Complete mayhem!

I was in New Delhi for two days and that explains the title.. And yes, I went after quite a while.. I saw the famed and hyped BRT corridor... its the most insane idea the government can come up with, to spend money!!! All these days, the buses used to be on the left-most lanes and the bus stops were on the left side of the road.. and the cars used to ply in the remaining lanes.. Oh yes, nobody kept to their lanes, strictly, that's true... Surely, it would have been easier to fine and prevent lane crossing instead of dedicated BRT corridors. This BRT system is so crazy, the buses now ply in the middle of the road (like the trams in Kolkata, albeit a trifle faster:)) and the cars take the extreme left lanes... What has this achieved?? Actually, nothing, except ofcourse some jobs and money for those who made a living out of BRT. The car lanes are piling up, so are the bus lanes, they aren't any faster than they were previously..

This BRT has failed to improve public transport and facilitate more citizens of Delhi to use Public Transport! Its the biggest ill conceived idea to be implemented..

Responsibility

Yes, I am in a philosophical mood these days... after posting about commitment and dedication, I must also share with you another highly motivated individual who is a personification of the word Responsibility. I visited during the last weekend, a school for the Tsunami victims in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu. The school came up as it was the need of the hour for the displaced, shattered families to get back to normalcy. And today, it is teeming with 500 students from LKG to class VIII. No doubt many people got involved to serve in various ways to make this school happen, right from identifying the land to construction, etc., all inspired by the Art of Living Founder, H.H.Sri Sri Ravishankarji.
But one individual who has been with this project right from day one to this day is a person I know personally well, who epitomises the word responsibility. While we embark on such huge projects, there are bound to be challenges of different kinds... from locals to donors... people who have done such projects will have similar experiences. But undaunted in his mission to run the school, he has taken the responsibility to keep the school running, growing in strength and adding new wings. I could feel his passion for the project when he said flatly, "The sky is the limit, there is unlimited potential here, for anyone who has an idea in shaping young minds". I could not agree with him more. I think education and quality education is what is going to help this country get over the poverty trap we are in. And I salute all indiviuals who work towards this in our country!

Commitment and Dedication

These are words we know that will take us a long way and all our teachers, masters have often asked us to inculcate these qualities... I quite thought I knew what they meant till I met one person in a town called Trichy. Talking to this man was a humbling experience... I realised I was seeing a personification of the two words - commitment and dedication... He is a project director for an upcoming orphanage and he took me and my friends around and explained the little details as he went about building the orphanage. Having lived in a hostel right from school days, he has a phenomenal experience of the psyche of a orphan.. He has implemented each and every angle of the life and dreams of an orphan and has taken great care to ensure each child would be grateful to have been an orphan.. for getting to stay in one of the only kind of orphanage, perhaps!!

The whole project is through generous contribution of one individual but often we see the project director is simply supervising the project. But here is a man who lives with the labourers from 7 am till they leave the site each day and attends to each and every detail as the buildings come up. He is about 60 years now and has adopted ~ 6 orphans in his life and they are now settled in a job and family!! I could feel the satisfaction in his voice as he was sharing his life story with me..

You wonder what was I doing there?? Well, he wanted to start agriculture on the 40 acres of land that forms part of the orphanage campus... and I went to suggest some possible crops and methods that he can adopt, as the land has never ever been used for cultivation, as per land records.. This will serve the twin purpose of revenue generation for the upkeep of the orphanage and also teach the orphans the nitty gritty of agriculture.

He took us around the building that will be teeming with orphans from 2010 and showed us the care with which each room, dining area, wash area, rest rooms, corridors, wall colours, etc. etc will be a comforting and pleasing experience for the inmates..

Indeed, the orphans who will be living here are lucky from one angle.

