How to explain THAT to your kids :)

In India, it is really tough to explain the whole birds-and-the-bees deal to kids. I don't think I know any parent who's done that without humming and hawing. Heck, there are even parents who don't. MOST parents I know fall in this category and just sort of expect their kids to know from various sources (school? their friends?) when the time comes.

Well, check this out. It is one of the most interactive, fun ways I've seen yet to explain love, sex and tell them that the world is going to be one hell of a confusing place in the years to come!

Get them some air!

If you don't know what this is, then you're not an Apple fan, obviously.

Anyway, this person missed his flight because the airport security officials didn't know what it was, either!!!

Guess who prefers Obama

No, no VVIP or anything. This ad run by the Hillary Clinton campaign must be familiar to most people by now, where she suggests that she'd be the best person to answer the phone in the White House when you are sleeping at 3 a.m.

Turns out that the little girl in that ad is now actually 17 (Getty Images had rights to the footage and it was used by the Clinton campaign), her name is Casey Knowles and yeah - she is an avid Obama supporter!!!

Sour grapes

Indian expats in the Gelf (spelling mistake intended) are complaining that the latest GoI budget is unfair to NRI's.

I don't know if I'm missing something so help me out here - if they feel so bad about it, shouldn't they quietly go back to India and become RI's instead of sulking?

India: Outsourcing outsourcing?

The NYT has an article on developments in India's outsourcing capabilities. Interesting reading. US students are apparently rejecting Google for Infosys!

Good news for New York Times loyalists

The New York Times will stop charging for access to parts of its site, (the Times Select articles), effective today.

Apparently they underestimated the number of visitors to their site that were being driven through Yahoo!, Google and other search engines. These users are less likely to pay to view articles than regular NYT loyalists, and the paper didn't want to lose out on the opportunity to generate more online revenue and page views.

Another one bites the dust. Long live online advertising - ha ha.

The caste saga in India

When I was a student in India, I distinctly remember a certain practice in my school that grated on my young nerves whenever it presented itself before me. It was the requirement in my school's admission form (and a few other forms) of disclosing the caste of the student. I knew jack squat about caste then, at all of 12 years - my previous years of education having been outside the country. Through the next few years of my education there, it came up a couple of times more in different application forms and each time I would blink in a concentrated manner for a few minutes as I looked at the blank that followed that seemingly innocuous word : 'caste'.

I even remember a particular incident where one of my rather intelligent classmates proudly said that she belonged to the Backward Caste (or BC), and that therefore it would be easier for her to gain admission into medical school (She did get a seat). My point though, is that she was smart, so she should have probably got in anyway. Another friend, belonging to the so-called 'forward caste', whose parents had connections in the government, got her a fake certificate stating that she belonged to a backward caste to make her admission into college easier.

The issue didn't really affect me as I wasn't one of those who intended to study medicine or engineering, which was where the issue of caste really held sway over whether you got into college or not. But there was a point where many people were faking certificates and the like to stand a better chance of admissions into college, and I just didn't understand it. No, seriously. Call me an idiot or whatever but I found it ridiculous that people were resorting to things like that. I shouldn't have, I suppose, because I know now that it is certainly not uncommon in India. Plus, when I went to get admission into an arts and science college myself, I found that a certain number of seats HAD to go to students from a particular caste, and so on and so forth, and the issue of reservation for students from particular castes was very much prevalent there as well. If I was looking for immunity, I was disappointed because I certainly didn't find it there.

Of course, controversies will always surround the issue of reservation, and I think it is difficult to come to a 'one-fits-all' solution. To anyone who knows India's history, it wasn't a bad move to introduce reservations in India. Some truly deserving students belonging to SC's and ST's do benefit from reservation, without a doubt. My friend who got into medical school, for example, is doing an M.D at Harvard now. If she did not belong to a BC, it is possible that she may not have got into medical school in India in the first place, and a good doctor would have been lost then and there. But the reverse is also true,which necessarily means that sometimes, some deserving non-SC/ST students lose out on seats as well.

Anyhow, what started me off on this topic was this article I read today that says that the Supreme Court has decreed that schools cannot compel students to disclose caste. Interestingly, a PIL filed by someone from Tamilnadu who sought a complete ban on caste-disclosure forms in schools, was dismissed by the Supreme Court on the grounds that it would create problems for those who wanted to avail of free scholarships and other benefits.

Polygamy in the US

Extremely interesting - I just read about this polygamous sect in the US which straddles Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. Members of the sect believe that to reach eternal salvation, men are supposed to have at least three wives. The polygamous settlement is largely controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and allies of its jailed prophet, Warren S. Jeffs, who is about to stand trial on charges of sexual exploitation. Nearly all of the 6,000 residents follow the dictates of Mr. Jeffs, who they believe speaks for God; women wear ankle-length dresses, and children are taught to run away from outsiders.

This is the USA, by the way. Not Iran. Or some country from the Middle Ages that no longer exists.

