What does a like button on facebook means

The LIKE button on facebook is so handy. it can be

An acknowledgement to some one's response,

A thank you note.

A "you are welcome" response to "thank you"

"I actually read"

" I didn't read, but like it as I don't want to dishearten or piss you off"

And of course I real Like.

Been there done all the above. Either way, Kudos the Marc Z or whoever in his team who has come up with this super idea. I (really) LIKE it.

A day at Vegetable market - India trip 2014

Incredible India, full of sights and sounds with wonderful imagery. One fine morning I went to a local vegetable market to spend some time on shopping and catch a glimpse of the milieu. As I finished my purchase from a vendor, I heard someone shouting MAHADEB MUNDIA ( Salute, O Lord  Shiva). I turned my head to notice a bull sniffing vegetables hardly couple of feet from me. The mountain sized bovine acknowledged my neighbor's greetings by nodding its head while happily munching the veggies offered to him.

A guy suddenly arrives, scratching his private parts in public ( blame the hot and humid weather for that) and asked the lady vendor " ALO BAIGANA KETE NEKHA meaning "Hey, how much is the Brinjal ( Eggplant ) ?" Then from nowhere comes another woman in rags shouting explicit at someone who refused to part her with vegetables. Immediately she started cursing the vendor's whole family to die from BAADI (cholera). Not sure if anyone dies of cholera these days which is mostly curable. She could have cursed her cancer or AIDS from which one has a better chance to perish. She also went on accusing the lady vendor of soliciting illicit relationship with her mothers and sisters. I couldn't understand why she didn't direct her anger towards her father and brother rather than mother and sister. Apparently ours is still a male dominated society.

 

After being content from covering all the 14 generations with her curses she finally relented. The lady selling the vegetables ignored her and went on shouting BAIGANA BAIGANA (eggplant eggplant). I asked the lady vendor the reason behind the other woman's sudden outburst. Before she could answer my query a man in loin cloth and unkempt hair told me "She is a mad woman. Nobody takes her seriously". As he walked away the vegetable vendor started giggling. I asked her what's so funny ? She said " Babu ( Sir ), this guy just told you that the abusive woman is PAGELI ( she-mad), right." " Yes, it appears so" I replied. She continued giggling "He he he. He is no different. He is a PAGALA (he-mad) too." Now trying to make sense of the madness surrounding me I swept off sweat from my forehead as the sun was peaking. It was time to rush back home, far from the madding crowd.

The Importance of Vacation

It has been reported that Joe Biden is pondering over a run for Presidency during his ungoing vacation. Obama religiously takes his year end vacation in sunny, warm Hawaai to escape from the cold winter and the heat from the Washington politics. American Presidents often take their vacations with much publicized fanfare. Clinton took numerous golfing trips during vacations. George Bush used to take long vacations in his Texas ranch, often with his bearded black dog trolling by his side.

 

Everyone looks forward to vacation too, in arguably the most capitalistic nation in the world, where most get at most 2 weeks of paid vacation in a year. American labor laws heavily favors the employer, who is not legally bound to give paid vacation to the employees. Paid Vacation is akin to a to MEHRBAANI ( a discretionary gift) from the employer to the employee. Though the  Maternity Leave is mandated for 3 months, it's still UNPAID. So the much awaited vacation is cherished, with the intention of having ultimate fun to recharge the batteries. It is not unusual to see folks who just returned from vacation, showing signs of vacation hangover at work.

The Vacation homes, whether on beach fronts or deserted Mountain tops sell like hot cakes. The concept of vacation implies going to a place away from home. So Americans find it strange that we go home on vacation. Nevertheless, it is the way it. Just the perception varies. Most take vacations during the summer school holidays for the kids and during the Thanksgiving and Christmas time. Many club their vacation with the major Holidays like Independence Day and Christmas to make the best out of it.