I am so glad to have met such a man who can motivate so many orphans and also visitors like me:-)

Mamma Mia

Well, I was most excited to watch the musical live!! Oh yes, I am talking about the desi, Indian production... I must say they have done a good job... Those of us who grew up listening to ABBA had descended on the venue (Music Academy) and the air of expectancy was indeed palpable (to use a cliche). The academy is usually the place I frequent to listen to traditional classical music and I thought the venue will not suit the musical.. I was wrong!!

Right from the moment the musical began, the venue, setting etc didn't matter.. The cast were exremely good, both at dance and song, and the overall effect was excellent. Congrats to the Hot Shoe Dance Company for making Chennai proud! Excellent teamwork and the choreographer, director and producer get full marks... Its Varalaxmi's maiden venture and she has sure started off with a splash!! We were told that more shows in Hyderabd, Bangalore, Bombay and Delhi have been scheduled!! And they then plan to travel to Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore etc. by end of year... Good show

Special full moon

For me, of all the full moon days, Guru Purnima holds a special place in my heart. Guru Purnima is the day to feel grateful for the great knowledge you have received from your Master. It is time to review how much knowledge we could ingrain in our life in the past one year. This may bring about a realization for scope of improvement which in turn will bring humility in us. Being grateful for the way this knowledge has transformed us. Just think how I could have been without this. There is a definite change inside us. If we cannot see any change, then we haven't had a good look at ourself. Gratitude and humility together blossom a genuine prayer inside you!

My Guru, H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar goes on to say that although its celebrated as the day of the Guru, its actually the day of the 'devotee':-).... HE very beautifully goes on to add that there are three kinds of people who go to a Master. One is a student goes to learn something, just as we go to school to study different subjects or go to a music college and learn to play a guitar. Second type is a disciple who goes to get something, either knowledge, wisdom, fulfilment of some desires. The thrid type is a devotee who wants nothing, neither knowledge nor enlightenment! He simply rejoices in the presence of the Master and is in complete joy with the divine!!

So beautiful, isn't it?? HE then adds that "Students are many, Disciples are few and Devotees are rare!! I would like to think of myself as a Devotee:-)

We had amazing celebrations in Chennai on this occasion and I will upload some of the pics when I get them.

Jai Ho Judiciary!

I am no celebrity, nor an activist, nor an LGBT, but I am proud of this landmark judgement by the Delhi HC, doing away with a century old ruling. For a change, I am proud of the judiciary in our country to have taken this bold step forward. Usually, I have always found the judiciary opting for status quo when an archaic law has to be done with, and make way for new.. But I guess we have some good judges who take bold decisions. And come on, its not just sex that these people want, its about their everyday life.. They can't nominate each other on bank accounts, get property in their names, visas etc.. If two adults wish to spend their life together, why should anybody else have a problem?? Maybe the immediate family can have an opinion but certainly not religious heads!! For the life of me I cannot understand why these so-called religious leaders are up in arms against the scrapping of IPC 377... It simply makes no sense to me.. Can anybody please enlighten me?

Beat it

I've been caught by the MJ bug too!! Since 26th June, we've been waking up each morning to listen to new twists and turns on MJ and the circumstances surrounding his death. All controversies apart, he was truly a brilliant entertainer. No two ways about that. All radio stations have been playing his numbers this past week and I must say, he truly desrves the title 'King of Pop'. Its more than 17 years since Thriller, and there's not an album to Beat It:-). I still remember dancing to this album in school and thumping desks in between periods to this song..

But I am shocked how insensitive we are to people, and their lives... no doubt he was a public figure, but can't we just allow him to RIP? Each day, we are subjected to sleaze and gossip on how many prescription drugs he was taking, how many injection marks on his body, that he was bald, that he ate only pills and no food and what not!!!

I am probably adding to the junk that is already being brandished on the net and so defeating my own argument, but I simply wanted to post after reading about a conspiracy theory that MJ is alive and well and all this news about him is a planned ploy to stage a brilliant comeback by the King of Pop himself!!! This simply took the cake, from all the theories I've heard so far!!