Scientists at the Rocket launching station in Thumba, were in the habitof working for nearly 12 to18 hours a day. There were about Seventy such scientists working on aproject. All the scientists were really frustrated due to the pressureof work and the demands of their boss but everyone was loyal to him anddid not think of quitting the job.One day, one scientist came to his boss and told him - Sir, I have
promised to my children that I will take them to the exhibition going onin our township. So I want to leave the office at 5 30 pm.His boss replied - O K, , You are permitted to leave the office earlytoday.The Scientist started working. He continued his work after lunch. Asusual he got involved to such an extent that he looked at his watch whenhe felt he was close to completion.The time was 8.30 p.mSuddenly he remembered of the promise he had given to his children. Helooked for his boss,,He was not there. Having told him in the morningitself, he closed everything and left for home.Deep within himself, he was feeling guilty for having disappointed hischildren.He reached home. Children were not there.His wife alone was sitting inthe hall and reading magazines. The situation was explosive, any talkwould boomerang on him.His wife asked him - Would you like to have coffee or shall I straightaway serve dinner if you are hungry.The man replied - If you would like to have coffee, i too will have butwhat about Children???Wife replied- You don't know - Your manager came at 5 15 p.m and hastaken the children to the exhibition.What had really happened wasThe boss who granted him permission was observing him working seriouslyat 5.00 p.m. He thought to himself, this person will not leave the work,but if he has promised his children they should enjoy the visit toexhibition. So he took the lead in taking them to exhibitionThe boss does not have to do it everytime. But once it is done, loyaltyis established.That is why all the scientists at Thumba continued to work under theirboss eventhough the stress was tremendous.
By the way , can you hazard a guess as to who the boss was????????
He was the president of India Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam.
See! what a gem of a man we have up there.......even if all of us do not unanimously agree with the idea of him going for a second term(though i cannot for the life of me understand why..)..we must make an effort to have someone who atleast lives upto the standards he has set,if not raise them..
~~heh heh ....!this had nothing to do with tony n angela.....
But lemme tell u.....zee cafe is having another re-run of the show these days,,at 6:30 p.m.~~
signing off..
KANCHAN
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The Countdown has begun....
We have roughly a month to go...
People of India, NOW is the time!!
Speak Up ..for YOURSELF..
Do u want us to make this dramatic, emotionally appealing, with a lot of "!!!!!!!!"..."???????"..
n wat nots???
No, lets keep it straight and simple:
It's very easy to make urself heard- well, easier than u mite have thot or imagined.
alrite, for starters:
to learn abt the hows n whys of the AWARENESS CAMPAIGN read the first few posts...
to learn a bit abt president Kalam- the Person... read the last two(before this one of course)
n for a li'l bit of light reading, read "Misadventures Of two Ignited Indian Minds chronicled"...
just for an idea abt HOW this came abt....
Shruti
People of India, NOW is the time!!
Speak Up ..for YOURSELF..
Do u want us to make this dramatic, emotionally appealing, with a lot of "!!!!!!!!"..."???????"..
n wat nots???
No, lets keep it straight and simple:
It's very easy to make urself heard- well, easier than u mite have thot or imagined.
alrite, for starters:
to learn abt the hows n whys of the AWARENESS CAMPAIGN read the first few posts...
to learn a bit abt president Kalam- the Person... read the last two(before this one of course)
n for a li'l bit of light reading, read "Misadventures Of two Ignited Indian Minds chronicled"...
just for an idea abt HOW this came abt....
Shruti
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
must read(and must reflect over it and then ACT...!) conversation......
An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem
science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to
stand and.....
Prof : So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal
him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God
didn't.
How is this God good then? Hmm?
Student is silent.
Prof: You can't answer, can you?
Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?
Student: No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student: From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything.
Correct?
Student: Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?
Student does not answer.
Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these
terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student: Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?
Student has no answer.
Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe
the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God?
Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student: Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science
says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Now the student said can I ask something to you Professor.
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat,
mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have
anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no
heat, but
we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold.
Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot
measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir,
just
the absence of it.
(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as
darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something.
You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light...
But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called
darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be
able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue
there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You
are
viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can
measure.
Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and
magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
To
view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that
death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of
life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your
students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of
course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where
the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at
work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor,
are
you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a
preacher?
(The class is in uproar.)
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's
brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain,
felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So,
according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable
protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due
respect,
sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face
unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student: That is it sir... The link betweithen man & god is FAITH. That is
all that keeps things moving & alive. .
WANT TO KNOW WHO THAT STUDENT WAS?
This is a true story, and the student was none other than
~~DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam~~
Faith is all that keeps things moving and alive..hmm..m sure this conversation had that~ "oh!wow!"...nod-nod...yes-yes...how true n how right..."effect on all of us..(psssssssssssstttt!!lemme tell u one thing though,,the first thought which entered this nincompoop's head was...i'll try out smthing of the sort with....~~ahem ahem~~....will serve him right..n shut his mouth all right...)..
so let us not stop at nodding and hmmm-ing n wowing......let us too have faith in the injured but not yet dead,,spirit of democracy..in ourselves n in the fact that..WE DESERVE BETTER..and put in our efforts collectively..
~~time-out~~
have to go and tax myself with tax.........
~~Kanchan~~
science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to
stand and.....
Prof : So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal
him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God
didn't.
How is this God good then? Hmm?
Student is silent.
Prof: You can't answer, can you?
Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?
Student: No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student: From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything.
Correct?
Student: Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?
Student does not answer.
Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these
terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student: Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?
Student has no answer.
Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe
the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student: No, sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God?
Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student: Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science
says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Now the student said can I ask something to you Professor.
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat,
mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have
anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no
heat, but
we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold.
Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot
measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir,
just
the absence of it.
(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as
darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something.
You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light...
But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called
darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be
able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue
there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You
are
viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can
measure.
Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and
magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
To
view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that
death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of
life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your
students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of
course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where
the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at
work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor,
are
you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a
preacher?
(The class is in uproar.)
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's
brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain,
felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So,
according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable
protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due
respect,
sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face
unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student: That is it sir... The link betweithen man & god is FAITH. That is
all that keeps things moving & alive. .
WANT TO KNOW WHO THAT STUDENT WAS?
This is a true story, and the student was none other than
~~DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam~~
Faith is all that keeps things moving and alive..hmm..m sure this conversation had that~ "oh!wow!"...nod-nod...yes-yes...how true n how right..."effect on all of us..(psssssssssssstttt!!lemme tell u one thing though,,the first thought which entered this nincompoop's head was...i'll try out smthing of the sort with....~~ahem ahem~~....will serve him right..n shut his mouth all right...)..
so let us not stop at nodding and hmmm-ing n wowing......let us too have faith in the injured but not yet dead,,spirit of democracy..in ourselves n in the fact that..WE DESERVE BETTER..and put in our efforts collectively..
~~time-out~~
have to go and tax myself with tax.........
~~Kanchan~~
Monday, May 21, 2007
ONE Strong/deserving Candidate: APJ Kalam Profiled
This title, which may seem a statement of the most obvious, is meant to rub in one fact:
this campaign is not just about My Guy v/s urs- kalam or no kalam/ WHY KALAM??
butt, abt THE FUTURE PRESIDENT OF INDIA..at no point should any sort of fanaticism creep in-that is our uppermost concern.
So, let me introduce to u Dr. APJ Kalam....
(dear Smoker no.1 *refer the post below for more on that*..u mite want to read this, n urgently so! )
Dr. Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India with the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions. He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards - Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997). He is a recipient of several other awards and Fellow of many professional institutions.Dr. Kalam became the 11th President of India on 25th July 2002. His focus is on transforming India into a developed nation by 2020.
SOME OF HIS QUOTES:
"Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life.""Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life."
"Thinking is progress. Non-thinking is stagnation of the individual, organisation and the country. Thinking leads to action. Knowledge without action is useless and irrelevant. Knowledge with action, converts adversity into prosperity."
"When you speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your trust…. Withhold your hands from striking, and from taking that which is unlawful and bad…
"I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can be a role model for anybody; but some poor child living in an obscure place in an underprivileged social setting may find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of their illusory backwardness and hopelessness?.."
Here is a link:
http://presidentofindia.nic.in/scripts/childrenques.jsp
Dr. Kalam interacts with students here.... do check it out, at least u will rest in peace thinking that the "rubber stamp" is at least leaving a good mark on young impressionable minds n not just rotting in one of the luxurious 300 something rooms, in the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Will ask Kanchan to post a very interesting incident in his life later, that will just increase your respect for this man manifold.I dont have a draft of that story with me right now ...
pssst: ignited minds no.1 and 2 sre busy preparing to prepare for their exams(not a typo there...) n so are kinda lying low..... of a very prcaticable plan.
reminder: READ THE INITIAL POSTS FOR THE HOWs and WHYs of this campaign..
and READ THE 2 CHAPTERS OF "MISADVENTURES OF 2 ..." for light reading n
understanding the cause better....
But do read- it hurts to write blogs that will never be read... n leave comments n ideas so that we know where this is headed. This has a practical purpose to it u know...blogging is just a part o
Ignited-but-looking-for-more-sparks-indian-mind............ Shruti
this campaign is not just about My Guy v/s urs- kalam or no kalam/ WHY KALAM??
butt, abt THE FUTURE PRESIDENT OF INDIA..at no point should any sort of fanaticism creep in-that is our uppermost concern.
