In times as today when religion and God are being held responsible for a lot of problems around us, I ponder and think whether God or the concept or the belief in God is really to be blamed? Is it the concept or our understanding or the lack of it of this concept.

Well here is my understanding of God.

GOD......... 

The force everyone holds supreme in this universe. the assistance everyone seeks, the belief everyone wants  during times of trial,the only source of fear for a sinner.

What's God ?

What does God want ?

Or rather what does God think of us ??

God for me is the reason to live. He is the source and destination of all desires and ambitions. He is ultimate and surely powerful enough to grant you what you want.

however what does he want in return ?

or does he want anything in return ??

 God is important for two reasons to this world ..to this universe, to humanity to You and to me.

God is the ultimate Fear..

If and when I commit a sin a crime or anything wrong .. before committing it I should have the fear that someone s watching me and would hold me responsible and accountable for this, ultimately.

that i need to answer someone at the end of the day.

just like a child fears his parents before doing any misdeed , we are all children of God and we fear him . and it's only beacuase of him that the world is still a livable place. had the fear of the ultimate power not been there, humanity would have vanished long ago.It's the fear of the supreme that keeps the universe, the world, the community and a person himself together .

this is the precise reason why , when humans want to bind people together the first criteria they use is God himself .. on the basis of religion on the basis of God , on the basis of beliefs in different forms of Him humans form the groups which again build in a fear of that form of God into the individual.

the second reason why God is important to me is that ..during an anixious time, during a troubled situation, during a difficult hour , i should always believe that someone 's watching over me .. he should give me , motivation,belief and ultimately power enough to overcome that situation .

just the way you believe that your parents will always support whatever situation you are in .God supports all his children whichever situation they are in . for him all of us are equal and equally lovable.he helps us always and motivates you to be on your own

Ultimately god in fact provides you with the solution to all your problems, he fulfils all your desires. however one should have that belief that there is Him who will take care of everyone.

Its abt him being the ultuimate source of happiness and fulfilment that we respect him so much, however the most important part of God and his mysterious presence is the Belief the trust ..

however deep the trust is .. ur happiness is that much more ..

The sense of fulfilment , the snese of pride in just living life simply is what trust in God gives you ..

Just believe Him and fear HIM .

The Sophistication Scandal ..

whenevere I think about life and world in general .. my mind always wanders to one fact that shakes me up and makes my mind question whatever the human race has achieved ....
i always think about all the sophistication the humans have achieved through consistent curiousity, innovation and inventions ..however then it makes me wonder ... were all of these even required ...
man has formulated a finaincial system which puts a price tag even on everything which is available naturally ....there is a price tag on land , water , even on air at some places, on soil, on seeds, on humans, animals , on fruits , vegetables ... why should there be a price tag on things which man does not even create ?
who decided that he owns these natural things ... which obviously are gifts of God ... we have so many people who are landless, homesless, dying of hunger/ thirst just because there is a ownership that has been slapped even on these natural resources ...this all is a result of sophistication, which on one hand has made us achieve heights such as creating the fastest cars, the most advanced communication systems, medicines for almost every disease ... and despite the same we have people who are devoid of the basic resources ...
the only explanation that i can give for the same is the scandal of sophistication ...we have sophisticated people who in order to use the sophisticated resources invented by them , hog more than their share of basic resources .....creating a huge disparity in the way humans live their lives ... so you have some who are enjoying the most sophisticated inventions in communications, navigation, medicine, entertainment, luxury just by the virtue of ownership and a higher consumption share on basic natural resources such as land, food, water... there are others who suffer due to the same ...
time has really come for us to question this system wherein while we are advancing to the moon .. only 10-20% of the world population enjoys the advancements in technology .. while more than 30% population suffers ...

Social Networking (Actual vs Virtual)

Social Networking is on the rise, well not of the actual type at Kattas, Addas, Playgrounds, Cafes, and other hangouts, but of the virtual types. It is strange that whenever one mentions this phrase "social networking", the only things that come to mind are Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and anything related to connecting online. I guess this term might be new but I am sure all of us networked socially before the age of internet too.

