P R O S A I C

The growth that India is seeing…

2011-12-30T10:17:00.000-08:00

A Mercedes Benz is parked in front of a garbage pond.
And this (luxury car and/or the smelly heap) is one of the many you could see around anywhere in the city. Take a small tour – and you got it.

Has life in India improved?
Yes, there’s the Mercedes. But, No, there’s still garbage all around.
Maybe (a work-in-progress…)?

It’s not an easy question to answer – given the many dimensions.

From childbirth to romance – life in the nation has changed. And so have employment opportunities of the young to the medical facilities for the aged.
This has transformed not just the poor, but also the rich. And mind you, their definitions are different now.

I love driving my own car early on in my career – something my father managed to realize for himself only near to his retirement. My wife enjoys painting herself with Revlon; while my tiny daughter is busy munching on the caramel-rich Lindt.

Okay, I belong to the humble middle class of my country. And yeah, that Mercedes Benz is surely a dream for us.

Now, coming back to the garbage, it’s still a part of the everyday mundane lives today, as it was yesterday. Not sure about tomorrow, though. Hope not.

With India’s economy opening-up some 20 years back – meaning foreign organizations allowed to set-up shop – lot of money has poured in since. It has been a win-win run for both; the salesman from abroad together with the customer back home.
And in this rush to relish the fruits of money, something has gone amiss.

While life has improved exponentially at an individual level, it has significantly lagged behind for the broad public – something which we all also belong to.

Most of the advanced countries today have been through this phase in their past, sometime or the other. Guess, they didn’t borrow God’s magic wand to take that leap to the next level!

Probably, we are yet to start thinking about how it would feel to be an Indian standing before the whole world?
How to distinguish ourselves from among the multiple nation states on this earth?
Meaning, like the Americans are known for their entrepreneurship (they don’t fear risking), the British for their authority – having ruled the world for centuries, the Chinese for their labor and perseverance, the Japanese for their ‘robotic’ inclination towards cutting-edge technology, the French for their expression of Love, ..
What is our identity among the humanity?
Is it that something which will bind us together as an Indian?

Probably, the next few years will see the Indian heart-and-mind opening-up to the world at large.
And I guess to begin with, the international events organized on home soil, be it Formula 1, Cricket World Cup, Commonwealth Games – recent ones to name a few, would help shape that.

We have a lot to learn to grow.

I know I sound a bit preachy here, but just think about it.
Do you want to improve the lives of fellow countrymen (and women, for that matter) together with yourself?
How to do it beyond our self with compassion?
Will it ever happen?

Let’s find those answers. But more importantly, execute them beginning from the individual-level.
Hope to see that Mercedes Benz minus the garbage in our home soon.

Romance

2009-12-13T00:19:00.000-08:00

Romance is not something I identify myself easily with.
If it sounds like I’m killing all the fun; well, then let me explain.

They say Romance is a manifestation of Love.
It is Love that makes a boy gift a moist-petalled red rose to his girl while on his knees. Or, for that matter, a box of Rocher Ferrero; or even an Archies... to make her exclaim with joy.

I find it silly.
Probably, coz I belong to the more serious breed of humans.

I find myself very practical and realistic in matters of ‘Love’.

I believe Love is more about care. It’s not about the momentarily pleasant surprises; but, the happiness that lasts.

My girl would truly be happy when I share her load in the kitchen and household works; take our little kid to play in the park giving her some very valuable free time; let her decide on the travel itinerary we both long for; and above all, support in her shoppings.

Girls on their part have limited activity associated with Romance. On such occasions, they tend to talk their hearts out; which, I must confess, happens even otherwise!

Oh' I also gift her a bar of Lindt; help decide on her dress for the outing; pamper her with loads of garments (that were on sale); send SMS with my quirky ‘shayari’…; all this, but only once in a while.

Sometimes I feel I’m no different.
To realize, Romance is really one of the means of expressing Love. Just like taking care is.

I love the popular number from the Hindi movie ‘Sarfarosh’; sung by the legendary Jagjit Singh –
“Hoshwalon ko khabar kya, bekhudi kya cheez hai.
Ishq kije fir samajhiye, zindagi kya cheez hai..”

It is from the depths of the heart that passion emanates. And the mind, for all its varied realistic confinements, just plays along and conforms.
Be it in executing the most trivial activities pre-marriage; or, the more responsible sounding ones after.

I know I Love her deep inside.

Staying Alone

2009-02-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

I feel Happy to be free.
This is something which I had been yearning for quite some time.
For a change, I feel un-shackled. Though temporarily!

About an year ago, I was delighted on being congratulated for becoming a father. That day, when I first saw my newborn daughter, I felt surprised! Unlike the Bollywood teachings, she didn’t cry when I held her in my arms. In fact, her eyes were rolling and exploring the ‘new’ world around her. When inside her mother’s womb, I suspect all her eyes would have seen were a closed factory of organs. Outside, in the open world, she must have felt surprised (before I did) when suddenly the world around her lit-up.

But she did cry. Later. And she cried a lot.
She’d cry when hungry. Also when surrounded by my friends and relatives eager to catch another glimpse of her. And also, otherwise.

Little did we realize that for her, crying was talking.
This was her way of communicating with her mother and the rest.

My world changed as well.
In her initial days, she was content suckling her mother and dozing-off when her tummy was full. I had limited role except to keep my wife comfortable. To ensure that she took proper diet and that our infant’s routine requirements were regularly procured from the market and readily available in the house.

Slowly, the demands grew.
Firstly, my daughter started seeking more of both our attention. She’d need a 24-hour escort right by her side for her varied necessities – feeding, cleaning, playing, photographing, phoning parents for advice, … and all.
Secondly, as we all know, in a nuclear family the Home Minister looks after the HRD department as well. And an increase in headcount did lead to the shrinking of her free time.

To help maintain the balance, I started participating more in the homely duties.

As it turns out, there are a 100-things to be done at home, daily.
And the list only grows everyday.

Working in a private organization also does have its commitments. And at times, it simply overwhelms the schedule.

Luckily, we found a dependable housemaid. This did help offload some pressure from the extended household chores.

Today, my wife, with our little daughter, has gone to visit her far-away native. And for me, being alone at home is bliss.
After a long time, I found myself humming a song to me!

Mixed in this happiness is the un-mistakable longing for my family. Have I started missing them already?

Finnish mosquitoes

2006-08-29T04:13:00.000-07:00

by Jenni Liikanen
[She is a student in Keuruu, Finland]

FOOD

Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pasty)
These are a traditional Easters' speciality but nowadays they are served at many hotel breakfast buffets. They are made of rye dough n filled with rice porridge or potato. They are normally heated and served with chopped eggs and butter.

Mustamakkara
This food is related to a similar kind of pudding served in England and Ireland. It´s colour results from the blood that´s it´s main ingredient. It´s especially popular in Finland´s third biggest town, Tampere, where people buy it from kiosks at market places and eat it with their fingers!

Mämmi
This food looks perhaps the strangest and most off-putting to foreigners. It´s made from rye flour, malt and water, seasoned with orange peel n baked in the oven. It resembles porridge or pudding. It tastes sweet, but some people put sugar on it before eating it with cream.

CUSTOMS
Here v have the custom to put our utensils at four o´clock on our plate when we are done. If we put them on each side of plate that usually means we want more food. When we go to visit some friend´s house we take our shoes off when we entering the house.

SANTA CLAUS
Lives in finnish Lapland near to Rovaniemi.

FORESTS
About 35% of all the EU´s forest areas are in Finland. The forests are a great natural resource and are used for commercial purposes like making paper, but protecting the environment is also an important question in the use of the forests. The finnish state owns large areas of forest and many of them are nature conservation areas.

SAUNA
Almost every Finn has a sauna about once a week and families go there together. First the sauna stones are heated and then water is thrown on them to create steam. The traditional Finnish sauna was in a small wooden building, close to a lake. The bathers first took a steam bath and then dived into the cool water of the lake or in winyer, rolled in the snow. Nowadays many homes have an electric sauna with a shower room for washing.

FINNISH WIVES & MOSQUITOES
There have also been world championships in mosquito killing in Pyhätunturi. The official world record from 1995 stands at 21 mosquitoes in 5 minutes. The very first games, if we can call that a game, were held in 1993. In the year 1996 it was impossible to hold the championships ´cos of the lack of mosquitoes!

Sonkajärvi has become well-known all over the world as the avenue of The Wife Carrying World Championships. The wacky idea is Sonkajärvi´s very own. The length of the course is 253.5 meters and it includes a number of dry and wet obstacles. The current record stands at 1 min 4.5 sec. The winning style was to carry the wife on one´s shoulders like a sack of rye. The winning couple won a stack of prizes including a mobile phone, a heap of rye bread and-most importantly-the wife´s weight in beer!!

Freedom as seen in America

2006-07-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

I was there (US of A) for my Masters' recently upon completion of my Bachelors' from IIT.

The initial reaction upon entering the country was truly mesmerizing; it being my first ever ride outside India. Huge airports, tall buildings, wider roads, big houses and cars, and the list goes on.. It seemed as if the entire world around me had got magnified, to at least twice its usual size!

In America, one gets 24-hour water supply, with both hot and cold option, everywhere. The same is true for electricity as well. Medical emergency service is available at the press of a button. Basic amenities are all practically guaranteed by the government to everybody.

One more thing I noticed to my delight was the cleanliness all around. Boy! they do keep themselves and their surroundings neat and tidy.

Frankly, it was a new world for me altogether. With so many amenities at one's disposal, who wouldn't feel free? Freedom from the daily "Indian" routine of travelling in over-crowded shuttle bus/trains, hurrying to get the household chores done lest the power would go off, waiting for the water supply to take bath...

This freedom also manifests in their culture.
There is freedom of opportunity in getting admission to a school/college or getting a job. No discrimination (neither reservation) based on sex, caste, religion, etc exists. Every teenager gets on the bread-earning wagon as soon as he reaches 15; thereby becoming self-dependent. American girls drive buses and trucks, play soccer alongside guys, practically do everything that boys do!

However, not everything there is all-good.
Else, the country would become the mythical heaven!

There is the "other side" to this freedom as well.

As the children get on their own early, they never have the "Indian" attachment towards their parents and/or relatives. People have a hard life, particularly in their old age, when they need their near-and-dear-ones alongside.

For girls, sex is just an "experience"; something they want to experiment with different people, in different forms, throughout their life.

Marriage has become practically a "joke" there. People divorce and remarry for petty things. The culture of single-parents has crept in steadily and comprehensively.

The freedom of opportunity that non-Americans "enjoy" there is equally stark. With the economy down, American companies don't even allow foreign students to seek employment with them. The primary targets of layoffs from American companies are foreigners. Getting the Green card and/or citizenship of the country has become next to impossible!

All said-and-done, I returned back to my country for good.

Though America might be good for earning some quick-bucks and enjoying the "good" side of freedom for a while, its not so when it comes to settling down for life.

Piece of My Heart

2006-07-05T04:30:00.000-07:00

by Harsha Anand
[Harsha is working with Patni Computer Systems, Mumbai, India. He loves to write Shayari during leisure.]

Zindagi mein kabhi to Humein yaad karoge,
Mehfil mein nahi, Tanhai mein fariyaad karoge,
Humsa na mila, na Milega koi,
Kabhi to apni qismat par Naaz karoge.

Yun duur rehkar duriyon ko badaya nahi karte,
Apne deewano ko sataya nahi karte,
Har waqt bas jise tumhara khyal ho,
Usey apni awaaz ke liye tadpaya nahi karte.

Hume Hasne-Hasane ki aadat hai,
Nazron se Nazar Milane ki aadat hai,
Par hamari to nazar unse hai ja mili,
Jinhe nazar Jhukake Sharmane ki aadat hai.

Yaad karne ke liye koi cheez chahiye,
Aap nahi to aapki taswir chahiye,
per taswir aapki hamaara dil behla na sakegi,
Kyonki yeh aapki tarah muskura na sakegi.

Wafa Main Ab Ye Hunar Ikhtiar Karna Hai,
Woh Sach Kahe Na Kahe Aitebar Karna Hai.
Yeh TujhKo Jagte Rehne Ka Shauk KabSe Hua Jalim,
Mujhe To Khair Tera Intezaar Karna Hai.

Hum apni wafawon ka sila kis se mangtay,
Hum hi be-wafa the, toh wafa kis say mangte.

Khud hee to kee thi hum ne apnay Rab say baghawat,
Phir hum jo duwa mangtay, to kis se mangte.

Jo they Kareeb Dil ke wo bhi dushman-e-jaan they,
Is Dil ki duwa mangtay, to kis se mangte.

Mahboob jo tha wo bhi to naraz tha hum se,
koi shokh ada mangtay, to kis se mangte.

Jo waqt guzar jayee woh wapis nahi aata,
Woh gujra waqt mangte, toh kis se mangte.

hum us kee justajoo main hue khud se be-gaane,
Hum ghar ka pata mangtay, to kis say mangtay.

Prosaic

2006-05-29T03:49:00.000-07:00

A middle-aged Chinese peasant has been riding his sluggish bullock-cart since dawn. He hopes to make it to the neighbouring Bai Jia Po village, less than 20 miles away, before dusk. Unmindful of the scorching sun, right overhead now, he is delectably busy humming the local folk song. The bulls, on their part, respond to the tune with a saltating tail & matching gait.

Graduation Ceremony today marks a pleasant culmination of the hard work put in by the Canadian student at Texas A&M University, USA. As soon as the Convocation gets over in the morning, he plans to leave for Montreal with his girlfriend in their high-speed Italian car. Taking turns at driving, they plan to comfortably make it home, traveling over 2000 miles, by late next day.

A French traveller is standing, marvelling, at the breath-taking view of The Millau Bridge, the Highest Bridge in the World. The deck of the bridge is mostly invisible to the eye (unless looked closer); being concealed by the thick clouds most of the time. The newly constructed bridge means a significant reduction in travel time between Paris and the Mediterranean for the travellers. Though for him, like most other people, the unique on the clouds road travel is an experience to cherish lifelong.

