life's a kick

Not-at-all-dear Patriarchal Society, I know that I’m a huge disappointment to you. I couldn’t have been happier with myself for that. You’re right when you say that women like us have imbalanced the societal order. We indeed have. And we will continue at this noble task till the time that gender balance is restored. Till the time that personal interest, and not gender, determines what we do and what is expected out of us. You’re right when you say that we have corroded your ‘value’ system . According to your values, women are paraaya dhan. Therefore, a lot of you nurture your daughters believing, and making your daughters in turn believe, that marriage is their end goal. And that the daughters’ actual family is the conjugal home, and not the natal home. Naturally, the sons grow up believing that they are the real inheritors and only care-takers for ageing parents. Hence, you forever prepare your daughters to adapt to a new home when they grow up. You ask them t...

“When you need inspiration, see how far you have to go. When you need motivation, see how far you have come.” -           Anonymous Born to Grow, and Compete Imagine the situation of a runner who is let loose on a track to run. Now imagine ten runners sent forth on the same track to test their mettle. And here is the catch: let this track be without milestones. How do you imagine this situation to culminate? Initially, there will be a joy in running. The thrill of feeling the wind on one’s face, of beating muscle cramps with sheer grit, and the undeterred delight in pushing one’s boundaries. But gradually, in lack of a standard and agreed system of measurement, the situation will degenerate. The solo runner might lose charm in the sport, or might end up a mediocre, considering he will have no yardstick to measure his progress against. In the case of multiple runners, the run might recede into chaos over establishing the suprem...

“There is a difference between the dishonest bribe and the honest bribe. The dishonest bribe is the same in every country, but the honest bribe is India's alone.” - Gregory David Roberts, Author of Shantaram Transparency International (TI), the international NGO leading the fight against corruption , defines the malaise as ‘the abuse of entrusted power for private gain’. In simple words, corruption implies the unjust use of power either to withhold rightful dues or to provide undue favours. TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index places India at 94 th position out of 176 countries, reinforcing the perception that corruption is an accepted way of life in the Indian subcontinent. In trying to understand the role of technology in fighting corruption, it is important to understand what causes corruption in the first place. The reasons can broadly be classified into two categories: One, of human frailties, such as greed, impatience and lack of values, and two, of syste...

“Don’t teach me. Don’t try to patronize. Tell me a story so that I may learn.” Two years ago, I met a friend, a prolific reader, who happened to utter these words in a casual conversation. He was talking of an author whose style he considered rather didactic. It must have stirred something deep in me, for I remember his words, and the lesson, clearly. And so I will clothe my message in a story. A real one. The year I joined college, Delhi government woke up to the traffic chaos faced by residents of Palam and Dwarka. Then, Palam was bustling with life and business, and Dwarka had been freshly dug for the coveted metro. Property hawks were, as always, the first to milk the fattened cow, and before we knew, our modest property had become Delhi’s latest desire. Resultant – habitation in Dwarka soared; cow sheds were replaced by buildings and private vehicles zoomed on the roads hitherto dominated by buses. What the property dealers inadvertently forgot to mention was t...

“Don’t throw it outside. Because there is no outside.” The statement above, taken from an award winning campaign against littering, bespeaks the fact that this shared planet is everybody’s home, and hence, everybody’s responsibility too. Cleanliness is next only to Godliness, is a proverb we’ve all heard in school, and in this essay, I shall try to understand and explain its multifarious facets. The topic of cleanliness reminds me of an anecdote narrated by a senior during my Plant days, seven years ago. During his official tour to Australia, while sauntering on the spic and span sidewalks of Sydney, he happened to drop a wrapper on the pavement. Unmindful of his act, he carried on without qualms. An elderly woman, walking a few steps behind him, lifted the wrapper and put it in her bag. Stumped, our man stopped in his tracks, as the lady went past him with a nod and a smile. “I learnt the lesson for once and for all,” he confessed. The eloquent silence of that woman was preg...