In the wake of the recent terror attacks in Mumbai, so many thoughts and emotions have come to the fore…so much bitterness and sorrow that the last few days have been emotionally exhausting and mentally tumultuous…
No I don’t know anyone who died in the terror attacks…no I don’t know anyone who even survived the drama…and no I am not a hardcore Mumbaite who is feeling the heart of Mumbai bleed…but does all that really matter?!?!
Is it not enough to know that the lives lost are of innocent strangers who for all you know are tax paying, law abiding citizens like most of us? Is it not enough to know that each one of them left a grieving family behind, one that will never be able to wash the blood stains from their homes as the pictures of the deceased go up on their walls?
Time flies, though it’s not true that it heels all…the pain of old wounds just doesn’t surface as often that’s all…but every time an incident occurs and images of bodies turned into charred, dead puppets reappears, it only brings all the horrors back, as if time just stood still and life never really did move on from the fateful day when you yourself came home to one such image that changed the course of your life…it’s funny how children, though low on comprehension, can retain so much and remember it again and decipher it better when a similar time comes back to haunt…
Call me dramatic, call me unpractical, say I’m overreacting…it doesn’t matter…
But our country is a funny place. Speak to people from other cities and it sounds as if these folks live in a planet of their own…untouched, unfazed, unshaken by anything that has occurred outside of their own borders that are only defined on a map, and can’t be traced on the ground…is a lack of humanity a problem only amongst the politicians of India…I think not! Or does a politician lie hidden in each of us somewhere, somehow coming to the fore only when we have to show compassion for those who don’t immediately matter to our lives…uncles, aunts, strangers, acquaintances – day 4 and everyone was talking about the next family gathering that needed to be organized, or how sordid the mood is going to be this Christmas & New Year…everyone has an expert opinion on what the security forces should have done rather than what they did…everyone has a word to add on how the matter could have been brought under control had it been tackled like this or like that…But we all forget that it is easy for us to sit in our soft bucket couches, in our air conditioned living rooms, watching the proceedings on a 40inch flat screen; and we have little or nothing to write about as far as our contribution to bringing peace goes…so lets not belittle those who stood the test of time and fell while in the line of fire cause most of us have never fired a bullet from a gun, let alone be in the line of fire with bullets coming our way…
The human blood bath is over but the emotional rape is yet to peak…given a chance, our famed and esteemed and not to forget highly revered and respected politicians would have been mud slinging all over the place by now. And while mr. white haired Advani, who I respected while BJP was in power, must already be talking about this as an electoral issue in Rajasthan, mr. shallow inhuman ravi shankar prasad was able to buy enough space in newspapers to appeal to people to vote against terrorism and vote in favour of BJP. Shame on you mr. prasad…you are a disgrace. Shame on you mr. advani…you are well on your way to becoming one…
But most of all shame on mr. deshmukh who has been busy strutting around with his ungifted son turned actor and bollywood’s controversy king in tow making a blue print of the next bollywood smash hit in his scattered brain…
Shame on you congress for all terrorism that has taken place in India over the past two years…shame on you for all the lives lost of those who voted for you, including myself, and made you the ruling government…
Question is who next? Who should we vote for this time around? Who will you vote for this time around?
Personally, I won’t exercise my vote at all…if I would now, it will be only if a group of retired army men come together to form a party or only if retired successful men from corporate India come together to form a party…
It would have to be someone who knows the toils of earning a decent living in this country, it would have to be someone who has worked and walked shoulder to shoulder with the common man of India and felt his pain…it would have to be someone who understands the meaning of deadlines…someone who understands the value of time…someone who understands the value of effort…someone who understands the meaning of disciple…someone who values action…someone who values life!
For big bully raj thackrey, who has been sitting pretty in the shelter of his home protected by guards whose life is a waste behind a man like him, I hope the next time your men descend on this city while you cocoon yourself, they are pelted with stones and crushed to death by a public that is frustrated by the kind of oppression you preach…a coward with no real muscle to show off…
Despite it all, we return to work today…we are back to the grind and back to being in switch off mode from humanity again…we all go back to living in our own worlds, oblivious to the looses outside, oblivious to the dangers that have been and could be…oblivious to what if it is a member of my own family next time….