If the holiday on a specific date, e.g., 4th of July or 25th of December happen to be on a weekend, the next Monday is given as a holiday. Many friends back home complained that this year 15ht of August came on a Saturday, so they lost a holiday. Why don't they just amend the rules, to grant the same Holiday on a Monday instead in such cases. Haven't heard of anyone who doesn't take a vacation, only exception perhaps would be India's PM Narendra Modi.

Perhaps My First Blog

Did some scouring to discover that this was my first ever blog which I wrote exactly 4 years ago. Haven't looked back ever since.....

It has to be in the genes. We had an employees outing today at local park. After a barbecue lunch where we had to choose from Beef or Veggie burgers ( I chose Veggie over beef anyway as Chicken was not there on menu) we played outdoor games.

 

My colleagues include a 71 years old man who could have retired long ago, but still works as he loves his job. We both participated for more than couple of hours in different games. I was very tired when we bid adieu. It was a loooong day, my knees were aching already, so I planned to skip off my scheduled mowing my lawns for the evening.

 

At 4.30 I was driving my son to his Taekwondo class and on my way I passed by the house of the same old man (hate to call him old as he is just older by age and the similarities end there), I was playing with a few hours before. A strapping 6 footer, he was non-chalantly chopping off woods using an axe in his backyards. I came back an hour later and he was still doing the same. The guy is older than my father but fitter beyond his age. I don't know if I can make it to 71, but do know for certain that I wont be able to chop off wood at age. So it surely has to be in the genes.

Death of Hamid Gul

The death of Hamid Gul, an old India hater, who once headed ISI, the notorious Secret Services of Pakistan is pretty much in news. It's because unlike the other retirees, he continued doing the job where he left, to use terrorists to bleed India. Prone to be seen in Media, he cherished coming both Indian and American networks. Once he boasted on Arnab's show "We ISI are more powerful than your RAW, you can't imagine how much we have infiltrated inside your country". He might have a point. No wonder on media, social and otherwise I see a lot of cheer and jeer for him after he died a natural death at the ripe age of 79, which by our sub-continent standard is LAMBI UMAR (long life).

He was a frequent guest to American networks. Once he set terms to Wolf Blitzer on CNN about negotiating with Americans on equal terms. Wolf smirked back at him said "Do you really feel General, American and Pakistan are equals?". Hamid became uncomfortable and started blabbering. He should have read Ayub Khan's books in 1960s"FRIENDS, NOT MASTERS" - alluding to the unequal relationship between the two nations. The master-slave relationship continues till date. TIT - Torture in Turmoil (the closest I can think of as opposite to RIP) General, wherever you are.

Need for two time zones in India

An American friend of mine once asked me a pertinent question - why the Indian Standard Time is 10 and 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time of USA. Why not 10 or 11 hours. The answer is 82 1/2 longitudes bifurcates India vertically and is exactly 5 1/2 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Yet, it rekindled a thought in me, that ideally India should have two Time Zones.

Per a recent report, the state of Assam wants to have it's own time zone, 30 minutes ahead of Indian Standard Time. It makes sense. We should have one IWST (Indian Western Time Zone) being 5 hours and IEST (Indian Eastern Time Zone), being 6 hours ahead of GMT. Now sun rises in North-East at 5 AM and doesn't rise in Mumbai until 7 AM. Switching to two time zones will get rid of this discrepancy.

We earned our independence from British, but still dependent on some their archaic remnants, even 69 years after they left us. To gain complete freedom, we must get rid of many such nonsense legacies, which includes many outdates laws. The sooner we do, the better would be for us, starting with changing the time zone, which is the least we can and should do.

Happy birthday India - Independence Day 2015

A history of thousands of years, a civilization counted amongst the oldest of the old. An enchanting land of sages, cradle of Eastern mysticism from which emanated some of the World's major religions. Hinduism, the oldest religion in  universe, is the foremost among them. Buddhism is another one which originated from this land several years before Christ was born and subsequently spread south and far east.

