Republic Day Parade-coverage by media

Republic Day parade was well covered by all the television channels besides our own Door Darshan.  The channels would have done better by avoiding advertisement scrolls which ran parallel to the telecast diluting the effect of the Parade.  when the army main battle tanks were shown saluting the supreme commander and the President Smt Patil, there was a scroll right beneath saying"Breaking News"  Yuvaraj ruled out of remaining matches as he had a ligament tear in his wrist!  The kids in the room said" O, shit!".  similarly ,the commentator was explaining the courage and valour shown by some of the battalions which were in the March-Past, there appeared a scroll "Oman air offers flat bed, luxury sleeper for travel"!!  The sacrifices and the tough life of the army men stood diluted before these advertisements which were ranking up and above the participants in the parade.  When the fighter planes such as MIG29 and others flew past the presidential podium, there was an advertisement of "Listerine mouth-wash".  Beleive me these scrolls were quite prominent enough to distract people from watching the parade!!

It is a matter of just 2 hours and when the channels were magnanimous in telecasting the feed given by the Door- Darshan,  it would add credibility to the programme capsule if there were no advertisements or breaking News scrolls! This will  give the day its importance and prominence!  The I & B Ministry should take this factor into account and request all the channels carrying the feed from the parental Door-Darshan not to dilute this glorious programme of the  day by scrolling advertisements and Breaking News!!  This will be a great service to the Nation celebrating its Republic day with such pride and honour! The Parade enthuses one and all and specially the children and may probably inspire them to join the armed forces and contribute something in return to the nation? This children watching the Parade should be allowed to  concentrate on the programme fully and take pride for having born an Indian!!

Padma-shree award- belittled

Announcing Padma Shree award to Saif ali Khan has lowered the dignity of the award itself.  People are left wondering the reason for which he has been chosen for the award.  Is it for acting, or ditching women one after the other ponders an average man on the street!  The government should zero down a person only after verifying the credentials in all aspects.  Here is a hero who married Amrita singh, had children through her, then had several live-in girl friends including some Italian model and finally latched up with Kareena Kapoor!  Does this aspect contribute to the selection of such awards?  If he has been chosen for his acting skills, then it is sad to see an award going waste!

The government will do well if certain criterion and rules are laid down for such awards.  These awards are national awards and represent the country's recognition for the person and make them Ambassadors for the country.

Besides, there should be an age criterion for such awards and it should not be given to people who are in their teens or in their 20s or 30s lest the recognition goes int their head to boost their ego negetively and unproductively.

going by  the trend of such awards presented to youngsters, one would not be surprised if the government decided to decorate one such award to a baby who is still in the womb stating reasons that may justify granting such awards!!?? God Bless!!

declining values of Hindi Cinema

I was full of enthusiasm when my wife booked tickets for "Veer" a Salman Khan movie last evening at the Inox theatre.  When we entered the theatre, half the interest died looking at the  half filled hall.  The story is all about a Pindari clan who were deprived of their land and living by the rulers in collusion with the British who had invaded India and ruling by their typical "divide and Rule" policy.  The picture starts with voilence with one of the Pindari clans chopping the hand of the king of Madhav garh depicting the future course of the movie and testing your ear drums for taking all those voilent screams and shouts that were to follow!
The hero is shown with more than 6 pacs abs and often indulging in hand-fight(supposed to be training) with his father and both screaming at the top of their voices just enough to make you go mad and frown for wasting time and money!

The starting credits say that no animal was tortured or killed for the movie is to assuage the feelings of wild life activists who will otherwise  be up in their arms and ready to take the movie makers to the court at the drop of a hat! I want to know if there is any organisation which would also fight a similar cause against human cruelty depicted in films?

