I believe . Therfore I exist.
With even kids showing intelligence and cleverness beyond their age, reasoning has hit the nadir today. There are as many opinions as there were people and people with some clarity have become Gurus who flaunt their richness as a parameter for their success. For the same reasons, there has been a rise in the business of consultants as people have no time to apply their mind on issues and are busy with everything else.
The Britishers who arrived in India to loot pretended to be Saviours who would rescue Indians from their thousands of years of superstious beliefs. Today, many so called Modern Indians imitate the British and will join your bandwagon if you raise your voice against superstitious beliefs in India.They have no time and hence to appear modern and progressive, bring down on anything Indian and hence Indian beliefs whatever they were become superstitious beliefs and have to be condemned.
What are beliefs? Is there any distinction between a superstitious belief and a scientific belief and whether any such rhetorical distinction played has substance?
For over thousands of years, Man has respected, worshipped his ancestors and believed that ancestors including dead parents and grandparents guide and protect him in his daily living. Man also worshipped the Sun , the Moon and the Stars and festivals across the world thank the Sun God for the yearly Harvests. These beliefs have sustained Mankind and human life and were the central point of evolution of local heritages. Man has been comforted by these thoughts and if someone has to ask for laboratory proof for the protection received from the Ancestors, they will receive none.
At a different level, Science theories or thoughts have been evolving too. Earth was considered flat and Galileo was condemned when he proclaimed the world as round. Now we know, that the world, was not perfectly round...yes..almost.
Darwin's theory that Man evolved from Monkeys has been questioned recently. What will evolve out of Man in a million years has not been answered yet.
Maybe scientific laws do not change but the theories and our perception of them keep changing. Theories that can not proven wrong at a point of time become scientific laws and remain so, until they were proven wrong.
The Dravidar Kazhagam party of Ramasamy got publicity when they broke idols of Hindu Gods to prove that such beliefs were superstitious. They dare not do anything to Christian catholic Beliefs or to Buddhist Beliefs is a different matter. But nobody questioned when thousands of poor replicas of Ramasamy , the founder of Dravidar kazhagam, were made and erected to across TamilNadu and his followers garlanded these statues as a mark of respect and worship. Does Ramasamy live and bless his followers from these statues? These are pathetic statues and only by reading the name on the slab on the pedestal of the statue, will anyone infer the statue as Ramasamy. Otherwise they could be thought to Sankaradas swamigal too.
Beliefs were not be based on Logic especially when all logic except mathematical logic keeps changing according to our inferences. When beliefs in Gods can inspire Michael Angelo to sculpt David and paint the roof of Sistine chapel, we need more Jesuses. When belief in God can evolve in India into a beautiful heritage with excellence in architecture, paintings, literature, music, sculpture, fine arts..there was indeed a need for enrichment of our belief in Gods. The Gods called Allah and Buddha have led to fine architectures across the world. Every religion has played her part but there has been no visible proof yet of so called non believer's achievements or contributions to mankind. The religions may have their limitations but but for them human excellence would have an imaginary fact.
Isnt it wonderful that beliefs that may be called superstition were the cause of the finest in Human civilisation? The non believers will be hurt by facts because truth hurts.
Indians need to understand their heritage but as such they have blinded. They believe that contempt for anything Indian is Modern and the Secular Leaders of the country have successfully manipulated them.
Let us believe. Believe in our national Flag, believe in our country, believe in our family,believe in Mankind. There were no reasons to do so.Let the non believers and sceptics be allowed to rust..for they chose to be so.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Cheating Customers by Flat Discount Sales
Yesterday, on 24th Feb 2010,I had gone to a NIKE showroom close to the RA Puram Overbridge in Chennai. They had extensively advertised that a Flat 40 discount percent sale was on at all their showrooms and i wanted to purchase something for my child. There was an inviting colorful huge board too at the entrance to the showroom that the discount sale was indeed on.