I am with my parents (who are settled in a cosmopolitan city in Eastern India) over a weekend. My mother's face lights up with a pleasant smile as our conversation drifts to a talk on telephones, and their introduction into the Indian markets roughly a decade or so ago. She excitedly recalls how during her first few experiences with the new device, the wiggling voice would tickle in her ears. It was a time when some would even hesitate to get near the ghostly (speaking) device!

Taking cue, I mention the special Thursday afternoons in High School, when our Teacher would take us to the Computer Lab for Practicals. Like visiting a temple, we would be asked to remove our shoes before entering the lab (to keep the dust away). For me then, the mere sight of a computer was like a divine blessing! Though I'm with the software industry now, I still remember the unique feeling of excitement when for the first time I successfully copied a file in MS DOS.

While we are talking, my little sister is busy downloading MP3 music from the internet on her personal computer at home.

Life of people can be so different from one place to another on the same planet. Also, life changes so much even within the same generation of a family.

Now, lets take a look at this difference in life from a different perspective.

Talking holistically, one could consider human life to be a collection of contrasting experiences coming up at alternating periodicity. Put in simple words, it means humans experience feelings of happiness & distress, love & hatred, hope & despair, gratitude & selfishness, ... alternately throughout their life. Though the events (or the lack of them) yielding these feelings may vary per person; in essence, the feelings are felt the same way.

Consider a boy staring at the elfin beauty sitting at the farther end of the table in a restaurant. He feels shy and looks away the moment her limpid eyes meet his. A few days later, when they meet again at a friend's place, he finally musters enough courage to go and talk to her. Though hesitant initially, the girl also begins to like him. Imagine their feeling on the first kiss..

The fictionality of the above scene is trivialized by the fact that in reality this titillating feeling is independent of geography. I mean, here, an American heart would lovingly palpitate the same way as a Chinese one would.

Take a group of common people, from teenagers to senior citizens, gathered near a ground station to witness the launch of a satellite into orbit in-person. The receding countdown, with every single passing second, has a contagious effect of amplifying the heartbeat of every soul present. As the rockets blast and take-off, the thundering ground-impact followed by a deafening sound makes the crowd tremble over miles. The designated trajectory traversed by the rocket is traced equally by the viewer's eyes (including those feeble ones) as well, until it fades away.

Is the human exhilaration at Sriharikota, India different from that at Kourou, French Guiana? On a scale of 1 to 10, whose ebullience would you rate higher?

I am watching a program on BBC World channel on TV showing a lady trying to teach her teenage daughter how to drive a car. The young girl, though keen to learn, is impatient at the same time. In her excitement to learn quickly, she would frequently miss her mother's counselling on speed, stop signs, and changing lanes. Finally, after some determined practise for a while, she finally gets it right. Her eyes full of elation remind me of the moment when my little sister first learnt to balance her bicycle and reached my arms, while I was standing a little distance away to the front.

It is not difficult to recognize that intermittently periodic events that generate feelings of distress, hatred, despair, et. al. are also independant of geography and time. Losing of a beloved family member, non-fulfilment of dreams/ambitions, ... are spatially generic events since the long past.

Over space and time, the crafts of life have changed. Their meaning, however, has remained the same.

Welcome to the prosaic human life on earth.

[Please send in your comments to from_subbu@yahoo.com]

Cherished moments

2006-04-26T06:39:00.000-07:00

by Anu Palani
[She is employed with Accenture India, Bangalore. Recently she got married and is enjoying her new life post-nuptials.]

There is something really magical about college friendships. I wonder how much effort God would have put into creating it.

Yesterday I went to a Railway Reservation Counter to book my tickets. As usual, the counter was jam-packed. I was cursing my luck and all the uncertainties of life when I noticed a girl standing just ahead of me. She was just an ordinary girl. What captured my interest was her smile. She was filling up the Reservation Form wearing a big smile on her face; lost deeply in her own thoughts. There was a sweetness about her which disarmed me instantaneously.

The girl looked around too... and suddenly she called out a name so loudly that almost all (not kidding!) turned around. "Ashok....", "What are you doing here?" Her tone was a mixture of pure happiness and complete disbelief. The guy behind me replied coyly and with an enthusiasm matching hers replied "Came to book the tickets, yaar". Her friend gave her a hi-fi and that set the mood...

There were no formal greetings and wishes exchanged. No "how are you?"s and "how have you been?"s. They started talking from where they would have left... probably years back. Their easy demeanor indicated they were deep college friends, and had chanced upon each other that fateful day. Those two were totally oblivious to the surroundings. They were totally immersed in their conversation; stuff like "what’s she doing", updating "how is he...hey not him", complimenting "your handwriting is still the same...", exploring "hey! what’s this blue lens", and exchanging sweet admonitions like "Grow up yaar..." and "am happy you are the same" kind of talks.

I totally forgot myself.

I found myself involved in their talks. I caught myself laughing out loud on several occasions that it took all my self control to stop and regain my composure! Inductively, I looked back to a time when I myself was in college .The several topics we would harp on ending with the numerous "Lets keep in touch promises". I thought about the fun we had shared all those times and all the people I had cared about then. I thought of the reasons why along life's rough patches my friends got left behind. I thought of the many times I had postponed writing letters to them. I thought why I had missed making calls and returning them; why I had missed Weddings and Birthdays. I thought of the beautiful difference it would have made, had I still been in touch with them. I had always meant to do all of those but before I realized time had just flown by. I was overwhelmed. I looked at the two again. I was in a total daze, infact completely mesmerized.

My turn came, got the tickets and walked out.

The two had left by then. I left home too, feeling light than ever before. I wondered where life will take them...I wondered where life would have taken my college friends...I wondered where life would take me...I found myself whispering a silent prayer...for them...for us.

Running into The Fourth Estate

2006-03-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

by Merlin F. Flower

"I am a Trainee Journalist," I said pathetically.
"At this young age, a Journalist.. unbelievable," the man observed. Clearly, he wasn’t catching my point.

"We have a paper called The Weekly Observer," I continued.
"Wow, Observer?"
"No, Weekly Observer," I clarified in a feeble voice, having remembered my Ethics Class. Never mind the feeble part, "I did clarify," I told myself.

"I have heard of "The Weekly," maybe I wouldn’t have noticed Observer," came another enthusiastic rejoinder from the 'alien' man.

I stopped my stupid clarifications, and started enjoying the new role of being a Journalist. The man didn’t know, and I didn’t tell him that I was a student journalist and ‘ The Weekly Observer’ happened to be our campus publication.

"It was hilarious to find the respect the profession commanded," I thought. How easy it was to manipulate the man, jus' like being a Judge of the highest court.

The pathetic lot of Trainee Journalists begin with some high dreams of changing the world; how and when come only later on. To know why I say "pathetic," read on..

With a dangling name tag and glowing face they march on and around the streets. Stories are everywhere ‘hiding,’ we tell ourselves. For us, the people cease to be living humans and get limited to mere characters in these ‘stories.’

But, there is more fun in this profession. Toil by paying is the first irony giving pain and satisfaction. Being able to save money on health clubs stand on the next level of satisfaction. For voices opposing this, which gym can shape one's body like a good long walk? Learning to get up with a smile, after being thrown on the streets, is a unique adventure in itself. Smiling when you don’t feel like, is something all journalism school enthusiasts learn to do.

Mouths open wide and shut faster, putting lightning to shame in this Department. Working in an 'alien' land (after all not knowing the language of the land makes you an alien) is the summit of adventure in itself.

Standing behind the Lift Manager, I was the witness to some angry exchanges. The lift operator looked very angry while I was lost in my own thoughts. After about 5 minutes, I realized that the Lift Manager was actually shouting at me and that the poor man was trying to explain my ignorance of the language. I had stood directly behind the operator rejecting his safety warnings.

Coming back to the professional talk, a good exercise to deflate one's ego is to go to a place without address. By the time you are kicked out of say, 20 buses and the crowd stands enjoying, your ego is gone. Some say, that’s why a student of journalism is a 'privileged' lot - for they can join any circus as buffoons! Never mind the sarcasm, they can be good fiction writers and if luck permits, become good journalists.

The hardest part of the profession is rejection. If American politician John Kerry had belonged to this part of the world, he wouldn’t have felt sorry for losing the presidential election. Had he been a journalist, by the time he reached 25, his losses would have already counted more than the stars in the sky!

So, the next time you see a bleached and ragged face with a dangling tag approaching, don’t drive them off, but offer a coffee though the dumbo (read Trainee Journalist) is sure to reject it.

Obviously for the Lift Manager, it was his first encounter with us.

[Merlin is from Kannyakumari, India. She has done her diploma from Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore. She loves painting, listening to music, nature. To know more: merlin.flower@gmail.com]

Let's talk about Love

2006-02-26T06:16:00.000-08:00

by Yu Zhen

"There are people around the world...different faces, different names. But there's one true emotion that reminds me we're the same. Let's talk about Love." These are part of the lyrics sung by Celine Dion, Let's Talk about Love.

Love is not just a feeling but action! I can't agree it more especially when I finished watching, "It all starts with a kiss." It describes a stupid girl who loves a genius guy for five years, and she never throws in the towel at any difficulties she meets in the relationship. I really admire her courage and perseverance. I think that's why I'm so enchanted by this TV program.

How about real-life love? I'd like to put it this way, "real-life love brings out the best in us for the benefit of others." Instead of expecting to gain from your relationships, try the reverse. Practice the traits of love that gives, rather than takes.

Patience

No one is perfect. How do you react when he/she make mistakes? Do you tend to argue with each other or calm down to discuss the result? Try to be patient. It dosen't mean you admit that's all your fault but you'll let little annoying habits roll off your back, and be supportive when someone errs.

Kindness

The way you treat people shows your kindness ─ even when you are having a rough day. When you're temped to shout or lose your temper, chill out. Think about whether throwing a fit will help the situation. Chances are, you'll find better way to resolve the things which bothers you.

Contentment

Envy is the main enemy in relationships. People tend to think the grass is greener on the other side. They can't see what they have but focus on what they want. The key is remembering that no one is perfect. Every relationship needs work. Invest time in making yours great ─ otherwise you'll always want somthing else.

Humility

Love isn't a contest. Don't be full of yourself, and don't show off in front of people. The precious love is to appreciate each other not to seek approval from others.

Forgiveness

Be willing to say,"I'm sorry." Real love doesn't hold grudge. As the proverb goes: "Don't let the sun go down on your anger." Talk about the little things that bother you to avoid them becoming big problems later. Then try to forgive. When you let go unhappy memories, your merry life starts to move on.

Perseverance

Good relationships are built on commitment. This doesn't mean putting up with abuse, but it does require you to refuse to give up at the first sign of trouble. Shakespeare wrote, "Love is not love which alters when alteration finds." True love won't alter regardless of any difficulties.

Trust

Trust is key to healthy relationships. Without trust, you undermine the significance of love. Having faith in the other person shows that you believe what they did is always based on your best interests.

True love is not easy, but it's worth it. As Michael Leunig said, " Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that."

Adapted from Advanced, Love is... , Feb. 2006

[She is a student from Taiwan. Catch her on blog "Sunflower's Garden" http://spaces.msn.com/yuzhentaiwan/]

Hmmm..

2006-01-19T21:28:00.000-08:00

by Erik Snyder
[Erik is a product of Texas A&M University, College Station. He currently resides in Austin, USA.]

I’d like to share something with y’all.

You see, I’m one of those crazy people that are always kvetching about the suffering of the poor, or mad about the war in Iraq and Central Asia.

I’m sure most outsiders would assume that America is just filled with belligerent, arrogant, uncaring people who just itch for a fight. Well, that perception isn’t without some merit, but I assure you it is wrong as a general statement.

Just like everywhere else in the world, we have our share of good people and bad people; reality is never black and white, it is shades of grey, shades of blue, shades of red, more shades than there are shades of complexion of all the people who call this country home.

I’m one of those fools that cares about people a little too much; I can’t help it, and I won’t ever change it, and neither do I want to do so. I can’t explain why I care so much. It’s really ironic, because I frankly have such a cynical worldview, and I’m definitely not a social butterfly. I find most people annoying, whether they are American, Indonesian, Japanese, Columbian, etc. Yet I feel real pain and anger when I hear about people dying. Go figure.

And there are a lot more like me. I’m sure most of them aren’t as cranky and cuss-mouthed as I am. We all want the best for our family, our friends, our countrymen, and the whole world.

Let’s be honest.
99% of the world’s problems are due to the actions or inactions of other people. Even with natural disasters, most of the problems happen because of laziness, corruption and a lack of caring. There isn’t a single humanitarian disaster in the world today whose real core problem isn’t greed, corruption, or apathy.

Sure, life ain’t fair. True, death is a natural thing. It’s a truism that suffering usually builds character. But there is so much needless suffering.

In this crazy world, it’s true that poverty actually hasn’t done much to stop overpopulation. You’d think it would…And then there’s the other side of the mirror…how is it that I, the American, always assume that it is the poor man in the Third World who is causing the overpopulation? Is a rich person’s life worth more, and are they exempt from the same need to control the size of the population? Obviously, the answer is ‘no’, and yet the reality is that society acts like the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.

Oh Lord humans are a mess! They are stupidest race of animal ever to walk the earth, killing and maiming each other for petty and selfish reasons, destroying their own home planet with ever-accumulating industrial poisons…and yet still I can’t bear to see the needless suffering.

And I’m not the only American who feels this way.

[Erik can be reached at quelisto@yahoo.com]

Waking-up Early

2005-12-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

“The days of my college are gone,” I tell myself while rubbing my eyes early in the morning, “and now I am a working professional.”

Indeed, it does sound good!

“How and why?” you’d ask. Okay, I’m coming to that.
Well, first of all, now I earn my own money and am no longer dependent on my parents. And that does make one feel proud and happy. It’s like having the keys of the car, that you love to drive, in your own hand. You can take it wherever you want; on a long drive with your girlfriend or on a shorter one to pick-up some grocery from a nearby store! The experience is worth the drive; and something you would want to stick with.