Take care and have a good day!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Jet-whereways
When I was passing out from college and was faced with the exact same dilemma as most teenagers on ‘what next’, my mother often suggested to me that I take up a course in hospitality and aim to become a stewardess with a leading airline….now I thank my luck stars for not going that way….
Not to say that a retrenchment of the kind that took place recently at Jet can’t happen in any other sector or even in the one that I work in, but until it does, I have something to feel relieved about…
The entire fiasco around the lay-offs by Jet after the tie-up with Kingfisher has become a joke…one day the employees have a job, the next day they don’t. And then again the subsequent day, they have their jobs back!!!
It reminds me of those carefree days when peek-a-boo and pakda pakdi used to be the main order of the day…
If you do the math, it only makes you wonder what Mr. Goyal has been up to – he went on national television after the retrenchment talking tough about how this was a necessary step to ‘improve services’ and couldn’t be helped and almost within 24 hours, he was feeling sorry enough for those he laid off to take them all back under the pretext that he and his wife were unable to sleep a wink out of guilt…
Mr. Goyal, the sentiment is much appreciated and we hope against hope that it is truly felt as well, or else you might have a change of heart again…
If indeed these ‘bechare bache’ don’t make a dent in your balance sheet as you have stated on television after taking them all back, why then did you think it necessary to create so much controversy in the first place…
But I guess it’s time to move on now and let by-gones be by-gones…
Just a tip before I end another depressing piece here, it is easy to silence 5 or 10 or 20 or even 100 people. But that ain’t the case with a whopping 800!
Most of us would like to believe that it was not pressure and infact genuine concern for your employees that made you take them all back and in the future if you decide to let them go again, which by the way is very well within the company’s right, atleast treat them with some basic amount of respect…
Yours truly.
Not to say that a retrenchment of the kind that took place recently at Jet can’t happen in any other sector or even in the one that I work in, but until it does, I have something to feel relieved about…
The entire fiasco around the lay-offs by Jet after the tie-up with Kingfisher has become a joke…one day the employees have a job, the next day they don’t. And then again the subsequent day, they have their jobs back!!!
It reminds me of those carefree days when peek-a-boo and pakda pakdi used to be the main order of the day…
If you do the math, it only makes you wonder what Mr. Goyal has been up to – he went on national television after the retrenchment talking tough about how this was a necessary step to ‘improve services’ and couldn’t be helped and almost within 24 hours, he was feeling sorry enough for those he laid off to take them all back under the pretext that he and his wife were unable to sleep a wink out of guilt…
Mr. Goyal, the sentiment is much appreciated and we hope against hope that it is truly felt as well, or else you might have a change of heart again…
If indeed these ‘bechare bache’ don’t make a dent in your balance sheet as you have stated on television after taking them all back, why then did you think it necessary to create so much controversy in the first place…
But I guess it’s time to move on now and let by-gones be by-gones…
Just a tip before I end another depressing piece here, it is easy to silence 5 or 10 or 20 or even 100 people. But that ain’t the case with a whopping 800!
Most of us would like to believe that it was not pressure and infact genuine concern for your employees that made you take them all back and in the future if you decide to let them go again, which by the way is very well within the company’s right, atleast treat them with some basic amount of respect…
Yours truly.
Madat Kijea Soniaji!
For those who have seen Shrimati Mananiya Mayawati didi deliver a discourse on TV or in person, they will be able to share the acute pain and embarrassment I feel every time she crowns herself as the undisputed future PM of the country! Now I ain’t no expert on the subject and I don’t know the first thing about running a country, but what on earth is going on?!?!?!
The electoral vote bank sure is topmost on the agenda for the honorable ministers but it’s like an employee who joins an organization as a trainee and demands to immediately become the global CEO!!! Yes I know this sounds like an exaggerated example but I’m sure you are getting my flow.
Soniaji’s government has definitely left a lot to be desired, given the very basic problem of a crumbling infrastructure, but then again this government might be our only hope of a not completely bleak future – not because of a brilliant performance, but instead because of the fact that there ain’t no better alternative!!
