It was year 1952 when one gentlemen and an eccentric Gandhian by name Potti Sriramulu started a fast unto death whipping up mass frenzy towards a demand for a separate 'Andhra' . Madras Presidency and the Central government procrastinated way too long and finally the whole issue erupted into a mass movement. Chaos and bedlam ensued. Still the centre paid no heed to the protesters. Finally, it directly affected the election results and Congress lost considerable ground in the general elections .
Now the Congress took notice and by the time Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru decided to act on the problem, Potti Sriramulu was dead and the region was in the grips of violence.
After Andhra Pradesh was created, the other regions soon followed suite demanding their own states carved on the basis of linguistic organizations.
The flood gates had been opened and Pandit had no choice but to initiate a committee to analyze these demands resulting in reorganization of regions and redrawing of Indian map as we now know it.
fifty years on, Andhra Pradesh is now witnessing a similar demand now based on no logic other than economics that is at best a theory! We are once again witnessing the central government ignoring the issue and muddling up decisions. Once again politicians are whipping up mass frenzy costing the exchequer and private establishments crores of rupees.
Where will this lead to? Even if the centre finally gives into the demand and creates a Telengana and the 'Rest of AP' as two states, it would set a precedent for other such demands. The politicans with no issue to cook up are only waiting in the wings for an excuse such as this.
After all what better way to win an election than by whipping up mass movements for a 'cause'.
29 December 2009
24 December 2009
A marriage proposal
This landed in my mailbox last night
" Sir, this is with reference to your advertisement in ... I'm seeking an alliance to my daughter. Sm.t... I have attached a photography of my daughter and her bio data along with the horoscope. Kindly check if you find the horoscopes matching and if we can proceed further.
Signed.
xxxxx"
Attachments: Pic of a young lady and other documents!
Initially, I was taken aback and verified the email addresses. Obviously they had gotten the mail id wrong! Soon, I was laughing at the context of someone trying to match 'me' with their daughter.
Soon, I realized the enormity of this mistake and its consequences if it were to land with some mischief monger. They would have access to the complete bio data of a young woman !
Imagine the kind of harassment one could be subjected to.
The more I thought of it, it dawned on me that it is a kind of mistakes most Indian fathers of earlier generation are very likely to commit. They are not internet savvy, at least a vast majority Indian fathers today's adult children are not!
I shudder to think the kind of risks they are taking on the internet without realizing the consequences of such errors!
On the other hand, the era of internet has made this marriage making process too disconnected. I have seen many of my associates do their own match making by creating accounts in the name of their parents!
Gullible fathers of daughters who seem to forever get into a mindset where they would do anything and even bend backwards to 'service' the prospective grooms, sending full details of their daughters with photographs and salary details without first ensuring whether the party they are addressing are genuine!
In an age even personal information is wealth, there are professionals who harvest personal details for money, I shiver at the thought of my personal detail being gleefully harvested by a fat and bald man with a stubble and a torn banian!
I can only think, 'God! protect the good souls'
" Sir, this is with reference to your advertisement in ... I'm seeking an alliance to my daughter. Sm.t... I have attached a photography of my daughter and her bio data along with the horoscope. Kindly check if you find the horoscopes matching and if we can proceed further.
Signed.
xxxxx"
Attachments: Pic of a young lady and other documents!
Initially, I was taken aback and verified the email addresses. Obviously they had gotten the mail id wrong! Soon, I was laughing at the context of someone trying to match 'me' with their daughter.
Soon, I realized the enormity of this mistake and its consequences if it were to land with some mischief monger. They would have access to the complete bio data of a young woman !
Imagine the kind of harassment one could be subjected to.
The more I thought of it, it dawned on me that it is a kind of mistakes most Indian fathers of earlier generation are very likely to commit. They are not internet savvy, at least a vast majority Indian fathers today's adult children are not!
I shudder to think the kind of risks they are taking on the internet without realizing the consequences of such errors!
On the other hand, the era of internet has made this marriage making process too disconnected. I have seen many of my associates do their own match making by creating accounts in the name of their parents!
Gullible fathers of daughters who seem to forever get into a mindset where they would do anything and even bend backwards to 'service' the prospective grooms, sending full details of their daughters with photographs and salary details without first ensuring whether the party they are addressing are genuine!
In an age even personal information is wealth, there are professionals who harvest personal details for money, I shiver at the thought of my personal detail being gleefully harvested by a fat and bald man with a stubble and a torn banian!
I can only think, 'God! protect the good souls'
22 December 2009
Apathy towards human life
Is it a problem of plenty? I really do not know, but, that's the only answer am able to come up with regarding the Indian government's attitude towards public safety!
Just this morning, I saw a news item that wrung my heart in despair. A grand father died of massive heart attack on hearing that his grandson had fallen into an open man hole! The child is yet to be spotted in the drain even after twenty four hours! It will be a miracle if the child is still alive! God willing he will be!
What a needless loss of life! An average Indian immediately will pounce with a thousand questions.
Why should there be an open man hole in the first place?
Why did the corporation leave it open?
Why did the public (not including the questioner) not inform the corporation?
Why did the child's parents let the child play 'near' the manhole?
and so on and so forth.
None of the questions matter, a life has been lost and another one is hanging in balance of hope and faith!
It has become a general Indian attitude at all levels to think that a problem is never our problem unless it directly affects us!
I'm sure the average citizen would have seen the manhole open and probably it was open for even days on end. "Corporation would close it!" we would have told ourselves! or we would have even ranted it out at corrupt and inefficient corporation officials for their sloppy attitude towards work!
But its rare when an average citizen endeavors to close the manhole! Yuck! who would touch it! Even the supreme court has declared that human beings cannot be used to get into man holes! we would say pulling a ruling out of context to our defence.
The moment we are affected, the government is to blame!
Even enterprising individuals are cut down by the average Indian! The other day a truck was parked in the main road obstructing the view of the main road in such a way that the smaller street joining the main road would not have a clear view of the on coming traffic before it joined the main road. When I walked by and told the truck driver to move his truck he says
"How does it affect you? move on.. "!
When I was riding a bus one day, a pick pocket was picking the pocket of a foreigner who was on the same bus and I happened to see it. I tried warning the foreigner to move away , which he did. But the pick pocket showed a big knife and threatened to attack me should I raise alarm and I did not and he got away!
Women are being socially abused, molested in public transport and other such places and yet we do not have an uprising amongst women that says 'enough is enough'! They put up a stoic silence and delegate the problem to be foreign to their nuclear world until the day dawns when their own wards face a similar problem!
Even at work, when a worker sees a problem in the system, he does not act on it. When a water pipe is leaking in the faucet, it is the plumbers problem, its not my job to close the water supply to the faucet and inform the administration, let some one else do it.
There is a section of society that is constantly drawing attention to such problems who are being given a deaf year on most accounts. Let us take the simple case of making our country disabled friendly.
Very few places in the public infrastructure are disabled and elderly friendly! The central government has taken note of this and has slowly started incorporating this at basic level in their establishments. For instance the entrance to the chennai railway station has a ramp for wheel chair access or for the elderly to use! But beyond this, the trains and platforms themselves are not all that accessible for disabled!
If the government is taking small steps, the private establishments are nowhere in this. In a country that's bustling with development and a booming economy, hardly any private establishment today takes effort to make their place disabled friendly. Even the larger amongst these such as big malls or multiplexes have taken little effort to make their services disabled friendly. We can perhaps count with one hand such facilities in this part of the country!
There are many such places in Indian society that we seem to have this proverbial 'chalta hai' attitude or 'care a damn what happens to others' attitude that must change!
It is when this attitude of the public changes , it is when we look upon social problems as our own problems will this country improve.
Mahatma Gandhi said that "Be the change you wish to see in others.". I'm going to try sincerely. You should too!
21 December 2009
A Gratifying experience
Shopping for books are not usually a gratifying experience unless you walk in without knowing what to buy and end up buying a treasure trove.
Mine was slightly different. I wanted to buy Srimad Bhagavatam by Kamala Subramaniam and found out that a copy was available in Pushtak Bharati (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai) at Mylapore.
I rang up the book store and a gentleman answered the call. He was courteous and said that a copy was indeed available. My lazy self was wishing for a way to get a copy without having to go to the store (I work about say 2kms from the store) and asked him if the only way to get a copy was to visit the store.
To this he answered back saying that he can courier it or he could even have it dropped off. He then proceeded to ask me where I live to assess which option would suit me. I replied and he said he would personally drop it off on the way home.
The unassuming way he put this across some how made me feel ashamed of myself. I could make out from his language and voice that he was an elderly gentleman and here he was offering to come to my residence that in all probability is not exactly on his way and yet here he was offering to do a task I was too lazy to do myself.
I was so ashamed of myself and I told him not to bother himself to that extent and I would visit him.
I was in his store the twentieth minute! (so much for my laziness!) and I found him to be a very soft spoken and smiling gent who heartily congratulated me on my choice of book and said it was perhaps the best condensed book of the huge epic!
He then very courteously introduced himself as V.V.S.Manian and he told us that he and his wife ran the shop purely out for the pleasure it gives them to be among books!
The lady, a typical tam -brahm lady was the authority who was helping us with the books with her insight. She asked of us the reader's age and appropriately selected different copies of the epics that would suit them and even in different languages.
While she was helping out my friend find his books, I was browsing casually and chanced across this wonderful manuscript that read roughly 'All the four Vedas and the Upanishads" in tamil. It spoke in simple Tamil the meanings of various mantras that are a part of a Brahm's life. I found it very attractive and approached the lady to check whether the book would suit half baked Brahm's like me.
She heartily recommended the book and was happy that we were even endeavoring to read such books.
Then I told Mr.Manian that it was his offer on the phone to bring the book over prompted me to kick myself out my seat and come over to the store. I told him that I was glad I came over and learnt about the treasure trove he had.