Next, let’s come to the ‘professional’ part.
During my college days, particularly during the last semester of my Bachelor’s, I would have classes beginning at 8 am. Now, that might sound okay for some early-birds; but definitely not for me for sure. On top of that, imagine the thought of having to bear a 1 hour lecture from a (respectable) Professor on a topic like “High Voltage Electromagnetics”. Now, it might be of interest to those birds who’d sit on those high-voltage wires; for me, it’d rather shoo –away my early morning peace.

In the office of my Software Development Firm we have flexible hours; which means one can come and go as he or she pleases. My boss really doesn’t care as long as the work is done; on time. Work is challenging and interesting and gives me the satisfaction that it also helps my country (India) earn some invaluable foreign exchange. The hidden downside here though (okay, let me share it with you!), is that normally I would return from office only after 9 pm with my eyes glued to the monitor of my Pentium IV machine for a continuous 12 hours – minimum.

But, not to forget, I do my job professionally. Interaction with overseas Fortune 500 clients over a video conference connected from our office, exchange of detailed formal-emails discussing the arcane business improvement strategies, Team Meetings to chat about the technical computer stuff, and of course, the thick lather coffee with my colleagues; each deftly carried-out with an executive tie hanging down my neck all the while.

Consider a bunch of roses with silky, moist petals that are plucked fresh from the garden early in the morning. This piece of nature’s beauty, thereafter, makes its way to the town exhibition before the visitors, including those from nearby cities, begin pouring in. Imagine the heartfelt joy of the flowers when they are showered with encomiums by visitors… from one and all! At that moment, their charming beauty and unforgettable fragrance knows no bounds.

After completion of graduation from a small town, I and my friends moved to the Big city for our livelihood. Here, our perception of the world underwent a complete transformation while working in multi-national companies (or MNCs as we call it), professionally.

Life seems full of beautiful experience sometimes.
Or does it have something to do with one’s own perception?

Okay, I guess I should stop musing on my laptop now and hit the bed since I’ve got to get up early tomorrow morning for office.

The Norway Trip!

2005-11-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

by Lilek Vasilek
[She is a University student and also a Teacher of English & German languages in Russia.]

Last summer was full of impressions for me: The first trip by train and air-plane while abroad.I visited a sweet Norwegian family in the small town of Flom, its 7 hours ride by train from Oslo - the capital of Norway and 2 hours ride from Bergen - the second largest city in Norway.

I went by train from Oslo and had a great chance to see amazing nature of this northern country. I didnt see much of Oslo because i was afraid to be late for train, but everything what my eyes caught from this city made a great impression! I didnt know Norwegian at all, but it was not a problem as almost everybody speaks English there and if you ask something, they're ready to help. So no problem at all!

The people there look quite ordinary n plain with their own habits. They like their culture n moral principles very much and are proud of their country. Yes, they are caring, kind and polite in nature.

The family with whom i lived tried to do everything possible to make me feel relaxed like at home. The first several days of my arrival were like in fairy tale - unknown places didnt stop to surprise me with their beautiful nature: high mountains, fast rivers, amazing waterfalls; gorgeous and interesting in their architecture houses and churches! Communication with new people from different countries is also unforgettable.

After 2 weeks there i began to miss my country and friends. My host family had their own suvenier shop. In the evening when we met they tried to teach me Norwegian a little. Most of my time i spent with their sons of 3 and 7 years old. They dont speak English, I dont speak Norwegian, but our communication was not poor! rather it became more funny and interesting!!!

By the way this town (i would hardly call it town as the population there is only 700 people!) is considered to be a good tourist place, first of all because of nature and The Flom Railway, which is famous with its unusual beauty: this road is only 30 kilometres and has 20 tunnels and 4 big waterfalls and the situation of this railway high on mountains makes the trip very exciting!!!

And all in all Norway(much of it you can see during your going from Oslo to Flom) makes an impression of a country from another planet. In one and the same place you can see fast rivers, banks of which are covered with snow and grass at the same time.

Simply Amazing!!!!!!!!

Home Chick

2005-11-13T18:41:00.000-08:00

"Your house transforms to a home, the minute you marry and your spouse moves-in" ... words of advice from the elders; usually to a young male bachelor, in Asian countries.

If you believe me, the word "home" holds a lot of transformational-gravity in the above statement. Among several other things, it means that you can no longer hang your washed-socks through the ceiling fan for drying, wipe the chocolate cream off your lips with a table cloth, keep magazines under your pillow, invite your friends for a late-night beer party, ...

Basically, it means that the male cannot, anymore, do anything that even remotely hints on bachelorhood.

Frankly, I think it should apply to females as well. Jus' to take a look at this gender: unmarried females glue to their cellphones like a lizard to a ceiling, carry the same handkerchief all the time - be it to an Ice Cream Parlor or a Cinema Theatre, demand that they be reminded about items on their to-do list at odd hours, have forsaken the art of cooking to the archival history books of a barren library, ...

Having said that, however, I must clarify that the wedding moment transforms the jeune filles too. But if its for good after all, I'm not sure.

Post-wedlock, they use their hubby's handkerchief irrespective of the parlor, the culinary activities of the kitchen are postponed till the weekend (or just Sunday mornings - to be precise), their phone bills are now paid by their life-partners, and their list-of-demands expands like a chewing gum pulled at both ends!

In western countries (aka. Europe, America, and Canada), the "move-in" mostly occurs before marriage itself.
I would dare to imagine that bachelorhood there, for both sexes, is different. In particular, with respect to the freedom to choose; borne out of financial independence begining at teenage itself. The concept of "dating", practically absent in Asia, acts as a preliminary to nuptials there. Be it the ambience of McDonald's ready-to-eat burger or a Schlotzsky's Deli serious sandwich, I bet the experience is worth it.

The culture to promote (and accept) the individual's choice there extends right from the 'Its like...' exclamations to the 'You know...' wisdom of chirpy girlz.

Post-matrimony however, I am sure, the transformational changes are experienced by both there too. Well, to clarify here, I do not mean that after marriage a Sprint (cell phone) gives way to a BlackBerry or that the Papa John's (pizza) becomes a Little Ceaser's.

Considering the global nature of the topic, let's traverse through its fundamentals as well.

I believe that there are, basically, 3 Fs that make-up a female: Fructose, Fashion, and Fun. Though we are talking about only the feminine gender here; I suspect that these building-blocks are the ones actually responsible for the transformation per se.

To the novice, Fructose is a constituent of sugar that provides the sweetness in it. Factually, it is the males who have to sweat-out n cultivate the harvest that finally yields it. Lets recognize the point with clarity from the gushes below.

"That dress fits you fabulously.."
"The food you cooked today was simply great!"
"You are looking extremely gorgeous tonight".
"How was it?"....

The noticeable point above is that irrespective of a blonde's skirt or a traditional saree, Italian pizza or Chinese noodles, subtle intonations to the climactic act; the fact remains. Mind you, the intonations and the act are purely human in nature (I mean independent of geography, culture, language, ... )

Coming to the second element, Fashion means more than just L'Oréal Lip Rouge, Wella Powder Puff, and Lakmé Blushtones. Fundamentally, its the beauty in its entirety; including behavioral charm. To interprete the cliche "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder" - it simply means that every single female on earth is beautiful (as long as they can coerce a male to certify it).

It is easy to suspect that fructose and fashion are interdependent.
FTV hints on the reality of feminine fashion leading to the generation of fructose. In the same way, promotion of fashion stems from the desire to relish fructose. I mean not everybody watches the French TV channel for sole apparel enlightenment. Right?

finally, Fun is the motivator among these 3 constitutive elements. In other words, it is the means as well as the end. From enjoying a Bugs Bunny cartoon clip with younger brother, a bit of Salsa shakin' in a discotheque with boyfriend, cooking a delicious Oriental dish to enjoy with husband, ... all lead to fun. Its just hard to miss noticing this element anywhere.

You would agree from above that the lives of females and males are inseparable. Marriage only serves as an avenue that further brings them closer to each other. Its that once-in-a-lifetime moment which promises a homely life ahead.

Heavenly Ireland

2005-10-26T22:26:00.000-07:00

by Stella Ostrander

Cead Mille Failte

Here's to share my first-time adventures in Cork, Ireland.
I'm doing my Junior-Year Student Abroad Program here studying sociology and such things.

In Irish, Cead Mille Failte means "A Hundred Thousand Welcomes!!!"

Day One

Day 1 of Cork has officially ended, and I am exhausted. actually this has been a 2-day deal because of difference in time zones (between Ireland and USA). oh so glad I have my own shower and that I don't have to queue up for one or anything. we are split up between two houses and I've met the other housemates, they seem to be very nice, also from the US, in september we'll be getting a guy from France for a bit it seems.

we came out of Shannon before sunrise and it was raining, but later on it cleared up and shone and we saw a rainbow! Ive seen swans here instead of ducks, and lots of sheep and geese. when the sun shines suddenly all those shades of green start popping out...

Cork is adorable, its like how Georgetown wanted to be, but didn't quite get it. all these little shops, multicolored, little pubs adverstising Murphy's, guinness, or beemish on the doors. oh and I have been informed that there really isnt a whole list of "Irish food" beyond a full list of uses for potatoes, meat, oh and stew- although no one really eats it anymore it seems. I probably will be in that happy minority however because with the insane capriciousness of the weather, stew sounds very good to me. along with tea. tommorrow is orientation for Early Start so I guess i'll finally start to see what it is exactly that i have gotten myself into!

An Spailpin Fanac rocks my Irish lovin socks!

You dont have to be able to pronounce it, but this pub thats parked across the street from the Beamish brewery is just perfect! Live music most nights, and not only live, but you sit practically on the musicians, and other ppl there randomly start up singing etc! sooo cool! most of us in the two houses went last night and it was a fun bonding time. I'm going to miss our other american girls when they leave after this semester! why can't they stay for the full year? :( So yeah so far Cork is shaping out just brilliantly!
And Bodhran is another cute little pub as well. oh yes and the English Market is a wonderful place, all the food is fresh and soo much cheaper than at TESCO - the butchers are carving the meat while your there. its all practically mooing. the food here is so much better for you - almost no preservatives and for once the healthy orgo food isnt the most expensive! in fact the whole country seems to have a big thing about being organic. fine by me, my soup i've been living on for the past couple of days (made from scratch thank you!) has been great! oh and the bread! the scones! you must get the scones- got some grand scones today at the market!

we're all getting a wonderful amount of exercise by walking all around town, so the fact that i live on bread and potatoes should be balanced out... oh any good recipes for leeks anyone? i got a bunch today...

It hasn't really rained in a couple days and today especialy the weather is just gorgeous! a wonderful way to start out the new school term! oh and there is this adorable little kitten who sits in the window of a low flat thats on our way to school! i so want to buy cat treats and go to the owner and trade the food for a chance to pet the kitten. i miss having a cat sooo much! mew! so yes Cork, European city of culture 2005 by the way, is wonderful! and now the work begins...

We won!!!!!

Woot! we won the Guinness All Ireland Hurling Championship against Galway!

It was an amazing game, won by 5 points, the teams were neck and neck the whole way through, almost getting point for point, it was great to watch! Went to the Old Oak to watch the game with everyone else and the joy that went through there when we won.. one area looked like WYD with the big waving Cork flags and ppl dancing and singing- and that was just in the pub. The pubs are going to be wild tonight! Tommorrow there is a welcome home parade for the team and the homecoming also held at teh Old Oak, tonight is going to bed early, doing laundry etc, and tommorrow is more hurling stuff! So proud to be running around in my Cork polo- sporting the mighty red. WE DID IT! GO REBELS, THREE YEARS IN A ROW!

for more, visit http://www.livejournal.com/users/gypsywolf12/

DVD hunt

2005-10-02T20:54:00.000-07:00

comments

Your pieces are well written. Perhaps you could focus on lesser known aspects of day-to-day life and cross-cultural living. A good writer tries to offer the unexpected fare.
- Dr. Sachidananda Mohanty, Professor, Dept. of English, University of Hyderabad, India [Dr. Mohanty is a recipient of the Katha Award from the President of India for "Translation and the formation of regional Literatures/Culture" by investigating some Oriya-language translations.]

article

"Today I have to get a movie DVD," I told myself.
Standing there in the middle of the market I felt a little lost. The market was an array of shops; each with a different exterior, but inside each was selling only one thing: Clothes.

The place was jostling with people of all shapes and sizes. There were the heavy-weights, who were single-handedly blocking both the entrance doors of the 2-door shop; and then there were the light-weights who were also practically doing the same thing, but as team work. The tall ones were getting an aerial view of the sea of heads surrounding them; while the shorter ones were trying to sneak their way through the (virtual) empty spaces betwen 2 people.

"Then where do I look for what I am looking for?" I asked myself hastily with a confused look around.

I had already been to the other market a couple of times last month. Each time my mind (and possibly heart too!) would zero-in on a movie; somehow, my hand wouldn't pick it up. Though the DVD collection in those shops was good, I guess I wanted a change; having already purchased a bunch of action and suspense genre DVD's from there in the past.

"Look closer," I forced myself.
Large markets always had narrow lanes running at right-angles to the central main lane, where locals would set-up small makeshift shops and practically sell all sorts of stuff at very low prices (being able to save on the huge shop rental fees at popular locations). And for that matter, you could get a quick haircut right in the middle of a vegetable market!

"There it is," I spotted a lane hiding by the side of a 3-storey shop specializing in female garments (both over- and under-). I felt excited.

However, my excitement was short-lived.
To my disappointment, the narrow lane did not only have a deserted look (for most of the shops were closed); but also, it looked more like a parking lot wih vehicles jumbled all over the place.

I came out.
The rumblings in my stomach reminded me that lunch time was approaching so I needed to hurry.

A couple more lanes passed me.
Ladies were still frantically shopping; or at least, pretending to. Stomach definitely takes a back seat when the mind is busy counting the number of large posters proclaiming "On Sale". The feminine gender, anyways, has small amounts of both.

