of epic proportions. He reminds you to be grateful that you live in a country where you don't have to worry about rockets whizzing past your ear, threatening to blow off a limb or consume loved ones in its fiery path. It makes you grateful to be able to crawl into bed at night and sleep in peace without fear that someone much stronger than you might just snuff the life out of you, while you lie wrapped in slumber. You count your blessings for your body not having to undergo brutal torture at the hands of a person whose eyes sparkle with perverse joy in watching the metal clasp of a belt buckle get embedded and entangled in your skin, before coming loose, leaving a mass of mangled flesh at the point of contact, having caused injury and blood to gush forth from more than just your physical form. And your heart goes out to the characters - to Laila for having to live a lie for so many years, to Aziza for being deprived of a father's love for so long, to Tariq, most definitely to Mariam and Nana and a mix of anger and sympathy to Jalil. Here was a man who wanted to be a good father, but failed miserably, torn between moral obligation and societal embarassment. The story couldn't have ended any better. This was the first book that made me cry - actually cry. I had tears streaming down my cheeks as I went through parts of the text. I grew, I changed, I was inspired as I read this book. On the back of the paperback copy that I was reading, Glamour Magazine had written, 'Only the hardest of hearts could fail to be moved'. I'm most grateful to be alive from within.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
During the three days that I spent reading it, I was transported to war torn Kabul, I was a silent spectator to Tariq and Laila's love story and I so desperately wanted to reach out to Mariam for all that she goes through. No matter what I write in this space, it will never do justice to the book. I can go on for pages as to how fantastic I thought it was, but you really have to read it, experience it, to understand. Khaled Hosseini is a brilliant writer. In simple language that you and I use every day, he tells a story of epic proportions. He reminds you to be grateful that you live in a country where you don't have to worry about rockets whizzing past your ear, threatening to blow off a limb or consume loved ones in its fiery path. It makes you grateful to be able to crawl into bed at night and sleep in peace without fear that someone much stronger than you might just snuff the life out of you, while you lie wrapped in slumber. You count your blessings for your body not having to undergo brutal torture at the hands of a person whose eyes sparkle with perverse joy in watching the metal clasp of a belt buckle get embedded and entangled in your skin, before coming loose, leaving a mass of mangled flesh at the point of contact, having caused injury and blood to gush forth from more than just your physical form. And your heart goes out to the characters - to Laila for having to live a lie for so many years, to Aziza for being deprived of a father's love for so long, to Tariq, most definitely to Mariam and Nana and a mix of anger and sympathy to Jalil. Here was a man who wanted to be a good father, but failed miserably, torn between moral obligation and societal embarassment. The story couldn't have ended any better. This was the first book that made me cry - actually cry. I had tears streaming down my cheeks as I went through parts of the text. I grew, I changed, I was inspired as I read this book. On the back of the paperback copy that I was reading, Glamour Magazine had written, 'Only the hardest of hearts could fail to be moved'. I'm most grateful to be alive from within.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Unwedded bliss
Laws that govern live in relationships in India are fast changing.
The Supreme Court recently set a precedent granting a woman succession rights despite his legally-wedded wife being alive. The woman was awarded a succession certificate on the grounds that the children born out of the relationship were legitimate.
For a country that has long believed in the institution of marriage and have associated it with everything sacred, it seems that the legal system in our country is moving towards a more tolerant mode of functioning deeming couples that have lived together for several years as a husband and wife would be entitled to the same rights that married people enjoy being directed by only certain basic premises such as no one should dispute their union of being one of marriage.
So what brings about the change? The occurrence of more such arrangements in urban India? A change in mindset towards marriage itself? Or a drastic change in lifestyles that leaves little time to worry about who’s sleeping with who?
Perhaps it’s all these reasons more. But what really seems to be at play, or atleast what hopefully is the case, is that our judiciary is making a firm divide between the moral and legal aspect of its functioning. In a country that is so heavily determined by tradition and culture, the Indian public is gradually learning to separate morality from formal decisions – a subconscious tendency that has long been intricately woven into the nation’s social fabric.
