Justice & Homeland

I just started reading the book called Hyderabad – A Biography by Narendra Luther and I must say that so far it is a very well told story about the origin of this city. From the time I have known Hyderabad, I have never really found a reason to love it, but it was a place that was infinitely better than many other places and suited a number of my needs. Over the years, I have made this city my home.

What does one associate with the place that they term as a home? For one, there should be a sense of belongingness and most importantly a higher sense of ownership and responsibility to the place; irrespective of the fact that you are in a position of power or an ordinary denizen. Mohammad Quli, the founder of Bhagnagar or Hyderabad was a man who loved his home. The need to construct a city came from the congestion caused within the ramparts of Golconda or Gollakonda. He commissioned the best of architects and wanted heaven to be reconstructed here on Earth, or more precisely on his land. One of the primary wishes of the Sultan was to have greenery wherever he saw. No wonder then that the best minds were put to efficient use and the best planned city of India was constructed at a remarkable pace. The chief person in command had ensured saplings to be planted even before the construction had begun. The sultan who was a poet and a man of extreme taste was a perpetual romantic at heart. He named the city Bhagnagar after his most favoured queen – Bhagmati. (I wonder now what happened to all that and in its place is an old city which is highly congested, dirty, treeless and forgotten in many ways.)

The Palace of Justice was also commissioned as a part of this project and after  its completion, the sultan used it to dispense justice to its citizens – most results were almost immediate. The builders of that era must have been great visionaries, for we still use the same building as our Andhra Pradesh High Court. The recent episode of the AP High Court catching fire was not something particularly out of the blue. If we, the current users of that lovely building, do not bother to upgrade and take care of the ancient premises and use it for our own selfish purpose, then a short circuit and incidents like fire are but natural. What I hear from sources who work at the high court is that the judges are too busy in trying to compete with themselves and ensure that their respective chambers look better than the rest. Whether such a selfish act damages the ancient building is obviously none of their concern. Moreover, the various associations that are formed in the court, all of them have their own agenda and none seem to be remotely concerned about the state of the premises and any safety norms. It is the typical “chalta hai” attitude about everything around us, except ourselves that so irks me.

If one asks about what can be done for the upkeep of the ancient high court premises, then the responsibility is comfortably thrown on the Government. Why do we fail to follow that Government in this democratic nation is nothing but the people ourselves? Moreover this statement being made by the institution that was created to ensure that the Government performs its duties correctly – the Judiciary, is nothing but a matter of great shame. The constant dilapidation of the high court building and the famous delays made by our lazy Judges or rather the snail’s pace with which the Judiciary system in India works is a clear testament to the utter selfishness, sloth and corruption that has sadly been entrenched in the system. I really find it appalling that a case should take 20 odd years to reach a verdict. Justice delayed is Justice denied and I am not sure if ever our Indian Judiciary will come out of this vicious circle. Fortunately, the financial crisis of the 90s forced India into liberalization, but what can possible force the Judiciary into such liberalization is a million dollar question that I would like someone to answer.

But, in the hope that there are many people like me, who love their homeland and would want to see a change in the future, I hope and would fervently want to believe that some drastic steps are taken to ensure that the justice system in India is much more efficient and get back the guts to decide and give out a verdict, immediately. Otherwise we will still be facing many other Shopian cases.

 

On Her Arriving At The Age of Twenty Seven

The title is inspired by John Milton’s sonnet ‘On his arriving at the age of twenty three’, where the poet analyses as to where he stands on his twenty third birthday. The poem is written in the form of a sonnet. Twenty-three was then a age when men would want to look back and believe that they have achieved something or are now established in a good profession, after completing their education. Milton here takes a very critical look at what he has done so far in the Octet and later turns optimistic and hopes for a better future. 

So, what inspired me to pen this post was my very good friend’s (D’s) birthday and she has now arrived in her twenty-seventh year. We met up with one another along with another close friend C and had a long, relaxing, talkative lunch, after a long time. Times have changed since we first met in 1997 and we have also changed with time. It was particularly interesting to note our transformations especially since our college days. C and I had a long chat upon that, prior to the arrival of our budday girl. 

At one point there was a concern as to how would life go on, if D was not around and I couldn’t even imagine shopping – ever – without her. They say time takes care of all. Whoever they are, they happen to be right. Our worries of then, seem very trivial now and we move on, with new relations forming in our lives. Some new people who enter and change the course of our existing flow. I suppose it is good, else am sure I would be bored with the monotony. 