So what has changed since then?? And why do we thus require a virtual social network?? And what are the pros and cons of such a network??
Well starting with the first point, about what has changed. I was born in the 80s (recently I attended a forum on web 2.0 and it was mentioned therein that very soon we will have a whole new generation of fresh office goers / students who have not seen the world before the internet), I have seen the world before the internet and I would surely say that the world was a much better place then. People talk about the lives of today's generation revolving around the 3 screens (TV, Computer and Phone), we started out in a world when none of these screens existed. Well TV did, but we possibly watched TV only for 1-2 hrs every week back then, with Doordarshan being the only channel. Computers were not there until the mid 90s and phones did not have screens until around 2000 and in essence these 3 revolutions have marked the beginning of the end of actual social networking.
1) The Satellite TV revolution started it by making couch potatoes out of people who would otherwise would hang out at paan shops, play sport or even spend time with family (watching TV with family is obviously not spending time with them; as Aamir points out in the Tata Sky ad)
2) The onslaught of mobile phone took it even further, what with SMS and missed calls becoming communication media rather than a Katta / Adda meet every week. And recently the emergence of Whatsapp has taken it many steps further by creating online groups which have completely replaced the real world hangouts.
3) The final nail in the coffin was the emergence of internet and the Web 2.0 generation which believed in expressing everything, from love, friendship, opinions about Politics & terror attacks, and what not ONLINE.
Apart from technological advancements and the obvious sophistication of society which has resulted in this alienation. Another big factor which has contributed to this is the westernization of our culture, western societies lay much less importance on social communications, family bonding and friendships as compared to ours, a society which still thrives on social interactions.(best example of this is, most marriages in this country are still arranged through social networking of the non virtual kind)
however the current generation is at the crossroads of the Indian socialism and the western individualism.... and being at this crossroads i.e. not being one or the other way is really harmful, because it makes us become discreet, as while we wish to become an individual with just his own identity, we still are burdened by our families and traditions, which makes us become discreet in whatever things we do not want our families to know about. There is also an obvious pressure to become nationalistic, which reflects in the twitter posts becoming more and more general about the ongoing in the nation and the world.
As per what I believe, we as Indians should not lose our identity or our traditions even in this virtual world and we should adopt this onslaught of technology but in a manner which does not make us forget our rich lifestyles and traditions. Our social upbringing and our socio cultural interactions of the actual kind (not virtual) is our strength and we should never lose this edge. Most Indians have emerged unscathed from the recession because of our rich heritage of family savings and support, which is a great example of how we benefit by leveraging our traditions.

