Copy? Or Create? -On Individuality.

I do not understand why parents have to indoctrinate their belief system into their kids. Religion, organization of stuff, way of living.. Now, one boils milk and then puts tea. Someone else puts tea at another time. Both get tea for heavenssake! One believes in a christian god the other in a hindu god and yet another does not give a damn to any of these. All of them die in the end!

And I will get mad if I get into the religious fanaticism part of it. I dont care if 'your god' protects the crap out of people. I am an atheist. At least borders atheism. I dont understand crap like,"god decided to bless us cos we pray but decided to kick syria's(or afghanistan) ass cos they are a pack of blasphemic individuals." God is a pretty selfish fill up the blanks if that is the case. "Blessed are not those that are hungry for righteousness, but those that pray to me 5 times a day." Wonderful!

Nobody cares if you are very Monica-ish about cleanliness and orderliness. Some dont want their homes all freakishly clean or ordered 'according to size' and arranged alphabetically. People live in homes. Not run a military camp. They like it their way. That is one reason why we call it "their home" and not yours! Clean your house. Nobody cares. They have done stuff in their houses that way cos they like it that way. Not cos it pleases you. Your liberty stops when it starts interfering in someone else's life. Nobody cares if you prefer living the other way. They have their own ways. Let that be!

The nosy stuff :  For instance, I dont like it when you follow me around asking if it was a message on my phone or if you start peeping into my laptop. I hate noses poked in my business. Period. I dont like anyone even touching my phone. Let alone know wtf someone messaged me. Get a da*n life please!

I have seen some parents who do not let their kids do things independently. They like having control over every bit of their kids' lives. From deciding what to wear to buying stuff for them to deciding where to invest. Now, if you have the balls to earn, you should know where to invest or spend. At least have some basic bloody idea! Otherwise it is just bills given to a baboon. DO NOT run around asking
 'mummy mummy and daddy daddy,
 here is my money
please invest it for me!"
There is a reason it is called your money.

A word to the future parents : You should let your kids have a mind of their own. Not make them do stuff you want, the way you like for as long as you like it. It is blasphemy of personal freedom if you ask me. It is your kid, not an origami paper you can shape into whatever just because you 'own' it. Let them find out and venture out. Dont make them a doctor or engineer just because you are one or you think they should be one -or the worst kind,- cos you could not be one. They are not you. They have an organ called the brain. Dont make it a vestigial organ. You do not ask a child not to walk cos it falls down. You lend a hand but leave it once in a while so that the child can walk on its own. A parent who does everything for his child is evidently crippling it. In every sense.

I know of a man who does not even know how much the local repair shop could cost you for some repairs. And he is married. Has a family of his own. Every time he needs something done, he runs to 'daddy'. Daddy what do I do for this? For that? And instead of making him do it, 'daddy' does it for him. How long? For how long?
Or he goes about making stupid mistakes like getting chairs that will break if you sit on it. Or paying Rs150 for 2 kms. All that crappy beliefs about 'not having a god' being blasphemy... Atheists are just as fine ass all these believers. FYKI, a 3 am wake up call for prayers is not in anyone's to do list. A 'my mummy/daddy said so.' is not a good enough reason. After Lower KG that is.

This mummy daddy syndrome will only make very dependent individuals who have no clue how to live in a society on their own. And in turn these individuals, if I may call them so, will produce more copies of theirs in time. More "major repair needed" copies.

Please let your children think. Do things on their own. Let them be independent. Let us face it, they have to live on even after you start resting in your perpetual graves.

Indira, India and fuels.

You know, if Indira was there, she would have nationalized crude oil and petroleum sector. :(

This was a status I had put up some days back and you can see how that went here.
I was expecting someone to point out the glaring hole in this whole idea. Nobody did, and hence I will point it out myself.

While it is a good idea to nationalize the crude oil sector so as to keep a check on the oil imports and the forex changing hands, we need to see what happens after that.
Reliance, if nationalized, will bring down the prices of indigenous oil produce. Now, there will be reduction in prices (reliance/desi oil bringing it a bit down). But that would also mean more people find it affordable. Or people will stop thinking twice before using a car for that 100 m drive.-which they think twice about, right now-
While they get back to 'I can afford to' mode, the requirement will rise up further. Every tom dick and harry will be using his car to show off and travel those petty distances.
As the demand rises, prices will have to either rise or the supply has to.
Either shankaran will get back to the coconut tree or we will pay more forex anyway.
So, technically that would just be a way to stall a higher but imminent price hike. Only advantage would be that instead of a capitalist pocket, we will be filling other pockets.
Sourcing from countries that would accept rupee is only a temporary solution. A permanent one has to be sought. Btw, there is this article in The Hindu today, that talks about substituting conventional fuels for vehicles with ethanol. That seems to be a brilliant idea. We are after all the second largest producer of sugar cane. We just need a government with balls to do that.
Cheerz!
DN

Pre-marriage and Post-marriage with Pre-mish and our family.

എഴുതിയിട്ട് കാലങ്ങൾ ആയി .
This is going to be a mixed post. In terms of language and themes. It would also include the problems of a writer who has been out of touch with writing for a long time now.
Wanted to write before marriage about the hullabaloo people make around the bride. You feel special alright but you also feel awkward and disgusted sometimes. Wanted to pen every incident. But was kinda busy, what with my marriage and all. Still, some that stuck a glaring picture, penned down...
Co-worker before marriage one day - Are you shy? (Does it help that it was a guy who asked me this?)
Although taken aback, I was like "No, I already know the guy. And am not really the shy type."
കല്യാണം കഴിക്കുന്നവരെക്കാൾ ഡൌട്ട് ആണി കല്യാണം കാണുന്നവർക്ക്‌ .
"Love marriage ആണോ ? സത്യം പറ !"
There were women in my extended family who came and declared "You donno how to cook. How are you going to survive there? Oh you are gonna lose face for the family."
I find most of such stuff funny and irritating.
I was also busy tending to my marriage business. (So much shopping and getting ready I say!!!) Hence didnt have much time.
Thankfully no one came and had the guts to ask me "how much are you giving?" mostly cos they know what my reaction would be. Oh, except one. A friend had asked me over chat what I was giving the groom's family. I got furious and asked him to mind his own business. And he went about to apologize and tell me how he was not going to 'give anything' for his sister's marriage and was totally against that custom.

Anyway, 3 months into marriage and more than a year of courtship, I finally get time to pen down some stuff.

The scene changes once you are married. Every tom dick and harry then wants to know what the 'vishesham' is. (Which means "Are you expecting?" in a euphemistic way.) And the opening line always is "Oh you have gotten fat. Dont gain any more fat ok?" Like they were so concerned about my cholesterol levels before!
And the endless questions about whether I learnt to cook, what I cook daily and whether he likes the food. And about how his family treats me and stuff like that.
Typical nosy stuff.
The groom's family and extended family is quite religious on contrast with me. They were all asking what kinda prayers I know, whether I prayed for the day, how often I go to pray... Well it also irritates me a bit considering what Bible has mentioned about prayers "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:6" which all these religious people seem to forget. Why should anyone know whether or what the other one prays? What good does it do to you?

Anyway after 3 months, all I have learnt about marriage is that, even though you live with a single person, you live in a glass house. All visible and vulnerable to the world. Or so the world thinks.
Another budday coming up together. :) This time it is me, my sis and my hubby who will be celebrating our buddays on the same day. Hopefully it is a good good day and a good good night. :)