Every stage is a learning and if you feel you haven’t done enough so far, then its time you start doing that something now, as the future awaits you like a black board. 

So, once again a lovely birthday and year ahead for my dear D.

For those who might be interested to read Milton’s sonnet, here you go:

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stol’n on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew’th.

Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth
That I to manhood am arrived so near;
And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirits endu’th.

Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure even
To that same lot, however mean or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of
Heaven;
All is, if I have grace to use it so,
As ever in my great Task-Master’s eye.

And a sonnet is:

A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter with a carefully patterned rhyme scheme. Other strict, short poetic forms occur in English poetry (the sestina, the villanelle, and the haiku, for example), but none has been used so successfully by so many different poets. The Italian, or Petrarchan sonnet, named after Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374), the Italian poet, was introduced into English poetry in the early 16th century by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542). Its fourteen lines break into an octave (or octet), which usually rhymes abbaabba, but which may sometimes be abbacddc or even (rarely) abababab; and asestet, which may rhyme xyzxyz or xyxyxy, or any of the multiple variations possible using only two or three rhyme-sounds. The English or Shakespearean sonnet, developed first by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547), consists of three quatrains and a couplet–that is, it rhymes abab cdcd efef gg.

The form into which a poet puts his or her words is always something of which the reader ought to take conscious note. And when poets have chosen to work within such a strict form, that form and its strictures make up part of what they want to say. In other words, the poet is using the structure of the poem as part of the language act: we will find the “meaning” not only in the words, but partly in their pattern as well.

 

 

A Refreshing Twist

It is a common practice to talk about weather when two people have nothing to say. But this time, it is different when I mention weather. Hyderabad in the months from March to June can be quite unbearable. The summer is at its peak especially in April and mainly May. Stepping out in the afternoons is simply unthinkable.

Hence, it is a refreshing twist that the weather in April, should suddenly turn to that of a hill station. Cloudy, drizzle here and there, sometimes heavy rain accompanied by thunder storms, in one word the weather currently in Hyd is – Heavenly.

One of my closest friends – Suri (as I fondly call him) or Spaceman Spiff is getting married today and I wish him and J, all the luck and best wishes for a lovely life ahead. I suppose the rain Gods are wishing him too and that could just be the reason for this refreshing change. 

 

The World We Live In

It occurred seeing one of those typical ads that some of the rich men have pretty dumb, snobbish wives. There are three possibilities to this occurrence:

1. That the men don’t want wives who can utilize their brain outside the kitchen/home/beauty care, etc,.
2. The women become this way after getting married into affluent families or may be the nouveau riche
3. These women were simply born this way and those poor rich men didn’t have a choice

Now let us look at each of the above possibilities a little closely. (Does this point by point analysis seem like something you’ve read in your days in school, well, years of study have ingrained this form of analysis, hence I request you to kindly put up with it)

Looking at the first possibility – That the men don’t want wives who can utilize their brain outside the kitchen/home/beauty care, etc,.

I think that this possibly helps men to work with freedom sans the intelligence of the wife, who is supposed to be important in his life. By marrying such a bimbette, the husband has to supply with the materialistic things to keep her happy. In short, he can then concentrate all his energies towards building his assets, which he is so good at.

Second – The women become this way after getting married into affluent families or may be the nouveau riche

The assumption remains that the women do not start out to be affluent, but happen to gain it by a matter of chance accompanied by complete ignorance as to how the wealth comes by. Their supreme worry or involvement remains in maintaining their ‘status’. This is done through the strutting of property and jewelry, in which ever measure. So by marrying into a family that apparently doesn’t care for money, it leaves these poor women with only one occupation as described above. The men in this case, have little choice, as they have forever seen women around them behaving in the similar – snobbish manner and their wives (as expected) follow the routine.

Coming to the nouveau riche, they understand that money is hard to come by, but the fact that they so desperately want to fit “in” to the elite or the affluent circles is so high that it once again drives them towards the main occupation of maintaining their status. The men here, may or may not be driven by this want of status and hence are a parti to the whole status game.

