Growing up can be a joyful necessity!

Every time somebody (usually a very formidable adult/relative) says “grow up! How long are you going to act like a kid?” we start fuming mentally giving retaliating “why should I? I will grow up when I want to and why are you forcing me ,etc etc !!!” Well, let me tell you I know all this very clearly because I have gone over these sentences in my mind so many times its hard to keep track of the number. And it was an added advantage/burden that I was almost the youngest in my family. But, there came a day when I wasn’t the youngest anymore and frankly, I didn’t want to be. The small bundles of joy that were actually my niece and nephew brought out this change in me. Seeing them cozily cuddled in my akka and manni’s lap I suddenly wanted to grow up so fast that it wasn’t even remotely possible. I was an aunt..Can you imagine? Me, the always-kid girl was an aunt and wanted to give these very small but special newcomers so many things that I even shocked myself. Everywhere I saw a toy shop I wanted to buy a toy car or a doll for them (not that I earn!) , and in dress shops I lost literally all interest in buying something for me every time I came across a small frock or a tiny trouser. Every day I want to spend with my gorgeous and handsome sweetheart. Till they came into my life, I was in no hurry to enter into the grown up phase of my life (going to a job, earning, etc..) but now? I just can’t wait for that phase to begin because I have some important people to shower gifts on and care for. I want to spoil them rotten as my uncles and aunts did for me and I want them to feel the way I feel about my uncle and aunt. This new part of my family has changed and made me realize that growing up might not be such a bad thing when you have love to share and taking up responsibilities can actually feel good when you care and protect your loved ones. Thank you to my sister and brother for this wonderful gift and for making me want to be an adult.

PS: I am sorry if I sound very emotional or over excited but honestly that’s how I feel nowadays.

Who’s to blame? – is that the question??

It’s going to be 61 long years since we regained the right from British to call India “our country” our home. It was a long battle which lasted almost a century maybe more but we did it. Lately, maybe for the last 10 years there have been a lot of voices pointing many things that are obviously not going right for our nation at the moment. Lack of safety in many areas, lack of employment, corruption everywhere, ignorant and careless government, human rights violation, inflation and what not. But the saddest part is the deed stops right there- after voicing their concerns people expect some magically powerful being to take over and set things right. Is that even possible? After all we live in a real world and not a world of fiction. We blame around 600 people for the above while our country has over 1.2 billion people who if worked well and with a set of principles can turn our nation into a superpower. It’s no use telling we don’t have the infrastructure, the facilities, and the structure for it to happen. How did other countries get there?? Nothing grows into anything without starting from the scratch.  So, I think it is the ideal time for India to undergo a change; in short the country is going to have to grow up and start facing things head on. This is only possible when each one of the 1.2 billion people make an effort , take a step , a stand and feel it’s my home , it’s my duty to set things right . The step might be small but the results might be and I hope will be staggering. Specifically, it is the duties of the country’s younger population to take it upon their head since it’s for them they are going to be improving the standards of their home. It’s very simple -if your house appliance breaks down, do u blame somebody or do you start working to see what can be done and how it can be done? I think I make my point clear now. It’s time to stop casting the blame and it’s time to start asking the right questions.  

what's in a number ?

Recently, a kid came up to me in a library hands tied behind his back, and said “HI! I am Jigar. What’s your name? “Before I could come up with a reply (my name)... I was stunned by the way he spoke... so seemingly confident with himself and the way he went up to each and every person there to introduce himself and chat with them with an ease and charm that I m sorry to say even some of my batch mates find hard to exude. It is then that it struck me that how we conduct ourselves, how we interact and how we think is not a reflection of what our age is but it is actually vice versa. Ok, how do we define age? The number of years since we are born... Right?? It is just simple mathematics and a tool to keep track of the time of our existence. It’s just a number. Shakespeare said what’s in a name? I say what’s in a number? That is one kind of age. The other kind, which is actually overlooked (a lot) in our society, is the mental age or the social age. These two terms are interchangeable as one affects the other. This is actually based on our journey since our birth... How much we know, how much do we understand and how do we carry ourselves. There are people who are still kids at heart not because they like having fun but because most of the times they are unaware of what is actually going on around them and how it is going to affect them. Similarly, there are people who might be considered kids because of their “age” but know and understand a lot than their peers. My point being that just because it’s been twenty five years since somebody was born doesn’t make them an adult and just because somebody was born a bit late they don’t have to remain a kid for a longer time just to suit the norms of the society and the people around them. We age when we take decisions and stick to them, we age whenever we learn new things, have new experiences! In other words, we grow up when we face the world on our own; understand what who we are and what we want. It is time now that this age starts deciding who is a kid and who is not and our society enjoys seeing the kids growing up in this way.