India was the El Dorado, the tales of its rich attracted traders and invaders from rest of the world. We lost our wealth and freedom to myriads of invaders, from Alexander to Vasco Da Gama. Myriad occupiers exploited us, until we met our tryst with destiny on 15th of August, 1947. We finally gained our independence. That's India my motherland.

Since we gained our freedom and became a democratic republic we haven't done much justice to our immense potential. Very few nations can boast of abundance in natural resources and a talented, strong English educated middle class. India is a caged tiger, who needs to be unleased to go for the kill. Multiple challenges lie ahead, roads are rocky and miles to go before we reach the destination. And I am sure we will get there one day. Happy Birthday to my motherland India.

Gay and Happy with Songs and Movies

I keep a decent collection of old vintage Oriya songs inside the dashboard of my car. On my way back after a hectic day, those are panacea to a tired soul. By default I am tuned to the NPR news, but whenever I need a break from the glut of media malaise, I switch to music which sounds music to my ears.

 

One day I was on my way to lunch with a team member. No sooner I turned the keys, than wafted a song from 1970s, sung by two lady singers Trupti Das and Gita Patnaik.

TORA MORA KATHA HABA CHUP CHAP, TORA MORA BAHAGHARA THIK THAK.

My friend asked me to translate the song into English. I obliged,

 

"Let's chit chat whispering emotion;
As our marriage is set on motion."

 

He raised his eyebrows and asked "Is this a gay song ?" I had a heartily laugh and responded, "This song depicts two nubile girls who as friends do, chatting about their marriage been fixed, not that they are getting married to each other. Their coyish whispering indicates their shyness, a trait amongst girls in our society. Nothing remotely the lyrics ever suggest that they are gay.

 

Now rewind back to the year 2002, when I invited a friend home for dinner. I put on the a music DVD of Hindi songs and came flashing a scene where Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan, exposing their bare chiseled body, torso wrapped just by a towel. They were holding each other's hand, high-fiving and dancing on sea beach, gyrating and wrapping their hands around their waist.

 

When I translated the name of the movie MUJHSE SAADI KAROGE as "Will you marry me", his instant response was, "Is this a gay movie?". I again burst into laughter, almost erupting whatever I was sipping off my mouth. I explained, in the movie these two guys will eventually propose to their lady friends. That's all it means. And I have no fetishes for watching gay movies. Singing and watching movies makes all gay and happy, it's just lies in the way you see it.

Judging judges judgement of death sentence

Jumping into judging the judgment of the judges regarding death sentence can be tricky. It's veracity needs to be looked beyond the narrow prism of caste, race or religion. Dastardly acts provoke dastardly response. The debate about Capital Punishment and taking law into own hands in a civilized society is probably as old as the civilization itself.

The squabble over the efficacy of death sentence reminds of one, granted to the perpetrators of the rapists of the girl in Delhi a few years ago. The gloat over the death sentence awarded to those responsible for this heinous act was highest amongst women as they could relate to the agony of the victim. Males were certainly anguished by this heinous act, but the outpouring outrage from the ladies is quite understandable.  It probably explains why more males than females question the righteousness of the death penalty, especially in case of rape.

Yet, the contrast of opinions is quite conspicuous. Before passing some armchair judgment, let's take a pause and contemplate by stepping into the shoes of the victim's family, be it Nirbhaya's (the girl raped in Delhi) or those tore apart by bombs in Bombay. It would be easy for me to preach eye for an eye is wrong, State has no right to kill an individual, blah blah. But would I be talking at the same breath if I can relate the victim to one of my near and dear one ? I don't think so.

In America death penalty is a state subject, most conservative states have it, most liberal states don't. The nation is evenly divided on the issue. Here the family of the victim is allowed to watch the execution of the perpetrator. They do it for a reason. It may not be humane, but it is human. I have no  illusions to be super human. Normally I won't hurt a fly, let alone watch someone die. But God forbid, if one day I am invited to such an event I will take the first row. No wonder in movies nobody sheds a tear when the bad guy falls.