Thursday, April 14, 2016

Meet 'Lakshman Rao' - Novelist cum Tea Seller.

"A writer is born after 50 years of age and gets the real life after his death." -- Lakshman Rao
This is the real life story of struggle, rejection, unflinching determination amidst penury and now recognition. This is the story of Lakshman Rao, a tea seller on pavements of Delhi.
His story is bound to teach us a few lessons on persistence, perseverance and listening to inner voice when the entire world thinks otherwise.
Lakshman Rao - Author of 24 novels, plays, political essays written in Hindi; had a life fraught with poverty, obstacles and tons of struggle.But sheer determination helped him pave
way to present fame and very little fortune, after numerous rejections and decades of dedicated reading-writing on the noisy South Delhi street of Vishnu Digambar Marg near Hindi Bhavan, while selling tea.
The best part is he is publisher and salesman of his books to numerous schools and libraries across Delhi. He decided to self-publish his books after being rudely shooed away by a publisher. They would say, "a chaiwallah tea seller can't write books".
So he would cycle 60 km in mad Delhi traffic to promote his books across Delhi and then sell tea till 9 PM. After reaching home - a one-room tenement that he shares with his wife and 2 sons, he would write till early morning hours.
After all these years of dedicated work, he is finally getting recognition in Indian and world media. Newspapers from 'The Guardian' to 'New York Times' have published articles on him. Indian president had invited him to Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential Palace) after reading one of his Novels 'Renu'. Now he is a recognized man on the pavement where he sells tea as people from all walks of life stop by his stall to sip tea and take life's wisdom from him. As one bank manager says, "I feel richer and relieved of life's hassles after a conversation with him".
Check out this You Tube video with Lakshman Rao sharing his wisdom >>


One of his novels has been translated in English and available on Kindle. He says, even if a single person from across the world in London reads his work on Kindle; he would be rewarded! For now he is busy preparing tea at his stall and conceptualizing his next novel.
Surprisingly for a man with such humble means, barely making under $200 a month to support his family - has larger than life dreams - his eyes beaming with satisfaction as he says "I loved Shakespeare and wanted to be a writer. Now that people have recognized and read my works, I am a happy man and no sorrows in life".
Remember, here's a man living in abject poverty and few means, saying "he has no sorrows in life". Perhaps this should be a priceless take for all of us in an insane consumerist world where nothing is enough to satisfy our greed....
Let's salute indomitable spirit of Lakshman Rao - 'The Novelist'
JAI HIND!

Greece Crisis: The fishing giant caught in an economic whirlpool, desperate to be fished out!

european union member
Greece revolution
Greece: Sunshine land of sea, shipping, fishing, olives, and; plenty of social well-being and happiness. Or is it? The answer is both 'Yes' and 'No'. Yes, for it's past and No, for the present.
An ancient civilization from the pre-Biblical era, Greece is the cradle of western civilization; as such the birthplace of democracy, philosophy, and Olympic games.
In modern times, it was a developed country with a high-income economy and a very high standard of living. Greece was the founding member of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and development (OECD), member of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), European Union (EU), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations (UN). In fact, Greece was the Second largest defence spender after the United States within NATO.
But, now the Goliath is on it's toes; badly battered financially and socially. But what went wrong? Were the reasons of this debacle internal or external? These are the questions hounding everyone: considering the abject misery the greeks are subjected now!Well, it's mostly internal mismanagement (corruption, over-spending and deceit that has sent Greece into a downward spiral for almost a decade); with only one major external factor (gaining Euro as currency that Greece has no control over).
Since late 90's Greece was getting into fiscal deficits because of over expenditure by means of rich pensions for retirees, millitary expenditure, while failing to collect due taxes.Since Greece joined Euro club and replaced 'Drachma' with Euro in 2001; it was able to afford loans at a much cheaper rate  from International institutions - awash with cheap loans, it splurged in abundance. For e.g: In 2004 olympics, it spent 8 times more than that of Sydney Olympics. Moreover, Greece had been indulging in accounting malpractices since long which eventually helped it gain entry into Euro - by covering it's prolonged fiscal deficits. Greece had paid millions in bribe to Wall Street banks including Goldman Sachs to fudge it's books and trick Eurozone community into believing in it's financial viability.

