Thinking Differently: Musings of an idle mind

All in the name of love!

2009-02-18T22:39:00.000+05:30

Let me tell you a story. Long long ago, there was a saint. A very kind man he was, he would help the poor & needy, the orphans. Whenever someone needed money, this kind saint would drop a small bag of money in that person’s home, unnoticed. Someone was hungry, food would materialize on his table, courtesy the saint. This noble gesture of gifting continued as long he was alive. When he was no longer, people continued this tradition of gifting in his memory. Any guesses who this noble saint was?

Let me tell you another story. Long long ago, there was a saint. A very kind man he was , he would help couples in love get married, marry off soldiers, in short, do his bit to help lovers. For this, he was punished with death. Now if I were to ask who this saint was, everyone would say St. Valentine, who lent his name to an important day,” Valentine’s day”

The first story was how I was introduced to St. Valentine in my high school days & I remembered him this way. During the first year engineering, someone asked me “Are you going to give a red rose to someone?” I did not know why I should give someone a red rose. Laughing at my ignorance, that person explained the following day was a very special day, 14 February, Valentine’s Day. You could express your love to person you loved, through a red rose. Then I realized this was another facet of St. Valentine!

From that day I have followed Valentine’s day, year after year, from gifting a simple rose (roses aren’t simple anymore, they cost more than INR500 for single flower) to gifting of diamond rings, electronic gizmos. Beg, Borrow or Steal, but an expensive gift to your Valentine is a must!

St. Valentine’s name is being used to promote sale of greeting cards, expensive gifts, encourage promiscuity among young people, make junkies out of our future generation by goading them to taverns, the list goes on.

All for the sake of love, freedom & of course St. Valentine. The humble saint who stood for true love& companionship, would be horrified to see his name being used this way.

Is this the only way to celebrate LOVE?

Hinduism: Answering a friend's questions

2009-01-08T21:33:00.000+05:30

My friend had the following questions.

> In Muslims and Christianity, person from any caste can be a priest...
> In Muslims and Christianity, any body can enter any church and reach the "Altar" or

"Main pooja" place.
> But in Hindusim, I was told SC / ST can't be a priest (poojari)
> In Hinduism, certain temples are restricted for certain caste people .

I tried to answer him this way:

Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, well all religions of the world, have their positive & negative points. Most of the time, we all forget the gud points & focus only on the negative points Thats human nature, we are drawn towards evil more easily than goodness, is it not so?
Well, answering your questions:

Coming to enter the altar or the main pooja hall (We call it the Garbha Griha), nobody, even upper caste people except the priests, are allowed there. The garbha griha is sacred. Priests too have to enter under strict conditions, they should not have eaten food till the puja is completed, they should maintain personal cleanliness, etc. Infact, the priests, once they enter the garbha griha should not move out till the puja is completed.
You have to be clean, in body, in mind. Whoever does not meet this criteria, will be turned away, upper caste / lower caste.

Well, this is not restricted to Hinduism only. Even Islam prescribes it. Have a look outside the mosques, you can see people wash their feet, hands & feet before entering.
The purpose of these things is not merely to maintain tradition. You worship God with clean and focussed mind. Other things should not interfere your worship. So, these things are prescribed. Cleanliness starts from outside, clean body, clean clothes, clean surroundings==>clean mind, is it not so.

Frankly, there are no restrictions for people to enter temples, neither caste, nor religion. Recently, the Prime Minister of Turkey & his family visited a Hindu temple in Bangalore. This itself proves it, right?

Coming to being a priest, its not easy to being a priest in Hinduism. Priest's role is not merely to perform rituals or be a conduit for God. He has to live as an example for the others, he has to be a guide for people to attain God. He has to know the Agama shastras (how to perform puja), Vedas, Upanishads etc etc. The training itself takes about 15 years. He has to be rigorously trained from childhood ( training will be nothing less severe than that of a Marine commando. Only, the training is for the mind).
Whoever can take this training & successfully pass, is welcome to be a priest! Well this is same with all religions, is it not?

