tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78500586783221883192024-02-20T21:10:06.399+05:30WonderstruckBindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-58374007101484497622017-02-11T11:56:00.002+05:302017-02-11T12:47:23.900+05:30In the Name of Tradtition!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S0QmrFXVGgY/WJ6stl3jawI/AAAAAAAAEV4/bayNnH3lgdAETpDO7kabaYnf7SXToTcRwCLcB/s1600/IMG_0796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S0QmrFXVGgY/WJ6stl3jawI/AAAAAAAAEV4/bayNnH3lgdAETpDO7kabaYnf7SXToTcRwCLcB/s320/IMG_0796.JPG" width="297" /></a></div>
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Vitamin-D-walk is my this year’s new year resolution. Feeling good that it has sustained more than a month. Walking on the terrace has its advantages—you don’t bump into people or have to worry about vehicles—but it has pitfalls, too. A few days back, something sharp grazed my left cheek. I had just begun the walk, so the pace was slow. I could stop midstride. The sharp thing turned out be a manjha, the nylon string made razor-sharp with glass powder and used for flying kites.<br />
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Makar Sankranti—the time when Mumbai skies are dotted with kites and you get astonished at kids darting through busy roads, oblivious of traffic—was two weeks ago. Eating til-gud and flying kites are all people seem to think about when it’s Makar Sankranti. That the festival’s significance is lost in these rituals is sad.</div>
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Leftover from the kite-flying ritual, the sharp manjha, is a death trap to birds, and sometimes for humans. I have seen reports of bikers’ throats getting slit by this almost-invisible string. Maharashtra government had <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/manja-used-in-kite-flying-banned-in-maharashtra-4463990/" target="_blank">banned its use this year</a>. But who are we to respect bans? Our rituals are important, right?<br />
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I tried in vain to pull the cord and put it away, but it was endless. So I cut it by scraping it on the edge of the parapet and bunched it in one corner where it couldn’t obstruct anyone’s path. Had no choice but to let go of the other end.<br />
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Later, through the kitchen window, I found a pigeon swinging on a chord. Am no fan of pigeons, but the poor bird entangled in the sharp string was a gruesome sight.<br />
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It could have been me with my carotid artery cut.<br />
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In the name of tradition!</div>
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Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-73948283698881735412010-01-23T00:07:00.001+05:302010-01-23T00:10:06.913+05:30‘Muhurat’ babies<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I had heard about this earlier. But never thought it would become so popular. Delivering babies at an auspicious time, apparently, has become a fad.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">A few days back, Hindustan Times had an <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/mumbai/Muhurat-deliveries-rise-test-docs-patience/Article1-499964.aspx">article</a> on this. Gynecologists working at odd hours to do C-sections during the ‘muhurat’ fixed by astrologers and taking rest during ‘raahu kaal’! Once followed only by the affluent class, this nonsense has now been picked up by the middle-class. Great! Way to go!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Safe C-sections are possible because of advances in science. We are using the science to follow unscientific practices!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I hope someone will do study on these ‘muhurat’ babies and find out how they excel in their lives. Just curious. :-)<br /></span></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-68298628919509958712009-11-17T11:01:00.002+05:302009-11-17T18:19:25.884+05:30I clean my house and dirty yours!<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Last Sunday. Got up late. Spent some time sipping tea and browsing newspapers. A luxury not possible during weekdays. As the tummy started grumbling, I went to the kitchen to make dosas. The counter looked like there was a splatter of rain. Peeped through the window. Dirty water was still trickling down from top. It fell on the open window and splashed inside. Yuck! Water mixed with pigeon shit! On my kitchen counter! Quickly closed the window. Pushed all the vessels on the counter into the sink. Cleaned the counter and window sill.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I could not leave it at that. Marched up to the next floor. Contained my anger and politely asked the immediate top neighbour if they were cleaning the kitchen. They were not. I believed them. Went to the next floor. Same question. Yes, they were cleaning, but it was only inside the kitchen. But I got dirty water inside my kitchen. And there are no more floors. The lady said it could be from the overflowing overhead tank. I knew the outlet for that is not above my kitchen. Still, I collected the key from the watchman and went to the terrace. From there, I could see her open kitchen window, which was still dripping. And the portion outside the window was black in colour, covered with layers of pigeon shit.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I went to her again and said with a smile plastered on my face, “I saw water dripping from your kitchen window. So the water had come from your house only. I know you did not do it purposely. Maybe your maid washed the window without you noticing it.” She flatly refused this, still arguing that the cleaning was limited to the inside of the kitchen. I could not convince her. So I came back requesting her to inform me before she cleaned the kitchen again.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This is not my first experience. I had got my clothes sprayed with dirty water when the top neighbour washed her balcony. My almost-dry clothes had got drenched when the neighbour’s maid hung their fresh wash without wringing. Another intelligent neighbour, diagonally above my house, could not understand that when she dusted her carpet from top, the dust could get settled on the clothes hung outside my balcony. It’s not directly below her house. How can dust travel diagonally? She’s a diploma holder in engineering. The worst was when my tea got sprinkled with dirty water when the top neighbour’s maid hung the washed carpet on their balcony grill.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">My experiences are similar in two cities – Chennai and Mumbai. In most cases, people are neither ready to admit the mistake nor apologetic about it. Or they blame it on the maids. Shouldn’t we be responsible for whatever our maids do within our house? I think so. But not many are of the same opinion.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I can never understand why these people fail to understand the inconvenience caused to others. Why can’t they wipe the window/balcony instead of washing it? It’ll save water also. If they can’t prevent the maid from pouring water, can’t they at least warn others?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I am outraged at this insensitivity!</span></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-32140935628282778512009-11-09T21:34:00.003+05:302009-11-09T21:41:26.899+05:30Editor’s choice!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/Svg-wJzIuuI/AAAAAAAABUw/YJEIfGmaBks/s1600-h/Editor%27s+choice.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/Svg-wJzIuuI/AAAAAAAABUw/YJEIfGmaBks/s320/Editor%27s+choice.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402136750015953634" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">“I don’t like penetration,” she shouts. He blushes. Heads turn.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">“But madam… it’s so common,” he grumbles.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">“So what? I don’t like the sound of it,” she fumes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">“Share?” someone offers.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">“Yes, use market share, not market penetration,” she decides.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">“But the meaning…,” he mutters.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">“I don’t care. I don’t want penetration,” she yells.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Silence.</span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" ><br /><br />Based on a real incident. :-)</span></span> </span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-75908856326956077342009-10-29T22:42:00.005+05:302009-10-29T23:07:51.896+05:30When joy of giving turns sour ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SunRtNV6gcI/AAAAAAAABRk/DJNTO_l9nWY/s1600-h/DSC_0204.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SunRtNV6gcI/AAAAAAAABRk/DJNTO_l9nWY/s400/DSC_0204.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398076202986144194" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.blogger.com/www.joyofgivingweek.org">The Joy of Giving</a> week was celebrated a little before Diwali. The students from <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.akanksha.org/">Akanksha</a>’s Lower Parel centre (an NGO involved in teaching less privileged kids) decided to experience the joy of giving this Diwali instead of the joy of getting. They celebrated Diwali in a home for cancer-affected kids. As the students performed dances and distributed gifts, the faces of those tired-looking kids brightened. A warm hug from all of us added to their joy.