Do we love our leaders?

"At the stroke of midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, then an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity."

I don’t need to give details about who said this and when. I am sure every Independence day speech or a write-up would start with this. But my intention here is not to remember the person who said this, but why do we remember these lines only during Independence Day or Republic Day

Come August 15 or January 26, you have these long speeches about national leaders who sacrificed their lives for our independence and their importance. It is that time of the year when we always feel proud of our national leaders.

But, I have always wondered how many youngsters would be able to relate to these iconic leaders. Veteran theater personalityPoornam Viswanathan, said he choked when he was announcing about Nehru’s Independence Day speech.

Unlike Viswanathan, I fail to evoke the same feeling for our national leaders. For most of us who were born in the post independence era, freedom fighters were introduced to us in our history text books. We studied the Dandi March, Non-Cooperation movement and other movements to score those marks to pass. I am not denying the fact that many actually liked reading it, but my question is how many of us relate to those stories. History to me is just a representation of facts by the powerful. It is more difficult to practice what they said than just speaking about them. Our politicians never fail to quote them but rarely put their thoughts into practice.

Are these national leaders really valued for their contributions? Of course for a political party paying respect to them is all aboutbuilding a statue for these leaders and gain political mileage.

So who is to be blamed? Where do we start? I believe we can never relate to our national leaders and be emotionally attached to their views, simply because we haven’t undergone the trials and tribulations of these leaders. My argument here is not about questioning their sacrifices. The current generation might learn about these leaders, but beyond that will they be able to evoke the same feeling as our grand fathers had for Gandhi or Vallabhai Patel.

Lal Bagh Decks Up For Independence Day

The Garden City is decked up for the Independence Day! The glass house of Lal Bagh Botanical Garden, Bangalore,  is hosting the yearly flower show as part of the Independence Day celebrations. The show has been going on for a week and will conclude on Aug 15th. This time, the show is a tribute for the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country. The biggest attraction is the 'India Gate' made of  flowers.  So Bangaloreans, why not make a visit this weekend? There won't be a better time !

Lal Bagh remains open from 6.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. daily. The garden is accessible through four gates but vehicles are allowed only through the East gate towards the Double Road.  Read more about Lal Bagh here

Chasing Independence

The only thing about our independence I know is the struggle for it. Since I was born much after the Chinese occupation of Tibet, to be a citizen of an independent country is a feeling I'm not very familiar with.

When we were younger, the small Tibetan community evoked patriotism by watching street plays that illustrated the hardships our fathers and their fathers suffered, crossing the Himalayas barefoot and fleeing the Chinese brutality. So to me, Independence equaled suffering, violence, deprivation. Worse still, it made us “identity-less”, gave us the tags of exiles.

During teenage years, my idea of Independence Day was the function at school, before classes - the day we dressed in our (or borrowed) Indian best. It was a day when we acknowledged the importance of the maintenance staff in our lives- in a residential school. Instead of the Principal, the Indian flag was always hoisted by a watchman, a cook or a sweeper.

In my early twenties, Independence Day was just another working day. It was producing television shows on freedom in general, and specifically on the progress India has made in its sixty odd years as a free nation.  15th August  meant yet another late night at office. It also meant the fruition of weeks of labour.

Now, the idea of independence has taken a whole new meaning. It’s not only a struggle, or a “function”, or a holiday or a just another working day. It’s all that and more.

My idea of independence is in its spirit. The first time I “felt” free was back in Mumbai, when I’d just started working. Post 9pm, the local trains are relatively empty so I loved taking the train after work. Despite there being seats empty, I loved standing by the door, all the way from Lower Parel to Andheri. Watching the various stations and slums pass by, I’d feel liberated, living on my own in a city like Mumbai, paying my bills and going out shopping without the guilt of spending parents’ money.

Since I don’t have an Independence Day to celebrate, this 15^th August I celebrate freedom from negativity and hate. Sometimes it’s just simpler to believe that whatever happens, happens for a reason. Instead of being a pessimist, I’ll start looking at the glass as half-full.

Hate has not got us anywhere in the past, nor is it ever going to get us to a better place. Instead of all that animosity and bitterness, if we detach ourselves from the sources of anger, we’d be happier.

Finally the most important aspect of independence is our freedom of choice. It’s time we respect and appreciate democracy because it has come to India after a long hard struggle. We Tibetans have as much to celebrate Indian independence as India does because this is where we Tibetans practice equal freedom of speech and mind.

Becks 'a Little Too Old'?

