Any Guesses on Rakhi's IQ?

I hate fools. I can not stand them.
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Recently I happened to watch Rakhi Sawant’s interview on TV. Considering my inability to stand intolerable, I should have shut down the idiot-box. But, contrary I got glued to the TV. It was shocking. And disturbing. And puzzling. And shocking again. I need to admit that I remained depressed for a few days. I feared some grievous mental damage (which is quite likely given that I work as a SW engineer in Bangalore). Sigh… I was wrong. I am still the same.
Last week, I attempted to watch HR starer “Aap Kaa Surroor”. I finished a three hours movie in 30 minutes (trick mode play) and still had to suffer from headache for next three days. So I believe that my mental system is still upright.

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Then what was the case with Rakhi? May be she is really not dumb. May be her interview was not really foolish. Now if I recall, it was much below the level of foolishness. Undoubtebly, one needs to possess an extra-ordinarily high IQ to fall (or rather appear to fall) below the levels of foolishness. Any blind guess on Rakhi’s IQ? I feel she is definitely 130 plus.
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PS: I am again feeling depressed thinking why I gave her a space on my blog. But may be she deserves it.

Looking Through the Dark Eyes

Advancements in medical science has made our lives longer, healthier, and happier. No more people die of Malaria, no more we see polio affected children. Tuberculosis, Cancer are no more incurable. Scientists have almost found cures to AIDS.

Despite all this progress, 45 Million (human) blinds still exist on this planet. only color they can see and feel is the color of Darkness. Though blindness is a major problem in African and Asian countries. But even the developed countries (like USA and UK) have blind population.

Eye Transplant (Corneal Transplant - more accurately) techniques can enlighten many of these dark worlds. More Information on Corneal Transplant.

You can contribute to this great act by donating your eyes. If you are in India you can CONTACT Madhav Eye Bank for eye donation. You can also contribute for blinds, in many other ways.

Eye Donation FAQ

How much the real estate can rise?

live in Bangalore (India). In last six years, real estate prices have rose 3 to 10 times (based on the location) in this city. It is not a local phenomenon to Bangalore. Land prices in my native place, have rose on the similar scale. I am thinking of investing some money in to an apartment. Apartments in Bangalore are out of my budget, so I thought of booking some apartment in Mysore (which is around 100 miles away from Bangalore). But even Mysore prices are out of my reach.

I was getting frustrated with my poverty, but then I read this news which says that a Car Parking Space in Manhattan is currently selling for US$2,25000 . Hmm we are far far better than some people in world.

Though real-estate has been a lucrative business always, but prices in India (as per my knowledge) have never rose so steep. Let us analyze a few reasons why prices are increasing so crazy:

(1) Open Economy: There was a big gap between India and USA (and europe) in terms of salaries and real-estate prices before we opened up our economy. This big gap was the major factor behind real estate boom over last few years. The foreign investors found the increasing prices still affordable (if they compared it with the prices in their own country). The salaries also rose considerably and there were more and more potential buyers who could afford increasing prices.

(2) Low interest rates and easy availability of home loans: Interest rates on home loans have decreased considerably over last few years (though there was a little increase again a few months back but that was not substantial). Also the home loans are very easy available. Most of the banks just ask for last few months salary slips. This means that any person with a high current salary can buy an expensive house.

(3) Rise of Upper Middle Class: The upper middle class in India has come up as a potential consumer in last few years (because of open economy) . High income for professionals (combined with the easy home loans) has created a big pool of consumers who can afford high prices products. The “Real Estate Companies” realize this fact and they conspire together to keep the costs high.(4) Organized Industry: Real Estate was never such an organized industry in India. Now we have dozen of professionally managed real estate firms across India. Dealing with these real estate firms have many advantages: (a) They help you on each step. They even facilitate bank loans. (b) They are more reliable: you can trust that your money will not be eaten away (c) You can trust the quality …

(5) Lack of Investment Options: As the salaries for professional in India are growing, professionals have a big amount of money in their hands. Most of these professionals , really do not know what to do this money. They do not have any prior business background and they do not have much investment skills. They find real-estate as the most safe and effort-less investment. If you try to collect statistics from buyers, you will realize that most of the people buy apartments for investment and not for living (they already have apartments and houses). Increasing rentals also promise them a continuous return on their investment.