He then told us that he has many customers who are aged and do not have the resources to come down to their shops and they usually courier it at no extra cost or they deliver it themselves in person if the location is en route. What is another 10 minutes of commute time if it brings pleasure to a customer Mr.Manian said.
I was moved by their warmth and genuineness.At the end of the trip, It was gratifying to have met two humble and genuine human beings.May their breed grow.
18 December 2009
Are these guys brave or are they...?
There is a bunch of folks who believe that medication of any sort is an abuse of nature's purity that is human body.
Here is a mild example. A guy I know has the flu.. no not the swine one, the common variety, yes, the common /mild flu or whatever one calls it.
He had been suffering and coughing like a dying man for the last several months. One day I took pity on him and asked why his medications are not working. To this he responds with this proud look on his face as though he had just climbed Mt.Everest without even as much a rope in his hands..
"I don't take medications.."
I don't know If he expected me to look at him in awe, but my reaction was
"wonderful.. folks, lets give this guy an award for not taking medications.. " I was furious
Not only was this guy torturing himself, well am not furious about that, but I was furious because he had been coughing his life out in office spitting out god knows what germs into the air for months putting everyone around at risk.
Well, you might ask, what big of a risk, flu is.
But, my question is, however mild an infection or disease might be, why risk someone with it? Why?
17 December 2009
Call for capital punishment in retrospect
I was aghast when I read this news item this morning in the local newspapers. It spoke about a case for euthanasia being filed before the Supreme court of India.
The court has since then admitted the plea.
Here are a few highlights of the article.
i. Shanbaug was a nurse before she was attacked by a hospital sweeper who then tried to strangle her to death
ii. Permanent injuries to her nervous system has left her vegetative since then. This happened in 1973!
iii. It has been thirty six years since she lived by herself and has always been on life support and been force fed
iv. Her bones are brittle, her teeth have decayed and she is living a sub human life!
v. Her parents are dead and none of her siblings care to visit her any more.
vi. The most shocking thing is that the rapist sweeper served a sentence of Seven Pithy years for rape, attempted murder and robbery all combined.
I was enraged to read that the rapist got off so easily. How can this be, especially considering the consequences of his act. Did it not then matter to the courts of law that the victim was in a permanent vegetative state?
I'm still seething and am unable to coherently communicate my spite for this character. May he rot in hell!
But I say lets track him down and hang him. Why is he still alive?
The court has since then admitted the plea.
Here are a few highlights of the article.
i. Shanbaug was a nurse before she was attacked by a hospital sweeper who then tried to strangle her to death
ii. Permanent injuries to her nervous system has left her vegetative since then. This happened in 1973!
iii. It has been thirty six years since she lived by herself and has always been on life support and been force fed
iv. Her bones are brittle, her teeth have decayed and she is living a sub human life!
v. Her parents are dead and none of her siblings care to visit her any more.
vi. The most shocking thing is that the rapist sweeper served a sentence of Seven Pithy years for rape, attempted murder and robbery all combined.
I was enraged to read that the rapist got off so easily. How can this be, especially considering the consequences of his act. Did it not then matter to the courts of law that the victim was in a permanent vegetative state?
I'm still seething and am unable to coherently communicate my spite for this character. May he rot in hell!
But I say lets track him down and hang him. Why is he still alive?
11 December 2009
South Indians and Dressing
I'm a South Indian and am not exactly proud of my dressing sense along with that of most of my fellow South Indians, men and women alike.
Dressing sense is a very subjective topic and most of what I say here can be countered on the grounds that fashion is not formulaic and need not be bound to convention and rules.Nevertheless, I have observed quite a few quirks in our dressing patterns.
I have noticed that our forefathers have devoted utmost care to their dressing and have always appeared with picture perfect dresses and postures in those old jaded black and white pictures. Unfortunately, our generation seems to be confused by their habitual affinity to traditional wear and new found attraction in western wear.
Here I list a few things I have found to be queer in our dressing senses.
- Men wearing trunks and seated cross legged on a high platform takes the cake.
- Men wearing coolers inside a building
- Men sneakers with western formal attire
- Men wearing sandals with formal attire
- Men wearing sneakers with ethnic attire!
- Men wearing tie with checked shirts
- Women wearing western clothes with traditional indian Gold Jewellery !
- Women wearing western clothes and a Bindi (This is subjective..)
- Women wearing western clothes and a flower donning their tresses
- Women wearing high heels and a saree with the high heels showing !!
- Women wearing platform flats with a saree!!!
- Women wearing a Salwar-kurta on top of a denim trousers!
I'm not a fashion judge nor an expert on the subject. These are purely things I have observed and found to be distasteful to my senses and not everyone may agree and this is not meant to offend anyone, so please do excuse if you find anything offensive.
09 December 2009
India needs a credible referendum platform
The MPs in Hyderabad are now clamoring to get Hyderabad to be granted a Union Territory status in the Indian Union. They are gathering political votes to push this idea through urging the central government to accede to the wishes of the people.
This is where it gets sticky. Wishes of the people? how do they make that one up? Did they go to all parts of Hyderabad and ask every one of its citizens if thats what they want?
Obviously not, politicians being politicians are pushing their personal agenda in the name of people's wishes.
If the government wishes to truly take key decisions based on the wishes of Indians, we need to seriously consider building a reusable and foolproof referendum platform that helps governments to quickly gather public opinion on all matters of the state.
Now, having said that, I must admit that building a referendum platform in a mostly illiterate country like India is nothing short of impossible, fraught with challenges on making it fool proof and accessible to all citizenry of this vast country and most importantly to make it cheap!
I have come to believe that the best way this can be implemented with least margin of error is by taking a combination of votes from the general population and the political bosses of this country.
For instance
lets simply consider the people of India and the bosses to be a part of any decision making board that is seeking the referendum with a 49:51 split with government being the 51% stakeholder.
75% vote is required to pass a judgement failing which the government pushes for prime minister's veto card.
How will the people of India vote? Send an SMS to 8989 + password + with a YES or NO!
or something like that. I know this is not the best or fool proof way of executing things. But this should work. We can ensure that all voters register first by providing their IDs such as Passport Number or PAN number or EPF number or other such numbers and a telephone.
This will ensure we can tie-in the telephone number with the voter and provide the citizen with a password.
The central db will register PAN#+Tel#+IMEI# as the unique citizen referendum account. This will even allow same cell phone to be used for multiple individuals should the cell phone be shared.
This is not only cheap, but can reach even the remotest of villages since cell phones have become the most pervasive of technologies since sliced bread!
This system is not without its flaws, it can be secured with little effort by the telecom companies but will provide and stringent measures would have to be taken to prevent any SMS frauds and other such activities by fraudsters.
But, imagine the power that will be bestowed with the citizens of this country should we build such a platform!
The whole nation would become truly self governed! and Bharathi's dream would have been fulfilled
"Ellorum innaattu mannar..." everyone is king in this holy land!
07 December 2009
Interpreter of Maladies
Is a novel by a Pulitzer winner author of Indian origin by name Jhumpa Lahiri, did i get that spelling right?.. hope so.
I have been wanting to read her book for quite some years and managed to do so over the weekend and I must say I'm impressed.
Hers is unlike any of the other books I have read for they are nine short stories with not much of a story in them and yet I like them.
There are nine stories that place its protagonists either in India or in Boston, US. The stories are about people, their characters their pains and pleasures, their mould, their outlook, their deepest desires, their flawed outlook and their rather delicate and intricate relations with one other .
The characters are very realistic and layered with such unique features you almost tend to believe that they are real life persons living their life quietly someplace. So much so that you start believing that this book is just a compilation of lifted portions from real life diaries of many individuals.
The book swings from moody, dark and up lifting lives of different characters. Each reader has their favourite and mine are the last two stories. The one of Bibi Haldar and the one of the third continent.
I will not delve into the plots or the lack of it, but suffice it to say that dexterity with which Jhumpa spins her layers around the characters gives them life in manner I have never seen before. You must be Indian and should have a little bit of been away experience to appreciate her work of art. Yes this is a work of art that needs to appreciated and not a cup of ice cream that can be enjoyed with gay abandon. It requires careful look and study to appreciate the texture of this book.
While I love this book, I cannot read such moody books all the time. Its good to sanitize one's self with such lovely prose every now and then.
I have been wanting to read her book for quite some years and managed to do so over the weekend and I must say I'm impressed.
Hers is unlike any of the other books I have read for they are nine short stories with not much of a story in them and yet I like them.
There are nine stories that place its protagonists either in India or in Boston, US. The stories are about people, their characters their pains and pleasures, their mould, their outlook, their deepest desires, their flawed outlook and their rather delicate and intricate relations with one other .
The characters are very realistic and layered with such unique features you almost tend to believe that they are real life persons living their life quietly someplace. So much so that you start believing that this book is just a compilation of lifted portions from real life diaries of many individuals.
The book swings from moody, dark and up lifting lives of different characters. Each reader has their favourite and mine are the last two stories. The one of Bibi Haldar and the one of the third continent.
I will not delve into the plots or the lack of it, but suffice it to say that dexterity with which Jhumpa spins her layers around the characters gives them life in manner I have never seen before. You must be Indian and should have a little bit of been away experience to appreciate her work of art. Yes this is a work of art that needs to appreciated and not a cup of ice cream that can be enjoyed with gay abandon. It requires careful look and study to appreciate the texture of this book.
While I love this book, I cannot read such moody books all the time. Its good to sanitize one's self with such lovely prose every now and then.
05 December 2009
Plight of women
I came across a wonderful blog written by a lady that goes by the name heartcrossings highlighting the plight of women in India. Mind you this is not about domestic abuse . This is about social abuse women endure in this part of the world.
Needless to say there were loud voices of men who said many things and soon it became an all out debate which am sure is not going anywhere.
However, that set me thinking. It is a known fact that women in India are being abused in public transport system and are being ogled at by countless men of all ages in all places outside their home, inappropriate comments and untoward moves by men in power on subordinates and the list goes on and on.
