The latest commodity on the exchange...

A couple of days back the newspaper spread out under my lunch dabba
happened to be the matrimonial page.
Out of sheer want of entertainment I started browsing through the page
while eating. 
I must say that reading the matrimonial column is more entertaining
than reading page3... in fact i'd rate it above some comic strips too...
Its funny how people can describe human beings as if they were commodities...
Slim, Fair, Beautiful, even words like Very Beautiful!!!
Some ads even stated the exact height the prospective bride should be...
Are these people for real?? I'm sure for most of them slim+fair = beautiful... in fact "Fair = Beautiful".
Moreover... do people care about people who are kind-hearted,
good-natured, skilled, etc?
Or is it enough to have a slim, fair & beautiful wife to be happy??

However, this post is meant to bring out 2 interesting observations:

1) A large number of people had actually mentioned "Caste no bar" in the ads. I found this very encouraging. Are we moving towards a society
where even while setting up an arranged marriage, families
are open to inter-caste matches?
This is a welcome change where till a few years back a Jain from
South Gujarat marrying a Jain from Kucth (which is also a part of Gujarat)
was a huge problem with the families.
However, sadly enough, the very same ads which said "Caste No Bar"
hadthe "Slim, Fair, Beautiful" requirement...
But I guess its foolish to expect our society to change overnight.
"Caste No Bar" is a step in the right direction and hopefully,
with time, we'll see the "S, F, B" disappear too...

A positive step...

2) This Ad really moved me. It is really heartening to know that someone 
who is HIV positive has had the courage to be open about it in a very casual and
matter of fact manner. The rest of the Ad is just like any other matrimonial ad...
It is an act of maturity and strength. 

If viewed in our social context, the ad is fearless against the stigma attached with HIV and reflects a mindset which is willing to accept a divorcee/widowed HIV+ girl for an unmarried boy

It also indicates, that somewhere people are accepting HIV as a 
clinical condition, where the person can continue living a normal life, 
can marry, maybe even have children.
This is indeed a big step for our society!

Dis-Honesty pays...

Hiee there!
I'm back after a short hiatus!! Ofcourse I'd like to say that 'I've just not found the time to write you know... work is hectic.. en blah blah!!!'
Yes, As you know I never miss a chance to tell you how busy I am... But today, I want to be honest and tell you that I've just not had anything to write... my mind went kind of numb...

And Honesty is a quality I come to appreciate on the 13th of every month... because evry 13th I get an SMS from Airtel saying 'Your subscription to Missed Call Alerts has been renewed & Rs.15 have been deducted from your account.' The fact is I have never subscrubed to the Missed Call Alerts... and more importantly... I DONT GET ANY Missed Call Alerts... but apparently I am paying Airtel Rs.15/- every month for the service. And even worse... I dont care... I just dont seem to have the patience to call up their customer care and tell them about it. I dont want to argue for 15 minutes on the phone with someone who doesn't understand my problem... I'd rather just pay RS.15 a mnth and have my peace of mind!!!

Are there more people like me out there?? May be there are... else why would Vodafone spend 5 crores on an Ad campaign telling their own customers that they can call customer care??
 

Railways Unite... Roads Divide??

It is often said that the Mumbai Local brings Mumbaikars closer (literally too :).
You smile at people you dont know, share newspapers with strangers, 
occassionally you get up to make way for an elderly person... 
I have known people who have become friends only because of the 
train journey... they sing, play cards and bond in an unusual way...

But the exact opposite seems to be happening on the roads...
I feel that people have become more aggressive, indisciplined and intolerant... 
We dont think twice before blowing the horn or mentally (& sometimes actually) abusing a bad driver... 
we dont spare anyone... be it new learners or old uncles.
No one wants to wait for others or give someone else a chance...
Its gone to such an extent that no one expects others to be nice.
Two incidents that happened this weekend lead me to believe 
that the city is in a constant state of anger, agression and 
cynicism when it comes to driving on Mumbai roads.

The first happened at Dharavi... where Human traffic is more chaotic 
& difficult to handle than vehicles. 
A traffic cop was handling the crowd brilliantly at what must be 
Asia's most populated junction... The traffic was moving smoothly thanks to him. 
As I passed him at the junction, I gave him a Smile... 
you know just to say Thanks, Great Job...
He looked at me with SHOCK!!
I dont know whether he couldnt believe that someone was smiling at him or thought that I was mocking him.. 
but he couldnt just believe that someone had smiled at him!!

A similar incident happened the same day...
A truck driver had sensibly kept place for vehicles to cross at a junction
as the traffic in his direction was completely stalled. 
As i crossed the junction, I waved out to him saying thanks... 
He thought that I was shouting/abusing him... 
He shouted back saying "Jagah to rakha hai na"... 
Even he didn't expect someone to actually thank him..
sadly i didnt have the time to clarify what i meant... 

But these incident really worry me... where is our city going? 
What kind of stress levels can we sustain?
Has the traffic situation deteriorated to such an extent
that it is pulling the city apart??

And the saddest part is... none of us (including me) will do anything about it :(