Coming to the basic question of castes, the division was based on skill, physical ability, mental make up of the person(s) in question. Ask any child psychologist, he will counsel not to force the child. We should consider the child's ability (mental, physical makeup), interest and choose the right vocation for him. The same was followed in Hinduism too. Certain people were more capable of being soldiers, some were more capable of being priests, some were more capable of being in business, so were capable of service jobs. They were assigned accordingly. Asking people to do jobs against their skills makes them squirm, uncomfortable & underperforming (remember the Monster.com ad!). The present degeneration is our mistake, not the mistake of the system.

I admire & honour all the religions of the world, their prophets & their followers. Hinduism proclaims the same. Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita proclaims " Whichever way(religion) you take, ultimately you will reach ME (God)" So, for us, all the religions are the same, since God is one & the same, for each religion claims their God to be Omnipotent, Omniscient, loving n caring. If the characteristics are same, then God should also be same.

What do you say people?

’ಹಾಗೇ ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ’ ನೋಡ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ, ದುಡ್ಡು ಕೊಟ್ಟೇ ನೋಡಿದೆ

2009-01-01T21:02:00.000+05:30

On the way to work, I used see the posters of this movie. The male n female leads appeared like spoilt brats. Yuk, I did not want to spend 3 hrs watching their onscreen tantrums, their running amok. The director’s name Pritam Gubbi did not ring a bell. I never realized the song I liked to hum ಮಾಯವಾಗಿದೆ ಮನಸು ಹಾಗೇ ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ was the title song of the movie I did not like.

Well, I wanted to watch a Kannada movie on the first day of the year. 2 reasons made me select this movie.
1. No other movie seemed watchable.
2.My online friend told me the female lead was a talented actress.

PVR had just 3 seats remaining. I was fast enough to grab 1 of those before they disappeared too. I was not sure if I would get my paise vasool. (Well, u do get 10% vasool with the nice, soft seats & the a/c in the auditorium)

When the movie started, it did not seem to be different from my image, a spoilt brat and his antics. 10 mins. into the movie, hey this movie seemed to be different, The spoilt brat had vanished! Kiran’s (Pritam onscreen, the director seems to have lent his name) acting seemed fantastic. This chocolate box hero can be tough competition to “ದೂಧ್ ಪೇಢ” from ಗಾಳಿಪಟ. He carries on with his role effortlessly, though a debutant.

The storyline is predictable: boy meets girl; boy falls in love with girl; boy runs around trying to make her fall for him; boy succeeds, and a happy ending! But what sets this movie apart from the run of the mill stories is:

1.The crisp storyline. You are sure about the ending, but subtle twists ensure your interest isn’t waning.

2.The dialogues. Pritam has not lost his ಮುಂಗಾರು ಮಳೆ magic. But no complicated long winding dialogues. Short, simple n effective.

3.Locations n camera work: Nobody has managed to show such beautiful locales, in our own Karnataka, onscreen in recent times. Karnataka Incredible! Some of them deserve to be on postcards. The photography too deserves a pat on the back. The colours of autumn are just perfect.

4.The music: Wow, that’s all I could say. The background music is pleasing, a peaceful island in the tsunami of cacophony some films pass as music. The songs too, are great except 1 which feels a trifle loud. They never feel out of the flow, even though one song seems follow another. Mano Murthy has done it again.

5.The movie is “clean”. No double meanings, no ‘items’ & hey, not even a single fight. You come out with happy feeling.

Every actor has done justice to his/her presence in the movie. None seem out of place. For change we get to see ಪ್ರಣಯರಾಜ ಶ್ರೀನಾಥ್’s posters on an auto.

Did I forget something? The heroine, Suhasi. This was the 2nd reason remember. Though I don’t approve of imported heroines, this 1 is an exception. She packs a whiff of freshness into the movie with her presence. She impresses not just with her dewy looks, but with her acting talent too. She again proves talent, not skin, makes you stand apart from the crowd.

I got my paise vasool!

