Why are principles required in life ?

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant said, "Character means that the person derives his rules of conduct from himself and from the dignity of humanity. Character is the common ruling principle in man in the use of his talents and attributes. Thus it is the nature of his will, and is good or bad. A man who acts without settled principles, with no uniformity, has no character. A man may have a good heart and yet no character, because he is dependent upon impulses and does not act according to maxims. Firmness and unity of principle are essential to character."

But why does one need a "character" ?

Nobody can force us to do anything. A person practically has infinite freedom to be as he pleases to be, to do what he wants to do. Sometimes our actions, owing to our infinite freedom, lead us to troubled waters and at that time we again have a choice - accept the mistake and face the consequence or continue to justify our actions as right, and move on. We are going to be presented with choices at every step of our lives and we always have to choose one. And that could be dangerous as we potentially can justify all the choices we make ! We could get lost in our justifications so badly that one day we could end up committing a mistake which we would gravely regret. So, what is the one thing that can guide us, well almost always, in making the right choice, so that we don't end up in a helpless, regretful situation ? Character ? But isn't character an end product of doing "something" and if that's the case, it certainly cannot be used as a vehicle to resolve the issue in hand - "how to make the right choice." The only guiding blocks which we can refer to at such times are our principles. Our principles are the only clear sign posts that we can safely rely on when we are delirious with tempting, but dangerous choices. They force you to question your acts. Our principles infact answer the fundamental questions: "who we are", "what we do" and "where do we want to go."
 

Americanism !

There's a reason for not having blogged for a long time. There simply wasn't an interesting topic to write :p Honestly, I had to literally dig for topics on which I could have a strong and clear feeling !

I have been following the Economic Crisis taking place in America, for quite some time now. The magnitude of the impact because of the crisis is un-doubtedly the worst ever since the dot-com burst couple of years back (I wasn't there during the Great Depression) !
Let me not get into the details on how the whole crisis started cuz I am sure everyone of us would have heard about it by now. What bothers me now, is whether India could be the next destination for a similar Crisis and the recent developments strongly suggest the possibility!
Let me explain why....

Since an year or so, there seems to be a new unseen Credit Card revolution in our country. Card companies have been hounding the earning-class, especially the youth, to take their Credit Cards for free of cost. There was a time when having a credit card was a status symbol, which only the rich and the elite could afford to. But now, you can find people just out of college piling up atleast 3-4 of these cards in their leather wallets ! Having a credit card has never been this easy and simple !

Buying is on an all-time high in our country. Its almost a disgrace if you don't visit your Mall every weekend and buy something new for yourself or your family. Spending has become part of our DNA. 10 years ago, a great amount of planning, saving and ofcourse a post-mortem was inevitable even if the tiniest of things were to find its place at our homes ! But now, thanks to the increase in salaries, an average middle-class guy doesn't really need to think too much if he sees a nice sleek LCD tv in his local electronics appliance shop.


Real Estate prices have sky-rocketted to unrealistic figures ! While some buy flats or independent homes to settle down, there are others, who would have already purchased a house, but still would want to buy another site or an apartment all cuz of investment sake ! All this leads to an increase in the cost of real estate whose actual value would have been much lower.

The Mall culture, Credit Cards, high-spending etc : All these had been flowing in the veins of an average American long before an average Indian picked them up. It doesnt require an economic professor to tell you that India is slowly marching on the path, once treaded by a "great" country called America, which is currently reeling under severe economic crisis !

The time has come for the Indian Government to have stringent regulations in place before our worst fears turn into reality in our country. The people also need to realise that they need to cut down on their spending on un-necessary goods/luxury items as there seems to be a scarcity of "hard-cash" everywhere. All your assets like flats/gold/stocks are loosing their value and therefore it has become all the more important to hold onto your cash like never before !

Remember, this is only a short-term but very important sacrifice we all need to make, if we want our economy to get back on its feet !

I don't want to grow up !