A WORD OF CAUTION: There is a big number of consumers who are willing to invest in real-estate sector. Those consumer who made investments a few years back have got very high returns. The commons mentality of investors is that they are going to get similar returns even on the current investments. The real-estate companies realize this mentality of consumers and they have increased the prices on anticipation. Those who are investing their money, need to be a little cautious and analyze if they are really going to get a very good return. As I mentioned before, the biggest reason for real estate boom was the big gap in real estate prices between India and USA. But this gap has been constantly bridging. In fact most places in USA are now more affordable than Bangalore (and other metro cities of India). Also if you compare the availability infrastructure and quality of life, then you will observe that India infact is now much costlier than USA. I know a few friends of mine, who wanted to buy apartments in India (recently) and after checking the prices they decided to buy it in USA. So be a little careful. Do not invest your money blindly in to any property. Check the prices. Analyze how much infrastructure growth can happen in this area (where you are investing) and check up the prices of similar property in the areas where that kind of infrastructure is available. If you see a difference of less than 100%, do not invest. However if you are planning to buy, with an aim of getting a shelter (rather than investment), it might be wiser to go ahead and buy the property.

The Harry Potter Hype

Harry Potter is the most hype phenomenon these days, probably followed by Himesh Reshamiya (Is there any magic H-factor here). Unlike Himesh, Harry is a world wide craze. Next Sunday, readers are going to line up in big queues to buy the latest book in Harry Potter series. In my opinion book (at least the Indian Edition) is priced higher than what it can bes worth. There is more of marketing (than literature) about this book. In my opinion, Harry Potter is not a book, it is a fashion.

Why people want to buy the book on very first day? We know there are great books which have been selling for hundred of years. Readers buy them without worrying about if they bought it very first day of the release, or after fifty years of first release. Whereas for the Harry Potter readers it is a question of prestige if they fail to buy the book ASAP after its release. People will stand up in queues for hours - if they were true readers, they would have rather utilized this time in reading some thing else (may be there is nothing as valuable as Harry Potter, but it still would add to their knowledge). For a true reader is it really necessary to buy a book very first day and then boast about this achievement?

Let us compare Harry Potter with I-phones. Consumer queued up for hours (just like Harry Potter fans) to buy the i-Phone very first day. But is i-Phone just a phone? No, i-phone is a fashion factor. Any other phone may be as good as i-Phone in connecting calls, sending and receiving SMS. What comes extra is the better looks, better style, and the pride of being first in the buyer’s list. Similar is true with Harry Potter. If one has to read Harry, to acquire some knowledge, it may not be a great loss if they do it after few days.

Other thing which I find irritating about Harry Potter discussions is that most of the readers do not discuss about the content of the books. They just talk about the number of copies which got sold. The collection which Harry Potter movies did. Number of fans who queued up outside the stores. When it comes to discuss the content of books, they can just say, it was “Great”, it was “Funny”, it was “Hilarious”… No one has any clue about what knowledge they gain from this book, or how this books might have helped them to become wiser, or how it would have changed their character …

Disclaimer: I am not anti-Harry. But I am anti-Hype. I am really very disappointed with the Harry-Hype. I feel that with Harry-sort-of-reading-habit, our kids are going to reach nowhere. Their focus has become so narrow that they do not know of any other book than Harry Potter. They may not know who are the other writers in this world. And they do not even seem to be interested to know. All they care about is how early they will get the book and not about what they will learn from this book. Disappointing state of affairs.

Same Sex Marriages in India

Geeta and Babli are the pioneers of same sex Marriage in India. Probably they are the first one to disclose same sex marriage publicly in India. Interesting fact is that despite being socially oppressed, here is the Woman again, leading the front. I am not sure if their step is socially and morally correct, but definitely it is bold and courageous.

Is homosexuality in India more amongst woman: I believe that in India homo-sexuality is more amongst woman (than man). I do not have any figures to support my claim but I firmly believe that it is true. I hold the Indian social structure primarily responsible for this.