I picked up a pair of sandals and another pair of flip flops(as bathroom chapals are now called in a rebirth) and asked them to be billed. They created a bill but wanted me to sign the credit card before receiving the bill and checking it. I succumbed to the system but I saw on the bill there was no discount on the flip flop which cost about rs 1500. I asked the cashier for the promised discount and asked him about the flat discount sale. He said that there was no discount on the particular product and when i asked him to enlighten me on the meaning of a Flat Discount sale, he called the sales guy and began questioning him. The sales guy said that I didnt enquire whether there was discount on the particular product and hence didnt inform me so.
As I had already paid the bill by credit card, I had to leave the Nike shop without the promised discount. Taking the customer for a ride, the Nike way.
Words have no meaning in Indian conditions and so was service at commercial establishments. Six months ago, there was a sale in the Lifestyle showroom in City Centre Mall and I purchased a pair of Nike(yes, Nike again) walking shoes. I brought shoes back home and didnt unwrap it for a week. When i tried wearing it one day, i found that one shoe was two sizes smaller than the particular shoe that fit me feet when i tried at the show room. I had to take the shoe back, argue and get it exchanged for the right pair of shoes. Careless service?
On 4th Jan 2010, on the eve of my wife's birthday, I wanted to buy a pair of sun glasses to gift her and visited the Odyssey show room in Adayar. There was a 15 percent discount on for sun glasses but i was told that for the particular product which i had purchased for Rs 6000, i will be given just a 5 percent discount. After being billed and just a second before my credit card was rubbed in the machine, i asked for the amount and the guy on the bill desk said Rs 12000. Shocked, i asked him to check the tag on the sun glass which he did after unwrapping the pack. The bill was raised wrongly and he asked me whether he can bill the new amount..i refused to take the product and left. No apologies to the customer here too.
Before a product is purchased in India, the customer indeed is king. But after a product was purchased, the customer is treated a slave and service becomes harassment with the customer being repeatedly asked to show understanding for the failures of the company.
If Nike is so bad in India, just imagine the service standards we have in India? God save Indians!
I picked up a pair of sandals and another pair of flip flops(as bathroom chapals are now called in a rebirth) and asked them to be billed. They created a bill but wanted me to sign the credit card before receiving the bill and checking it. I succumbed to the system but I saw on the bill there was no discount on the flip flop which cost about rs 1500. I asked the cashier for the promised discount and asked him about the flat discount sale. He said that there was no discount on the particular product and when i asked him to enlighten me on the meaning of a Flat Discount sale, he called the sales guy and began questioning him. The sales guy said that I didnt enquire whether there was discount on the particular product and hence didnt inform me so.
As I had already paid the bill by credit card, I had to leave the Nike shop without the promised discount. Taking the customer for a ride, the Nike way.
Words have no meaning in Indian conditions and so was service at commercial establishments. Six months ago, there was a sale in the Lifestyle showroom in City Centre Mall and I purchased a pair of Nike(yes, Nike again) walking shoes. I brought shoes back home and didnt unwrap it for a week. When i tried wearing it one day, i found that one shoe was two sizes smaller than the particular shoe that fit me feet when i tried at the show room. I had to take the shoe back, argue and get it exchanged for the right pair of shoes. Careless service?
On 4th Jan 2010, on the eve of my wife's birthday, I wanted to buy a pair of sun glasses to gift her and visited the Odyssey show room in Adayar. There was a 15 percent discount on for sun glasses but i was told that for the particular product which i had purchased for Rs 6000, i will be given just a 5 percent discount. After being billed and just a second before my credit card was rubbed in the machine, i asked for the amount and the guy on the bill desk said Rs 12000. Shocked, i asked him to check the tag on the sun glass which he did after unwrapping the pack. The bill was raised wrongly and he asked me whether he can bill the new amount..i refused to take the product and left. No apologies to the customer here too.