Finally, I spotted an old TV repair shop at the far end with an old soul sitting at the counter. I decided to take her advise. She directly me to an alley that actually ran parallel to the current main lane.

I felt intrigued.
And this time, it actually materialized.
The alley was neatly hidden behind a deluge of bright n colorful female apparels, currently overflowing out of the original shop in the front.

and there they were, a whole group of small video shops scattered on both sides of the road. I entered one that seemed to have a good collection on comedy.

I took my time browsing through the big list of DVDs, and finally decided on a couple to buy. Noticing that I would be buying more than one; the shop owner, to my great delight gave me an additional discount!

I dropped the DVDs in my bag and hurried home for lunch n some fun.

[Please send in your comments to from_subbu@yahoo.com]

Prosaic

2005-09-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

[Please send in your comments to from_subbu@yahoo.com]

comments

Wow! I read your article and enjoyed it very much.
- Ritesh Garg, Business Consultant, India

Yeah, I can see why you call it "prosaic". It's interesting, but I don't think I can buy into your argument that life is simply a series of events that trigger generic emotive responses. It's too reductionist, but it is thought-provoking. The reason you aren't quite right is that emotions are NOT felt the same by everyone. Sure, all people can experience joy, but do you think a hardened killer and an expectant mom find joy from the same experiences? Do you think they feel the same depth of joy? I'd say 'no' to both.

The one thing you can say about this life is that you'll never really figure a damn thing out. The most important things are to be kind, to find as much contentment as possible, and to strive for excellence - but don't overdo it.
- Erik Snyder, Austin, USA

Unity in diversity is a common theme in India. You have touched upon a different topic here, addressing the oneness of joys and sorrows people feel across cultures. This post was a very interesting read. I particularly liked the way in which you compared and contrasted different situations and cultures.
- Vishnu, Texas A&M University, USA

The article is good!
- Manikantan AK, Bangalore, India

Your site has been slowly growing and has a wealth of work that I find appealing. The articles, stories, and pieces are fetching and of such a subject matter that my interest is held. A great endeavor.
- Ray Succre, Oregon, USA
[http://raysuccre.blogspot.com]

You're right: barriers, such as language, geographic location, and cultural differences do contribute to our perspective and our individual identities, and yet with all these different influences, there are more similarities than we choose to acknowledge. It's all part of the human experience, and it's ludicrous to think that one culture is superior to another.
- Breanne, http://rubimae.blogspot.com

A middle-aged Chinese peasant has been riding his sluggish bullock-cart since dawn. He hopes to make it to the neighbouring Bai Jia Po village, less than 20 miles away, before dusk. Unmindful of the scorching sun, right overhead now, he is delectably busy humming the local folk song. The bulls, on their part, respond to the tune with a saltating tail & a matching gait.

Graduation Ceremony today marks a pleasant culmination of the hard work put in by the Canadian student at Texas A&M University, USA. As soon as the Convocation gets over in the morning, he plans to leave for Montreal with his girlfriend in their high-speed Italian car. Taking turns at driving, they plan to comfortably make it home, traveling over 2000 miles, by late next day.

A French traveller is standing, marvelling, at the breath-taking view of The Millau Bridge, the Highest Bridge in the World. The deck of the bridge is mostly invisible to the eye (unless looked closer); being concealed by the thick clouds most of the time. The newly constructed bridge means a significant reduction in travel time between Paris and the Mediterranean for the travellers. Though for him, like most other people, the unique on the clouds road travel is an experience to cherish lifelong.

I am with my parents (who are settled in a cosmopolitan city in Eastern India) over a weekend. My mother's face lights up with a pleasant smile as our conversation drifts to a talk on telephones, and their introduction into the Indian markets roughly a decade or so ago. She excitedly recalls how during her first few experiences with the new device, the wiggling voice would tickle in her ears. It was a time when some would even hesitate to get near the ghostly (speaking) device!

Taking cue, I mention the special Thursday afternoons in High School, when our Teacher would take us to the Computer Lab for Practicals. Like visiting a temple, we would be asked to remove our shoes before entering the lab (to keep the dust away). For me then, the mere sight of a computer was like a divine blessing! Though I'm with the software industry now, I still remember the unique feeling of excitement when for the first time I successfully copied a file in MS DOS.

While we are talking, my little sister is busy downloading MP3 music from the internet on her personal computer at home.

Life of people can be so different from one place to another on the same planet. Also, life changes so much even within the same generation of a family.

Now, lets take a look at this difference in life from a different perspective.

Talking holistically, one could consider human life to be a collection of contrasting experiences coming up at alternating periodicity. Put in simple words, it means humans experience feelings of happiness & distress, love & hatred, hope & despair, gratitude & selfishness, ... alternately throughout their life. Though the events (or the lack of them) yielding these feelings may vary per person; in essence, the feelings are felt the same way.

Consider a boy staring at the elfin beauty sitting at the farther end of the table in a restaurant. He feels shy and looks away the moment her limpid eyes meet his. A few days later, when they meet again at a friend's place, he finally musters enough courage to go and talk to her. Though hesitant initially, the girl also begins to like him. Imagine their feeling on the first kiss.

The fictionality of the above scene is trivialized by the fact that in reality this titillating feeling is independent of geography. I mean, here, an American heart would lovingly palpitate the same way as a Chinese one would.

Take a group of common people, from teenagers to senior citizens, gathered near a ground station to witness the launch of a satellite into orbit in-person. The receding countdown, with every single passing second, has a contagious effect of amplifying the heartbeat of every soul present. As the rockets blast and take-off, the thundering ground-impact followed by a deafening sound makes the crowd tremble over miles. The designated trajectory traversed by the rocket is traced equally by the viewer's eyes (including those feeble ones) as well, until it fades away.

Is the human exhilaration at Sriharikota, India different from that at Kourou, French Guiana? On a scale of 1 to 10, whose ebullience would you rate higher?

I am watching a program on BBC World channel on TV showing a lady trying to teach her teenage daughter how to drive a car. The young girl, though keen to learn, is impatient at the same time. In her excitement to learn quickly, she would frequently miss her mother's counselling on speed, stop signs, and changing lanes. Finally, after some determined practise for a while, she finally gets it right. Her eyes full of elation remind me of the moment when my little sister first learnt to balance her bicycle and reached my arms, while I was standing a little distance away to the front.

It is not difficult to recognize that intermittently periodic events that generate feelings of distress, hatred, despair, et. al. are also independant of geography and time. Losing of a beloved family member, non-fulfilment of dreams/ambitions, ... are spatially generic events since the long past.

Over space and time, the crafts of life have changed. Their meaning, however, has remained the same.

Welcome to the prosaic human life on earth.

Finnish mosquitoes

2005-08-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

by Jenni Liikanen
[She is a student in Keuruu, Finland]

FOOD

Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pasty)
These are a traditional Easters' speciality but nowadays they are served at many hotel breakfast buffets. They are made of rye dough n filled with rice porridge or potato. They are normally heated and served with chopped eggs and butter.

Mustamakkara
This food is related to a similar kind of pudding served in England and Ireland. It´s colour results from the blood that´s it´s main ingredient. It´s especially popular in Finland´s third biggest town, Tampere, where people buy it from kiosks at market places and eat it with their fingers!

Mämmi
This food looks perhaps the strangest and most off-putting to foreigners. It´s made from rye flour, malt and water, seasoned with orange peel n baked in the oven. It resembles porridge or pudding. It tastes sweet, but some people put sugar on it before eating it with cream.

CUSTOMS
Here v have the custom to put our utensils at four o´clock on our plate when we are done. If we put them on each side of plate that usually means we want more food.
When we go to visit some friend´s house we take our shoes off when we entering the house.

SANTA CLAUS
Lives in finnish Lapland near to Rovaniemi.

FORESTS
About 35% of all the EU´s forest areas are in Finland. The forests are a great natural resource and are used for commercial purposes like making paper, but protecting the environment is also an important question in the use of the forests. The finnish state owns large areas of forest and many of them are nature conservation areas.

SAUNA
Almost every Finn has a sauna about once a week and families go there together. First the sauna stones are heated and then water is thrown on them to create steam. The traditional Finnish sauna was in a small wooden building, close to a lake. The bathers first took a steam bath and then dived into the cool water of the lake or in winyer, rolled in the snow. Nowadays many homes have an electric sauna with a shower room for washing.

FINNISH WIVES & MOSQUITOES
There have also been world championships in mosquito killing in Pyhätunturi. The official world record from 1995 stands at 21 mosquitoes in 5 minutes. The very first games, if we can call that a game, were held in 1993. In the year 1996 it was impossible to hold the championships ´cos of the lack of mosquitoes!

Sonkajärvi has become well-known all over the world as the avenue of The Wife Carrying World Championships. The wacky idea is Sonkajärvi´s very own. The length of the course is 253.5 meters and it includes a number of dry and wet obstacles. The current record stands at 1 min 4.5 sec. The winning style was to carry the wife on one´s shoulders like a sack of rye. The winning couple won a stack of prizes including a mobile phone, a heap of rye bread and-most importantly-the wife´s weight in beer!!

Onions n Eggs

2005-08-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

by Terrie Leigh Relf

Liver and Onions on a Sunday

Sometimes poems will take you places you don't want to go--
like milk-soaked liver and onions for Sunday dinner.
Fried bacon and onions aren't as bad, I suppose, but
sometimes those poems will take control--and you don't want to go!
Doused with flour, fried in fat-it's enough to make you gag.
So take a breath, then hold your nose, before taking a bite...
Sometimes poems will take you places you don't want to go.
like milk-soaked liver and onions on a Sunday.

Meringue

12 eggs
I used 12 eggs to make meringue
but it never peaked or stiffened
I'd whip and beat, stir and scrape
begging it to rise.

I suppose I mixed the ingredients out-of-order
added sugar gradually when
I really should have dumped it in all at once-
and at low speed
ok, ok, so I should have used my hands rather
than a techno-gadeget-shut up already!

now where did I put those kitchen knives?

perhaps it's because he heard the screams
but when my neighbor burst through the door
I was pretty calm
well, cal-mer.

"Don't worry," I tell him
"I'm ok, really."

He looks into the bowl
"it's just meringue, nothing to get so upset over!"

but he doesn't realize-how could he?
that a woman's worth is measured in eggs.

[Terrie Leigh Relf, M.A. lives in San Diego, CA, USA. Her poetry has appeared in a variety of genre and non-genre publications, including three chapbooks: Lap Danced by the Muse (writersmonthly, 2002), Metro Madness (lucy westenra ebooks, 2003), and Jupiter's Eye (Sam's Dot Publishing, 2004). In 2005, her poem, "a poet on board" was nominated for the Rhysling Award. Reach her tlrelf@cox.net]

What can jobless Americans do for the world?

2005-07-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

comments

The articles on your blog are thoughtful and reflect an orginal and introspective perspective.
- Suma Varughese, Editor, www.lifepositive.com

The blog is COOL!
- Nitin Suryawanshi, Computer Engineer, i2 Technologies, India

I really like the issues you address.
- Terrie Leigh Relf, Poetry Editor, FireWeed, USA

article

What's wrong with the American economy? How long will so many Americans remain jobless? Has 'U'ncle 'S'am grown old? Old enough to retire; may be die?

I don't think so.

Let's take a closer look at the country right from the basics.
For more than a century now, America has been a land of immigrants. For a long time, people from all parts of the world (be it Europe, South America, Africa or even half-way across the globe - Asia) have immigrated into America. They've entered the country with an aim to enjoy the sumptuous comforts of life available there. The comforts that include not just quality housing, travel, food, recreation, etc; but also the enticing growth-prospects that exist for every individual career-wise. A life highlighted with the all too pleasant American culture of courtesy and mannerisms, towards everyone. In return, these immigrants have contributed a lot back to the country also. They have made it their home. Over the years, they have put their sweat to work and their smile to prosperity.

and America has prospered.
With time, not only has its economy grown steadily; but so has its world-stature. People from all over the world started calling it "Uncle Sam"; out of deep affection. and it became one of the most loved and admired country of the world.

Then what has happened to change that? Can't this continue, as it has done in the past, till say, eternity?

The economies of some of the other countries of the world, like China and India, have changed significantly lately. The growth in these economies has been marked with large-scale industrialization and opening-up of the economy to foreign multi-national companies. In fact, in India, the process is still ongoing. The numerous residents of these countries have risen to add those sumptuous comforts to their lives as well; but without having to leave their motherland.

These people are keen to transform their brick-walled units to air-conditioned apartments. The conversion of mud-laden streets to 8-lane high-speed expressways is underway. They are bringing in their Mercedez to get the pleasant no-horn-honking 70-miles-an-hour driving experience right on their own roads. The adoption of advanced methods of waste-management is ensuring that their cities look clean like-never-before. Realization of the "Shop till ya Drop" dream-experience in international-quality shopping malls studded with food joints, recreational facilities, and more is a reality now. The participation in the JCPenney-One-Day-Only-Sale events over the weekends is an add-on. This includes the relish of the yummy extra cheese on burgers and the pizzas with jalapenos.

In all, they are keen to prove to the world that they can make it happen for themselves, just like did the Americans.

and they are...

The question that comes immediately to mind is: How is the prosperity of these people undermining the lives of the already prosperous Americans (if at all)? I'm talking about the Americans who demand (and get) huge financial benefits for their work in multi-national companies? Is it that these multi-national, purely capitalist, organizations of America are harming their own people by outsourcing the work overseas? What should they do instead? Or, what should they do in addition?

America has always been a free country. It has always embraced all the immigrants with open arms and heart. This openness in American culture has given them immense managerial skills. In a way, Americans have not just managed the diverse-cultured immigrants over the years (and made them their own); but frankly, they've managed the entire world! Their courteous manners hold the power to disarm and win even the toughest of the hearts and change their lives...

and at this point of time, they need to spread this culture beyond the boundaries of their country. Now, it is their turn to "immigrate" to the other countries of the world. Not as individual souls seeking better lives; but as harbingers of openness and courtesy.

and I believe that those jobless Americans definitely have a job on their hands.