In India women remain to be socially oppressed and are deprived of basic human rights. I am talking about that India which still forms more than 80% of Indian population. So, the people who have only seen remaining 20% of India may not agree with me.

(1) Though primary education for woman has improved, but still in majority of India families, higher education for woman is not supported. Higher educations means (a) late marriage for the girl child and (b) a troublesome search for a better educated groom for the girl. Both of these are a big headache in Indian families. Un-educated girls are mostly financially dependent on their life partner. This dependency means that they are open for any physical or mental abuse by their life partners. And this abuse happens in large number of families. The girls growing up watching all this abuse never feel comfortable in presence of a Man and are therefore inclined towards another Woman.

(2) There is a high rate of child molestation in India. Children (mostly girls) are abused by close relatives and friends. But most of these incidences never come up: (a) Children is never courageous enough to inform their parents about such incidents (b) Even if parents are informed they try to hide such things fearing a social stigma. The kids who face such abuses, never find themselves comfortable in the company of the sex which abused them. Since the abuse is mostly done by Males, there are more chances that girls will become comfortable with girls.

(3) From early childhood, girls are advised not to mingle much with opposite sex (in schools, at social gatherings, and at work place). This continuous advise is likely to cause a mental frame work in girl’s mind that they are never safe with opposite sex. Also, since girls are not free to have close friendship with boys, they grow up sharing all their problems and concerns with some one of same sex. In the old times, where Man was the sole bread earner for the family, girls had no other choice but to surrender in front of a man after marriage. But in changed times, there are girls who work and become financially independent. Such girls some times refuse to compromise with the family pressure of getting married and they continue to live a bachelor life. They maintain close friendship with other girls (which need not be of sexual nature), and look for mental shelter in their friends.

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ANOTHER EXAMPLE of how easy it is for a Man to come out clean after sexual abuse

Rising Taxes: Will it ever End?

Indian Economy is becoming stronger each year. Is it really? I personally do not see any signs of this. Only way I get to know that econonmy is becoming strong is through newpapers and television. Probably that is the reason I have stopped buysing newpapers and never switch on my TV , these days.

Prices of essentially commodities are on rise. Taxes are on rise. And we do not see any improvement in Infrastructure. Where does all the money collected from taxes go? When I was a kid, we used to avail medical services at Govt Hospital. I studied at Govt Schools. Now I can not find any doctor at that particular hospital. If there is a doctor, he will be too busy with more useful stuff. If at all, you manage to get his time, there will be no medicines available at the hospital and you need to buy it outside. The school where I studied has most of the building abandoned. There are not enough teachers. Those who exist, are not competent enough. There is not enough growth in Infrastructure either (I live in Bangalore. If I was in Delhi, probably I would have less crib about infrastructure). Then where does all our tax go? Revenue is increasing but where is it visible? Taxes increase every year. New surcharges are forced. Surcharges have almost become a permanent part of the budget. In recent years, Sales tax, VAT and other taxes have been enforced in addition to the income tax. With all these new taxes, more than 50% of my income goes away in taxes. I slog hard in office, spending 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. I stay away from my families, stay away from my friends. Finally govt robs me of 50% of my income. Where does this money go? In pockets of ministers, Administrative officers, and power brokers? What an irony. All these people enjoy their lives, roam around the globe, get drunkard every day, enjoy company of beautiful looking friends and take away half share of our salaries. And on other hand here we are, slogging our butts in offices for more than half of our lives. What an irony.

Will these tax hikes ever end. There is no transparency in government. Ther is no accountability either. We do not know where our money goes. We can just imagine that it goes to the pockets of these looters. And since the number of looters is increasing every day, I am much worried.

USA govt is likely to annouce tax cuts for a consecutive fifth year. I am sure that if the tax we pay is utilised correctly, even we can have tax cuts. We need for a transparent and accountable administrative system. Will we ever get?

Have You Turned Fifteen

If you are a girl and you have turned fifteen, Here is a good (or may be not so good) news for you. You can save three precious years of your life. Rather than waiting to become eighteen, you might be able to choose your life partner and get married.