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">For me, Diwali is the time to get out of the city. If possible, I would like to spend every Diwali in Kerala – the only state that does not celebrate Diwali in a big way. Or has it changed? I am not sure. Though I don’t celebrate Diwali, I happily accept the sweets and gifts offered by friends and neighbours. To counter the joy of getting, I give some money (Diwali baksheesh) to the people who do some service for me regularly – the security guards, milkman, cleaning woman, and so on. This is a usual practice; I am not doing anything out of the ordinary. For a housemaid, usually one month’s salary is given, while there’s no fixed amount for others. If I don’t give, they will come and ask for it. Anyway, I do not wait for them to ask. Before getting out of the city, I make it a point to meet each of them and give the baksheesh.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This year, however, I refused to give baksheesh once and another time, I had to give it without any joy of giving.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">For the past one year, I complain regularly to the newspaper agent about non-delivery of papers, late delivery, missing supplements, excess billing, and what not. But there was no improvement in the service. One or two days after Diwali, two boys, whom I’d never seen in my life, rang the bell at around 8.30 in the morning. They claimed to be the newspaper delivery boys and wanted Diwali baksheesh. I refused saying I’d never seen them. One of them said the other boy had just joined as a delivery boy and he was teaching him. Both the trainer and the new recruit wanted baksheesh. I asked if the trainer was teaching the new boy to deliver the paper late and then ask for money. Sorry, I don’t pay for regular bad service.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">After a week, two postmen came asking for the same, equipped with a notebook. I can’t say their service is bad, but very rare. But to think of two central government servants, who take good salaries home, doing rounds with a begging bowl (figuratively)! It looked like they were noting down the amount paid by each house in the notebook. I imagine that they would decide the quality of service for the next year based on the amount! I paid them sourly, without the joy of giving. Some time back, there was a newspaper article about postmen’s complaints – that they are no longer welcomed with warmth as it used to be. How will I welcome them happily if they come and ask for money for delivering a letter or two in a year?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Now I think I should’ve given the baksheesh to the boys. They earn less and maybe they would have wanted the money badly, not like the government employees who get regular salary and bonus. I’ve not seen the boys again. Paper delivery is as bad as ever.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This is where we went during this Diwali – Nannaj Bird Sanctuary, near Solapur, Maharashtra. The image at the beginning of this post is also from Nannaj. </span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SunSFpOBNfI/AAAAAAAABRs/IxKayOzSTN0/s1600-h/DSC_0178.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SunSFpOBNfI/AAAAAAAABRs/IxKayOzSTN0/s400/DSC_0178.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398076622786082290" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SunSFwR5vnI/AAAAAAAABR0/c1LZpRUkPFs/s1600-h/DSC_0095.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SunSFwR5vnI/AAAAAAAABR0/c1LZpRUkPFs/s400/DSC_0095.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398076624681418354" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SunSGWFoo8I/AAAAAAAABR8/3qI-5VX-YOw/s1600-h/DSC_0303.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SunSGWFoo8I/AAAAAAAABR8/3qI-5VX-YOw/s400/DSC_0303.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398076634830513090" /></a>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-64382382362112353832009-09-06T19:34:00.004+05:302009-09-06T19:39:48.065+05:30Saluting only the dedicated ones<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">One more <span style="font-weight: bold;">Teachers’ Day</span> went by, praising the entire teaching community. I could not bring myself to blindly eulogize all teachers. I remember many of my teachers fondly. But there’s an equal (or more) number of teachers I could never appreciate - from the fourth standard Malayalam Miss who always ground her teeth in uncontrollable anger to a professor who declared that if the sun rose for 30 days a month, he would get salary, implying he was not obliged to teach us. I remember with disgust and contempt. There are a few, who never taught me or rather I was not lucky to be taught by them. The talk about their teaching capabilities as well as charisma left me longing to become their student.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Apart from my personal experiences, I’ve met some teachers who work against all odds to change the lives of the students. The teachers at the tribal school near Nagarhole National Park in Karnataka are a dedicated bunch and do their best in the challenging environment. During our 10-day trip as the Great Driving Challenge finalists, we dropped in to the school hearing a chorus prayer by the kids. It was a pre-lunch prayer. Though the teachers were also about to start lunch, they were happy to oblige our curiosity.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SqPB5uRejII/AAAAAAAABO8/sXERdptNVgo/s1600-h/Tribal+school.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 138px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SqPB5uRejII/AAAAAAAABO8/sXERdptNVgo/s400/Tribal+school.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378355577428544642" border="0" /></a><br />Many kids find the school attractive because of the mid-day meals and the attendance has drastically improved after the programme has been introduced. So is the performance of the kids. Even with the limited facilities, the teachers appeared enthusiastic and committed. We hope their hard work would give the kids a better future. There must be many similar establishments and dedicated teachers across our country. A salute to all of them.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Another two teachers I personally know for more than a year are Mamta and Rohini, teachers at Akanksha, an NGO involved in teaching less privileged kids.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SqPB5xHe6PI/AAAAAAAABPE/fbLwrebpy2k/s1600-h/Mamta_Rohini.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SqPB5xHe6PI/AAAAAAAABPE/fbLwrebpy2k/s400/Mamta_Rohini.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378355578191931634" border="0" /></a><br />I’ve witnessed their dedication and daily struggle to get the 35-odd kids equipped for a bright tomorrow. And they are there by choice. Another salute to all the teachers like Mamta and Rohini.</span> </span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-41868530982441256192009-08-09T23:08:00.005+05:302009-08-09T23:29:41.025+05:30From top 12 to top 3!<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">After three days of audition comprising driving test, travel documentation, and route plan discussions, we were selected as one of the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >top 3</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> couples in the Great Driving Challenge.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/unny"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/Sn8OMA8xLDI/AAAAAAAABNk/cTG6oEBwa-w/s400/After+flagoffSUMMARY.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368024880425020466" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We are on road now. Today is Day 3. Could not update the blog as we were flagged off soon after the results were out. Since then, it's been 300 km of driving and another 5-6 hours of blogging.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Do check out our regular blog updates at </span><a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/unny">http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/unny</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. Follow and cheers us through this journey. Hope you'll enjoy the blog posts!</span><br /></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-26878466284168230082009-07-26T00:53:00.005+05:302009-07-26T18:36:25.319+05:30Will you follow us?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/ee/index.php/nomines/blog/unny-bindhu/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 237px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SmtcSSHN9VI/AAAAAAAABLs/cvqWsOUSR3M/s400/TGDC+blog+post+image.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362481250484221266" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Thanks for all who voted for us and helped us make it to the top 12 pre-finalists of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mitsubishi Cedia Great Driving Challenge</span>. We hope to get your support for the next level as well.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Auditions for selecting the 3 finalists will be from August 3 to 5. Before that we have to maintain a blog on the TGDC website, get as many followers as we can, get them comment on the posts and cheer us up. That’s how you could support us now. It seems this online activity is one criterion for selection!