Thus, most of the blame lies on Greece but not all. Because the markets also failed to assess Greece's credit risk. Earlier 'Drachma' had been devaluing periodically to adjust trade imbalances, but that was not possible now; with Euro as currency controlled centrally by European Central Bank (ECB) in Brussels. Many including Nobel prize winning Economist 'Paul Krugman' believe this also a major contributing factor to the ongoing crisis. Greece Economy is in dire straits - since 2010 it has received numerous bailout packages from EU and IMF; which largely goes into repaying earlier debts and less into rebuilding Greek economy.
Following are a brief timeline of debt crisis and bailout packages:
2009, December - Greece's credit rating downgraded.
2010, February - Govt. announces tough austerity measures and faces public strike.
2011, July - European Union members channel a bailout package of 109 billion euros. Credit rating downgraded to substantial risk default.
Source: nytimes.com                                

2011, October - Eurozone lenders approve of 50% debt write off in return of further austerity measures.
2012, February - Greek parliament approves of a new round of austerity measures with a background of violent protests; for 130 billion euro bailout.
2015, August - Supposedly a bridging loan as part of 3rd round of bailout, of 7 billion euros; out of which 4.5 billion Greece will repay to European central bank and 1.5 billion to International monetary fund. This will pave the way for future bailout plans.


To sum up Greece is caught in a vicious cycle with no amount of bailout - able to make a dent in it. Compounding the problem are the harsh austerity measures (huge increase in taxes, drastically cutting down on pension, public welfare schemes), and widespread unemployment having contributed to great social instability. Over these years, Greece has been witness to many violent protests on the streets of Athens.
Fishing Industry, a major contributor to the GDP and employer to many fishermen is almost entirely broke; as Greeks can't afford to buy fish. Many harbors are lying empty and many a fishermen are without trade. Fishing that has been a Greek trade for thousands of years

Small Fishing Village on Island of Crete
since 3,500 B.C is the worst hit for the first time in history. Fishing as a way of life has drowned with little hope in hindsight.
Many shops in Athens have closed down as there are no buyers. Banks had become a casualty  much earlier. Overall Greece is in a serious economic conundrum.

The way out: After all these years of turbulent trials, with ordinary Greeks being the worst sufferers for their Government misdoings, there has to be an end to this tragedy. The only way out it seems is an exit from 'Euro' (Grexit) and reintroducing Greek 'Drechma'. This will provide much-needed flexibility in devaluing it's own currency and making exports cheaper and competitive. This is bound to infuse stimulus into a shattered economy and mcuch needed respite to the Greeks.Paul Krugman who had been an outspoken opponent of single currency in Europe has said " Greek economy can recover from the severe recession by exiting the Euro and launching a new national currency, the drachma. ” he wrote in the New York Times in June.
While it may seem the only solution to the crisis, Euro Zone member countries are trying their level best to prevent this from happening. Because this will cause a crisis of faith in the European Union globally and worse, Euro would lose value against Dollar.
On a sombre note : Greeks and rest of the world are numb at irreversible greek tragedy; that is on the verge of turning into a spectre to haunt us forever, if not reversed soon!
Let us wait and watch when Greece gets fished out and by whom...

Are junk food - pornography related; and does one addiction lead to the other?

Apart from terrorism and pollution, two other things  that are posing a major threat to our wellbeing are: 'Junk Food' and 'Internet Porn'.
Both are recent phenomena and insidiously deadly. They prey on our primeval pleasure seeking instincts, making it appear normal.So what are their similarities and what makes them addictive?
Colored MRI Scan Of Human Brain.Dopamine - The link: Dopamine is a neurotransmitterer that carries signal from one neuron to another. It's simple reward mechanism in our evolutionary process to make us reach for food and sex for the survival of our species.Therefore, Dopamine has always rewarded us with excitement, stimulation, and satisfaction. In short it has made life worth living for thousands of years.

But something is wrong now, that has converted God's reward mechanism into a deadly curse - and we humans are to be blamed for this. 21st century has seen a great surge in science and technology in all domains for the benefit of mankind except for some of it.

Food Engineering: It has turned into a menace posing a risk for human health and nature. Modern food is processed, laced with synthetic food colors, flavor enhancers, loads of sugar, salt, and fat that makes us crave more and more -- with no amount able to satisfy us.Modern food interventions superexcite our taste buds and create a huge surge in dopamine levels making us addicted to junk food.
Pornography: I would say this also is recent even though erotica has existed for thousands of years. Erotica is a depiction of romantic sex or representation of nobler sex. Compare that with modern pornography where sex is aggressive, selfish -- bodies are surgically operated, sex toys, cosmetics used to add zing. Watching porn videos also creates huge dopamine surge, overexcites our sex glands and creates the insatiable appetite for more.

