Monday, July 18, 2011

A Larger Lifeline?

Sitting at my desk at work, needed to jot down a note. The hand made its way to the shirt pocket and realised that the pen had not been brought. Remembered that I had been given one as an acknowledgment of a recent activity. So took it from my office cupboard. I noticed that there was a little inscription on it with the company logo. It read - "Smaller Waistline - Larger Lifeline". It certainly brought a smile to my face before some more thoughts came at their own leisurely pace.
Larger here certainly referred to having a long life but do we really want a "larger lifeline" for ourselves. For our loved ones, certainly yes. But for your own sake. Are their really any benefits of having a larger ordinary lifeline.
Reminds me of the line from the movie Anand - "Zindagi Badi Honi Chahiye, Lambi Nahi" (Your life should be large not just long).
Maybe, just maybe, the folks at office did get this line right just by accident. But then how would a small waistline make life large? Or has it got anything to do with the Royal Stag tagline - "Have I made it large?"

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Not Again...

Yester evening (July 13, 2011) I got a text message. It read - "Just read about the blasts in Mumbai... is everthing fine at your end?". A bit confused, I switched on the TV and and saw our news channels going wild with their "Breaking News" mode. Texted back that I was Ok and then kept watching the "Breaking News". And the first feeling that came to mind was "Not Again".
Frustration, Anger and sense of helplessnes were there as the pictures unfolded on the TV screen. And the worse than these was the feeling of deja vu. The pictures were nothing new, they had all happened before time and time again. Multiple cities had been the target of series of bomb blasts. But Mumbai has been a repeated target. The financial capital, a city always in rush, lots and lots of people - all these factors making it probably the ideal target for terroists.
After the blast comes the condemnations from various quarters (does anybody not condemn the terrorist strikes) with special mention being provided to the condemnation from the President of the USA by our media. Followed by opposition trying to score brawny points by blaming the government for not preventing the attacks while never giving a single suggestion of note on the issue. In the meanwhile, there are the TV channels broadcasting "live" images of dead bodies. Also hyping up the event much beyond it actually was. As an example seeing the news channels on yesterday, the impression of an entire city under seige would have been created while in reality most of the parts life was going on as normal as it could. In the meanwhile the victims are rendered as nameless entities reduced to being a statistic on the latest terror strike count.
The cycle doesn't stop here when the next day people try to go back to their normal lives, the so called "spirit and resilience" of the city is hailed. I have been living here for the past 3 years. I can say its not spirit or resilience which makes the people get back to their lives. With so many attacks over the years, they have simply become immune to all of it. And this is why the people in the city move on so easily after the initial shock and outrage.
As for me, some feeling of outrage vented out via this medium and back to normal life now. After all there is nothing around me which suggests that something this terrible happened not too far from where I am sitting right now.


I found a good post on the same subject here.

P.S. However, even such times can have silver linings. Received a few texts & calls from friends and family whom I otherwise may not have spoken to in quite some time.

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

My Good Deed of the Day

I did something good today. And I was left with an awesome feeling which needed to be shared with a little write-up.
A blood donation camp had been organised in office today. Initially I was quite apprehensive about it. I had  given blood earlier in drive oragnized in my college, but the experience was quite a painful one. The memories of that had prevented me from taking part in any such activities again. So inspite of knowing about the drive, I wasn't quite interested in participating in it. But a colleague of mine somehow managed to convince me into going. Rather he talked me into accompanying him to the camp. Reluctantly I agreed to accompany him but no more than that. Once we reached the venue, saw quite a people taking part. The sight of so many people voluntarily donating blood was a good enough inspiration. So picked up the form and filled it and went over to the complete the formalities.
Blood pressure checked, found ok, a pin prick to the finger and the haemoglobin count was found ok. And off I was to donate with a collection bag in hand. A slight wait while the others finished up. And then I was flat on the bed, with a tube inserted into my left arm while a smiley ball was in the hand for pressure and circulation (A suggestion - use opposite hands for checking the haemoglobin and donating). Within a few minutes the bag filled up and the tube was removed (the most painful part of the entire exercise). A injection point covered with a bit of plaster and all that remained was a slight prickling pain in the left arm. Apart from that nothing else. Photographs also duly taken for memories (and for facebook :P)
Left the place after some coffee and biscuits and back to my desk within the hour. 
Why am I writing all this. Because I hope it might encourage other people to clear their apprehensions and donate blood. The pain involved is very small and nothing compared to the awesome feeling you get off having done something good.