Earlier, the legal wife garnered all the sympathy from the public, press and court, irrespective of what the circumstances were while the mistress was always seen as wrong in every sense of the term – rubbish that needed to be rid off at the earliest.
However, now the trend seems inclined towards ruling that it makes an infinite amount of sense for the partner who has spent her entire life sharing living space with a man and borne his children, who in society fulfills the role of a wife for all practical purposes be granted benefits from insurance policies and entitled to other such settlements as opposed to someone with whom nuptial rites have solely been exchanged.
Because it takes more than a piece of paper to create a marriage. And it seems that our country is finally realizing that.
The Supreme Court recently set a precedent granting a woman succession rights despite his legally-wedded wife being alive. The woman was awarded a succession certificate on the grounds that the children born out of the relationship were legitimate.
For a country that has long believed in the institution of marriage and have associated it with everything sacred, it seems that the legal system in our country is moving towards a more tolerant mode of functioning deeming couples that have lived together for several years as a husband and wife would be entitled to the same rights that married people enjoy being directed by only certain basic premises such as no one should dispute their union of being one of marriage.
So what brings about the change? The occurrence of more such arrangements in urban India? A change in mindset towards marriage itself? Or a drastic change in lifestyles that leaves little time to worry about who’s sleeping with who?
Perhaps it’s all these reasons more. But what really seems to be at play, or atleast what hopefully is the case, is that our judiciary is making a firm divide between the moral and legal aspect of its functioning. In a country that is so heavily determined by tradition and culture, the Indian public is gradually learning to separate morality from formal decisions – a subconscious tendency that has long been intricately woven into the nation’s social fabric.
Earlier, the legal wife garnered all the sympathy from the public, press and court, irrespective of what the circumstances were while the mistress was always seen as wrong in every sense of the term – rubbish that needed to be rid off at the earliest.
However, now the trend seems inclined towards ruling that it makes an infinite amount of sense for the partner who has spent her entire life sharing living space with a man and borne his children, who in society fulfills the role of a wife for all practical purposes be granted benefits from insurance policies and entitled to other such settlements as opposed to someone with whom nuptial rites have solely been exchanged.
Because it takes more than a piece of paper to create a marriage. And it seems that our country is finally realizing that.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Vroom boom dhoom!
Automobile engineers have been busy at the Tata factories. For the past four years, they have worked towards fulfilling a promise that chairman of the company, Ratan Tata, made to the Indian public – of manufacturing a car that costs only Rs. 1,00,000. This translates to approximately $2500 a unit, making it the world’s cheapest car.
Since its early January 2008 launch, the bite-sized Tata Nano has been making ripples across the world auto arena earning rave reviews at the Detroit Auto Show and of course closer home at the recent Delhi Auto Show, indisputably changing the way India will drive into the future.
Some fear that its affordability will spell a huge increase in vehicles that ply already heavily congested Indian roads. Others are concerned with its emission. Despite repeated assurances that the Nano will pollute no more than the average two-wheeler and that its safety standards are satisfactory, some eyebrows are still being raised skeptically, questioning the claims. And while the skepticism isn’t entirely out of context, let’s take a look at the changes that it already seems to have set rolling.
Taxi drivers in Mumbai and auto drivers in Bangalore are gearing up to trade in the vehicles that they’re using at present for the new Tata Nano. Talks are on to update their licenses and give their profession a facelift by switching to this ingenious mode of transport. Phones are ringing off the hook with customers calling the Tata offices asking about its expected release into the market. Management at Tata is already apprehensive of facing public anger if these no-frill dream machines do not roll out as expected by the end of this year.