I hope David will be OK to come and play his last game at Wembley in the next friendly game to come and wave bye-bye to the crowd - Fabio Capello

England has decided to bid farewell to its super-servant David Beckham. A veteran of three World Cups for England and remarkable stints with Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan and LA Galaxy - David will surely be missed who just loves the game. Such is his passion in the white shirt that Beckham never complained being amongst the substitutes under Capello. He missed out on a fourth World Cup after injuring himself in March.

I've always said I won't retire from playing for my country. If I never get picked again or whether I get picked again for one more game or 10 more games I'll be available, said a modest David Beckham before the 'probably a bit too old' news.

David made his national debut during a World Cup qualifying match against Moldova in 1996 and since then has been the mainstay to England's plans. With 115 caps, the Englishman is the second most capped player in the nation's history behind Peter Shilton. Famous for his signature free-kicks, Beckham may not be the greatest player England has produced but surely one of the better ones in average time.

At 35 years, David may not be counted among football's elite but he certainly looked determined to push that body in England's service which he lives for and loves.

I'm sure that if he hears that news, it'll drive him on and he'll try to prove people wrong and try to get back in the set-up because I know he loves playing for England. He's had some fantastic performances, some fantastic goals, and memories. He was a fantastic captain. I've learned a lot from David and it's been a pleasure to play alongside him, said England captain Steven Gerrard.

Click here for Beckham's milestones

After their disastrous World Cup campaign, this Beckham news should not cause any kind of redundant hullabaloo. But Capello's management could have done it in a better way - at least informed him before making such announcement. The soccer stud has given enough memories to England fans to have earned that.

How to Quit a Job With Style

Have you heard of the HPOA girl?

A day after Steven Slater, a disgruntled flight attendant with Jet Blue airlines in the US, abused an uncooperative passenger with some choice slurs and slid down the emergency chute, and managed to bid his job goodbye, came the story of the girl with her resignation in big letters on a dry board. Jenny, the girl, supposedly sent out an email to all her colleagues with 33 pictures attached, each showing her holding up a whiteboard with a message on it. In the 33 pics, the young lady "called out" her boss on harassment and sexist remarks and quit her job.

Is Sonam’s Body Really the Best?

Nips and tucks are the modern woman’s adrenaline rush. Caught in the crossfire to emulate Sonam Kapoor’s flab to fit ‘success’ story and Kareena Kapoor’s dizzying drop to size zero, Indian men and women are redefining the traditional ethos of beauty. Beauty is no longer the preserve of the soigné. It’s almost a commodity off the shelves – if you desire beauty, you shall have it.

Indians are fast matching up to the vanity of say, Americans who spend more on beauty than on education. Statistics, released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, shows that cosmetic surgery is becoming popular in countries with emerging economies which generate wealth, such as India and China. ISAPS president Foad Nahai said, "Emerging economies are generating a lot of wealth and as that wealth is passed around, people are choosing to spend their discretionary income on aesthetic procedures. The lure of plastic surgery is firmly getting entrenched on desi shores, says this report from ‘The Times of India’.

With a relentless blitzkrieg of ‘globalised’ international beauty standards to match up to, Indian women are opting for liposuction and breast augmentation. Men and women want hair transplants. Though beauty is only skin deep, every country has a beauty ideal which borders on obsession.

But perceptions vary as perceptions will. So while fat may be fabulous in one country, it would be ugly and distasteful in another. By upgrading to the ‘globalised’ beauty, we are alienating our traditional belief in ‘being full’ as a sign of good health. We end up with a blind belief in the ‘inspirational’ stories which stars spin. Sonam Kapoor has repeatedly spoken of the samosas she would binge on in one sitting and who can forget the well-endowed Bebo before being hit by the size zero mania.

Sonam’s weight loss: Inspiring to alarming

Our idea of the Indian beauty has changed. Now, there’s nothing Indian about her. She’s a smorgasbord of Barbie, Giselle, Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga with ‘inspiration’ from Sonam and Katrina and Bipasha. We now have beauty ideals represented by catty actors slugging to push each other off the diva no. 1 post. Or the media who keeps bombarding us with images of anorexic beauties or cosmetic companies who gleefully promise the perfect face from a potion in a jar.

We have been conned into believing there’s nothing unusual in sporting a head of streaked ‘blonde’ hair with dark skin and brown eyes. Why don’t we celebrate classical beauty of Madhubala or Leela Naidu? I know, we think they are gorgeous women of times gone by. When did you last hear of a PYT hankering to get her eyebrows threaded a la Gayatri Devi? Give her garish Gaga.

Who defines pop ideal beauty in India? Do you decide whether a biggish derriere is sexy or unattractive? No. Others do and they have no context to you, your lifestyle or your body type. Just like we are losing originality in our movies and music, we are losing the real Indian beauty.

Go ahead and look beautiful. But let it be YOUR choice. Don’t let anyone tell you what’s beautiful. There’s really more to life than trying to conform to someone's confused sense of beauty.