Image result for junk food addiction and pornPorn addiction leads to social anxiety, isolation, confidence issues; creates lethargy and drives one into depression. In such a scenario, it's obvious that one would desire junk food that acts as a companion in overexciting human brain.
Both junk food and pornography are thus related and have hijacked humanity to a bottomless pit of desperation, craving, and irresistible hunger; while posing a risk for the environment. To get our dopamine fix, we have/are plundering natural resources and injecting ourselves with supernormal stimuli in the form chemical food, artificial recreations of perverted sex etc.
Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett argues that supernormal stimulation govern the behavior of humans as powerfully as that of animals. In her 2010 book, Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose,[9] she examines the impact of supernormal stimuli on the diversion of impulses for nurturing, sexuality, romance, territoriality, defense, and the entertainment industry’s hijacking of our social instincts. (Source: WIkipedia)
How food influences human behavior was well known in ancient Hindu scriptures since the dawn of civilization. According to Ayurveda, food is of three types:
1) Satvik: Food that is fresh, natural, sweet, less spicy/salty. Such food creates a balanced personality, improves mental clarity and spiritual awareness.Most vegetarian food consisting of grains, lentils, fruits, vegetables, clarified butter, milk, nuts and seeds fall in this category.
2) Rajasic: Non-vegetarian and other food items that are heavy, salty, spicy, pungent and sour. Rajasic food creates a personality of anger, jealousy, greed, power and prestige.Non-vegetarian food, chili, peppers, other hot spices, onion, garlic, alcohol, tobacco and caffeine are Rajasic.
3) Tamasic: Food that is stale, putrid, processed with extreme amounts of salt, sugar, flavor enhancers and preservatives.

Most of modern junk food falls into this category. Such Tamasic food  creates mood swings insecurity, lethargy, cravings, anti-social behavior. (Perfectly fits into a porn addict's personality that modern psychologists describe)
Verdict! There's no need to explain further on the kink between junk food -- porn addiction & vice versa. I am of firm belief that porn addiction would surely lead to junk food eating as porn addicts spend hours, even days hooked to porn. They also tend to be socially isolated and suffer from complexes.Whereas, junk food addiction if not directly related to porn watching, lays a fertile ground for the other addiction to sprout by changing body's biochemistry and thus preferences.
Solution: Fixing these issues is fairly simple by changing one's habits and creating new ones. It only needs dedication and patience.
Let it all begin with eating right kind of food. This is bound to create a conducive environment in the body for generating right kind of thoughts.
Pair the above with some physical activity. Walking, Running, Working out and Yoga can work miracles by re-energizing lethargic cells with a gust of endorphins.

Finally Meditation. Last Nail in the Coffin of a Rut Lifestyle. Meditation is like God's pathway to have communion with inner self and sync with the outer cosmos. Meditation calms mind by generating positive thoughts of "compassion, coherence, love, generosity, clarity and care" (Quite opposite of depictions in Porn Movies!).Just a few minutes of it can work wonders, Trust Me! Get rid of all crap in life and reclaim the true essence of living that we are all born with and which is our right.                      

Hurry Sickness: Tame it before it tames you!

We live in a frenzied-chaotic world, where being in a rush always has become the norm. In a fast paced world with constant flurry of activity, it's easy to get sucked into this madness.  

Image result for hurry sicknessWe get programmed to be in hurry from early in childhood. It all starts with wrong teaching imparted by parents and teachers. One is made to believe that the world is always in a rush and one would lag behind if he/she spends a little time  in quiet; doing nothing. Damn, the world would pounce on him making him believe that he is a laggard.
At times we need to hurry especially while living in a big city to keep pace - to catch that train/bus for work - but still we can find time to be with self- once we board the train (Unless it is Mumbai, India!). But instead we are instantly glued to our tablet checking emails, facebook updates, news and what not.