What Ratan Tata and his team have done is gone where no other car manufacturer has gone before and thus brought the average Indian closer to a better living. By making a car that breaks all hitherto drafted cost logic, he has given a taxi driver in Mumbai and an auto driver in Bangalore the hope for a brighter future. This is at a time when most corporate houses are looking at maximizing profits by focussing on the moneyed elite in society. However, the idea for the Nano was borne out of Ratan Tata noticing that several multi-member families in India travelled on two-wheelers. So he pondered on the possibility of coming up with an alternative that would make for safer transport at approximately the same cost of a two-wheeler. It was from this stroke of brilliance that the Tata Nano was born and several families across the country are now flashing broad grins at the prospect of owning one soon. Ratan Tata has made their unsaid wish come true.
So while it may be true that our roads will soon see a sharp increase in traffic, that the fight for parking space will possibly worsen or that the star car will be no match for the particularly catastrophic potholes, this initiative is commendable on so many levels. Cornell-educated Ratan Tata bothered to look out the tinted windows of his luxury sedan while halted at a traffic light to notice that the five-member family next to him on a two-wheeler was defying gravity and staying on with a prayer. By dreaming of the Nano, he makes their weekly family outing less dangerous, and thus saves countless number of lives. Despite rising prices, he has succeeded in bringing out a car that costs no more than a lakh. Because in his own words, “A promise is a promise.”
For a man who will go down in automobile history, who has sparked an automobile revolution that the whole world is sitting up and taking notice of and for someone who is being termed the new Henry Ford, only one sentence seems befitting of his brainchild – that most things precious do come in small packages. And in this case, they don’t cost very much either!
Since its early January 2008 launch, the bite-sized Tata Nano has been making ripples across the world auto arena earning rave reviews at the Detroit Auto Show and of course closer home at the recent Delhi Auto Show, indisputably changing the way India will drive into the future.
Some fear that its affordability will spell a huge increase in vehicles that ply already heavily congested Indian roads. Others are concerned with its emission. Despite repeated assurances that the Nano will pollute no more than the average two-wheeler and that its safety standards are satisfactory, some eyebrows are still being raised skeptically, questioning the claims. And while the skepticism isn’t entirely out of context, let’s take a look at the changes that it already seems to have set rolling.
Taxi drivers in Mumbai and auto drivers in Bangalore are gearing up to trade in the vehicles that they’re using at present for the new Tata Nano. Talks are on to update their licenses and give their profession a facelift by switching to this ingenious mode of transport. Phones are ringing off the hook with customers calling the Tata offices asking about its expected release into the market. Management at Tata is already apprehensive of facing public anger if these no-frill dream machines do not roll out as expected by the end of this year.
What Ratan Tata and his team have done is gone where no other car manufacturer has gone before and thus brought the average Indian closer to a better living. By making a car that breaks all hitherto drafted cost logic, he has given a taxi driver in Mumbai and an auto driver in Bangalore the hope for a brighter future. This is at a time when most corporate houses are looking at maximizing profits by focussing on the moneyed elite in society. However, the idea for the Nano was borne out of Ratan Tata noticing that several multi-member families in India travelled on two-wheelers. So he pondered on the possibility of coming up with an alternative that would make for safer transport at approximately the same cost of a two-wheeler. It was from this stroke of brilliance that the Tata Nano was born and several families across the country are now flashing broad grins at the prospect of owning one soon. Ratan Tata has made their unsaid wish come true.
So while it may be true that our roads will soon see a sharp increase in traffic, that the fight for parking space will possibly worsen or that the star car will be no match for the particularly catastrophic potholes, this initiative is commendable on so many levels. Cornell-educated Ratan Tata bothered to look out the tinted windows of his luxury sedan while halted at a traffic light to notice that the five-member family next to him on a two-wheeler was defying gravity and staying on with a prayer. By dreaming of the Nano, he makes their weekly family outing less dangerous, and thus saves countless number of lives. Despite rising prices, he has succeeded in bringing out a car that costs no more than a lakh. Because in his own words, “A promise is a promise.”