Third – These women were simply born this way and those poor rich men didn’t have a choice

We come to the third possibility, where the men just got married to women whose prime occupation has always been to maintain an extremely snobbish and repulsive ways of life. Assuming that their husbands are affluent enough to support their whims, they simply improve (oops, deteriorate) with age. Hence, the man has very less choice in order to maintain his peace, but to comply with all the materialistic demands.

It is alarming and amusing to watch people make a complete cake of their lives, just to satisfy the society or merely to fit in. What makes me wonder is that who is this Society that we so desperately want to please. No society ever comes for one’s rescue in times of need, then what is the use of confirming to these norms? My example above, simply touches a small strata of people, but when I think of people at large, there are “societal pressures” everywhere and many a times we are forced to comply. Many a times, I agree to these norms, not because I believe in some such stuff, but simply to avoid hurting my close ones. If a number of people of my generation find it comfortable to settle away from India, or are termed as brash for not confirming to the rules and regulations, then they want to live a care-free and no-frills attached life of their own and truly upon their own terms. To break these stereotypes, without altering the fabric of our culture, is close to impossible. But, trying to maintain a fine balance between the two is not easy, but possible and I am constantly working at it.

 

Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA)

I happen to attend a Leadership program for the Tibetan Women’s Association. Least to say, it was a wonderful experience that very few trainers in the corporate sector can hope to get. It is more than just the training experience that I wanted to talk here. 

On the 50^th anniversary of Tibetan occupation by the Chinese, there was a lot said by some of the most leading newspapers such as the New York Times and the UK Times and quoted one of the most prominent speakers of Tibetan struggle – His Holiness The Dalai Lama. When I attended this program, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet the Tibetan women and know more about their lives. I realized how disconnected we are from the rest of the world. At least, most of us remain apathetic to the concerns of others, or in a more mellowed tone, I would say, we remain preoccupied with our own lives that we do not recognize or understand the depth of other’s problems and concerns.

I realized for the first time, how much we should value the independence that we enjoy today. When I spoke to the Tibetan women, they told me that many of them have to live in India, away from their families, in order to pursue their education. Their calls are screened and hence can barely talk anything more than just pleasantries. Written mails are also scanned by the Chinese Government and hence cannot even write proper mails. Some of them try to send them through their fellow Tibetans who might be visiting Lhasa. But, this opportunity is also rare and not often a very safe means. The Chinese Government could improve the Tibetan region with the latest infrastructure facilities, but what use is it, if the basic human rights are curtailed? Some of the women we spoke to felt curtailed and always felt inferior or may be less privileged to be living outside their homeland.

In the course of the program, these women came up with their stories. Some had to leave their parents behind in the pursuit of a better life and to continue to help free Tibet and some had been orphaned. Dharmsala in Himachal Pradesh is the center for all the activities for the Tibetans outside Tibet and it is also the official seat from where H.H The Dalai Lama operates. There is a boarding school which is run by the Tibetans, for the Tibetan children. This school takes care of all the requirements of these children and enables them to stand on their feet. The primary mode of teaching is Tibetan for these children in the boarding schools and they are taught of Tibetan culture and values. They seem to have one issue, when mingling with Indians, especially in the north that of the Hindi language. Well, most of the South Indians are also a part of similar conflict when trying to speak in Hindi. These students also practice Buddhism. Some of the students of the boarding school later become the teachers and we had one such lady amongst us. These women might look frail and quiet in appearance, but there is something very strong inside them that evokes respect for them.

I met a dynamic young lady who had represented Tibet at various international forums and now works in a NGO. She shared her experiences with us. She and her sister were orphaned and somehow managed to run to India. They received extreme care and affection from the boarding school that they did not miss their family. One can see the pain and anguish in many of them, but on the same level they are women one would want to be associated with. She and a group of friends started a Tibetan Radio – Voice of Tibet.

Their objective is:

“Voice of Tibet’s main objectives are to provide a channel for unbiased information and news to the Tibetans living under Chinese oppression in Tibet, to help preserve the threatened Tibetan culture, to educate the Tibetans in internationally acknowledged human rights, to inform about democracy and the democratic institutions of the Tibetan exile community, and to help prevent conflicts and discrimination. Another main objective is to improve communications within as well as between the Tibetan exile communities.”