So, let me introduce to u Dr. APJ Kalam....
(dear Smoker no.1 *refer the post below for more on that*..u mite want to read this, n urgently so! )
Dr. Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India with the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions. He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards - Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997). He is a recipient of several other awards and Fellow of many professional institutions.Dr. Kalam became the 11th President of India on 25th July 2002. His focus is on transforming India into a developed nation by 2020.
SOME OF HIS QUOTES:
"Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life.""Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life."
"Thinking is progress. Non-thinking is stagnation of the individual, organisation and the country. Thinking leads to action. Knowledge without action is useless and irrelevant. Knowledge with action, converts adversity into prosperity."
"When you speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your trust…. Withhold your hands from striking, and from taking that which is unlawful and bad…
"I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can be a role model for anybody; but some poor child living in an obscure place in an underprivileged social setting may find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of their illusory backwardness and hopelessness?.."
Here is a link:
http://presidentofindia.nic.in/scripts/childrenques.jsp
Dr. Kalam interacts with students here.... do check it out, at least u will rest in peace thinking that the "rubber stamp" is at least leaving a good mark on young impressionable minds n not just rotting in one of the luxurious 300 something rooms, in the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Will ask Kanchan to post a very interesting incident in his life later, that will just increase your respect for this man manifold.I dont have a draft of that story with me right now ...
pssst: ignited minds no.1 and 2 sre busy preparing to prepare for their exams(not a typo there...) n so are kinda lying low..... of a very prcaticable plan.
reminder: READ THE INITIAL POSTS FOR THE HOWs and WHYs of this campaign..
and READ THE 2 CHAPTERS OF "MISADVENTURES OF 2 ..." for light reading n
understanding the cause better....
But do read- it hurts to write blogs that will never be read... n leave comments n ideas so that we know where this is headed. This has a practical purpose to it u know...blogging is just a part o
Ignited-but-looking-for-more-sparks-indian-mind............ Shruti
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Misadventures of 2 Ignited Indian Minds Chronicled- chapter two
I wish to begin today by sincerely apologizing to IFFCo(….good lad, that).
IFFCo(or whatever-ur-real-name-is), nothing personal against you- but you stood for, and explained the very common ailments that the junta in India suffers from – (Apprehensive/idle)INDIIFFERENCE .And I think you helped in articulating the problem a great deal more effectively, than I ever cud have..*bows humbly* (‘ha! Winky, Robby is using asterisks and is enjoys it, Ma’am. Robby is now not liking ur “~”s, ma’am…’)
Here’s another favourite ‘eye-opener’ which shall forever remain etched in my Memory
(yeah, LOTS of free disk space on that, for such non-academic data..)
Apologies in advance, to the protagonists of this story (apart from the two boring rag-pickers :urs truly, n hers true-lier KanNOTchan )….
Our next target was Delhi University of course (charity begins at home, remember….)
I had dutifully put up crude hand made posters everywhere in my own college…KanNOTchan’s college was the next obvious haunt-
And a majorly disappointing one at that…. ‘HAUNT’ indeed…here’s why:
It started on the wrong foot, with their otherwise kind looking Principal refusing to allow posters to be put up in his college regarding this(“ We can’t let such ‘political’ stuff go up there, Kanchan ‘, he said with that phony much-as-my-heart-is-with-the-cause look)
*bit rich I’d say, coming from a college where classes are frequently disrupted during DUSU and DUTA elections… verrry APOLITICAL, indeed, Sir (rolls eyes) *
‘Fine!’, We thought, as we returned the fake smile ..n came out at the gates. ‘ We could just talk to students here couldn’t we..’ after much deliberation we zeroed down upon one group of ‘potential campaigners’ .
To cut a long story short (Uff..that hurts ONLY shruti!), we approached them with our learnt-by-heart-by-now speech.. It begins with, “ Hello, are you aware that President Kalam’s term is, going to end this july? ….”
Now, this was a strange group that we chose…3 male students initially-
They looked at us not disparagingly, but slightly amused n in a neither annoyed-nor-interested way. The absence of smirks was encouraging…
They replied “no” to our first question n then as we prepared to ramble on with the speech, abt the hows n whys of the campaign, one of them –hold your breath, asks us ..
“So, lets look at what this Kalam is really about ..I mean what is this guy like really…?”
KanNOTchan n I did a double take !!*excuz me?? ‘THIS’ Kalam?? did they even know “this guy’s” name before we told them?*
Pssst: Robby is wanting to use “~”, but he is controlling himself, Ma’am. Robby’s honour is being at stake- you is staking it, Ma’am.
However, we managed to recover from that shock n give it a pass(okay, so poor children with poor-er GK/GA, as long as their hearts are in the right place – even if the brains are not, coz nor are mine! *tho KanNOTchan fares well in that department*)
Before I could open my mouth in reply, the questioner took out a cigarette n lit it..(errrm u r talking to “good”, prudish kids here, dear blog reader)
So of course we told them a fair bit abt “this” kalam, n how he is not all very ‘THIS’…but much more than THIS…
Nodding casually, they made some other harmless enquiries (one of them mentioned President Rajendra/Rajesh Sharma!..bless Dr. Rajendra Prasad who must be turning in his grave!! To top it, the couldn’t-care-less tone that was employed, Honestly!, if HE had been alive, the poor bloke would have died again…)..BUT, we fielded their queries …even as the other two cigarettes came out – must to our discomfort- shoveling puffs of smoke down our windpipes…at one point, Smoker No.1 gave up… “ u know, al tel ya who can understand all this(poor humble soul acknowledged his ineptness at it )” n smoker no. 2 called out to a girl(protagonist no. 4).. “she is our intellectual”, the smoker said..
Our eyes turned towards the INTELLECTUAL , in eager anticipation…
So, this intellectual was a mass comm./ Journalism student. Bam! Could I be more thrilled (I have a special place in my heart for this breed)..I was SUURE we’d found the right person, until….
She heard us out; I must give it to her tho- no silly statements/doubts in the same league as that of her lesser friends, but the same old n yes, silly questions.. which btw, have been answered in the previous posts on this blog..do read them(assuming people other than the three solitary bloggers themselves, are reading this blog)
Somehow, don’t recollect exactly what the problem was…she kept asking things like.. ”but why kalam…what can the president do??…what have presidents in the past done…”
Fair enuff, these questions , but somehow she was deeply dissatisfied n not too keen on signing on the campaign sheet as well..Ohhh.. May I add, during this conversation, KanNOTchan and I were braving volumes of smoke on the one hand, and -a shocking revelation for not-very-highbrowed girls that we are – a fellow female college student could have her mouth spewing the choicest of expletives for no apparent reason/provocation at all!!
I mean where on earth was this going : “I’m not signing on that u know, but if u have a petition against %$^&** (dun remember which swear word was used, but one definitely was) Arjun Singh, I WILL sign it…in my name..in BOLD.That $%#$%^, #$%^@# deserves it….” ..*dun think my keyboard has enuff “$%#”s to depict all the words used*
“Mummy, stop her!!” , we were both screaming inwardly. I had a strong feeling that either the air pollution or the ear pollution courtesy the Ladas n the Lady , wud leave some mark of permanent damage on us ….
So pretending to breathe and listen, we hastened towards the conclusion….
Smoker no.1 sumhow now felt that it was worth a try n volunteered to sign it(while the Intellectual gave kanchan insights on how many useful media contacts she had)
He asked me suspiciously.. “Hey ..how cum u two haven’t signed it urselves?”
*I mean D’oh!*
well, we signed it then…assuring him that this wasn’t an evil plot to usurp his ancestral property .
“Kewl, so m gonna be the first one to sign on ur campaign sheet?”, he asked innocently (no pun intended)
“Yes”, I told him …but did not try to hide the lack of enthusiasm on the same fact…
*wasn’t he the one talking abt THIS KALAM GUY!!*
On that note, We bid farewell, each party looking at the other as tho the latter ought to be put up in a museum if anything…
A few things ….
The Principal, Most of our teachers at that sacred institute – the custodians of THE FUTURE OF INDIA(who are WE)—we call them the LET –DOWNERS..
Let alone encouragement, or showing us a ray of hope, all we got was ridicule, snide remarks(oh! They had fun at our expense…at least we provided them some entertainment), they exuded this negative energy…as tho we were doing something wrong even by broaching this subject (Oohhh I wud have luuuu…vvvvd or louuuued -take ur pick, kanNOTchan ;) – to see these teachers rattle off pointers in favour or against in a GD class: IS THE POST OF THE PRESIDENT OF I NDIA REDUNDANT OR SIGNIFICANT?)
Tho this was more true initially, wen they really thot it was a part of our immature idealism…
W e were branded as the KALAMISTS….poor kanchan ran into the GROUP a few times in her coll n had to bear not-so-much haha jibes, “ oohhh here comes the kalamist, make way…”, all by herself .
But a word abt these students before I end this:
I reported it exactly as it happened n yes, perhaps was a li’l harsh on them (can’t help it…sardonic humor is a compulsive disorder with me)..
Gotto concede : at least they listened, even tho not MUCH came out of it in terms of awareness or help(tho the girl was gracious enuff to give us an imp. Phone no…even tho I wish she had understood that we were not doing anything against Mr . Arjun singh!)