How many of you remember Chandrashekar, the guy who sang ಸಂತೋಷ ಅಹಾ ಅಹಾ, riding a motorbike? You get to see him in this movie as Pritam’s dad. He has not lost his charm since ಎಡಕಲ್ಲು ಗುಡ್ಡದ ಮೇಲೆ.

Pritam (the hero) says, " ಹಾಗೆ ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ಅಂತ ಪ್ರೀತಿ ಮಾಡ್ದೆ, ಆದ್ರೆ seriousಅಗಿ ಲವ್*ನಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿದ್ದೆ".
ನೀವೂ ಅಷ್ಟೆನೇ, ಹಾಗೆ ಸುಮ್ನೆ ಅಂತ movie ನೋಡೋಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗಿ, you will fall in love with it.

Like Nike says, Just see it (the movie, I mean )

Swadeshi or Videshi

2008-11-02T19:08:00.000+05:30

The first time I visited Delhi was in 1990. We travelled for about 2½ days by train. Shopping, sightseeing, meeting friends, in short, do everything enough to last us a lifetime, certain we would not visit Delhi again. How is this related to the subject on hand?

Actually, I want to talk about Globalisation. I remember arguing against Globalisation & its evils at college with my friends. By the way, I work in an MNC, hard but comfortable job, salary enough to save for a rainy day. And I have travelled many times to Delhi, apart from other cities. See, my life changed. Thanks to Globalisation!

Globalisation changed India overnight. People from the rest of the world wanted to invest in India. The service sector, unheard of till then, grew into a giant bringing in the much needed foreign currency. Even prayers are outsourced to India! Of course, I needn’t say anything about the software sector. The purchasing power of the yuppies grew in leaps n bounds.

We can snack at Pizza Hut, Kentucy Fried Chicken, wear Lee Jeans, view our favorite movies at multiplexes, fly to even Hubli-Dharwad. In short, the international experience is here, fairyland at your door step.

What did we just hear?

· Jet Airways laying off 1900+ employees,
· Assocham predicting further layoffs about 30% of the national workforce!
· Indian foreign exchange kitty down by $15 billion
· SENSEX crashing to 8,000+ from a high of 20,000+

What turned the fairyland to this grim situation? Let me explain a little bit.

Huge chunk of the investments flowing into India are in the share market. FIIs brought in tons of money to invest in the Indian market propelling the SENSEX to unknown heights. They simply took it back when they needed it back home, whatever the reasons. At the same time, they are selling imported merchandise: Cell phones, TVs, apparel, food, beauty products & what not.

Were there any huge investments in infrastructure: Roads, power generation, manufacturing industries? Did we export value added goods: Finished products (save for the apparel industry)? I think the answer is NO!!

Mahatma Gandhiji proposed the mantra of Swadeshi during the 1920’s. He exhorted us become producers, not merely consume. It became an important driving force to win us our hard earned freedom.

But where we now?
We serve the others through ITeS, export semi-finished goods, mineral ores, etc & spend the money thus earned on cell phones, fancy apparel, pizzas, burgers, beauty products, etc. i.e finished goods, from the same countries
We generate value when we produce finished goods in India. But we are not producing substantially, but merely consume merchandise from outside India. So, the net value addition into the system is a near cipher.

Doesn’t Swadeshi have more relevance for us today than the Mahatma’s day?

Produce finished goods, add value to the system and then, consume should be the key words. Always!

ಮುಸ್ಸಂಜೆ ಮಾತು: ನೀವು ಕೇಳಿದ್ದೀರಾ?

2008-05-26T23:59:00.000+05:30

"ಮುಸ್ಸಂಜೆ ಮಾತು", the title sounded romantic, and different from thecurrent crop of cinema titles. The songs being played on the FM channels increased the excitement, "ಕದ್ದಳು ಮನಸನ್ನಾ, ಅವಳಂಥಾ ಚೆಲುವೆನಾ"!! I felt I must watch this movie. And I had never watched ಕಿಚ್ಚ Sudeep's movies, starting with "ಸ್ಪರ್ಶ". All these made me wait eagerly for this movie's release.