For a man who will go down in automobile history, who has sparked an automobile revolution that the whole world is sitting up and taking notice of and for someone who is being termed the new Henry Ford, only one sentence seems befitting of his brainchild – that most things precious do come in small packages. And in this case, they don’t cost very much either!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Living With Differences
This was my entry to the Indian Express Citizens for Peace Essay Competition 2007. I was one of six finalists to be shortlisted among 326 from around India. The topic was Secularism - Living with Differences. The experience was great. The judges' panel included Indian filmmaker, Shyam Benegal.
It's very dark outside. Very still. Very quiet. A few birds have started chirping in the trees. Faintly. I'm lying awake in bed. Something made me stir a few moments ago. I've been up since. Somewhere in the distance I hear a sound. It isn't the chirping this time. The sound of a tiny bell has dispelled the silence. Prayers have begun at the nearby temple. In my mind's eye, I can see the 'pujariji' standing before an idol, bare-chested with a thread worn across his torso, clad only in a white dhoti, holding a decorated platter in one hand, and the tiny gold bell in the other. He is performing the morning's 'aarti' to an adorned deity. In a few minutes, thousand of devotees will throng to the temple. A large bell chimes once. The temple has received its first visitor of the day.
As if on cue, the muazzin sounds the morning prayer over a loudspeaker, placed high on a minaret adjoining an ivory mosque. The stillness has vanished. The two sounds merge. One, a small instrument without any lyrics and the other a musical recitation, sans any instrument. I can't hear church bells at the moment, but I'm sure they would make for a perfect accompaniment to this impromptu concerto to which I hadn't paid attention before. This symphony, which occurs every morning. This sonata, that knows no difference between the communities for which it is performing. This concerto that serves as a clarion call at the dawn of a brand new day. This harmony that drives away the darkness and welcomes the light.
There really isn't a country quite like India. In the past, we've been ruled by various Hindu dynasties, the Mughals and the British. Three entirely different groups with very different religious affiliations. Our present is a tapestry of a predominantly Hindu population, the second largest Muslim population in the world and religions such as Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism. It really doesn't get more diverse than this. In fact, India is the second most culturally, linguistically and genetically diverse geographical entity after the African continent. Our festivals are global news. People flock from around the world to soak in our culture. We're striving, we're thriving, we're growing. And ever since we gained independence and the world's lengthiest constitution was framed, we've been a secular nation. So then, what's happened to us?
Why did India witness an Ayodhya? Why did India see a Godhra? What were the Mumbai blasts about, 1993 and 2006? Over the past decade and a half, India's secular foundation has been rocked. Not destroyed, but undoubtedly threatened. Not fragmented, but fractured. Its secular spirit hasn't been extinguished but it has dimmed. A series of world events have scared us all – 9/11, 7/11, the blasts at Bali and Madrid. They've translated into serious repercussions within our own borders. They've made us wary of our own social structure – the one that we've lived as a part of all these years, and never questioned before. Our tolerance levels have dipped.
It is against this turbulent background that our challenge takes shape. It is in the face of this turmoil that the need to revive and redefine this country's secularism arises. It is this tumultuous atmosphere that is necessary to spur us on to create a secularism that can withstand bombardment from factors that attempt to disrupt the natural rhythm of this nation's pulse.
Secularism is a strange word. The connotations associated with it, of personal freedom, choices and limitless possibility, are so romantic that it's hard to accept wholeheartedly, at first encounter. For the majority, religion is such an intrinsic component of public life, especially in a country like India, that the convenient solution the word secularism offers seems born out of naiveté. Almost as though a child suggested it. Ironically, it is in these bursts of innocence quite often that lie the greatest lessons.