But somehow the message again got lost as the group struggled to maintain their “kewl” quotient (I mean wat else does prompt a group of teens to behave in public before strangers , as tho their insides are on fire??? Read: smoking ; or to use more swear words than a swear-word-thesaurus can contain…? ), while we desperately tried to explain WHY we were doing what we were doing….
The Lady was the most interesting tho. I often think abt her: she personified the typical ‘misplaced-sense-of-intellectualism’ Intellectual -- she was a good speaker, more articulate n less haha heee hee than her other friends, but something was missing, which negated all that- n made me wonder.
I donot think she spared time for some ‘real’ n not ‘pseudo’ thinking—I mean at least a to-be journalist wud be expected to, won’t they?
*pls note, im not pontificating on matters that I have no business to pass high handed judgements/opinions on; these are just random thoughts that are coming to my mind….
N of course, I do have nothing better to do these days post exams, in case ur wondering..*
Robby is writing so much n is not using winky ma’am’s “~” Ma’am,
But Robby is missings using it Ma’am..
He is finding “*” OKAY, but “~” was okay-er Ma’am….
Is u thinking of letting me use it now Ma’am…?
*flaps his bat like ears in anticipation*
strangers, plss skip that junk n pardon us for that…
signing off…… Ignited-coz-highly-inflammable-indian-mind…..Shruti
IFFCo(or whatever-ur-real-name-is), nothing personal against you- but you stood for, and explained the very common ailments that the junta in India suffers from – (Apprehensive/idle)INDIIFFERENCE .And I think you helped in articulating the problem a great deal more effectively, than I ever cud have..*bows humbly* (‘ha! Winky, Robby is using asterisks and is enjoys it, Ma’am. Robby is now not liking ur “~”s, ma’am…’)
Here’s another favourite ‘eye-opener’ which shall forever remain etched in my Memory
(yeah, LOTS of free disk space on that, for such non-academic data..)
Apologies in advance, to the protagonists of this story (apart from the two boring rag-pickers :urs truly, n hers true-lier KanNOTchan )….
Our next target was Delhi University of course (charity begins at home, remember….)
I had dutifully put up crude hand made posters everywhere in my own college…KanNOTchan’s college was the next obvious haunt-
And a majorly disappointing one at that…. ‘HAUNT’ indeed…here’s why:
It started on the wrong foot, with their otherwise kind looking Principal refusing to allow posters to be put up in his college regarding this(“ We can’t let such ‘political’ stuff go up there, Kanchan ‘, he said with that phony much-as-my-heart-is-with-the-cause look)
*bit rich I’d say, coming from a college where classes are frequently disrupted during DUSU and DUTA elections… verrry APOLITICAL, indeed, Sir (rolls eyes) *
‘Fine!’, We thought, as we returned the fake smile ..n came out at the gates. ‘ We could just talk to students here couldn’t we..’ after much deliberation we zeroed down upon one group of ‘potential campaigners’ .
To cut a long story short (Uff..that hurts ONLY shruti!), we approached them with our learnt-by-heart-by-now speech.. It begins with, “ Hello, are you aware that President Kalam’s term is, going to end this july? ….”
Now, this was a strange group that we chose…3 male students initially-
They looked at us not disparagingly, but slightly amused n in a neither annoyed-nor-interested way. The absence of smirks was encouraging…
They replied “no” to our first question n then as we prepared to ramble on with the speech, abt the hows n whys of the campaign, one of them –hold your breath, asks us ..
“So, lets look at what this Kalam is really about ..I mean what is this guy like really…?”
KanNOTchan n I did a double take !!*excuz me?? ‘THIS’ Kalam?? did they even know “this guy’s” name before we told them?*
Pssst: Robby is wanting to use “~”, but he is controlling himself, Ma’am. Robby’s honour is being at stake- you is staking it, Ma’am.
However, we managed to recover from that shock n give it a pass(okay, so poor children with poor-er GK/GA, as long as their hearts are in the right place – even if the brains are not, coz nor are mine! *tho KanNOTchan fares well in that department*)
Before I could open my mouth in reply, the questioner took out a cigarette n lit it..(errrm u r talking to “good”, prudish kids here, dear blog reader)
So of course we told them a fair bit abt “this” kalam, n how he is not all very ‘THIS’…but much more than THIS…
Nodding casually, they made some other harmless enquiries (one of them mentioned President Rajendra/Rajesh Sharma!..bless Dr. Rajendra Prasad who must be turning in his grave!! To top it, the couldn’t-care-less tone that was employed, Honestly!, if HE had been alive, the poor bloke would have died again…)..BUT, we fielded their queries …even as the other two cigarettes came out – must to our discomfort- shoveling puffs of smoke down our windpipes…at one point, Smoker No.1 gave up… “ u know, al tel ya who can understand all this(poor humble soul acknowledged his ineptness at it )” n smoker no. 2 called out to a girl(protagonist no. 4).. “she is our intellectual”, the smoker said..
Our eyes turned towards the INTELLECTUAL , in eager anticipation…
So, this intellectual was a mass comm./ Journalism student. Bam! Could I be more thrilled (I have a special place in my heart for this breed)..I was SUURE we’d found the right person, until….
She heard us out; I must give it to her tho- no silly statements/doubts in the same league as that of her lesser friends, but the same old n yes, silly questions.. which btw, have been answered in the previous posts on this blog..do read them(assuming people other than the three solitary bloggers themselves, are reading this blog)
Somehow, don’t recollect exactly what the problem was…she kept asking things like.. ”but why kalam…what can the president do??…what have presidents in the past done…”
Fair enuff, these questions , but somehow she was deeply dissatisfied n not too keen on signing on the campaign sheet as well..Ohhh.. May I add, during this conversation, KanNOTchan and I were braving volumes of smoke on the one hand, and -a shocking revelation for not-very-highbrowed girls that we are – a fellow female college student could have her mouth spewing the choicest of expletives for no apparent reason/provocation at all!!
I mean where on earth was this going : “I’m not signing on that u know, but if u have a petition against %$^&** (dun remember which swear word was used, but one definitely was) Arjun Singh, I WILL sign it…in my name..in BOLD.That $%#$%^, #$%^@# deserves it….” ..*dun think my keyboard has enuff “$%#”s to depict all the words used*
“Mummy, stop her!!” , we were both screaming inwardly. I had a strong feeling that either the air pollution or the ear pollution courtesy the Ladas n the Lady , wud leave some mark of permanent damage on us ….
So pretending to breathe and listen, we hastened towards the conclusion….
Smoker no.1 sumhow now felt that it was worth a try n volunteered to sign it(while the Intellectual gave kanchan insights on how many useful media contacts she had)
He asked me suspiciously.. “Hey ..how cum u two haven’t signed it urselves?”
*I mean D’oh!*
well, we signed it then…assuring him that this wasn’t an evil plot to usurp his ancestral property .
“Kewl, so m gonna be the first one to sign on ur campaign sheet?”, he asked innocently (no pun intended)
“Yes”, I told him …but did not try to hide the lack of enthusiasm on the same fact…
*wasn’t he the one talking abt THIS KALAM GUY!!*
On that note, We bid farewell, each party looking at the other as tho the latter ought to be put up in a museum if anything…
A few things ….
The Principal, Most of our teachers at that sacred institute – the custodians of THE FUTURE OF INDIA(who are WE)—we call them the LET –DOWNERS..
Let alone encouragement, or showing us a ray of hope, all we got was ridicule, snide remarks(oh! They had fun at our expense…at least we provided them some entertainment), they exuded this negative energy…as tho we were doing something wrong even by broaching this subject (Oohhh I wud have luuuu…vvvvd or louuuued -take ur pick, kanNOTchan ;) – to see these teachers rattle off pointers in favour or against in a GD class: IS THE POST OF THE PRESIDENT OF I NDIA REDUNDANT OR SIGNIFICANT?)
Tho this was more true initially, wen they really thot it was a part of our immature idealism…
W e were branded as the KALAMISTS….poor kanchan ran into the GROUP a few times in her coll n had to bear not-so-much haha jibes, “ oohhh here comes the kalamist, make way…”, all by herself .
But a word abt these students before I end this:
I reported it exactly as it happened n yes, perhaps was a li’l harsh on them (can’t help it…sardonic humor is a compulsive disorder with me)..
Gotto concede : at least they listened, even tho not MUCH came out of it in terms of awareness or help(tho the girl was gracious enuff to give us an imp. Phone no…even tho I wish she had understood that we were not doing anything against Mr . Arjun singh!)
But somehow the message again got lost as the group struggled to maintain their “kewl” quotient (I mean wat else does prompt a group of teens to behave in public before strangers , as tho their insides are on fire??? Read: smoking ; or to use more swear words than a swear-word-thesaurus can contain…? ), while we desperately tried to explain WHY we were doing what we were doing….
The Lady was the most interesting tho. I often think abt her: she personified the typical ‘misplaced-sense-of-intellectualism’ Intellectual -- she was a good speaker, more articulate n less haha heee hee than her other friends, but something was missing, which negated all that- n made me wonder.
I donot think she spared time for some ‘real’ n not ‘pseudo’ thinking—I mean at least a to-be journalist wud be expected to, won’t they?