The film takes the hero on a fantasy tour of the U K and goes a step forward when the hero sneaks into a party hosted by the queen of England where the elites are only allowed to be a part!  Our hero climbs up the wall instead of the stairs to come face to face with the Princess of Madhav garh and does everything to seduce her!!  Salman Khan's brother Sohail Khan does well as a joker taking all the blows and brutalities inflicted by the Prince of Madhav garh and brothers of the heroine and comes back without even a scratch back to India to fight the ruler, all over again in our soil! The pindari clan has been depicted as someone who are unclean, un-educated,and un-sophisticated!

Salman has tried to match this film to that of Lagan and has ended up very poor.  The theme song and the main song which often repeats in the film is taken out and copied from a popular Tamil number composed by our DTEA aumni Ramani Bhardwaj for one of his films?  The British High commission will do well to ban entry visa to this actor who repeatedly vows to behead the British in the film?

You could see a sigh of relief from the audience when the movie ends!!!

Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru devo Maheshwarah

This noble hearted man popularly known as Ramamurthy sir taught us almost all subjects when we were in the Primary education in our MEA Hr Sec school now known as DTEA group of schools in N Delhi.  He will take time out to interact with all the students and teach them the basics of life and how to deal with them.  He will educate the students as to why they should respect their parents.  Many things sounded crazy during that age and times and as time passed,  I realise the value of his valuable  teachings which are applicable in day-to day life!  I am sure all the other students must be feeling the same about this teacher?

Ramamurthy Sir would be in your house even before the progress report reached your house to recommend the remedies for the shortcomings in the report which eased tensions for both the parents and the students alike!  He was a bundle of encouragement for the students who used to look forward to his wise counsel at the time of  distress and need.  This great gentleman used to mix religion & culture with studies in such a manner that the students took a balanced approach to life that stood as future!  If someone in the class got lower marks in Maths, he would recommend the student to visit the Irwin road Pillayar kovil and do 108 thoppukaranams and pradakshinams- come back home and solve the mathematics problems all over again and again!  Thus, the students adapted themselves to this novel mode of concentrating on their studies and also following a disciplined religious route  to correct themselves for the future that had many puzzles and  unsolved riddles in store to confuse and challenge any person!

I remember people queued upto his house for seeking ways and methods to overcome problems that they facd in life.  Ramamurthy sir was a Devi Upasakar and worshiper of Sri-chakram and yantras.  His house looked pious on any given day and one could feel the positive vibrations all over his house as and when they entered.  Sir would entertain everybody with a smile on his face and offer coffee and Tea to make them relax a bit. Compliments must be paid to sir's wife who fed the visitors to the house with a  smile on her face, always!

Once, i remember, there was a theft of articles and valuables in the house of our Physics teacher named Vedamurthy.  This teacher along with his wife had come to seek the guidance and help of Ramamurthy Sir.
After doing his Devi Pooja, he heard the story and went deep into some thoughts.  After a while, he gave a few Vethilai leaves to the couple and  advised the lady to show it over the Pooja Vilakku and cautioned them not to burn the leaves under any circumstances.  Believe me, the thief surrendered on the 3 rd day to the police and returned some of the articles that he could not sell!  On questioning, the thief said that ever since he committed this crime, he could not sleep in peace as he had a sense of burning sensation all over the body and hence, decided to surrender and also make an apology!!  There are numerous others who benefitted from this teacher in one way or the other in many ways.  For all this, this humble, noble teacher never charged anyone and considered the same as service to humanity!

He was more a friend and a guide to the students of the school as he would discuss about sports and music as well mixing the same with school curriculam and the subjects in study.  The students liked this teacher so much that they mingled with him freely and took guidance as and when necessary. This great man taught us how to live a life, how to conduct yourself in a family, how to be a good son, a father, a husband and many more values.  All of us surely acknowledge the contribution made by this glorious teacher to shape our lives and for what we are now?  I am dedicating this write-up to "Sir with Love"!

"Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Maheshwarah
Guru Sakshat Param Bramha, Tasmai Sri Gurave Namah "

Foot-prints of a veteran CPM leader- Jyoti Basu

People and in particular the politicians of our country should follow the foot prints of Jyoti Basu who set examples of glory in donating his eyes and his body for medical and scientific research for bettering humanity!
The people of West Bengal deserve compliments in conducting themselves in a most disciplined and peaceful manner  of  paying homage to the great leader.  Elsewhere in the country, history would have had incidents such as bus burning, looting public property and indulging in riots etc.. as it happened recently in Karnataka where a film star passed away recently!
The popularity and the humane nature of the veteran communist leader was obvious when we saw politicians from all parties came to offer their homage cutting across party lines! I hope the political leaders of Tamil Nadu take note of this generosity and stand corrected in their approach to politics ? This would lead to friendship, harmony and development of the state.

wedding-Kerala style!

My wife's schoolmate and childhood friend Rema Jaikrishnan(DTEA 1973) invited us to attend her son's wedding at Kochi on the 9th January, 2010.  My wife was excited and so was I to see my wife getting enthusiastic and excited!  We decided to attend the wedding- a traditional Kerala type wedding in Kerala!!

The Kochi airport greeted us in with its beautiful architecture built in traditional style! The airport was proud to retain its original name and not stand on borrowed names of politicians unlike other airports in the country!

We were booked in Periyar club along with other guests from all over. There was a sense of joy all over and the guests and the family members mingled with each other freely, displaying happiness!  The parents of Rema , Mr & Mrs Nair welcomed and greeted everyone with affection and love.

The marriage was conducted at Le-Meridien Hotel, Kochi in a grand style and manner.  The local orchestra consisting of a lead violinist accompanied by a flutist, mridangam, Key board and a drum pad kept the audience engrossed in music and presented a concoction of carnatic and film songs from Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam.  The sound quality was so good because of proper acoustics provided within the hall.  The stage was illuminated with traditional Kerala type lamps which added glitter to the entire function as it radiated yellow and golden light to the stage and made it look like a place above the earth!

The marriage was a simple affair with both the boy and the girl's side climbing on to the stage.The parents exchanged Tamboolams. The Mangalya Dharanam was performed and it was all over in about 15 minutes with out any smoke or fire!  Unlike our south Indian marriages, this way of conducting the marriage without much noise impressed me .  The registrar of marriages took the signatures of the bride and the groom and the

marriage was over with the young married couple bowing and offering Pranams from the stage to all those who had come to witness this unique event of 2 hearts consenting to merge with each other!

There was a huge spread of traditional Malayala sadhya which was being served neat and clean on plantain leaves by about 40 young looking men, clad in traditional Mundu and vastra!  The experience was so satisfying and blissful.  Our friends Rema and Jai got elevated in their social status by becoming parents-in-law and the happiness of this elevation was quite obvious on their faces.

The Kerala style wedding looked very neat, clean and easy in comparison to our Tamil iyer/iyengar style of  weddings.  There were no Pandits, no fire and no noise of Nadaswaram and the Ketti-Melam which would rebound from the four walls of the halls making life miserable for your ear drums!!  Its worth adapting and following such  marriage rituals in our system as well!  God bless the young married couple with a long happy married life.

Australia- the Mirage Land!

There used to be a time when  flying was confined only to the rich and the affluent.  Travel by Airplanes were only for the top rich and a few!  The middle class felt satisfied seeing the landings and taking off of flights from outside the airport boundary walls.  The deep sigh within and the buried feelings of affording luxuries appeared like a Mirage in the Dessert!  I include myself in this context, having lived my childhood in delhi and often visiting Safdarjung Aerodrome to watch domestic and international flights taking off and land which entertained my brain and heart without any cost!!  It would not be out of place to mention that our parents were so conservative that they would not allow us to go for jobs which involved night-shifts!  I had to forgo a traff - assistant's job with Pan-Am airways as the job involved only night duties.   There was a  necessity of having a motor-cycle to commute and the route was considered dangerous for travel between Karol Bagh and Palam via Buddha jayanti park!! All these factors were enough for my mother to disapprove this job!!  I took up the next in line Banking job which was well approved by one and all saying " I have struck a gold mine"! Honestly, we had no guts to defy or go against the wishes of our parents.