Another young lady was a practicing physiotherapist who regularly takes time out to do some free service for various people. There was also a bright software engineer and budding statistician and many others who still have the spirit of Tibet going in them and would someday want to see a free Tibet. Amongst them, were also some who don’t connect with Tibet and are apathetic to its cause. It is obvious to have such feelings, if they are born outside Tibet and have experienced a free life here in India. It is not easy to continue to fight for freedom while living outside your homeland.

Honestly, this experience made me grateful for my freedom and also made me realize how much we abuse it. I feel that the Tibetans should receive all the support and they should continue to fight for their freedom. It is every individual’s birth right and the Chinese Government can never be supported for any kind of justifications they might give.

Signing off with a fervent wish for a free Tibet!

 

 

Social Networking & Billu

After a long hiatus of four months, we went to a movie on Valentine’s Day. The movie was Billu Barber. Not particularly a celebration activity for V Day, but merely the fact that me and hubs got the time to go to a movie and also the fact that this movie theatre is the closest to our lil abode. 

Having cleared that, let me get on with Billu. It is a run of the mill story with two long lost supposed friends. One becomes extremely rich and famous – Sahid Khan (or King Khan) and the other remains where he was – Billu, as barber, tied down with family responsibilities and difficulties. Their paths cross in a small village named Budbuda. The King Khan is there to shoot for his film (wonder why, when all he does there is some space setting and fights, nothing rural). Here starts the social networking bit. 

In today’s world, it is not enough to be well educated or well qualified to go up the ladder, it is all about whom do you know and hence what can you do. Social capital can be defined as:

•  Recourses available in and through personal and business networks

                 o    Information, ideas, leads

                 o    Emotional support, goodwill, trust, cooperation, power, influence

• Potential resources inherent in an actor’s set of social ties 

Hence, coming back to the movie, Billu also reaps some advantages. Simply based on the rumour that Billu is the famous actor’s friend, things change drastically for him. Some of the changes are:

•  Billu couldn’t pay the school fees for his children and now the school authorities come to his home to tell him that his children’s education would be funded till 12th standard – IF (there always is an ‘IF’) he brings the famous actor to the school function
•  Billu’s barber shop is in dire straits. He hasn’t been able to spruce it up like his competitor, but the man persists. With the “supposed” new ties, he has a line of unending customers to gain – Sahid Khan’s hairstyle and the village bigwig sponsors new equipment for his shop – Once again, IF Billu can introduce the village bigwig to the superstar
• Billu’s wife is now seen with envy and her social status is elevated over night. There are polite IFs, which require her to get a picture of the star or autograph or in one case, his handkerchief (I wonder if men today carry such a thing anymore)

So, the rise in Billu’s social status and the respect and advantages he is now able to enjoy is due to the “supposed” social connection that he has with this superstar. I wouldn’t want to tell what actually happens in the movie, but the climax dragged on and it was too obvious towards the end. All through, director Priyadarshan has maintained a light and funny script that has kept the audiences quite lively. 

I enjoyed the movie, primarily because I am a die-hard SRK fan and loved him on screen. Yes, it is for die-hard Shah Rukh fans! But then, it is definitely not one of his or Irfan Khan’s best performances. You really don’t have to see this movie. The reason this movie kept me interested is because of  this social networking connection that a lot of Bollywood movies sport.

It is not an observation out of blue that – “People who do better are somehow better connected” and yes, towards the end, it is left for us, the poor audience to understand that Billu’s life has changed, for the better, due to his – Social Network.

 

 

Listening

One of the most beautiful expressions, gifted to the mankind, is the art of communication; written, spoken or even the art of listening to another person (which often is not acknowledged enough as part of communication) form the crux for it.

I love the written word and can communicate best in this medium. The proof of this is this blog where I pour out all my thoughts and experiences. Fortunately enough, I found my life-partner also through the written word. Being a quiet person, I prefer to talk a lot only to a select set of people, I am most comfortable with. I realized that listening also is an art that is very important and is essential. Effective listening is required in doing some of the most basic things in life to maintaining some of the most complex relations. One needs to listen carefully to the directions being given by a person; else one will get completely lost. A person needs to listen carefully in his or her day to day communication at work in order to take an order or even when responding to requests.

