Shelly's Virgin Island

Books I have read: Rating (*****) Cecelia Ahern 1. P.S. I Love You (**) Note: Not recommended for females in love and newly weds. This is a story about a female's struggle for life after she loses her husband after few years of marriage. Its about a female who has seen no one else but the guy she married all her life. Her husband's letters marked for each month after his death keep her life rolling for an year after which she has to find her own way. It can be very depressing if you are too much in love and can't think of parting from your lover. It can cause you real pain putting yourself in her shoes. Chetan Bhagat 1. Five point someone (***) 2. One Night @ Call centre (*) 3. The 3 mistakes of my life (**) Sidney Sheldon 1. Rage of Angels 2. Master of the Game 3. If Tomorrow Comes 4. Windmills of the Gods 5. The Stars Shine Down 6. Nothing Lasts Forever 7. Morning, Noon and Night 8. The Best Laid Plans (The first novel that I ever read) (****) 9. The Sky is Falling 10. Are You Afraid of the Dark? 11. The Other Side of Me (*) Dan Brown 1. Digital Fortress (**) 2. Angels & Demons (*****) 3. Deception Point (***) 4. The Da Vinci Code (*****) Robin Cook 1. Chromosome 6 (**) 2. Invasion (***) Robin Sharma 1. Who will cry when you die? (not finished yet) Khaled Hosseini 1. The Thousand Splendid Suns (not finished yet) 2. The Kite Runner (****) J. K. Rowling 1. Harry Potter and chamber of secret John Gray 1. Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus (**) Khushwant Singh 1. Women and Men in my life Spencer Johnson 1. Who moved my cheese by Spenser Johnson

On top of it the recession. 2008 took a toll on the common man.
 
So it really hasn't been a good year.

But India got some good news too in this year --

* India emerged as the Cricketing world's new Superpower beating Australia and England.
* After a huge gap, Miss India was amongst the 3 finalists of Miss world crown.
* India reached out to Moon -- the Chandrayan mission
* India won 3 medals in the 2008 Olympics

There is more but the memories of evil overpower our minds. Still I want, when i look back at 2008 I want to recall all the unforgettable memories of the year.

It looks so wierd when we read the following:

MUMBAI: Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist caught alive during the November 26 terror attacks, was on Thursday remanded in police custody  till December 24 by a court here for his alleged involvement in the killing of ATS chief Hemant Karkare and two other senior police officers.

This terrorist is under custody for killing of ATS chief and 2 other senior police officers.. What about 100s of other people who were killed by him on the same day during the same attack. Charges on him should be much much beyond just a killing of a couple of police officers and the ATS chief.. He should be accused of the criminal charges of the highest order, of creating panic in the city of Mumbai and waging a  war against India.

"When asked by the magistrate if he had any complaints against the police, Ajmal said he had none," Additional Public Prosecutor Eknath Dhumal said referring to the remand proceeedings. 

Nothing could be more humane that asking the one who killed 100s of people in your city that if he is well treated by the police. This is too much. After committing such a horrifying crime, our dear government is still concerned of his well being.

To read the complete news item on the above, click here

 Mumbai attack is undoubtedly the worst ever kind of attack on any city in the world, even worse than the WTC attack in the US. 19 hours, 21 blasts, 2 high profile hotels, ship & boats, several foreign hostages, more than 100 dead and more than 300 injured and still continuing. The only kind of terror attack where most of the defence forces including -- police, ATS, NSG commandoes, Navy and coast guard had to put in their efforts. Top ATS officials laid down their lives to save the lives of many innocent people.

When we know that capturing terrorists and keeping them in jail would result in no good and consequently innocent people will be held hostages for their realease. why aren't they killed. They are accused of killing hundreds but we still let them live and be a reason another hundreds to be killed.

Instead of playing the blame game, it is high time that every political party, every nation be one and fight the deadly diseasse of terrorism which is shaking the pillars of humanism.

YES.. There definitely should be dedicated tracks for cyclists on city roads.. Looking at the growth at which the city traffic is increasing, it calls for a serious thought of using the NON-POLLUTING modes of transport..  bicycles on road add to 3 advantages -- 1. Less pollution 2. Less Traffic 3. Health Benefits

Unlike western countries where bicycle culture is prevelant, it is not that easy for a country like India to develop and promote this culture because of the extreme weather conditions in most part of the country BUT wherever possible and to whatever extent, WE and GOVERNMENT must promote ciitzens to use the bicycles for smaller distances..

(Times of India My Times My Voice)
http://o3.indiatimes.com/mytimes/archive/2008/11/24/4949301.aspx

Maharashtra ki Jai

choro BHARAT MATA
choro JAI HIND

Bolo Jai Maharashtra

This is the scenario in the republican India, the democratic India where we speak in 500 different languages and dialects.

This is the country of mahatma Gandhi where Mother Teresa served through out her life. Buddha and Sai Baba died preaching love. This is the country we are proud of where a lady of catholic origin left the chair of prime minister for a sikh who took oath from a muslim president to serve a country of 80% hindus. This is the same country whose national anthem is the best world over and is composed by a person of bengali origin.