My solitary question is , why do women have to put up with this systemic abuse quietly?
I'm sure there will be a dozen ladies who would jump at me and scream what would you know, you are a man.
Yes, I agree i cannot possibly even imagine to the smallest levels the kind of mental agony a woman goes through when she is physically or even verbally molested.
What I cannot understand and what am sure ladies will give a thousand reasons for is that why must ladies put up with this.
Why cannot they fight back and slap the guy who abuses them? Why must women be cowed down?
Without sounding overtly dramatic, I wonder, if there was to be a quiet forum of ladies who form an online portal that recruits women who formulate a guideline on how different forms of abuse can be effectively responded to in such a systemic manner.
For instance take a picture of the abuser and distribute it in the local circles so that people know when they see one. Just the picture with something like the skull mark so people know this guy is an el-cheapo?
too childish? But what is the way this scourge can be rooted out from this country?
03 December 2009
The interpreter of maladies
I recently brought this book by Jhumpa Lahiri, misses and father in law called it first and took the first reading opportunities. They were quite turned off by the book. The book is meandering about with no plot they said.
I started reading it yesterday night and I have just finished the first story. I must say that the narrative is intriguing.
The first story had no plot, no beginning, no ending. Its just a glimpse at the life of a couple at one of the difficult junctures of their life and how each reacts to it.
Jhumpa seems to relish detailing human emotions. You can almost feel the script playing out in front of you, characters coming alive and enacting the scenes in front of you. Thats what makes a successful book doesn't it?
The book is a piece of art, it has to be appreciated for its beauty. Its not an ice cream treat that tastes the way you expect it to.
I started reading it yesterday night and I have just finished the first story. I must say that the narrative is intriguing.
The first story had no plot, no beginning, no ending. Its just a glimpse at the life of a couple at one of the difficult junctures of their life and how each reacts to it.
Jhumpa seems to relish detailing human emotions. You can almost feel the script playing out in front of you, characters coming alive and enacting the scenes in front of you. Thats what makes a successful book doesn't it?
The book is a piece of art, it has to be appreciated for its beauty. Its not an ice cream treat that tastes the way you expect it to.
01 December 2009
Two states - the story of my marriage
Chetan Bhagat's new book is a hoot to read. Story-wise its a plot thats been done to death everywhere from movies to serials since the days of DDLJ. Guy falls in love with a girl, parents don't agree, children ensure they win over the parents and finally all ends well.
However, what makes the book an interesting read are the characters, the classic conservative Tamil Brahmin family with its flaws to the core and the stereotyped boisterous Punjabi family and their beliefs make up all the fun in the book.
'... on the wall was a picture of her family... .they were all standing so stiff and sober that one could almost hear the national anthem playing in the background..' chetan writes.
Chetan's natural wit and humour more than makes for a lackluster storyline invariably evoking quite a few laughs along the way.
Its a pure masala and don't expect a literary genius from Chetan. However Chetan has kept the script tight and ensured that its fun as long as it lasts.
Chetan's leading ladies are always liberal thinking even if the plot were to place the characters in the remotest village of India. Even the characterization is all too predictable for he has repeated this in all his books and should look to vary his leading ladies a bit.
Being a masala writer, one cannot fault him for his tendency to throw logic to the winds and inserting cinematic miralces in his books!
Otherwise this book is a good change for readers and 95 bucks a copy makes it one of the cheapest on the book shelf. It is even cheaper than some monthly magazines!
Go and get your copy
27 November 2009
Courtesy begets strange looks
I have started to believe that my country, the one I love with all my heart is strange in some ways.
I'm referring to the concept of courtesy. To be honest, I must admit that I was not used to being courteous during my childhood days.
Courtesy was limited to the mandatory wishes of Good morning/afternoon at school and a Thank you sometimes when a relative chose to buy you a gift.
It was a cultural shock for me first when I moved to college. I studied in a college right in the middle of Tamil Nadu in a lush green city called Thanjavur (Tanjore). People there were extremely courteous and I'm referring to fellow students and hostel mates hailing from rural areas or other places that were not Madras (the capital city where I hail from)
Everyone addressed each other with the respect they accorded an elder. I was first taken aback at this rather undue respect I was getting from friends and alike.
The practice I thought would change over the years once we got to know each other better. Boy, I was wrong. Their language stayed the same right through.
I was initially ashamed at myself for being such an uncouth and for using a friendly language (with da's and other innuendos) while I was being some strange respect.
Soon, I picked up the 'skill' and started speaking in the same tongue as the other. Now, speaking of tongues, each district in Tamil Nadu has its own dialect of Tamil and each one spoke with a characteristic vernacular accent. Soon enough, I was using the same vernacular by closely watching them.
Fast forward 2001 and I returned from my stint abroad slogging for an NRI. Back home , all smiles that I don't have to go to a foreign land again, made the first mistake .
I said 'Thank you' to the customs officer who cleared my passport and 'officially' let me into the country.
He stared back and said with his eyes 'Move on'..
The hanger in my mouth (of course the silly smile) vanished in a sec and I was glum.. 'Did I say anything wrong.. ?" i asked myself.
I moved on thinking to myself and shrugged it off when I could not find a sane reason.
This trend continued.. I was driving to work and stopped at an intersection and waved the other car to go. I did this with a smile.
Here is what happened. The other car passes slowly with the driver giving an intent look at me and he stops the car sticks his head out of the window and stares at me with a nasty look on his face..
Him: 'Enna...'.. (What?)
Me: Onnum illaye... (Nothing ).. smiling
Him: Pinna .. ennathukku kaya kaya aatina?(Then why did you shake your hands)
Me: Illa neenga ponga .. piragu naan poren'u sonnen (I just said you go first and I will follow you)
Him: Aan... enakku poikka theriyumm..nee onniyum sollitharavenaa... puriyudha... oyinga poi seru.. summa.. .. kaalila torture pannitu.. (you dont have to teach me how to go.. I will find my way.. understand?.. torturing me in the morning)..
Me: Stunned into silence
Fast Forward 2009: The door bell rang and a stranger stood opposite me.
Him: Edhir flat watchman sir naanu (I'm the watchman from opposite flat)
Me: seri.... (Ok.. )
Him: Sir'dhaan seceratary'a (Are you the secretary?)
Me: aama (yes)
Him: Unga flat'la car parking free'a irukku illa.. adhula enga flat vandi vittukalaama (You have unused car parking slots in your building. Can we rent it)
Me: Illaenga.. enga association'la adhukku anumadhi kedayaadhu.. mannikanum.. ennaala thanippata muraila endha maatru mudivum solla mudiyaadhu.. mannikanum (Our association does not allow for outside vehicles to be parked in our premises. Please accept my apology for not being able to help you. I do not have any special authority to overrule residents wishes even I'm the secretary. Please accept my apologies)
Him: Saar.. enna solreenga neenga periya vaarthayellam. (Why are you speaking big words.. apologies and all)
Me: .... (...)
Him: Seri sar naan varen (Ok sir, I will leave now)
Me :Ok
Whats with courtesy in this country? are not watchmen, electrician eligible for respect? What's wrong if a watchman or an electrician or a plumber is accorded a respect due for say, a neighbour? Why do we have such a graded system of respect.
We have one level for neighbours, another for watchmen and drivers. yet another for our children's school principal. yet another special one for according one who is about to take a decision on subject of our interest. such as the driving inspector before the driving test. The college principal when asking for a seat, the bank manager before a loan.
While I wrote of the unexpected reactions from people for courtesy they did not expect, I did not write about those that people expect, like in the situations I have explained above. They would be rather unsavory and i chose to leave them out. You can imagine what it would have been.
I dream of a day not too distant in future when every Indian accords the basic courtesy and respect to others irrespective of the nature of the work they do or the region of the country they belong to or the position they hold in an organization or their current disposition to our cause.
17 November 2009
The truth in advertisements
I wonder why consumers dont believe the only advertisements that speak the truth!
Yeah, am talking about the tobacco advertisements. They shout that you will die if you use their products.
But consumers seem to think... 'Uh huh... good one.. give me a six pack of those..'
Finally, after twenty years of abuse, when you end up sitting opposite a glum doc who is shaking his head with your medical examination report in his hand and hear
' you have a malignant tumour in the lower lungs that has reached its secondary stage.. "
you go.. "yeah.... right.. " with big doses of nods.. with an equally intense look.. and follow up with..
" whats that..?"....
Doc looks up with a look that mixes "oh dear" and .. "Oh you are stupid.." and says .. " you are going to die!!!"
"But, am only 45 doc.. "
"yeah., you are too young to die, but you've contracted cancer in the lungs and its too late for a cure.."
That's when it dawns on you .. the advertisements indeed spake the truth! If you think that they have been humbled by the moment of truth! Oh boy! you are wrong!
Sue the tobacco companies!! For they deliberately made me ignore those warnings with enticing advertisement themes that somehow made them to those big bold fonts and the sign of skull on the pack! ha ha ha.. going to get rich.. payback time folks!!!! I'm going to get back all the money i paid for those six packs!!! ha ha ha... .
Soon in the death bed, surrounded by sons and daughters who have caught on the habit as well and have just stepped back from their tenth puff for the day, and who are equally deaf and blind to the consequences of the vice as you were, whom you cannot reprimand for you were a slave of the same vice, you realize that you have not only killed yourself, you have also deliberately endangered your children who are also on the same road to death by their own hands, you realize the gravity of the situation. That one day when you were sixteen and had gone out with the boys who were trying out a new fad.. Why not? Let me give it a puff.. i don't want to sound uncool by not joining the gang.. that one moment in lapse of judgment... Wish life had an undo button!
Yeah, am talking about the tobacco advertisements. They shout that you will die if you use their products.
But consumers seem to think... 'Uh huh... good one.. give me a six pack of those..'