[With special demand, especially from American friends, the article is being re-posted. Please feel free to send in your comments to from_subbu@yahoo.com]

You auto be careful, Brether!

2005-07-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

by Vinod G
[Vinod has just finished his Bachelor’s in Information Technology (IT). He's an avid quizzer having won and conducted a number of quizzes. Please visit his blog for more: http://vinodg.blogspot.com]

Every city has something unique to it, something that lends it its own character, making it different from any other city on the planet. Chennai (a cosmopolitan city in the southern part of India) is no exception. The one thing that sets it apart is: its auto-rickshaws (kinda clone of a taxi, but with only 3 wheels below), or rather, their drivers. Undoubtedly Chennai’s favorite sons, I can bet these auto-drivers are world famous for their honesty and polite disposition.

Yes, I am obviously kidding!
And you would know it as soon as you’ve had the pleasure of riding a Chennai auto. But despite their being infamous, I honestly feel that the auto-drivers in Chennai are more tourist-friendly than anywhere else in India. They’re definitely better than, say, Bangalore, where the driver can’t even decide which language he wants to speak in.

Your average Chennai auto-driver, on the other hand, is fluent in a number of languages, including English, which he will demonstrate by addressing you, "Brether.." (colloquial for Brother) from time to time. And if you make the mistake of saying more than an "Ah" in reply, then you immediately become his best friend and he starts feeling like he can talk to you about everything that’s troubling his mind. Which is actually not that bad a thing, because considering the rate at which Chennai traffic moves these days, the driver might fall asleep if he had no one to talk to! Now, the drivers understand that not all passengers are dying to talk to them, but that doesn’t stop them from jabbering on anyway. It’s in their nature to be talkative. And as a passenger, you have no choice but to clench and bear with it. There’s no escape.

There are many such problems involved with Chennai auto travel, and it’s very important that you know about them. That’s why I’ve decided to help you out with a rapid FAQ below.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. Whenever I get into an auto, I immediately notice this mysterious looking black thing inside. What is it?
A. That’s the driver, honey.

Q. No, not him, you idiot. It’s this funky looking black object with a number display and all. It looks sophisticated but doesn’t seem to serve any specific purpose. What exactly is that? And what does it do?
A. Oops! Sorry, my mistake! Yes, I know the object you’re talking about. That would be the Fare Meter. It’s there strictly for decorative purposes ONLY.

Q. So how is the fare calculated then?
A. It’s a very complicated procedure because there are many factors that are involved in calculating the cost of an auto journey. These include distance, number of passengers, time of the day, rate of traffic movement, relative humidity and the net run rate of the Cricket game on TV. Plus, an extra 5 bucks for every time the driver calls you "Brether" .

Q. How do I go about haggling over the cost?
A. Price negotiation can be quite tricky but it can be done. First, go up to the driver, name your destination and ask him to quote his price. Now, take that figure and subtract Rs. 100,000 from it. That’ll give you the amount the trip should actually cost. And that in turn means that you’ll soon have to decide if you’re going to have to sell your house or not. However, if you ask nicely enough, the driver might consider giving a discount. For further generosity, try "Brether".

Q. What is meant by the phrase "meterukku mela"?
A. It means that you will, in fact, have to sell your house.

Q. Are you hinting that there are no honest auto drivers in Chennai?
A. Of course not! I’d never do something that stupid. I am STATING that there are no honest auto drivers in this city. It’s a union rule.

Q. Hmmm… ok, you said auto drivers are talkative. What to do when they keep talking?
A. Oh you have no choice. The more you try to ignore him, the louder and more irritating his voice will become. And if he doesn’t hear you speak for some time, he’ll immediately want to make sure that you’re still alive. “Brether?” he’ll go, “BRETHER?” So, you’ll have to keep reassuring him with an “Oh” and an "Ah" every now and then.

Q. Is there absolutely no way to escape this?
A. There IS something you can try. If you have a cell-phone, take it out and pretend you’re talking to someone else. The driver, the polite man that he is, will not disturb you. Of course, to carry on a long conversation with no one at the other end, you need a very active imagination, and powerful jaws. If you don’t have either, you can listen to him gabble and just pray that you meet with an accident and die, which is quite likely considering the number of stickers on the windshield.

Q. Ya.. what’s with all the stickers?
A. Another union rule, I’m afraid. There’s nothing we can do about it. But the autos with the movie star stickers are actually quite ok. But if you get one which has a sticker with two garish, murderous looking eyes and ‘NO FEAR’ emblazoned below them in capital letter in a shockingly distasteful MS Word Art font, then you should immediately make sure you’ve taken out an accident insurance policy.

Q. Ok, I think I’m going to have to travel by Chennai autos in the near future. What’s the most important thing to remember?
A. The most important thing to remember is that I’m currently on the lookout for a new house. So, if you’re selling, you know whom to call.

Q. Ah thanks, anything else you want to tell me?
A. Ya. Good luck, Brether!

comments

I find the article good and normal. In every city, there are always many problems which involve with its auto travel. I like those cities because of its life and activities.
- Benissan Jules, Student, Togo, Africa

Your site is coming along well, and the article is great. It reminds me of a horrible taxi ride I got in Portland, where the driver couldn't communicate with me because he only spoke Iranian. He just kept saying 'No' whenever I'd ask him anything or tell him where I was going.

Example:
"Yeah, I need to get to the Portland bus station."
"Eh... eh, no."
"No?"
"Eh... no."
"You don't know where it is... or you just won't take me?"
"Hmm. Eh..."
"Are you open for business right now?"
"Bus station?"
"Yes, I need to go to the Portland bus station."
"...eh, no. No station."
"Are you saying there is no bus station?"
"No."
"Well, I've been there. I was there this morning. Can you take me there. Go station? Go now?"
"Oh, bus station?"
"Yes."
"Eh, no station. No."
"Can you take me anywhere?"
"Eh?"
"How close to the station can you get me?"
"Eh? Eh, no."

-Ray Succre, Coos Bay, Oregon, USA

Legs of 21st Century people

2005-06-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

by Lilek Vasilek

There was a man who once said that laziness or sloth was the engine of progress. I can agree with these words to some extent.

Scientists invent new things, make their brains work, so that others can use them for their own purposes i.e. for satisfying their needs. Of course, its cool to use computers, cars, microwave ovens, etc.; but, these things were made for people's convenience, and not meant to be used indiscriminately. For example, I think its rather inconsiderate to allow junior pupils in the school to use calculators during their Mathematics Class. This is because Maths is a subject useful for developing children's logic and if a small child always have to "add 2 to 2 or multiply 3 to 3" with the help of calculator; it is not only his mind, his intellect degrades, affecting his very upbringing to adulthood. There's a possibility that, later on, he becomes helpless and solves some life problems with difficulty. That he finds every impediment, even a little one he takes, as a catastrophy or some insoluble thing.

Then some words about television.
All the videos and cartoons are undoubtedly methods of entertainment -n- relaxation for people, from children to adults! Yes, it goes without saying, especially for people of our generation, but not entirely for the elder ones. They have more useful methods; take walking in the forest or quiet talking as examples. This is because in their childhood they didn't have TVs with their serials and entertainment shows. This was the primary reason they became interested in reading or discussing the stories or novels they read. As a result, they had bigger imagination & better creativity in comparison with our generation. When you read you imagine the main characters, the places where the action's happening, but when you watch TV you are deprived of this thinking, you just watch and watch and watch! This also distracts children from their homework or other interesting things which are important for their age. With an increasing role of TV in people's life we observe a decrease of importance of theatres. I think one could never have thought that such a wonderful thing developed by humans would be pushed out by TV.

O'k! it is not just about films, calculators and TV; but also about cars.
Yeah! The most important, useful and very necessary object. The measure of people's prosperity, especially in Russia!

It is good to use cars when you are in a hurry or late for train/airplane or when its cold weather. But by using cars people deprive themselves of the pleasure and healthy affects of walking as that is very important for health, especially when you roam with somebody, who is very close to you...in the forest...or field..., when you are absorbed in your thoughts or just talking to your fellow-traveller. And indeed you become close to nature. When some people do a leisure walk, they think of their life, problems and also try and come to a solution of their problems. Others just look around when they walk, examine houses, shops, shop-windows, people, trees, flowers, etc. The point is even if you walk along one and the same street every day, there is always something new for you; you get surprised that there are and always were some things, which were before your eyes and you never noticed it!

I am not against progress but just want to say that people must use all these inventions moderately, because these 'comfort' things make people their slaves, make people dependent on them, make people machine in themselves. People must not forget that they are LIVING-BEINGS, HUMAN-BEINGS, and they must live, create, act, think, play, feel, and communicate like true humans.

[ She is a student at State Pedagogical University, Russia. Recently, she passed all her exams at the University and has just 1 more year to go!]

Unpopped popcorn

2005-06-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

Hoodia Gordonii

Imagine an organic diet pill that kills the appetite and attacks obesity. It has no known side-effects, and contains a molecule that fools your brain into believing you are full.

Deep inside the African Kalahari desert, grows an ugly cactus called the Hoodia. It thrives in extremely high temperatures, and takes years to mature.

The San Bushmen of the Kalahari, one of the world's oldest and most primitive tribes, have been eating the Hoodia a plant for thousands of years, to stave off hunger during long hunting trips. When South African scientists were routinely testing it, they discovered the plant contained a previously unknown molecule, which has since been christened P57. A license was sold to a Cambridgeshire bio-pharmaceutical company, Phytopharm, who in turn sold the development and marketing rights to the giant Pfizer Corporation.

Unpopped popcorn

Eat your way to the bottom of almost any bag of popcorn and there they are: the rock-hard, jaw-rattling unpopped kernels known as old maids.

The nuisance kernels have kept many a dentist busy, but their days could be numbered: Scientists say they now know why some popcorn kernels resist popping into puffy white globes.

It's long been known that popcorn kernels must have a precise moisture level in their starchy center -- about 15 percent -- to explode. But Purdue University researchers found the key to a kernel's explosive success lies in the composition of its hull.

Unpopped kernels, it turns out, have leaky hulls that prevent the moisture pressure buildup needed for them to pop and lack the optimal hull structure that allows most kernels to explode.

"They're sort of like little pressure vessels that explode when the pressure reaches a certain point," said Bruce Hamaker, a Purdue professor of food chemistry. "But if too much moisture escapes, it loses its ability to pop and just sits there."

The findings may help popcorn breeders select the best varieties -- or create new ones -- with superior hulls that yield few, if any, unpopped kernels. But for now, there's no way to screen out potential old maids before they end up in bags of popcorn.

* above information obtained courtesy Google Inc.

Running into The Fourth Estate

2005-05-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

by Merlin F. Flower

"I am a Trainee Journalist," I said pathetically.
"At this young age, a Journalist.. unbelievable," the man observed. Clearly, he wasn’t catching my point.

"We have a paper called The Weekly Observer," I continued.
"Wow, Observer?"
"No, Weekly Observer," I clarified in a feeble voice, having remembered my Ethics Class. Never mind the feeble part, "I did clarify," I told myself.

"I have heard of "The Weekly," maybe I wouldn’t have noticed Observer," came another enthusiastic rejoinder from the 'alien' man.

I stopped my stupid clarifications, and started enjoying the new role of being a Journalist. The man didn’t know, and I didn’t tell him that I was a student journalist and ‘ The Weekly Observer’ happened to be our campus publication.

"It was hilarious to find the respect the profession commanded," I thought. How easy it was to manipulate the man, jus' like being a Judge of the highest court.

The pathetic lot of Trainee Journalists begin with some high dreams of changing the world; how and when come only later on. To know why I say "pathetic," read on..

With a dangling name tag and glowing face they march on and around the streets. Stories are everywhere ‘hiding,’ we tell ourselves. For us, the people cease to be living humans and get limited to mere characters in these ‘stories.’

But, there is more fun in this profession. Toil by paying is the first irony giving pain and satisfaction. Being able to save money on health clubs stand on the next level of satisfaction. For voices opposing this, which gym can shape one's body like a good long walk? Learning to get up with a smile, after being thrown on the streets, is a unique adventure in itself. Smiling when you don’t feel like, is something all journalism school enthusiasts learn to do.

Mouths open wide and shut faster, putting lightning to shame in this Department. Working in an 'alien' land (after all not knowing the language of the land makes you an alien) is the summit of adventure in itself.

Standing behind the Lift Manager, I was the witness to some angry exchanges. The lift operator looked very angry while I was lost in my own thoughts. After about 5 minutes, I realized that the Lift Manager was actually shouting at me and that the poor man was trying to explain my ignorance of the language. I had stood directly behind the operator rejecting his safety warnings.

Coming back to the professional talk, a good exercise to deflate one's ego is to go to a place without address. By the time you are kicked out of say, 20 buses and the crowd stands enjoying, your ego is gone. Some say, that’s why a student of journalism is a 'privileged' lot - for they can join any circus as buffoons! Never mind the sarcasm, they can be good fiction writers and if luck permits, become good journalists.

The hardest part of the profession is rejection. If American politician John Kerry had belonged to this part of the world, he wouldn’t have felt sorry for losing the presidential election. Had he been a journalist, by the time he reached 25, his losses would have already counted more than the stars in the sky!

So, the next time you see a bleached and ragged face with a dangling tag approaching, don’t drive them off, but offer a coffee though the dumbo (read Trainee Journalist) is sure to reject it.

Obviously for the Lift Manager, it was his first encounter with us.

[Merlin is from Kannyakumari, India. At present she is doing her diploma in Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore. She loves painting, listening to music, nature. To know more: merlin.flower@gmail.com]

comments

I liked your article very much and I agree that its a really difficult profession. Though, at the same time, a very interesting one too; because journalists take interviews and communicate with different people and widen their scope/understanding/knowledge. There are some people who can't understand this profession, thinking that journalists interfere in other people's affairs. But, thanks to this profession we get to know about things happening all around us across the world.

