tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17607296611394651782024-02-19T08:48:00.274-08:00livingindelhiComments on what I see and hear living the life of an ordinary salaried citizen in Delhipanikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-48276427649832148412009-03-08T08:51:00.000-07:002009-03-11T07:03:57.292-07:00Education and Social Mobility<div style="text-align: justify;">In an article published more than a year ago I had mentioned how education is proving to be the most important tool for social and economic <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">mobility</span>. In the past 5-8 years, large numbers of youngsters from deprived backgrounds (socially and economically) have found their way out to better prospects for themselves and their families through acquiring better education. The growth in the economy, especially in the IT and other services sectors, has been a boon for them. One cannot also ignore the sacrifices that the families of these youngsters have made to make their dreams possible. <br /><br />Have things changed now? Or rather, do people now look at education differently now?<br /><br />Why do I ask?<br /><br />The fear that economic slowdown in the US and Europe will be pulling back growth in other countries of the world seems to be coming real. Even in countries like India and China <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">which</span> were reportedly growing at or above 10 percent and seemed to be poised to continue at the same rate for some more time, the effects are visible.<br /><br />Companies depending on orders from the the US and Europe, and not only in the IT space, expect sharply lower business for a couple of years. The fear of their employees seeing lower pay packets or even of losing their jobs were compounded by the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Satyam</span> scam. Immediately after the scam came out there were reports that the company would shut down and almost 53000 would lose their jobs.<br /><br />Around this same time, we saw a report of one IT graduate who had got into network marketing after his day job. "This way I will be assured of some income even if I lose my job", he is reported to have said.<br /><br />People spend a lot of money (borrowed) and give up many comforts and even essentials to go higher education, because they believe that things will surely change after they have <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">got their</span> degrees.<br />If there is no assurance that things will improve, rather, if there is apprehension that the expenses on education will bring on additional burden, will families be willing to take the risk?<br /></div><br />Will a tea-stall owner in Patna borrow for his sons <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">IIT</span> education if the prospects of a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">well</span>-paying job are low?panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-25402011430298480072009-02-24T18:37:00.001-08:002009-03-04T10:02:51.874-08:00KamaThere is a running serial in a regional language TV channel on the story of Shiva and Parvathi. The last episode had Shiva burning Kama Deva to ashes with the laser in his third eye, for having used his flower arrow to stir the mind of a meditating Shiva, to create in him a desire to consort with Parvathi.<br /><br />The new episode carried a conversation between Indra and Narada, in which Narada alludes to Indra's escapades saying that he must be finding life difficult in the absense of Kama.<br /><br />Kama Deva is the Hindu equivalent of cupid, only that he is more "mature". Kama literally means desire, or rather, lust.<br /><br />What is this life without lust? That seems to be Indra's predicament.<br />In fact I was also thinking about lust and life in Delhi, with people having so little time to themselves or with their families.<br /><br />And then the newspapers came out with stories of high profile "call" centres and influential madams.<br /><br />Perhaps there is more underlying than I have been able to see?panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-68816466522500227812009-02-24T18:35:00.000-08:002009-02-27T10:53:08.097-08:00Modern and TraditionalThe traditional and the modern. The co-existence of these seemingly contradictory characteristics is so common in India that we seldom notice it or think about it.<br /><br />I see so many of our youngsters, college going girls and boys, as well as the young people working in the new techno and marketing companies. Well dressed, branded wear, hip, expensive mobile phones, gelled hair, deodorant, accented talk.<br />But many of them also have those coloured threads on their wrists, the threads that have some kind of religious significance.<br /><br /><br />Writing this brings to mind a thought that has been nagging me for a while.