Finally, after twenty years of abuse, when you end up sitting opposite a glum doc who is shaking his head with your medical examination report in his hand and hear
' you have a malignant tumour in the lower lungs that has reached its secondary stage.. "
you go.. "yeah.... right.. " with big doses of nods.. with an equally intense look.. and follow up with..
" whats that..?"....
Doc looks up with a look that mixes "oh dear" and .. "Oh you are stupid.." and says .. " you are going to die!!!"
"But, am only 45 doc.. "
"yeah., you are too young to die, but you've contracted cancer in the lungs and its too late for a cure.."
That's when it dawns on you .. the advertisements indeed spake the truth! If you think that they have been humbled by the moment of truth! Oh boy! you are wrong!
Sue the tobacco companies!! For they deliberately made me ignore those warnings with enticing advertisement themes that somehow made them to those big bold fonts and the sign of skull on the pack! ha ha ha.. going to get rich.. payback time folks!!!! I'm going to get back all the money i paid for those six packs!!! ha ha ha... .
Soon in the death bed, surrounded by sons and daughters who have caught on the habit as well and have just stepped back from their tenth puff for the day, and who are equally deaf and blind to the consequences of the vice as you were, whom you cannot reprimand for you were a slave of the same vice, you realize that you have not only killed yourself, you have also deliberately endangered your children who are also on the same road to death by their own hands, you realize the gravity of the situation. That one day when you were sixteen and had gone out with the boys who were trying out a new fad.. Why not? Let me give it a puff.. i don't want to sound uncool by not joining the gang.. that one moment in lapse of judgment... Wish life had an undo button!
12 November 2009
The enigma called Indira
I was all of 9 years old when the then prime minister of India was gunned down by her own body guards! I still remember a deep sense of sympathy i felt for the first time towards a third person's family. I stayed glued to the television watching her entire funeral procession and the sober faces of the family members.
As I grew up , I have learned a little bit more than I knew at that age. All of them hear say and read from magazines, I must admit. It appears to me that she is an enigma of a woman.
Bold, daring and courageous to some, ruthless , conniving and autocratic to others. The bias has always been extreme.
Recently we observed her 25th death anniversary with a mark of reverence and media going on a full blitz to sing her laurels.
I happened to chance across a local congress veteran's( Mr.Peter Alphonse ) interview to the state run channel. He gave some very insightful answers to Indira's life that we would have never otherwise understood. I have tried to reproduce here what I have gathered from the interviews.
-The humility of Indira Gandhi
The local congress had a new chief who had been vested with the responsibility of preparing for the election campaign launch in the south in a village near Tirunelveli. He had ensured that the stage was set and all the arrangements were made for her security and the electronics were working and the press duly in attendance.
Mrs.Gandhi arrived with her entourage by road from Madurai and took the stage. As soon as she sat down, she gestured to the local congress leader and said,
"Mr.Peter, Can I have a cup of Coffee Please"
Peter was aghast! he had thought of everything for the meeting, but the refreshments for the guest. To his dismay he realized that he had nowhere to go and get a cuppa for the whole village had shut down its business to see Mrs.Gandhi.
He then saw a cycle born vendor who was selling tea and coffee to the crowd seated below. He runs to the vendor and manages to get a cuppa in a soiled glass. He was terrified to think that he was going to give the dirty cup to the great leader.
He goes and gives this to Mrs.Gandhi who looks at the cup and then at Mr.Peter and with a smile she says, "Thank you Mr.Peter" and just quietly sips it.
He was humbled to think that not even a murmur or a sigh had escaped her mouth! To think that small town leaders fuss and throw a ruckus at even the hint of anything less than the grandest, he admired that he had such a humble leader! She had in turn won over the life time membership of a local leader.
He is no more the local congress leader, but to this day, he remains a staunch Congress worker working at the grass roots level.
-Operation Blue star.
This one operation proved to be her nemesis. In the earlier days after the military marched into the most revered Sikh complex and carried out a flush operation to evict the terrorists who had made the temple their bastion, she received a note from her security advisor that said.
"Madam, in the recent review of your security arrangements we have noted that most of your personal body guards are from the Sikh community. 'm afraid that there is an element of higher risk due to this fact given the current public resentment against operation Blue Star. We request your approval to a change of your body guards....." it said.
Mrs.Gandhi wrote in the note
"..thank you for your note. I have taken an oath to be up-hold the secular thread of this great nation and I choose to live as an example. I have the utmost trust in my personal guards and I have no desire for them to be replaced. Doing so will be the worst act of disrespect to the Sikh community..."
Her trust proved to be in vain, however, her principles were something to behold in the highest honor.
-Where did she get her grit
Indira Gandhi was born into a family of freedom fighters. Her father, mother, grandfather and grandmother were all leaders of the great Gandhian movement for freedom and as a consequence spent several years in prison.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru through the nine years he spent in prison, wrote her letters to ensure that she did not miss her father. The letters are now available as a book as 'Brief glimpses of world history'
Indira Gandhi grew up with none of her parents by her side and managed her own affairs and attained tremendous levels of political shrewdness even at a young age. She grew up watching and learning from her fathers decisions and mistakes on the world stage and strengthened her understanding of world politics much before she held any post of authority.
China's betrayal only furthered her steeliness and resolve to be an iron woman of India. This reflected on her strategic thinking and can be seen in her moves to free Bangladesh which today is a peaceful nation.
One would shudder to imagine the scenario had it still been a part of Pakistan and suffered the same evils of what Pakistan today is undergoing. Her far sightedness has today saved us of at least the east of India being relatively terrorist free.
-The era of nationalization
1969 was a year that marked nationalization of banks. Many a financial expert verbally crucified Mrs.Gandhi citing collapse of public confidence in banking infrastructure followed up with predictions of mass economic collapse.
Today, nationalized banks are the financial arteries and capillaries of this nation. Even small villages have access to a nationalized bank thereby allowing for small savings sector to hugely benefit from the services of the country's financial infrastructure. In addition to this, nationalized banks have also proved to be a powerful instrument in government machinery when it comes to doling out monetary relief, stimulus packages and other such government mooted aid measures to the poor and downtrodden. Today, these very banks help the city bound sons and daughters send money to their parents and relatives is the nook and corner of the country through simple network transfers.
One cannot refute the far reaching connotations Indira Gandhi's action in 1969.
-The family's that gave it all to the nation
Jawaharlal Nehru was in Prison when Rajiv Gandhi was born to Indira. He longed to see his grandson. He wrote to Indira that
" I would love to have a look at my grandson soon. I would be taken to court for renewing my remand to prison tonight. On the way back, the van will stop for a moment before the gates of the prison for the doors to open. You bring Rajiv to the gates and stand next to the lamp by the doors of the prison. I will try and catch a glimpse before the van rolls into the gates."
True to what he said Indira was there by the road lamp by the prison gates waiting for him to return. Night weather in Delhi at that time was cold and foggy. In a turn of events, Nehru was not brought back to the prison until early next morning. However, when Nehru arrived at 4am that morning, he checked to see if his daughter was still around with the infant. To his surprise there she was under the lamp shade as he had instructed with just a shawl to protect the infant from the biting cold of the morning. She uncovers the baby and in an instant the van is gone.
Nehru later writes to Indira saying .. "I could not catch much as a glance at the baby, the mist played truant. However, I could make out that he has inherited our pinkish skin tone and the nose..."
If we stop for a moment and think that they gave even the simplest of pleasures of life that we enjoy so much today, and all of that they gave up for the cause of the nation. We must be thankful today that we are able to enjoy the pleasures of our normal lives thanks to the sacrifices made by our leaders.
In an age when misdeeds get more publicity thanks to selfish politiciking, I wrote this piece share what I heard so that we also revitalize our beliefs in our great leaders by learning the good things they have done, but also to remind myself that I'm truly blessed to have live in the land of mahatmas.
As I grew up , I have learned a little bit more than I knew at that age. All of them hear say and read from magazines, I must admit. It appears to me that she is an enigma of a woman.
Bold, daring and courageous to some, ruthless , conniving and autocratic to others. The bias has always been extreme.
Recently we observed her 25th death anniversary with a mark of reverence and media going on a full blitz to sing her laurels.
I happened to chance across a local congress veteran's( Mr.Peter Alphonse ) interview to the state run channel. He gave some very insightful answers to Indira's life that we would have never otherwise understood. I have tried to reproduce here what I have gathered from the interviews.
-The humility of Indira Gandhi
The local congress had a new chief who had been vested with the responsibility of preparing for the election campaign launch in the south in a village near Tirunelveli. He had ensured that the stage was set and all the arrangements were made for her security and the electronics were working and the press duly in attendance.
Mrs.Gandhi arrived with her entourage by road from Madurai and took the stage. As soon as she sat down, she gestured to the local congress leader and said,
"Mr.Peter, Can I have a cup of Coffee Please"
Peter was aghast! he had thought of everything for the meeting, but the refreshments for the guest. To his dismay he realized that he had nowhere to go and get a cuppa for the whole village had shut down its business to see Mrs.Gandhi.
He then saw a cycle born vendor who was selling tea and coffee to the crowd seated below. He runs to the vendor and manages to get a cuppa in a soiled glass. He was terrified to think that he was going to give the dirty cup to the great leader.
He goes and gives this to Mrs.Gandhi who looks at the cup and then at Mr.Peter and with a smile she says, "Thank you Mr.Peter" and just quietly sips it.
He was humbled to think that not even a murmur or a sigh had escaped her mouth! To think that small town leaders fuss and throw a ruckus at even the hint of anything less than the grandest, he admired that he had such a humble leader! She had in turn won over the life time membership of a local leader.
He is no more the local congress leader, but to this day, he remains a staunch Congress worker working at the grass roots level.
-Operation Blue star.
This one operation proved to be her nemesis. In the earlier days after the military marched into the most revered Sikh complex and carried out a flush operation to evict the terrorists who had made the temple their bastion, she received a note from her security advisor that said.