Even when there is no need, also one is hurried - smitten by the 'hurry bug'. I have seen people who are in a hurry while watching television, flipping through channels at the speed of light, anxious to glance at what the other channel might be showing. Let me highlight the term "Might be".
Might be this, might be that; is a major underlying factor for hurriedness. Not just TV but "Might be" along with it's close companion "Hurry" has driven mankind to lunacy. But let's stop and take a moment to reflect on nature which creates miracles constantly without being in a hurry: "Flowers blossom, crops sprout, trees get laden with fruits, list goes on".
So what miracle are we accomplishing by being in a hurry; and would the world collapse if we miss that party or forget to put cinderella-like makeup for party, or miss a trivial meeting, a TV show e.tc.
Before we try to fix this hurry disease, let's look at the underlying reasons:

  1. Greed: This is evil no 1. Man's greed is insatiable and the line between how much is too much gets blurred in most cases. In order to satiate this monstrous greed to acquire more, one tends to cram more work in a day's schedule, to earn more - making himself huiried. Statistics prove that around 60% of our belongings are not needed and can be easily done away with. Is this sanity to always hurry - acquiring things - many of which are not needed.
  2. Self-Importance: This is the evil twin of greed. Many of us have this irresistible urge to feel important in our circle; let it be family(sibling rivalry) or society. And keeping oneself busy pampers one's ego even when it may not be a penny's worth! I have seen people who are miserable idlers without meaningful work, hobby or a cause; saying they don't have a minute to spare when invited over dinner!
  3. Dislike for One's Job: Dislike for one's job or profession breeds irritation instead of satisfaction. Nothing like the joy of a job well done and so is the pain of drudging in the wrong job. This scars the deep crevices of mind resulting in fickleness, as an escape for the mind.
  4. Procrastination: Ailment of procrastination has been as long as mankind itself. By delaying things, they tend to pile up and create metal clutter. A cluttered mind is an unhealthy mind which would always jump hither and tither.
  5. Impatience: This is a 21st-century malady arising out of one or more of the above factors. We live in a world of instant gratification: fast food, reality tv shows, pop music, thriller movies, computer games and internet porn.  All these conspire to steal joy of living in the present - "without any external stimuli".

List of remedies for combating this sickness:-                             
  1. Let Go: No matter what, we can't fit everything in a day's schedule. And the world won't go for a toss if less important activities are sacrificed at the altars of health and peace of mind. Therefore "Let Go" of less important things and don't bother with nitty-gritty of everything under the Sun.
  2. Plan, Organise and proritise: Now that we have learnt to let go, it is important to plan and organise our chores like a funnel - "Most important : Important : Less Important : Least Important" and allocate time accordingy. Least important activities can be done away with entirely in the event of time constraints.           Being organised would save us of many a troubles and time expense like misplacing important stuff and spending a fortune (of time) in locating it.
  3. Stop or Minimise Watching TV: Oof! Television! The world would be such a quiet and beautiful place without this piece of crap. TV creates restlessness by bombarding us with tons of advertisements, eating into a chunk of our time and affecting our sleep. Remember a sleep deprived mind is a "Monkey Mind".
  4. Brisk Walk: Walking slowly and steadily whenever one can afford to can have a tremendous therapeutic effect. It definitely would subside mental chatter that makes us feel busy even when one is not.
  5. Early Rising: Animals, birds and beasts, all rise with sunrise, barring human being. But we were not always like this. In fact for most of our evolutionary history(approx. 99.9% of over 1,00,000 years), we too were like the rest in waking up early but for the past century.           Early rising saves a lot of time, helps to plan and organise for the day better; thus reducing the need to be in a hurry for the rest of the day.
  6. Meditation: Ah! This is like a breath of fresh air. It heals jagged nerves, soothes and calms a chopped mind. Just a few minutes of it can work wonders by making us better decision makers, forging conducive relationships, improving overall health & persona, achieving our goals and innumerable other benefits. Most importantly meditation helps us connect with our own inner placid self and get answers to many of life's perplexing issues. Try it dilligently every day without fail and you would never be the same again. I swear!
  7. Stop Eating Junk Food: Yup! It's junk food which is devoid of any nutrition, laden with toxic chemicals(flavour enhancers, preservatives, thickening agents etc etc.) that deceive our taste buds and wreck our body, making it a fertile ground for many of modern maladies. Most importantly such food makes us restless by exciting our nerves, makes us irritable(body reacts when deprived of nutrition - http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/fast-food-nutrition-junk-foods-effect-on-your-body.html) and makes us more prone to violence (http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/violent_behavior_and_junk_food)

Admit that the world has changed drastically over past century and we need to keep pace.
But actually in hurrying we loose the race by committing costly mistakes in our jobs and fixing them over again, risking safety, getting ill with huge medical bills, dying prematurely in accidents or sickness. Remember the adage: “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” 

One can be quick and get the job done smartly and efficiently without mental hurriedness. This would surely create a better person inside and lead to a meaningful contended life..