Before a product is purchased in India, the customer indeed is king. But after a product was purchased, the customer is treated a slave and service becomes harassment with the customer being repeatedly asked to show understanding for the failures of the company.
If Nike is so bad in India, just imagine the service standards we have in India? God save Indians!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Logic of Dowry?
I remember my mother rebuking my father one day: "You thought you would not require the wealth my father offered you and said no but see how my brothers are living their luxurious lives on the property that ought to have been ours. And we have to work so hard now to make our living".
This after my father turned down dowry offered by his Father in law as he was the only graduate son in law amongst ten others. My Father thought he was being a Progressive thinker
and he became the butt of my mother's jokes.
It is now common in Indian Media to highlight so called dowry deaths and dowry arrests. Feminist Organisations fight against Dowry practices and so called Reformers claim that Dowry is an uncivilised practice in the soceity. Some even say that the male species are a greedy lot unlike the females who supposedly not greedy. Right?
What is Dowry? A gift given to the daughter's family on the occasion of her wedding. Maybe voluntarily and maybe often on demand now. The Law prohibits the practice of dowry and this becomes a crime when sometimes the brides's family objects to the demands usually after the engagement.
Let us work our Dowry.This gift of Dowry called wealth is nothing but money in a different form.
When a search for a Bride or a Groom was launched by Parents, what do they look for? Family Background, Education, Career, Looks and Character. Right?
By Family Background, what do we mean? Whether the family members have or held positions of power and whether they have weath formidable compared to one's own. By education we mean ability to further one's career , which in turn is the ability to make money. This is almost always the case when a groom has to be fixed. It is common to say that if the prospective prosperous groom has had a greyish character, that he will become an angel after marriage and youthful encounters are acceptable if the other parameters such as family background were impressive.
Accepting that grooms search for prosperous brides in with greed, what makes the brides's families search for grooms who were supposedly settled, earning money in plenty.
Will any bride be willing to marry a groom poorer than she was? Will she make Character as the primary virtue and be willing to live in poor environment for the sake of love? Can you find an advertisement in the lakhs of classified matrimonial advertisements asking for a Groom who has character and who will love the bride until his last breadth? If this is the priority, then why should this be taken for granted.
The fact remains that both the female and male species are a greedy lot. When it hurts them, the females call the males greedy. And Men make use of women's parental wealth when it is an additional perk to them.Women are after money as much as Men are and definitely their intensity for extravagance is no less than the Males. Remember Imelda Marcos and Jayalalitha.
Dowry will exist in some form as long as Man (and Woman)doesnt grow to be civilised. And blaming each other is only a pretension of goodness. It is on the rise as human beings try to live a life of comparitive wealth and not contentment.
This after my father turned down dowry offered by his Father in law as he was the only graduate son in law amongst ten others. My Father thought he was being a Progressive thinker
and he became the butt of my mother's jokes.
It is now common in Indian Media to highlight so called dowry deaths and dowry arrests. Feminist Organisations fight against Dowry practices and so called Reformers claim that Dowry is an uncivilised practice in the soceity. Some even say that the male species are a greedy lot unlike the females who supposedly not greedy. Right?
What is Dowry? A gift given to the daughter's family on the occasion of her wedding. Maybe voluntarily and maybe often on demand now. The Law prohibits the practice of dowry and this becomes a crime when sometimes the brides's family objects to the demands usually after the engagement.
Let us work our Dowry.This gift of Dowry called wealth is nothing but money in a different form.
When a search for a Bride or a Groom was launched by Parents, what do they look for? Family Background, Education, Career, Looks and Character. Right?
By Family Background, what do we mean? Whether the family members have or held positions of power and whether they have weath formidable compared to one's own. By education we mean ability to further one's career , which in turn is the ability to make money. This is almost always the case when a groom has to be fixed. It is common to say that if the prospective prosperous groom has had a greyish character, that he will become an angel after marriage and youthful encounters are acceptable if the other parameters such as family background were impressive.