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So please go to the link - <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/ee/index.php/nomines/blog/unny-bindhu/">http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/ee/index.php/nomines/blog/unny-bindhu/</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>and do sign up as our follower. Do</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> visit this blog often and post your precious comments.</span><br /><br />Remember that you can follow only one couple as followers of the 3 finalists and the winner also get some prizes.<br /><br />Hope to see you on the <a href="http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/ee/index.php/nomines/blog/unny-bindhu/">blog</a>. :-)</span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-80679293748126325012009-07-10T21:53:00.002+05:302009-07-10T22:04:24.742+05:30Cheating<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Rich and handsome! What a combination!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">“If only…” A fleeting thought; enough to make her feel guilty. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">She turned and asked her husband, “On seeing a rich and attractive guy, if I thought ‘if only…’ is that cheating?”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">“Of course not,” he replied.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Relief swept over her.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">What’s the point in saying yes, he thought.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Wrote this '55 words story' for a contest. Got short-listed; but didn't get any prize.</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> :-)</span></span><br /></span></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-55757048491216750782009-07-08T14:48:00.003+05:302009-07-08T15:01:27.184+05:30Who will scoop the poop?<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A few places in Mumbai have the look of a well-maintained city. Marine Drive is one of them. Neat, long promenade, a broad seawall-cum-parapet where you can sit, relax and enjoy the sea breeze, no hawkers to pester you – all these have been made possible by the corporation along with the active participation of the residents’ welfare association.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SlRmQupLPYI/AAAAAAAABGE/278Rw6Mdkd8/s1600-h/Marine+drive.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 237px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SlRmQupLPYI/AAAAAAAABGE/278Rw6Mdkd8/s400/Marine+drive.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356018294435036546" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">But there has been one persistent problem – dog poop. Dog walkers too find the promenade interesting. The relaxed dogs relieve themselves on the walkway, to the disgust of others using the promenade. Reportedly, many have been unfortunate enough to step on the poop and skid. Now, the corporation has issued a final warning to dog owners who walk their dogs on the promenade to either clean up after their pets or face a ban from using the promenade for dog-walking. The rule is to be implemented from August.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This has sparked a debate about the where the responsibility of the corporation ends and the dog owners’ begin. Apparently, quite a few dog owners argue that it’s not their responsibility to clean after their dogs. Two years back, columnist </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_columnist-in-a-soup-over-dog-poo_1072824">Tavleen Singh</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> claimed to be doing ‘civil disobedience’ when she refused to clear the excreta of her dog or pay the fine. Her argument was that the rule was not being enforced in other parts of the city and that the authorities did not provide plastic bags to pick up the poop. Reports also said that she wanted BMC to stop people from defecating in public before expecting her to scoop her dog’s poop. Phew! I’ve swore not to ever read her columns.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I wonder why supposedly educated people make such silly arguments. Will any human being defecate in public, provided he/she has a choice? People live without a roof over their heads and lead a hand-to-mouth existence. They can’t stop attending to calls of nature until after they have access to proper toilets. And there are limits to what any civic body can do without the cooperation of public. If people like Singh decide to obey laws only after everyone else follows them, they need not follow any law in our country.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I am not sure how the fight between the corporation and Singh ended. But I guess she would not have paid the fine.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">When will we stop blaming others and take responsibility for our actions? When will we start ‘being the change what we wish to see in the world’? Till then, who will scoop the poop? </span></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-11844585978038823502009-07-04T10:39:00.002+05:302009-07-04T10:42:31.047+05:30Great Driving Challenge<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I and Unny are participating in a contest by Hindustan Motors – the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Great Driving Challenge</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/Unny/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 295px; height: 205px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/Sk7kg54pbOI/AAAAAAAABFk/b3v8TcfWXBM/s400/logo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354468260935462114" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Do help us to get into the final by voting for us.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Follow this link to vote – <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/Unny/">http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/Unny/</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Your vote is counted only after the email verification.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Every vote counts. </span></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-48263612599757173762009-05-20T21:42:00.005+05:302009-05-21T19:32:22.605+05:30The lesser-known me<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">25 things few people know about me! Ever since <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://greenlemons07.blogspot.com/">mixedblessings89</a> tagged me (it’s quite some time now), I was trying hard to figure out what few people know about me. I secretly(?) went and checked some of the blogs that took up this tag. No, I didn’t have the slightest intention to do CtrlC-CtrlV. Anyways, I was still clueless after reading a few posts.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Does that mean I am so transparent? People can see through me? Oops! That could also mean I am hollow. No way! I am full of substance, though few people know that. There it is… The first thing few people know about me.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">For the remaining 24, I ‘made up’ this list. :-)</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2. I am quite romantic though I don’t look like one.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">3. I have three birthdays. No, I was not born thrice. Just that my date of birth in official records is two months earlier than the original one, and I’ve a star birthday.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">4. My first poem (in Malayalam) was published in the children’s magazine Lalu Leela some time in 1980s. It was about my cat.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">5. I had cats; 16 at one point of time. Reared and buried quite a few of them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">6. My first short story (in Malayalam and last so far) got second prize in a competition held by the local fine arts club and it was later published in the school magazine.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">7. I remember most of what I hear except the classroom lectures. So get bored when people tell me the same stuff again and again and sometimes contradict themselves.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">8. I intend to write my autobiography.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Enough of gloating.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">9. I get angry fast</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">10. I can be nasty at times</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">11. I don’t bother about what others think</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">12. I’m not religious, but I know there’s God.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">13. I (we) decided not to have kids even before marriage.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">14. I like kids when I'm not responsible for them 24x7.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">15. However, I feel responsible for the whole world, but too lazy to save it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">16. I like being alone and I like being with family and friends.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">17. I was crazy about Hindi movies in my teens. My favourite hero was Mithunda.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">18. For washing cloths, I don’t trust anybody except myself, my mother, sister-in-law, and IFB washing machine.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">19. I like only the curd I make or the packaged ones.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">20. I don’t like to see oil in my food – I mean in the non-fried ones.