http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/38732 Let us all write a story here. The topic can be anything. But the only rule is that eachone has to write only four words at a time. So put on your thinking caps. Let's see how creative you are. Let me write the first four words:

Once upon a time.....
]]> Sun, 21 May 2006 02:38:00 EDT http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/38732 18.975 72.825833318.97572.8258333 http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/29167 I asked him, "What are the three things that you like the most in this world?" Pat came the answer:" 1)Girl, 2)Wine, 3)Money. I was eager to listen something else from him. So I asked "Ok! Two more things." He replied,"4)Fame and 5)luxury."
I was utterly dissapointed.
If somebody had asked me, my first reply would be, 'peace of mind.'
I just wanted to prove him wrong, so I continued,"Ok! suppose you were the only individual to be alive in this world. Suppose the world were as it is now but no human being except you, not even a single girl. Suppose there were tankers full of liquor for you and obviously you being the only one, all the wealth in the world would be yours.Then what would be your reply to my question?"
He said,"In that case I would just take a knife and cut my throat. In the first place if there is no girl, what's the use of living? In that case I would not need any of the other things."
I was speechless.
What could I say?
]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:35:00 EDT http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/29167 18.975 72.825833318.97572.8258333 http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/28258 The chaste bond of love between a brother and a sister is one of the deepest and noblest of human emotions. 'Raksha Bandhan' or 'Rakhi' is a special occasion to celebrate this emotional bonding by tying a holy thread around the wrist. This thread, which pulsates with sisterly love and sublime sentiments, is rightly called the ‘Rakhi’. It means 'a bond of protection', and Raksha Bandhan signifies that the strong must protect the weak from all that’s evil.

The ritual is observed on the full moon day of the Hindu month of Shravan, on which sisters tie the sacred Rakhi string on their brothers' right wrists, and pray for their long life. Rakhis are ideally made of silk with gold and silver threads, beautifully crafted embroidered sequins, and studded with semi precious stones.

The Social Binding:
This ritual not only strengthens the bond of love between brothers and sisters, but also transcends the confines of the family. When a Rakhi is tied on the wrists of close friends and neighbors, it underscores the need for a harmonious social life, where every individual co-exist peacefully as brothers and sisters. All members of the community commit to protect each other and the society in such congregational Rakhi Utsavs, popularized by the Nobel laureate Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.

The Friendly Knot:
It won’t be wrong to say the fashionable friendship band in vogue today is an extension of the Rakhi custom. When a girl feels a friend of the opposite sex has developed a kind of love too strong for her to reciprocate, she sends the guy a Rakhi and turns the relationship into a sisterly one. This is one way of saying, "let’s just be friends", without hurting the other person's soft feelings for her.

The Auspicious Full Moon:
In Northern India, Rakhi Purnima is also called Kajri Purnima or Kajri Navami, when wheat or barley is sown, and goddess Bhagwati is worshipped. In Western states, the festival is called Nariyal Purnima or the Coconut Full Moon. In Southern India, Shravan Purnima is an important religious occasion, especially for the Brahmins.

Raksha Bandhan is known by various names: Vish Tarak - the destroyer of venom, Punya Pradayak - the bestower of boons, and Pap Nashak - the destroyer of sins.

Rakhi in History:

The strong bond represented by Rakhi has resulted in innumerable political ties among kingdoms and princely states. The pages of Indian history testify that the Rajput and Maratha queens have sent Rakhis even to Mughal kings who, despite their differences, have assuaged their Rakhi-sisters by offering help and protection at critical moments and honoured the fraternal bond. Even matrimonial alliances have been established between kingdoms through the exchange of Rakhis.

History has it that the great Hindu King Porus refrained from striking Alexander, the Great because the latter’s wife had approached this mighty adversary and tied a Rakhi on his hand, prior to the battle, urging him not to hurt her husband.

Why Rakhi?
Rituals like Rakhi, there is no doubt, help ease out various societal strains, induce fellow-feeling, open up channels of expression, give us an opportunity to rework on our role as human beings and, most importantly, bring joy in our mundane lives.

“May all be happy
May all be free from ills
May all behold only the good
May none be in distress.”

This has always been the idea of an ideal Hindu society.

There are many legends associated with the festival of Rakhi. Different heroes in Indian mythology and history with whom Raksha Bandhan is associated are:

Indra: According to legend Indra found himself being defeated by the demon king or Daitya Raja. On the advice of his Guru Brihaspati, his consort tied a Raksha on Indra's wrist and this helped him achieve victory against the demon king.