Lot of things happening in my life right now. Never had I put myself into so many tests !

I met one of my old friends from school last Friday. I don't get to meet him as often as I meet my other school friends cuz he doesn't work in Bangalore. He is one of the very few who has been the same and hence he reminds me of my school life more than anyone else. I think its amazing how he hasn't "changed".

I realize it's dangerous to take things for granted at this point in one's life. There seems to be no second chance. People are always judging you. You are always judging people. You seek stability, but you fear that you might get into a comfort zone or might get blinded over certain things that are needed to keep pace with this fast-changing world. You feel the only way to catch up is by keeping yourself open to "change". But, if you have noticed, its not so easy to "change" after all. It is like throwing yourself onto a different planet with no food and transport and asking you to live there for sometime till you get thrown to another planet ! There's un-certainity at each step and if you want to be the winner you better be prepared for it :)

At the same time, you fear you might be getting influenced from outside a little too much and hence loosing grip on your life. You feel your principles and ideals have gone for a toss while trying to keep pace in the rat race.

Finally, you feel it wasnt worth the risk of putting yourself into so much commotion. You want to get back to your younger days where things were certain and the only things you had to worry about was whether you had done your home-work or not, whether you had polished your shoes, cut your nails before your enter the assembly area....
Things were just "black and white" and now everything appears to be grey ... Again there, you are not sure if it just "appears" or if it really "is" grey ! Call me a mad man ? maybe...

Nammooru Bengaluru

No matter how much, people (read people who have come here from other parts of the country) complain about Bangalore’s infrastructure, they always
make sure to end it with a consolation by saying “But, whatever it is, the weather here is simply great ! “
So, is it just the weather that’s making Bangalore attractive? or is it the IT which’s generating so much employment?
Sadly, most of us think its one of them (or both).
Bangalore’s a city that’s been home to people from all regions and religions. No where would you have come across
a place where your local kirana shop guy speaks in atleast 3 regional languages apart from kannada, the local language.
You receive the same warmth irrespective of where you come from or what language you speak. The city allows you to retain your
regional identity, and yet it gives you all the freedom to make it home ! I am not sure how many such cities exist in this world ?!?!?
Bangalore’s truly cosmopolitan !
(I remember hearing about Mumbai being one such place. I had visited Mumbai when I was just 5 years old, so
I cant really speak about it now).

But what makes me feel dis-appointed is the fact that, you just cannot take all the good things that the city’s offering and don’t bother to give it back ! Let me start with learning the local language. I know its really not necessary as most of the localites can converse in English if not your regional language. But, you must understand, Bangalore is as much yours as it is
to the local population. It wouldn’t hurt if you could speak a word or two in kannada to ur sabzi mandi guy instead of just continuously hurling out words in your local language. Who knows, the sabzi mandi guy might not be comfortable speaking your language. Why make him a stranger In his own land ??? He really doesn’t deserve this ! Same applies while using the local public transport. Try using the local language while asking for a ticket.

Let’s not forget like every place, Bangalore too has got its own heritage and that comes not just from old buildings or parks, but also from its local language.
So speaking the language of the land, helps in retaining a city’s heritage. As I write this post, a fact that I had read in a magazine, sometime ago, comes into my mind. The kannada language that most of us speak is becoming devoid of some of the classiest and beautiful words. These words are not those that require a dictionary. These are simple words that carry a lot of warmth, and they really make short chats (read “harate” –kannada) more meaningful. Sadly, this only shows that, we being born and brought up here (the localites), have also become indifferent to the language that once used to be spoken by our parents and grand-parents !

So, next time, you think of doing something for the city, learning a couple of words(sentences would be even better !) in kannada won’t be that bad a choice. It will not only help you in building a good relation with your local sabzi walla, but will also help in an attempt in preserving this beautiful language and hence the city !

Make this language as yours, just like the way you made this city as your home. I am sure, you won’t be disappointed !!!