As usual, I watched this movie on the 2nd day of its release @ PVR. A friend's phone call made me miss 5 mins of the movie, 1 song gone.The story is of a social minded Radio Jockey (ofcourse Sudeep), who hosts a talk show "ಮುಸ್ಸಂಜೆ ಮಾತು" on a popular FM channel (The channel is real, Radio Mirchi FM 98.3. Don't be surprised to Radio Mirchi ads everywhere in the movie) He aims to reach out n empathize with all those people with troubles, as he says "ನೊಂದ ಮನಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಾಂತ್ವನ ನೀಡಲು" Putting it lightly, an Agony uncle(?)

Ramya fits in nicely into her role as a fan of this programme.She has lost her mother, n her drunkard father brings home some-one else. When she protests, her father drives her out, in the middle of the night. She ends up in Bangalore, with her friend. With her heart full of sorrow, she is a perfect audience for this show.She is attracted to a song played in this show " ಏನಾಗಲಿ, ಮುಂದೆ ಸಾಗು ನೀ, ಬಯಸಿದ್ದೆಲ್ಲಾ ಸಿಗದು ಬಾಳಲಿ". Rest of the plot is predictable, how she falls for him, & how Sudeep falls for her, sparks flying, chemistry and the works!!

What makes this movie different is the role of the RJ. Though the incidents in this movie seem trivial, collecting money for a heart operation, advising auto drivers not to refuse passen-gers, etc, it still shows how radio can be powerful tool for social change.

Sudeep and Ramya have been paired together after a long time.They were last seen in ರಂಗ SSLC, together. Sudeep plays his role well, both as an RJ n the lover boy. He emotes well in the climax.

Ramya too does well, especially in the Oomph area. Her acting is as usual, ಆರಕ್ಕೆ ಏರಲ್ಲ, ಮೂರಕ್ಕೆ ಇಳಿಯಲ್ಲ! What was interesting is she wear sarees in all the songs except for 1. Watch the movie and you will understand why!

Well, the lemons!

1. The numerous threads leave you confused. Looks like the director wanted to pack in as much as possible into 1 movie, perhaps to appeal to a wider audience(?)

2. The RJ's advices dont sound convincing! But this is clearedat the end when the RJ says "I used to hand out advices easily on my show, though I had never fully understood their sorrow." (not verbatim)

3. Sudeep's Kannada pronunciation sounds different at time, to put it simply. For eg. ಮಾಡಾನಾ, instead of ಮಾಡೋಣ,trivial ofcourse.

4. The presence of ಪ್ರಾಣೇಶ್ (better known as ಗಂಗಾವತಿ ಬೀchi)and Prof. KrishneGowda. I could never understand thereason why they were included into the cast. The director fails to utilise their full potential

If you ask me why should you watch this movie, here are the answers!

1. The movie is "clean" , you can watch it with anybodyin your family. No illmeaning dialogues, skimpy dresses........ and no ಮಚ್ಚು & ಲಾಂಗ್!!!!! The movie has just 1 fight, just in case the audience forgets Sudeep's macho image!!

2. The songs are superb

ನಿನ್ನ ನೋಡಲೆಂತೋ. ಮಾತಾಡಲೆಂತೋ

ಕದ್ದಳು ಮನಸನ್ನಾ, ಅವಳಂಥಾ ಚೆಲುವೆನಾ

ಏನಾಗಲಿ, ಮುಂದೆ ಸಾಗು ನೀ, ಬಯಸಿದ್ದೆಲ್ಲಾ ಸಿಗದು ಬಾಳಲಿ. This is a gud motivational song!

Sudeep does well in the dances especially in ಕದ್ದಳು ಮನಸನ್ನಾ....

3. The social messages from the RJ, "Help your fellow beings"

4. The locales and the camera work are gr8.

So , dont miss watching this movie and write your comments here!!Encourage the Kannada movie industry to make more of such 'clean'movies!!