Do we have milestones to celebrate in Independent India?

It's that time of the year again. The nonchalant patriot in us wakes up from a year-long hibernation to 'celebrate' the spirit of Independence. And what is it that we celebrate? Independence of the kind where people kill people in the name of honour,terrorists from a neighbouring country hold a city to ransom for nearly 60 hours, extremists kill to survive and farmers suicide. And, those in whom we rest our faith to lead the country by example, hurl chairs and benches at each other in the House orthrow pots outside it.  Oh and not to forget, we still have an overwhelming 836 million people who live on a per capita consumption of less than Rs 20 a day. The featured picture should give you some idea too.

Chandrayaan1 launched

But we all celebrate.

And we have cause to do so.

• India's won the inaugural T20 World Cup in a thriller against Pakistan in 2007
• We launched Chandrayaan1 successfully: India's first mission to the Moon - 22nd October 2008. We have of course been successfully testing Agni missiles and ISRO has launched the PSLV C14 in July 2010.
• AR Rehman won the Oscar for his Jai Ho number in  'Slumdog Millionaire' in 2009,  getting the world to sit up again and hail India's cultural expertise after Satyajit Ray won an honorary Academy Award in 1992 for his "rare mastery of the art of motion pictures" back in 1992.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5FFs_ulyFA

• And, Ratan Tata kept his promise to fulfill every man's dream of owning a car with the launch of Tata Nano - the world's cheapest car at just Rs 1 lakh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9Mw6BuMJEM

Besides, India is today recognized as a super power in making. Its gross domestic product is the 5th highest in the world. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, thanks to liberalization of trade policies in the last decade. India is acknowledged as the third largest storehouse in the world for technically qualified workforce and one of the most knowledgeable lot too.

There was a time when we depended  on others to feed us. And today more than 2300 high yielding hybrid varieties of food grains and cash crops have been developed which make India self-sustained in food production. That several tons of foodgrain rot owing to lack of storage facility, isn't anybody's concern of course, and the powers that be continue to deny the such stories.

They perhaps forget that we are now a very well-informed lot, thanks to the Right to Information Act of 2005 and no matter how much they try to hide, we get the real story, the true picture.

The Commonwealth Games, another case in point. What could truly have been a milestone, is mired in controversy. Here's a plan that can still save it. But only if Mr Kalmadi's listening!

President Pratibha Patil on board the Sukhoi

Sadly, while doing this post, I could hardly think of any recent milestones, apart from these, that India can be proud of

Kapil Dev with the World Cup

as a  country. There have had several individual achievements, particularly in sports -  Abhinav Bindra, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Saina Nehwal to name a few, in arts - Arvind Adiga won the Booker, in Politics, we had the first woman president in Pratibha Patil, who also happened to be the first to fly in a Sukhoi. They've certainly got the world to look at India asa competitor, but honestly, the country needs to get its act together before it becomes a force to reckon with.

So which milestone are you celebrating?

Further reading:

Fasting and Feasting During Ramadan

The holy month of Ramadan begins today and so does a month of fasting and feasting. It is considered to be the most blessed month in the Islamic calendar. It’s not only a month of restraining oneself from food and drinks but also practicing abstinence in thought and actions.

The Quran states, "Ramadan is the (month) in which we sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to humankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). Se every one of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting...." [2:al-Baqara:185]

Also,

"Allah has no interest in any person's abstention from eating and drinking, if that person does not give up lying and dishonest actions" [narrated by Hadhrat Abu Hurrah in Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 3, #127].

Muslims around the world spend this month in prayer and try to re-evaluate their lives in the light of Islam. The belief is that if we ask for something or plead forgiveness with an honest heart, it shall be heard and it will be done. It’s a month of thanksgiving and prayer and an attempt to reconnect with God.

While Ramadan is a time to reassess our lives, what I love is the month-long festivities till Eid. For me it’s been typically marked by a sparse sehri before sunrise and the sumptuous iftar after daybreak, streets bustling with activity late into the night, the aroma of grilled kebabs wafting through the night air and mouth-watering haleem that is only available during Ramzan in some cities.

Last year’s Ramadan in the U.S. was a unique experience with Muslim immigrants doing their utmost to make the month a memorable one; weekend iftar parties at community mosques, biryani - the Indian, the Pakistan and the Bangladeshi way depending on which restaurant was sponsoring the evening dinner and the most multi-cultural congregation saying the evening prayers together. No matter how much I missed my family, the convergence of such a multi-ethnic crowd celebrating peace, the actual essence of Islam, was an overwhelming sight.