*pls note, im not pontificating on matters that I have no business to pass high handed judgements/opinions on; these are just random thoughts that are coming to my mind….
N of course, I do have nothing better to do these days post exams, in case ur wondering..*
Robby is writing so much n is not using winky ma’am’s “~” Ma’am,
But Robby is missings using it Ma’am..
He is finding “*” OKAY, but “~” was okay-er Ma’am….
Is u thinking of letting me use it now Ma’am…?
*flaps his bat like ears in anticipation*
strangers, plss skip that junk n pardon us for that…
signing off…… Ignited-coz-highly-inflammable-indian-mind…..Shruti
Friday, May 18, 2007
Misadventures of 2 Ignited Indian Minds Chronicled
I thought it would be interesting to give a little background; to let people know, how exactly these college kids, grew from being ‘just-these-CAT-Aspirants’ ( waitaminnit, Wasn’t I supposed to be a shameful blot on the name of that Clan??) to these *ahem*
“Ignited Indian Minds”(the second we’d coined that term n written it on the whiteboard at the coaching institute, it struck us that it was an acronym for IIMs~the Mecca Medina of the above mentioned clan~ dimwits as we are, we were thrilled and took it to be a good omen!)
Actually, it has been an experience in itself, n I want to record it in print as best as I
Can, though it’s more for our personal benefit.(nehow no third person seems to be reading this blog...)
Of course, this will not really be in a comfortable chronological order. Drifting away from the main story to the sub-stories at every point is my major handicap..so I will be writing this more as ‘chronicling’ our ADVENTURES..n perhaps as conversations with Co-Campaigner, Kanchan.
So, it began on Orkut. Surprised? Well, it would have begun anyways, but I first received a forwarded scrap from Kanchan, about Prez Kalam’s term ending in july and this online petition for his re-induction….(here’s the link- u can sign in ur vote… www.petitiononline.com/apj/)
I was concerned(Oh, his term is ending!). Personally, in this age of dhoti-dhari , pan-chewing, expletives-spewing custodians of the Indian Polity, to me, Kalam has been an embodiment of the Founding Fathers’ India, n a close approximation of the President of India , as conceived and defined by the Constitution.; That his term would end, was an inconceivable idea that had never even crossed my mind.
So, I was surprised…
Well, mildly…
I immediately clicked on the link to sign in my vote, didn’t I?
Meet Me- the self-appointed ‘crusader’ for the sanctity of the Chair Of the President Of India, for the spirit of democracy, for the VOICE of the people, who loses her patience n is heartbroken, every time somebody chuckles (or worst, smirks) after being apprised of THE AWARENESS CAMAPIGN …………………………………………………… Meet ME-The IGNITED INDIAN MIND
What did I do after reading that scrap??
I went on to read and reply to the next scrap…
That’s right :I DID NOT click on the link at all!
I cud always sign in my vote, couldn’t I? This could wait…
And, an hour later, I conveniently logged out- in beatific oblivion of the fact that there
Is a link…waiting for my click…a click that could make my future or ruin it…
(No exaggeration people, as u will learn later…)
This explains why I am a bit more patient than my Friend (note the capital F , ONLY-ier one ;) ), with people who are not exactly Gung-ho about the campaign from the word GO.
I think I can understand how this works: where this apparent INDIFFERENCE comes from...
For, some of us are CONCERNED about the mess around us, and would like to pick up the cudgels and set things right if given a chance, but we do not realize that such a chance would not come with the “I AM THE CHANCE-TAKE ME NOW!! ” tag on it. We need to open our own doors everyday, and explore what lies beyond them. Especially since, there are a million others who are trying their best to ensure that we miss the doors n not spoil their little party( here of course, I refer to the WORTHLESS Indian Netas)
That explains why some people take a little time to get into the spirit of this campaign, but eventually they see what the urgency n the mania is about(dear Devil’s Advocate, YOU for instance *not taking names*)
But, of course, there are others- the ‘I-don’t-know-and-I-don’t-care’ types:
The lesser said about them, the better; as the lesser there are of them, the merrier!
We found one such girl in a bookstore @Khan Market – yes, a place where u wud expect Enlightened, well read, well educated people!
I can’t help this species; giving them space on this blog would amount to sacrilege of THE SPIRIT of the Campaign. But just For the record, if u are one of them:
Next time you screw ur face in disgust n make some casual comments on the state of affairs in the country (‘this country is going to the dogs’… ‘where is democracy in India??’)…rest assured, SOMEONE in this universe will be mocking at ur double standards. You cannot be for long in that either/or cocoon my dear friend,...if u CARE, show it at least when ur asked to, n if u really don’t- well, DON’T. Period.- u lose the right to.
Simple logic it is,really.
Then, there are others…
I call them the IFFCOs (no offence to IFFCO the Company of course, ~last thing I need in my screwed up life, is a defamation lawsuit!~)
there’s a story behind this.
KanNOTchan, u must be grinning, aren’t u? I couldn’t resist talking about IFFCO(we really need to socialize better, shouldn’t we? n get to know people’s real names for a change-instead of these “coined” ones ;))
But, maybe anonymity would be kinder on him..so here goes what IFFCO is all about:
The first day of our campaign, we began by putting up these posters on the notice boards of our MBA Coaching institute (for GD/PIs)…~would have put up the name, but I strongly suspect they’re not particularly fond of the two of us..tho a little scared I’d say, of the two Crazy Campaign ladies, n so always greet us with a pained smile, but I think we’ve already exploited those poor things a lot! A vote of thanks to the entire clan…esp: for one particular Gentleman ~ No Guesshessh abouTT thaTT , Kanshan eh.. Day-o-day..;)~, from these too-big-for-their-boots kids ~
So, we put up this campaign sheet along with the poster about the cause. It required people to sign on the sheet, merely as a show of solidarity with the cause. We checked the next day, n lo n behold!-
not a single signature(or may be one? I donot recall)…
Heartbroken, we stood near the board, asking passerbys .. “have u read this poster? Do read it n sign up if u agree with the cause”…such honey sweet entreaties that donot suit the ruthless devils that we are, but we struggled to keep it polite n cordial…
So..among other interesting things, this one fellow aspirant as his luck (or ill-luck) would have it, passed by. We caught him too of course…n at the end of our speech, poor thing mumbled something (told u, we can be a li’l… errrm intimidating,at times) about having read it already…n nodded weakly n uncertainly when asked if he agreed with our cause.
We smiled at him, in anticipation (at least one signature!)…He was holding a pen in his hand, n our eyes traveled from his hand to the campaign sheet very pointedly…
Kanchan affected a sweet requesting tone .. “ So, there is no obligation though…sign it only if you FEEL for the cause”…
Poor IFFCo stood there toying with the pen in his hand. At once, it became crystal clear to me: he was waiting for us to leave the arena, coz he did not have the guts to say NO to the (notorious) pair of us and face the consequences~ this might come as a shock ONLYier one, but it doesn’t take a genius to tell that, behind that sickly sweet smile of ours, there is a Devil’s Smirk~
So, you had Kanchan glowering DOWN at him…with growing impatience, and you had Him (sheeeesh..why the capital H!)– weak in the knees, yet undeterred…still toying with the pen. Ultimately, I burst out, slightly hurt: ‘Forget it, he will not sign it.”
Shockingly, IFFCo took that as a sanction for letting him leave, and walked right into the classroom, without daring to look any of us in the eye...
You might wonder as to why I am making such a big deal about one person not signing on the campaign sheet? I’m sure I sound like a fanatic...but there is a reason why this particular incident will always remain my favourite EYE-OPENER.
Those days, we would have our Group Discussion classes (don’t want to dwell too much on the silly MBA bit)…wherein you had these IFFCOs n others sitting in groups with us, voicing their opinions on all kinds of topics- from Indo-US relations to India v/s China to yess Democracy, etc etc
Inside the GD class we all went:
“I strongly feel that….”
“I would like to correct you my friend..”
“I am of the opinion….”
Outside,
We were ‘real’ people, with better things to do than worry sick about who becomes the next President Of India and why
The future Managers – the CAT crackers, the “intellectuals” among their peers.
If THEY cannot articulate an opinion (even a firm YES or NO, backed by sound reasons), who WILL?? Shouldn’t that be the plain logic?
And it just drove home one very disturbing fact: the education system, at least in India, is churning out more perfectly-tailored-for-the-job Robots, than (mentally and intellectually) well equipped individuals who can work towards making a DIFFERENCE ….equipped with a sound knowledge base and being sensitized to the issues that concern the society at large.
It drove home the fake-ness of the much hyped ‘MBA’ phenomenon…
Do you know why IFFCo behaved the way he did?
One, he simply couldn’t care too much about the President Of India- maybe he did not know what powers exactly rest with the president, so as to attach so much importance to his post…(in which case, his response is quite understandable n perhaps justified)
Or maybe, he simply did not care enough…
Or maybe, he (like ALL of them, old and young ~grunt~) thought that such “signature” campaigns were just an instance of our immature idealism, n wud of course lead to nothing!
I mean WHEN DID A PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY AS LARGE AS OURS ELECT A PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT THROUGH SUCH CHILDISH MEASURES??
But, I read something else in his behaviour – he would have liked President Kalam to be back perhaps, but was fearful of taking a STAND on it, in public. He would not SIGN!