This country, as always, is fascinating. First a Festival for Virgins, and now a Polygamous Sect which casts boys of 15 out because they like to watch movies like (OhmiGod) 'Die Hard'. By the way, if anyone has doubts, the US has not legalized polygamy. I don't know how this sect continues to exist, though.

India steps up - economics for kids

I wrote about my visit to the Federal Bank of New York a few months ago. They publish comic books to teach children about money and banking, and I went through a few displayed copies when I visited. The comics are given free for classroom use, are fun and easy for kids to read. I think that they are a great way to teach children about money and have wondered why India can't have books like that too.

Looks like they read my mind. The RBI has just come out with its first comic book, called 'Raju and the Money Tree', to do exactly that. It's also free, and is even available online. But India's problems are different from that of the US, and the comics can help in other ways, as Regional Director of the RBI, Delhi, H.R.Khan says:

About 61 per cent rural and 40 per cent urban population is still out of the formal banking system. With the growing worry about ‘financial exclusion,’ a dire need was felt to increase financial literacy of laymen and make them aware of banking.

And yes, they are being published in 13 regional languages also - including Hindi, Oriya, Assamese, Bengali, Urdu and Tamil. More books are in the pipeline — on basic banking, rural poor, urban poor, electronic based no-frills accounts, currency and the RBI as a monetary authority.

I am immensely proud. Whatever anyone else may say, better late than never.

From riches to rags

.....and not the other way around. I haven't seen too many news stories like this, though it probably isn't such a rare occurrence. Geetanjali Nagpal, a former model who used to walk the ramp with the likes of Sushmita Sen, is on the streets. A graduate of Lady Sriram College in Delhi, she took to drugs after the peak of her career in the 90's, and things spiralled downwards from there. Scary. I feel sorry for her. You can see a CNN-IBN video here.

The Forbes list: The World's 100 Most Powerful Women

I was going through the list and noted a few interesting things:

1. Indra Nooyi, Chairperson and Chief Executive of PepsiCo (No.5) and Vidya Chhabria, Chairperson, Jumbo Group (No.97) are listed as being from the U.S and U.A.E respectively. Chhabria is credited as being 'originally from India' in an article linked to the list.

2. Sonia Gandhi, the only representative from India, is listed as 'President'. Not President of the Congress Party, but President full stop.

3. Diane Sawyer, co-anchor of 'Good Morning America', whom I saw a couple of days ago, comes in at No.62.

4. Compared to India's one candidate, China has five, and the U.S fifty.

Intrigued, I found out the basis for the ranking system:

Our ranking system starts with a list of women who have crossed certain thresholds. Most of them run companies, governments or nonprofits, or are very close to the top. A handful have established power bases in other ways (an entertainment entrepreneur, a judge and an author have been on the list). The power ranking score is based on a composite of visibility (measured by press citations) and economic impact.

The latter, in turn, reflects three things: résumé (career achievements and titles, so a prime minister counts as more powerful than a senator); the size of the economic sphere over which a leader holds sway; and a multiplier that aims to make different financial yardsticks comparable. For example, a chief executive is assigned the company's sales in the economic impact calculation, while a foundation executive is assigned the foundation's assets. The assets get a higher multiplier than sales.

Emphasis in bold mine. So does this mean that countries where the press is not as active as in others will render the achievements of women in that country less worthy? As for the second sentence I emphasized in bold, that explains why there are fifty women from the U.S in the list, I suppose.

A son remembers his mother, I remember an icon

Ten years ago, there was a tremendous outpouring of grief across the world when a vivacious, attractive woman died in a car accident. She was known as the 'The People's Princess', and often used her magnetism to spread the word about the menace of landmines. She was also one of the first high-profile people to be photographed touching a person with AIDS, way back in 1987. As Bill Clinton said "It helped change world's opinion, and gave hope to people with AIDS."

She got married to the heir to the British throne the same year I was born, and as we were in the very country that happened, quite a few of the souvenirs my parents brought back when they returned to India were things that had her face on them. I can't remember where I saw the extensive TV coverage of her wedding years later, but I still remember the long trail of her white veil as she walked down the steps of the church. 25 feet it was, apparently. And she was all of 20. She didn't have a very happy life, but she made sure her two sons never saw much of that. She did what I believe all mothers do. In her son's words,

"She kissed us last thing at night. Her beaming smile greeted us from school. She laughed hysterically and uncontrollably when sharing something silly she might have said or done that day. She encouraged us when we were nervous or unsure."

In 1997, I was still in school. It was a holiday - the weekend, I believe - and I saw the coverage on TV early in the morning, as news flowed in about her accident. Hours later, when her death was confirmed and the bouquets started mounting up outside the gates of Buckingham Palace, I still wasn't sure why I was sad.