Dig your own grave with teeth: "Eat Instant Noodles" !

We humans have gotten uglier in the way we eat, what we eat and how we eat. Whole food (grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds) is out and ready to eat is in, with instant noodles being the no. 1 monster. To put it simply they have oodles of fat, salt - peppered with toxic chemical preservatives and flavor enhancers.                                                                         
Toxic Noodles
Dark Side of Instant Noodles
I remember back in my school days, occasionally vans of Maggi noodles disbursing bowls of steaming hot noodles outside the gate for free and kids, famished-hungry after a grueling day at school devouring that junk, impatient till reaching home and savor mother's home cooked nutritious meal. I would wonder why is Maggi offering noodles to well-fed kids instead of poor ones starving on the streets.
It took me years till I grew up to understand that was advertising gimmick to induce kids who can trouble their parents to feed them more of that crap.
Now let's dive straight into why one should immediately stop eating instant noodles. This would benefit one's health, planet and national economy as well, with reduced health costs and more national productivity.
Studies conducted in South Korea and Malaysia(two large Noodle eating countries) have found large number of people consuming instant noodles to be suffering from Metabolic Syndrome, which essentially means a bunch of illnesses ranging from high blood sugar levels, high blood pressure, renal failure, excess body fat, abnormal cholesterol levels - thus increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. Hyun Joon Shin, MD of Harvard school of public health said in a press release “This research is significant since many people are consuming instant noodles without knowing possible health risks.”
Meaning instant noodles are an assault on human body causing host of metabolic illnesses, plus certain ingredients raise risk of cancer and devastating neurological disorders. So what's in this toxic food that cause all these?
Following are the list:
1. Salt: The World Health Organization recommends a maximum of 2000mg of sodium per day (equivalent to 5g of salt) for adults. Most instant noodles contain more than 100% of an adult's daily sodium intake just from a single packet.
Then, what about the rest of day's meals and snacks?
2. Fat: Most of instant noodles are processed in Palm oil after being steamed. Oxidized Palm Oil causes organ toxicity of heart, kidney, liver and lungs.
3. MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate): This one devil should send jitters down one's spine. It lurks everywhere: restaurants, cafeteria and mostly in processed foods. MSG makes food super tasty without laboring a dang! It's dirt cheap and easily available to be used generously!  MSG is an excitotoxin, maeaning it overexcites nerve cells to the point of damage or death leading to brain dysfunction.
It potentially causes varied neurological diseases including Alzheimers and Parkinson's.
Look how smart the food industry is to disguise MSG with pretty terms like:
  • Gelatin
  • Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)
  • Yeast Extract
  • Malted Barley
  • Rice Syrup or Brown Rice Syrup
So watch out!!
4. TBHQ (Tertiary butylhydroquinone): Used as food stabilizer is mentioned as an anti oxidant to hide it's true identity. Causes vision disturbances, affects human behavior, increases tumor risk.
5. BPA (Bisphenol A): Used in plastic packaging of food items that is known to leach into ingredients contained within and cause hormonal disturbances.
Years earlier, Malaysian health officials had issued a warning : "Eating instant noodles can cause or increase risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney damage because of ingredients such as thickeners, stabilizers, sodium, and preservatives".
Adding to the above list, there was a recent "Lead" scare in Indian Maggi Noodles detected by fssai (Food Safety Standards Authority of India) in which abnormal quantities of lead was found in maggi noodles. Now that's what is called "Topping on Ice"!
Bountiful Mother nature has literally thousands of foods, herbs and spices offered to us. Can't we idiotic humans stop processing, modifying food items and eat them whole and natural, the way nature supposed it to be.
A simple recipe that has most nutrients and 10 Min's to prepare: Cook some rice in a pressure cooker. While the rice is cooking, chop and saute assortment of vegetables (Carrots, Green Peas, Onions, Garlic, Tomatoes, Beetroot, Cauliflower, Mushrooms) in Olive or any oil of your choice. Sprinkle salt, pepper, Indian spices or Soya sauce. Top it over once rice is ready and have a nutritious meal in 10 mins. Have lemonade instead of Soda with it.
You may make it non vegetarian by adding little chunks of chicken,  2 poached eggs and prawns, shrimps.
Lastly empty kitchen cabinet of those toxic stuff  Noodles into garbage bin! Yeah....