Accident: ಚಿತ್ರದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಅನಿಸಿಕೆಗಳು

2008-04-09T22:57:00.000+05:30

Once again, I did it! 3rd day, 1st show after the movie's release, I watched it.

When I read the reviews in the newspapers, the movie seemed to be just so so. Nothing to write home about, as the English would say! Reviews just said " It's supposed to be a murder mystery". After all, watching Crime Story, Crime Diary doesn't make murders seem mysterious, exciting, not anymore.

Ramesh Arvind, the male lead & the director said in an interview "...like in ಅಮೃತವರ್ಷಿಣಿ, I have tried something different...". To some extent, this made me waver: Should I watch the movie or not! Because I never liked ಅಮೃತವರ್ಷಿಣಿ. On an impulse, I booked my ticket @ PVR.

After the usual credits, the movie started. The first song with 6 friends dancing, n making merry... the usual works. Then the accident! A car slowly slides onto the railway track. The train, the behemoth it is, simply swats it aside and moves on, unmindful of the consequences. The wife of the hero is found dead in the car, along with another male friend. Whispers about an affair they had between them..........

From here, the story begins to unravel. Never realised1 hr had passed, when the Intermission sign came on. Wow, that's all I could say.

Ramesh Arvind has portrayed the role of the anguished husband who has lost his dear wife, very very well. He has proved that he is not only good actor, but a great director too. The story has no loose ends/dead ends, anywhere. He has been able to extract the best out of all the members of the cast. He has managed to keep the suspense till the end.

The songs too are great. "ಬಾ ಮಳೆಯೇ ಬಾ, ಅಷ್ಟು ಬಿರುಸಾಗಿ ಬಾರದಿರು"is one I liked very much. Ofcourse, the item song "ಜಿಗಿದು ಬಂತು" seems superfluous, but then.......its more for the mass!!

Ofcourse, the movie is not bereft of 'lemons'(I always keep an eye on them).

A woman is chased by 5 people, in the midst of a ಸಂತೆ,but no one pays attention. Even the woman does not utter a word. A simple "ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡಿ" would have turned the crowd on the attackers.

The other: A huge gunfight breaks, scores of gangsters,the Health Minister and an SI are killed. The police don't even turn a Nelson's eye to it.

I suppose, we could attribute it to "director's convenience", to ensure the focus stays on the main plot.

Some of the dialogues are rib tickling, especially the Home Minister's earthy dialogues. A sample few (not verbatim, though)

"ವಾ, ಹೊರ್ಗಡೆ ನೋಡಿದ್ರೆ ಹರಕ್ಲು ಅಂಗಿ, ಒಳ್ಗಡೆ ನೋಡಿದ್ರೆ ರೇಶ್ಮೆ underwear."

"ಯಾರ್ ಲಾ ಇವ್ನು, ಒಳ್ಳೇ ಪಾತಾಳ ಭೈರವಿ setನಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಣಿಯೋಂಗೆ ಕುಣಿತಾವ್ನಲ್ಲಪ್ಪಾಜುಟ್ಟು ಬಿಟ್ಕೊಂಡು"

"ಸತ್ಯಹರಿಶ್ಚಂದ್ರನ ತರ pose ಕೊಟ್ಟು ಚಾಣಕ್ಯನ ತರ ಕೆಲ್ಸಾ ಮಾಡ್*ದ್ಯಲ್ಲಾ ನೀನು"

I would committing a grave injustice if I do not mention these 2 things:

1. Rekha: The original ಜಿಂಕೆ ಮರಿ gal. Wow, she looks pretty. She seems have made a nice comeback from this movie. Hope she can catch that elusive "Lucky break" which never occurred after ಚಿತ್ರ!!

2. Computer Graphics: The simulated landscape are cool. This songs proves that such landscapes need not be restricted to Star Wars, but to romantic songs too.