Seeing is believing

Sun is a heavenly body. Ok..when i said "sun" didn't you automatically picture a giant yellow round thing..??! But many of us know that IT is not how the sun looks like..but still our mind generates that image because our mind or our brain works on a very ancient but true idiom "seeing is believing.." ! It is the same reason why we have been taught that "actions speak louder than words" from our very own childhood. Seeing is believing..this idiom has caught my attention for quite some time now. As many of my friends might know..i love to dabble and experiment in a very interesting and mysterious science called "psychology" and this idiom i think explains a lot of human behaviour. When we hear a person saying "I helped an old lady cross a street yesterday.." most of the time, the skeptic in us would go.."yeah!right..*rolling eyes*" but when you see a person actually do that thing..we immediately believe that person to be kind , thoughtful etc etc irrespective of that fact we know nothing about him/her ! In malls, when we see couple holding hands..we go"aw w..cute" but when a person in love comes upto you and starts talking to you about how they feel..you will probably think "yeah..OK i believe you! (sarcastically)" so here's the bottom line ..what i want to say is you think somebody is judging you wrongly..don't go and talk ! Just be yourself for them to see and believe..! Your loved ones doesn't really trust your words..stop explaining..show them and make them believe..! The basic key to gaining a person's trust is to make them see what you really want to project and let them make their won decisions..because those are the decisions that are gonna stick for life !!
So this is my "eureka! kind of discovery.." agree or disagree ??

Women at the bottom of the ladder

An article titled the same as above was published in “THE HINDU” which left me very disturbed after reading it. It gave out statistics about even though women play an equally important role in the civil engineering field in the mason level they are terribly underpaid and usually not treated properly in the site. According to studies, women though preferred for the job by site engineers since they come regularly and do not cause any problems in the site are paid almost half of what men masons earn the exact pay being around Rs.165 for women and Rs.306 for men per day. Moreover this doesn’t mean they do any less work in the site. Right from carrying heavy materials to the top of the buildings from the ground and to passing the bricks from top to bottom in the scorching sun... You name it and they do it! Usually girls and boys are enrolled at the same age to work as labours but unlike boys who graduate to being masons girls do not carry their jobs into the future as they get married. When they return to work they have to start again as labours taking them a step back. Even when some girls were gathered and provided an internship of onsite training following the post tsunami period , at the end of their training almost all of them preferred to take up designing or other desk jobs since they knew they had no future in the field work. So, I now would like appeal to my fellow civil engineers especially women to stop this trend. Atleast we should provide equal opportunity to those women who are talented and competent enough to work as masons and earn their equal pay just as men earn it. Having women as masons have numerous advantages and they should not be discriminated just because they are women. The way we carve a niche for us in this patriarch field its time for us to let the other women also to be given the place we know they deserve.

What is going on.. ????????

OK..so the title sounds and looks stupid..totally out of place but that is EXACTLY how I feel after sitting through my "so-called" university examinations and even worse after seeing the goddamn results a week back! Sorry let me start from the beginning..two years before some very very very "wise.." thought he is gonna create some kind of revolution by dividing the stable smooth running and extremely comfortable Anna University of Chennai into some technical universities! Well, the idea might have been good but its execution happened to be so flawed that now the future (read career..) of many students under these universities look as ambiguous as our question papers! Only 26.87% students could secure an all clear..! And as if it wasn't enough now the authorities are blaming everybody from faculty to students for this um..lets say fiasco..for the lack of a better word ! But i guess they are so tensed that they are not seeing the flaws in this too..for example if the faculties are at wrong how is that our seniors fared far far better in their examination held during the same time taught by the same faculty..??? And if the students are at fault how is that the same batch fared well in the 1st and 2nd semester examination??? SO..pls sirs and madam we don't expect you to justify your blunders..just do something about this so that next time you don't have to search some new person to blame another fiasco on..!!
Already our education system is like we see what is happening,read what is supposed to happen but the minute we want to make something happen we are immediately shunted aside telling.."this aint the time for it.., right now concentrate on scoring well and getting a job" ...but with one more semester exam like the previous one..i don't think even that is gonna be possible!! So..going back to the title.."What is going on???"