Nov 27, 2008

Globalization and Human Relations

“Let’s meet up online today”... “I’ll call you up tonight”... “Come on Skype, it’s free”. Do these statements seem familiar? Yes, I bet you yourself use these every day. Facebook, Skype, Cell phones, Emails, Sms, Conference, Fax. You hear these words and the first thing that comes to your mind is the advancement of Technology. But what does it lead to? --- A sense of belongingness. Gone are the days when u had to make trunk calls once in 4 months or write 4 letters in a year to assure your loved ones of your safety. 10 days delay and their blood pressure would reach at its peak. Some people even suffered a lifetime separation from their families. And now? Your all time companion—cell phones remove this hassle off your mind. So what if you are 100 miles away from home. You still feel oh-so-close.
Thanks to Globalization – which started as an initiative towards economic prosperity by opening up trade routes, eventually led to cross cultural mixing. We now are used to sms languages, so used to that after completing this piece, am sure to read this twice to make sure I haven’t used any. Orkut has become our lifeline. Why not? After all we miss our far-away-living friends so much. And why to increase our bills by calling up when the simplest way is to go online and chat. Or talk for hours and hours free from Skype. And don’t we all enjoy it? Certainly we do. But enough of technology talks. Think of the international exposure we get. Do all of us want to do our Masters from India? Or U.K. and U.S are more preferred? In return what do we get apart from better job and education? Let me think-----‘firang’ friends? This is where the cross cultural mixing comes into picture. We now lovingly accept the enrichment of languages. Ever noticed the newly added ‘Hinglish’ words in Oxford dictionary? Then comes the ‘Adios’…’Sionara’…’Chow’…Don’t tell me even your grandparents used these jargons. Indian music, which was only confined to India, has now spread all over the world. Same goes for western music. Ask a 17 yr old what kind of music does he listen to and the immediate reply comes “Hard rock, Power Pop” and so forth. Not to deny the fact that this taste starts simply from peer pressure. We just don’t want to be the odd one out. And these common likes and dislikes, common topics of discussions tremendously help us to connect with our peers well. Cultural difference becomes a least-bothering issue. In fact, we simply love to boast “My best friend is an Australian”. Not only music, we find this blend of cultures in cuisines too—we all know how popular kebabs have become in England don’t we?
Globalization brings about both evolution and extinction. On one hand, we have an inter-twining culture—learning new languages, connecting to people from different parts of the globe, getting a taste of varying music etc. On the other hand, there’s an increasing dilution of cultural inheritance and stressed relationships. As we leave our footprints on the rest of the globe, we hardly realize the quickly perishing cultural identity as every subsequent generation absorbs more and more global culture (predominantly western). Where are the long-bragged about respect and reverence which we were known to give our elders? Does our so-called ‘sanskaar’ ask us to promote nuclear families by dumping our parents into some old-age home? Is our responsibility limited to providing them with material benefits? We now keep a track of the latest websites in the Internet. But do we care to bother ourselves with the torture the daughter-in-law of our neighbour has to go through? While our parents are counting days for our long-awaited visit in Diwali, we are busy counting the episodes of ‘Friends’ on satellite television—another ‘bliss’ of globalization. Okay, we all cherish the use of emails and sms. But do they hold as much importance as the personalized hand-written letters which we can keep forever as memories? Does your heart take a lift as much when you get an e-card as it does when u get a card via post?
A small town girl from Karnal, marries an American and goes on to serve the most prestigious space research organization of the world—Kalpana Chawla, like many others, never belonged to a single nation. They are the citizens of the world. Having belongingness to the planet as a whole, the children of globalization have made the boundaries between the nations irrelevant.
Globalization, with its numerous pros and cons, has no doubt implanted an increasing level of tolerance and acceptance within the people. Criticize it as much as you want, you still can’t do without it. This is when the saying by Kofi Annan proves right:-
Arguing against globalization is like arguing against the law of gravity.”

Nov 18, 2008


ANIL KUMBLE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT COURTESY BCCI?????

Did he????? :P

Makes a good pic!!

Nov 14, 2008

VIVA VOCE RULES

When the "VIVA" season is over, the only word that can describe any engineering students state is RELIEF.