By now, you will be wondering why I am not talking more about the story. My friends, 1 word more will ruin your experience of watching this movie. I realised why the reviewers in the papers said so less about the story.

What are you waiting for? Switch off your computers,Ready 1.. 2.. 3.. GO! n watch this awesome movie, now!!!!

Quality Built-in and Hinduism

2007-12-27T20:54:00.000+05:30

Let me tell you a little about manufacturing and quality.

The main aim of every production line is to satisfy the customer with a quality product delivered at the appropriate time with the right cost.

If you visit any modern, mass manufacturing line, you will be amazed with all the gizmos, techniques used to manufacture the products. Each process in the line will have to conform to strict rules, sequence of operations, quality of parts used, etc. All these contribute towards building a quality product.

But, were the manufacturing processes like this from the beginning? Read on.

Stage 1:

When mass production was in its infancy, the focus was on producing the maximum no. of products and delivering to the market. If some defects introduced inadvertently or otherwise, all would not be caught in time. Only when the product reached the end-user would the defects be identified. Then the product would be repaired, mostly to the satisfaction of the manufacturer.

Stage 2:

It was recognized that passing defect onto customers was generating lot of bad image. Quality controls were set-up. The product after it was completed was checked for defects both visual and functional. If any defects were found, the product would be repaired and then dispatched for delivery.

But this had 2 main drawbacks:
There would be a delay in delivery to market, All the products had to be inspected. It took more time to repair the defective product.
It used up more parts/manpower to repair, making the product more expensive
Sometimes, it was impossible to repair the finished product due to the construction and hence had to thrown away. This again increased the cost on account of rejections.

Stage 3:

This stage was driven by the demands from Stage 2.
The main change was that quality checks were implemented in the production line itself.
The defects could be identified and repaired in the line itself. The defective product would not be allowed to proceed to the next station. There was no outflow of defective product.

But, the mass production line would slow down due to hold ups if a product was found defective. This led to the evolution of the next stage.

Stage 4:

The reasons why the defects occurred in Stage 3 pointed out to 3 main things
i. The focus was not to prevent defects from occurring
ii. There was no rigorous system to monitor quality
iii. The human factor was not considered.

So, people started think in a radically different way:
Include quality requirements in the product design stage itself.
> Design the process to prevent defects from occurring
> Standardise operations: Everybody had to follow these. If you follow these operations, the defects would not occur.
> Training the workers to act as the quality inspector himself
> Introduce a rigorous system to ensure continuous monitoring of quality
This concept was known as the Quality Built-in

This Stage 4 is the present condition and is still evolving. It is pertinent to mention that this evolution took place in the last 100 years.

(The evolution of manufacturing did not occur in just these 4 stages. For brevity’s sake, I have classified it into 4 stages.)

Now, let’s see what Hinduism has to say.

Hinduism, begins its recorded history from 4000BC. (If this were to be accepted, then there should have been a more older phase which did not maintain records. Well that’s besides the point)

It can be safely assumed Hinduism has been in existence for over 6000 years.

Hinduism, the very word conjures up images of strict rules, lot of restrictions, covering every facet of life starting from birth, youth to death. ಮನು, is considered to be the oldest law giver, in the form of ಮನು ಸ್ಮೃತಿ. The much older ವೇದ, ಪುರಾಣ, ಉಪನಿಷದ್ are said provide a map for a person to negotiate his earthly existence. These claim one can live a happy and peaceful life and allow others also do so, if all the instructions, rules are followed. I will not say more because we all know/heard about these things in detail.

In fact, these very rules have been used (Is abused the right word for it?) to portray Hinduism in poor light, making it look like the poorer cousin of the western religions which claim to be based in freedom!!

Compare the Stage 4 in manufacturing and Hinduism. Can you find the similarities?

Both stress on following a standard and rigorous process.
Both stress on quality
Both stress on a rigorous monitoring system

In Hinduism,
Manufacturing line : The world which the person lives in
Worker : The person himself
Quality : Happiness, Satisfaction
Product : Life itself

This demonstrates that Hinduism has adopted the quality built-in system long back, drawing from its rich experience of 6000 years. All the rules, systems etc. a person is supposed to follow has just 1 aim : Improve the quality of life.