The deluge that was

It is that time of the year again the time when the municipal authorities have started admitting that the rain management is still not under control. and mumbai can flood again if it rains hard ...reminding us of the torrential tuesday of 26/7/05. well to start with our help and good wishes be with all the ppl who lost their lives,health,belongings and homes in that merciless downpour .Just pray to God for everyone.
as everyone else .. i too have a tale to tell abt that tuesday ..and being me i d tell that for sure .. but then first of all .. i dont know if all of the numerologists were sleeping or got washed off in the rains ... but did anyone notice .. that it was 26th again .. yeah very much the horror date for India .. be it the tsunami, the gujarat earth quake or now the torrid downpour , all nature's wrath Hit India on 26th. just an observation .. there s nothing much into it for sure ..( i dont hope the cabinet wud setup a committee to investigate the 26th phenomenon) .just a coincidence i guess
anyways ..my story ,,well i had college on tuesday just like most of the days of the week, thankfully we had lectures upto 3 only ..but then one of my friends cleared his KT exams that day ( we all know what joy that is ) so he treated us to nice chinese food in the canteen ( i hate china even more now ) and we ended up staying till 4 in coll .. and by then the rain d got heavy and by heavy i mean 1000 kgs heavy .. and being the yuppie youth .. 15 of us decided to get .. drenched in the downpour and walk upto reclamation to enjoy the rains ( i m still looking for the dude who gave the suggestion :P)well we did enjoy the water clogs and torrentiality of rains for arnd 30 mins and boy what amazing 30 mins .. our bags were parked into two cars and we had arnd 5 bikes .. well at 5 everyone started panicking as the smsS of the jammed bombay started pouring in ...( we all knew that the trains had halted but then we had cars and bikes )anyways .. we made headway then ...and as soon as we reached the bandra flyover at ONGC ....the w.e highway ahead was jampacked ...with water everywhere arnd the flyover .. we knew we were stuck .. 10 of us including the girls were trasported to a friend s house nearby .. and since the carowner friend of ours refused to leave his car on the flyover ( the dumbhead thot that .. it d be towed when the rain stops .)
6 of us decided to stay with him and get the car parked at a safer place .. which was nowhere offcourse .. anyways we right turned from the next signal at kherwadi all in knee deep water .. and parked the car at chetana college ,,,it was 7 by then .. one of the 6 of us .. stayed very closeby .. but we didnt have the keys to his place ..since we thot it d be a long night .. we decided to have our dinner at the only open restaurent .. the biryani was the only hot thing abt the day :P,... anyways we started walking upto the place at 8 after calling home,the bags and other things ( apart from wallets and cellphones) were left in the car... the water had now come to our waist level and we walked for one hr wading water .. ( it generally is a 10 min walk ) to reach his place .. his flat was on ground floor ...anyways .. we had to break the lock and get in .. we changed into his clothes and made ourselves comfy .. while we were chatting away .. at 11 .. bad luck struck again and water started coming into his house from everywhere .. ( first time i saw water coming out of the commode :P)we had to make everything at his place safe from water .. and then we decided to evacuate the place and walk to another frend s place who again lived 10 mins away ( yeah .. tell me )...anyways .. we changed to our wet clothes again .. took the dry clothes with us .. and walked in chest deep water now ....the night was amazingly bright that night ...as we walked again .. noone was joking thou .. very few words were spoken .. as everyone probly wanted to reach sumwhere as fast as they cud ..we saw a provision store open .. with water inside .. we asked for biscuits .. the guy said we cud buy if we had exact change .. just then .. the counter of his shop ..started draining awy with the current and he had to run behind it .. the biscuits were never to be ... well we had to go thru the service road off the highway .. the scenes on the highway were .. unblvable .. i had never seen so many ppl walking thru on the highway .. it was a mad rush to neverland ...cars were abandoned and flooded all over....anyways .. we had to walk .. one of my friends.. kept abusing the rains all along ..( i wonder whether that angered the raingods)we saw a small tabela along the way .. with a solitary buffalo .. mooing and stuck in clogged waters .. we felt sorry and helpless for the buffalo ..( just hope that she wasnt among the 1000 buffaloes dead in the city that day ) ...we reached our new destination at arnd 11:30.. and right next to his building .. it was neck deep water .. well ...we got in and heaved a sigh of relief and ran towards the fourth floor .....as he opened the door .. there were 10 ppl already in his house .. and we were welcomed ..we reunited with one of our friends who had gone to king s circle and then walked upto bandra to this place .. we were treated to much desired biscuits again ...