<br /><br />I grew up in an atmosphere super charged with prayer and faith and religion. From the time I was around four until I was fifteen or so. I would pray and have goose pimples all over, my eyes would overflow with emotion and the feeling of being "touched" b y the divine.<br /><br />And then "liberation" set in. The rebellion and independent thoughts of young adulthood. The pendulum of faith swung to the other extreme. I lost "faith", because faith, by definition, is belief without a foundation - unfounded belief.<br />Over the years I have vascillated between faith and doubt, and even after so many years and so many experiences I do not know where I stand.<br /><br />I describe myself as a seeker, someone willing to believe, but yet on the lookout for what to believe in.<br /><br />And that has led me to a question regarding parenting.<br />We have brought up our son without any strong spiritual or religious beliefs, without faith. My argument was that, in time, he would find his own reasons and explanations and beliefs.<br />But there have been times when I have doubts if we did right by him. Faith is a strong support to hold on to in difficult times, when friend, relatives and the world in general seem insufficient or unable to provide us the kind of support we are looking for. "God", by whatever name called, is the ultimate source of strength.<br />By not providing him with the opportunity to draw on this source of support, haven't we deprived our son of something very valuable?panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-72904061214660109062009-02-24T18:29:00.000-08:002009-02-24T18:35:35.038-08:00Size Plus!<div style="text-align: justify;">Moving through Delhi has been a pleasant surprise.<br />It is always a pleasure to see so many "abundant" women.<br />I have deliberately used the word abundant, because abundance is a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">state</span> we welcome and desire.<br />There are so many of these size plus women on the metro circuit, all dressed up and decked up, and seeming to be unconcerned about how they look among all those skinny straight girls trying to starve themselves into "beauty".<br /><br />My sense of a beautiful woman has always been more in line with the classical form that we have seen on our temple sculptures.<br /><br />Not that I am too concerned about looks when it comes to people I know, irrespective of whether they are people I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">like</span> them or dislike them.<br /><br />Because, in the case of people you know, most often we do not see them as a "body" but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">rather</span> as an idea - which includes much more than the body, a collection of memories and experiences, expectations and disappointments, a totally that can not be explained just by the way a person appears to a stranger.<br /><br />When I think of my wife, it is a collective idea of the shared life and experiences of so many years together.<br /><br /><br />Back to the Plus women of Delhi.<br /><br />I appreciate their spirit.<br /><br />I am writing about this today because one person who met me on business today described someone else as " a big woman, just like me". She was not being apologetic about her size, and I was glad she was feeling comfortable about her body.<br /></div>panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-39215253916818558882008-12-30T09:42:00.000-08:002009-02-26T08:21:42.031-08:00A Mother and her Son<div style="text-align: justify;">During this mornings walk in the park I saw a mother pushing her son in a wheel chair.<br />Actually this is not the first time I saw them. I had seen them a couple of days ago in the park itself. The boy must be in his late teens. He looks spastic or mentally retarded. What touched me today was that the mother was crying silently as she pushed the chair.The boy was in his own world, twisting his body and looking around, oblivious.<br /><br />I wanted to tak to this mother. But I was afraid. Would she be annoyed at my intrusion?<br /><br />What I really wanted to do was tell her something that could make her feel better.<br /><br />I believe in rebirth and also that life on earth is part of the journey to evolving towards a higher state, what has been variously called moksha or Nirvana, liberation from the cycle of rebirth.<br /><br />There is a belief that cildren born retarded and helpless, unable to understand and respond to their surroundings, are actually the rebirth of holy souls who have narrowly missed moksha.These souls choose to be reborn in such a state so that they are unable to think or do anything in this life that can set them back in their journey to liberation.By make sure that they cannot do anything negative.