Category: Perspective

The old BBC sitcom Yes Minister is back on air in the history channel. I remember seeing this on TV somewhere in the 80’s. That was the time when i was going through the “we are just growing up” phase.. and you look up to a certain person as your hero – idol-and try to be like them. For me it was my aunt. I still remember her going ga-ga about this sitcom.. she and her friends used to have lengthy discussions…and the only thing i could catch was they were so much impressed about the language of the sitcom

I was rather confused…its an English TV show.. so obviously they are speaking English.. but then… what’s so special in English in this show….( this was the time i couldnt say one accent from another… and i did know that “Queen’s English” / “American English” even existed…) to me it was all plain english.

Now that the sitcom is back onAIR at the History channel – Saturday 10.30 am ( IndianStantardTime)..I started watching it out of curiosity ( all the hero(ine) worshipping thoughts.. of my aunt started reeling back as flashback)… but to tell the truth.. I am beginning to enjoy the show… before i tell about my favorite aspect of this show here are some facts

ABOUT THE PLOT:-

How the minister and his immediate team tackles every political situation that comes in their way… with diplomacy .. discretion ..saying what they would like to say.. but cannot say for the fear of loosing there reputation in the cabinet – tactfully agreeing to disagree – in short an action sequence involving words, words, and more words
For full details see here and here

NOW COMES MY FAVORITE PART OF THE SHOW

Today, I regard myself.. a little more wiser than I was in the 80’s ( when this show was first aired in India). Now, I can tell the difference between “Queen’s English” and “how the rest of the word speaks English”. Thanks to my (same) aunt… I grew up watching her getting involved in the books she read. She doesn’t stop at reading and knowing the summary of the book… but she would also encourage me to think.. as in.. what would have been going through the author’s mind when he wrote that piece”.. she would point out the nuances , introducing a thought – carrying it forward with known arguments -following it with our perceptions – and finally concluding it in a manner we feel appropriate.

Today when I think of that.. it seems like a literary exercise.. ( considered boring even by literature students)… but then.. back in those growing years.. she used to make the whole thing appear like a puzzle… and would challenge me to fulfill it. She knows only too well.. that I readily fall for the challenge-bait

She introduced me to Wordsworth – Keats – Shelly – Premchand and many more beyond my classroom and my teacher’s question and answers. Those were the same poems i had in my school curriculum.. yet.. when she would “discuss” ( note : not teach) it with me.. I could see the solitary reaper , I would feel the daffodils.. and every other composition

Oh! Dear…I am sooo moving away from the post… tch..tch… reality check

So.. with so much of insight from my aunt.. I was able to differentiate between the “Queen’s English” and “how the rest of the word speaks English”. To be honest.. my english is same as “the rest of the world”. But.. I enjoy reading and listening to conversations in “queen’s English”…I really do.. So Yes Minister came as a gourmet meal.

Iam not a politically active person.. nor am I interested in any political party. So its only natural that I am unfamiliar with the politics of politics. So in this show.. all the politics go way over my head…and still ..I love to watch it… the only reason is.. the language. I feel.. the characters don’t take shape.. if not for the language they speak in this show. IF languages could be translated / transformed into visuals… I can show you a bright display of glitters – gushing water through an empty pipe – noiseless splash of waves during a low tide – and so much more

If you are the person.. who loves to listen to a language ( content is irrelevant here) then .. I strongly recommend that you watch this show… you will not be disappointed.

Another Tv Programme that I watch purely for the sake of language is the “Aastha TV” where Sri.Ramdevji Maharaj gives discourse on Yoga in Hindi.(Ask me about yoga and its asanas… i am as dumb as a rock).. Till date I have never seen anybody having such a command over hindi (on speaking terms). I have read some really impressive hindi-texts… but to be able to speak in the same accord is a different ballgame.. (May be thats why I love watching Mirza Ghalib and Rekha’s UmraoJaan So much).I think this goes for all languages…. Try speaking for 10 min in a language of your choice,.,. in its most-purely-known form… Do you think you can do it… Then i would love to listen to you someday

Disclaimer: This does not convey that one language is better than the other… just that.. I like to listen when a language is spoken in a certain manner. (can’t say.. who we would end up offending)

We hated when we get one, yet we all love to distribute this free

This is one Gift that none of us wants to accept and yet give away readily for no reason and rhyme.Can you think of one such gift…think people..think..