( the only food at his place ) no electricity and two bottles of water ...was all we had ..anyways .. we started talking and joking again .. it was happy faces again .. some of us still cudnt blv .. whether it was happening to bombay .. we were worried abt other ppl .. tried to call up many of them but then cudnt ..one of our friends with his car had started alone ..at 4 and was stuck in bandra when he called last ...he was spending the night in his car .. my sister was stuck in andheri ...we tried to sleep .. 5 ppl on a bed .. one on the chair and two ppl down .. the bedbugs ..never wud have thot they cud be so ineffective as we slept .. well till 4 am ( water cud be so tiring )we were woken up by one of our frends at 4 .. who saw the traffic moving on the highway ,,,,,we cud hear the sounds of the water flowing ..some said it was raining harder and some said it was water draining out .. ( the positive ones kept saying that it d be all clear by 10 tomorow ) while the pessimists thot we were stuck here for 3 more days ...anyways.. we slept again .. after talking to our friend who was still stuck in his car on the highway .......
we got up at 7 again ... hearing the voices .. saying .. "Phat gaya .. phat gaya ".. welll amidst all imaginative thinking .. we found out that .. the one litre milk that was our last hope ...for a refreshing tea in the morning .. woh bhi phat gaya.. anyways necessity is the mother of invention and .. one of us made the tastiest black tea ever ..with everyone giving suggestions abt what goes into a black tea .. ranging from nimbu to namak to what not .. most of the ppl decided not to have the black tea ...at arnd 8 .. three of us including me decided that we shld be heading home now .. coz we cudnt stay with no food,no water and no electricity .. the 4 other friends thot that was a stupid idea and for the first time .. we had a standoff of sorts ..we tried convincing them but most of them ( the pessimists )thot its better here .. and they were anyways tired with all the walking thru water last night and didnt wanna do that again ...
well it was a very difficult decision since we had all been together thru this .. but three of us .. left the place at 8:30 after a breakfast of two biscuits .... it was neck deep water arnd the building again ,, the ground floor flats were half merged in water ... and it was a horrible sight with the furniture floating ...the other two friends ,,,stayed in parle and andheri .. and the parle guy was dead worried since his home was on ground floor and his mom was home alone ...so we walked upto the highway wading chest deep water again ..... well amazingly the highway was totally clear of water( at the most ankle high water ) ...there were cars and more cars .. and ppl and more ppl... we thot . and reassured that our decision to leave was the right one ...since the flyovers were built ..we were walking on them for the first time .. with ppl all arnd .. laughing, cheering each other on , telling stories.. the humour in harmony was amazing .. with some ppl cracking amazing jokes ...(someone talking abt the orange network breakdown told us that .. lagta hain orange ka kutta paani main beh gaya :P)we walked with packed hotels arnd vileparle , shutdown reliance energy building, the clogged airport ...for arnd hr and a half .. and parle guy s place at arnd 10 .. and he was very relieved to see that his place was totally all right .. his mom, uncle and cousin greeted us .. everyone had their stories to tell and everyone did ..his sis was still stuck in her office and so was his dad .. his mom had walked yesterday night from bandra west to her place......amazingly there was power at his place and one phone was working too .. we tried contacting our homes and the friends who were still in bandra .. but cudnt get thru ...
we had piping hottt maggie noodles and tea in breakfast ( i never liked maggie so much ever )..well at 11 ..me and the andheri guy decided to move on ...after thanking all ..
whilehe walked home .. i got a rick ride from andheri to my place for 50 bucks ..with three more ppl with me .. i reached home at arnd 12 .. and was relieved to see everyone and everything at home ...my sis had returned too .. i had lunch and slept for 3 hrs after telling my story to everyone at my place and hearing their stories ...
Life was limping back to normal ...
Cudnt help but not tell this story and .. cudnt help but not stretch it so long .. since i thot every story had a lesson for everyone ...there are lots of IFs and BUTs .. If we had moved out of college early that day, If we had left thecar and moved on , If we had not evacuated the overflowing apartment ... If ..
It brings out many technicalities abt how badly is this city planned ..or if it is planned at all .. and what are the authorities or the ppl doing to avoid this in future .. ther are lots of questions .. which will be asked for days to come ..
for now .. as we suffer the loss of arnd 5000 lives .. human and non human ...one shld just thank God that whereever we were .. we cud get thru the terrible day due to the resolve,spirit and cooperation and harmony that mumbai is ...there were more positives too .. the help and cooperation showed by ppl all arnd, the spirit and smiles ruled, the FM radio ,the truck rick and car walls offering lifts... and many more ..