<br /><br />I wished t tell this mother that perhaps she was mother to a great soul?<br />Anyway, I didn't have the guts to tell her anything today. <br /><br /></div>panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-61089272807801283422008-12-30T09:27:00.000-08:002008-12-31T09:41:25.083-08:00Walk, Again<div style="text-align: justify;">I have taken up a walk in the park every morning. This is not the first time I’ve started this ritual, though. But each time I did this earlier I could not sustain it beyond a few days. There was always the excuse of having to walk on roads, and the threat from stray dogs and vehicle pollution . I am allergic to both.<br /><br />Both these excuses are not available now. There are dogs in the park, but they mind their own business. The park is also just across the road from my house and is big enough to give reasonable workout for my legs and circulation in just two laps.<br /><br />This time I must follow through and do the walk for at least 21 days without break.<br /><br />Why 21 days? Because I have read that it takes at least 21 days of consistent “do” to make any practice a habit. By the time you make it to 21 days, you have also become used to the benefits of the new practice that you don't want to stop and lose these benefits.<br />Perhaps I should also say that we will continue with the practice just because we do not want to change - the new habit has become a part of the routine, and changing it might seem uncomfortable? <br /></div>panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-42994115675142682902008-12-30T09:26:00.000-08:002008-12-30T09:27:15.983-08:00A NestFinally settled on a place to stay. A DDA flat just across the district park. Satisfied with the space of a MIG flat. Although the windows doors don’t close well, the toilet is tiled, something I didn’t see in any of the other places I was shown. And the second floor gives the additional space of the rooftop and freedom from drainage worries.<br /><br />This should be okay.panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-15765335612907269652008-12-07T01:30:00.000-08:002008-12-07T01:38:31.449-08:00Oh For a Roof..<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Lvtpskzdrhb9URpSYRQkw79kXuY_R4b18NMw8h_YFkiVdcMGf4plHfTj_mjoWtNWO8IhtUIOxneObKmhDvsQwfq7IGSpEHKGUFFAJUZeRuYQGedJcb7AKv724CuFeF6nyWdwwH0X4YBq/s1600-h/park.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 101px; height: 72px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Lvtpskzdrhb9URpSYRQkw79kXuY_R4b18NMw8h_YFkiVdcMGf4plHfTj_mjoWtNWO8IhtUIOxneObKmhDvsQwfq7IGSpEHKGUFFAJUZeRuYQGedJcb7AKv724CuFeF6nyWdwwH0X4YBq/s320/park.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276980052175862626" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">My search for a house has sort of narrowed down to Dwaraka and Janakpuri. Dwaraka because it is on the Metro line and also has newer apartments. Janakpuri because it is also on the Metro line, is safer, one can find transport at any time of the day, and although most of the DDA flats are badly maintained and few of the doors and windows close properly, the place has “proven” conveniences, water comes on time, vegetable vendors visit everyday, you can even expect power cuts.<br /><br />And of course Janakpuri probably has the most common community spaces in residential areas. And it is not only the district park.<br /><br />The hitch is that in the past 6 months or so rents have gone up by half. What was available for 6500 then is now 9500, much more than what my employer pays me.<br />Also there is this business of having to go through a broker – “property dealer” as he likes to be called – that is another month’s rent gone out of pocket.<br /><br /></div>panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-39786303184656473932008-11-21T08:24:00.000-08:002008-11-22T19:34:11.441-08:00Will you Ride a Rickshaw?<div style="text-align: justify;">Just saw an old picture in one of the magazines – Nehru and the Frontier Gandhi walking while Sardar Patel was moving along in a human-drawn rickshaw. I do not know if this photograph was intended to show that Patel was less “human” than Nehru. But there is one thing I definitely know, and this is something I discussed with a friend who landed in Delhi on the same flight as I did.<br /><br />On our first day in the city we found that the easiest transportation from our house to the nearest Metro station was by cycle rickshaw. Do we allow ourselves this “inhuman” pleasure of letting one man pull our weight across a couple of kilometers, by rationalizing that this was the most eco-friendly method of moving in the city in these times of high oil prices? Or do we let ourselves be overtaken by the poignant pictures of Kolkotta’s rickshaw men as painted in the “City of Joy?” <br /><br />Well, we decided to use cycle rickshaws, not just that day but whenever it was feasible, and for this reason – by using rickshaws we would be allowing a poor person to earn his livelihood honourably instead of pushing him to starvation or begging.