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">21. I’ve tried many times to become a vegetarian and failed. Then I married a pure vegetarian. That did work partially. I am a vegetarian most of the time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">22. I get put off by insincerity.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">23. I like those who act over those who just talk.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">24. But I often talk and not act.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">25. So I believe, “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." - Carl Jung</span><br /><br />Now I feel I can write more. Who will have the patience to read it?<br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Meanwhile, <a href="http://greenlemons07.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">mixedblessings89</span></a> gave me the Honest Scrap award.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/ShQt0lvyi8I/AAAAAAAABCA/W06d7WQ1lWw/s1600-h/Honest_Scrap.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 194px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/ShQt0lvyi8I/AAAAAAAABCA/W06d7WQ1lWw/s400/Honest_Scrap.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337941839849884610" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I honestly made this 25 things up. :-) </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span> </span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-84099926242551457352009-05-14T20:29:00.004+05:302009-05-14T20:43:29.618+05:30Sunday selections<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The title might ring a bell to Keralites of my generation. All India Radio, Trivandrum used to air a programme for dedicating songs, every Sunday at 3 pm. Not sure if they still have it. That was a time when cable TV was unheard of. Probably, it was the only programme where the audience could mail requests to broadcast English songs dedicated to someone of their choice. I don’t know if it was a popular programme because English songs were (and are) alien to me.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Today, TV channels are inundated with mutants of phone-in/write-in/SMS-in programmes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/Sgw05O9apbI/AAAAAAAABBg/ICg6aptiO8g/s1600-h/TV.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/Sgw05O9apbI/AAAAAAAABBg/ICg6aptiO8g/s400/TV.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335697816400078258" border="0" /></a><br />I pooh-pooh the people who calls or writes with much passion and enthusiasm. Who has the time to do all these? Non-bloggers might be thinking the same about bloggers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Then I realised I am a hypocrite.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Long back, I too had written to Sunday Selections. Well, not exactly. I hadn’t even heard about this programme until a hostel friend explained it to me. We were a gang of 17 gals and had named ourselves DDTs. Can anyone guess the expansion? We even had a logo. Okay, let me not digress. We made sure to celebrate everyone’s birthday. A gift was given and a treat was taken in return. Once, for G’s birthday, R came up with a new gift idea – to dedicate a song to G through Sunday Selections. That was when I first heard about it. We bought a post card (15 paise – misers we were!) and sent in our request. I don’t remember the song we had requested. G would be at home on Sundays. Somehow, we managed to get her listen to the programme, without revealing our secret. Those who were doomed to be in the hostel got a pocket radio. A red one, I remember.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So we sat at different parts of Kerala on that Sunday afternoon eagerly waiting for our letter to be read. Sadly, it was never read. Later, someone told us that they would give preference to letters written on fancy papers. Our humble postcard didn’t even stand a chance. Next day we told G about our failed attempt to sponsor a song for her.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I remember listening to Sunday Selections a few times after that. But it didn’t have the charm to retain my interest. But our excitement and the later disappointment is something I should consider while scoffing at the participants of today’s programmes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Other than the song dedication programmes, I don’t like the reality shows, which many are crazy about. I can watch the former for its songs, but I can’t stand the latter. Facebook is another place where I feel lost. All these “What kind of a cat/dog you are”, “Do you have brains”, “Which famous people share bad hair day with you,” stuff do not kindle my curiosity. I ignore requests to join groups like “I love Upma”, and “I like the smell of drain – oops, rain”.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Does age has anything to do with lack of appreciation for all these new trends? Maybe.</span></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-11063376207736282182009-04-06T21:21:00.001+05:302009-04-06T21:24:31.770+05:30Who’s stinky?<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Oh! Life’s so boring. Nobody wants me. Come rain or shine, I stand here day in and day out. No one wastes a glance at me. (Sob sob…)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Eh! Who’s that? Here come two well-dressed ladies. I guess they are mother and daughter, going home after a big shopping. They’re checking the bills. Ladies, if you don’t want them, give it to me. I’ll take good care of them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">No! They dropped the papers on the roadside and left in an auto. Am I not standing just 3 ft behind them? Still… (Sob sob...)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Now, where is that stink coming from? The garbage van has already left. Good grief! Smells like she and her clothes haven’t seen water for ages. I don’t like stinky people, though ignorant people call me stinky. What’s this mad woman doing? Okay, she’s having food. After eating, she’ll leave all the trash behind. I’m sure. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Ugh! She’s even peeing there. Disgusting! Doesn’t she know only men can pee in public? Where are our culture police?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">She’s leaving at last. I can open my nose and breathe now. But she’s coming towards me. What! She’s stuffing me with the leftover food and waste paper. I can’t believe this. I feel happy. What if she’s stinking? She’s using me.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Hey, she’s crossing the road. Be careful, dear. These drivers are mad nowadays. What’s she doing? Picking up something form the middle of the road. What’s she going to do with an empty cigarette packet and bits of paper? She’s coming back to me. She has also picked up the papers dropped by the ‘ladies’.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">She’s giving me all the trash she picked up. Am I dreaming? Let me pinch myself. It’s real!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Sorry my lady. I was so rude to you earlier. I even called you stinky. Now I wonder who is stinky. You or those ladies.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">From Waste Bin Diaries</span><br /></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-77292393200213950692009-04-02T12:58:00.002+05:302009-04-02T13:00:58.163+05:30Get in touch and deal<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">A friend of mine was forced to do cooking, serving, and cleaning, when he was a kid. He hated doing this, but there was no choice as his parents chose to turn a blind eye to his plight. They were scared of his paternal grandfather. I don’t know the details. Whatever it was, this boy grew up with anger towards his parents and hating any sort of kitchen/house work. When he was able to stand on his feet, he confronted his parents and told them how angry he was and how they had let him down. After this, his anger subsided, but could not bring himself up to do any housework. He adored his wife, but never helped her in the kitchen. It was fine with her as she was not working full time; she enjoyed cooking; and there was a maid to do washing and cleaning.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Then, wife became pregnant. I went to see her during the initial months of pregnancy. That day, it was he who had cooked lunch. I was surprised. This guy, hurt by his parents’ insensitivity, wants to a better parent. And he’s going to try real hard. To overcome his negative emotions about cooking, he decided to cook a meal all by himself. “It was terrible. I almost relived the pain of my childhood. But, it’s worth it. I don’t want to set a negative example to my kid by showing dislike to housework.” he told.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Another friend also was abused as a kid. He had to work in a relative’s hotel, deliver food around, and was ridiculed by family members. After he got married, he refused to do any work at home. His working wife had to take care of everything from cooking to getting his shoes ready to wear. On Sundays, he would ask her to cook his favourite food and go out to play cricket with friends. In effect, he expected more of mothering from his wife. Again due to whatever he suffered in his childhood. Wife, due to her own childhood baggage, was eager to please him and accommodated all his demands initially. Later, she started complaining about his insensitivity, but it was of no use. He didn’t even think he’s insensitive; so where is the question of changing?