Quantity not Quality.....

Some pearls of wisdom for my fellow blogger friends :)).....According to a study conducted by Susan Jamison Powell of Sheffield Hallam University of Britain when it comes to making friends online or seek popularity in the virtual world...it is the quantity and not the quality of blog posts that matters...infact the most prolific bloggers stay on the top of blogs. This study was conducted on 75 bloggers from livejournal.com website where the analysis was based on number of friends each blogger had, number of posts that were made and number of words that were written in each blog and overall tone of the blog. The researchers' asked bloggers how attractive they found their peers' blogs and found that more words a blogger posted, the more friends they had and the higher their attractiveness rating. The tone of their blog positive or negative did not have any impact.

So if you want to go by this study and its results....start posting rapidly without giving any thought to subject matter or even trying to be original...simple cut-copy-paste will also do :P

Personally, I think one writes because you feel this urge to express yourself freely and unhindered and not gain populairty or make friends online. But then again different individuals...different motives...Whats your perspective on this? :))

The Reader

A must read book by Bernhard Schlink. Its not your regular run-of-the-mill holocaust novel. It is a deeply sensitive and moving story that would compel its readers to think precisely how many lives were affected by the holocaust and in how many ways?.. It is the story of a 15 year old kid falling in love with an older woman...an affair that lasts only a summer but leaves the kid emotionally affected for the rest of his life. A touching story that portrays both the physical and emotional part of their relationship in the post-war Germany. This story thoroughly examines the German guilt and the impact of the holocaust on the German conscience.

I have found this story especially moving since I am living in Germany currently. Those days have been left far behind..now it is one of the largest economies of the world...people are so courteous, polite and matter-of-fact that it is impossible to imagine that this holocaust ever took place here. I remember an incident where we all were standing outside a club and suddenly this Indian guy who was in our group got into a drunken conversation with a German guy who was equally drunk...after sometime, as happens normally when two drunk people converse, they started arguing....and suddenly out of nowhere the guy said " Why are you talking to me like that? Do you think I am Nazi?...I am not Nazi...I hate them and whatever they did"....this statement had a deep impact on me. This behaviour may or may not be common but goes on to show the deep seated shame that is felt even today in this society.

The movie "The Reader" is also amazing albeit slightly different from the novel due to creative reasons, I think. Kate Winslet has given one of the best performances I have ever seen and deservedly got an Oscar for the same. I would recommend that you watch the movie after reading the book for a deeper impact and understanding but incase you aren't much of a reader, atleast watch the movie lest you dont want to miss something simply amazing :))

Courage...

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die:

Into the Valley of Death

Rode the six hundred 

      -Alfred ,Lord Tennyson

Based on these lines from the poem 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' by Alfred,Lord Tennyson describing the disastrous Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War; where the british soldiers marched on inspite of knowing that they were going to die. Inspired by this, Michael Orr wrote an essay on Courage for his School Paper in the movie The Blind Side which really moved me :

Courage is a hard thing to figure. You can have courage based on a dumb idea or a mistake. But you’re not supposed to question adults or your coach or your teacher because they make the rules. Maybe they know best or maybe they don’t. It all depends on who you are, where you come from. Didnt atleast one of the six hundred guys think of giving up and joining with the other side? I mean The Valley Of Death! That's pretty salty stuff.That’s why courage is tricky. Should you always do what others tell you to do? Sometimes, you might not even know why you’re doing something. I mean any fool can have courage, but honour, that's the real reason you do something or you don't. Its who you are and maybe who you want to be. If you die trying for something important then you have both honour and courage and that's pretty good. I think that's what the writer was saying, that you should hope for courage and try for honour and maybe even pray that the people telling you what to do have some too.

                                                                   

Rituals....Why???

Read this Story in the Sunday Times. A girl called off her wedding just a month before the D-Day. Reason??..She wasnt in love with someone else, She hadnt developed cold feet at the thought of being married. She just didnt agree with the rituals her prospective in-laws believed in. What was the ritual that offended her so much?..She was asked to oil massage her husbands' feet on the wedding night, clean it up and ask for permission to share his bed !!! She was further shocked when her UK-educated Investment Banker fiance did nothing to resist or oppose this.