<br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLd-zmrMjL659bCDn6mi3PioVZzPpWqVcvdcout0HSdsgUl9HEozoz4X4H5Ar5xgFhPIJIMkoWWcJbOuTK2tHkA7-e60Uq9woal7VypQe7V5Va_uCK9BYXDvEh3VE3vdjuu73z4j4xPAG0/s1600-h/12+Bicycle+riskshaws_thumb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 181px; height: 122px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLd-zmrMjL659bCDn6mi3PioVZzPpWqVcvdcout0HSdsgUl9HEozoz4X4H5Ar5xgFhPIJIMkoWWcJbOuTK2tHkA7-e60Uq9woal7VypQe7V5Va_uCK9BYXDvEh3VE3vdjuu73z4j4xPAG0/s320/12+Bicycle+riskshaws_thumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271148450045180306" border="0" /></a>panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-83555464670096487312008-11-18T17:10:00.000-08:002008-11-18T17:11:35.229-08:00Finding a Place to StayI am out looking for a place to stay. Someplace not far from a Metro station because my work can at times keep me at the office until 9 or 10, and the Metro seems to be a far more reliable and safe transport than anything else.<br /><br />I can commute for about an hour one way, my body and mind can stand it. But I need a place with space – an extra bedroom for my son because he is now 16 and should be given his own space. I need a place where I don’t have to worry if the family is safe while I am away. I need a place where the urgent requirements of a morning – milk, bread, eggs, soap, toothpaste – are available within a 3 minute walk, and where these shops open by at least 6.30 in the morning.<br /><br />I would prefer a place with lot of open spaces, trees, a park.<br /><br />Is that too much to ask for in Delhi these days?panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-63229344731278324522008-11-15T05:54:00.000-08:002008-11-15T06:01:17.984-08:00The Delhi I Remember<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl2c6ZVeKSfChnSfBYH5mTHL0XFduKX_NeEIzJ6DXMofKvHb4HJFnT2zmZBO0WQMdUl2w7EFEkR1PwfvIP2ubIdRnJO3_q0h8RTRN6blLwHTVivG14_msvz2ZwSrBaCkQNJuI00Tz8JJvc/s1600-h/taj.jpeg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 130px; height: 107px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl2c6ZVeKSfChnSfBYH5mTHL0XFduKX_NeEIzJ6DXMofKvHb4HJFnT2zmZBO0WQMdUl2w7EFEkR1PwfvIP2ubIdRnJO3_q0h8RTRN6blLwHTVivG14_msvz2ZwSrBaCkQNJuI00Tz8JJvc/s320/taj.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268883988765813490" /></a><br />The Delhi I remember is the Delhi of 1980-82. I would come for 10 or 15 days a year, and stay at a friend’s place in Rajouri Garden. <br />Those days Janakpuri was far out of Delhi, even Rajouri Garden was the outskirts. Today Delhi stretches way beyond these places.<br /><br />What attracted me about Delhi – the things I remember now – was the open spaces. I had seen the places around Janpath, Cannaught Place, been on the roads in Chanakyapuri. The trees, the open spaces between buildings, the grandeur of the area near the Supreme Court and Rashtrapathi Bhavan – coming from a small town, I was quite impressed by our national capital. <br /> <br />I also remember the huge building with the emporia from all our states, each state having its own outlet. I was here to appear for the Civil Services interview twice – ( I didn’t make it into the final list). (The Civil Service was my only dream in those days, I did not know of any more professions than farming, teaching, law and medicine I think).<br /><br />I am yet to make a trip to any of these places yet, first priority is a place to stay.panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1760729661139465178.post-40380930667050550562008-10-27T22:59:00.000-07:002008-10-29T20:23:12.883-07:00Coming Back to DelhiI am back in Delhi after about 25 years and everyday I find something that sets me thinking. I decided to write the thoughts onto a blog because writing makes me keep my mind on the issue for a few moments at least. And in the welcome chance that the blog does get read by others, I hope they will add their comments, to agree or to disagree with what I say, or just to add to it.<br /><br />I will not try to be consistent in what I write. What I write will not be ideas that are fully thought out, but just what I feel at the moment of writing. This blog is not a scientific treatise that has to be defended before an academic board. <br /><br />Therefore, my comments today may not fully agree with what I write tomorrow. This just reflects the ambivalence that many of us have about many things. <br /><br />There is just one aspect of the writing that I am undecided about. How do I word “naughty” comments, when it is very likely that my son could also be looking through this blog once in a while?panikkarsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06216788492645300264noreply@blogger.com0