By “gift” I mean, you are offered this when this is the last thing on earth you expect to land on your lap at this moment ,… you give away this gift as and when you feel like and has no inhibitions of caste-color-creed- senior – junior- etc etc…yup.. you are getting close.. just think a wee bit harder

We tend to attract this “gift” when we are at the worst of our temper, and give this gift to “deserving people” when we feel ourselves on cloud nine..This gift is gift-wrapped with all tenderness and affection that a concern(ed) can gather…yet when we receive this.. it stings us like a porcupine… finally we end us almost hating the person who goes out of the way to present this gift to us

We scorn & slouch.. and refuse to accept the gift right away, may be when the gift looses its novelty, we are very much attracted to it, and may even admire the person whom we scorned at.

Advices, advices, and more and more of advices. We hate it when get one… love it when there is no one around to give us more… and distribute it to those who think deserves them.. (even if they may need it or not :: appreciate it or not ::accept it or not)

I am not getting into the age-long debate of “Does God Exist? ?” or “Do you belive in God” or “Your God or mine? ? “.. “If this is God.. then what / who is Devil?? “, further this post has nothing to with any religion both known and unknown to me. This is just me thinking out loud. However, if this interests you as much as it would, then do join me at my think-tank.. and we shall talk loud and clear.

Our parents take care to ‘install’ the power of prayer in our psyche from childhood. We are repeatedly nurtured with the ideas that “God” likes and favors good people – good thoughts – and good actions. So if we were to be in his good-books by doing “virtuous deeds”.. the he will come to our aid at times of adversity.As we mature chronologically, psychologically and emotionally we begin questioning the logic behind God and Godliness. God ceases to be an individual entity anymore and is seen as a “Concept”.

We start our journey of life cribbing.. I want this, I want that… followed by… This is not fair.. that’s not fair.. Why me ??… As we progress ( literally and figuratively speaking) in life we realize that “Life is not fair – So deal with it “. Along the way we try to look inward and question the very beliefs that had been laid as foundation by our parents. Not wanting to hurt the religious sentiments of parents.. we continue to perform the actives like prayer, going to temples ( ie.. your religious place of worship), not criticizing their view on God.. and so

Being a part of all the above process myself.. I am beginning to have some strange thoughts. I many not be a religious fanatic… but i start my day with a short prayer, before leaving for work, my mother ( now its my mother-in-law) applies the scared-ash to my forehead and blesses me to have a pleasant and productive day. Every time i pass by a roadside temple.. my hand involuntarily touches my heart.. as in a silent prayer. None of the above activities as pre-meditated. That’s how a typical day progresses at our house, and I donot have any qualms about it

It makes me wonder.. with all those religious discourses on God ( God of any religion), there is one thing that always comes back to me.. Faith and Belief. This is not about having total faith in (y)our religion. It’s about faith in one-slef, faith in the existence of goodness in others, faith that everything that goes up comes down.. even at the emotional level, and several other aspects of faith.

When in extreme distress, people take a vow to visit a certain shrine – do certain activities ( this is a long list and varies with each religion.. so i am not going to tell all that here) – donate materials / cattle to the shrine.. etc..etc. They believe when such a vow is taken, God comes to our rescue and shows us the way to overcome the distress and lead a more pleasant life. Things have changed for better for many such families. Are these incidents coincidental or divine.. no one knows for sure. Those who are in quest of answers to such an incident seems be still continuing their quest.