Listening also forms the crux in any relation. To be able to listen to another person, to his/her feelings and understanding their background/perspective is very important. Many of the misconceptions and misunderstandings would never come up, if one took enough time to understand and listen. Most of the time, one is clouded by their own thoughts and their situation and troubles that listening effectively to the other person’s perspective is lost. The end result of all this is that the two people involved in the argument or conversation end up feeling lost or hurt or misunderstood and many other negative feelings. Probably each one of us has been in such a situation many a times, either at work or at home with a loved one.

It is very difficult at that moment to think with a clear head and to try and understand the other person’s situation. If one is able to achieve this, then least of all one could be at peace. Trying to make the other person change or to make them see our way is tough and not always possible. The most common belief remains that ‘I can change a person’.  The sooner one comes to terms with this and tries not to change another person and not try controlling another person; life will suddenly be a much beautiful place.

The ability to let go, to listen and to enjoy life is a personal thing and highly achievable. I love myself and hence, I am doing this.

Keep smiling!

 

Adastra

It all just seems a little while ago when I got into my engineering and sometime then participating for the very first time in the IEEE SNIST Technical Paper Presentation contest as volunteer. I wanted to enroll as a member, but was told that the first years or freshmen are too green to join.

We had to wait a whole year or in our case next 8 months to be able to join as an IEEE student member. There was thing ‘enthu’ and excitement in life to do something big and to make the best of a technical forum like this seemed the best way. Well, wait, am I not sounding as though I am writing my SOP or some such thing? But let me confess, one of the very strong reasons to join the IEEE chapter in college was because I had a crush on my seniors. I assumed that he would be in that chapter too. Also, I fell for another senior of ours who happened to come to our class to motivate us to join the chapter. In retrospect, I think crushes do help, sometimes . Thus started my journey with the college IEEE chapter.

This story can never be complete without the mention of some of my friends during college life; Kiran, Chandu, Rajeev and Lee. The fact remains that without them, the chapter would never have been as enjoyable as it was. I know you are dying to know, but I did enjoy my time with the good looking senior..well I mostly spent time just looking at him. Never really had the guts to go up and tell him that I had a major crush on him . Such student bodies provide a great synergy among the students from different years that being an active member of such an organization makes those boring college days absolutely lovable to remember.

The third of engineering saw some major work done by us for the annual chapter paper presentations. We worked with our immediate seniors and juniors and made a whole lot of great friends. One of the key members of the then exec council was the primary pushing factor to have me present a paper that year and I won a first prize for it. I still remember the hot afternoon outside LH4 (one of the classrooms) where Chandu came to me with the results and told me that I got the first prize among all under one of the categories. Well, I didn’t believe her at all. But then it was one of the most memorable moments and am glad that Nirish, my senior pushed me and Chandu was the one who told me about the results. And yes, Kiran was the one who changed my slides and Chandu, Rajeev and Lee were there among the audience.

All through the three years with the chapter, we bunked classes and got attendance, coz obviously we were part of the IEEE chapter. No prof could say no . Made absolute use of this and escaped from some of the most boring lectures. Our interaction with our juniors around this time led to a wonderful final year of engineering. Adorable team of juniors: Kash, Preeti, Sowji, Sameera, Hari..and many others (pl pardon me for not mentioning all the names, but I mean to ) It was in our final year of engineering, 2002 – 2003 that we decided to give our annual paper presentation contest a name. There were a number of contenders but Kash suggested a Latin word – ADASTRA means ‘To the stars’. We all loved it. It was this year that our whimsical principal hon’ble Mr. Sri Narsimha Reddy Garu was not available and Prof P.S.R Murty, the head of our Electrical dept was in charge. He was a very encouraging person and pushed us to find a good name for the contest. He approved of ADASTRA and for the first time that year in Feb of 2003, we held the event. Rajeev was the President (or the COSTaaN of the IEEE Assoc ), Chandu was the vice-president, Kiran the treasurer and myself, Lee, Nischal and Karthik were part of the exec council or the active members.

Our modest beginning : The first site

Link to ADASTRA now

Some other related links:

http://snistscreamers.blogspot.com/2008/02/best-of-adastra-08-snist.html

Some pictures of ADASTRA 07 : http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/128304/overview#4584292

The event is something that I would remember forever. There was a sense of achievement that defined our college days. After many years I happen to visit the site that now belongs to SreeNidhi Students’ IEEE – ADASTRA. It brought back all the memories rushing to me. We were so proud to have a T-shirt with ADASTRA printed on it. To raise those funds was a herculean task and now when I see the event that took place recently, I see things like Robo soccer demonstrations and business plan competitions. Highly Nostalgic and makes me feel very proud of it all.