Accepting that grooms search for prosperous brides in with greed, what makes the brides's families search for grooms who were supposedly settled, earning money in plenty.
Will any bride be willing to marry a groom poorer than she was? Will she make Character as the primary virtue and be willing to live in poor environment for the sake of love? Can you find an advertisement in the lakhs of classified matrimonial advertisements asking for a Groom who has character and who will love the bride until his last breadth? If this is the priority, then why should this be taken for granted.
The fact remains that both the female and male species are a greedy lot. When it hurts them, the females call the males greedy. And Men make use of women's parental wealth when it is an additional perk to them.Women are after money as much as Men are and definitely their intensity for extravagance is no less than the Males. Remember Imelda Marcos and Jayalalitha.
Dowry will exist in some form as long as Man (and Woman)doesnt grow to be civilised. And blaming each other is only a pretension of goodness. It is on the rise as human beings try to live a life of comparitive wealth and not contentment.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Self Respect or Arrogance?
We had a so called movement for Self respect in TamilNadu led by a born again atheist Ramasamy Naicker. Ironically, if you call Ramasamy Naicker as Ramasamy, many in TamilNadu are now flustered. He has to be adored by the word Periyar meaning Great man.
The Movement started on an anti Brahmin plank and so became pro backward classes and pro dalit.By classes, i mean, the castes of the Hindus.The goal was to attain political power under the assumption that political power reap gains to the people. This goal was reached in 1967 under tall promises such as a measure of rice for one rupee(approx 1.4 kilo). It is another matter none of the promises were ever delivered and people made suckers.
Forty years after, poverty is as much an issue as was Social equality( the term Self respect could backfire,hence).The values of so called Brahmins of yesteryears became the values of so called leaders of this movement. They called for total subservience from the followers, took unilateral decisions, manipulated logic and arguments to defend their short sighted narrow self interests.
Take the example of fight against Brahmins. Brahmins are not a factor in TamilNadu today as they have been decimated in Public life today. Though, if you want a dependent employee, any one would prefer a Brahmin though speaking differently in public.
So what happened to the Anti Brahmin movement? Dravidar kazhagam which was the child of Ramasamy was handed on a platter to one Veeramani by Ramasamy's second wife Maniammai. Just recollect these facts: Ramasamy was born 1879. He remarried in 1948 at the age of 69. Maniammai was in her twenties when she married Ramasamy.Ramasamy published a statement in Viduthalai on June 28, 1949 that he was planning to make K. A. Maniammai his heir ignoring many stalwarts in the movement. Veeramani aka Krishnasamy started working with Ramasamy in 1956 when he was 23 years old and soon became a friend of Ramasamy's family. Later Maniammai, on Ramasamy's death proclaimed Veeramani as her heir. All these decisions were on Public interest? It doesnt take intelligence to realise an young Maniammai being attracted by a young man, Veeramani and the Movement taking indecent turns. Was the thoughts of followers ever considered while taking these decisions? When decisions were taken by these so called leaders, it was always in public interest. And so they claim.Pure crap.
Tamils Welfare is a plank often used by these men. The businesses run by these men called leaders can go to any length to take advantagous of the weaker sections of the soceity in TamilNadu. There is a Periyar Maniammai University run by Veeramani's clan for the upliftment of everybody knows whom. The University has a girls hostel and a mess attached. The poor quality of food given to girls in the hostel is to be ate to be believed. Despite lofty ideals proclaiming women's equality, these hostels provide better food to boys because they can behave violently. They care how many hoots for the girls is there to see.
I want to go a step further and ask these Tamil Leaders a few questions. If Tamils in Malaysia are harassed for violation of local laws and Srilankan Tamils are in a pitiable state, are the Tamils in TamilNadu are in a better state? Look at the n number of prisons and 1000s of prisons languishing in Jails in the state, many on grounds of mere suspicions. How come nobody speaks for them? Are non Indian Tamils alone make up for real Tamils?