"Madam, in the recent review of your security arrangements we have noted that most of your personal body guards are from the Sikh community. 'm afraid that there is an element of higher risk due to this fact given the current public resentment against operation Blue Star. We request your approval to a change of your body guards....." it said.
Mrs.Gandhi wrote in the note
"..thank you for your note. I have taken an oath to be up-hold the secular thread of this great nation and I choose to live as an example. I have the utmost trust in my personal guards and I have no desire for them to be replaced. Doing so will be the worst act of disrespect to the Sikh community..."
Her trust proved to be in vain, however, her principles were something to behold in the highest honor.
-Where did she get her grit
Indira Gandhi was born into a family of freedom fighters. Her father, mother, grandfather and grandmother were all leaders of the great Gandhian movement for freedom and as a consequence spent several years in prison.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru through the nine years he spent in prison, wrote her letters to ensure that she did not miss her father. The letters are now available as a book as 'Brief glimpses of world history'
Indira Gandhi grew up with none of her parents by her side and managed her own affairs and attained tremendous levels of political shrewdness even at a young age. She grew up watching and learning from her fathers decisions and mistakes on the world stage and strengthened her understanding of world politics much before she held any post of authority.
China's betrayal only furthered her steeliness and resolve to be an iron woman of India. This reflected on her strategic thinking and can be seen in her moves to free Bangladesh which today is a peaceful nation.
One would shudder to imagine the scenario had it still been a part of Pakistan and suffered the same evils of what Pakistan today is undergoing. Her far sightedness has today saved us of at least the east of India being relatively terrorist free.
-The era of nationalization
1969 was a year that marked nationalization of banks. Many a financial expert verbally crucified Mrs.Gandhi citing collapse of public confidence in banking infrastructure followed up with predictions of mass economic collapse.
Today, nationalized banks are the financial arteries and capillaries of this nation. Even small villages have access to a nationalized bank thereby allowing for small savings sector to hugely benefit from the services of the country's financial infrastructure. In addition to this, nationalized banks have also proved to be a powerful instrument in government machinery when it comes to doling out monetary relief, stimulus packages and other such government mooted aid measures to the poor and downtrodden. Today, these very banks help the city bound sons and daughters send money to their parents and relatives is the nook and corner of the country through simple network transfers.
One cannot refute the far reaching connotations Indira Gandhi's action in 1969.
-The family's that gave it all to the nation
Jawaharlal Nehru was in Prison when Rajiv Gandhi was born to Indira. He longed to see his grandson. He wrote to Indira that
" I would love to have a look at my grandson soon. I would be taken to court for renewing my remand to prison tonight. On the way back, the van will stop for a moment before the gates of the prison for the doors to open. You bring Rajiv to the gates and stand next to the lamp by the doors of the prison. I will try and catch a glimpse before the van rolls into the gates."
True to what he said Indira was there by the road lamp by the prison gates waiting for him to return. Night weather in Delhi at that time was cold and foggy. In a turn of events, Nehru was not brought back to the prison until early next morning. However, when Nehru arrived at 4am that morning, he checked to see if his daughter was still around with the infant. To his surprise there she was under the lamp shade as he had instructed with just a shawl to protect the infant from the biting cold of the morning. She uncovers the baby and in an instant the van is gone.
Nehru later writes to Indira saying .. "I could not catch much as a glance at the baby, the mist played truant. However, I could make out that he has inherited our pinkish skin tone and the nose..."
If we stop for a moment and think that they gave even the simplest of pleasures of life that we enjoy so much today, and all of that they gave up for the cause of the nation. We must be thankful today that we are able to enjoy the pleasures of our normal lives thanks to the sacrifices made by our leaders.
In an age when misdeeds get more publicity thanks to selfish politiciking, I wrote this piece share what I heard so that we also revitalize our beliefs in our great leaders by learning the good things they have done, but also to remind myself that I'm truly blessed to have live in the land of mahatmas.
02 November 2009
Nature works its magic
I Love going on nature tours. But, its been four years since I ventured out for a nature trip. Two children and and all consuming project work being the reasons.
Tall trees blocking the sunlight with the smell of raw earth emanating from the ground that is slightly wet from the previous evening's drizzle. The random smell of the berries and thorn bushes that mingle with the breeze, the forlorn call of the mynah calling out its partner piercing the silence. The ominous looking hornet nests threatening to sting you should you get anywhere near them, the suddenness in the change of terrain from soft soil layered with decomposed leaves to rocky terrain with sudden drops , the exotic plants and vines that creep out of nowhere and climb up all the way to the sky forming wonderful loops that serve as an impromptu swing for the kids, the large leaves of some exotic plants that appear as though they were time transported from the Jurassic age, the sudden streams that emerge from nowhere and make their own path as though saying, we are visiting, just like you, the freshness of the unpolluted water that tempts you to take a sip, large mushrooms that look like the wonderland Lewis carrol spoke about was indeed here!
The freshness of the atmosphere that simply swamps your senses, unclutters your mind, wipes away your worries and puts an automatic smile on your face without you even realizing, recharging your brain cells with new energy and invigorating your body with confidence and belief that the beauty of this world is much bigger than the pettiness of the problems life throws at us.
Farmville, is a small game in facebook that allows players to do some simple farming such as planting seeds and watch them bloom into a full grown plant and reap it. It also allows you to design your farm layout with farmhouse, scarecrow, barns with cows and pigs! Watching a variety of fuits and vegetables grow from a seed to a beautiful plant gives a sense of micro elation.
Its a small compensation for the drudgery of city life, but its a tonic nevertheless and I have only facebook to thank for it.
Tall trees blocking the sunlight with the smell of raw earth emanating from the ground that is slightly wet from the previous evening's drizzle. The random smell of the berries and thorn bushes that mingle with the breeze, the forlorn call of the mynah calling out its partner piercing the silence. The ominous looking hornet nests threatening to sting you should you get anywhere near them, the suddenness in the change of terrain from soft soil layered with decomposed leaves to rocky terrain with sudden drops , the exotic plants and vines that creep out of nowhere and climb up all the way to the sky forming wonderful loops that serve as an impromptu swing for the kids, the large leaves of some exotic plants that appear as though they were time transported from the Jurassic age, the sudden streams that emerge from nowhere and make their own path as though saying, we are visiting, just like you, the freshness of the unpolluted water that tempts you to take a sip, large mushrooms that look like the wonderland Lewis carrol spoke about was indeed here!
The freshness of the atmosphere that simply swamps your senses, unclutters your mind, wipes away your worries and puts an automatic smile on your face without you even realizing, recharging your brain cells with new energy and invigorating your body with confidence and belief that the beauty of this world is much bigger than the pettiness of the problems life throws at us.
Farmville, is a small game in facebook that allows players to do some simple farming such as planting seeds and watch them bloom into a full grown plant and reap it. It also allows you to design your farm layout with farmhouse, scarecrow, barns with cows and pigs! Watching a variety of fuits and vegetables grow from a seed to a beautiful plant gives a sense of micro elation.
Its a small compensation for the drudgery of city life, but its a tonic nevertheless and I have only facebook to thank for it.
29 October 2009
All things plastic
Its interesting to note that we Indians have an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) when it comes to using plastic in our lives.
We simply cannot live without it. There are many instances where it is indispensable and we have to thank plastics for that.
It is however very interesting to observe how we have extended the use of plastic in our lives.
Often we see cars being driven about, new cars especially, that still have their car seats wrapped in plastic covers they came with! I have a good friend whose car seats are still wrapped in the precious polymer even after a year of road usage!
A relative still has their sofa cushions wrapped in plastic! lest they become dirty!It actually does not seem to matter if the seats are uncomfortable to sit on! they should not become dirty!
Mobile phones are used without peeling off the sticky plastic it came with for protecting the screen! its alright if NOKIA is written boldly on it obstructing the screen view. I'm happy as long as it protects the screen from scratches! It is another matter that the keypads are already dirty from coming into contact with the my oily hands. The screen is still pristine you see!
My computer keyboard is wrapped in plastic and so is the desktop and my monitor! My shelves are lined with plastic sheets cut from food world covers and unused garbage bags!
My milkman likes to use plastic covers as caps to escape rain when he rides around in his 50k Honda motorcycle.
Even my money has become plastic thanks to cards! Now, the government is seriously considering discarding paper for plastic to print currencies! Better security , they say!
Local street-side food vendor uses plastic sheet over paper plates to guarantee purity of the plates!
The Bihari at the food restaurant round corner that serves Chaat food , wears plastic gloves(yes, not rubber) to make his preparations! Every five minutes he removes it to sneeze the phlegm off his nose and dons the gloves back on! Clean hands you see!
I also started using plastic plates and cups for the birthday parties, it can be recycled until my year old becomes thirteen you see and not to mention my yet to be one son! I'm looking at an returns several times over! who needs Styrofoam anymore Simble logic you see!
In my city, everyone and their mother-in-laws have an enviable collection of plastic covers stashed away in yet another big plastic cover! she uses it at every possible occasion. There is always a plastic cover for any activity. Be it stocking vegetables in the refrigerator or keeping the plant saplings until they become adults and claim their own piece of land in the garden!
When I was a child, I vividly remember Balamurugan, who used to wrap his note books in Milk covers and other such covers instead of brown paper! Lasts longer he'd say to my curious stares!
Today, brown paper is manufactured with a shiny plasticky coating on it! water-proof I heard!
The local vegetable market is always swathed in multiple hues ! Not because of the lovely green and red vegetables in the market, it is because the sun bathing the place in light through the huge multi-coloured plastic sheets that covered the area between the shops should it rain and chase away the buyers!
Even the asbetstos sheets are now plastic! So are the glasses I wear, smiles of the models on TV!
Boy! I cannot imagine what we'd do in India if we did not have plastic!
We simply cannot live without it. There are many instances where it is indispensable and we have to thank plastics for that.
