Networking is not working!

It is out now: Facebook is mentioned in one out of every five divorces in US according to one study done by American academy of matrimonial lawyers (AAML). It did not come as a surprise to many considering how facebook has helped people connect and get up close and personal with their “old friends”. But it is the human nature which is at fault and not facebook. Social networking sites can not be blamed for people losing their senses. But it is so contradicting that something that has been created to connect with “others” is leading to “disconnect” with your family. Aakhir apne to apne hote hai!
But if you are married and in India do not panic and delete your account just as yet. As whether you do social networking or not the main cause of divorce in India always was, is, and always remain the nosy mother-in-law! So keep facebooking and stop reading stuff that discourages you from doing so!

Forget Shanghai, time to go the Venezuela way!

The number of times we have heard the Maharashtra government promising to turn Mumbai into Shanghai is, I guess, higher than the number of times we have seen India TV discussing the end of the world in 2012! And how many of us actually expect the government to deliver on its promise? Not many actually. It is like expecting Ashish Nehra to win a match for India in the last over! (I know the non-existing fans of Ashish Nehra will give the example of his match-winning performance against England, but that happened at a time when Homo etrectus inhabited the Narmada valley or before that!). Agreed, criticizing Ashish Nehra is not the topic of discussion here and anyways one can write a treatise doing just that!
Coming back to the main story, we were just discussing the problem of slums in Mumbai as to how it spreading like a virus (by the way the computer virus is forty years old now and we wish it a very happy birthday) and not getting solved. At the same time we hear news of corrupt politicians involved in fraud land deals all over India so you can imagine the chances of it actually happening. But I do have a suggestion though: I am sure there many such “Adarsh” societies out there in India. Our job is to find them and punish the corrupt the officials. But I just do not understand the idea of demolishing such illegal structures as it will only lead to more costs, monetary as well as environmental. And that is where the solution comes into picture: we should do what Venezuela did in 1994 when its economy suffered a huge blow and the investors ran away from the real estate. There was one 45-storey building on verge of completion when this happened, instead of demolishing it Hugo Chavez decided to let the slum dwellers occupy it! And mind you it was supposed to be eighth tallest building in Latin America at that time and also one of the most luxurious in terms of amenities. Today there are people living in it and they have also formed a society to which they contribute money for overall maintenance of the building and it is, according to my understanding, tallest slums in the world!
So why not have something of this kind here as well? I know it is very illogical suggestion but if you thing from your heart it is dillogical! Very bad joke to end the post!

Hair fare

I get upset every time I go through the list of funny ads and see that the matrimonial ads rarely make it to the list. I feel most of the matrimonial ads are funnier than the funniest ads that we would have seen and suggest you go through these ads online or in newspapers; you will surely fall off your chairs laughing. But few days a go I found ads similar to these online albeit for a different reason i.e. for selling hair. One girl had posted something like “I will be cutting my hair…12.5 inches…silky…smooth…receive compliments for hair all the time…will cut it once the money is received!” This is a very good example of how internet is turning the tables in our normal life. On any other day one would go to salon have his/her hair cut pay for the service and leave, that was it. But now they are paid for doing the same thing! All you need to do is just upload a picture of your hair on site and let people start bidding for it. We all know how big this industry has become in south where devotees offer their hair and then it is exported to a number of countries. But earning money from selling hair online is something that I had never heard of. This whole thing does explain the logic behind Garnier’s tagline ‘Take care’ i.e. take care and get a good fare!

Crime pays and how!

Whoever said crime pays went to jail in Austria! Located in the city of Leoben in Austria is a jail that will put any heaven to shame. A look at it from outside will make you think of it as five-star hotel, it is that deceiving. We see how new buildings provide amenities like gym, indoor games inside their clubhouse and charge a premium for it. Here you have all these amenities and many more and that too at free of cost! The jail has a world-class gym, provision for indoor games, basketball court, huge jogging track and what not. I am just wondering whether Austria has done this intentionally as it features in the list of countries with least crime rates in the world and may be it is so bored of not having crime related news that it is now giving incentives to people to commit wrongdoing!
Just imagine having a prison like this in India. We will see lawyers fighting for (read against) their own clients to make sure that they get the maximum punishment. Highest paid lawyer will be the one who would request and convince the judge to give his client (criminal) the life sentence. Forget about criminals, common man who is so frustrated in India for want of basic facilities like water, electricity would prefer living in jail for rent. You would see all the anti-India organizations surrendering to the government, as instead of living incognito and run the risk of losing their lives anytime they would prefer the hospitality that this jail offers. I have no idea about the actual reasons of making such prisons in Austria but jails like these in India will certainly mark the end of all crimes considering the way most of the people are living here with no basic facilities in place.