Yudhishtra: The eldest of the Pandavas is believed to have asked Krishna, how to protect himself, before the epic battle of the Mahabharata. Lord Krishna instructed him that he would be protected by the beneficial power of the rakhi.

Alexander: When Alexander invaded the Indian subcontinent in 326 B.C. he had to fight many battles against the rulers of kingdoms in the north West. Alexander's wife is believed to have tied a rakhi to the king Puru or Porus. In return he is believed to have promised to protect her and her husband. In battle when he had the opportunity to strike Alexander, his promise is believed to have restrained him from delivering a fatal blow.

Humayun: During Mughal times the custom of tying Rakhis helped bind the Hindu Rajputs and the Mughal rulers of Delhi together. According to legend, when Bahadur Shah of Gujarat attacked Rani Karnavati of Chittor, she sent a rakhi to Humayun and requested him to help. He tried to come to her aid but was too late, Chittor had already fallen and the Rani had immolated herself in the Rajput custom of Jauhar.

In present day times women have used the tradition of Raksha Bandhan as a way of deflecting unwanted attention and some women politicians have maintained political relationships with other leaders, by tying rakhis on them. The different ways, in which the custom of Rakhi is followed today, shows the continued relevance of Raksha Bandhan in today's world.



Well! the above matter is compiled from somewhere to tell my friends at TIG about this unique Indian festival. Today is Rakshabandhan. I don't have a sister so do know the pain of not having one. Although there are some girls in the neighborhood who tie me a Rakhi. This is the only respite. Now I am away from home and nobody here to tie a Rakhi. I was told that one of those sisters have sent the Rakhi through courier. I am eagerly waiting for it to reach me.
]]> Fri, 19 Aug 2005 12:21:00 EDT http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/28258 18.975 72.825833318.97572.8258333 http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/28196
Well! this is no reason for anybody to think that I am licentious or immoral in any way. Even at 25 I have not found a girl friend. Forget about an intimate relationship, I've never had even a close friendship with girls. The only two women in my life are my grandmother and my mother. I don't have a sister. And everybody else is like anybody else : as far as a distant star.
At the onset of my youth, I found myself in a college where there were only 2-3 inattractive girls in a herd of 500 boys. Then my first job at Mumbai was a 12 hr duty. I found hardly any girls on my way to office early in the morning, although I travelled more than 70 kms a day. I had to push myself into a local train meant only for men. So I preferred to have a nap during that journey. The most familiar face in the office was that of the monitor of my computer. By the time I returned home , it used to be 11 o'clock. You don't find good girls in the street at night.
Then at the next job at Vizag too, the conditions were not so favorable.
Now I am again at Mumbai, the things are improving, but that zest and zeal, that attraction seeems to have vanished. I feel like an 85 year old man in search of salvation from the cycle of birth and death (as they say in spiritualism). I feel like going to the Himalayas and doing penance. But I don't go because I knoe that it would serve no purpose. I feel like something fundamental has changed within me. A phenomenon that is irreparable and irrevokable. Somewhere I am growing beyond a person, beyond an individual, into something that is much more than that. I am not surprised with it, but I didn't expect it so early. So such is the story. Some say that life without a woman is miserable, while some say that a woman brings misery to life.
But I feel that a woman is the best creation of God. I just wonder how he could resist a woman when he created her. If I were in his place, I would have kept the woman for myself and would ahve made all the men gays. Such is the beauty of her. When the testosterone is at its boiling point, the fingers automatically type some address of some pornographic site. That is a part of the beauty of a woman. But that's not everything.
I don't always dare to look into the eyes of women. But when I recall some eyes that I have peeped into, I can recollect the things that poets have described. In that brief interaction, I don't have the time to look below the eyes. I dive into the eyes and come back, not to look at her again. But the woman feels that I didn't see her, so she doesn't care. That's the only interaction that I have with women and the things remain where they are. Actually I may have the daring to face an entire battalion of the enemy single-handedly, but I can't dare to go and talk to a woman who is stranger. I am such a strange man. Not afraid that a woman would be annoyed or would become violent but doubtful of :'Is she the one?'. So it seems for years to come, it would be status quo.]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2005 12:26:00 EDT http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/28196 18.975 72.825833318.97572.8258333 http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/28190
There are different types of Chapaatees, usually made of wheat flour or Maida.