Those who believe that India is meant only for people of one particular faith, must be asked: What if the one billion plus of us were similar? Would it solve all our problems? Since most of our conflicts seem to arise from our differences, would all of us being alike take care of the issue? Frankly, the thought scares me. Because for me, India is all about its differences. I can't imagine an India that doesn't celebrate Christmas and Holi. Where khakhra and dhokhla is not available alongside idlys and vadas. We proudly point out that our Parsi Tatas and Gujarati Ambanis are recognized by the world. We revel in the fact that our women dressed in jeans and saris walk down the same streets with men dressed in dhotis and business suits. It's the stark contrasts, the diametrically opposite coexisting elements, the dissimilar entities that are violently held, side by side, by the love of the people of this land, that defines this country. Without its differences, India is not India. It loses its identity. It almost ceases to exist. Which reinforces the comforting conviction that it is unity, and not uniformity, that will help in driving out forces that seek to drive us apart.
We can't let them win. We won't stand for it. We were meant to live together. We're programmed to stay that way. Any other arrangement would be messing with nature. I couldn't imagine it any other way. I wouldn't want it any other way.
And therefore, it’s up to us to embrace another’s differences and imbibe from it that of which can enrich our souls. To be wary not of our neighbour and the faith that he practices but of the efforts that try to defile the duo’s sanctity. To be wary of a growing tension that will explode and consume us all if we don’t purge it from our society now.
It's now officially dawn and the faintest beams of sunlight are spreading across the sky. My neighbour across the street is already pouring large buckets of water down her driveway. She cleans the space as she has done for many years and will soon cover it in an intricate pattern of 'rangoli'. Her dainty fingers will pinch the white powder and transform it into an expert design on the ground – an art that she learnt from her mother who learnt from hers and will one day pass on to her daughter.
Eid was two weeks ago. We sent a steaming hot dish of biryani over to this neighbour's house, just as we do every year. I'm already looking forward to the next Ugadi when a tray will arrive from hers, laden with sugarcane, sugar candies and coconut. It's a tradition that we've engaged in ever since our houses have faced each other. A tradition we plan on continuing. A tradition we intend to pass on to our respective children one day.
Because that is the India we want the coming generations to enjoy. Because that is the future of India. Because that is what India is all about.
It's very dark outside. Very still. Very quiet. A few birds have started chirping in the trees. Faintly. I'm lying awake in bed. Something made me stir a few moments ago. I've been up since. Somewhere in the distance I hear a sound. It isn't the chirping this time. The sound of a tiny bell has dispelled the silence. Prayers have begun at the nearby temple. In my mind's eye, I can see the 'pujariji' standing before an idol, bare-chested with a thread worn across his torso, clad only in a white dhoti, holding a decorated platter in one hand, and the tiny gold bell in the other. He is performing the morning's 'aarti' to an adorned deity. In a few minutes, thousand of devotees will throng to the temple. A large bell chimes once. The temple has received its first visitor of the day.
As if on cue, the muazzin sounds the morning prayer over a loudspeaker, placed high on a minaret adjoining an ivory mosque. The stillness has vanished. The two sounds merge. One, a small instrument without any lyrics and the other a musical recitation, sans any instrument. I can't hear church bells at the moment, but I'm sure they would make for a perfect accompaniment to this impromptu concerto to which I hadn't paid attention before. This symphony, which occurs every morning. This sonata, that knows no difference between the communities for which it is performing. This concerto that serves as a clarion call at the dawn of a brand new day. This harmony that drives away the darkness and welcomes the light.
There really isn't a country quite like India. In the past, we've been ruled by various Hindu dynasties, the Mughals and the British. Three entirely different groups with very different religious affiliations. Our present is a tapestry of a predominantly Hindu population, the second largest Muslim population in the world and religions such as Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism. It really doesn't get more diverse than this. In fact, India is the second most culturally, linguistically and genetically diverse geographical entity after the African continent. Our festivals are global news. People flock from around the world to soak in our culture. We're striving, we're thriving, we're growing. And ever since we gained independence and the world's lengthiest constitution was framed, we've been a secular nation. So then, what's happened to us?