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I’m not in touch with them now. I heard the wife is expecting. Does this father also try to deal with the childhood pain and get over it? So that he can set a good example to the child? I hope he does. We want more sensitive kids in this world.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">So far it was about others’ experiences. Though not of such magnitude, I have been able to trace out the roots of some of my behavioural traits and pull them out. I’m pretty sure that many of us will be able to track the origin of certain irrational behaviour, anger or hatred and deal with it. In some cases, because of the pain we had endured, we would’ve suppressed it deep in our minds. We would not even admit that the wound is there. It’s a kind of defence mechanism by the mind to escape from the pain. Unless we probe our minds and get in touch with it, it’ll manifest in our behaviour. It’ll be painful to do this, but the results are worth the effort.</span></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-8228229608867592752009-03-12T15:22:00.002+05:302009-03-14T23:30:45.214+05:30Parenting saga<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Normally, I would not have read this interview. But the blurb – “I will spend every rupee I earned on myself. Let my kids fend for themselves” - caught my attention. It was actor Nazaruddin Shah’s response to a question if he had received his share of fame and money from the film industry. Answering in affirmative, he said he would not leave any of that for his children.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Shikha Sharma, MD & CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, also has similar views about leaving an inheritance for her children. To quote from an interview, “They have to earn on their own. We’ll fund their education, but they are not getting any inheritance from their parents!”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I couldn’t but appreciate the detachment they expressed. Shah and Sharma would not have kept aside their dreams to support their children. But most middle-class parents slog their entire life to ensure a comfortable life to their kids. Their responsibility does not end with providing education. Daughters have to be married off lavishly with a hefty dowry. A host of other society-enforced demands that follow the marriage and birth of grandchildren have to be taken care of, which only translate to more expenses. Money need not be spent on sons’ marriage, but they have to deal with the expectations on their wealth – be it the house or that hard-saved fixed deposit.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Where is the end to the expectations on parents? Are they meant to live and die for their children? When will they gather enough courage to declare that their children would not inherit their money? When will they stop feeling guilty in spending money on themselves instead of saving it up for kids?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">That expensive sari or much-dreamt-about vacation was rarely affordable in their prime years. At least, in the old age, let them live out their postponed dreams.</span><br /></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-85501781508873220852009-03-04T22:32:00.003+05:302009-03-14T23:31:56.295+05:30So much I don’t know!<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I went there to help them learn</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">And, I learned how much I don’t know</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Or how much I am yet to learn!</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I don’t know what to do…</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">When a kid refuses to respond</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">When a kid keeps fidgeting</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">When a kid says he/she hasn’t seen </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The things we take for granted</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I don’t know what to say…</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">When a kid stumbles at table of two</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">When a kid can’t read ‘tie’</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">When a kid says he/she couldn’t study</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Because parents were fighting</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I know I’ve failed to help them learn</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">And I’ve failed to learn</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Still, I am trying…</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">(Thoughts from my volunteering experience at <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.akanksha.org/">Akanksha</a>, an NGO involved in teaching less-privileged children)</span></span><br /></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-63489124477622111052009-02-16T19:17:00.004+05:302009-02-17T09:50:57.989+05:30Let the kids walk a bit<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-style: italic;">You are rushing to office on a bike. The road is blocked with haphazardly parked cars. Isn’t it normal that your blood pressure rise and you curse those stupid car owners/drivers?</span> Well, I used to face this every weekday when I was in Chennai.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Unny used to drop me at office before proceeding to his office. There is a school along the road we took regularly. (The other option was an even more crowded main road with many signals.) Parents or drivers stopped the cars at the school gate and took the kids to the classrooms, creating major traffic blocks. Not to mention the incessant honking! Everyone competed in getting as close to the gate as possible. If they could get the car to the classroom, I guess, they would’ve been extremely happy.</span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I used to get furious at this insensitivity to other road users. Why couldn’t they park the cars where it caused less inconvenience to others and get the kids walk a short distance to the school? Need the kids be pampered so much?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">However, I also thought that I was just being jealous. My typical middle-class character couldn’t digest the comforts enjoyed by others. We have only a bike. I was getting irritated because they had cars. So, other than sharing with Unny, I kept my complaints to myself. Unny said that one could not expect those people to behave the way one wanted. Ok, fine, I said. I’d try to finish the chores and get out of the house early, even if it meant getting up earlier than 5 am.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Later, I remember reading about some other schools in Chennai banning the dropping of kids at the school entrance, citing the same reason – traffic congestion. I was happy to know that I was not alone in finding this as a problem.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Today, there was further justification to my anger. Though, in Mumbai, I was not caught in any such traffic jams, I was really happy to read the news “The State Transport Ministry mulls ban on cars for students”. According to a report by DNA, the ministry aims to keep school areas free of vehicular congestion and also spread the message of equality among students.<br /><br />The proposal is at a primary stage, and there’ll be a lot of hurdles to clear before it can be enacted as a law. Still, it’s a welcome move.</span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It is inspired by the Cathedral and John Connon School in Colaba, Mumbai, which promotes the use of school bus or public transport by its students. Meera Issac, principal of the school, and Indrani Malkani, one of the parents, launched this well-thought-out ‘Model School Bus Service’ in 2002. According to them, parents welcomed this move and that was why the plan worked for the past six years. Even taxis are not allowed near the school gate. A wise move indeed!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Now, we have a car. But I am glad to realise that I retain the old mindset. I never try to park the car close to my destination, even for a short duration, if that causes nuisance to others. I may use the car for convenience, but I can still walk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SZlyFPQzJzI/AAAAAAAAAsw/tl5joZvQFQQ/s1600-h/Kid.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SZlyFPQzJzI/AAAAAAAAAsw/tl5joZvQFQQ/s400/Kid.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303395470527375154" border="0" /></a>I hope those kids also get to walk a bit.</span></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-54022629008262660132009-02-13T20:38:00.004+05:302009-02-13T20:53:13.619+05:30To tie the knot or rakhi?<span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >I’ve been doing it for the past eight years. It’s become a habit for me - to hold Unny’s hands when we walk together. Sometimes, people stare at us. I don’t care. For me, it’s a comfort.<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow. I don’t celebrate it. Does anyone need a day to celebrate love? Can’t we celebrate it every day? Every moment? Neither do I celebrate other such days as Women’s Day, Friendship Day, Mothers’ Day,... It’s obvious that these days are promoted by those with vested interests. But, I am not against anyone celebrating these Days. It’s their prerogative.