Forget about the big glaring blotches in her report card created by the huge embarrassment caused by another ambitious Shrimati Mamata Banerjee who inspite of not being in power managed to bring the WB govt to its knees and literally almost single-handedly threw out one of India’s most respected and influential business conglomerates from WB. Mrs. Gandhi and the central government were more than conspicuous by their absence right thru the entire fiasco which even caught the international media’s attention…but then again, that subject is better left alone…
Mrs. Gandhi, I was truly impressed when I heard you openly take on Mayawati didi’s challenge of getting you arrested, more so because your retort was in shudh Hindi bhasha. Hats off to you on this achievement!
But while you’ve been busy brushing up your language skills, you seem to have lost sight of the plight of your people – had you managed both better, it would have been a true victory. Especially when it comes to your people in the north….In very simple terms, we common folk call it multi-tasking!
Our very own quick-witted and very smart adernia Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav has once again proved that he is a master at his own game – he recently launched J&K’s first train service…while at the same forum, Mrs. Gandhi was unable to provide even an ounce of emotional or mental relief to the residents of the state as tension on the streets outside the train station was still palpable…it is a sad value attached to human life…
Also lets forget about the latest incident of the sudden layoffs by the Jet-Kingfisher duo where 800 people were retrenched over night without warning, only soon to be joined by another 1000+! Though this has been reversed now, the incident was appalling, not because of the layoff, but more so because of the way it was handled by the airlines. To add to that ofcourse Mr. Prafful Patel once again cut a sorry figure of the government when he meekly evaded questions from the media on what role he plays in the aviation ministry when he is completely unable to protect airlines from bleeding losses and then he is even more helpless when it comes to protecting the interests of those associated with the airlines…
If my fingers willed, I would have happily continued typing, but now even my eyes are running out of battery and I’m finally going to stop ranting and raving…but Soniaji if you are listening, while your undoubted success on the nuclear program has once again established India on the global map, it is important that you do not loose sight of what’s going on in your own backyard…and we have not even started talking about the farmer suicides and bomb blasts yet…
Point is, are you really listening and if you are, do you really care…………………
The electoral vote bank sure is topmost on the agenda for the honorable ministers but it’s like an employee who joins an organization as a trainee and demands to immediately become the global CEO!!! Yes I know this sounds like an exaggerated example but I’m sure you are getting my flow.
Soniaji’s government has definitely left a lot to be desired, given the very basic problem of a crumbling infrastructure, but then again this government might be our only hope of a not completely bleak future – not because of a brilliant performance, but instead because of the fact that there ain’t no better alternative!!
Forget about the big glaring blotches in her report card created by the huge embarrassment caused by another ambitious Shrimati Mamata Banerjee who inspite of not being in power managed to bring the WB govt to its knees and literally almost single-handedly threw out one of India’s most respected and influential business conglomerates from WB. Mrs. Gandhi and the central government were more than conspicuous by their absence right thru the entire fiasco which even caught the international media’s attention…but then again, that subject is better left alone…
Mrs. Gandhi, I was truly impressed when I heard you openly take on Mayawati didi’s challenge of getting you arrested, more so because your retort was in shudh Hindi bhasha. Hats off to you on this achievement!
But while you’ve been busy brushing up your language skills, you seem to have lost sight of the plight of your people – had you managed both better, it would have been a true victory. Especially when it comes to your people in the north….In very simple terms, we common folk call it multi-tasking!
Our very own quick-witted and very smart adernia Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav has once again proved that he is a master at his own game – he recently launched J&K’s first train service…while at the same forum, Mrs. Gandhi was unable to provide even an ounce of emotional or mental relief to the residents of the state as tension on the streets outside the train station was still palpable…it is a sad value attached to human life…
Also lets forget about the latest incident of the sudden layoffs by the Jet-Kingfisher duo where 800 people were retrenched over night without warning, only soon to be joined by another 1000+! Though this has been reversed now, the incident was appalling, not because of the layoff, but more so because of the way it was handled by the airlines. To add to that ofcourse Mr. Prafful Patel once again cut a sorry figure of the government when he meekly evaded questions from the media on what role he plays in the aviation ministry when he is completely unable to protect airlines from bleeding losses and then he is even more helpless when it comes to protecting the interests of those associated with the airlines…
If my fingers willed, I would have happily continued typing, but now even my eyes are running out of battery and I’m finally going to stop ranting and raving…but Soniaji if you are listening, while your undoubted success on the nuclear program has once again established India on the global map, it is important that you do not loose sight of what’s going on in your own backyard…and we have not even started talking about the farmer suicides and bomb blasts yet…
Point is, are you really listening and if you are, do you really care…………………
Are we doomed?