- Lilek Vasilek, State Pedagogical University, Russia

Its wonderful to get an "inside" peek into The Fourth Estate!
- Subbu

Meaningless

2005-04-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

by Ray Succre

You do remember not being able to read,
and specifically, being unable to spell.

You have a few, vague memories from before you had learned to speak,
before you had a language.

They're mostly pictoral memories, cut scenes,and they are all soundless.

These are 1-sec silent films showing knee-height California:
A street.
A series of houses.
The back of your father's head.
A record.

A television during a commercial for some cartoon.
A grandmother with a bottle of amber liquid swearing as she stumbles over a chair.
Your mother showing you her purse in a mirror.

Then, you learned English, or at least, the modicum of it expected of someone aged birth thru 4.

You have many odd, strangled memories from this period, the clearest ones being the ones up-front:
An orange cat on a counter slashing your left eye.
The view from your high-chair.
You following up your mother going up a carpeted staircase, spelling aloud her maiden name with a series of M's and B's and random letters, and at the top, her (lie of) congratulations to you on spelling it correctly.

A rounded intersection with a garden in the center.
Looking down and squealing with horror while your Dad holds you up and over the railing of a chasmic scenic overlook, laughing his head off.
Some boy of about your same age, in a blue shirt, carrying a bundle of papers he is playing with, in a house near the woods.
Sitting on your Dad's lap and looking out through a windshield while he works the pedals, and while you steer.

Your new, blue Schwinn Stingray below a broken pinata from a Playa Del Sol, in a public park during your 4th birthday party.
Your training wheels being put on.
Going head-first over the handlebars into some broken glass.
Falling head-first off a kitchen counter into some broken glass.

Pitching head-first off your bike while trying to go up a curb.
A Godzilla toy that shot rockets out of its wrist.
A church next door.
A fig tree out back.

A jetty.
An ocean.
A tiny, living octopus in your father's hand.

[Ray belongs to Oregon, USA. He regularly writes poetry and has secured numerous publications. Recently, he has been blessed with a lovely son. Please visit his blog to know more: http://raysuccre.blogspot.com]

J'aime le Chocolat

2005-04-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

I love chocolates.
The mere mention of the word brings a broad smile on my face, fills my mind with the rich -n- creamy sensation, and my heart with a delectable anticipation.

I wanted to title this piece "Chocolates & Me". However, I had to pull 'You' in, instead, considering Cadbury's speckle "Tiny little bits of fun for everyone to share."

"Life is like a box of chocolates" remarked Tom Hanks in the movie Forrest Gump. I guess he was only trying to emphasize the different tastes of life: sweet, bitter, creamy, sour, dark, light, and so on; while relishing a box full of assorted chocolates.

In today's world, Chocolate is utopian bliss.
Ghirardelli, American Premium Chocolate maker, claims that this delicacy, originating as early as some 400 years ago, is a multi-billion dollar behemoth confection industry of today. So not just the hearts -n- minds, its made its presence in everyone's wallets too!

Throughout history chocolate has been associated with romance and sharing. "It is love with a lighter touch, a spontaneous token of affection" as Cadbury's tagline goes. The British giant provides browsers with a fun-filled chocolate manufacturing experience in a virtual factory on its website.

Recently, Woolworths of United Kingdom conducted a poll to find the "true" you from the kinds of chocolates you nibble. A thousand people chose their favourite shapes and flavours before filling out a quiz about themselves. Some of the results are quite interesting.

People who favor the coconut-flavored chocolates are perfectionists and great thinkers. or I'd say, so they claim themselves to be!

Hershey's, with a Chocolate ThemePark to its name in Pennsylvania-USA, presents its nutty chocolates with the punchline "Sometimes you feel like a nut". and the results only confirm it. Don't they?

In the early 1700s, chocolate used to be consumed as a liquid beverage instead of a confection. The frothy beverage, which was sometimes made with water, and sometimes with wine, could be seasoned with vanilla, pimiento, and chili pepper. It was believed to be an aphrodisiac.

The Chocolate-houses used to compete with Coffee-houses to sell their "liquid". In those days, the idea of "eating" a chocolate was still fancy. Today, as the survey claims, people of the thoughtful kind still prefer the Coffee flavor; though in hardened form.

Some scientists claim that the anti-oxidants in the chocolates help alleviate stress. So, to help life keep easy, Go Chocolates. or should I say, Go Fudge..

The results claim that the shapes are important too; with sociable people opting for circles and diamonds whereas relaxed types prefering the oval ones. The shy, though, opt for the rectangle chocolates.

And about the chocolate filling, the life and soul of the party types prefer very sweet centres and shy people opt for bitter-sweet ones.

In summary, I agree with what Nestlé, the Swiss giant, has got to say "Chocolate is one of the best-loved foods everywhere in the world. It is one of life's little pleasures. The attractive tastes and textures of chocolate and chocolate products delight the senses of all ages."

To finally lick off, never mind the personality mapping, coz' I eat them all on my impish impulse. Yo! Chocoholics!!

comments

I like chocolates too! Nestle is great!! and i like black chocolates more than white ones.
Yanzi, Shenzhen, China

Chocolate! it's like a drug for me... my favorite ones are the ones with yoghurt or "nugat".
Stephanie Weih, Germany

You must be good at writing. The language you wrote is very beautiful.
Yu-Zhen, Taiwan

I love chocolates too!!
Marc Diatta, Senegal

I'm not a big fan of chocolates but I like Milkybar, Kit-kat and Nestle.
Kiran Baworee, Mauritius

I just love chocolates!!
Krzysiek, Poland

Yeah.. its déjà vu

2005-03-21T00:19:00.000-08:00

Who are you?

..and where are you headed in life?

but more importantly.. What do you want?

Is it money? ..really?

What will you do with money? Will that bring happiness to you?

Think again.. talk to yourself.. a little more deeply ..

Is it that you want something more out of your life?

Do you want to enjoy what you do?

.. irrespective of what you really do.. be it purely mechanical job or one that requires a head as well.. like in some technical work or a managerial one..

How to enjoy the daily .. routine .. monotonous.. work?

.. the work that you do day-in and day-out.. for a living..

The point to note is that majority of the work that anyone does is routine only.. or it becomes so after some time!

So, what to do??

How to make the same mundane work enjoyable?

Isn't this what a good lot of people wanna know.. and isn't this what people in the past have also tried to answer?

Google to find out more on life.. if you wanna get that satisfaction out of your work..that.. Yes, I did this in my life! .. over and over again.. and again..

Keywords: Innovative, Weird, Dilbert, Network, Prof Robert Sutton, Enjoy, Life

Cherished moments

2005-02-21T00:03:00.000-08:00

by Anu Palani
[She is employed with Accenture India, Bangalore]

There is something really magical about college friendships. I wonder how much effort God would have put into creating it.

Yesterday I went to a Railway Reservation Counter to book my tickets. As usual, the counter was jam-packed. I was cursing my luck and all the uncertainties of life when I noticed a girl standing just ahead of me. She was just an ordinary girl. What captured my interest was her smile. She was filling up the Reservation Form wearing a big smile on her face; lost deeply in her own thoughts. There was a sweetness about her which disarmed me instantaneously.

The girl looked around too... and suddenly she called out a name so loudly that almost all (not kidding!) turned around. "Ashok....", "What are you doing here?" Her tone was a mixture of pure happiness and complete disbelief. The guy behind me replied coyly and with an enthusiasm matching hers replied "Came to book the tickets, yaar". Her friend gave her a hi-fi and that set the mood...

There were no formal greetings and wishes exchanged. No "how are you?"s and "how have you been?"s. They started talking from where they would have left... probably years back. Their easy demeanor indicated they were deep college friends, and had chanced upon each other that fateful day. Those two were totally oblivious to the surroundings. They were totally immersed in their conversation; stuff like "what’s she doing", updating "how is he...hey not him", complimenting "your handwriting is still the same...", exploring "hey! what’s this blue lens", and exchanging sweet admonitions like "Grow up yaar..." and "am happy you are the same" kind of talks.

I totally forgot myself.
I found myself involved in their talks. I caught myself laughing out loud on several occasions that it took all my self control to stop and regain my composure! Inductively, I looked back to a time when I myself was in college .The several topics we would harp on ending with the numerous "Lets keep in touch promises". I thought about the fun we had shared all those times and all the people I had cared about then. I thought of the reasons why along life's rough patches my friends got left behind. I thought of the many times I had postponed writing letters to them. I thought why I had missed making calls and returning them; why I had missed Weddings and Birthdays. I thought of the beautiful difference it would have made, had I still been in touch with them. I had always meant to do all of those but before I realized time had just flown by. I was overwhelmed. I looked at the two again. I was in a total daze, infact completely mesmerized.

My turn came, got the tickets and walked out.

The two had left by then. I left home too, feeling light than ever before. I wondered where life will take them...I wondered where life would have taken my college friends...I wondered where life would take me...I found myself whispering a silent prayer...for them...for us.

comments

Jenni Liikanen, student in Keuruu (Finland)
I read your text and I liked it... I´m not sure that I understood everything but I like it... most of the thing that you wrote about is true.

In our high school, we will soon be having "Vanhojen Tanssit", a traditional event that means 17-18 years old boys and girls dance together in old dance styles. If we want participate in the event we have to dance with somebody! Girls with boys and boys with girls of course!!
I can´t wait mine!

Another one is "Abit" where students whose high school is almost over dress in funny costumes and do everything silly!

Of youth, fun, & that special moment

2005-01-31T19:17:00.000-08:00

"Your house transforms to a home, the minute you marry and your spouse moves-in" ... words of advice from the elders; usually to a young male bachelor, in Asian countries.

If you believe me, the word "home" holds a lot of transformational-gravity in the above statement. Among several other things, it means that you can no longer hang your washed-socks through the ceiling fan for drying, wipe the chocolate cream off your lips with a table cloth, keep magazines under your pillow, invite your friends for a late-night booze party, ...

Basically, it means that the male cannot, anymore, do anything that even remotely hints on bachelorhood.

Frankly, I think it should apply to females as well.
Jus' take a look at this gender: unmarried females glue to their cellphones like a lizard to a ceiling, carry the same handkerchief all the time - be it to an Ice Cream Parlor or a Cinema Theatre, demand that they be reminded about items on their to-do list at odd hours, have forsaken the art of cooking to the archival history books of a barren library, ...

Having said that, however, I must clarify that the wedding moment transforms the jeune filles too. But if its for good after all, I'm not sure.

Post-wedlock, they use their hubby's handkerchief irrespective of the parlor, the culinary activities of the kitchen are postponed till the weekend (or just Sunday mornings - to be precise), their phone bills are now paid by their life-partners, and their list-of-demands expands like a chewing gum pulled at both ends!

In western countries (aka. Europe and America), the "move-in" mostly occurs before marriage itself. However, the post-matrimony transformational changes are experienced by both, there too. Well, to clarify here, I do not mean that after marriage a Sprint (cell phone) gives way to a BlackBerry or that the Papa John's (pizza) becomes a Little Ceaser's.

Considering the global nature of the topic, let's traverse through its fundamentals as well.

There are, basically, 3 Fs that make-up a female: Fructose, Fashion, and Fun. Though we are talking about only the feminine gender here; I suspect that these building-blocks are the ones actually responsible for the transformation per se.

Fructose is a constituent of sugar that provides the sweetness in it. Interestingly, it is the males who have to sweat-out n cultivate the harvest that finally yields it. To recognize the point with clarity, consider the gushes below.

"That dress fits you fabulously.."
"The food you cooked today was simply great!"
"You are looking extremely gorgeous tonight".
"How was it?"
....

Fashion means more than just Lip Rouge, Powder Puff, and Blushtones. Fundamentally, its the beauty in its entirety; including behavioral charm. To interprete the cliche "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder" - it simply means that every single female on earth is beautiful (as long as they are able to find a male to certify it). And as you would also realize, feminine fashion does lead to the generation of fructose as well.

finally, Fun is the motivator among these 3 constitutive elements. In other words, it is the means as well as the end. From enjoying a cartoon clip with younger brother, a bit of shakin' in a discotheque with boyfriend, cooking a delicious dish to enjoy with husband, ... all lead to fun.

You would agree from above that the lives of females and males are inseparable. Marriage only serves as an avenue that further brings them closer to each other. Its that once-in-a-lifetime moment which promises a homely life ahead.

>> The article secured publication in March 01, 2005 (Issue #2) of The Persistent Mirage: A Haven for Poets and Thinkers

comments

Laida Asma
Puy de Dôme, Clermont-Ferrand, France
It's a good work!!! I think today a lot of persons prefer to get married with someone who is very rich, in a good social position, has high education, works in big organization...and many of them want to earn money very quikly so they get married (some girls do that)...
But i think, there are also some persons who want to find the veritable and right love!!! I have an impression that you are a very romantic man!
isn't it?

Steve Luxenberg
Assistant Managing Editor, Sunday Outlook, The Washington Post, USA
I enjoyed reading your piece, as well as looking at your handsomely-done site!

Bijilu Sandra
Indian Institute of Journalism, Bangalore, India
Don't u think u are a little biased towards girls? Hmmmm.. guess it was only written as a light piece. Oh!! come on.. I am not a feminist.

Terrie Leigh Relf
“The Mistress of Rhetoric” columnist for The Espresso, San Diego, CA, USA
I enjoyed reading this, and I must say that your blog resembles an online magazine. Nice set-up!

Erik Loren Snyder
Engineer, Austin, USA
Oh my gawd you are a sappy sentimentalist. Oh.. wait, Valentine's day is next week and you are trying to impress a girl!Well, I pretty much have to agree with your assessment of girls. They need constant reassurance, money, and more money. Then the kids arrive and the extortion racket really kicks into high gear!!

Lilek Vasilek
State Pedagogical University, Russia
I like it very much! Teenage boys and girls usually have one and the same problems; I think they're afraid of many things that can't be understood by their parents, their friends, opposite sex. Like they're afraid to be left alone and to live the whole life by themselves without anybody by their side. I think some children marry early without thinking about the fact that people must have mutual understanding and support; only liking each other is not enough. You said right that after marriage, when the two get to know each other better they begin to fulfil their duties about the house. Though the first 2 or 3 years are difficult! Later I think it becomes kinda like a routine where they're accustomed to each other that they can't imagine their lives without each other. Of course, then they have something that connects them in their life - their children.