A walk to the Okkaiyam Thoraipakkam Slum Clearance Board shelters in South Chennai, just a few mins from the elitish Rajiv Gandhi Salai is a proof that nobody cares for Tamils. Poor sanitary conditions, unliveable conditions in a modern soceity are the status quo.
Hypocrisy and double standards are the hallmark of Tamil Politicians. They speak something for public consumption. They can hardly speak the truth. Vaaye Vellum. Speech alone truimphs.We are told that we have the government we deserve. I believe, we deserve better governments. Despite being stupid, arrogant and indifferent to common good. We hardly have self respect and how i wish i was wrong.
The Movement started on an anti Brahmin plank and so became pro backward classes and pro dalit.By classes, i mean, the castes of the Hindus.The goal was to attain political power under the assumption that political power reap gains to the people. This goal was reached in 1967 under tall promises such as a measure of rice for one rupee(approx 1.4 kilo). It is another matter none of the promises were ever delivered and people made suckers.
Forty years after, poverty is as much an issue as was Social equality( the term Self respect could backfire,hence).The values of so called Brahmins of yesteryears became the values of so called leaders of this movement. They called for total subservience from the followers, took unilateral decisions, manipulated logic and arguments to defend their short sighted narrow self interests.
Take the example of fight against Brahmins. Brahmins are not a factor in TamilNadu today as they have been decimated in Public life today. Though, if you want a dependent employee, any one would prefer a Brahmin though speaking differently in public.
So what happened to the Anti Brahmin movement? Dravidar kazhagam which was the child of Ramasamy was handed on a platter to one Veeramani by Ramasamy's second wife Maniammai. Just recollect these facts: Ramasamy was born 1879. He remarried in 1948 at the age of 69. Maniammai was in her twenties when she married Ramasamy.Ramasamy published a statement in Viduthalai on June 28, 1949 that he was planning to make K. A. Maniammai his heir ignoring many stalwarts in the movement. Veeramani aka Krishnasamy started working with Ramasamy in 1956 when he was 23 years old and soon became a friend of Ramasamy's family. Later Maniammai, on Ramasamy's death proclaimed Veeramani as her heir. All these decisions were on Public interest? It doesnt take intelligence to realise an young Maniammai being attracted by a young man, Veeramani and the Movement taking indecent turns. Was the thoughts of followers ever considered while taking these decisions? When decisions were taken by these so called leaders, it was always in public interest. And so they claim.Pure crap.
Tamils Welfare is a plank often used by these men. The businesses run by these men called leaders can go to any length to take advantagous of the weaker sections of the soceity in TamilNadu. There is a Periyar Maniammai University run by Veeramani's clan for the upliftment of everybody knows whom. The University has a girls hostel and a mess attached. The poor quality of food given to girls in the hostel is to be ate to be believed. Despite lofty ideals proclaiming women's equality, these hostels provide better food to boys because they can behave violently. They care how many hoots for the girls is there to see.
I want to go a step further and ask these Tamil Leaders a few questions. If Tamils in Malaysia are harassed for violation of local laws and Srilankan Tamils are in a pitiable state, are the Tamils in TamilNadu are in a better state? Look at the n number of prisons and 1000s of prisons languishing in Jails in the state, many on grounds of mere suspicions. How come nobody speaks for them? Are non Indian Tamils alone make up for real Tamils?
A walk to the Okkaiyam Thoraipakkam Slum Clearance Board shelters in South Chennai, just a few mins from the elitish Rajiv Gandhi Salai is a proof that nobody cares for Tamils. Poor sanitary conditions, unliveable conditions in a modern soceity are the status quo.
Hypocrisy and double standards are the hallmark of Tamil Politicians. They speak something for public consumption. They can hardly speak the truth. Vaaye Vellum. Speech alone truimphs.We are told that we have the government we deserve. I believe, we deserve better governments. Despite being stupid, arrogant and indifferent to common good. We hardly have self respect and how i wish i was wrong.
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