Why did India witness an Ayodhya? Why did India see a Godhra? What were the Mumbai blasts about, 1993 and 2006? Over the past decade and a half, India's secular foundation has been rocked. Not destroyed, but undoubtedly threatened. Not fragmented, but fractured. Its secular spirit hasn't been extinguished but it has dimmed. A series of world events have scared us all – 9/11, 7/11, the blasts at Bali and Madrid. They've translated into serious repercussions within our own borders. They've made us wary of our own social structure – the one that we've lived as a part of all these years, and never questioned before. Our tolerance levels have dipped.
It is against this turbulent background that our challenge takes shape. It is in the face of this turmoil that the need to revive and redefine this country's secularism arises. It is this tumultuous atmosphere that is necessary to spur us on to create a secularism that can withstand bombardment from factors that attempt to disrupt the natural rhythm of this nation's pulse.
Secularism is a strange word. The connotations associated with it, of personal freedom, choices and limitless possibility, are so romantic that it's hard to accept wholeheartedly, at first encounter. For the majority, religion is such an intrinsic component of public life, especially in a country like India, that the convenient solution the word secularism offers seems born out of naiveté. Almost as though a child suggested it. Ironically, it is in these bursts of innocence quite often that lie the greatest lessons.
Those who believe that India is meant only for people of one particular faith, must be asked: What if the one billion plus of us were similar? Would it solve all our problems? Since most of our conflicts seem to arise from our differences, would all of us being alike take care of the issue? Frankly, the thought scares me. Because for me, India is all about its differences. I can't imagine an India that doesn't celebrate Christmas and Holi. Where khakhra and dhokhla is not available alongside idlys and vadas. We proudly point out that our Parsi Tatas and Gujarati Ambanis are recognized by the world. We revel in the fact that our women dressed in jeans and saris walk down the same streets with men dressed in dhotis and business suits. It's the stark contrasts, the diametrically opposite coexisting elements, the dissimilar entities that are violently held, side by side, by the love of the people of this land, that defines this country. Without its differences, India is not India. It loses its identity. It almost ceases to exist. Which reinforces the comforting conviction that it is unity, and not uniformity, that will help in driving out forces that seek to drive us apart.
We can't let them win. We won't stand for it. We were meant to live together. We're programmed to stay that way. Any other arrangement would be messing with nature. I couldn't imagine it any other way. I wouldn't want it any other way.
And therefore, it’s up to us to embrace another’s differences and imbibe from it that of which can enrich our souls. To be wary not of our neighbour and the faith that he practices but of the efforts that try to defile the duo’s sanctity. To be wary of a growing tension that will explode and consume us all if we don’t purge it from our society now.
It's now officially dawn and the faintest beams of sunlight are spreading across the sky. My neighbour across the street is already pouring large buckets of water down her driveway. She cleans the space as she has done for many years and will soon cover it in an intricate pattern of 'rangoli'. Her dainty fingers will pinch the white powder and transform it into an expert design on the ground – an art that she learnt from her mother who learnt from hers and will one day pass on to her daughter.
Eid was two weeks ago. We sent a steaming hot dish of biryani over to this neighbour's house, just as we do every year. I'm already looking forward to the next Ugadi when a tray will arrive from hers, laden with sugarcane, sugar candies and coconut. It's a tradition that we've engaged in ever since our houses have faced each other. A tradition we plan on continuing. A tradition we intend to pass on to our respective children one day.
Because that is the India we want the coming generations to enjoy. Because that is the future of India. Because that is what India is all about.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Lights, Camera, Wedding
lights
very bright lights
laser lights
disco lights
camera
cameras
plasma screens
red
glittery clothes
flowers
expensive flowers
orchids
red carpets
guests
yellow
high heels
pedicured toes
bleached faces
threaded eyebrows
starightened hair
ironed hair
soft curls
tight curls
coloured hair
streaks
green
mehendhi
mehendhi on your hands
mehendhi on your forearms
mehendhi past your elbows
mehendhi on your feet
mehendhi till your ankles
menendhi up to your knees
blue
water fountains
chocolate fountains
gola stalls
pink
a stage
stage decorations
wedding gifts
jewellery
fabric
bridal dresses
congratulations
jubilations
fireworks
orange
cars
overseas holidays
hotel rooms
photographs
shopping
dance
music
food
gold
diamonds
money
So where are the bride and groom?