Do not look upon Hinduism as a stagnant, repressive religion, as it is portrayed. It’s the world’s most dynamic, altruistic religion focusing on a person’s worldly existence as much as his afterlife.

“Hinduism is not just a religion, but a way of life”. Is it not true?

Are you really from Bangalore, Sir?

2007-12-21T14:36:00.000+05:30

What qualifies you to be ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಿವಾಸಿ?

Chennai is one of the few cities I don't like to be in. The heat and the high humidity puts me off. The other important reason, the language. Tamil (or is it Tamizh) is spoken so zealously, they have forgotten other languages exist too.
Poor me, I can speak nor understand Tamil, even a wee bit, not even "How are you" !!!

This Monday, I was forced to be at Chennai for some business meeting. As usual, I had difficulties with my taxi driver. "Come to arrival gate with vehicle" was my request to him (in English!). I was surprised to find only him, not with the vehicle at the arrival gate!!!

Miscommunication or misunderstanding, I have never been able to fathom.

The next day, it was a different driver, who had done previous assignments with our company staff. He could speak reasonable English and most importantly, could understand me!!

End of the day, he was driving me back to the airport. He was a man with an encyclopedic knowledge about Chennai and Bangalore too. He was asking me some

questions about Bangalore, and suddenly, he asked me "Sir, are you really from Bangalore?" I was taken aback and asked the reason for his doubt. " Sir, everybody in Bangalore speaks Tamil. You say you don't know Tamil. So, I got doubt if you really are from Bangalore"

A simple, innocent question led me think "Is being literate in Tamil, the important qualification to be a ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಿವಾಸಿ?"

I know the immediate reaction to this. Should we take the opinion of a simple driver so seriously?

But please remember, these are the people who account for a large percentage of the populace. The educated hardly find time to peep out of their own ivory towers!

Bangaloreans proudly proclaim to the world, "Bangalore is a cosmopolitan city". Whenever a ಕನ್ನಡ organisation protests against marginalisation of ಕನ್ನಡ, its culture, its people, they are assaulted by a barrage of verbal missiles, claiming how their actions are damaging ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು's cosmopolitan reputation.

1. Why is only Bangalore under pressure to prove its cosmopolitan credentials?
2. Is this a de facto admission that other cities are not cosmopolitan?
3. Is being cosmopolitan is such an important virtue?
4. Then, why are other cities not encouraged to become cosmopolitan?

Answers, anyone????

The rise of feminism: is it WYSIWYG?

2007-09-19T22:43:00.000+05:30

We all hear about the neo-woman, see her, feel her power, the woman of the 21st century. She is independent, cool, savvy…….

I am proud of this development, particularly in the Indian context.

But is it just that? Nah, I think there is more than what meets the eye!

Let’s rewind our memories back to the '80s.

Stage 1: First murmurs- the early and mid-80s.
i. India is not brand conscious
ii. Difficult to sell a branded product in India.
iii. Customers decide on a product based on utility, not the brand or who endorsed the product.
iv. Family was first. Customer bought products only if they were a necessity.

All the spare cash went into the family savings, for a rainy day.

Stage 2: Grumbles – the late '80s and early '90s
i. Head of the family (invariably a male) controls the family purchases.
ii. He (family head) is not influenced by brands,
iii. The women of the household have no say in family purchases

Stage 3: Faint shouts - the early ‘90s
i. Women are not financially independent. They are forced to depend on their husbands for all their financial needs.
ii. Women prefer branded products over unbranded products

Stage 4: Screaming from the rooftops - the mid and late ‘90s
i. Women are not treated equally with men
ii. Women are ill-treated.
iii. Women should have independence
iv. Women are not represented equally in all areas.