The world scenario is that every country including the world powerful United States is fighting a war against terrorism but India is traumatized by terror attacks. Every state in the country is under the threat of terrorists. Every city, every citizen, every minute prays that we be saved from this.

But who cares?

At a time when the country needs to be united to fight the battle against terrorism, every state is struck with its own battle be it Jammu, Maharashtra or Delhi. Our own people are digging on the roots of the country in the name of religion, casteiesm and if this was not enough, they have invented Stateism. We are our own enemies. We do not need terrorists to kill our people and ruin our economy, we are doing it ourselves. whether the reason be the pilgrims of Jammu or the Maharashtrians. We are wasting our energies, time, money, people and mind on things that have no values and are unimportant. I feel that why is that such dynamic people of the likes of Raj Thackeray do not think for the good of the society. They are the people who are blindly followed. Why not they chanelise their works/deeds it in the right direction.

not feeling like writing more on it...

unke bheje mein yeh baat kaise ghusegi...

I have always been keen of doing my bit towards the society. Every now and then, I try and associate myself with stuff that give me satisfaction of doing my share of work towards the community.

Lately, I joined the Teach India initiative by Times of India and got to get associated with an NGO that works in the field of primary education. So this time I got a chance to teach.. Wow it sounds so good.. I can now follow my dreams of being part of the teaching fraternity.

I was given a MCD school in a locality near my house. I was all set to turn my dream into a reality. The beforehand instructions were as follows:
Do not expect the school staff to be cooperative.
Students may be filthily dressed.
Don't give students any homework because they will NOT do it.
Do not enter the school premises without the NGO representative. You might be thrown out.
I was all set for my first day in the school with the above set of instructions of learnt by heart. We were told to contact the NGO Representative of our area who would then introduce me to the school, the Principal, the Teachers and offcourse lovely students. Since we could go the school only once a week, I chose Friday to be the D-day.

My first Friday... I just realized after a long formal week, now it is the time for the funky Friday at the office so no formals.. time to wear jeans and skirts and dazzling tops and cool t-shirts... I chose to wear jeans with a white hanky-panky shirt... When it was time to go to school, i was uneasy... Boy's school.. government school... conservative teachers.. and me dressed like this.. tough decision.. I thought -- Go Ahead Shelly.. this time go ahead.. we will see next week.

Okay.. 10'O clock was the time to reach the school where I was to meet the NGO Representative. and it all happened that i waited for 25 min before coming face to face with her. I was tired.. both physically and mentally. It was 10:25 and i was almost about to move as I had to catch my office bus at 11:15. Just then that female came and I dropped the idea the leaving. I went inside the school with her. For the first time over in my life I had been to a government school and that too a boys' school. I was surprised to see children all over the playground as if a bee hive has just been hit by a bullet. I was wondering how come I would be able to teach here. Cool.. I met the Principal. His room was just a like a community park. Teachers, Parents and students all could be found at one time. Anyways I was introduced to the Principal and to the other NGO Teachers. Since I did want to go the school on a Friday, I finalised Thursday as my visiting day to the school as a NGO Volunteer.

My First Thursday... This time the school seemed much organised and better. Then I understood that it must have been the lunch time when i came last time. I met the Pratham teacher and she asked me to teach hindi to some weak students of class III and IV. It was such fun to teach them. Some of them were extraordinary good. Though most of them were not fit to be in the class in which they were in but this is why I was there to make them fir in the class that suits there age.

I am very hopeful that my experience with them would teach me things and help me become a better person in life.

I read a blog that a good friend of mine had put together regarding the youth of India. I respect his opinion about the Indian youth but at the same time I am wondered that he himself is a part of the same youth community which he just criticized in his blog.

Many of us would say that Indian youth is not focused and is misled but at the same time many of us would also agree to the fact that the current youth is also responsible enough to take up the charge of the future.

At the time of Indian Freedom Struggle, not everyone was a part of it. There were many youth who just had nothing to do with the struggle around them. They just enjoyed the life the way it was coming to them. If this would not have been the case, don’t you think we would have had millions of stories of such Bhagat Singh’s and Chandra Shekhar’s.

Why do we always blame the generation X for the way they want to spend their life. Today’s youth is conscious about their career, their lifestyle and their livelihood. I do not see anything wrong about it. It is because of them India is making progress at all time high. Today youth knows its responsibilities and is an active part of the society in socio-economic development.

Today when you sit in a classroom, it does not matter to you if the person sitting next to you is from a lower caste/background. Is it not progress?

Today when Times of India starts a campaign – Teach India, a large part of the youth community becomes a part of it. Don’t they understand their role in the society?

Today when long pending cases are fought inside the court rooms, it is the youth that raises its voice against the criminals and ensures that the criminals are punished. Is it not what we want them to do?

Why is it that just because some portion of the youth is not as responsible as we expect them to be, we blame them?

Today the Indian politics is dominated by the oldies. What is it that we get from them? No youth from a respectable Indian family or a family that does not a have a political background wants to be a part of it. Why? Not because they are not responsible but because our elders have made it a profession and not a service. So if you have to chose a profession you will chose some respectable profession rather going for politics which is at its all time dirty.

Give it a time to think and all of us will realize that we have a responsible Gen X citizen within all of us; it just needs to come out.