I am not baffled or thrilled on hearing such incidents.. instead they prompt me to sit back and think. I wonder, God never asks us to visit his shrine, donate materials-cattle, perform elaborate pooja , spend lavishly on temple actives. Then what is it that prompts the believers to all this. ( I am excluding the so-called-God-Men from this discussion.. Do I believe in God.. I am not sure. But i am very sure that I have no faith in people who is proclaimed as God-Men)..Believe it or not , One day on a totally boring evening.. somehow the very same thought popped up in my head.. and I just drifted with the train of thought..( darn.. I just can’t recollect the details now)..At the end of the evening.. I was left with just one word “COMMITMENT”

Yes, Commitment…. that’s what is nudging the believers to do the things they do ( oh yeah.. there is fear factor.. say.. if u don’t fulfill the vow then God will punish you and take away the good fortune… i think there are 2 genre of people here… those who fear God and those who believe in God). Taking a vow ( to God or otherwise) is akin commitment to oneself. There is no written agreement, no witness, absolutely nothing to prove that a vow has been conceived in mind. So why bother fulfilling it…

We are ordinary people with ordinary aspirations to lead an ordinary lifestyle in this rat-eat-rat world. We regard ourselves high in self-esteem and self-confidence and that’s what is motivating us to move ahead in life. So when a vow is taken , it seen more as a commitment / promise to self. When we donot take efforts to fulfill the promise we made to ourselves, then every time we say .. ” I will do this…I Promise ..” , something rings at the back of our head and call’s out “Liar”.. Never again we will be comfortable in saying.. “I promise” .. be that attending your son’s P&T meet , or talking your wife to her parent’s place.

In my opinion , during those distressing times, when we take a vow, it somehow gives us the mental balance to see our troubled situation in a more clearer sense at a different level . We tend to think and act with caution. Missing pieces required to correct our situation seem to be present right in front of us.. yet we were so engrossed in self-pity , that we failed to see. Now with new found energy in “faith” ( faith in oneself) , we face the difficulty, battle it and come out of it with minimum bruises. ( I wont say unscratched). On a religious note , I can say “God works in mysterious ways”, but I am not so sure if this is to be accepted or rejected or just let it be there.

For me faith in the things around me is godliness. If my words can give little faith to someone who constantly droops… and motivate him to stand straight and look ahead.. then I think I have lot of faith in God

Bar-fight is something we all are familiar with these days . There is a new kind of fight doing rounds these days.. its the blog-fights. This is how the fights travel in the blogosphere. Say Mr.A writes a certain post.. expressing his ‘opinion’ on a controversial subject – political party’s decision – religion based ideas ( these are the hot spots).. and in the process of ‘expressing’ his ‘opinion’ he resorts to name-calling towards a particular group of people – organization-political party – religious groups etc ( again ..”hot spots”). Now.. with so much of name calling ( in a bid to justfy his post and vent out his anger / disgust) in the posts.. its not practically possible for every visitor who stumbles upon this Mr.A’s post to accept whatever Mr.A has to offer.

One such person will be Mr.B ( rarely they identify themselves… they usually use the Anonymous option to place their comments.. when they dot agree with the post author) Mr.B puts in a comment ( with equal amount of name calling and usage of abusive words towards the same sector whom Mr.A seems to be sympathetic to).. and Mr.B may call upon his friends to “support his cause”, so does Mr.A.. Finally the post is bombarded with comments with each group calling names at each other and fishing out the most abusive terms in the(ir) dictionary.

One day the post author ( ie our Mr.A) decides to ban any further comments..With no platform to continue the fight.. the immediate reaction of Mr.B is to have a post at his blog conveying his “Opinion” and attempt at outsmarting at Mr.A in name-calling and abusive vocabulary.

So.. what is wrong with posting one’s individual opinion.. after-all we all have the freedom of thought and freedom of expression. But what went wrong in the above case is.. somewhere along the line of discussion both parties lost track of the actual issue ( which was being scrutinized) and the only thing that remained was name-calling and gathering the most abusive adjectives.. If all these abuses are “beeped” out from the post – comments .. there was indeed a very intelligent argument hidden within.

We are under no obligation to accepted everything we read / hear. When an opportunity shows up.. we must express our opinions .. and speak of the subject matter only. How productive would a debate be.. if the debatees are attack each other personally. Isn’t it not the cardinal rule of social etiquette that you donot disagree with a person… but disagree with the idea in question

Believe me.. I speak from experience. Its perfectly possible to have an argument between two people with opposing views , each of them committed to their own perception of the same subject.. without using any kind of adjectives (..ie nothing that might indicate goodness or badness).I have had my share of abuses at my comments section. But when if confront the person with an open invitation for a debate.. under the singular condition that he / she shall not indulge and any kind of name-calling & abusive / flattering adjectives… then that’s the last time I see him /her at my blog.