In the changed social scenario most of us (or may be some of us) start taking independent decisions before we enter the teenage. We choose our career (most important part of any one’s life), we choose our friends (most influential people in our lives) and we choose many other small and big things. But, I am not sure if fifteen could be the right age for some to decide on his or her life partner. Though we start making choices in the teenage, but these choices shape our characters until we become old enough. The small or big choices which we make every day as a teenager, keep on bringing drastic changes in our personalities. Our personality stabilizes only after we finish our education and we get settled in career - that is when we grow up. Some small changes still persists, but most of the character has been formed at this stage.

If we want marriages to be stable, we need to make sure that both partners have matured enough at the time of marriage. Fifteen may be a good enough marriage to choose a friend and even to initiate a physical intimacy, but this age is far from marriageable age.

Wedding: A Costly Affair

In India, marriage is probably the biggest affair of one’s life. Ceremonies lasts for many days and there are hundreds and hundreds of guests. In northern part of India, marriage ceremonies are generally arranged in night. There are lot of lightings, flower decorations, loud musics, and so on.

I got married last month. We had a ceremony at bride’s house and another ceremony at my house. All together we invited more than one thousand guests. This number is more than the number of guests which I would have treated in my entire life before marriage. And even if I keep adding to this count, after marriage, I am unsure if I will reach the thousand mark.

Being a girl brings more financial burden (in most parts of India). The dowry system is still prevalent in most casts (sects) in most provinces (though forceful demand of dowry is illegal and it is a punishable crime).

There are families who have excessive money. Spending more money in marriage is a symbol of social status for them. They do not really mind spending a few lacs Rupees more, just to feel different. But then there is a big section of society who really can not afford these big arrangements. They save money entire life, and then spend it on their kid’s marriage in a day. And there are people, for whom their entire savings are not enough, and they take loans (which they pay over years) for the marriages. Since a grand party, is matter of social prestige, it is not very easy to get away with simple weddings in most part of the countries.

Finally some one seems to be putting some effort to control the fatty weddings. DSGPS is thinking of setting some guidelines for the Sikh (a sect in India) weddings. These guidelines are aimed at controlling the expenditure on weddings. I hope that other religions also come up with similar guidelines.

Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy still remains to be a major problem in most parts of the world. In the third world countries (most of Africa, and many parts of asia), teenage pregnancy is mainly because of Child Marriage, illiteracy, and unawareness about the danger of teenage pregnancy (a teenage mother and her kid is likely to suffer health problems). However in developed countries like USA, where most of the teenage pregnancy occur amongst unmarried grils, the problem mainly exists because of lack of sex education amongst teenage kids.

With the changing social and economic scenario in India (where girls are increasingly becoming self-dependent and they stay away from their families for education and work), teenage pregnancy amongst unmarried girls is rising very fast. Though the teenage pregnancy amongst unmarried and married girl is equally harmful, but mostly unmarried girls are under more social, economic and psychological pressure. In most cases, in case of unmarried pregnancies, girls do not feel comfortable discussing the issue with their families and close friends. They can only talk to their partners, who themselves do not feel very comfortable with the situation. In case the couple is not-working (students), they have to also bear the financial pressure and they try to choose the cheapest options (which may not be very safe).

In India there is a great need of counselling centers for teenage pregnancies (pregnancy over all). Also there is an increasing need of sex education at High School level. In USA and many european countries, there are many NGOs working on such issues and they have been successful to a great extent in reducing the rate of childhood pregnancies. We need some similar effort in India.

Some resources on Teenage Pregnancy:
Some useful Information
Fact sheet
Liz Mason’s Site
More Info

Blind Beauty Race

Cosmetics, beauty treatments and other beauty products form a big market in USA and Europe. Beauty care companies mainly offer services and products for Skin, Hair, Teeth and Eyes. But a complete list of services and products is likely to cover each part of your body. The revenues for some of these companies in over a billion US$.

