Hopelessly Hopeful

Warning: This is a very cynical post, do not read further if you don’t want to get offended Most of you did not pay heed to my warning. Human beings cannot stop themselves from doing things that they are asked not to do. They just can’t help it, but it is also not their fault. As per NLP, human mind cannot picture negative words like ‘no’ ‘not’ ‘do not’ and therefore if you ask a child ‘Don’t touch the vase’, what he pictures is he touching the vase, because there isn't an image that described the command given to him. Think that’s pretty much for any of our vices as well. We are asked ‘NOT’ to – Pollute the air, Build houses on river beds, Engage in constant mining of sands for construction, Be greedy, Be corrupt, et al. Do we listen to these ‘nots’, no we don’t. We constantly do what is negative, what is wrong, what should have never been done. Funnily, when things go out of our hands, and we start analyzing the consequences, we are back to the same statements of what one should ...

Most women are like phoenixes, they might get battered, soiled and destroyed, but like a true phoenix, they rise again, that too from their own ashes. What gives them such power? No one really knows. They might look vulnerable, emotional, clingy, weepy and demanding, but with all of these they are also confident, rational, independent, smiling and understanding. Yes, they are the great contradiction, and it is this contradiction that makes them unique, with each claiming a little bit of sunshine. When I see my women friends getting promoted at work, finding a new job, marrying the person they truly love, quitting their jobs to raise their newborns, juggling with project deadlines and school homework, raising their voice against injustice, standing up for their dignity, I feel a bit of a personal triumph myself, only because, I am a woman too...And, like every other woman, I also have a simple desire, to fight for my identity. 

Wonder why Indian consumers never ask these questions? Why these never cross the mind of any self-appointed tech-guru or auto-critic? Why the Government as usual remain inert towards these issues? Why as people of this country, we never question our own motives? Why not probe ourselves: Why am I paying double the amount of money for buying the same phone that my western counterparts can buy for dime-a-dozen? Plus, why am I also not complaining about half the features that do not run on my mobile, restricting access because of my country of residence? What makes us not blink an eye for shelling out half a lakh to buy a smartphone on EMI but turns us into stingy Scrooge and grumpy Grinch while buying vegetables from saabzi walas , haggling for auto fares, protesting against hike in school fees? Why are the auto majors dumping their outdated oil guzzling machines in India and the Indian consumers lapping them by willingly paying a premium? Why we never think of the next petrol price h...