It is however very interesting to observe how we have extended the use of plastic in our lives.
Often we see cars being driven about, new cars especially, that still have their car seats wrapped in plastic covers they came with! I have a good friend whose car seats are still wrapped in the precious polymer even after a year of road usage!
A relative still has their sofa cushions wrapped in plastic! lest they become dirty!It actually does not seem to matter if the seats are uncomfortable to sit on! they should not become dirty!
Mobile phones are used without peeling off the sticky plastic it came with for protecting the screen! its alright if NOKIA is written boldly on it obstructing the screen view. I'm happy as long as it protects the screen from scratches! It is another matter that the keypads are already dirty from coming into contact with the my oily hands. The screen is still pristine you see!
My computer keyboard is wrapped in plastic and so is the desktop and my monitor! My shelves are lined with plastic sheets cut from food world covers and unused garbage bags!
My milkman likes to use plastic covers as caps to escape rain when he rides around in his 50k Honda motorcycle.
Even my money has become plastic thanks to cards! Now, the government is seriously considering discarding paper for plastic to print currencies! Better security , they say!
Local street-side food vendor uses plastic sheet over paper plates to guarantee purity of the plates!
The Bihari at the food restaurant round corner that serves Chaat food , wears plastic gloves(yes, not rubber) to make his preparations! Every five minutes he removes it to sneeze the phlegm off his nose and dons the gloves back on! Clean hands you see!
I also started using plastic plates and cups for the birthday parties, it can be recycled until my year old becomes thirteen you see and not to mention my yet to be one son! I'm looking at an returns several times over! who needs Styrofoam anymore Simble logic you see!
In my city, everyone and their mother-in-laws have an enviable collection of plastic covers stashed away in yet another big plastic cover! she uses it at every possible occasion. There is always a plastic cover for any activity. Be it stocking vegetables in the refrigerator or keeping the plant saplings until they become adults and claim their own piece of land in the garden!
When I was a child, I vividly remember Balamurugan, who used to wrap his note books in Milk covers and other such covers instead of brown paper! Lasts longer he'd say to my curious stares!
Today, brown paper is manufactured with a shiny plasticky coating on it! water-proof I heard!
The local vegetable market is always swathed in multiple hues ! Not because of the lovely green and red vegetables in the market, it is because the sun bathing the place in light through the huge multi-coloured plastic sheets that covered the area between the shops should it rain and chase away the buyers!
Even the asbetstos sheets are now plastic! So are the glasses I wear, smiles of the models on TV!
Boy! I cannot imagine what we'd do in India if we did not have plastic!
26 October 2009
Unreal shows
I'm sitting in an amphitheater watching gladiators gore themselves to death there was a section being mauled by lions to the thunderous applause from the onlooking crowd.
I could feel adrenaline surging through my veins watching these brave warriors fight it out. It is a curse rather for these warriors who are doomed to die , one way or the other , sooner or later, all the time entertaining the crowd.
How I wish I could throw my mother-in-law, husband into the ring. Let them survive even for five minutes, they will understand my life. Ha.. the sweet thought of revenge! mmm..
---x---x---
The mother-in-law was pouring some powder into the milk and planning to give it to her daughter-in-law, the daughter-in-law was actually planning to seize the property and kill the husband. The mother-in-law had overheard her plotting this with her brother and now the mother-in-law had somehow overcome her five year old weakness(really, thats how long the serial ran) and decided to settle the matter once and for all, now this powder is special, it will not kill her, but it will make her a vegetable. She pours the powder and turns around stirring it. Her daughter-in-law is standing behind her at the doorway watching her prepare the milk.. CUT - ad break
----x---x---
The elderly woman has been watching this dutifully from her retirement home, she no longer could wait for the ad break, she started debating the plot with the octagenerian neighbour. She wished she had the courage of the lady in the serial. If she had even the courage to speak up against her vitreous daughter-in-law, she would not have been here. Now all she wanted was to see the lady in the serial win. She felt almost like winning her own battle.
She had even written a letter to the director of the serial thanking him for presenting such a true to life program.
---x--x------
The couple were breaking it off said the scantily entertainment host, Yajna could hardly contain her elation. They never suited each other, Ash and Viveik. Eh.. what was he thinking. Thank god she threw him out of his life, wish I did the same with Ashok. I was too blind to see his nefarious ways. He had been sneaking behind me and seeing Rupa, I wish I could strangle that conniving tramp! She had been depressed for the past few weeks. Now she was feeling murderous, watching MTV roadies made her feel a lot better. She like being the conspirator for a change, shilpa was plotting on stealing lakshmi's boy friend. How she wished she could steal Ashok back from Rupa. One moment I hate him, but I want him too!
----X-----
Now I finally seem to have an imaginary understanding of why Serials and Reality shows work in India!
I could feel adrenaline surging through my veins watching these brave warriors fight it out. It is a curse rather for these warriors who are doomed to die , one way or the other , sooner or later, all the time entertaining the crowd.
How I wish I could throw my mother-in-law, husband into the ring. Let them survive even for five minutes, they will understand my life. Ha.. the sweet thought of revenge! mmm..
---x---x---
The mother-in-law was pouring some powder into the milk and planning to give it to her daughter-in-law, the daughter-in-law was actually planning to seize the property and kill the husband. The mother-in-law had overheard her plotting this with her brother and now the mother-in-law had somehow overcome her five year old weakness(really, thats how long the serial ran) and decided to settle the matter once and for all, now this powder is special, it will not kill her, but it will make her a vegetable. She pours the powder and turns around stirring it. Her daughter-in-law is standing behind her at the doorway watching her prepare the milk.. CUT - ad break
----x---x---
The elderly woman has been watching this dutifully from her retirement home, she no longer could wait for the ad break, she started debating the plot with the octagenerian neighbour. She wished she had the courage of the lady in the serial. If she had even the courage to speak up against her vitreous daughter-in-law, she would not have been here. Now all she wanted was to see the lady in the serial win. She felt almost like winning her own battle.
She had even written a letter to the director of the serial thanking him for presenting such a true to life program.
---x--x------
The couple were breaking it off said the scantily entertainment host, Yajna could hardly contain her elation. They never suited each other, Ash and Viveik. Eh.. what was he thinking. Thank god she threw him out of his life, wish I did the same with Ashok. I was too blind to see his nefarious ways. He had been sneaking behind me and seeing Rupa, I wish I could strangle that conniving tramp! She had been depressed for the past few weeks. Now she was feeling murderous, watching MTV roadies made her feel a lot better. She like being the conspirator for a change, shilpa was plotting on stealing lakshmi's boy friend. How she wished she could steal Ashok back from Rupa. One moment I hate him, but I want him too!
----X-----
Now I finally seem to have an imaginary understanding of why Serials and Reality shows work in India!
23 October 2009
The fine line between patience and weakness
I have been managing the apartment maintenance and funds for the past one year in the building where I live. Its not a big building. There are eight apartments and most are occupied by working couples except a few.
All the residents are duty bound and pay their maintenance by the first week promptly. There is this one couple who have their own problems and often find it difficult to pay their maintenance. Earlier it used to get delayed till almost the end of the month before they paid up.
Slowly and slowly they started slipping and now they have accrued up to three months of dues. Even at that point I used to dutifully request them to pay up the maintenance at least in parts to help them catch up their big backlog.
By this time all the other apartment owners had to be intimated that we are short of funds by three apartment months due to this resident and all owners were pressuring me to get stricter with this resident.
However, I could not see reason how it would help if we ended up antagonizing this resident and continue to be pleasant with this resident till date. My patience bore a little result last month and they paid up a part of accrued maintenance dues for two months together.
However they are again slipping by two months and I dont see any end in sight. While I'm going to continue my strategy of patience, I wonder whether my patience is perceived as a sign of weakness and will being stricter help? hmmm...?
This was in Oct 2009.
Now: Feb 2010. The said resident has paid up all their dues by themselves even as their dues crept up to a relatively high five thousand! This happened as I was slowly resigning to the amount creeping higher! What a miracle! I'm humbled and I feel bad that I even had a shade of doubt of their willingness to catch up. Once again, the world has reaffirmed that appealing to the good person in everyone definitely begets only goodwill. I'm glad that I was patient.
All the residents are duty bound and pay their maintenance by the first week promptly. There is this one couple who have their own problems and often find it difficult to pay their maintenance. Earlier it used to get delayed till almost the end of the month before they paid up.
Slowly and slowly they started slipping and now they have accrued up to three months of dues. Even at that point I used to dutifully request them to pay up the maintenance at least in parts to help them catch up their big backlog.
By this time all the other apartment owners had to be intimated that we are short of funds by three apartment months due to this resident and all owners were pressuring me to get stricter with this resident.
However, I could not see reason how it would help if we ended up antagonizing this resident and continue to be pleasant with this resident till date. My patience bore a little result last month and they paid up a part of accrued maintenance dues for two months together.
However they are again slipping by two months and I dont see any end in sight. While I'm going to continue my strategy of patience, I wonder whether my patience is perceived as a sign of weakness and will being stricter help? hmmm...?
This was in Oct 2009.
Now: Feb 2010. The said resident has paid up all their dues by themselves even as their dues crept up to a relatively high five thousand! This happened as I was slowly resigning to the amount creeping higher! What a miracle! I'm humbled and I feel bad that I even had a shade of doubt of their willingness to catch up. Once again, the world has reaffirmed that appealing to the good person in everyone definitely begets only goodwill. I'm glad that I was patient.
21 October 2009
Its all about the name Chennai
Most of today's Chennaiites / Madrasvasis have been believing that the city's name was 'Restored' to Chennai reversing what the British did. But, here is what I found out in a radio debate I accidentally tuned into on the way to work today.
Chennai, formerly Madras, was originally a fishing hamlet that went by the name 'Madarasapatnam' a hundred or so years back.
It gained prominence when the East India Company, the erstwhile proxy front of the British Government used to colonize the south asian countries, bought a piece of land that is now called Fort St. George, from a local ruler.