Your thoughts and ideas are as important as your vocabulary. If you can roll out abuses at the drop of a hat.. how much importance do expect your readers / listeners to attach to your genuine ideas. It doesnot hurt to be polite and your words make a greater impact.. when you direct them towards the subject of debate rather than the person whom you are debating with. A little decency will not harm… it will make people sit straight and see your perspective ..( that’s the idea isn’t it ? ? ? )

Who would not want to be sucessfull..Its only funny that the successful ones say “I don’t care about being successful.. its the satisfaction that i get.. motivates me to move further”.. Howcome the same people don’t say the same words when things were not-so-successful-times…Belive and accept that every one aspires to be successful in their own genre of things .. and there is not need to feel guilty of being successful. After-all you are entitled to to fruits of your labor. (I am writing this article assuming that your success comes out of your legitimate – truthful – honest manner of working without any kind of backstabbing)

There are a certain category of people who might make you feel miserable for being the best and successful in the things you do.. Its these people you need to stay away from. . They not only make you feel quitly for being yourself…(oh!.. so you got the promotion.. congtrats.. but then.. that was a pretty easy project to do and you had ample time to complete it well before time).. but they also drain you of the motivating force …( oh!.. still on your desk.. working on another promotion is it ? ? )… surely you can do away with such comments and let some fresh air (productive ideas) into your mind.

Once in a while.. just sit back and watch a bunch of aspiring minds at work. If you feel.. its within your capacity to help them realize their dream.. then drop discreet ideas and suggestions.. that might help the person think and work towards his goal. This way you will spare him of the emotion to feel obliged to you.. and grant him the satisfaction of achieving his dreams in his own merit.

If you are from India.. then you probably know what i am talking about here. For the rest of the world Megaserials as TV shows that are on the air for the past 5 years and show the prospects of being in air for the next 15 years. It starts of with a single story line.. proceeds at some point to branch out and spread its foliage.. and something something happens and then the serial reaches its end with a big budget closing ceremony.

Its widely accepted the housewives are the lone audience for these megaserials that are relayed on TV between 10.00 am and 10.00pm. As it is the housewife ( as the name suggests) spends time “at home” she has nothing to do except watch TV serials. For the menfolk watch News – Sports – Market Analysis.

Allow me to reveal some home truths here. It may be accepted the “Men Donot Watch Megaserials” , for these are boring stuff watched and appreciated by the women. This is so not true. Men may not “sit and watch” these shows… but every now and then they make their discreet enquiries about the plot of these serials,.. they say something like..”Honey.. what happend to the serail at 9.00 .. where XYZ eloped with the bar guy.. or the ABC person convited for trial”.. poor lady of the house narrates the plot only to get ..” and this is the crap you ladies sit and watch all day long”… Not stopping here.. the next week … he wants to be updated of the plot.. with another discreet query.. and the saga continues.. .. ..

Would we refuse a opportunity if it would grant us our name in the Guinness world record book… i guess not. Here is the news of one loving father of a brilliant son who wanted his son’s name to appear in the wolrd famous Guinness Record book.. but.. things went wrong when he came public with the feat.

THE FACTS:-
This is the latest news buzzing around amongst the Indian Medical Association and the whole of TamilNadu. This involves a 15 year old boy, Dileepan Raj, born to Dr.Murugesan and Dr. Gandhimathi ( yes .. you guessed right.. both parents are practicing doctors) has performed Cesarean section and delivered a baby at his parent’s Nursing home in Manapparai district in TamilNadu. He has performed this ‘feat’ under the guidance and supervision of his parents. The surgery was performed approximately 3 months ago.. but this news reached the media just few days back when Dr.Murugesan (the father) screened the video footage of the surgery (which was being performed by his son) to the authorities of the Indian Medical Association.. in attempt to gain recognition to his Son’s brilliance and in turn get his son’s name entered into the Guinness World Record

However his intentions got grounded and his ladder to fame toppled over him when the IMA declared this act as illegal and unethical. The Govt.Of India has ordered a probe into this issue Surgery performed by a Minor. Dr.Murugesan went wild when the IMA authorities condemned his act and said it was no feat.. but breach of trust.. The Lady on whom the Cesarean Operation was performed was from a village. She came to the nursing home for delivery…and the family believed the doctor when he said that the lady had developed complications and normal delivery will not be possible and a cesarean operation is needed to save the mother and the child.