Stage 5: The Crescendo – Early and mid '00s

i. Women should have equal opportunities at work
ii. Women should go out to work and gain financial independence
iii.Women should lead life independently

Let’s come back to the present. Yes, the Indian woman has come a long way.

She is financially independent, has her own car, her own apartment, makes decisions about her life by herself…. No longer the helpless damsel depicted in Bollywood movies who screamed “मुझे बचाऒ“

At the same time, India has witnessed an unprecedented, explosive growth in white goods sales. You find more malls, shopping complexes, departmental stores than hospitals! The sales of branded products is increasing by bounds and leaps.

Imagine the days when all we had was the neighbourhood ಕಾಕ ಅಂಗಡಿ where we used to buy only what we wanted.

Today, we buy products, some of which we do not have the faintest idea about their utility.

And, who form a significant portion this “we”, women!! It may seem crazy, but true. Spend a few minutes at any shopping mall, you can see it yourself.

So, do you still think feminism is all about improving the woman’s lot? It has more to do with market economics and corporate bottomlines!!

Food: Importance of eating the proper way

2007-09-19T22:30:00.001+05:30

A rough translation of this Sanskrit word ಭಕ್ತಿ (bhakti) into English would be Devotion which means “Express total loyalty, a feeling of reverence and adoration….”

Sometime back, I read newspaper article about the effect of mental tension on the digestion of food. The article seems to suggest that the tensed mind has negative effects on the digestive system. The article claims that if you are tensed or too happy (The internal reaction of the body to both happiness and threat is similar), the enzymes necessary for the digestion are not released in the proper quantity. So, the food will not get digested and assimilated into the body.. The article suggests you eat your food in peaceful frame of mind, preferably silently. No distractions allowed, no listening to music, no TV!!!!

At dinner times, even at the slightest whisper, my parents used to say, “ಊಟವನ್ನು ಭಯ ಭಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು. ಮತಾಡಿದರೆ ಅನ್ನಕ್ಕೆ ಅವಮಾನ ಮಾಡಿದ ಹಾಗೆ, ಮಾತಾಡದೆ ಊಟ ಮಾಡು”.When I used to gobble up food, they would suggest “ನಿಧಾನವಾಗಿ ತಿನ್ನು, ಹೀಗೆ ತಿಂದ್ರೆ ಅನ್ನ ಮೈಗೆ ಹತ್ತೊಲ್ಲ”.
Almost of all us would have heard this, with some minor variations.

Back then, I used to wonder why we need to show devotion to our food or why we need to eat with a peaceful frame of mind. On reading this article, I realized that what my parents said was not what they made up, but repeating what they heard from their parents who inturn heard from their parents, the chain continues (sounds similar to how the Vedas were handed over from generation to generation). This sounds very strange believing hearsay. But if you look back, the origins or this hearsay lie in our scriptures, the immense ocean of knowlegde accumulated over the millenia.

Our scriptures describe “ಅನ್ನಮ್ ಪರಬ್ರಹ್ಮ ಸ್ವರೂಪಮ್”. Food is the manifestation of Brahma.
You have eat it with
i) utmost devotion,(bhakti)
ii) with a pure mind,
iii) in clean surroundings.

The food should be first offerred to the "ಇಷ್ಟ ದೈವ" and then partaken as ಪ್ರಸಾದ.

This ensured that all the above 3 conditions were satisfied.

So, what is the relation of the these 3 conditions with the article?

Well!!
1) Eat with utmost devotion : Focus on nothing but eating, no diversions
2) Eat with a pure mind : Eat with peaceful frame of mind
3) Eat in clean surroundings: This last condition implies cleanliness in all aspects, visual, aural,smell.

This ensures a peaceful environment to partake food.

Does it not sound similar to the newspaper article????

The main point I wish to put forth here is : There is a scientific background for what our scripture, our culture, our age old practices prescribe for us. Merely that someone called our traditions ಗೊಡ್ಡು ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯ does not make it baseless.

Einstein is supposed to have commented " Science is too young to understand religion"

Is it too far stretched to suggest that we are too young to understand the truth in our culture???