History has it that the local ruler agreed to sell the land to the British and imposed one condition for the sale. He requested that British to name the city there were going to develop after his father and former Rajah, Channapa Naicker(Naickan).
The British, however did not honour their agreement and went on to refer it as Madras as short form of referring to Madarasapattinam.
The name stuck for hundreds of years until one day when the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Mr.Karunanidhi (also known as Dr.Kalaignar ) issued a G.O renaming the city as 'Chennai' claiming that he was restoring the original Tamil name to the glorious city and we all believed him!
What I found unbelievable was that this Channappa Naicker/Naickan, never visited this city and had nothing to do with its existence and survival, leave alone developing it to be a cosmopolitan commercial hub.
Why should we name our city against a non-entity? I find this unacceptable as a proud citizen of this country and city.Why should I call my home by a name of a person who meant nothing to this city?
Much to my disgust, the radio featured a youth Congress leader who was making inane arguments about how we are changing everything . He was referring to IT growth and changes in Financial sector, and he was accusing the general populace for not willing to accept a change in the name of the city. I cannot fathom what is the connection between IT sector and the name 'Chennai'.
A research scholar was trying in vain to counter his arguments by explaining that she had nothing against change that is meaningful , but the youth congress leader would not listen to her and was just sticking to yelling unrelated arguments about how even in court they have started referring to the judge as 'Your honour' killing the British practice of addressing the judges as 'My lord!'.
I do not know if it is worthwhile even spending time and effort in discovering the truth and making a movement. Do I need to change it back to Madras?
I live in a world where a child's parents' names keep changing, the workplace names keep changing, the lanes and roads are being constantly renamed, products are being rebranded, even planets are suddenly being declared as just a piece of rock.
Frankly speaking, I dont care any more by what name my city is being called, it just will be 'home' to me.
Chennai, formerly Madras, was originally a fishing hamlet that went by the name 'Madarasapatnam' a hundred or so years back.
It gained prominence when the East India Company, the erstwhile proxy front of the British Government used to colonize the south asian countries, bought a piece of land that is now called Fort St. George, from a local ruler.
History has it that the local ruler agreed to sell the land to the British and imposed one condition for the sale. He requested that British to name the city there were going to develop after his father and former Rajah, Channapa Naicker(Naickan).
The British, however did not honour their agreement and went on to refer it as Madras as short form of referring to Madarasapattinam.
The name stuck for hundreds of years until one day when the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Mr.Karunanidhi (also known as Dr.Kalaignar ) issued a G.O renaming the city as 'Chennai' claiming that he was restoring the original Tamil name to the glorious city and we all believed him!
What I found unbelievable was that this Channappa Naicker/Naickan, never visited this city and had nothing to do with its existence and survival, leave alone developing it to be a cosmopolitan commercial hub.
Why should we name our city against a non-entity? I find this unacceptable as a proud citizen of this country and city.Why should I call my home by a name of a person who meant nothing to this city?
Much to my disgust, the radio featured a youth Congress leader who was making inane arguments about how we are changing everything . He was referring to IT growth and changes in Financial sector, and he was accusing the general populace for not willing to accept a change in the name of the city. I cannot fathom what is the connection between IT sector and the name 'Chennai'.
A research scholar was trying in vain to counter his arguments by explaining that she had nothing against change that is meaningful , but the youth congress leader would not listen to her and was just sticking to yelling unrelated arguments about how even in court they have started referring to the judge as 'Your honour' killing the British practice of addressing the judges as 'My lord!'.
I do not know if it is worthwhile even spending time and effort in discovering the truth and making a movement. Do I need to change it back to Madras?
I live in a world where a child's parents' names keep changing, the workplace names keep changing, the lanes and roads are being constantly renamed, products are being rebranded, even planets are suddenly being declared as just a piece of rock.
Frankly speaking, I dont care any more by what name my city is being called, it just will be 'home' to me.
19 October 2009
Indian Woman
I fail to understand the Indian woman, she is a paradox. She is a pandora's box of conflicting emotions.
She can be the most loving and benevolent creature on earth. She can be the most patient and tolerant being in this universe. She can be the most determined and frightfully competent force to deal with. She can be fierce when it comes to protecting those who depend on her.
Yet, she is the weakest in amongst her own breed. She cannot peacefully coexist and share her space with her own breed. I Wonder why?
She can be the most loving and benevolent creature on earth. She can be the most patient and tolerant being in this universe. She can be the most determined and frightfully competent force to deal with. She can be fierce when it comes to protecting those who depend on her.
Yet, she is the weakest in amongst her own breed. She cannot peacefully coexist and share her space with her own breed. I Wonder why?
Advertisements are sexist.
Of late, i have taken to observing the storylines and plots and the analyzing the minds of creative agencies that come up with ad-spots for the junta.
I cannot but help notice that advertisements meant for women are so beautifully done. So much so that I wish why men should not use them. Be it the 'Dove therapy' or 'Pril dish wash concentrate' or even the personal hygiene products.
All of them focus on the strong points of the products and how each product provides more bang for the buck and why they are chemical free and next best thing to what nature has already created for you.
In a strong contrast, it makes me cringe at the sight of advertisements targeted at men. Almost none of them focus on feature or functionality. I'm being constantly told that women will literally undress and fall over me if i use one perfume or the reason to buy the new Suzuki motor cycle is for its snazzy flashy stickers!!!!! and i can do wheelies all the way to market if I buy Mahindra Rodeo scooter and again, women will fall for my hair gel if i use the latest wet and sexy product. Somehow you become macho and dive down the cliff in a jeep and get out unscathed after a cup of mountain dew or even worse, how cars will cringe at the sight of my new Hunk motor cycle because it looks like well. ahem.... a ..... a bull!
Whats wrong with these guys? They What happened to the days of "Fill it! Shut it! and forget it?" Why don't men get advertisements that are focused on the product features rather than on women and the primal instincts of men.
I cannot but help notice that advertisements meant for women are so beautifully done. So much so that I wish why men should not use them. Be it the 'Dove therapy' or 'Pril dish wash concentrate' or even the personal hygiene products.
All of them focus on the strong points of the products and how each product provides more bang for the buck and why they are chemical free and next best thing to what nature has already created for you.
In a strong contrast, it makes me cringe at the sight of advertisements targeted at men. Almost none of them focus on feature or functionality. I'm being constantly told that women will literally undress and fall over me if i use one perfume or the reason to buy the new Suzuki motor cycle is for its snazzy flashy stickers!!!!! and i can do wheelies all the way to market if I buy Mahindra Rodeo scooter and again, women will fall for my hair gel if i use the latest wet and sexy product. Somehow you become macho and dive down the cliff in a jeep and get out unscathed after a cup of mountain dew or even worse, how cars will cringe at the sight of my new Hunk motor cycle because it looks like well. ahem.... a ..... a bull!
Whats wrong with these guys? They What happened to the days of "Fill it! Shut it! and forget it?" Why don't men get advertisements that are focused on the product features rather than on women and the primal instincts of men.
14 October 2009
Children and Memory
I had a rather unnerving moment today with my daughter when she recounted an incident that happened a year back when she was all of two years old with alarming vividness that shocked me.
Here is what happened
Grandpa: தீபாவளி Saturdayஅன்னிக்கி வரபோரதே, அப்பா பட்டாசு எல்லாம் வாங்கி தருவாளே, நம்ம ஜாலியா வெடிக்கலாமே(Deepavali is just round the corner, appa is going to get you lots of sparklers and we are going to have fun!)
Daughter: ஆமா , அருந்ததி அக்காகூட வருவாளே, ஜெயந்தி அத்தை வீட்டுக்கு வருவாளே அவ! பட்டாசு வெச்சிட்டு காத முடிப்பா இல்ல ? ரோஹித் கூட அழுவானே !
(yeah! Arundhati will also come to Jayanthi Athai's place and she will close her ears to all the loud crackers! Even Rohit will cry for bursting his quota of crackers!)
We were all stunned to hear her say this, for among the host of hindu festivals, she correctly related the festival of lights by name t the one we had a year before and vividly recounted the incident where she met small girl (Arundhati) when we visited my sister on that day. She has never met Arundhati after that day!
Here is what happened
Grandpa: தீபாவளி Saturdayஅன்னிக்கி வரபோரதே, அப்பா பட்டாசு எல்லாம் வாங்கி தருவாளே, நம்ம ஜாலியா வெடிக்கலாமே(Deepavali is just round the corner, appa is going to get you lots of sparklers and we are going to have fun!)
Daughter: ஆமா , அருந்ததி அக்காகூட வருவாளே, ஜெயந்தி அத்தை வீட்டுக்கு வருவாளே அவ! பட்டாசு வெச்சிட்டு காத முடிப்பா இல்ல ? ரோஹித் கூட அழுவானே !
(yeah! Arundhati will also come to Jayanthi Athai's place and she will close her ears to all the loud crackers! Even Rohit will cry for bursting his quota of crackers!)
We were all stunned to hear her say this, for among the host of hindu festivals, she correctly related the festival of lights by name t the one we had a year before and vividly recounted the incident where she met small girl (Arundhati) when we visited my sister on that day. She has never met Arundhati after that day!
13 October 2009
Timesheets are such a waste of time
Timesheets are the bane of the Indian IT Industry
They have evolved to a point when the have ceased to serve any meaningful purpose other than present some meaningless numbers to senior management.
We have been told countless times that it is a sin not to keep one's timesheets up to date.There is barrage of emails from PMO to keep our timesheets up to date. The nagging is so persistent that our managers literally plead with us to put in our timesheets.
I however find the ritualistic update of the number 8 in some five meaningless boxes every week to be such a criminal waste of time and effort of multiple people at least in a development project.
For one, the manager has to prepare a detailed plan as to what each and ever person in his team of five or fifty is doing every hour that makes up the forty hour week.