He would not give an opinion in HIS name(which is why we chose to write all this in our own names, even though we plan to keep it a nameless, faceless campaign in that sense)
That’s right, he was afraid this would go on record, and god knows who will question him on what, because of this….
This, by the way,is a 20- something guy, all set to be a future Manager
What was the big deal ,I wonder…
I mean after all, it was just a sheet of paper asking for a show of solidarity with the cause…not the INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL for chrissake!!
This was just one incident from our mis-adventures, mostly sapped of the comedy in the tragedy .. trust me, I skipped a LOT of interesting but irrelevant stuff….
I wonder if anyone apart from me, Kanchan and of course Bhanu(‘IT’ enjoyed this tale I hope, didn’t IT? ;) ) can see the whole point of this exercise….did it strike a chord somewhere?
Could u slot yourself among one of these three– the CONCERNED, the Dunno n dun CAREs and the IFFCOs??
Do u think it may be possible for you to change slots??
I am a living example, as I mentioned above, that it doesn’t take much to bring about a change- be it in your own attitude or in the society, just ENLIGHTENMENT …
From-The Merely-Concerned-to-an-Ignited-Indian-Mind…Shruti.
PS: in case u’re wondering, IFFCo worked with IFFCo – hence the name…
~Gosh..got to stop WINKY-ing so much ;)~
Plagiarism kanchan …eh? * mortally offended*..I repeat: u did NOT invent the symbol “~”…nehow will get back to my less glamorous asterisks instead, lest PEOPLE start accusing me of continued unabashed plagiarism….
“Ignited Indian Minds”(the second we’d coined that term n written it on the whiteboard at the coaching institute, it struck us that it was an acronym for IIMs~the Mecca Medina of the above mentioned clan~ dimwits as we are, we were thrilled and took it to be a good omen!)
Actually, it has been an experience in itself, n I want to record it in print as best as I
Can, though it’s more for our personal benefit.(nehow no third person seems to be reading this blog...)
Of course, this will not really be in a comfortable chronological order. Drifting away from the main story to the sub-stories at every point is my major handicap..so I will be writing this more as ‘chronicling’ our ADVENTURES..n perhaps as conversations with Co-Campaigner, Kanchan.
So, it began on Orkut. Surprised? Well, it would have begun anyways, but I first received a forwarded scrap from Kanchan, about Prez Kalam’s term ending in july and this online petition for his re-induction….(here’s the link- u can sign in ur vote… www.petitiononline.com/apj/)
I was concerned(Oh, his term is ending!). Personally, in this age of dhoti-dhari , pan-chewing, expletives-spewing custodians of the Indian Polity, to me, Kalam has been an embodiment of the Founding Fathers’ India, n a close approximation of the President of India , as conceived and defined by the Constitution.; That his term would end, was an inconceivable idea that had never even crossed my mind.
So, I was surprised…
Well, mildly…
I immediately clicked on the link to sign in my vote, didn’t I?
Meet Me- the self-appointed ‘crusader’ for the sanctity of the Chair Of the President Of India, for the spirit of democracy, for the VOICE of the people, who loses her patience n is heartbroken, every time somebody chuckles (or worst, smirks) after being apprised of THE AWARENESS CAMAPIGN …………………………………………………… Meet ME-The IGNITED INDIAN MIND
What did I do after reading that scrap??
I went on to read and reply to the next scrap…
That’s right :I DID NOT click on the link at all!
I cud always sign in my vote, couldn’t I? This could wait…
And, an hour later, I conveniently logged out- in beatific oblivion of the fact that there
Is a link…waiting for my click…a click that could make my future or ruin it…
(No exaggeration people, as u will learn later…)
This explains why I am a bit more patient than my Friend (note the capital F , ONLY-ier one ;) ), with people who are not exactly Gung-ho about the campaign from the word GO.
I think I can understand how this works: where this apparent INDIFFERENCE comes from...
For, some of us are CONCERNED about the mess around us, and would like to pick up the cudgels and set things right if given a chance, but we do not realize that such a chance would not come with the “I AM THE CHANCE-TAKE ME NOW!! ” tag on it. We need to open our own doors everyday, and explore what lies beyond them. Especially since, there are a million others who are trying their best to ensure that we miss the doors n not spoil their little party( here of course, I refer to the WORTHLESS Indian Netas)
That explains why some people take a little time to get into the spirit of this campaign, but eventually they see what the urgency n the mania is about(dear Devil’s Advocate, YOU for instance *not taking names*)
But, of course, there are others- the ‘I-don’t-know-and-I-don’t-care’ types:
The lesser said about them, the better; as the lesser there are of them, the merrier!
We found one such girl in a bookstore @Khan Market – yes, a place where u wud expect Enlightened, well read, well educated people!
I can’t help this species; giving them space on this blog would amount to sacrilege of THE SPIRIT of the Campaign. But just For the record, if u are one of them:
Next time you screw ur face in disgust n make some casual comments on the state of affairs in the country (‘this country is going to the dogs’… ‘where is democracy in India??’)…rest assured, SOMEONE in this universe will be mocking at ur double standards. You cannot be for long in that either/or cocoon my dear friend,...if u CARE, show it at least when ur asked to, n if u really don’t- well, DON’T. Period.- u lose the right to.
Simple logic it is,really.
Then, there are others…
I call them the IFFCOs (no offence to IFFCO the Company of course, ~last thing I need in my screwed up life, is a defamation lawsuit!~)
there’s a story behind this.
KanNOTchan, u must be grinning, aren’t u? I couldn’t resist talking about IFFCO(we really need to socialize better, shouldn’t we? n get to know people’s real names for a change-instead of these “coined” ones ;))
But, maybe anonymity would be kinder on him..so here goes what IFFCO is all about:
The first day of our campaign, we began by putting up these posters on the notice boards of our MBA Coaching institute (for GD/PIs)…~would have put up the name, but I strongly suspect they’re not particularly fond of the two of us..tho a little scared I’d say, of the two Crazy Campaign ladies, n so always greet us with a pained smile, but I think we’ve already exploited those poor things a lot! A vote of thanks to the entire clan…esp: for one particular Gentleman ~ No Guesshessh abouTT thaTT , Kanshan eh.. Day-o-day..;)~, from these too-big-for-their-boots kids ~
So, we put up this campaign sheet along with the poster about the cause. It required people to sign on the sheet, merely as a show of solidarity with the cause. We checked the next day, n lo n behold!-
not a single signature(or may be one? I donot recall)…
Heartbroken, we stood near the board, asking passerbys .. “have u read this poster? Do read it n sign up if u agree with the cause”…such honey sweet entreaties that donot suit the ruthless devils that we are, but we struggled to keep it polite n cordial…
So..among other interesting things, this one fellow aspirant as his luck (or ill-luck) would have it, passed by. We caught him too of course…n at the end of our speech, poor thing mumbled something (told u, we can be a li’l… errrm intimidating,at times) about having read it already…n nodded weakly n uncertainly when asked if he agreed with our cause.
We smiled at him, in anticipation (at least one signature!)…He was holding a pen in his hand, n our eyes traveled from his hand to the campaign sheet very pointedly…
Kanchan affected a sweet requesting tone .. “ So, there is no obligation though…sign it only if you FEEL for the cause”…
Poor IFFCo stood there toying with the pen in his hand. At once, it became crystal clear to me: he was waiting for us to leave the arena, coz he did not have the guts to say NO to the (notorious) pair of us and face the consequences~ this might come as a shock ONLYier one, but it doesn’t take a genius to tell that, behind that sickly sweet smile of ours, there is a Devil’s Smirk~
So, you had Kanchan glowering DOWN at him…with growing impatience, and you had Him (sheeeesh..why the capital H!)– weak in the knees, yet undeterred…still toying with the pen. Ultimately, I burst out, slightly hurt: ‘Forget it, he will not sign it.”
Shockingly, IFFCo took that as a sanction for letting him leave, and walked right into the classroom, without daring to look any of us in the eye...
You might wonder as to why I am making such a big deal about one person not signing on the campaign sheet? I’m sure I sound like a fanatic...but there is a reason why this particular incident will always remain my favourite EYE-OPENER.
Those days, we would have our Group Discussion classes (don’t want to dwell too much on the silly MBA bit)…wherein you had these IFFCOs n others sitting in groups with us, voicing their opinions on all kinds of topics- from Indo-US relations to India v/s China to yess Democracy, etc etc
Inside the GD class we all went:
“I strongly feel that….”
“I would like to correct you my friend..”
“I am of the opinion….”
Outside,
We were ‘real’ people, with better things to do than worry sick about who becomes the next President Of India and why
The future Managers – the CAT crackers, the “intellectuals” among their peers.
If THEY cannot articulate an opinion (even a firm YES or NO, backed by sound reasons), who WILL?? Shouldn’t that be the plain logic?
And it just drove home one very disturbing fact: the education system, at least in India, is churning out more perfectly-tailored-for-the-job Robots, than (mentally and intellectually) well equipped individuals who can work towards making a DIFFERENCE ….equipped with a sound knowledge base and being sensitized to the issues that concern the society at large.
It drove home the fake-ness of the much hyped ‘MBA’ phenomenon…
Do you know why IFFCo behaved the way he did?