Just like any other villager.. the family placed their trust on the doctor and signed the requisite forms which they thought was the “permission to perform a Cesarean Operation”. Little they suspected that a 15 year old will be performing a surgery involving the lives of 2 unsuspecting souls. However today , 3 months after the surgery, the mother and child are said to be doing fine.

However, Amarilis Espinoza, a spokeswoman for the record book, said in an e-mail response to a question from The Associated Press that the organization doesn’t monitor or endorse such feats because it would encourage the practice of “bad medicine.”

MY POINT OF VIEW

Its only natural for parents to see a spark of brilliance in their child and have the wish to take their child’s skills to greater heights of glory. I am of the opinion that skills akin painting-..etc can be learnt and perfected with practice even if the person has little or no technical knowledge about the paints used / strokes of Davinci / papers of italy etc..etc.. Infact there is no harm done if one project goes wrong. All the person stand to loose is his canvas and some materials used. But performing a surgery as vital as a C-section cannot be termed as a skill that can be learnt with practice alone. One needs to have the knowledge – logic- forethought about the entire procedure and the science involved. This is not some 15 marks question appearing in the 10 std Public exam question paper .. where you go in for a revaluation … if you think there is some mistake with the correction procedure.

Perhaps if Dr.Murugesan and Dr.Gandhimathi had approached the Education department for a fast track degree for their son.. with special screening tests to examine his capabilities in understanding the medical procedures and the theory involved, and various other examinations , control-experiments..etc..etc which would put him at par with other licensed – established doctors.. then truly this news would have proved fruitful both for the boy , Dileepan Raj and his parents.

Dileepan is just a 15 year old…like any-other teenager.. Wonder how he is taking all this pressure. He has is board exams ahead of him. His teachers and friends are never going to interact with him in the same manner as they did few weeks back. He will be seen as a subject as controversy in his school. Even-though brilliant….. he can’t volunteer to answer a science quiz in his class.. coz then he will be labeled as a “show off”. I truly feel sad for this chap. He just did what his parents told him to do, and they promised him that he is going to be famous one day… sad.. he got famous for all the wrong reasons

JUST ONE QUESTION FOR DILEEPAN’S PARENTS

Dr.Murugesan Dr.Gandhimathi claim that they had been training their son to perform such a surgery for the past 2-3 years. Well.. does his medical license authorize him to train a minor on medical practices ? ?.

By now most of you will be familiar with different kinds of webfeeds like the Rss-feeds, Atom-feeds, JSON-feeds etc. I am looking for feeds which contain images. This is My PhotoBlog and this is the URL of my post feed
http://photoblog-by-deepa.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
where each picture is accompanied by a short description

When this feed is used to display the contents of my photoblog.. I either have the option of showing just the post-titles ( no image and no description) or show description ( show full image and full description). I am in search of some procedure that will allow me to display the images as a thumbnail ( say about 100 x100).. so that my readers who come here will know that there has been an update at my photoblog and can click on the picture to get to see the pic in its full size

What good is a feed for photoblog, if it cannot give a preview of the image. I have googled, contacted feedburner and Yahoo-Piped for almost 3 weeks but no luck. If anyone reading this has some insight into developing a image-preview mode for photoblog feed.. Please…please…please…drop your word here…This is an open cry for help from a fellow blogger who loves to take pictures once in a while

I have been Tagged by Vishesh.The Rule demands that I share the 5^th paragraph in the 123^rd page of the book I am presently reading.As I am reading a ComicBook..here is the entire 123^rdpage for your eyes

ADVENTURES OF TINTIN

Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herg%C3%A9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin
http://www.tintin.com