The one which is dry, without oil or ghee is called a Rotee. This the daily meal of the poor farmer in rural India. To add to the taste, he may eat it with an onion.

There's a very close relative of Rotee called as Foolkaa. This is the kind of Rotee that fills with steam while being roasted. Thus it has two layers, a thicker lower layer and a thinner upper layer that bulges out due to steam. I loved the Foolkaas that they cooked at the Punjabi Dhaabaa (Restaurant) at Vizag. It is at its best when served hot with Chicken Curry etc.

What we call Chapaatee has got many layers into it. There's a special procedure for cooking it. Let me explain:
-Knead some dough (say 1/4 kilo). It should be soft but dry.
-Make spherical pieces of it (say approx. 3 cm dia.).
-Then take one such sphere and keep it on a smooth flat surface. You may sprinkle some dry flour on the surface, as you put on a Carrom Board so that the dough doesn't stick to the surface.
-Take some cylindrical rod or pipe if you cannot find the proper Indian tool for that. Even a longish glass with a smooth external surface may work for you.
-Flatten the spherical dough piece into a circular shape with the help of the cylindrical rod (by rolling it to and fro over the dough).
-Apply a thin layer of oil/ghee over half of the flattened dough and fold the other half over it to form a semicircle.
-Apply yet another thin layer of oil over half of that semicircle and fold the other quarter over it to form a quarter.
-Flatten the quarter piece that you have into an almost circular shape. You can apply some dry flour while flattening so as to avoid the dough from sticking to the rod.
-Once it is almost circular and upto 4 mm thick, apply some oil on the frying pan and fry it on the frying pan.
-Apply a little oil on both the surfaces of the Chapaatee. As it heats up, steam will form inside it and it will bulge out forming some 4-5 layers inside it. While the outer surface is oily, the inner layers will be steamed. You may also use Ghee (Indian clarified butter) instead of oil.

I remember trying to make Chapaatees when I was a bit younger. I wanted to make it circular but ended up making a map of Japan. The next map was of Australia, another one of Sri Lanka and so on; but I could never make it circular.

Now I am staying as a bachelor at Mumbai. My friend suddenly thought of making chapaatees for dinner today. He said he would make them but also warned me that he ws doing it for the first time. I thought I should not take the risk of eating the chapaatees made by him. Somewhere there was a confidence that I would be able to cook them better than him so I told him that I have cooked chapaatees many times and I would cook them for him.
I told him to knead the flour. He did that and went out of the kitchen as his mobile was ringing. I took that opportunity for trying out whether I can really make it or not. I started flattenning it in a hurry. In the end it looked like an Amoeba. I got scared. I thought that it would be a shame, that it would be a faaloodaa of my reputation if I could not make it. So I tried again. This time with full concentration. I took some time and experimented on making it circular. In five minutes, I was able to make a good circular chapaatee.
When the friend returned to the kitchen he was really happy to see such nice chapaatees. I cooked atleast 12 and all were liked by them. The moral of the story is that if you put some effort in trying to learn something that you don't know, or understand something that you don't, or to do something that you think you can't; you will surely be able to overcome the hurdles with some patience, effort and perseverence. Will power and confidence is a must for success of every kind. They say it in a different sense, but 'practise makes man perfect'.
]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2005 12:16:00 EDT http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/28190 18.975 72.825833318.97572.8258333 http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/27964 Also wish the same to NRIs (Non Resident Indians) OR (Non Returning :) Indians)!
The new nation turns 59 today.
Wish I had witnessed the flag hoisting at the stroke of midnight in 1947.
If I could go back in time, I have a lot to repair there.]]> Mon, 15 Aug 2005 11:51:00 EDT http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/27964 18.975 72.825833318.97572.8258333 http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/27859
Tommorow on Aug 15, my country will also celebrate Independence Day.

I was just going through a speech delivered by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1947:

http://www.merapakistan.com/features/

Still unable to understand whether Pakistan as a nation has lived to his expectations.