One, he simply couldn’t care too much about the President Of India- maybe he did not know what powers exactly rest with the president, so as to attach so much importance to his post…(in which case, his response is quite understandable n perhaps justified)
Or maybe, he simply did not care enough…
Or maybe, he (like ALL of them, old and young ~grunt~) thought that such “signature” campaigns were just an instance of our immature idealism, n wud of course lead to nothing!
I mean WHEN DID A PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY AS LARGE AS OURS ELECT A PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT THROUGH SUCH CHILDISH MEASURES??
But, I read something else in his behaviour – he would have liked President Kalam to be back perhaps, but was fearful of taking a STAND on it, in public. He would not SIGN!
He would not give an opinion in HIS name(which is why we chose to write all this in our own names, even though we plan to keep it a nameless, faceless campaign in that sense)
That’s right, he was afraid this would go on record, and god knows who will question him on what, because of this….
This, by the way,is a 20- something guy, all set to be a future Manager
What was the big deal ,I wonder…
I mean after all, it was just a sheet of paper asking for a show of solidarity with the cause…not the INDO-US NUCLEAR DEAL for chrissake!!
This was just one incident from our mis-adventures, mostly sapped of the comedy in the tragedy .. trust me, I skipped a LOT of interesting but irrelevant stuff….
I wonder if anyone apart from me, Kanchan and of course Bhanu(‘IT’ enjoyed this tale I hope, didn’t IT? ;) ) can see the whole point of this exercise….did it strike a chord somewhere?
Could u slot yourself among one of these three– the CONCERNED, the Dunno n dun CAREs and the IFFCOs??
Do u think it may be possible for you to change slots??
I am a living example, as I mentioned above, that it doesn’t take much to bring about a change- be it in your own attitude or in the society, just ENLIGHTENMENT …
From-The Merely-Concerned-to-an-Ignited-Indian-Mind…Shruti.
PS: in case u’re wondering, IFFCo worked with IFFCo – hence the name…
~Gosh..got to stop WINKY-ing so much ;)~
Plagiarism kanchan …eh? * mortally offended*..I repeat: u did NOT invent the symbol “~”…nehow will get back to my less glamorous asterisks instead, lest PEOPLE start accusing me of continued unabashed plagiarism….
Thursday, May 17, 2007
ASK YOURSELVES: WHY A PRESIDENT AT ALL?
We are desperately looking for some answers, to certain relevant questions that we ask ourselves and that others ask us quite often...questions like: "you think Kalam is the right man for the job..but there have been instances of his inaction(remember the reservations issue...after much hype - he came out only to issue this less-than-satisfactory~slightly disappointing statement: the government had assured that the no. of seats in the general category will not be affected.FULL STOP.~yes, that burnt a hole in my heart~) and inadequate action (why did he not send back the Office of Profit bill a second time??--he clearly saw some glaring faults n loopholes in it.. )....
Honestly, we donot have the answers to some of these questions...n are desperately trying to get our answers from the man himself.. In fact, if any one you could enlighten us on this or give us some ideas/ leads/contacts (there are some we are working on..), we would be more than grateful~we are completely on our own n are trying to do this without getting involved with certain political parties n forums~
BUT the point is:if not kalam, then Mr/Ms. x,Y,Z.......
why X/Y/Z???? ~becoz the wily politicians picked hhim/her to suit their own convenience n agenda OR becoz WE, the people of India want X/Y/Z...and will pay LOADS of money(yeah...we're trying to get the exact figure!) out of our own pockets to maintain his tenure~
ASK URSELF: WHAT IS A PRESIDENT DOING IN A PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY??
DO U KNOW, WE HAVE THIS NOMINAL HEAD COZ WE BLINDLY COPIED THE BRITISH SYSTEM, WHEREIN THEY HAVE THE CROWN ~A VESTIGE OF THEIR PAST,AGAIN~
THE QUEEN, IN OTHER WORDS WAS MADE THE NOMINAL HEAD SO HER HIGHNESS WUDNT LOOK TOTALLY SMALL , WEN DEMOCRACY WAS USHERED IN THERE....
Why have this drain on our economy....??
well, if u disagree- u think it's not a drain...that he can be more proactive and more than just a rubber stamp....wouldn't u rather have a thinking rubber stamp...
The Indo-US nuclear deal will be signed in HIS NAME!! hadn't he better be good?
lets look for the best man for the job...lets just not shy away from initiating a much needed dialego at this point in time, by simply stating..." oh! but he's no good..."
if not him then who???
think of "who"....whoever it is... we need to get a message across n that will take some effort- concerted efforts in fact...which is why we have this blog, online forums n communities....see??
BJP is pushing for A. B Vajpayee I hear *clears throat*....
will check in again...very soon...
Shruti ~ignited indian mind- all set to explode~
Honestly, we donot have the answers to some of these questions...n are desperately trying to get our answers from the man himself.. In fact, if any one you could enlighten us on this or give us some ideas/ leads/contacts (there are some we are working on..), we would be more than grateful~we are completely on our own n are trying to do this without getting involved with certain political parties n forums~
BUT the point is:if not kalam, then Mr/Ms. x,Y,Z.......
why X/Y/Z???? ~becoz the wily politicians picked hhim/her to suit their own convenience n agenda OR becoz WE, the people of India want X/Y/Z...and will pay LOADS of money(yeah...we're trying to get the exact figure!) out of our own pockets to maintain his tenure~
ASK URSELF: WHAT IS A PRESIDENT DOING IN A PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY??
DO U KNOW, WE HAVE THIS NOMINAL HEAD COZ WE BLINDLY COPIED THE BRITISH SYSTEM, WHEREIN THEY HAVE THE CROWN ~A VESTIGE OF THEIR PAST,AGAIN~
THE QUEEN, IN OTHER WORDS WAS MADE THE NOMINAL HEAD SO HER HIGHNESS WUDNT LOOK TOTALLY SMALL , WEN DEMOCRACY WAS USHERED IN THERE....
Why have this drain on our economy....??
well, if u disagree- u think it's not a drain...that he can be more proactive and more than just a rubber stamp....wouldn't u rather have a thinking rubber stamp...
The Indo-US nuclear deal will be signed in HIS NAME!! hadn't he better be good?
lets look for the best man for the job...lets just not shy away from initiating a much needed dialego at this point in time, by simply stating..." oh! but he's no good..."
if not him then who???
think of "who"....whoever it is... we need to get a message across n that will take some effort- concerted efforts in fact...which is why we have this blog, online forums n communities....see??
BJP is pushing for A. B Vajpayee I hear *clears throat*....
will check in again...very soon...
Shruti ~ignited indian mind- all set to explode~
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
sarvadharmasamabhav.....eh?
Had a flashback….decided to archive it lest it gets lost in the plethora of anecdotes we have to share.Though of course..on the face of it they seem amusing~already in stitches shruti….?.ah!u must’ve guessed what am going to talk about from the title itself~…..”they”….refers to these “anecdotes”..yet…if we think of the orgy of DOUBLE-FACEism we as a nation are suffering from..they are enough to wipe off those thoughtless grins off our faces(or double faces,shall I say?).Oh!The anecdote……hmmmm….here it is..
In one of Baba Ramdev’s camps~~see mamma!!Baba’s on my blog!!God bless u for calling me/forcing me that day to watch that particular telecast of his camp~~ somewhere in Maharashtra…”honourable” Mr.Ex-C.M. Sushil Kumar Shinde had been invited as the guest of honour.Swami Ramdev spoke first..on sarvadharmasamabhava..n of course whatever he spoke…was from his heart and made sense too.But then!He invited Mr.Shinde on the dias…..Oooooh!I must say this..though it is a bit of an understatement,,still,,I’ll try__that was the most heart-rending,thought-provoking,tear-inducing and moving homily I ever heard on sarvadharmasamabhav….It began with how Swamiji has been propagating sarvadharmasamabhava(which is true)……then lo!! He jumped to jaativada and all jaatis are equal and jaati this and jaati that(which is a bit ahem ahem…were’nt we talking about sarvadharmasamabhav….Mr.Shinde…??oh! tut!tut! u ignorant child! We lily white politicians always do that…..glibtalk and blufftalk our way to high glory….right??)n then….!! He began his pathos-filled story of how he was/is a dalit…n how despite his being a dalit…..”iss Maharashtra hi janta ne ISS DALIT ko saraaha,support diya,pyaar diya…aur C.M. BANAYA!!…and it went on and on and on….DALIT DALIT DALIT……ME A DALIT..ME ADALIT..ME A DALIT..
I mean! Can u digest that??He begins with..sarvadharmasambhav…very cutely n conveniently forgets that….n jumps to jaativada……n talks about how we should not discriminate against any jaati and that they is no such thing as jaati…… and all jaatis are equal…….and after having said all THAT….he harps on the love n support given to “ISS DALIT”(……this dalit that means my dear inglissssss babus n angrezzzzzzi mems……)…..or if I remember right…..”isss bechare dalit”…..~~stop flaring ur nostrils shruti … n bhanu…u can stop shaking ur head now……the story’s over…..feel bad about subjecting u both to this torture the second time over…~~
How dastardly!!(Mis)using a yoga-camp and a divine concept like sarvadharmasamabhav….for …we all know what…
Err…why this entire discourse…on Sushil Kumar Shinde??(He is one of the candidates being put forward by Congress to be the next President-for those who came in late.Though there has not been much news of his candidature lately)
Well…..i had to answer ur question(about why I was “AFTER” s.k. shinde)..Mr.Mittal no.1……..