Imagine doing this for a fifty member team every week, activity takes up so much time of the manager that the manager starts being deviant ,vague and starts making up tasks that take the entire duration of the project to complete. Here is a sample
i. Development of code
ii. Testing
iii. Code review
iv. Build management
these are not task types, but tasks themselves marked to begin at any point but will only end along with the end of the project which is probably two years away.
Added to this plight is the problem of reconciling MPPs with that of the online system that maintains the timesheets.For, the senior management always wants to see both online reports , MPPs and additional dozen Exel sheets along with a PPT on the status of the project.
The entire team thus begins entering timesheet of 8 hours against the five or six days of the week against the meaningless tasks created for them.
It has become so stupidly ritualistic and I'm surprised that most senior management personnel do not realize that the system is being subverted and is not serving any purpose and keep insisting on them being kept up to date.
To the credit of the timesheet systems, they have tremendous amount of features in them and could throw up a great deal of light on who is doing what, but if it were only simpler to use.
They have evolved to a point when the have ceased to serve any meaningful purpose other than present some meaningless numbers to senior management.
We have been told countless times that it is a sin not to keep one's timesheets up to date.There is barrage of emails from PMO to keep our timesheets up to date. The nagging is so persistent that our managers literally plead with us to put in our timesheets.
I however find the ritualistic update of the number 8 in some five meaningless boxes every week to be such a criminal waste of time and effort of multiple people at least in a development project.
For one, the manager has to prepare a detailed plan as to what each and ever person in his team of five or fifty is doing every hour that makes up the forty hour week.
Imagine doing this for a fifty member team every week, activity takes up so much time of the manager that the manager starts being deviant ,vague and starts making up tasks that take the entire duration of the project to complete. Here is a sample
i. Development of code
ii. Testing
iii. Code review
iv. Build management
these are not task types, but tasks themselves marked to begin at any point but will only end along with the end of the project which is probably two years away.
Added to this plight is the problem of reconciling MPPs with that of the online system that maintains the timesheets.For, the senior management always wants to see both online reports , MPPs and additional dozen Exel sheets along with a PPT on the status of the project.
The entire team thus begins entering timesheet of 8 hours against the five or six days of the week against the meaningless tasks created for them.
It has become so stupidly ritualistic and I'm surprised that most senior management personnel do not realize that the system is being subverted and is not serving any purpose and keep insisting on them being kept up to date.
To the credit of the timesheet systems, they have tremendous amount of features in them and could throw up a great deal of light on who is doing what, but if it were only simpler to use.
14 July 2009
Firefox 3.5 - Maximizing Screen space
Firefox 3.5 is an amazing browser that is blazing fast. However it is a victim of one thing I dislike in most browsers, chrome(The section above the browser content viewing area) overload. Google's Chrome browser does a fine job of minimizing the Chrome area and maximizing viewable content space.
I set out on a mission to make my browser use as little screen estate as possible for non-content sections. Here is screenshot of how my browser looks today. This is a complete screenshot of my desktop with firefox 3.5 on. Notice that there is no menu bar (File, Edit...), no google search bar, no bookmarks , no google toolbar, no Tabs, no status bar at the bottom.
This provides an amazingly vast screen space that allows me to extract maximum viewing with little scrolling.
Here is how I did it.
First the simple ones.
The tool bars
Use the 'View->Toolbar option in your firefox browser and deselect the 'Bookmarks' toolbar option to get rid of the annoying bookmarks section.
Now, that was easy.
Getting rid of the Search Box and shrinking the back button.
The next one is to get rid of the default search box that comes with firefox. Now, why would I do that? you may ask. The reason is that the new firefox 3.5's URL bar by itself doubles up as search bar. So, if you were to type "Search Barrack obama" in the URL bar, firefox 3.5 does a search using your favourite search engine and presents the results. So, this makes the search bar an unecessary function. So, lets get down to removing it.
Right click your mouse on the browser chrome area and select customize. Firefox will present a customize tool bar window and a grab handle. Now use the grab handle and pull the search box from the firefox's chrome section and drop it into the Customize Toolbar window. This will remove the Search box from Chrome section.
The next is to shrink the back button. In the customize toolbar button select the checkbox that reads "Use Small Icons". Now the extra large back button would be shrunk to a normal size.
Lets do a quick check of things to do.
The Title bar serves no purpose when the window is on top. Thankfully we can hide this in firefox. Download and install this add-on(You may be required to check the select the Let me install the experimental add-on check box).
HideCaption AddOn
Restart your firefox once the addon is installed and voila! the title bar is gone.
Before
After
Hiding the Menu Bar
File Menu bar is something that people seldom use in a browser. It really takes up a useful line of space from the screen. Hide Menu bar is an addon that makes this menu bar go away . We can always bring it back by clicking the alt key in the keyboard. For those who prefer keyboard to access menu functions this is a known method to access menu functions. For those who prefer to use mouse for all operations, this is a trivial detail to remember.
Now lets get to business. Here is the link to the add on. Once you have downloaded this and restarted firefox you will notice that the menu bar does not appear unless you press the alt key.
Before
After
Thats another line freed from the clutches of the tyrant! Okay I overdid it. Move on, shall we.
Auto Hiding the Tab Strip.
Well, this one is a personal preference. I dont want to know about the other tabs until I'm looking to move away from the current tab. So, I'd love it if it would auto hide and show up only when i need it! I can do this by installing the Tab Bar Add on
Hit the link and download the experimental add on like you did earlier by selecting the 'Let me install this experimental addon' option.
Now, restart the firefox and the tab bar is gone! Moving the mouse over to the URL bar area brings the tabs back automatically! Its just perfect!
You can even customize the tab bar behaviour by using the options in the addon section.
Now, we are almost done.
The last step
Auto Hiding the Status bar.
The status bar is of no use once the page is done loading unless you are a developer who uses the status bar for a bunch of other things. I would love it when the status bar shows up when a page is loading and goes off once it is loaded and displayed. Here is how to do it. Download this experimental addon Hide Status bar and restart the firefox! ta da! the status bar is now dynamic! It can be even further customized to show up on mouse over of hyperlinks etc., Wonderful isn't it?
Now for the real Before and After images!.
You have just liberated more than 25% space in your browser! Liberating is it not? It would not have been possible for all those add on developers doing their bit.
Thank you good fellas.
I set out on a mission to make my browser use as little screen estate as possible for non-content sections. Here is screenshot of how my browser looks today. This is a complete screenshot of my desktop with firefox 3.5 on. Notice that there is no menu bar (File, Edit...), no google search bar, no bookmarks , no google toolbar, no Tabs, no status bar at the bottom.
This provides an amazingly vast screen space that allows me to extract maximum viewing with little scrolling.Here is how I did it.
First the simple ones.
The tool bars
Use the 'View->Toolbar option in your firefox browser and deselect the 'Bookmarks' toolbar option to get rid of the annoying bookmarks section.
Now, that was easy.
Getting rid of the Search Box and shrinking the back button.
The next one is to get rid of the default search box that comes with firefox. Now, why would I do that? you may ask. The reason is that the new firefox 3.5's URL bar by itself doubles up as search bar. So, if you were to type "Search Barrack obama" in the URL bar, firefox 3.5 does a search using your favourite search engine and presents the results. So, this makes the search bar an unecessary function. So, lets get down to removing it.
Right click your mouse on the browser chrome area and select customize. Firefox will present a customize tool bar window and a grab handle. Now use the grab handle and pull the search box from the firefox's chrome section and drop it into the Customize Toolbar window. This will remove the Search box from Chrome section.
The next is to shrink the back button. In the customize toolbar button select the checkbox that reads "Use Small Icons". Now the extra large back button would be shrunk to a normal size.Lets do a quick check of things to do.
- Hide Title bar that says "Mozilla Firefox...."
- Hide the Menu bar that reads "File....."
- Hide the Tab strip
- Hide the Status bar.
The Title bar serves no purpose when the window is on top. Thankfully we can hide this in firefox. Download and install this add-on(You may be required to check the select the Let me install the experimental add-on check box).
HideCaption AddOn
Restart your firefox once the addon is installed and voila! the title bar is gone.
Before
After
Hiding the Menu BarFile Menu bar is something that people seldom use in a browser. It really takes up a useful line of space from the screen. Hide Menu bar is an addon that makes this menu bar go away . We can always bring it back by clicking the alt key in the keyboard. For those who prefer keyboard to access menu functions this is a known method to access menu functions. For those who prefer to use mouse for all operations, this is a trivial detail to remember.
Now lets get to business. Here is the link to the add on. Once you have downloaded this and restarted firefox you will notice that the menu bar does not appear unless you press the alt key.
Before
After
Thats another line freed from the clutches of the tyrant! Okay I overdid it. Move on, shall we.
Auto Hiding the Tab Strip.
Well, this one is a personal preference. I dont want to know about the other tabs until I'm looking to move away from the current tab. So, I'd love it if it would auto hide and show up only when i need it! I can do this by installing the Tab Bar Add on
Hit the link and download the experimental add on like you did earlier by selecting the 'Let me install this experimental addon' option.
Now, restart the firefox and the tab bar is gone! Moving the mouse over to the URL bar area brings the tabs back automatically! Its just perfect!
You can even customize the tab bar behaviour by using the options in the addon section.
Now, we are almost done.The last step
Auto Hiding the Status bar.
The status bar is of no use once the page is done loading unless you are a developer who uses the status bar for a bunch of other things. I would love it when the status bar shows up when a page is loading and goes off once it is loaded and displayed. Here is how to do it. Download this experimental addon Hide Status bar and restart the firefox! ta da! the status bar is now dynamic! It can be even further customized to show up on mouse over of hyperlinks etc., Wonderful isn't it?
Now for the real Before and After images!.
You have just liberated more than 25% space in your browser! Liberating is it not? It would not have been possible for all those add on developers doing their bit.
Thank you good fellas.
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