<br /><br />Some people think otherwise. The so-called protectors of Indian culture do not want anyone to celebrate Valentine’s Day. They are planning different things. Apart from violence, which they plan anyways, one group (which one? I forgot) has threatened that anyone publicly displaying their </span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >affection </span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >will be either made to marry each other or tie a <span style="font-style: italic;">rakhi</span>.<br /><br />Is holding hands a public display of affection? When we go out tomorrow, will we be asked to tie the knot or tie the <span style="font-style: italic;">rakhi</span>?</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-15619249078959057822009-01-12T20:55:00.006+05:302009-01-12T21:12:24.132+05:30My biannual swimming lessons<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">One of the items in <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://colouredcanvas.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-bucket-list.html">My Bucket List</a> was ‘learn swimming.’ I get swimming lessons from Unny whenever we get a chance to jump into a water body. This mostly happens twice a year during a trek/trip organised by <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://natureknights.com/">Nature Knights</a>! I signed off 2008 with such a swimming lesson at Pavna Lake near Lonavla.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We had not decided about participating in the two-day year-end outing organised by Nature Knights. When Asif called up to ask if we were free to go as facilitators for an event and join the outing later in the day, we made up our mind. The event was a pre-marriage get together of the bride’s and bridegroom’s families. The games part was outsourced to Nature Knights by the original event managers. Sponsored by the bridegroom’s sister, the intention of the event was to initiate bonding among family members from both sides. I have never heard of such events. I think this might become a trend soon, first among the ultra-rich families and later among the middle-class, who always wants to mimic the rich. Anyways, our eight-member team had a good time managing the games. The crowd was enthusiastic; food was good and plentiful.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">By late evening, we reached Lonavla and waited for the gang to come back after a baby trek. There were around 30 people in total and Asif had a booked a few cottages. The sumptuous dinner prepared under the guidance of Asif’s brother Zafar, a trained chef, was followed by campfire and antakshari. Braving the chill, many of us set out for a night safari too. A few of us, including Unny and me, retired early (at midnight) to bed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Next day, after attacking delicious French toast, upma, and omelet, we set out to Pavna Lake – for the last dip of the year. Swimmers were training the non-swimmers. I had an exclusive trainer – Unny. This time I made some minute progress.<br /><br />The lessons were captured by those who didn’t get into water.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SWtjh21xJ-I/AAAAAAAAAlc/LIzSkguv2bQ/s1600-h/1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SWtjh21xJ-I/AAAAAAAAAlc/LIzSkguv2bQ/s400/1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290431620584646626" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SWtjXoKAgcI/AAAAAAAAAlU/f_rHflm-lVg/s1600-h/2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 254px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SWtjXoKAgcI/AAAAAAAAAlU/f_rHflm-lVg/s400/2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290431444844315074" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SWtjXrGgl4I/AAAAAAAAAlM/zfHq8tMcSQA/s1600-h/3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SWtjXrGgl4I/AAAAAAAAAlM/zfHq8tMcSQA/s400/3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290431445634946946" border="0" /></a><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SWtjXGO5JVI/AAAAAAAAAk8/q8F0WrpnrjQ/s1600-h/5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 230px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SWtjXGO5JVI/AAAAAAAAAk8/q8F0WrpnrjQ/s400/5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290431435737998674" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Phot0s courtesy: Asif</span></span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">In 2009, maybe, I’ll learn to swim. Waiting for the next dip … :-)</span></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-24916773490606756922009-01-09T14:41:00.006+05:302009-01-12T08:09:21.453+05:30Want to make history?<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">With the digicam revolution, we’ve all become photographers. Even I have.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I swell with pride when I capture that unique moment and I want the whole world to appreciate it. The maximum I could do was to post it on my blog and hope someone would see it. Not anymore …</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Now I can make history with those wonderful snapshots. Yes, you read it right – Make History.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.makehistory-ap.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 206px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SWcWMUpcGkI/AAAAAAAAAks/nShREVVY8pg/s400/lmh1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289220688326695490" border="0" /></a><br />The Make History Foundation (technically De Metri Foundation), a non-profit initiative along with Lee launched a Photography contest last year in Europe. Now it’s happening in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes India.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">And I’ve already made a list of things I could buy with the prize money - a whopping $40,000, close to Rs 20 lakhs. The good thing is that one need not be a professional photographer to participate. But you should be able to tell a few words. The image and words together make a story. “Because history is not only important events and important people. It is recorded with songs and painted on canvas. It is told in stories. It lives in snapshots.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I have started looking around with a new set of eyes and find meaning in the unobvious because I want to Make History …</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So can you! Check out the site <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://www.makehistory-ap.com/">http://www.makehistory-ap.com</a> and the blog <a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" href="http://lee-make-history.blogspot.com/">http://lee-make-history.blogspot.com/</a>.</span><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.makehistory-ap.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SWcWMGQvwII/AAAAAAAAAkk/fmgaha9DquE/s400/lmh2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289220684465029250" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">No, I didn't click it. A sample from the collection</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >PS. Anybody winning prize after getting lead from this post pay me a commission. OK? :-)</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-51175122344369895582009-01-03T09:20:00.010+05:302009-01-10T22:01:03.896+05:30A tribute to my Adopted extended family<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It’s been four years since we came to Mumbai. Relocating to Mumbai was a tough decision to make as Mumbai always brought an image of cramped spaces and underworld, thanks to some Malayalam movies. Another aspect that added to our indecision was that </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I’d to quit my job of three months. We even thought of Unny going there temporarily (his company wanted him to set up a team in Mumbai) and I staying back in Chennai. But that was too muc</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">h for me to bear – staying away from Unny for a long duration. Finally, after a lot of deliberations, we decided we’d try Mumbai out when our youth still remains. And I was pretty sure to get a job in t</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">he city of opportunities, which turned out exactly the same way.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The initial days were too oppressive – everything unknown. I bru</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">shed up my Hindi, but was bombarded by Marathi. Comparison between a nice, large 2-BHK and the compact 1-BHK at double the rent added to the irritation. Our top-of-the-mind thought was ‘how to go back’. </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Then Nature Knights happened. I chanced upon an event listing in a website, wherein a one-day trek to Peb Fort was listed. We registered for this, wanting to get out of the daily </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">hectic schedule and busy city life. On February 27, 2005, we did our first tr</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ek with Nature </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Knights. We were worried about our ability to do the trek and if they would accept our </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">limitations. The ever-cheerful Nimesh, who was leading the trek, made us relax and finish this somewhat difficult trek with ease. </span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8Pqx4r-kI/AAAAAAAAAjs/7AdvMhF6HmM/s1600-h/Tikona.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8Pqx4r-kI/AAAAAAAAAjs/7AdvMhF6HmM/s400/Tikona.