………..signing off……….”SHINDE”ed for today……
Kanchan
In one of Baba Ramdev’s camps~~see mamma!!Baba’s on my blog!!God bless u for calling me/forcing me that day to watch that particular telecast of his camp~~ somewhere in Maharashtra…”honourable” Mr.Ex-C.M. Sushil Kumar Shinde had been invited as the guest of honour.Swami Ramdev spoke first..on sarvadharmasamabhava..n of course whatever he spoke…was from his heart and made sense too.But then!He invited Mr.Shinde on the dias…..Oooooh!I must say this..though it is a bit of an understatement,,still,,I’ll try__that was the most heart-rending,thought-provoking,tear-inducing and moving homily I ever heard on sarvadharmasamabhav….It began with how Swamiji has been propagating sarvadharmasamabhava(which is true)……then lo!! He jumped to jaativada and all jaatis are equal and jaati this and jaati that(which is a bit ahem ahem…were’nt we talking about sarvadharmasamabhav….Mr.Shinde…??oh! tut!tut! u ignorant child! We lily white politicians always do that…..glibtalk and blufftalk our way to high glory….right??)n then….!! He began his pathos-filled story of how he was/is a dalit…n how despite his being a dalit…..”iss Maharashtra hi janta ne ISS DALIT ko saraaha,support diya,pyaar diya…aur C.M. BANAYA!!…and it went on and on and on….DALIT DALIT DALIT……ME A DALIT..ME ADALIT..ME A DALIT..
I mean! Can u digest that??He begins with..sarvadharmasambhav…very cutely n conveniently forgets that….n jumps to jaativada……n talks about how we should not discriminate against any jaati and that they is no such thing as jaati…… and all jaatis are equal…….and after having said all THAT….he harps on the love n support given to “ISS DALIT”(……this dalit that means my dear inglissssss babus n angrezzzzzzi mems……)…..or if I remember right…..”isss bechare dalit”…..~~stop flaring ur nostrils shruti … n bhanu…u can stop shaking ur head now……the story’s over…..feel bad about subjecting u both to this torture the second time over…~~
How dastardly!!(Mis)using a yoga-camp and a divine concept like sarvadharmasamabhav….for …we all know what…
Err…why this entire discourse…on Sushil Kumar Shinde??(He is one of the candidates being put forward by Congress to be the next President-for those who came in late.Though there has not been much news of his candidature lately)
Well…..i had to answer ur question(about why I was “AFTER” s.k. shinde)..Mr.Mittal no.1……..
………..signing off……….”SHINDE”ed for today……
Kanchan
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
may15.....abhishek n his doubts again.....
"i was infact thinking about all dis yesterday...ders sumthin else i wud like 2 add..his vision 2020..it becoming a reality isnt gona depend on kalam continueing as a prez but instead is gona depend on d people of india and deir attitude 2wards fulfilling kalam's dream..dats 1 reason y v nid ppl 2 become more aware of things hapening around dem and more importantly take a stand 2 it.secondly india's currrent economic growth notwithstanding, its looking all set 2 go 1 way subcalifornia and anodr part 2wards d subsaharan deserts..dis big gap can b filled up nly by educating d illiterate..if india nids 2 get 100%literacy by 2020 v'll nid 2 build schools everyday til 2010!!TRUE V NID A PRESIDENT LIKE HIM WID A VISION but den even v have a role 2 play in turning his dreams in2 a reality "
"let me ask u sumthin...wt powers does a prez hav??apart 4m bein d supreme commander of d armed forces??i dunno dat dats y askin u.. "
"a president has no powers is wt i feel...if a bil is sent a 2nd time 2 him he has nio odr option apart 4m makin it a law... "
.......ah!that's all!......will answer all this......in the next post.........
signing off........"solitary blogger" (for the day)...Kanchan...(i'll have to do ALL this all alone....Bhanu..Shruti...!where are u??)
"let me ask u sumthin...wt powers does a prez hav??apart 4m bein d supreme commander of d armed forces??i dunno dat dats y askin u.. "
"a president has no powers is wt i feel...if a bil is sent a 2nd time 2 him he has nio odr option apart 4m makin it a law... "
.......ah!that's all!......will answer all this......in the next post.........
signing off........"solitary blogger" (for the day)...Kanchan...(i'll have to do ALL this all alone....Bhanu..Shruti...!where are u??)
may 14:abhishek doesnt know how to post comments on blogs......but has many things to say n like many others..few doubts regarding
the powers of the President of India..n also about the campaign..
this is what he has to say...........
"hey checked ur blog...awesum man!kudos!!"
"eh...i dont know wer ya how 2 post my comments on ur blog isliye i shal scrap my comments now..hope its fine wid u.. "
"wel wt i like about kalam is his VISION,INTELLIGENCE and SIMPLICITY...i mean which country has a nuclear scientist as their president?? v need 2 b proud dat v hav a muslim president and at d same time a sikh pm wen india is 81% hindus!! dats sucularism at its very best.kalam isnt attached 2 any political party..more importantly has no bias 2wards d ruling party..his office-of-profit bill issue is an egs of dis...mr dan dat its his interaction wid students wich is made him very popular...instilling in dem d need 2 dream and have a vision.. he doesnt make any major fusses on security and d likes wich politicians r famous for!!in fact i jus gt 2 know now 4m d TOI dat congress has already given deir nominations as pranab mukherji,karan singh and sushil shinde...i hav already voted long before 4 a 2nd term 4 kalam so if der is anything else i can do here from my side plz do let me know "
"bt ders one honest question i wud like to ask u...no hard feelings plz.AFTER BECOMING D PREZ WOT HAS KALAM DONE FOR INDIA?i wud say he has jus bin reduced 2 a joke..a mere puppet at d hands of d govt and ruling coalition..all his intelligence as a nuclear scientist has gone 4 a waste..true i like his vision 2 make india a devp. nation by2020 and all dat but den dont u think he wud hav done lots better 4 india if he hadnt been d prez and had continued been a nuclear scientist? "
..........compiled by ......Kanchan..
this is what he has to say...........
"hey checked ur blog...awesum man!kudos!!"
"eh...i dont know wer ya how 2 post my comments on ur blog isliye i shal scrap my comments now..hope its fine wid u.. "
"wel wt i like about kalam is his VISION,INTELLIGENCE and SIMPLICITY...i mean which country has a nuclear scientist as their president?? v need 2 b proud dat v hav a muslim president and at d same time a sikh pm wen india is 81% hindus!! dats sucularism at its very best.kalam isnt attached 2 any political party..more importantly has no bias 2wards d ruling party..his office-of-profit bill issue is an egs of dis...mr dan dat its his interaction wid students wich is made him very popular...instilling in dem d need 2 dream and have a vision.. he doesnt make any major fusses on security and d likes wich politicians r famous for!!in fact i jus gt 2 know now 4m d TOI dat congress has already given deir nominations as pranab mukherji,karan singh and sushil shinde...i hav already voted long before 4 a 2nd term 4 kalam so if der is anything else i can do here from my side plz do let me know "
"bt ders one honest question i wud like to ask u...no hard feelings plz.AFTER BECOMING D PREZ WOT HAS KALAM DONE FOR INDIA?i wud say he has jus bin reduced 2 a joke..a mere puppet at d hands of d govt and ruling coalition..all his intelligence as a nuclear scientist has gone 4 a waste..true i like his vision 2 make india a devp. nation by2020 and all dat but den dont u think he wud hav done lots better 4 india if he hadnt been d prez and had continued been a nuclear scientist? "
..........compiled by ......Kanchan..
..........on 7th heaven........
hey!u've marked ur attendance bhanu.........m glad!n proud of u..!
..........Kanchan............
..........Kanchan............
Monday, May 14, 2007
Com-on ,,,,whr r all d ignited minds..???...
Yes,,, i completely agree with u guys...
He is a no-nonsense man, who has risen from the ranks to occupy the country’s highest seat ,,, role model for the billions n his life-message is unique and inspiring, in particular for those who are groping to reach somewhere in life and discover a meaning. He remains the same, unchanged, in all his years, n Humility of this man, who has achieved so much, is unmistakably his hallmark.To sum up,,he is d bestest president v can ever have!!!!
-bhanu,,, trying to hv a an ignited mind....
He is a no-nonsense man, who has risen from the ranks to occupy the country’s highest seat ,,, role model for the billions n his life-message is unique and inspiring, in particular for those who are groping to reach somewhere in life and discover a meaning. He remains the same, unchanged, in all his years, n Humility of this man, who has achieved so much, is unmistakably his hallmark.To sum up,,he is d bestest president v can ever have!!!!
-bhanu,,, trying to hv a an ignited mind....
"Kanchan,Don't u feel there can be a better candidate (than Mr. Kalam)? Just a thought... ".......he asked me......