]]> Sun, 14 Aug 2005 10:10:00 EDT http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/27859 18.975 72.825833318.97572.8258333 http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/27720
TIG Discussions / Issues / Poverty / Development of the developing world:

It's difficult to think of any immediate solutions. The problem is well beyond the control, atleast in India. In India, education is actually the key to every major problem. But nobody is really interested in spending more on education. An average educated man in India is engrossed in putting his career on the right track till the age of say 30 years. With this the marriage is also delayed and the procreation among the educated people is delayed. Thus the gap between every two generations increases reducing the birth rate. This is although not substantial because a majority of people in India are uneducated. Also with education comes the responsibility towards one's family as well as towards the society which a normal man would automatically shoulder. We see that generally educated people in India have only one or two children. Infact there would also be many people like me who may not be really interested in having a family. But when it comes to others who are poor and uneducated and see children as a future source of income and think that the more that they have them, the more secure they would be in the old age, you see only a hopeless future. What can I do if I can't make that man who is fucking in his hut in that slum to wear a condom? Afterall this is a democracy. The constitution does not say that you have to fuck with a condom on! Nor does any religion say that. You may be required to pay namaaz that many times or to do idol worship on a certain holy day, but you are not required to wear a condom. Nowhere. It is only at your discretion. So such is the problem.

But also there is another side to it. When I think in terms of economy, 'the more the population, the better is the economy'. Ever played the 'Age of Empires'? Somebody who has played would know how easy it is to further your empire if there is a huge workforce at your disposal supplying resources when your millitary is busy at war. You see what USA is doing? The bigger the economy, the bigger are the military campaigns. I am not pro war, but this too is an angle of view. That is why a country neighboring China has to be as smart as them.
What do you think?
]]> Fri, 12 Aug 2005 12:33:00 EDT http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/27720 18.975 72.825833318.97572.8258333 http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/27498
"India has been growing at a rate of 5-6 % since the economy was opened up in 1991 and China at a rate of more than 9 % since its economic reforms were initiated in 1978. Clyde Prestowitz, President of the Economic Strategy Institute, US and a former trade negotiator in the Reagan Administration predicts that in his article "The Great Reverse". By the year 2025, China's GDP will be $16 tn from the current $ 2 tn and India's will be about $5 tn from the current $ 700 bn. Comparatively the US GDP will be around $ 21 tn from the current $ 11 tn, considering the average rate of US growth in the past 40 years. If these figures are anything to go by then it shows a dramatic transition and narrowing of the gap between the West and the Asia"
"The proverb 'History repeats itself may hold good in India and China's case. During the 18th century the two Asian behemoths accounted for more than half of the global GDP. In 1820, China generated about a third of world output(measured at common international prices) and India accounted for 16 %. But the 19th and 20th centuries saw the fall of the Asian Titans and the rise of western Europe and Northern America. By the mid 20th century China's share of the world output was 5 % and India's a mere 3 %. By the end of 20th century, US and Europe were responsible for two-thirds of the global GDP, Asia accounted for only 20%. While industrialised mass production and new manufacturing technology were primarily responsible for the rise of their western counterparts, imperialistic rule was responsible for the downfall of the Asian Giants."

While I agree with most of what this article says, I do not really subscribe to this to much optimism about the futures of India and China. I have reason for that.

While the above source predicts a huge leap in the GDP, some other sources also predict a proportionate growth in the in the populations of the two countries. Let me present some predictions regarding population growth. By 2025-2030 India would near 1.5 billion population. By that time she would have overtaken China in terms of population. By around the same time China would be nearing about 1.4 bn people. At the same time USA would be hardly having hardly 400 million people.

So if we talk interms of a ratio of Population to GDP, one can clearly make out how far India and China would be from USA and many other countries in terms of human living standards and poverty among a certain section of society. What we should actually note is that it is Indian Corporates that are growing and not the common man. Agreed that the growth of corporates would create new and more opportunities for the general public but the policies of the govt. should ensure that the benefit of the growth of GDP reaches to all sections of society. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen in India.



]]> Mon, 08 Aug 2005 12:00:00 EDT http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/27498 18.975 72.825833318.97572.8258333 http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/27332
To start with, here is an old poem, written some 6-7 years ago(in Hindi):

Chhoteesee Zindagi Ne Hamein,
Bas Yaheen Sikhaayaa Hai,
Kudaa Ne Apni Hee Tarah,
Hamein Auron Ke Liye Banaayaa Hai.

It means:
If this little life that I have lived has taught me anything, it is that 'God like himself has created us all for others.'
]]> Sat, 06 Aug 2005 13:16:00 EDT http://Common-Man.tigblog.org/post/27332 18.975 72.825833318.97572.8258333