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286961715176274498" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;">A slice from the Tikona trek</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">There’s no looking back since then. We participated in a few more treks, got to know Asif, the founder of the group, his family, and other senior members more; the bonding ensued unconsciously. Nature Knights became our extended family.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8M_mvnMEI/AAAAAAAAAjc/YQXITHjhI78/s1600-h/mahuli.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 292px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8M_mvnMEI/AAAAAAAAAjc/YQXITHjhI78/s400/mahuli.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286958774427791426" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Another slice from Mahuli trek</span></span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Nature Knights is an eco-adventure/trekking organisation, founded 20 ye</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ars back by Asif, a nature, wildlife, and adventure enthusiast. What started as a nature club by a group of like-minded friends has grown today into an organisation involved in trekking and other adventure activities, in addition to facilitating corporate outbound training as well as adventure activities for kids and families. Asif's long-term girlfriend and now wife Lopa is his pillar of support while Nim</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">esh and Dnyanesh act as his left and right hands; rest of us tag along.<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8M_D1653I/AAAAAAAAAjM/b7nHfhn9btI/s1600-h/DSC_0018.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 197px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8M_D1653I/AAAAAAAAAjM/b7nHfhn9btI/s400/DSC_0018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286958765059008370" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Lopa & Asif</span></span><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">For us, apart from having our share of adventure, fun, and a lot of learning, we’ve got a bunch of friends, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces – the newest one was born day before yesterday</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8M_l2ErPI/AAAAAAAAAjU/3o-0xglIOLY/s1600-h/DSC_0023.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 191px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8M_l2ErPI/AAAAAAAAAjU/3o-0xglIOLY/s400/DSC_0023.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286958774186454258" border="0" /></a></div></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Anoushka</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The family is ever-expanding with a few participants getting bowled over, like we did, by the Nature Knights spirit during each event and coming back for more. Asif, Lopa, and their daughter Anoushka along with other knights are there with open arms to welcome everyone into this cheerful family.</span></span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8M-iJQ-aI/AAAAAAAAAjE/SN-ZC0VYfmE/s1600-h/Bday.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8M-iJQ-aI/AAAAAAAAAjE/SN-ZC0VYfmE/s400/Bday.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286958756013341090" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Unny's b'day celebration with Nature Knights</span></span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">At this juncture, as we just stepped into another year, I salute the wonderful Nature Knights, of which I am proud to be a part of. Mumbai is not oppressive any more; 1-BHK house is no</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">t very small; and I understand a bit of Marathi. Our youth still remains. And we have second thoughts about going back.</span><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">To know more about Nature Knights, have a look here <a href="http://www.natureknights.com/">www.natureknights.com</a>.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8NAIjs4ZI/AAAAAAAAAjk/jrCxWcQWNFc/s1600-h/Threesome.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 204px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SV8NAIjs4ZI/AAAAAAAAAjk/jrCxWcQWNFc/s400/Threesome.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286958783504638354" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Asif, Nimesh and Dnyanesh</span></span></span><br /></div></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A photo feature of our first trek, Peb Fort, is <a href="http://trekpebfort.blogspot.com/">here</a>.</span><br /></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-10174148519407059022008-12-24T12:26:00.003+05:302008-12-24T12:43:47.783+05:30Kasab’s right and lawyers’ wrong!Any accused has the right to be defended by a lawyer – so says our Constitution and everyone knows that. So Kasab the terrorist also has this right because he is an accused now and can be convicted only by a court of law, though every one knows that he’s one among those who unleashed terror on us. In that case, why are there so much discussions and arguments on if Kasab is entitled to legal help? There are those who want the law to take its due course and those who want Kasab to be punished without giving a chance to present his case. I, personally, would like to see Kasab tortured forever, to make him taste at least a part of the suffering, grief, distress, and loss he caused by his terrorist activities. Nevertheless, as a law-abiding citizen, I know Kasab should be given a proper trial and then convicted, if proven guilty.<p></p> <span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >I can understand the public outrage and they are entitled to that. But what’s with the lawyers? Bar Council of Mumbai has passed a resolution asking its members not to defend Kasab. Karan Thapar, a well-known TV journalist and newspaper columnist, in his weekly column <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);" href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=ViewsSectionPage&id=1d15f0d1-ce82-4fb0-9f1c-5ac21d020f8e&&Headline=A+pertinent+point">“Sunday Sentiments” in the Hindustan Times dated 21 December, 2008</a>, has presented in simple words why Kasab should be given a fair trial and a defense lawyer.<br /><br />Ram Jethmalani, the criminal lawyer who specializes in taking up controversial defense cases, has explained the same in legal terms in his article in the <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);" href="http://www.tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=Op271208witch_yes.asp">Tehelka dated 27 December, 2008</a>. </span><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">After giving relevant examples and all the necessary Articles in the Constitution in support f his argument, Jethmalani has made a point similar to the one I had in my mind all along:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">“So Kasav has a right under the Constitution of India to be defended by a lawyer of his choice. If he cannot afford one, he or his High Commission may request the courts to give him one.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><span style="font-style: italic;">But the point still remains what will the lawyer do? I do not wish to discuss the merits of Kasav’s case, because normally my comments would cause him prejudice. But this is an exceptional case in which they probably would not. It does not seem to me possible for any lawyer, or even a combination of lawyers, to seriously dispute that he committed the atrocious act he is reported to have indulged in. It is a classic case of an accused being caught in flagrante delicto. The arguable question will be one of sentence, namely the choice between death and life imprisonment.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">That’s why I can understand the public outrage, but not the lawyers’. They should be able to think in the lines of Jethmalani that Kasab is entitled to legal aid, but a defense lawyer has little to defend in this case. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Then why do they behave like this? Do they ever hesitate to defend a murder/rape accused, even if he/she was caught red-handed and however brutal the crime involved was? After taking exorbitant fees, these people defend such accused and get them acquitted in many cases. Week charge sheets, distorted evidence, twisted laws, bought-out witnesses – with the aid of all these they help criminals to walk scot-free. The lawyers for sure know how our legal system works and they are worried that Kasab also could use the loopholes of the system and escape with the help of a good lawyer. That’s the reason for their irrational behaviour, nothing else.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">And about the lawyers who came forward to defend Kasab, including those who backed out<span style=""> </span>… Did Kasab or anyone else request their services? What prompted them to do so? Controversy and the resultant fame? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It now fails to surprise me that people find selfish opportunities in any event, and sugar-coat it as patriotism, humanity, and such virtues, which they fail to practice in day-to-day life.</span></span></span></p></span>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-87330143481584232262008-12-19T10:39:00.007+05:302008-12-19T10:50:04.932+05:30Past pleasant; Present perfect; Future ?I am a true believer of the saying ‘Better late than never.’ That’s why I am doing this tag by <a href="http://laymansrevelations.