As I type this now, ten years later to the day, I think I know why. Despite the intense media scrutiny of almost every movement she made, every haircut she had, every outfit she wore, she was also very normal. Just like you and me. She wanted to be. She was pretty and personable. The people loved her for who she was. They felt they were a bit like her. I felt like I was a bit like her.

May her soul rest in peace.

The future is NOW!

How many of you have seen the Michael J.Fox multi-part movie, 'Back to the Future'? Well , looks like we, residents of the Earth circa 2007, are already in it. The future, I mean. A Californian company has actually made the very thing I thought would make our world like the one in 'The Jetsons'. Which, incidentally, is a cartoon show I used to thoroughly enjoy as a kid. I probably would if I saw it again now!

But back to what I was talking about : Flying cars are here already.

I'll see you at Space Stop 9876 tomorrow. Provided, of course, you have the $90,000 needed to buy yours. Let me go the bank to check about that loan.... :-D

Alcohol in a land of prohibition

No, I'm not talking about Saudi Arabia. I'm talking about India's frenemy and neighbour, Pakistan. Read here about a 150-year-old brewery in Pakistan that is preparing to bring the Muslim world's first 20-year-old single malt whisky to the market. Murree Brewery, however, can only sell to non-Muslims, who comprise 3 percent of Pakistan's population.

Some notable facts that I discovered : The Murree Brewery is situated in the same locality as the residence of Pervez Musharraf, it is owned by a Pakistani Parsi, and apparently the biggest market for Britain's largest gin is not the United States, but Saudi Arabia, which is of course another country that is 'officially dry'.

'Exit Wounds' by Pankaj Mishra

For those of you who have time, Pankaj Mishra has written a thought-provoking piece in The New Yorker about how the British Empire's shoddy handling of the partition of erstwhile India in 1947 helped sow the seeds of a war that is now leaving people as far away as Europe and the US scarred for life. This chilling conclusion is perhaps what is most noteworthy:

Meeting Mountbatten a few months after partition, Churchill assailed him for helping Britain’s “enemies,” “Hindustan,” against “Britain’s friends,” the Muslims. Little did Churchill know that his expedient boosting of political Islam would eventually unleash a global jihad engulfing even distant New York and London. The rival nationalisms and politicized religions the British Empire brought into being now clash in an enlarged geopolitical arena; and the human costs of imperial overreaching seem unlikely to attain a final tally for many more decades.

Citizen 123456: You didn't update your landlord's phone number. You will be arrested.

And the technology take-over of the world continues.....police surveillance cameras being installed in streets is old news now, but starting this month, China is issuing electronic cards to help them keep tabs on citizens in Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people. These cards will have computer chips which will record all of the following data: the citizen’s name and address, work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status, landlord’s phone number and last but not least (I was waiting to read when this would come up as the article progressed, given China's strict one-child per family policy) even personal reproductive history. It doesn't stop there. The article states that 'Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card.'

Good. In a few more months, maybe the number of times they go to the bathroom will be logged too. %$#@@^&*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every two or three days I find myself blogging about some technology-related article or the other and I say 'That's it. This is the end of the world as we know it'. I'm learning better now. There IS no 'end' to this technology explosion drama. I'm just going to shut up and blog quietly!

Kid No. 007 : Reporting to Secret Service School

If you are pushed to invent things like this for your kids, maybe you should just home-school them. Agreed, it's a dangerous world out there and there have been one too many of these school shooting incidents like those in Columbine and more recently Virginia Tech (hell, one IS too many), but where are the carefree, simple joys of life, of climbing trees and playing ball? They are supposed to be kids, for God's sake, not secret service agents.

Tragic, but true.

Meanwhile, in the USA, I won't be surprised if there are quite a few takers for the new backpack created by dads Mike Pelonzi and Joe Curran.

Another claim to New Jersey's fame :-)

Image credit: Patrick McMullan, New York Magazine

Not that I particularly care for her, but O.C fans, guess what - Mischa Barton has taken up residence in Hoboken apparently, for the duration of the filming of a movie she is co-starring in with Bruce Willis.

Are you a virgin? Go to New Jersey!!

This country is REALLY weird. My convictions get stronger as the days go on. Check out this gem - apparently, a New Jersey festival uses virgins to help guarantee good weather.

&*%$#@^!*!!!!!!!!

I really don't know what to say.

'I want to practise a new yoga posture'

John Tierney of the NYT writes about a University of Texas-Austin research project which aims to document, of all things, why humans have sex. Seriously, is it something that needs to be researched?!!! Some people have time, and some people have money to help them spend their time one way or the other, I tell you. Imagine getting paid for something like this!

Anyway, some really funny and stupid answers came up (as I would have expected!), such as 'I wanted to feel closer to God' (WTF?????!!!!) or 'I was drunk' (well, mate, at least you're being honest!). Tierney has also invited readers to nominate their own reasons at TierneyLab.

And, uh, no - I haven't submitted any reasons yet - but you can feel free to ;) - and don't forget to let me know what they were!!