Bryon D. Howell
Editor-in-Chief, The Persistent Mirage, USA
Great work!

Subbu, author
Feb 2005
Life is fun!
Everyone walks through different stages in his/her life. Among those, the transition stage from carefree youth to more sincere maturity holds particular intrigue. For Asians, this is marked by marriage.
Being a male, I tend to observe the feminine gender more!
Hence, the article.. enjoy!!

Fiction novel “The Noreth Story”

2005-01-17T00:52:00.000-08:00

By ] Tanaqui
[She lives on the East Coast, near Washington DC, USA]

PROLOGUE

"Loriana! Loriana! Wake up! The council is meeting, you need to be there!"
"You have got to be kidding me, it’s the middle of the night, I’ll go to the summery meeting in the morning."
"There won’t be one" Salne said, her brows creased with worry and fear. Loriana felt her stomach drop at the look on her mother’s face. "The time has come after all" she thought as a grave calm settled down on her.
"This is it, isn’t it? The walls will fall tomorrow?" she said. Her mother nodded, fighting back the tears that were threatening to mar her comely face. The girl nodded and got up, plaiting her flaxen hair for the official event and grabbing the emergency bag that everyone in the city had kept ready for years.

The fear was tangible in the great council hall as Loriana and Salne entered. Chief Councilman Alston was directing a discussion from the podium. From the look on King Colas’ face, it wasn’t going very well.

"We need to decide now! We do not have time to continue to listen to you old hens debate this. Either we move our people into the caves and send out our emissary or we find another way, but there is no way that we can win this fight!" Alston was urging his reluctant council members. He sat and listened to a few more outcries before spotting Loriana and her mother. His face lit up to see the young woman and he beckoned her up onto the speaker’s dais with him.

"Look it’s the emissary!" one of the men in the crowd shouted causing the entire host of large almond eyes set in angular faces framed by fantastic head pieces to focus on Loriana. Taking a deep breath she mounted the podium and addressed the crowd.

"I know what you are asking, and the answer is that I do not know where the Rose is. We have some leads, but unfortunately they are all strains of legends and that does not leave us with much information and we do not have the time." She took another deep breath and steadied her voice for the bad news she was about to deliver. "This means that well, that I failed and have nothing to offer you. What Councilman Alston said was right, we need to think of something now, and I believe that the caves may be the only way," she finished, watching as the previously silent crowd erupted into angry shouts and chaos.

"You were our hope!" cried one woman, her sister weeping on her shoulder."Useless wench! Do you mean that all of this time has been wasted on you? We should have found another, we should have found another...."

"Quiet!" a deep voice said, coming from the back of the hall, cutting off the angry man’s rant.
"Listen now, I tell you! The one you seek you could not have found, the Noreth will come from another place, in a time distant from now! She will find the Rose..." .

Loriana bolted up from her sleep, hugging her arms to herself as she remembered the meeting, where the prophet had spoken and where, after failing her people she was inexplicably entrusted with saving them again. What were they thinking? Surely they must have been wrong and now I don’t have a choice. She thought to herself. Swearing under her breath she got up from her bed of moss and rushes and walked to her pile of books and instruments. She pulled out a battered scribing mirror and spoke the words of enchantment over it and waited as the image of a teenage girl sitting on a hill appeared, her red brown hair shining like copper in the afternoon light. “Maybe not all is lost after all” she thought to herself again, settling down for the long watch.

>> for complete novel and/or comments, please contact her at riannaofthewolves@yahoo.com
[the complete novel is still being drafted]

Impressions on Côte d'Ivoire

2004-12-26T18:57:00.000-08:00

by Koffi Hervÿ
[ She is a lawyer from Ivory Coast, Africa ]

I live in Abidjan and speak French; though I'm begining to learn English.
Abidjan is the biggest town with a population of around 3 million.

Ivory Coast (also known as Côte d'Ivoire in French) is a country in West Africa with a population of around 16 million; probably less than that of city Bombay in India! Around 26% of the population is made up of foreigners coming from other African countries around us and also from Asia(there's a great community of Lebanon and Syria). Our neighbouring countries are Ghana(east), Mali and Burkina-Faso(north), Guinea and Liberia(west).

The people in Ivory Coast speak 70 local languages(which is too many for a small country). The most important are Baoule, Malinke or Dioula, Bete, Senoufo, Agni...

I'm a Christian and am from Baoule's group. In Baoule's culture, people are accustomed to give names to children according to their day of birth. For example, "konan" means the man who is born on wednesday, "kouassi" - who is born on monday, etc. My name Koffi means "who is born on saturday".

The most important religion here is Animism, an African religion. In my tribal group there's a supreme god called "Niamien Kpli", which is a bit like Allah for Muslims or Yahve for Christians.

We celebrate local festivals, like "generation festival" by people in the south. It's a moment for these people to recognize that young boys are now mature and can take part in the administration of the tribal society.

The main food in Ivory Coast comprises of rice, cassava, yam and plantain. I like particularly "attieke" - it's made with cassava and we eat it with fish.

The country is a popular tourist destination. Yamoussoukro, located in the centre of the country, has the famous Basilica - Our Lady of Peace. Its bigger than the Basilica of Roma in Italia. Its also known for crocodile's lake. The sea, natural beaches, and bays attract European tourists to the south of the country.

I love my country and hope to visit India sometime in the near future.

Poland's Santa

2004-12-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

by Przemek
[ He is a student of European Affairs in Poland ]

We have a religious holiday, All Saints' Day, in Poland on the 1st of Nov. During this day you go to a cemetery to light a candle for people who were very close to you - some members of your family, friends who have gone.. It's a sign of remembering them.

When I'm telling you about holidays in Poland I must mention Christmas which is regarded as the most important religious holiday in my country. It's the time when people try to be more friendly and generous to others. They want to forget about their daily problems. On Christmas Eve (24th Dec) everybody decorates their Christmas trees with baubles, sweets, candles, paper chains and paper angels. It's believed in Poland that everything that happen on this day has an influence on the coming year. And when a first person who visit us that day is a man that means you and your family will be lucky in the New Year.

When the first star appears in the sky the whole family sit around the table. You leave one empty plate for an unexpected guest. There is a white cloth on the table and there's some hay under it. The other custom is connected with the number of dishes - you should prepare the twelve ones. The traditional dishes are: beetroot soup with pies, boiled dough pockets filled with meat and sour cabbage, some fish (generally carp), poppyseed cake and some more. Before starting eating everybody wishes to each other all the best. The wishes are usually very personal. During this celebration people share a special wafer baked only for Christmas. It's a unique Polish tradition which goes back to the 15th century. After the Christmas supper you sing Christmas carols. And what is more you can take your presents which lie under the Christmas tree (children believe that presents are brought by Santa Claus). In addition I can tell you that it's believed that animals can speak. At midnight a lot of people go to church to a special mess.

On 25th Dec, Polish people usually stay at home with their close family. On 26 Dec, people usually pay visits to their relatives and friends.

It's the most beautiful and charming religious holiday for everyone in Poland.

What can jobless Americans do for the world?

2004-12-01T19:15:00.000-08:00

What's wrong with the American economy? How long will so many Americans remain jobless? Has 'U'ncle 'S'am grown old? Old enough to retire; may be die?

I don't think so.

Let's take a closer look at the country right from the basics.
For more than a century now, America has been a land of immigrants. The original natives of the country exist no more. For a long time, people from all parts of the world (be it Europe, South America, Africa or even half-way across the globe - Asia) have immigrated into America. They've entered the country with an aim to enjoy the sumptuous comforts of life available there. The comforts that include not just quality housing, travel, food, recreation, etc; but also the enticing growth-prospects that exist for every individual career-wise. A life highlighted with the all too pleasant American culture of courtesy and mannerisms, towards everyone. In return, these immigrants have contributed back a lot to the country also. They have made it their home. Over the years, they have put their sweat to work and their smile to prosperity.

and America has prospered.
With time, not only has its economy grown steadily; but so has its world-stature. People from all over the world started calling it "Uncle Sam"; out of deep affection. and it became one of the most loved and admired country of the world.

Then what has happened to change that? Can't this continue, as it has done in the past, till say, eternity?

The economies of some of the other countries of the world, like China and India, have changed significantly lately. The growth in these economies has been marked with large-scale industrialization and opening-up of the economy to foreign multi-national companies. The numerous residents of these countries have risen to add those sumptuous comforts to their lives as well; but without having to leave their motherland.

These people are keen to transform their brick-walled units to air-conditioned apartments. The conversion of mud-laden streets to 8-lane high-speed expressways is underway. They are bringing in their Pontiac to get the pleasant no-horn-honking 70-miles-an-hour driving experience right on their own roads. The adoption of advanced methods of waste-management is ensuring that their cities look clean like-never-before. Realization of the "Shop till ya Drop" dream-experience in international-quality shopping malls studded with food joints, recreational facilities, and more is a reality now. The participation in the JCPenney-One-Day-Only-Sale events over the weekends is an add-on. This includes the relish of the yummy extra cheese on burgers and the pizzas with jalapenos.

In all, they are keen to prove to the world that they can make it happen for themselves, just like did the Americans.
and they are...

The question that comes immediately to mind is: How is the prosperity of these people undermining the lives of the already prosperous Americans (if at all)? I'm talking about the Americans who demand (and get) huge financial benefits for their work in multi-national companies? Is it that these multi-national, purely capitalist, organizations of America are harming their own people by outsourcing the work overseas? What should they do instead? Or, what should they do in addition?

America has always been a free country. It has always embraced all the immigrants with open arms and heart. This openness in American culture has given them immense managerial skills. In a way, Americans have not just managed the diverse-cultured-immigrants over the years (and made them their own); but frankly, they've managed the entire world! Their courteous manners hold the power to disarm and win even the toughest of the hearts and change their lives...

and at this point of time, they need to spread their culture beyond the boundaries of their country. Now, it is their turn to "immigrate" into the other countries of the world. Not as individual souls seeking better lives; but as harbingers of openness and courtesy.

and I believe that those jobless Americans definitely have a job on their hands.

comments

Your piece is really well-done, its a classic!
Steve Luxenberg, Assistant Editor, The Washington Post, USA

Honestly, your article looks good.
Sanjay Raveendra, Covansys Pvt. Limited, India

Your site is amazing!
- Jenny Latchko, British Columbia, Canada

I read your arcticle. Very well written. I personally would like to be an American that "immigrates" to another country. But, I can't afford it. And, I would really prefer to get married before I do. I would also hope that I can go to Europe, but the Europeans are just as difficult as Americans when it comes to immigration.
- Joel C. Boone, USA

Your article almost acts as if America turned into some sort of iceberg for economic growthand that our only hope is to go to other countries. In my opinion, I think immigrating US citizens to countries that pay cheaper wages because their human rights laws are weakisn't a good idea for anyone.
- Matt Rodman, Finance and Business Management, NY, USA

vERY GOOD INDEED! It was a nice read. I sometimes wonder about capitalism and its relationship with democracy. I know that I don't want to live in a socialist or communist state, at times capitalism is pure greed.
- Kevin Johnson, Liberal Democrat, USA

It is very nice that you send to me this nice website. its very useful.
- Ammar Ali, Computer Engineer, Iraq

You'r quite a blogger!
- Ron Carney, Environmental Specialist, USA

I find you article from India is fine.
- Sharon Wehrlein, Tuttlingen, Germany

sahi hai.. jhakas..
- Arnab Chakrabarty, Chemical Engineer, USA

Life in Finland

2004-11-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

by Jenni Liikanen
[She is a student in Keuruu, Finland]

FOOD

Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pasty)

These are a traditional Easters specialty but nowadays they are served at many hotel breakfast buffets. They are made of rye dough n filled with rice porridge or potato. They are normally heated and served with chopped eggs and butter.

Mustamakkara

This food is related to a similar kind of pudding served in England and Ireland. It´s colour results from the blood that´s it´s main ingredient. It´s especially popular in Finland´s third biggest town, Tampere, where people buy it from kiosks at market places and eat it with their fingers!

Mämmi

This food looks perhaps the strangest and most off-putting to foreigners. It´s made from rye flour, malt and water, seasoned with orange peel n baked in the oven. It resembles porridge or pudding. It tastes sweet, but some people put sugar on it before eating it with cream.

CUSTOMS

Here v have the custom to put our utensils at four o´clock on our plate when we are done. If we put them on each side of plate that usually means we want more food.

When we go to visit some friend´s house we take our shoes off when we entering the house.

SANTA CLAUS

Lives in finnish Lapland near to Rovaniemi.

FORESTS

About 35% of all the EU´s forest areas are in Finland. The forests are a great natural resource and are used for commercial purposes like making paper, but protecting the environment is also an important question in the use of the forests. The finnish state owns large areas of forest and many of them are nature conservation areas.

SAUNA

Almost every Finn has a sauna about once a week and families go there together. First the sauna stones are heated and then water is thrown on them to create steam. The traditional Finnish sauna was in a small wooden building, close to a lake. The bathers first took a steam bath and then dived into the cool water of the lake or in winyer, rolled in the snow. Nowadays many homes have an electric sauna with a shower room for washing.

TIME FOR SOME "FUN STUFF"

There have also been world championships in mosquito killing in Pyhätunturi. The official world record from 1995 stands at 21 mosquitoes in 5 minutes. The very first games, if we can call that a game, were held in 1993. In the year 1996 it was impossible to hold the championships ´cos of the lack of mosquitoes!