Raksha Bandhan - "Rakhi" - Thread of love and protection...

www.raksha-bandhan.com/
Raksha Bandhan
Today, Hindu Holy festival of Raksha Bandhan was marked with the sublime love of sisters for their brothers accompanied with prayers for their well-being. In return, brothers vowed to protect the sister. Thus, the name Raksha (Protection) Bandhan (Knot). This legendary festival dates back to 6,000 years.
The best thing is, not just biological sisters who tie 'rakhi' on the brother's right arm - but also someone not biologically related, with some emotional bonding, like a neighbour, relative, even a batchmate or colleague! Raksha Bandhan also forges inter-religious harmony as many Muslim women tie the sacred thread on Hindu men addressing them as brothers. Compare this to the lonesome western world, where such social belongingness is non-existent and might be envied!
Thus beyond biological perspective; Raksha Bandhan enforces a platonic relationship between men and women. Aren't such festivals indeed pious and holy? Now, this festival is all the more significant in the modern world mired by insatiable greed, lust perpetrated by insane consumption and pornography, where man-woman relationship is reduced to animalistic base instincts of lust and hate! This is ultimately percolating into social relationships, wrecking havoc in society.
In such scenario, this festival of inter-gender pious love, where even strangers can forge such a platonic relationship is an evolved festival transcending mean confines of bodily desires -  into a spiritual plane of conscious human love-affection.
Such concept also resonates with most of world religions, not just Hinduism - where men and women are broadly addressed as brothers and sisters.
Thus on the eve of Raksha Bandhan, let us vow to look at women with respect and get their reverence in return - for no society can ever thrive without conducive man-woman relationship......

I dedicate this article to Meenakshi and Jina who happen to be my surrogate sisters.

Internet Porn and Child Abuse

At times, one might think we are living in the best of times of  technology, e-commerce, global trade, increased awareness of human rights, education and gender equality.
But also present age has come with its set of challenges ranging from environment to moral degradation. Most people go on with their daily life oblivious of an imminent lurking danger until hit by it.
Yes, I am talking of Internet porn. This social cancer has infiltrated so deeply, that it has started posing threat to human sanity. We may very well say that society is getting pornified rapidly and things that were unthinkable and repulsive are slowly gaining ground in dark alleys of human consciousness.
Rape, molestation and murder of children has become common occurrence. Child porn that started in 1980's was immediately thwarted and it remained silent for a decade. But with later widespread internet usage, it grew as internet chat rooms, forums, social networking sites all provided safe heaven for pedophiles and wannabe sex offenders to get together and propagate their perversion.                                                       
Not just that, these people with sadistic intent are grooming children to make them feel it is normal to have sex with grown up adults. As a result many such videos depict children participating without any resistance. Plus many children fall prey to forceful sex, whose videos are also shot and widely distributed online.Both ways
As a natural process intended for procreation, love and family gets MACABRE, human society is paying a heavy price and helplessly watching morbid crimes. Such sick phenomena that originated in West has blown over full-fledged to Eastern countries who in their ignorance and deep reverence for western success, start believing that this might be all right. But these backward nations are paying even larger price because of lack of law enforcement.
United States might have largest number of perverts, serial killers and lunatics where these people have become part of recent folklore but such individual sickness is gaining momentum in Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Middle East and India.
Over past decade, India has witnessed cases where 2-10 year old kids were raped, murdered and even their flesh eaten. One shudders even on hearing all this. But unlike U.S, little to nothing happens in India with deterring prosecution.
Those children who survive sexual assaults, get traumatized for the rest of their lives. Unable to make sense of any of this, they suffer from low self-esteem and turn to child abuse later in their lives.Most infamous serial killers like Ted Bundy are testimony to this fact.
Internet porn has also blurred parent child relationships leading to rape by fathers, uncles and brothers in many cases.
Governments world-wide have enacted tough laws on child pornography and few countries like India and China have banned it all together. Muslim countries in middle east have  some of the toughest barbaric laws, where possessing or distributing such material is punishable to death.
I think strictest of punishments are the only solution to this 21st century global endemic, because internet porn is a large beast to tame through softer humane laws.

Remembering Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam...