Here are certain rules and observations that can be applied to vivas:

1. The external examiner shall never come on time. He/She has to be a minimum of 1 hr late.

2. Vivas shall never be good, they can just be bad, worse or worst.

3. The professor shall make all effort possible to confuse you.

4. The student shall be asked a minimum of one question that he/she cannot answer. Following the question, there will be many such questions from the same topic that the question belonged to.

5. The student shall find that asking questions that he/she cannot answer is not a form of revenge but it actually gives a sense of fulfillment to the internal examiner.

6. If vivas were to be recorded on video camera, the expressions on students face's can feature in world's best comedy videos. 

7. Student has to agree with the examiner under all circumstances eventually only to learn that it was an idea to confuse him/her and get the wrong answer from him/her.

8. The only aim of vivas is to let students know that they know nothing of the concerned subject. Its a waste of time sitting in front of the two greats of the subject and trying to answer their googlies.

Nov 9, 2008

THE POWER OF YOU!

I just read this wonderful thought of an Angelic bishop...


""
When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits,
I dreamed of changing the world.

As I grew older, I realised the world would not change.
And I decided to shorten my sights and change my country.
But it too, seemed immovable.

As i entered my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt,
I sought to change only my family.
Alas, they would not change.

And now, as I lie on my deathbed, and realize( for the first time),
that,, if only I would've changed myself first,
Then ,by example I would've changed my family
And with their encouragement and support,
I may have bettered my country, and who knows?
Maybe I could've changed the world?

""

Powerful thought.
Not possible , you think?
Here's an example.

I recently read an article in the National Geographic on a region in China called Wenzhou.
Wenzhou is a cursed place.
No crops can grow there. The land in fact, is so bad that even roads can't be built there. In fact any Industrial Development progam would prove to be futile here.
But Wenzou has the advantage of an undying enthusiasm of the local people.
Families opened tiny workshops with fewer than a dozen workers and they produced simple goods. Over time the workshops blossomed into full scale industries and Wenzhou came to dominate certain low-tech industries. Today, one- quarter of the shoes worn by the world come from Wenzhou. The province makes 70% of the world's cigarette lighters. Over 90% of Wenzhou's economy is private.
The Wenzhou model has become a source of inspiration for the rest of the Zhejiang region in which Wenzhou lies.
80% of the Zhejiang enterpreneurs have an education of less than 8 years...

And it so happens, that this area has become now, the richest in the country! Industries are built within one day, plans are made within hours...and a dream of a young poor Chinese is converted to reality just within 48 hrs.

Magic.

The government there soon realised the power of the people's constructiveness. They promoted such industries and allow them to grow freely all over China.
And today, everyone watched in awe, as China played a fantastic host to the world's biggest games, The Olympics.
Maybe the little toy you got from Mc'Donald's today comes from Wenzhou. Maybe ten industries worked for an hour to get the final product for you. Maybe a village full of Chinese youth earned their wages, because you were ready somewhere in the world to buy a Happy Meal.

The point is that a poor village of strong minded poor Chinese people are changing the face of China as I am typing these words.

And if an 8-grader can bring about such a vast change...just by changing his own surroundings, then why can't we?
The world's a small place today.
It's reach, however ,is large.
I think it's time to harness this flat world's opportunities, to build ...not to destroy.
The world's moving towards becoming a village, JOIN THE CLUB!

Nov 8, 2008

Kahan gaye woh din....

Remember when you were young and went to a temple, the main attraction was 'prasad'. The small sweet white balls. known as 'sakhar futana' is what I used to crave for. I remember, our pujari used to give me a packet of prasad, I used to love him more than God. God was secondary then, tough at home I was thought that prasad was something that was secondary. How many times as kids we have gone to a temple and played in the courtyard? For me, it was many times. Its been long since I have gone to a temple. Not even for prasad, the one thing that used to take me there regularly.

Do you remember those days when whatever the teacher said was right. Even when our mother used to correct our teacher, we used to correct her. Teachers were meant to be right. Nothing said against our teacher was tolerated by us. She / He was the best person for us then. Respect was one thing that was always present for our teacher. Do you remember the last time you had respect for your professor?