I recently had the opportunity to grab a copy of the much renowned and admired Wall Street Journal at an airport in Paris and as a member of the communication management fraternity, I was obviously thrilled to see it! But my excitement was met with depressing headlines all over the newspaper screaming out about layoffs, sinking companies, a stricken and handicapped government and so on and so forth.
Suddenly India’s very own brilliant yet conservative RBI seemed like the country’s savior, thanks to which India’s economy is not rolling downhill at the same speed – atleast not just yet! But a quick look around provides a stark reality check of how the low income group is already feeling the pinch of the gradually ascending inflation, which is yet to bite the more fortunate folks around. If you are wondering what I’m talking about, make a trip to your neighborhood sabji mandi and you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m from the more fortunate and protected lot who is also not feeling the pain just as much at this point. And like many others, I’m completely ignorant of the prices of vegetables in the market and prefer to shop at a fixed price supermarket where I believe I won’t get fleeced!! But it took me only a 5-minute walk down the local vegetable market to realize just how bleak it looks for the not so lucky.
The dismayed look on the faces of the less fortunate, helplessly looking around for a vegetable that is reasonably priced made me wonder if I’m plain selfish for thanking my lucky stars for being in a better off situation; or instead I should be feeling sorry for those who can’t claim the same.
If the prices of basic food keep rising at the rate at which they are climbing right now without the incomes of these people going northward at a proportionate pace, can you even image their situation in the weeks and months to come? By then, even you and me would become the unknowing victims of this animal we call inflation.
One can only hope and pray that like alternate fuels, we can offer these despondent people and many more, cheaper food supplements as well, and soon!!! How else are they expected to survive when they can’t even buy a kilo of tomatoes, or onions or potatoes without adding an additional crease on their already trouble-stricken, wrinkled faces…
I know one thing for sure, this was definitely my last visit to the local market. Call me an escapist but I’m better off not knowing since there ain’t no sign of a silver lining anywhere around the corner…
Makes me wonder just why Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain are so very keen to take on the reins of a fast sinking economy – hats off to you gentlemen and wish you all the very best!!
Suddenly India’s very own brilliant yet conservative RBI seemed like the country’s savior, thanks to which India’s economy is not rolling downhill at the same speed – atleast not just yet! But a quick look around provides a stark reality check of how the low income group is already feeling the pinch of the gradually ascending inflation, which is yet to bite the more fortunate folks around. If you are wondering what I’m talking about, make a trip to your neighborhood sabji mandi and you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m from the more fortunate and protected lot who is also not feeling the pain just as much at this point. And like many others, I’m completely ignorant of the prices of vegetables in the market and prefer to shop at a fixed price supermarket where I believe I won’t get fleeced!! But it took me only a 5-minute walk down the local vegetable market to realize just how bleak it looks for the not so lucky.
The dismayed look on the faces of the less fortunate, helplessly looking around for a vegetable that is reasonably priced made me wonder if I’m plain selfish for thanking my lucky stars for being in a better off situation; or instead I should be feeling sorry for those who can’t claim the same.
If the prices of basic food keep rising at the rate at which they are climbing right now without the incomes of these people going northward at a proportionate pace, can you even image their situation in the weeks and months to come? By then, even you and me would become the unknowing victims of this animal we call inflation.
One can only hope and pray that like alternate fuels, we can offer these despondent people and many more, cheaper food supplements as well, and soon!!! How else are they expected to survive when they can’t even buy a kilo of tomatoes, or onions or potatoes without adding an additional crease on their already trouble-stricken, wrinkled faces…
I know one thing for sure, this was definitely my last visit to the local market. Call me an escapist but I’m better off not knowing since there ain’t no sign of a silver lining anywhere around the corner…
Makes me wonder just why Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain are so very keen to take on the reins of a fast sinking economy – hats off to you gentlemen and wish you all the very best!!
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