A._P._J._Abdul_Kalam_in_2008
Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam
People’s president, Nuclear-Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) Scientist, Author of 17 books, Recipient of three of India’s highest civilian awards – Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, and Bharat Ratna and man of many facets, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Kalam a.k.a A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. On 27th July 2015, completed his earthly journey and departed for eternity, leaving behind grieving millions, forever bereft of his inspiration and guidance.
Kalam's Village in Rameswaram a
Kalam's Village in Rameswaram c
Born into a poor family of wooden boat owner on the island of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, India, sold newspapers as a kid to help his family. Kalam was an average student like others of his age. But what set him apart was his strong desire for learning, hard work and perseverance. A dreamer of all sorts, he dreamt big and put his thoughts into action.
His life was riddled with poverty, failures and numerous obstacles but he persevered and became hugely successful as a scientist, president and humanitarian. Optimism was his DNA and there was not even a speck of negativity in his words, deed or thought!
He can be quoted saying “Why be afraid of difficulties, sufferings and problems? When troubles come, try to understand the relevance of your sufferings. Adversity always presents opportunities for introspection.” This is what personified Kalam and his own life stands testimony to this.
A man of humble stature who dreamt big and inspired a nation to do so, brought India into top league of nations in  nuclear science, space and defense research.
A man of frugal living and high thinking, Kalam shunned power and aristocracy. His compassion transcended communal, class and social divides. A country where corruption and loot is a pride, Kalam didn’t even own a house. After leaving office as President, he rendered himself to teaching at the finest institutions in India. He loved to inspire youth of this nation and also breathed his last at a lecture in Indian Institute of Management, Shillong.
One of his famous quotes goes by “I have no belongings in the worldly sense. I have acquired nothing, built nothing, possess nothing—no family, sons, daughters.”
Subsequent outpouring of grief not just within India but among world leaders from over a dozen nations from Russia, America, Canada, Middle East and Asia proves  the world felt deprived of a great soul not just a genius scientist and leader. Rest in Peace Sir, Abdul Kalam. You were a beacon of light and forever are for countless Indians in life and thereafter……..      Kalam-Modi
We are all born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire and fill the world with the glow of its goodness.” – A.PJ.  Abdul Kalam.

Why should German cars and suv's be banned in India ?

Let’s start with the fact that India is a developing nation where millions live in abject poverty. India's GDP might have risen greatly over the past few decades and average wealth of an Indian might have increased 3.5 times, but that doesn't make India a rich country.
70% of Indian population lives in rural areas and out of the remaining living in Urban India 17% live in a slum. That amounts to a humongous 68 million; which is even bigger than entire populations of many European countries.
Now let’s look at hunger statistics (http://www.indiafoodbanking.org/hunger):
India is home to the largest undernourished and hungry population in the world
1/6th of our population is undernourished
190 million people go hungry every day.
Can we still say that India is a rich country or on its way to becoming one and that our population is our asset? Can hungry/malnourished people ever be an asset to any nation?
Thus, India is largely poor even if it might have achieved tremendous strides on technology, education, and business fronts.
Now let’s come to the point. With the dawn of new economy, many Indians are now able to afford the luxury, that was earlier only domain of the uber rich & famous. India’s luxury car market has risen more than 10 times over the past decade. And so has spate of high speed drunk driving, hit and run cases increased. And in a country like INDIA with high corruption Index, most of these fat (rich) beasts succeed in delaying the trial by months even years and finally reducing their sentences largely.
Following are a brief timeline of hit and run cases of a nation aspiring to be an economic superpower:
1999: The first time I heard of a BMW hit and run. That time India was beginning to taste luxury car market and a BMW car used to be talk of the town.This case of ****** Sanjeev Nanda studying in USA happened to be on vacation in Delhi. Son of a Bitch after a late night binge with friends and driving home ran over a police picket. The impact was so severe that body parts of many policemen were strewn on the streets. Rascal Nanda got out of the car and instead of showing any compassion to few survivors at the gory scene fled the spot and later washed the car of blood stains.  14 years of trial and walks a free man with just 2 years in jail making a mockery of the Indian judiciary. What a terrible insult on injury for the families of victims.
Sanjeev Nanda (BMW Hit & Run)
Sanjeev Nanda (BMW Hit & Run)
2002: The most high profile of all, Bollywood /movie star Salman Khan, mows down 5 people at Bandra, Mumbai. After years of trial was acquitted by Bombay High Court in 2015. Subsequently the acquittal challenged by the state govt. and now the case is in Supreme Court of India.
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2006: Alistair Pereira runs over his SUV on 15 construction workers sleeping on a pavement at Carter road, Mumbai and kills 7 of them. Walks away with just 3 years imprisonment. 
2015: Janhavi Audi crash. This is the case of a female corporate lawyeGadkar working as legal Vice-President of Reliance Industries (one of India’s largest corporations). Bitch after getting drunk 3 times the permissible limit at a corporate party; hit the road in her brand new Audi car and kept driving on the wrong side at high speed with blaring music. Until she rammed into a small Alto car with a family inside who were returning after a little celebration for their son scoring 90% in college exams. 2 members and the driver were killed. The high profile corporate bitch robbed a family of their genuine little joy. While the Alto car was reduced to a pulp, the evil Bitch was safely cocooned inside the airbag of Audi, absolutely unscathed. Here’s photograph from the crash site.