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The Layman</span></a>, albeit it’s too late. I have many an excuse for postponing it this long – work, travel, social commitments, lack of interest in blogging, etc – but to be honest, I postponed it because it was not easy. :-)<span style=""><o:p></o:p></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">So here’s my attempt at answering two questions each from my past, present, and future.<o:p></o:p></span><b style=""><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Yesterday</span></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">My oldest memories</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">I vividly remember …<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in;font-family:trebuchet ms;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Playing at my mother’s office in the evenings<o:p></o:p></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Collecting jasmine flowers from an affectionate neighbour’s garden<o:p></o:p></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Going to nursery school with my neighbour-friend-classmate escorted by an elder neighbour<o:p></o:p></span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">The extremely nice nursery teacher taking me to her house during lunch break, and I for some reason, giving her a tough time by crying and demanding to go back. I guess I was sacred by her father who looked tough.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">What was I doing 10 years ago?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">On Dec 12, 1998? You expect me to remember that?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">It’s true that I’ve a good memory, but this is too much ... :-)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span><b style=""><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Today</span><o:p></o:p></span></b><span style=""><br /><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">My first thought today morning</span></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">6 O’ clock. Ding dong (calling bell)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">I woke up with a start. Did Unny come so early?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">(Background: Unny was to take 7.30 flight from <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Delhi</st1:city></st1:place>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">I for a moment thought he wanted to give me surprise and told me a different flight time. Immediately realized he’s not that crazy to take an early morning flight from <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Delhi</st1:place></st1:city> (if one’s there), that too in December. It was the newspaperboy who rang the bell. He was too busy to push the papers through the grill, instead dropped it outside and rang the bell to let me know. </span><span style="">:-)</span><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">If you build a time capsule what would it contain?</b><br />Same things that I carry for a trek/travel …</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">As much as food that it would contain, first-aid kit, survival kit, clothes</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Things like maps, guides will be handled by my better-half.<span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span><b style=""><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Tomorrow</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">This year</span><i style=""><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">This year is almost ‘last year’. So let me consider 2009. Hope to do what I postponed in 2008. That means 2008 New Year resolutions still remain strong as resolutions, which can be carried forward.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">What do I see myself doing 14 years from now?</span><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">2022 – Farming, running a home stay, traveling<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><span style=""> </span>Or living in a city and doing the best I could do within the limitations<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Whichever it is, I hope I’ll be enjoying life as I do now. :-)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7850058678322188319.post-24235876484944772382008-11-26T23:45:00.005+05:302008-11-26T23:57:01.736+05:30First vada pav, then kanda poha; Next is what?The Shiv Sena is going to launch Shiv brand of <i style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">vada pav</i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">, a common snack in </span><st1:place style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" st="on">Maharashtra</st1:place><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. This is supposedly aimed at countering the sons-of-the-soil campaign by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Very funny, I feel. A panel of 3 chefs will select the best recipe for the brand from 27 vada pav vendors. The launch is planned on January 23, 2009, Bal Thackeray’s birthday.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SS2TTUhQEdI/AAAAAAAAAdo/mHcecXNQQ2s/s1600-h/vadapav1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 392px; height: 336px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SS2TTUhQEdI/AAAAAAAAAdo/mHcecXNQQ2s/s400/vadapav1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273032698855690706" border="0" /></a></span><o:p></o:p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So what did the Congress do? They decided to promote the ‘cause’ of ‘</span><i style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">kanda poha</i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">’ (a breakfast dish made of rice flakes and onions. The Congress claims </span><i style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">kanda poha</i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> is truly Maharashtrian as the rice and onions come from Maharashtra’s farms, whereas the ingredients of </span><i style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">vada pav</i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> – potatoes and gramflour – come from UP and </span><st1:place style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" st="on">Bihar</st1:place><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. Kanda poha festival will be taking palace in the next fortnight, where various </span><i style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">kanda poha </i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">specialists will display their culinary skills.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SS2TTB9EX9I/AAAAAAAAAdg/3k7-DojiqKk/s1600-h/poha.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 395px; height: 336px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xXqq3bICyEc/SS2TTB9EX9I/AAAAAAAAAdg/3k7-DojiqKk/s400/poha.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273032693872091090" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The Shiv Sena considers Congress’s move as a political gimmick. What about theirs? Oh! I forgot. Shiv </span><i style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">vada pav</i><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> will provide jobs for Marathi <span style="font-style: italic;">manoos</span>!</span><o:p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">I personally support Congress as <i style="">kanda poha</i> is healthier than <i style="">vada pav</i>, though I eat both when I travel. Uddhav Thackeray reportedly not tasting vada pav at the recently held ‘<i style="">vada pav sammelan</i>’ might be because it’s not healthy. A wild guess! But, I must admit that when one is time-starved, it’s the best choice to grab and eat on the way. A typical Mumbai scene this is!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Now, what will the MNS support? Hindustan Times guesses it to be <i style="">missal pav</i>. It also suggests the NCP to support <i style="">kanda bhajjiya</i>, the Samajwadi Party to go after <i style="">ussal pav</i>, the Republican Party of India to take up <i style="">bhel</i>’s cause, and the BJP to embrace <i style="">sev puri</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">Hilarious! Isn’t it so?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">All these made me think what would Kerala’s political parties support, in a similar fashion. Which party will support <i style="">porotta</i>? It’s like <i style="">vada pav</i>. Not healthy. Unlike <st1:place st="on">Maharashtra</st1:place>, Kerala need more options as we have more parties. We can’t make our claims on <i style="">idli</i> and <i style="">dosa</i>. We have <i style="">puttu</i>, <i style="">palappam</i>, <i style="">vellayappam</i>, <i style="">idiyappam</i>, <i style="">kappa</i>, etc. But we need to ascertain their lineage first. I remember reading somewhere that <i style="">puttu</i>, <i style="">palappam</i>, and <i style="">idiyappam</i> have Sri Lankan origins. If this is true, we’ve only <i style="">vellayappam</i> and <i style="">kappa</i> to choose from. Or should we include <i style="">unniyappam</i>, <i style="">pazhampori</i>, <i style="">sukhiyan</i>, <i style="">avalosunda</i>, <i style="">churuttu</i>, <i style="">kuzhalappam</i>, etc? </span><span style="">J</span><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><span style="font-weight: bold;">On a serious note…</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >Just now heard the news on Mumbai blasts and shootings. Will these politicians do something productive to prevent such terrible incidents? Terrorists do not consider whether the victims are sons-of-the-soil or not.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Bindhu Unnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15188876952238550620noreply@blogger.com7