"oh there can be definitely!!!!but c the main motive behind the campaign is to have THE RIGHT PERSON UP THERE and not any Mr.abc .... and when we already hav smone who fits the bill to the tee and has a VISION to top it all why look here and there.....but of course we are not completely closed to having anyone else provided he mathches up2 the reqts.....u c?n anoda thin....president kalam has one thing in favour n that is that he's already been there...now if i propose anna hazare n u propose narayan murthy will these ppl get THE support which President Kalam already has?????n moreover these ppl will never ever be allowed to come up NOW after prez kalam has proven thatintelligent ppl too can be NOISY!!but yet again the purpose of the campaign remains to protect THE SANCTITY OF THE POST OF THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA........we certainly don't want and WON'T ALLOW any moily or any babul or baghbaan to head THE POST OF THE FIRST CITIZEN OF OUR COUNTRY>......coz.........WE NEED A MAN WITH A VISION!!!!!n thanks for prodding me into writing all this............always intended to........n DO SPREAD THE MSG ACCROSS!!!!! "
was my reply.........Kanchan.........
was my reply.........Kanchan.........
CAN THE PREZ KILL A BILL??the BIG quesn. answerd
CAN THE PREZ KILL A BILL??the BIG quesn. answerdIt's like this:He cannot send the bill back a second time- but he can sit on it indefinitely-THERE IS NO TIME LIMIT SPECIFIED! but he HAS to abide by the council of ministers' opinion, since it is a PARLIAMENTIARY DEMOCRACY- he can only be impeached for defiance if ge REFUSES to sign!! but then impeachment is not an easy process---it's long drawn n complicated...imagine a scenario-the PM declares a state of emergency(like INdira Gandhi did)...the prez refuuses to give his assent, now the state of emergency cannot be declared widout his assent, n it uis always declared coz they want to supress the public voice or agitaion against the doings of the govt.(ofcourse in extreme cases it's in the best interes of the nation in wich case the prez will readily give his assent)...thsi kills precious time for the govt. wich cannot then rashly suppress public opinion n agitation n act all tyrannical, they will then have to impeach teh prez...killing more time, evenrtually public opinion n agitation will only gain strength n momentum n will get the better of the Tyrants if there are...see how it helps to have a prez who DARES TO CARE..even tho he may eventually have to step down..at least his action will shake the conscience of the people n stir them into action!!!M happy I have answered the BIG question on everyones' minds...signing off SHRUTI!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lifted this off the community where i made this post........shruti again
lifted this off the community where i made this post........shruti again
Why this Clarion call?All for a "rubber stamp"...eh?
Let's face it:The occupant of the Rashtrapati bhawan does not get to make policies for the country, he cannot even "command" the government to abstain from exploiting the Indian Public,( which they invariably do)...he is a mere stamp-the titular head,n yet, a bill passed by the parliament cannot becum a law if he refuses to sign it----he can sit on it for years n the Politicians can merrily pull their hair out, for all they want--it shall remain a BILL- nothing beyond that! SO you see, The President Of India cannot DO much himself, but he can certainly "prevent" the VANDALS who are our elected representatives,from "doing" things that go against the interests of the Public- he can certainly regulate the amount of damage done... Of course, it might not be much for many of us, but in that case why have the Office of President at all..why have we inherited this legacy from the British whererein the Quenn was the Titular Head, and the PM the Real one??? Why waste all this money(n trust me it is A LOT) for an office that is not granted enuff powers??Either, simply do away with the post n save on all that money or, if we still want to stick to it---at least make sure that u waste it on someone who u would like to be referred to as THE FIRST CITIZEN OF INDIA.Someone, who would dare to protect the sanctity of his Offie n cum to ur rescue when ur elected representatives have let u down, someone who would try to do his best withinn whatever powers he has been granted- And this is what APJ Kalam has done n has tried to do (with his share of mistakes)..he refused to sign the Office Of Profit bill among other things...This is what the then President should have done during the Emergency..People Of India, wake up, send a message across to the Parliament THAT WE CARE-- we shall not have any Tom,Dick Or Harry in the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Let your Preferences be known LOUD AND CLEAR..."Idealism" to a certain extent is good, n even desirable!!
make the most of whatever li'l idealism u have in your youth, u have ur entire old age to be cynical, practical , realist and fatalist---visit the link below and sign in your vote for starters...u r not obliging me, or nebody for that matter but doing urself a favour- next time on Valentines' Day, when u see youngsters being humiliated n manhandled in public by the self appointed moral police, n ur heart is crying whether Democracy has gone for a toss in India- just remember u had ur shot at making urself heard n chose to let it go... spread the word around...here's the link....http://www.petitiononline.com/apj/....................................
........Shruti...an ignited indian mind
make the most of whatever li'l idealism u have in your youth, u have ur entire old age to be cynical, practical , realist and fatalist---visit the link below and sign in your vote for starters...u r not obliging me, or nebody for that matter but doing urself a favour- next time on Valentines' Day, when u see youngsters being humiliated n manhandled in public by the self appointed moral police, n ur heart is crying whether Democracy has gone for a toss in India- just remember u had ur shot at making urself heard n chose to let it go... spread the word around...here's the link....http://www.petitiononline.com/apj/....................................
........Shruti...an ignited indian mind
my first outburst....have had to delete it from its "birthplace"....~teary eyed n blotchy nosed~......so here it is.....
THE TENURE OF HONOURABLE PRESIDENT A.P.J.ABDUL KALAM ENDS IN JULY 2007And.....are u aware that names like veerappa moily nad amitabh bachchan are being considered to step into his shoes?It's high time WE all wake up to the fact that we cannot let anyone occupy the office of OUR PRESIDENT!President Kalam has been The President and THE MAN up there who we can all look up to.......Who has Dared to be more than a mere puppet in the hands of the government.........He sent back the office of profit billHe was the first president to visit SiachenHe has always stood up for what is rightHe is the GenNext PresidentHe has been OUR PRESIDENT.......AND..........If we don't come out now in support of President Kalam....and show our solidarity towards him and tell the people up there that we want him to saty and that we won't accept any dummy replacement.....
We have only 3 months to go and we must act fast............we need our president and he must take his second oath as the president of our country ..........We have to stand up together as a force and bring about this revolution......................If there are some people who shy away from this cause or don't care enough........SHAME ON THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The fact remains that yes..the president is elected by those who'll never allow the right person to head THE POST.....and that we as a people are not allowed to elect the PERSON WE WANT............YET.....even if by default.....We have a President WHO is there to stand up for us and for what is right............WE CANNOT LET HIM GO!!
And yes even now the fact is that we will not be allowed to elect our president DIRECTLY..........and yet again we must not forget the fact that THIS IS DEMOCRACY,,,whatever the cynics might say...........AND AT THE END OF THE DAY..........THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY WILL PREVAIL...............THEY will have to relent ..........even if to appease THEIR VOTE BANKS............who are "WE"Let this go down in history that WE were the ones who RAISED OUR VOICE in unison for what we want and whom we want...........WE will NOT ACCEPT anyone .......We will NOT ALLOW anyone to DEFILE the office of THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA...............SO all those who believe that WE CAN DO IT AND WILL DO IT...............PUT YOUR ACT TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AND THOSE WHO MADE FACES WHILE READING THIS AND SAID-OH WHO CARES ABOUT THE PRESIDENT'S POST.........REMEMBER THAT U WON'T EVEN BE LEFT WITH THE RIGHT TO MAKE FACES AND SAY THAT "U DON'T CARE!!!!!" IF U DON'T WAKE UP "NOW"!!!!!!!!!AND FOR STARTERS.........DO VOTE IN THE FOLLOWING LINKhttp://www.petitiononline.com/apj/
..................signing off......................
Kanchan........an iim..........~ooooooooh!she has the audacity to call herself an iim.......~/~well!why not..she is after all an "Ignited Indian Mind"~
We have only 3 months to go and we must act fast............we need our president and he must take his second oath as the president of our country ..........We have to stand up together as a force and bring about this revolution......................If there are some people who shy away from this cause or don't care enough........SHAME ON THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The fact remains that yes..the president is elected by those who'll never allow the right person to head THE POST.....and that we as a people are not allowed to elect the PERSON WE WANT............YET.....even if by default.....We have a President WHO is there to stand up for us and for what is right............WE CANNOT LET HIM GO!!
And yes even now the fact is that we will not be allowed to elect our president DIRECTLY..........and yet again we must not forget the fact that THIS IS DEMOCRACY,,,whatever the cynics might say...........AND AT THE END OF THE DAY..........THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY WILL PREVAIL...............THEY will have to relent ..........even if to appease THEIR VOTE BANKS............who are "WE"Let this go down in history that WE were the ones who RAISED OUR VOICE in unison for what we want and whom we want...........WE will NOT ACCEPT anyone .......We will NOT ALLOW anyone to DEFILE the office of THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA...............SO all those who believe that WE CAN DO IT AND WILL DO IT...............PUT YOUR ACT TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AND THOSE WHO MADE FACES WHILE READING THIS AND SAID-OH WHO CARES ABOUT THE PRESIDENT'S POST.........REMEMBER THAT U WON'T EVEN BE LEFT WITH THE RIGHT TO MAKE FACES AND SAY THAT "U DON'T CARE!!!!!" IF U DON'T WAKE UP "NOW"!!!!!!!!!AND FOR STARTERS.........DO VOTE IN THE FOLLOWING LINKhttp://www.petitiononline.com/apj/
..................signing off......................
Kanchan........an iim..........~ooooooooh!she has the audacity to call herself an iim.......~/~well!why not..she is after all an "Ignited Indian Mind"~
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