To the best years of my life in engineering

 

Happy Valentines’ Day!

This Valentines’ day is very special. It is the first of many (from personal point of view) and I can really go on talking about it. But I’m not here to share that. I think Valentines Day is a day to express our love, it can be to anybody so here I go…. 

There can be different kinds of love and as unique is each person, so is their love; it is special in their own way. I have a number of people among my family and friends, whom I value and love them a lot. Am sure I have expressed this in a number of my previous posts. There is one thing that I realized recently that I cannot survive without: reading. When I mean reading, it means the books from my favourite authors. 

Water, oxygen, my coterie and books are what I really need to survive. If for some reason I haven’t been able to pick up those books for a long period, there is a great sense of loss which can only be relieved by yes, reading a book. 

This Valentines’ Day, I would like to let you know about some of my favourite authors and some of the best books I read.

I have read this book over and over again a zillion times and have always felt the same thrill. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of her remarkable works. Centuries might fly past, but people at the core remain the same. The intricate web of family ties, the relations and the divide between the rich and the poor never change. I love this book for all its characters and for the most delicate way everything is handled.

 

One day, rummaging through my aunt’s book closet I found this author’s book; reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer. There was something about the book and the title that made me inquisitive enough to read it. If anyone has ever reproduced regency era and written the dialogues between the lead characters with more wit then I can relinquish my love for her. She is absolutely enchanting and just transports one to the land of the Regency period. A must read for all those who enjoy classics. Please try, even otherwise.

The simplicity of his writings and as-a-matter-of-fact descriptions of the most commonplace and equally complex characters makes William Somerset Maugham one of my favourites. He is splendid. His short stories are compelling and almost always have an excellent twist in the end. His books are always a delight and thought-provoking. There is one thing I have learnt from him, the toughest way to write is to keep it simple.

There are a number of other writers and authors whose books I have enjoyed immensely. I would highly recommend, No full stops in India by Mark Tully, Jeffrey Archers for a lovely breeze of a ride, Robert Ludlums for some fast pace dramas, Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, Ayn Rand for the immortal Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and many more. But let me come to the one author who simply is immortal and is one of the reasons for me to start this blog.

Pelham Grenville Wodehouse is God for me. That is probably the simplest way of putting it. Whenever I feel I am down in the lowest and gloomiest of dumps, I just have to pick up a Wodehouse to successfully revive myself. The Jeeves and Blandings stories are simply superb. Can anyone portray such fine degree of wit and humour with such dexterity and simplicity? None! The closest I came across was Jerome K Jerome’s Three men in a boat (To say nothing of the dog). One has to simply read his short stories or his novels to experience the God himself. Unfortunately there aren’t many who read books these days and even less who read P.G. A sad plight is how my old flesh and blood and I would put it. Wodehouse died on February 14, 1975 but his books remain with people like us forever.

Wodehouse it is you that I dedicate this day!

PS: This post is inspired  and dedicated to one of the greatest of fans of Wodehouse, dear Uncle Emsworth.
Love,

Angela   

 

The obvious

Time and again I have had this problem that the most obvious of things are repeated and when I say that I mean that people tend to write about the same old topics in a different way. Words twisted, changed sentences or a change in presentation. It could simply be anything and I end up telling to myself that isn’t that so obvious, why do you even have to write about it??!!??

Some of the famous and widely used topics are about women, the relationship between man and woman and so on and so forth. Marriage hence is the essential offspring and tends to find place in loads of topics. Trust me, it is an essential part of life whether you agree to the concept of it or not and as the entire society has been organized around this for many, many years now, it is but obvious that many a times there are references to this. The references to women and the chemistry between the sexes are so often repeated that I hardly see a single advertisement on TV that doesn’t have a woman in it, even if there is no need for a woman to be there in that.

It has happened to me a number of times that I thought an answer to some question to be pretty obvious and an absolute no-brainer when someone says just that and earns the required brownie points. I have remained baffled for long as to what is it that makes these people say just the obvious and think that they have solved the next breakthrough in science.

Over the years I have learned to speak out some of the most obvious and earn some credit for it. It is not that I have to prove myself, but it is more to prove once again that in this world, the most obvious is not obvious to many.