What happened to celebrating their union?
About sharing their love with family?
ummmm.....
Can you please repeat the question?
very bright lights
laser lights
disco lights
camera
cameras
plasma screens
red
glittery clothes
flowers
expensive flowers
orchids
red carpets
guests
yellow
high heels
pedicured toes
bleached faces
threaded eyebrows
starightened hair
ironed hair
soft curls
tight curls
coloured hair
streaks
green
mehendhi
mehendhi on your hands
mehendhi on your forearms
mehendhi past your elbows
mehendhi on your feet
mehendhi till your ankles
menendhi up to your knees
blue
water fountains
chocolate fountains
gola stalls
pink
a stage
stage decorations
wedding gifts
jewellery
fabric
bridal dresses
congratulations
jubilations
fireworks
orange
cars
overseas holidays
hotel rooms
photographs
shopping
dance
music
food
gold
diamonds
money
So where are the bride and groom?
What happened to celebrating their union?
About sharing their love with family?
ummmm.....
Can you please repeat the question?
Surprises in odd shaped packages
Shankar Ehsaan Loy have talent
Bollywood is shining
Aamir khan is pure magic
Taare Zameen Par
Bollywood is shining
Aamir khan is pure magic
Taare Zameen Par
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Lost in transition
This October, 17 members of the French charity organisation, 'Zoe's Ark' were charged with child abduction by the Chad government. They were accused of smuggling children from the country, citing that they were orphans of the Darfur conflict. According to the UN, virtually all of the children had been living with family members in villages.The aid group was working in the Abéché region of Chad - the base of operations for dozens of aid groups - to raise awareness of the crisis in Darfur and provide aid for children affected by it.
When a reader comes across a story such as this, they're divided between supporting the Chad government that claims the foreign aid group is interfering in matters that they don't need to and those who are disillusioned with the corrupt system existent in a country, that prevents them from providing the most vulnerable victims of turmoil with fast relief.
In a war-ravaged country, children are one of the first to suffer. Adults always have more survival options available to them. Children, dependent on others for even their basic requirements, often find themselves helpless in the face of adversity.
According to a survey by Berlin-based organization Transparency International in 2006, Chad ranks 156 among 163 countries, making it one of the most corrupt nations in the world. Therefore, processing of documentation that will allow the children to be legally taken out of the country and placed in a healthier environment would take time and there is always the possibility that it may never become a reality. Meanwhile, it's the children who bear the consequences of an unjust system that denies them essentials like nutritious food, clean water and hygienic sanitation facilities, not to mention more serious basics such a sprotection from violence, heinous crimes and most importantly, the right to life .
On the other hand, several cases have been reported in the past of perpetrators smuggling children into foreign countries, stating reasons of rehabilitation and adoption, and find themselves trapped in vile circumstances of debilitating exploitation such as human trafficking, physical and sexual abuse. From one bad situation to one that is worse.
The aid organization had claimed that the children were sick, hungry and abandoned, and had raised money from European families to rescue the children and place them temporarily in French homes. But checkups showed the children to be in good condition and well-fed in the context of Chad.
The majority of the children came from Chadian villages along the border with Sudan, but aid officials were not able to say if the children were Chadians or Sudanese. The long and porous border, and the violence in neighbouring Darfur, has pushed Sudanese and Chadian residents into each other's territory. This makes tracing the childrens' families difficult.
Until formalities are sorted out and paperwork processed, again it's the children who wait for someone to lead them back to a tumultous, and sometimes lost, childhood.
When a reader comes across a story such as this, they're divided between supporting the Chad government that claims the foreign aid group is interfering in matters that they don't need to and those who are disillusioned with the corrupt system existent in a country, that prevents them from providing the most vulnerable victims of turmoil with fast relief.