Life u choose ....

i sometimes wonder why everything has to be so complex in life ..i mean to think of it ... why does one have to be so heavy abt life ?? why do u need to do the work the work u r doing ?
why does one have to study ? why get a degree and look for jobs ? why design programs , construct buildings , manufacture cars , and makes so many things and then sell them .., because in essence we can all do without all this ...
i mean this was never God's design ...
Ppl connected to each other much better before the age of mobile phones .and internet ...
It was easier to go from one place to another ... before the age of the fanciest cars... certainly better than being stuck in numerous traffic jams ....
we had better shows on TV and always found something to watch .. before the age of satellite TV ...
well while the materials increase ... the options multiply ... the opportunities double ... the comforts treble ... .. happiness eludes us even more ... and its amazing ... how none of us can manufacture happiness or the satisfaction of living a life we wanted ...
none of us can design programs ... manufacture products ..... or .. build infrastructure that will make us happy ... the ultimate happiness ...
and it exists ... for all of us ... and its upto us .. to choose a life .. path that leads to that ultimate happiness ... and thats what we shld seek ... first to know what wud give u that ultimate happiness and then to venture out and get it ....
we will talk more abt this .. and i wud want all of u to share ur thoughts abt this ...
hope u do ...

A life .. which ended .. when it started ..(something i wrote)

On a rain drenched august day ...

she opened her eyes ...to the world ..

her world ..which was her mother just then ...

who held her close with tears in her eyes ..

held her till she could hold ...

coz she knew she wont be there ...

wont be there to take care of her ..

when she wud need it the most ...

Five years on ..

and she does nt still know ...

why people look at her with disdain ..

why noone s there to share her pain ..

the pain of losing her mother to a disease unknown ..

the pain of having noone in this world she could call her own .

Why there are questions in everyone s eyes ..

which she doesnt understand .. let alone answer ..

Why noone wants to touch her ..not even her friends ..

why she is so alone in this world ..

There s noone to share her grief ..

the grief which she knows nothing about ..

And as she fallls sick ..

there s noone to take care of her ...

some people who care .. take her to the hospital ..

she lives in pain and grief a little more ..

her last few days ..

spent .. like her life ...

a life .. which ended .. when it started ..

She never knew .. why she lived ..

she never knew why she died ..

she never knew .. why she had no life ..

she never knew she had AIDS

Jobs, Employees and Resignations

well .. attrition is so commonplace these days in all companies .. and whenever i look at that next one who leaves .. i wonder whether it is just becoz there are so many opportunities available or there is some other reason too ??...just twenty years back ..leaving ur first or any job before at least 5 years would b considered a cardinal sin ... the issues and the outlook regarding, jobs , opportunities and manpower has changed.. thou i wonder how the rules regarding manpower at that time would have compared with the ones now ...

I mean . think of it guys .. the concept of manpower has changed so much ... today men are the biggest M for running a business . even bigger than Money and Material .. it s the age of paying hefty salaries to people .. but the fact still remains ... that be it a sales executive or a worker in a mfg. unit , a deskjob emplyee or a software executive ... they are still exploited .. all of them in a bigg way in most companies of the world .. and no i m not being disillusioned ...it s very true .. while we think that . so what if i put in extra hrs .. i m being paid so much ... the truth is that .. anyways the company pays you less than 20% of what u r worth .. they have to .. else how would they make those hefty profits .. most Indian companies i believe are very bureaucratuc .. and do not really understnd what investing into an employee for life means.. they are all very .. shortsighted in their outlook .. they want to get the maximum out of an employee while he s there .. coz they blv that he d surely jump out of the orgn very soon ... and thus companies create an envt, where even a person who s wlling to stay on for a longer term .. and wants to learn and move in a planned manner gets stuck in this cat and mouse game .....none of the orgns in india are good learning or breeding grounds for employees.. the good ole theory abt .. most learning happeneing at work s gone down the wire....orgns need to realise that like ,, money ..and other resources or like the organisation itself .. each and every employee is a long term asset and he needs to be nurtured and taken care of .. so that he stays on in the orgn for a longer time ...i mean we all know the perspective that the orgn . cannnot do anything since the employees leave so early ... well to give a new picture .. the orgns are just as indifferent ..and it would take a change of outlook to improve this situation ..