Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Should Robert Vadra, outsider in the Gandhi family, continue to malign their name ?

It is a serious question every Indian would have on their tongue tips.

Should Robert Vadra son-in-law of Rajiv Gandhi be allowed to malign his name and that of his mother and grandfather for a petty 58 crores on land he initially bought from DLF for Rs 8 crores and then later sold back to DLF for Rs 58 crores, misusing his relationships with people in power ?

It is a known fact that money is the weakness of everyone, however powerful or weak they be. When they find money through legal means is insufficient to lead a luxurious life, these people, who cannot think enter into unholy dealings to make a quick buck.

Sadly this whole episode has maligned Sonia Gandhi's stand of probity in public matters. Before more muck falls on anyone's face, she should put an end to this !

Let the authorities investigate as to why DLF sold land to Vadhra for 8 crores initially and then bought it back from him for Rs 58 crores later ? Were there any quid pro quo dealings here which has not been made public. Of course the people of this country would love to listen to the defence of Vadhra, who has been teasing the IAC volunteers trying their best to make public the truth, trying to trifle the controversy !

Have the Haryana officials and politicians also played hand in gloves with the real estate sharks ? Should not the govt probe their dealings too ?

As the media puts it, 3.5 acres of land, 65 days and Rs. 50 crores profit.. If only every Indian could be so connected to have such dealings with DLF ..

ge..

Salman Khurshid, Dr Zakir Hussain and Kejriwal ..

Salman Khurshid is now in the eye of a storm related to an NGO he has been floating these years and getting govt funds to fund it. It is pathetic that Dr Zakir Hussain's name is being unfairly dragged into this controversy by Salman Khurshid. Nobody doubts Salman's ill intentions, but the fact that he tries to take cover for his ill devised actions behind noble souls is the curse of our society.

I have a few questions to ask the govt or the commissioner who decides to give money to these NGOs. 

1. How many NGOs in the country get funding to the tune of Rs 70 lakhs ?
2. Did Salman Khurshid's proximity to the corridors of power help him get so much money for the NGO ?
3. If Kejriwal's revelations are true, then why is Salman Khurshid trying to run from facing Kejriwal ?
4. Final one, has Salman Khurshid grown in intellectual stature to match up to Kejriwal ?
5. As his ministerial colleague commented, Salman would not indulge in such petty activities staking his reputation for 71 lakhs of rupees, (if it was 71 crores, there is some meaning), what does that convey of the intention of the political elite in the country ?

The country needs answers from the political leaders ? Let the people remind them yet again, India is no banana republic !! 

As a public spirited citizen, Kejriwal has all right to raise in fora issues which involve our tax money. No one can stop him, The whole country is behind Kejriwal's attempts to hound these birdbrains and chase them till they give up their ill-used and misused public positions ..

ge..

Saturday, October 13, 2012

should Salman Khurshid try flexing muscles with Kejriwal ..?

The present spat between IAC ( India Against Corruption) leader Arvind Kejriwal and union Minister and Congress Leader Salman Khrushid (on behalf of their party leader Sonia Gandhi and her son in law Robert Vadhra) is turning for the worst. With Kejriwal being arrested and detained in jail overnight and released this morning, the spat is continuing.

The low IQ Salman Khurshid sadly is no match to Kejriwal with his high academic and professional qualifications. Kejriwal's revelation yesterday of how Salman Khurshid's trust (money squandering and eating trust) had misappropriated app 70 lakhs of govt money on forged signature is adding fuel to fire. Corporation Bank denying ever having given overdraft of app 12 crore to Vadhra which was claimed by Vadhra, all points to the fact that indeed Kejriwal's revelations are damaging reputations and sending shivers among politicians,. Kejriwal cannot be said to be doing all these longing for political fame more than exposing corruption in the country.

Nitinn Gadkari having started to pee in his pants fearing which of his shady deals Kejriwal is going to expose, is to say least comforting for the opposition party.

ge..

Friday, October 12, 2012

depression of your spouse and how to deal with it

With a higher standard of living, tension in daily lives and less of concern for others, most of the educated and affluent couples, middle aged, these days pass through a phase of depression in their lives. In most of cases depression recurs in couples.


Depression as different from other physical ailments , is the result of ill health of the mind due to many pressing factors over a long period of time... Total detachment from all things worldly may not be a possible remedy to escape depression for the majority of people in this world. How can society help these needy people ?


What causes depression : A constant source of irritation, tension at home, illness of children etc can result in depression that can cause lack of enthusiasm for active life, feeling lonely, lack of interest in others, disinterest in sexuality, suicidal tendency, inability even to do household chores etc .. This is not an irreversible process and if treated can be reversed leading back to helpful and active life.