Rules of the game

Here are my 5 friends who just got themselves tagged 😀

How would it make you feel if your 4-year old came to you as soon as she wakes up ( which is probably the time you would be at the breakfast table to face the day)..hugs you and says..”……You are the best dad in the whole wide wide world”….how would you put feelings at this point in words in the language you are most conversant at… pretty hard.!!!..hmm…damn hard !!!… face it… its impossible to put those emotions into words… This is
=d>APPRECIATION AT ITS BEST & IN THE MOST UN-ADULTERATED FORM=d>

Somewhere along the way.. in the urgency to grow-up , we forgot the art of baring our emotions as it feels.. no frills attached , no diplomacy ..just say what you feel. Later when we think about this.. we start feeling bad about this and try to compensate by telling nice-little things and we give it the name appreciation.

Broadly we can classify appreciation as Verbal and Non-verbal. Non-Verbal appreciations are those which are apparent in the looks, the way you turn your head when a nice chick passes by ( or for that matter a cute-guy asks for directions 😉 ..), the way you raise your eyebrows when the child at the coffee shop catches your attention, the way you suppress your laugh when you accidentally overhear the conversation between enthusiastic adolescents, the way you stop on your tracks to smell the roses in your neighbors garden.

In order to be more adept at the art verbal-appreciation… its imperative that you are familiar with the language of the object. Lets say you come across a picture in a magazine. I don’t know what it is.. but I can certainly say that it caught your attention so strong.. that you decide to add it to your scrap book. Now this is non-verbal appreciation. You liked the picture so much.. that you want to share it with your friends.. but forgot to carry with you. So you decide to tell your friend all about that one-picture before he actually sees it from you. In order to be able to do this.. you must be able to bring the entire picture into your minds eye and paint the picture in words. This is only possible … only if you had looked beyond the superficial photograph.This is verbal-appreciation

This is exactly what a painting-artist would do. He sees a bunch of roses in a flower shop ( we too pass by the same shop and glimpse at those flowers… pretty nice hmm..). Just as listening is different from hearing.. seeing is different from looking. The artist not only sees the flowers, but also looks into them.. He absorbs the view into his intellect.. and when he is in front of his canvas.,,.. for him.. the picture is already there in that canvas… he just needs to draw lines and fill colors at the right places. This is his manner of appreciating a view of scene that he witnessed.

The same principle goes for all kinds of appreciation. You happened to like your subordinate’s work.. A little appreciation would boost his spirits and might even motivate him to perform better. But what good is his potential.. if you can’t speak few encouraging words about him amongst his co-workers. Better still.. give him a written appreciation.. he will be only glad to be at work Monday morning. Incentives and increments will follow…but this gesture of appreciation will stay fresh even after his retirement

A pat on the back would suffice for the moment.. but your words have a larger effect. So you need to choose your words carefully. “Hey..fella… Very Good..!” .. will be taken with a smile and handshake.. but the recipient might harbor doubts as to whether you really understood his contribution.. Don’t get too technical.. then it might just scare him off.. as though you are emphasizing your supremacy. You need to choose a middle ground and at the same time be well aware of the nature of work you are about to appreciate.

“Hey..Good job man..!… I liked the way you did this-that .. keep up the good work” … acts like an appetizer for the recipient as an impromptu appreciation. Remember he is still waiting for the main course. Use your resources and stick to the basics if you want to excel in the art of appreciation. 🙂

I am of the opinion that all languages have their own thesaurus. (If you are not sure.. start building your own.. or look up the internet).. Assuming that the communication is in English.. lets use the Thesaurus to find nice words and substitute for common words. Make sure that each sentence conveys a specific meaning and avoid beating around the bush. Start with an encouraging note.. work around the object of appreciation.. and end it with a word of reassurance and hope. The hope you have expressed in the last part of the appreciation will reinforce his respect towards you.

After all we all have the urge to excel in our fields.:-w So extend that drive towards expressing your appreciation also. Practice this art. After some time you will notice that words will flow when you need them. You might not have to take a compulsive effort to remember them. Words are out there in the air… just stretch and reach out to pick them up.

Be unique in expressing your admiration. Use your resources well. Use Thesaurus.