In order to fulfill the cherished but missed ambitions, We encouraged and  allowed our children to pursue courses abroad without even willing to know about their interests and decided the courses that they have to study!  Some children could successfully completed their studies and some could not as their interests were not in tune to the parental thinking?  This theme is well narrated in the recent film 3 idiots and which is very true in most cases.

The statement issued by our foriegn minister Mr S M Krishna and carried by all newspapers is quite relevant and true.  He is intrigued by the fact that many young students have gone to Australia to get trained in courses like Hair styling, Facial course etc.. This is absolutely ridiculous as these do not warrant any special training abroad.  These students can get trained for these courses in India itself  which will be  ideal  to suit Indian conditions!  The parents are foolish to spend money on such courses for their wards and to send them to an alien country expecting that they would eventually settle abroad and get a permanent resident status which will entitle them to migrate and get settled!  This is  shortsighted thinking on the parents.  I have seen students originating from Punjab, U P and other states who can not even speak a sentence of English, desperately trying to find a job to augument their living expenses abroad.  Money flow is stopped from their Homes and there is a pressure to  earn and support their studies and living and this drives the young Indians to take up all kinds of odd jobs much against the Australian visa rules. Mind you, it is quite impossible to find a student job or a part-time job in a country like Australia which is mainly dependent on the educational earnings from students specially from India and which constitutes 20% of their foreign exchange earnings!!  Even the professors who teach in the Universities are mostly Indians and Chinese!  The number of Australian Professors can be hand counted!  This goes to prove that Australia is clever in engaging our own Indians to teach our own Children abroad for which We are giving them a hefty fees besides all mental tortures and tensions!  Finally, the students have no time to study and invariably fail in their academics and eventually kicked out of the country.  Its time the Indian Government sets up a Monitoring cell which will be a pre-condition for all  student visa-seekers who wish to go abroad so that filters can be applied  and prevent Indians from crowding a state in a foreign country leading to unhappy incidents that are occurring currently. The cell would also do well in directing the students to do courses within India without the need for going abroad.  There will also  be a considerable savings in foreign exchange outflow.

One question which comes to my mind is "What is the cause of this Educational- emigration"?
If only the government can curb and control Capitation fees that are gobbled by the institutions within our state and increase the number of Educational Institutions that could par with the best in the country and bring out a legislation that Education is  for all, we can successfully encounter these kinds of problems and find a remedy as well.  The foreign minister will do well talking to the Education Minister and both taking this problem Head-on!

Fog delays

Its a known fact that during this time of the year, fog engulfs  the Northern states and flights get disrupted.  The Media publicises this year after year and the  travellers are quite aware of this problem.  It is quite saddening to note and read in newspapers about passengers holding the carrier for such delays and even creating ruckus and chaos at the airports demanding explanations from the airlines staff for such woes!

Nature is something which no one can predict and fog and snowfalls fall under this umbrella of nature and  beyond any human analysis.  The passengers who are deemed to be educated and well behaved  constantly  shoot bullets  with their tongue to know the reasons for such delays and the probable time of  the aircraft to take off etc..?  These questions can not be answered by any human being as this aspect is controlled by nature which is a big puzzle all by itself!

The travellers should anticipate this dilemma whenever they plan a trip during these months and possibly try and avoid travel during this period or have sufficient cushioning to their length of travel in order to facilitate such delays due to nature for which  the airlines can not give any explanation? The airlines will also do well in educating the passengers through some advertisement campaigns about this and  reduce the tension and brickbats faced by the front line staff manning the counters at the airports?