Is this like cancer, the curse of affluence and neglect of the poor in society ? A life style disease ?


Please read the basics of what depression is and how to handle it effectively at nimh.nih.gov US govt site. Wealth of resources. For pdf form (27 pages), pl click here .. Updated 2011.



Presently a very close friend of mine is passing through this stage of mental ill health and I am in a process of helping them ( that does not preclude the possibility of depression not hitting me either..)



This Reader's Digest link gives an article that helps to understand causes of depression and how to handle it. ( From the book '7 stages of marriage', by Sari and Rita


Most of us refuse to accept or are ignorant that we or our spouse is affected by depression. Statistics show that one in five women in Europe is afflicted with depression .. About 18 million out of 320 million people in US suffer from depression, ie. 5 %. Statistics in other countries is unavailable as they have not yet understood the magnitude of this malaise.


The recent suicide of playback singer Asha Bhonsle's daughter in Mumbai out of extreme depression points to the reality that wealth and pleasures cannot get any one peace of mind, on the contrary it can only bring extreme misery and depression !!



helpguide.org in collaboration with Harvard Medical School has come up with this site that gives extensive reading material and advice on how to cope with depression. Last updated Oct 12.


If not identified early, it can even lead to divorce. No one and no medical science talks of GIVING BACK TO SOCIETY !!



The first billionaire John D Rockefeller in 1912 also suffered from a similar malaise of dropping hair and shrinking skin at the age of 53, when his close confidant at that time advised him to give back to society. Rockefeller got rid of this unexplainable malaise when he decided to give back to society all his wealth and lived happily till age of 98. Then was born the Rockefeller Foundation .. Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and other millionaires are now practicing these principles of giving back to society basically to keep them in good mental and physical health.


Hands that serve are more sacred than lips that pray - Mother Teresa. Let your spiritual life be just not restricted to praying and lip service, it also demands serving the society .. Gautam Budha gave all his worldly possessions and went out to pray, preach and serve the society, escaping depression. In a joint family the comfort and solace of other family members often was a great social medication, unlike the nuclear families of today where problem arise within families and end within families itself. The spiritual and social bonding from attending church services and cottage prayers go a long way in helping meet this malaise..


How far can medical science help to treat this ill health of the mind ? The societal support to such activities is it sufficient ?


Let us ponder !!


Ge..


Intolerant quran burning pastor blocked at Canada border ..

The US pastor from some breakaway protestant faction who has caused much of heatrtburn for Muslims all over after burning of Quran does not have any idea of history and the need to  be tolerant of other faiths and beliefs.

Read the TOI article  here..

Preaching and practicing love for all, hatred and venomous speech with vitriole has no say in any civilised society. The pastor has got freedom of speech but that stops when your neighbour gets hurt ..

Does Christianity preach hurting other religious beliefs ?

The protestant faith is coming up dime a dozen all over the world, mushrooming all round , whoever has money to throw around and who desires to make money through spiritual entrepreneurship, sets up a new church. These people have no qualms in abusing other religions and hurting the beliefs of those people.

Is it reflective of civilisational immaturity (a 300 year old culture..) in US ? Militant, abusive, intolerant spiritualism as practiced by these brands of protestants and born-again groups freely in US is a threat to the civilized world.

ge..

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Rail Radar, by Indian Railways - first time in the world ..

In collaboration with google maps Indian Railways has come up with a graphical tool to identify and track movement of almost 6500  important trains in the Indian subcontinent in real time.

http://railradar.trainenquiry.com/  Overlaying the digital information of train running time on a geographical map using google maps has been tried innovatively for the first time in the world as an application. Lot of apple and android apps will come out soon ..

Read more here from TOI ..  Trains running behind time are coloured red and all over India we find almost 50% of trains are coloured red, ie. running late ..

Track your fav trains and see how user friendly it is,, At any time during day almost 1600 trains are active running ..

ge..

silky waking chinnu for her milk share ..

Everyday morning my daughter Chinnu after drinking milk gives the last 20 ml or so in the glass to our pet Labrador dog silky. This is a practice that is continuing for at least the past 6 years, ever since Silky came home as a puppy. 

When Chinnu does not get up even by 7.30 am or so, Silky gets a little concerned as to why her daily sweet chocolate milk dose is being delayed. Silky goes to Chinnu and makes a whining noise to wake her up and more often than not, Chinnu gets up then. 

The snap shows Silky already having given the whines and waiting for Chinnu to get up, while Chinnu goes deeply inside her woollen sheet to catch a few more minutes sleep .. !

ge..

My popular posts over the last month ..