I am looking forward to this month in a new city this year. Ramadan Mubarak - Wishing you a peaceful month ahead, a month ofprayer, forgiveness and charity. Am leaving you with one of my favourite videos.

Totoya Etios to Lock Horns with Maruti Swift

Maruti Swift, probably the hottest car in India, has been facing tough competition this year in the Indian market. Since the 2010 Auto Expo in January, the small car segment has witnessed a phenomenal growth with international players like Nissan, Ford, Chevrolet and Volkswagen entering the fray.

Now, Toyota is also set to enter the mass market with its super hatchback, Etios, along with its sedan variant. However, Toyota has not revealed yet which edition would go on sale first in the Indian market. Compounding Maruti's woes, Toyota-Kirloskar MD Hiroshi Nakagawa announced that the main competition for Etios would be Swift and Swift Dzire in both hatchback and sedan segment, respectively.

Toyota is already one of the most loved and admired brands worldwide as well as in India and Etios is sure to generate many more happy customers, thus making Toyota a major player in

the country.

Toyota Etios has been developed on a new platform and has a completely new engine which is not present in any Toyota car so far. Etios means Spirit and Principle which Toyota intends to give to its customers in India. The car will be first launched in India and then will be sold in global market unlike any recent entrants which are first introduced in overseas markets and then developed in India.

Besides a highly fuel-efficient petrol variant, a diesel possibility for Etios is also being worked out.

What "Being Patriotic" Means To Me

We have come a long way since 1947. And thank goodness for that. My father keeps reminding me every now and then, you don't know how fortunate you are to be living in this age.

While he remembers his 'good old days', where money talk included the use of the word 'paisa' and where life was simpler in general, he does remember that things were not as easy to come by as well. Everything from books, medicine, clothes to the quality of life was nothing compared to what it is nowadays.

Look at the pace at which time flies! Just 10 years ago, incoming mobile calls cost some 75 paisa per minute. Now, outgoing STD rates are cheaper.

Take a second to look at the kind of progress our country has made. It is astounding. We are en route to being one of the world's leading economies. With the outsourcing industry flourishing, the world comes to us for business. So many of our industries have gone global. We have developed into one of the world's leading tourist destinations. Our crops and merchandise are exported everywhere. Our entertainment industry has fans throughout the world.

...And yet, why are we complaining?

When I was younger, my one and only dream was to leave the country and settle abroad. I had a list of complaints longer than the record-holding railroad tracks of India. While education was one of my biggest grouses, I had a problem with everyday civic sense that seemed to be non-existent with the people.

In our very proper convent school, we were taught to throw garbage only in bins. Great words of wisdom; only:
A. Where are the road-side bins in our city?
B. What do you do when the rest of our esteemed fellow city-dwellers use the side of the road as their dustbin?

I treated my country like an adopted home; a place that I had to tolerate for a few years before I said ta ta bye bye and started my real life; anywhere abroad is better than here, I would tell myself.

The revelation (or divine intervention, I say sometimes) came to me, during my second trip to the United States, way back in the early 90s. As usual, I was very excited to be going there. Aah, the California sun, the Sierra mountain range, the long and winding freeway from San Fransisco airport to a small town called Auburn, where we were going to stay. Heck, I even loved the smell there. Everything smelled wonderful.

But during my one-month stay there, something was happening within me. And it happened through the people I met, the food and the culture I shared with the people I knew there.

I remember this youth meet I attended because that is where I got my epiphany. Young people from all over the world introduced themselves to the rest. And then, my turn came.

To my utter surprise, I walked up confidently to the dais and exclaimed, "Hello everyone, my name is Khristina and I am from India."

It was magical. I didn't know what it was. Or how it happened. I was so surprised at the way the words came out of my mouth, or the pride that it came out with. I was a changed person.

Then it hit me.

You may not get along with your family all the time, but you love them nonetheless; if they need you, you will be the first to rush to their aid. They are your blood after all. In the same way, I may not "get along" with the policies, the government, and the rules of my country all the time. But my country is in my blood; it is my identity. It is who I am and who I aspire to be.

And so, I am SO proud to be called Indian.

What does patriotism mean to you? And more importantly, how Indian are you? 

Leh: Window to Heaven

Guest writer Harshad Kulkarni recently visited Leh & Ladakh with his friends and shares pics of his tour. He and his friends were stranded for a few harrowing days during the flash floods because of the cloud burst - these pics were taken prior to the incident.

From the eerily striated Pangong lake with a gradation of blue from azure to muddy cyan to the ruins of monasteries and its magnificent woodwork, from serene monks basking in the sunlight atop the hills to the many prayer flags blowing in the wind, from the glimpses of the ice-covered mountains from his room's window to the rippling white waters of the stream running between the hills, Harshad lets his camera do the talking.