Remember the days when cried without a reason in your mothers lap. You actually had tears in your eyes because your fell while playing cricket. You remember complaining your mom that a friend of yours has been teasing you with a girl? Do you remember the last time you went up to your mother and discussed you day's happening with her.

Remember you wanted to choose a profession like a conductor or a tv repair engineer? You found it more attractive than sitting in front of a PC and coding ALGOS. You didnt know that being a conductor is not the profession thats not respected. Do you remember the last time you hopped into a BEST bus and gave a smile to the conductor?

As kids we were used to do somethings without thinking twice. We just did things because we wanted to. Now, we do things because we need to.

We need to ask ourselves: " Kahan gaye woh din"

Nov 7, 2008

THE ARVIND KHAMITKAR HOAX!

Maybe you have already recieved this mail. Maybe you will recieve it some time. Maybe you have forwarded this to many others.
""

Don't avoid, Pls read this mail)

FROM Arvind Khamitkar   ,
I.A.S, Director of Medical & Research Div,
Chennai
 
Dear Friends,

A few weeks ago, in a movie theater, a person felt
something poking from her seat
When she got up to see what it was, she found a
needle sticking out of the seat with a note attached saying

'You have just been infected by HIV'.

The Disease Control Center (in Paris ) reports many similar
events in many other cities recently. All tested needles were HIV Positive.

The Center also reports that needles have been found
in cash dispensers at public banking machines. We ask everyone to use extreme caution when faced with
this kind of situation. All public chairs/seats should be inspected with vigilance and caution before use. A careful visual inspection should be enough. In addition, they ask that each of you pass this message along to all members of your family and your friends athe potential danger.

Recently, one doctor has narrated a somewhat similar
instance that happened to one of his patients at the Priya Cinema in Delhi .. A young girl, engaged and about to be married in a couple of months, was pricked while the movie was going on.. The tag with the needle had the message

'Welcome to the World of HIV family'.

Though the doctors told her family that it takes about 6
months before the virus grows strong enough to start
damaging the system and a healthy victim could survive about 5-6 years,   the girl died in 4 months, perhaps more because of the 'Shock thought'.
We all have to be careful at public places, rest God help! Just think about saving a life by   forwarding this message. Please, take a few seconds of your time to pass along.


With Regards, Arvind Khamitkar   ,
I.A.S, Director of Medical & Research Div, Chennai.

Rather than forwarding irrelevant mails, kindly pass
this to every one.
Probably ur mail can help some save his/her life
""
 
I recieved this mail today morning. This messege looks pretty convincing to the first eye's glance. In fact it is enough to scare the wits out of anybody. What if i was unknowingly pricked.?
What if this happens to me? Who could be doing this?
Panic.
A quick search on Google revealed this....
""

A hoax mail is causing sensation among netizens these days. The mail is warning about people being prickled by HIV infected needles in public places. Though, the original mailer is still to be traced out.

The mailer naming himself Arvind Khamitkar, I.A.S, Director of Medical & Research Division, Chennai, tells an instance of a girl from delhi who was infected by HIV virus containing needle and died in 4 months. He claims that the needle had a tag, which read ‘‘Welcome to the family of HIV.’’

The Health Department officials have described the e-mail as a hoax.

‘‘There is no such IAS officer or Department in Tamil Nadu. There is no cause for an alarm’’ a senior Health official said.

Dr Usman, former director of Institute of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Government General Hospital said, ‘‘For the virus to be transmitted, it has to freshly taken in the syringe and the anti-coagulants had to be mixed.

The virus stays fresh till the blood is moist and it has to injected immediately on a person. But in the hot climates the virus cannot survive outside for long.’’

‘‘I would call this a combination of spam and prank,’’ said Na Vijayashankar, director, Cyber Law College, Chennai. According to him, especially younger Internet users indulge in such crimes to prove their technical capabilities and to satisfy their ego.

The police can easily trace the Internet Protocol address from which the e-mail had originated, he said.

""

This messege first began doing the rounds in 2006. especially this year, it has spread all over the country.
It is in our hands to verify the content of any mail before clicking the forward button.
I don't know if anybody could ever die of AIDS in this manner, but i surely am convinced that wanton spread of such hoax emails could bring about a "Shock-Death" or two!
So, live life KING SIZE!!!