Around a decade back, these companies had set their eyes on Indian Market (there are 1 billion customers after all). The first step in this direction was to create an awareness about beauty in India. This was the time when Aishwarya and Sushmita wore the crown of Miss-world and Miss-universe (that is how these companies plan to enter any country). The life style of Indians has drastically changed from there on. Now there are skin care saloons, slimming centers, hair care centers, and other beauty shops, in each part of Indian cities. Also there are hundreds of options available for cosmetics (these options were very few 10 years ago).

It was a great achievement for India to get the crown of Miss-universe and Miss-world. As a result, today all Indian woman want to look fairer, silkier, slimmer, younger and sexier. There are external and internal treatment available in market to achieve these goals. But none of us care (or are not aware of) about the side effects of these treatments. One of such treatment is “stomach stapling operation” which helps obese people to become slimmer after an operation which reduces the size of stomach (and hence food intake). Apparently some people have already lost their lives after such operations and those who survive are like to suffer from depression. Do we really want to look beautiful at such a cost?

I feel that Indian Woman are following a blind race for beauty. They need to understand that beauty is not skin deep. The thick layer of cosmetics on your face does not really make you young. Rather than focusing on your shape and looks, you need to focus on your health and mental stability. I am worried at the thought, what will be the fate of our country, if our kids are bought up by beauty fanatics.

I am not against beauty or against cosmetics or against any beauty treatments. But we need to be rational enough to understand what cost should be paid (definitely life is a unreasonable cost) for becoming beautiful. And we need to be aware of side effects (in short term or long term) which these cosmetics or treatments will have on your body. Do you ever ask such questions before any treatment which you receive? Even if you ask, you are most likely to get wrong information. Make sure that you receive any information (about the side effect of treatment being taken) in written before you take any beauty treatment next time.

Watch Your Dress Code

This article is in Indian Context

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So often we hear of “Crimes against Women”. Domestic abuse is most common crime against women. But generally, molestation is considered as most shocking. May be because it signals of unhealthy social set up. In some cases it is found that victim of molestation was dressed in provocative clothes. And dress code becomes a hot topic of debate. Some (so called moderns) argue that women should have a right of dressing the way they want. Whereas others (so called conservatives) support the argument that dressing in provocative clothing is likely to invite trouble. Till recently I had never been able to decide who is right. Moderns are right - women should have all the independence. May be conservatives are also right - it is likely that people will get tempted when they see some one in provocative dressings.
Today I read an interesting article on wikipedia, which has helped to decide my VOTE. Now I feel that not being allowed to dress in provocative (socially not acceptable) clothes, can not be considered as curb of freedom. If it is just an individual freedom, even person committing crime can argue that he should be free to molest some one whom he likes. No, that will not be freedom. Some thing which involves more than one person should be bound by social values and practices, rather than individual choice. And as I realized (after reading this article on wikipedia), Dressing had always been guided by social norms. For example one dressed in “Saffrons” is likely to be taken as a hindu priests in India. Whereas, in some other part of the world this may not be true.

Let us have a look at what Wikipedia says:

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Clothing may signal an individual’s receptiveness to sexual advances. Some garments signal lack of interest in advances; some garments and accessories indicate openness to flirtation. What constitutes modesty and allurement varies radically from culture to culture, within different contexts in the same culture, and over time as different fashions rise and fall. Often, exposure of skin and hair is an availability signal; covering skin and hair signals unavailability. However, minute adjustments of “modesty” signals can subvert the surface meaning and convey a mixed message (”I’m nice but I like to flirt too”). Many Muslim women wear a head or body covering (see hijab, burqa or bourqa, chador and abaya) that proclaims their status as respectable and modest women. Streetwalking prostitutes in countries such as the United States where prostitution is illegal dress to advertise their status to potential customers, while avoiding anything that might constitute an unambiguous offer of sex for sale (which would increase their chances of being caught and convicted). They tend to wear current fashions in exaggerated form, bare a great deal of skin, and wear heavy makeup.
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I fully agree with this fact. I feel that women should watch their clothings and should dress up as per the local customs and social values. If in a certain region, a particular clothing can be mistaken as sexual invitation, wearing that is inviting trouble. A men shall not be solely blamed for that. They are just responding to the wrong signals.

My views here are based on pure reason. Please do not mis-understand me as SSP.