In a war-ravaged country, children are one of the first to suffer. Adults always have more survival options available to them. Children, dependent on others for even their basic requirements, often find themselves helpless in the face of adversity.
According to a survey by Berlin-based organization Transparency International in 2006, Chad ranks 156 among 163 countries, making it one of the most corrupt nations in the world. Therefore, processing of documentation that will allow the children to be legally taken out of the country and placed in a healthier environment would take time and there is always the possibility that it may never become a reality. Meanwhile, it's the children who bear the consequences of an unjust system that denies them essentials like nutritious food, clean water and hygienic sanitation facilities, not to mention more serious basics such a sprotection from violence, heinous crimes and most importantly, the right to life .
On the other hand, several cases have been reported in the past of perpetrators smuggling children into foreign countries, stating reasons of rehabilitation and adoption, and find themselves trapped in vile circumstances of debilitating exploitation such as human trafficking, physical and sexual abuse. From one bad situation to one that is worse.
The aid organization had claimed that the children were sick, hungry and abandoned, and had raised money from European families to rescue the children and place them temporarily in French homes. But checkups showed the children to be in good condition and well-fed in the context of Chad.
The majority of the children came from Chadian villages along the border with Sudan, but aid officials were not able to say if the children were Chadians or Sudanese. The long and porous border, and the violence in neighbouring Darfur, has pushed Sudanese and Chadian residents into each other's territory. This makes tracing the childrens' families difficult.
Until formalities are sorted out and paperwork processed, again it's the children who wait for someone to lead them back to a tumultous, and sometimes lost, childhood.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Black Sea - in name, in colour, in state
The recent oil spill, that poured over 5,55,000 gallons of fuel oil in to the Black Sea, has been termed as “one of the worst on record”. Go figure. 30,000 birds are feared dead. It's an understatement when I say that's a huge loss for the planet. One that we can't afford. Precious, irreplaceable wildlife has been wiped out causing a massive environmental disaster and a serious ecological imbalance. The weather – a violent storm, to be precise - was cited as the reason for the spill. However, the real cause remains official negligence that allowed the oil transport ships to ply even though they were using outdated and inadequate equipment. The havoc that the storm wreaked pales in comparison to the damage from the oil spill. We’re standing at the brink of the threat of losing the Black Sea itself. It disgusts me that such a catastrophe has occurred because of such a dismal cause; as a result of which we’ve all lost so much.
Corruption, negligence and red tapism have long plagued administration systems around the world. Various attempts are made to eliminate or at least reduce their impact. But the problems persist, raging through everything in their path, bulldozing them to dust. I get that there are a dozen factors beyond our control. Reasons no one can be blamed for. But it’s just unacceptable for such ‘accidents’ to occur simply because those responsible couldn’t be bothered enough.
Russian environmentalists say that it may take several years to clean up the mess from the oil spill, the problem being aggravated by the oil that is quickly sinking to the seabed. It could last there for generations, affecting anything that attempts to be borne of it. Russian prosecutors are to conduct a probe into this oil spill. But it may already be too late. Several feathered creatures have met an oily grave and been choked out of existence. We’ve lost plenty.
Corruption, negligence and red tapism have long plagued administration systems around the world. Various attempts are made to eliminate or at least reduce their impact. But the problems persist, raging through everything in their path, bulldozing them to dust. I get that there are a dozen factors beyond our control. Reasons no one can be blamed for. But it’s just unacceptable for such ‘accidents’ to occur simply because those responsible couldn’t be bothered enough.
Russian environmentalists say that it may take several years to clean up the mess from the oil spill, the problem being aggravated by the oil that is quickly sinking to the seabed. It could last there for generations, affecting anything that attempts to be borne of it. Russian prosecutors are to conduct a probe into this oil spill. But it may already be too late. Several feathered creatures have met an oily grave and been choked out of existence. We’ve lost plenty.
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