Now many would think that it was irrational on her part to cancel the wedding on this issue. What was the harm in going through one ritual, afterall, they are just namesake but are they?  Supporters would insist that these rituals are the part of our rich Indian Culture, our heritage ,our values and what not. But why these rituals if I may ask are subservient to the males of our society? Isnt it demeaning and insulting for a woman to oil massage her husbands' feet and ask for permission to share his bed? 

Then there are numerous rituals of Vrats or Fasts that a woman has to perform to make sure that her husband lives a hundred years. Why dont men keep these Fasts? Dont they want their wives to live for a hundred years?

I kept the fast of Karva Chauth this year and my husband fasted along with me because he loves me a lot and when I chose to go hungry for his sake, he reciprocated for mine. Nowadays, many husbands are doing that but what about those not-so-supportive husbands? Its a very big deal and the woman is considered very lucky if her husband fasts along with her but there is no big deal when a woman goes a whole day without food and water- it is expected from her.

Am I sounding feminist here?.. Lets talk logically then. These Rituals are hardly practical. Most of the Women are working these days and time is precious for a jetsetting woman who is juggling between home and office work. Rituals dont ensure that a marriage lasts a lifetime, it is the mutual love, respect and understanding that keeps the big ship of wedding afloat.

Saluting the Martyrs!!!

Today some 80 years ago, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru sacrificed their lives fighting colonialism and British Raj. This is an ode to our brave freedom fighters who martyred for our independence. They are the symbol of heroism, courage and integrity who selflessly devoted their entire lives for this nation and its freedom.

This is my salute to these brave revolutionaries who will live in our hearts forever. Jai Hind!!

Helpless Democracy....

Mayawati is in news again...'Behenji' has recently spent about 200 crores of Taxpayers' money on the 25th Anniversary of a useless party called BSP. 'Dalits' from all across India were invited, there were about 2000 air conditioned tents and 200 temporary toilets erected for the ocassion.My assumption is most of the poor Dalits gathered there to get a decent meal rather than celebrating 25th anniversary of BSP (I mean when your daily challenge is barely making ends meet..who cares about these things).From erecting her statues and that of Elephants (her party symbol),this lady has left no stone unturned in her brazen display of authority and misuse of  power.

 And when there was a huge furore over the 1000 rupee currency garland that was presented to Mayawati,(allegedly estimated at 5 crores from the look and size of it though BSP has given the cost at 21 lakhs after officially denying the existence of any such garland in the first place!!...they only owned up to it after incessant TV and media coverage which showed close footage of the garland and the currency notes).... BSP has gone ahead and presented another to her today (this time wisely announcing the cost at 18 lakhs) and thanking TV Channels and Media for highlighting the popularity of their 'Behenji'!!!

Why this obnoxiously arrogant display of power??..One would ask why UP people have voted her to absolute majority then??...Is she doing a good job?? (that is seriously doubted)..What option do they have...Mulayam Singh??.....the guy has promised to wipe out IT,Computer and English language among other things from the state when he is elected!

Mulayam Singh has volubly protested on this immense show of wealth by Mayawati ,ofcourse,he has demanded a high level probe into this matter of spending 200 crores of Taxpayers money.Mayawati has indeed ordered a high level probe but to find the reason for hundreds of bees flying when she was giving her speech...She is convinced it was the handywork of opposition to ruin her gathering. Bees were professionally trained though because they just swarmed through without a single sting. We should wait for the day when Street Dogs,Cows,Donkeys etc will also enter politics.

Its time people wake up and vote....Vote for themselves and vote to throw such people out who are making such a mockery of democracy.

Six Suspects...

A very entertaining novel by Vikas Swarup. The central character of the story is Vicky Rai....son of high profile minister...a typical brat. Interestingly, the incidents that the author has associated with Vicky Rai to describe his reckless and complete ignorance of the law are real life incidents of some high profile people in India. For example, the black buck hunting and drunk driving and killing labourers sleeping on the pavement are taken from mishaps that actor Salman Khan has been involved in (and those cases are still going on in the court) and the murder of a cocktail waitress is also a real life incident in which Sushil Sharma was convicted for the murder of Jessica Lal.

The story takes an adventurous turn when this same Vicky Rai is shot dead at his own party. Amongst the glitzy bunch of his guests,police finds six strange characters carrying a gun in their possession. From here starts the investigation into the mysterious,tender and techni-colour lives of all these eccentric six suspects.

Its witty, intelligent,dazzling and presents a kalaeidoscope portrait of contemporary India. Its a must read :)