And the World will be Red

Occupy Wall Street
Occupy London
Occupy Rome
Occupy Zurich
Occupy Tahrir

And the World will be Red

Red of the Soviets
Red of the Tiananmen
Red of the Indianism

Dengue Musings

One day, my friend, a doctor informed me about a dengue prevention camp that he was going to conduct. A part of me, wanted to visit, but I couldn't attend because of some reason. Mostly, I wanted to go to support my friend. Why would I need a dengue prevention medicines, I haughtily wondered at that time.

But, in reality I was at a high dengue risk, unknown to anyone. My office was flooded with mosquitoes and a portion of it was flooded by water. Perhaps at the office or some other place, the mosquito attacked me. As a consequence, my platelets spiraled down, as my temperature shot up.

It was a sick time. Down on bed all the time, with nothing to do. Add to it, my heart's misery. Having lost a friend to dengue, exactly a year ago, the time that passed was tough on me. Could I be joining him? Or I am the one, destined to suffer on Earth here? Questions often tormented my mind. I think of it now, and I realize that yes, I was ready to meet the creator. (Or whomsoever you meet, when breath exits your body)

I hate being pinned down. In the hospital, I was all boxed up. I craved for freedom and freedom alone. The fuss created by parents and relatives didn't help at all. The more you visit a hospital, the more you realize, the hell India is, where medical system is worse than Manmohan Singh's governance. But no, it was not a very extraordinary time for me. Just routine, mechanical. Your body got unwell, you get it fixed and proceed to lead the same routine life. As simple as getting that punctured scooter tire fixed.

As destiny would have it, I survived and survived well. All thanks to the gem of friends that I ha ve and my family of course. But the question remains in my head; did I need this survival?

The political colours of SBI - State Bank of India

Everyday, as I head to my office, I have to cross a busy chowk in the area called Ishmeet Chowk. It has among many other commercial establishments an ATM of State Bank of India. But I have been in for a surprise, for past many days, on a hoarding by Youth Congress just above the ATM. Moreover, the hoarding is clearly endorsed by the bank ATM as shown in the photos below.

 

State Bank is one of the largest banks in the country. We have an act in the Parliament for its functioning. How, I wonder, do we allow such large public institutions, that have several lakhs of shareholders to adopt political sides? Is it really appropriate? While local authorities like the Municipal Council are always in news for giving publicity leeway to politicians, large public organizations to enter this line of sycophancy is rare.

 
Of course one may say that the bank had no knowledge of this. But then, if you look at the hoarding carefully, SBI ATM with the bank logo has been clearly incorporated in the advertisement. Is it possible that, whoever placed that hoarding was very overconfident that the bank would approve of this? Or is it a fact, that the bank has already decided, as to whose side it is going to take in the upcoming assembly elections in the Punjab state?


 
Also, senior officers would also be monitoring the working of an ATM, apart from the security that is provided to the machine. How can you simply, put up a board without the officials noticing it? Especially their own Bank's logo?

Of course, I have noticed just one such hoarding. Are there more such joint advertisement plans?Any answers anyone?

A whiff of old memories

It happens with me often. I don't know about the reader, though. Some object or a song or a picture becomes an icon of of memories. For example, you here a particular song and it reminds you of your kid days. A picture can be a window of a whole long vacation that you had been part of.

One such icon, that clicked upon me, the other day, during lunch was the smell of a paneer parantha. Yes, when I was a kid, mom used to pack paranthas for tiffin (She still does that, btw but now we refer to it as lunch not tiffin). One of my favorites, way back were paneer paranthas. I like them simple, with filling of just paneer (cottage cheese) and salt. I am not familiar with the technicalities, but food does differ in taste if you eat it fresh or you pack it for some hours and then eat it. I can never seem to forget the aroma of packed paneer paranthas. In my brain, it has been associated with a picture of Petals, the nursery school that I attended as a child.

Speaking about old memories and childhood, I feel, one should never keep a lot of memory figures in their closets, almirahs or worse; bed boxes. If you try to understand Vastu or simple positive energy techniques, clutter at your place, always hampers good energy. Plus, all the stuff would remind you and pull you towards past. And if one is stuck in past, how would he/she progress into future?

That said, I also have a theory, that you should certainly maintain a few souvenirs of your  struggling days. As you rise in life, you should never ever forget where you came from. Roots more of than not, are to be reminisced.