Sonkajärvi has become well-known all over the world as the avenue of The Wife Carrying World Championships. The wacky idea is Sonkajärvi´s very own. The length of the course is 253.5 meters and it includes a number of dry and wet obstacles. The current record stands at 1 min 4.5 sec. The winning style was to carry the wife on one´s shoulders like a sack of rye. The winning couple won a stack of prizes including a mobile phone, a heap of rye bread and-most importantly-the wife´s weight in beer!!

comments

Finland is a country with good ecology and there is very clean water and air. About my trip there, it was very good both for my health and soul to live there a little. Finland is not far from Sent-Peterburg, it`s 300 km to the border between Russia and Finland. But when you just cross the border you may see the differences. On the Russian territory there are a lot ofgarbage along the road and in the forest close to the road. Finnish forest and road and everything are shine from cleanness. Finnish people care for nature and environment very eagerly. They buy wood in Russia for not cut Finnish one.

I was in the north of Finland. It`s about 500 km from Russian border.I feel the difference myself in air, in water, in food. I really want this way in Russia, but I know it`s impossible. And it`s so sadly.

When I return to my native country after visiting Europe I can`t live as I used to in Russia. In Finland I may forget my bag with money in a shop or cafe, come back there later and find it at the same place in the same condition... If I forget it in Russia for a while, I can`t find there neither bag nor money!

- Nata, Civil Lawyer, Russia

Late-Laloo says never-say-die

2004-10-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

introduction...

The evergreen lampoon is dogmatic as ever about his "lalwaayi"...

From publicly wrecking his political rivals to playing the never-ending gimmicks on camera... he keeps whistling his trains.

wu bihari mein kahate hain na... "Laloo jaaye per lalwaayi na jaayi".

- Subbu, author
Nov 2004

>> The piece got published titled as "Laloo Laloo" in November issue of Voice Of Asia published in print from Chicago, IL, USA

>> It also secured publication in www.indiainfo.com on 11/02 titled as "A time in future - Laloo as tourist attraction!"

Late-Laloo says never-say-die

Who says India lacks the appeal to draw international tourists? Among several other things, there's pyara Laloo. Yes, I'm talking about the pseudo-Chief Minister of The Kingdom of Bihar.

Let's consider a time in the future (hopefully not too distant) when the glorious glimpses of the life of late-Laloo have been added to the annals of history in golden or sunahrey words. The clever Tourism Minster then, has done this on purpose.

In memory of the late-minister, a huge statue of Laloo, some 100 odd feet high, carved out in pure white marble and put right in the center of the erstwhile capital city of Patna, is erected. True to his image, live cattle with fodder have been let loose around the enclosed perimeter of this effigy. Also, special (white) dhoti-kurta clad guards wearing neta-type white topi and carrying AK-47s are present to "protect" the statue and/or the cattle with their fodder and/or the visiting international tourists.

Joining hands with the Tourism Minister, the then Railway Minister decides to add a special train, of the order of Palace on Wheels, to bring tourists right to this spot without any hassles from the 5* hotels of Patna. To add to their experience, tea/coffee/lassi/vodka all are served in special earthen kulhads on this train.

The vibrancy of the spot is enhanced several times by the non-stop audio, of course played @ high decibels, reminiscing the taped speeches and journalistic responses or bakbak by burhbak, both edited and the non-edited ones, of the internationally acclaimed minister.

In no time does the place become so popular that people from far far away get attracted to it. Among several others, there is the Sultan of Brunei and a not-so-popular peasant from Cuba. Both however, are required to pay the same extra-fees aka. ghoos to enter the compounds of this landmark. Upon entry, both are freely-allowed to tan in the bright sunlight within the compounds of the statue; wearing as many clothes as they want, if at all! and, as expected, the foreigners do not mind being in 'such-a-state' amidst the ogling eyes of the local people. Of course, touring females are also allowed inside.

The residents of Patna are very happy to find their luck personified i.e. to see n meet firangi chaps of all shape, size, colour, sex, and what not. Not-to-forget-to-mention, the visitors are gracefully offered the local favorite drink chanchh for free.

The administrators of The Kingdom of Bihar are finally happy to find that they can after all accomplish something in the not-so-common-and-cared-for category of public-service.

Also as anticipated, the Reserve Bank of India at the national level, gleefully pounds with both hands on the variety of foreign currency pouring in. Its coffers start filling up like anything.

However, not everyone gets to enjoy the goodies out of this. My heart goes out to the poor big black crows who were routed out of the place by the Ministry to save any droppings of embarrassment (on the statue).

How many countries in the entire world do you think can boast of such a renowned figure?

May God Bless India. and of course, The Kingdom of Bihar, for that matter.

comments

bahut likh diye ho lallo jee ke bare me ... abhi next priminister wahi banne wala hai !!
- Rajan, Patna

Its really funny..
- Anu, Bangalore

To be frank, your article didn't tickle my funny bone.
- Amit, Ass Editor, Just Another Magazine, Mumbai

Glorious exaggeration!!!!
- Johnson, Trivandrum

Read it. Idon't really have much of an opinion on it. Doesn't do anything in particular for me. Many people write about him.. there's programs on TV (particularly NDTV) that make fun of his every move... Nothing new. If you're asking me about writing style, then, well, it's conventional. Will appeal to older people. and well.. for a second article, it's certainly not bad.
- Mala Bhargava, Editor, Cyber Media Publications, India

Its good!
- Janani, Chennai

I have just read your article about"LALOO" and I can say that it is more interesting than the previous one that I read.I confess that I read it for several times because it was rather difficult to understand it;anyway I managed to cope with it.Having read this article I got to know about some places of interest other than magnicifient Taj-Mahal.I;ve also read your thesis about India.I am not agree with you on the point that places of interest in India attracts only dogs.But I can surprise you that the word "woman"is also a synonym to the word"housewife"in Russia,especially in our republic.And returning to your previous article about America and the comments on it I want to say that I share the views of student from Poland and Natalia Kulikova from Russia,who said that the americans haven't got there own culture.thank you very much for your articles!It seems to me that I get to know your country better!
- Lilek Vasilek, Pedagogics, Russia

It happens only in India...

2004-10-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

introduction by the author

India.. the land of over a billion people!
a place where over 1/6th of humanity on the planet resides!
a country which is the largest democracy on earth!

a nation that won independance 57 years ago;
the state that now aspires to be the leader of the world...
leader in terms of freedom, conduct, and the quality of life.

Subbu.
Oct 2004

It happens only in India...

1. People find a "smile" the most-difficult-thing-to-do

2. A school backpack weighs heavier than the kid herself

3. Girlz win Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss Asia-Pacific, and more yet boyz still crave for the blondes, brunettes, redheads, etcetra.

4. Private supplementary tuitions enrol more students than the school itself

5. The word "woman" is synonymous with a housewife

6. PSC aka. Politics, Sex, and Cricket are on our minds 24/7; yet each remain in the same sorry state as ever

7. Mediocre actors-n-politicians earn more than even top-class sportsmen

8. Emotions-n-religion hold the key to success in public life; never mind the brains

9. Places of tourist attraction attract only the cattle and the dogs

10. We, the citizens, take birth criticizing India and end-up dying the same way.

All the while forgetting the good things that only our country offers in the whole world; like sumptuous varieties of delicious food, rich n colorful festivals, natural beauty coupled with comforting weather, and more.

Let's change for good.

God Bless India.

comments

Abigail Power
Environmental Specialist, TCEQ, USA

Your turning into quite the writer. Your so proud of your country. I hope some day to come visit it.

Syed Nazeer
Software Professional, Covansys, India

I didn't like it.. it shows India in a poor taste than it really is.

Dibeyendu Ganguli
Columnist, The Economic Times, India

You have a long way to go. Though your language is okay, I found the content quite bland and bereft of wit or insight. And you use too many exclamation marks - a sign that you're more excited writing it than your reader is reading it. All the best anyway.

Janielle Goolgar
Engineering student, Jamaica

Your site pretty neat.

Freedom as seen in America

2004-09-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

a few words from the author

"The two sides of freedom in America as seen by me"
August 17, 2004
indiainfo.com

My first article to secure publication in a popular outlet of India!

As-difficult-as-it-can-get to express in words, the feeling on hearing the news was exquisitely heartening!! and to my surprise, a pleasant one of course, the host of responses from all my friends only better-ed that feeling…

Thank You All !!!

Saurabh ('Subbu').
India.
Sep 2004

views of my friends

Szmodics Marianna
University of Pécs - English Dept, Hungary

I have read your articles, and I think they are quite good and interesting. I like your writing style, your articles are easy to understand.Though I study American "culture" and literature, I do not like the Americans. I agree with you that Americans do not have their own culture. It is true. Sometimes I think they consider themselves as superior than any part of the world. And I find that the worst thing that happenned to the USA was the re-election of Bush.

Przemek
European Affairs student, Poland

I liked your way of writing...It's very interesting for me. I must admit that all the disadvantages of "wonderful" American dream are also shared by me. Their very shallow family relations and their attitude to love which is mainly identified with sex aren't consistent with my opinions about happy life. Many people in Poland want to go to America because they think that a better life awaits them there. But in fact they are often disappointed when they're treated not equally as Americans and they've to work in poor conditions. If you're a Polishman you've to have a visa to get to the US, but the fact you have received it doesn't mean you'll be alllowed to pass the border. Our culture, values important for people are opposite to Americans'.

Lilek Vasilek
Student, State Pedagogical University, Russia

It's really wonderful! Are you a journalist? The language of the article is easy to understand even for a foreigner. By the way I've never been there but I also agree with you that not everything is excellent in this country, I think that americans are all individualists and it's difficult for a man, who was brought up in other way, traditions to get accustomed to it. As they say "EAST OR WEST-HOME IS BEST".

Ulhas Latkar
Publisher "Dollar$ Bahu" novel, India

Its really a good read. In nutshell you have given a true picture of the 2 sides of American life. Please accept my sincere congrats for the simple yet effective narrative style.

Sudha Murty
Author "Dollar$ Bahu", Chairman - Infosys Foundation, India

Your article was interesting.

Abbi Power
Environmental Specialist, TCEQ, USA

Yes, your article was very interesting though I was sad that you didn't have a better experience when it comes to the ideas of American families and relationships. It is true that Americans do divorce "easily". I wished I'd had the opportunity to introduce you to some of the people I know with strong marriage vows and very tight knit families. They do exist here and are wonderful people to be around. I did love your description of the "largeness" of America...cars, airports, buildings, etc. I found it funny that you found America a very clean place.

Jerry Caton
Professor, Texas A&M University, USA

I enjoyed reading your reflections on this country. Your article read well.

Ritesh Garg
MBA student, IIM Lucknow, India

Looks like its straight from the heart!

Anu Palani
Software Professional, Accenture, India

Your article was excellant. Especially the para wherin you have described your initial reactions on seeing the Big city. The sentence "It seemed as if the entire world around me had got magnified, to at least twice its usual size!" was too good. Keep writing and do send me.

Natalia Valerievna Kulikova
Civil Lawyer, St. Petersburg, Russia

I` v just read your article about US. I agree with your opinion about the two sides of freedom in US. Really, US is a country of great opportunities. you really may make your dream come true there if you work hard and got good education. It seems people is defended with law there, their rights is guarded by law system very carefully.
But I don’t like America. I know that there are a lack of culture, Americans haven’t got their own culture, there culture is mixed with different culture of different countries, and they rather got more negatives, than positives features. American movies often have a lot of vulgarities, violence and dirty. Many films, I think, couldn’t be seen by children.
Americans often forget about their roots, but I suppose, they never think about this point at all. I know, also, Americans relate to sex and marriage very easily, as you mentioned it.
We have our own culture, and I suppose, the greatest one and don’t need to take any example from this way. I think we`d better learn something from European country` s living way, and take something good from the great experience of these nations.

Rashmi Bansal
Editor, JAM magazine, India

Your piece just wasn't well written or interesting enough. It didn't say anything new and was rather preachy.

Kiran Konaki
Editor, indiainfo.com & thatscricket.com

Yeah, the article was Good.

Gaurav Bhalotia
Software Professional, Oracle, USA

Cool!

(Dr.) Sharat C Prasad
PhD student, Texas A&M University, USA

I read your interesting article.

Freedom as seen in America

I was there (US of A) for my Masters' recently upon completion of my Bachelors' from IIT.

The initial reaction upon entering the country was truly mesmerizing; it being my first ever ride outside India. Huge airports, tall buildings, wider roads, big houses and cars, and the list goes on.. It seemed as if the entire world around me had got magnified, to at least twice its usual size!

In America, one gets 24-hour water supply, with both hot and cold option, everywhere. The same is true for electricity as well. Medical emergency service is available at the press of a button. Basic amenities are all practically guaranteed by the government to everybody.

One more thing I noticed to my delight was the cleanliness all around. Boy! they do keep themselves and their surroundings neat and tidy.

Frankly, it was a new world for me altogether. With so many amenities at one's disposal, who wouldn't feel free? Freedom from the daily "Indian" routine of travelling in over-crowded shuttle bus/trains, hurrying to get the household chores done lest the power would go off, waiting for the water supply to take bath...

This freedom also manifests in their culture.

There is freedom of opportunity in getting admission to a school/college or getting a job.

No discrimination (neither reservation) based on sex, caste, religion, etc exists. Every teenager gets on the bread-earning wagon as soon as he reaches 15; thereby becoming self-dependent. American girls drive buses and trucks, play soccer alongside guys, practically do everything that boys do!

However, not everything there is all-good. Else, the country would become the mythical heaven!

There is the "other side" to this freedom as well.

As the children get on their own early, they never have the "Indian" attachment towards their parents and/or relatives. People have a hard life, particularly in their old age, when they need their near-and-dear-ones alongside.

For girls, sex is just an "experience"; something they want to experiment with different people, in different forms, throughout their life.

Marriage has become practically a "joke" there. People divorce and remarry for petty things. The culture of single-parents has crept in steadily and comprehensively.

The freedom of opportunity that non-Americans "enjoy" there is equally stark. With the economy down, American companies don't even allow foreign students to seek employment with them. The primary targets of layoffs from American companies are foreigners. Getting the Green card and/or citizenship of the country has become next to impossible!

All said-and-done, I returned back to my country for good.

Though America might be good for earning some quick-bucks and enjoying the "good" side of freedom for a while, its not so when it comes to settling down for life.