Similarities in all the four cases cited above are all these culprits were on the wheels of luxury cars/SUVs after getting drunk at late night parties.
In a country still reeling under a spell of overpopulation, poverty, crime and hunger; luxury cars and SUVs are a mega mockery. Those ignorant, foolish Indians who ogle at these ugly luxury toys plying the streets, while taking pride that India is on the road to greater prosperity should do a reality check instead. Those days of my childhood when the only car on the streets were the legendary Ambassador  or Maruti 800 such incidents were unheard of.
So are these Cars to be blamed? The answer is a big NO. Rather weak judiciary delivering near to nonexistent justice, Indian infrastructure and government’s failure in checking exploding population growth (resulting in unspeakable poverty and homelessness).
Lastly, these Luxury cars are a grim reflection of rich-poor divide which is ever widening D:<

Marriage: A looming threat to planetary well being.

Let's start by saying that this institution of marriage has turned into a nonsensical farce. It might not have been a hundred or thousand years back but today it definitely is.
Before we delve any further we need to have a closer look at human evolution and at which point did this social farce creep in.
As we all know that humans evolved from apes approximately 2.8 million years ago and spread throughout Asia & Europe around 1.3 million years ago. All these years humans had been hunter/food gatherers, in which males got sex from females in exchange for food and the kids were tended by the mother solely. Polygamy without any commitment was the order of the day in those times. But with the invention of agriculture some 10,000 years back, humans started settling down into small agrarian communities.
This heralded a new era in human evolution as it gave birth to culture, religion, arts and sciences of various kinds. Thus ownership of land, property and families began.  As society evolved, institution of marriage was established to ensure smooth governance of families. By and large it was invented to regulate primeval sexual instincts in man woman relationship into a social order for common good. Still the underlying reasons were the same SEX and FOOD.       
But over the past hundred years drastic changes have occurred in technological, social and environmental fronts which have rendered marriage largely unnecessary and in some cases disastrous!
Unnecessary because women have grown economically independent of men and feminist movements have been generated to establish women rights. This has only bloated female ego resulting in ego clashes inside household, ultimately ending in divorce.  Divorce has meant double tragedy for man because he parts with his property as well as kids.
Feminism has meant humongous social tragedy because kids from single parent households as have become a norm in US and now gaining momentum in India, grow up into emotionally unstable insecure adults. Need I say the most infamous serial killers came from single parent households.
Apart from social aspects, let’s focus on environmental impact of marriage. From an Indian context I may humbly say that marriage is posing a major catastrophe for survival of our planet, even greater than nuclear armament or world war. It’s easy to figure out why. Answer is OVERPOPULATION(check my article here: http://etherealinsights.blogspot.in/2012/08/menace-of-over-population-has-always.html).  In India being single is a social taboo and marriage is a compulsion of sorts. And the moment marriage happens, instant countdown for reproducing kids begin.  Adding fuel to this outdated social custom is fetish for a male child which ultimately leads to numerous child births until the birth of a male child. Most people including the learned, aware masses take great joy in all this farce without taking cognizance of the threat overpopulation is posing to the planet.
In a country like India where people are swarming like insects everywhere, marriage is bound to be rebuked by the thinking people. With population increasing at galloping speed, a major tragedy is underway in few years, when nature would cull half the masses by unpleasant means...
So no marriage means no compulsion to have kids which is also good for the planet. Thus we may safely conclude that marriage can be done away with for common good as it has lost its purpose.