The other side of literacy

Reading TOI is fun and literally so as you would rarely find some 'news' in it. Most of the times the newspaper is busy discussing, improving sex life of people! But after a long time I came across some news which combined its favorite topic sex with some really shocking news. The article that I am referring to talks about how Thailand, more known for its sex tourism is now becoming a tourist attraction but for some different reason this time i.e. for attracting married couples to improve or guarantee their chances of having a baby boy!
We talk about how big businesses always find a way around government policies to get permissions or to save taxes by exploiting loopholes in the existing system and how common man is always made the victim. But wait, the common man has become smarter and like others has found a way to get around the law in India which does not allow prenatal sex selection. As a result of this 1600 girls per day have gone missing in India from 2001-07 (source: UNPF). One fact that goes unnoticed most of the times is that the practice of sex selection is more prevalent in those places where people are literate and as a result more aware about the various treatments and facilities available like screening technologies etc. Someone has rightly said "There are three roads to ruin; women, gambling, and technology. The most pleasant is with women, the quickest is with gambling, but the surest is with technology." This awareness coupled with some ruthless selfish doctors has created a very scary situation in India: we are running out of girls. I have had my share of GD i.e. Group discussion or group dogfight during my MBA to find a job. I don't want to go through the same process to find a girl. To support my argument (can't call it MY argument as I read it somewhere long time ago) let me just share some data with you all. I made list of top 15 literate states in India along with the list of 15 states having the worst sex ratio. Shockingly, there were nine common states in these two lists! This may not be the most conclusive evidence but certainly augments the argument made above regarding the relationship between literacy rate and sex ratio.
Whereas I do agree that there are many factors responsible for the present scenario, but at the same time no one can deny the link between these two factors.

It’s a MINI issue, SKIRT it!

Recent news of Khap panchayat in Muzaffarnagar banning girls from wearing jeans came as a shock to many. The panchayat believes this will prevent eve-teasing incidents and help maintain decency. A lot of furor is created every time something like this crops up and rightly so. What in the hell the panchayat has to do with this? On one hand we talk about the freedom of speech where even the worst of stand-up comedians make fun of Prime minister on national TV and on the other hand we want to decide what one should wear. If this ridiculous news makes you angry I have got some more news to cool you down on the same lines. One small town in Italy, Castellammare di Stabia is planning to ban wearing of miniskirts! The mayor (modern version of panchayat) believes miniskirts can be very provocative and can lead to indecent behavior. Surprisingly this news comes from a country which has produced Giorgio Armani! Forget Armani, it comes from the country headed by Silvio Berlusconi who himself has been alleged to have a lot to do with miniskirts! Nobody knows how much of this allegation is true, may be the opposition is trying to tarnish his image. But one thing that is sure is that if this kind of stupid laws can exist in a country like Italy then it should not come as a surprise if a small town in India decides to ban wearing of jeans. Besides, nobody has defined what decency is? If a well known director in India makes a movie depicting intimate scenes it qualifies as aesthetic movie and same movie by an unknown person becomes a ‘C’ grade movie. So let’s just not get affected by this news as it is just a mini issue, skirt it!

Unity is strength?

Saying "unity is strength" is like saying bombshell Neha Dhupia's next movie will fail to detonate, it is that obvious! Okay, I am not here to discuss Neha Dhupia’s non-existent career so let me come back to the main topic. Just yesterday I experienced two different incidents of this particular adage. The reason I am saying ‘different’ is because one of those examples reconfirmed my belief in the proverb whereas the other made me see the darker side of it.
As always I was traveling in a bus where moving your body was a crime as if everyone in the bus had told each other to "statue" (old school games...Still love them). On its way through the alleys of Kurla, the bus happened to brush along the side of a truck. Initially I felt only the left hand side mirror of the bus had kissed the driver's door. But I was mistaken as the bus driver didn't seem to care and it continued moving forward jolting the truck on its way, one could actually see the truck moving. Still the driver didn't care and moved forward. Nothing happened for few seconds, and then we saw the truck driver racing towards the bus from behind. He, like a speeding car, overtook the rear-wheels of the bus and reached the front door and got in. Without wasting a second he started beating the bus driver. He was so much aggrieved as the bus driver didn't even come out to see what had happened and how much damage was done. It was then the proverb came into picture. Everyone in the bus started getting angry with the truck driver as they were running late! Despite it being bus driver's fault, the passengers threw the driver out of the bus, abusing him they asked him to go to BMC and complain instead of wasting their time here. It is anyone's guess whether that truck driver would get justice or not. But the unity of passengers certainly saved the wrongdoer!
When I finally got down from the bus I was a bit shocked as this could happen to anyone driving his personal vehicle and even in that case the bus driver would manage to get away. That is when I experienced another example of this. One bus had broken down on the slope and I could see all the passengers as well as the passers-by having their share of fun pushing it upwards. It was such a relief to see the strength of unity in real sense.