Quarter-life Crisis

A nice forward, guess how many of us would associate with it … :-)

BEING IN TWENTIES - SOMETHING

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.
You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.
You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.
Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.
You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.
You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap.
Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender! What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out. Send this to your twenty-something friends...
maybe it will help someone feel like they aren't alone in their state of confusion...

We call it the "Quarter-life Crisis."

I don't know my vice-president !

He is the Vice president of our country Mohammed Hamid Ansari.

These are some of the answers I got when I asked people about this photograph.
1) Is this fake or real? (meaning if I had used photoshop)
2) Is he alive now ?
(After I told them he is the vice president of our country)
3) Bhairon Singh Shekawat

Thank God no one said Prathiba Patil :-)

The Woman who knew it all . . .

Here's the conversation, that i heard on my way back home in the cab, between an RJ of a popular radio station and a lady(here after referred to as "The-woman-who-knew-it-all" or TWWKIA) , who said her family is full of s/w engineers(or so she claimed). The RJ was conducting one of those innumerable silly competitions and the lady was jobless enough(blame the US recession ? ) to take part in the competition.

RJ : Hiiiiiiiii, so are you ready to win that 1000 rupees gift voucher ? ! ? !
TWWKIA : CAN'T WAIT !
RJ : great !, I am going to ask you coupla questions . . . if you answer any three of them correctly, you get to win that gift voucher, OKAY ?
TWWKIA : OKAY !!!
RJ : how many colours are there in a rainbow ?
TWWKIA : ( all excited) 7 !!!
RJ : Correct ! Can you name them in the order they appear.
TWWKIA : (telling herself how stupid the question is) Um ...VIBGYOR ! violet,indigo,blue,green,yellow,orange and red !!!
(Now comes the real question . . .)
RJ : great ! what's the name of the vice president of our country ?
TWWKIA : (completely take aback ) WHAT ?
RJ : Who's the vice-president of our country ?
TWWKIA: ou ! I dunno !
RJ : (shocked !) What ! you dunno the name of our VICE PRESIDENT ?????????
TWWKIA: (embarassed and nervous) no . . .
RJ : I cant believe that ! Don't you think you are expected to know that ?
TWWKIA : (trying to save her face and still nervous) well, i know Prathiba Patil is our president, but . . .
RJ : Anyway, wonder how you even got a job . . . maybe you just got it through some luck ???
(now the RJ feels she has done enough damage to the lady's reputation, so she decides to move on). Ok, next question . . . seeing a rainbow makes our wishes come true, true or fales ?
TWWKIA : (struggling to recover from the shock) TRUE !
RJ : (sounding funny) No, they don't come true. Its just a superstition.
(LOL)
RJ : Do you think superman exists ?
TWWKIA : (now, she is back to her senses and she just wants to give it back !) NO WAY !
RJ : (pretending to be serious) How do you know ?
TWWKIA : (almost protesting ) Because I know he doesnt EXIST !!!
RJ : (still pretending to be serious) Are you sure ...?
TWWKIA : ( a little angry) OFCOURSE ! superman doesnt exist . . . he is seen only in MOVIES !
RJ : superman doesnt come from movies, he is a first a comic character (LOL)
(By this time TWWKIA is already exhausted, she just wants to slam the phone down and go back to sleep )
RJ : Ok, next question . . . what does a sandwich contain ?
TWWKIA : (noooooo not agggggain !!!)
(this time, a little careful she gets)
TWWKIA : it contains vegitables like onions, tomatos, sauce, cheese blah blah blah . . .

(What ! was she really that stupid or was it just a wicked attempt to malign the name of s/w engineers ? I had to switch off the radio this time, cuz the lady had proved it beyond doubt that she was out of her senses)

But on a serious note, how many of us know the name of our vice-president ?
Oh before your fingers start pointing back at me, I assure you that I knew his name even before yesterday. But I must confess that around 3 months back,a quiz, this time on TV, had made me look up the internet for his name :-)