What a busy life it must be, to lead the life of the Indian Moral Police? Never a dull moment in their life, putting out moral fires in every corner of the town, saving the innocent public from the amohttp://im.sify.com/entertainment/movies/images/jan2008/sriyafunction200.jpgral denizens that are out to besmirch the Indian Culture and the rest of it. They have barely sat down after the Shilpa Shetty kissy kissy fiasco, only to bounce up over Shriya’s dress (or lack of) sense.
Actress Shriya, who played Rajini’s love interest in his hit film Sivaji, has offended the sensibilities of the moral junta by wearing a ‘skimpy outfit’. She has made the conservative heart of Chennai nearly stop by daring to appear in an “off-white dress that rode up her knees while she sat, and a plunging neckline that highlighted her hour glass figure”, that too at a function graced by the Chief Minister Karunanidhi. What a hussy!
Instead of setting an effigy of hers on fire or blowing up a few buses like they normally do, this time they actually resorted to the law! Quelle Surprise! The Hindu Makkal Katchi actually complained to the police that Shriya has offended the Hindu culture and may the long of the arm reach out, grab her and throw her in the slammer? Even more gaspably, the police declined the invitation saying it ain’t part of their job description!!
How can one make these up? Only in India, I tell ya!
A few months back, Reader’s Digest published a study of the British National Health Service and though the results weren’t shocking, it still sent a jolt to see in black and white what you have suspected all along: if you think the day-time service is pants, then the nighttime is nothing but diabolical. The long waits, lack of facilities and other niggles aside, the fact that one can never get a decent health service, because, ironically, it itself is ailing, is almost laughable. ‘Almost’ because it sure isn’t laughing matter to be told that unless you are bleeding from four places, you are not classified as an emergency is not what you want to hear when you are ill and in desperate need of medical help.
The one time I was in hospital in Britain (touchwood!) was when I had my son six years back. The night nurse was surly, grumpy and wasn’t much of a reassuring sight to a scared first time mum-to-be. Extremely matter-of-fact and brusque, she was the nursing equivalent of “wham! bam! out you get!”. To say I was pleased when the shift changed at 7 AM and with it, brought a smiling, Scottish midwife was an understatement. The following night when I was left with a newborn, I wasn’t the picture of confidence. When I buzzed a midwife to ask if she could hand me my son from his cradle as my bottom was sore with the episiotomy stiches and wasn’t feeling too sure about my ability to transfer him safely to cradle to lap, I got a stinging rebuke for disturbing the other patients and herself, for such a trivial task! If I wanted my baby, well then I better help myself as there were far more important jobs she had to do, like feeding the infant she had in her arms, for a start.
I did after sweating bullets, shocked by the sharp words.
Another time, my husband was ill and on the advice of the emergency nurse on the NHS Direct helpline, he went to the local hospital at 9 PM or thereabouts. He should have taken the nurse’s suggestion of an ambulance but not wanting to create a mega scene, he went with a mate. Had he done that, he would probably seen a doctor that night. Instead, he sat in the waiting room with drunks, assorted moaning and bleeding people for more than four hours by which time, after being coughed on by most of the ill people in the South East of England, he stated he felt much better and came back home.
A former acquaintance had some horror stories to narrate after her delivery. Deciding to stay overnight in the hospital in the hope of some pain relief proved to be a serious error of judgement. When her husband and mother visited her the following morning, they were shocked to find her bed empty and no one having a clue where she had got to. They finally tracked her down in one of the bathrooms – sitting in a rapidly cooling tub of water, where she had been for the past hour or so, following the directions of a harried midwife when she complained of unbearable pain. It took the mother and husband all their energy to get her out – she was big and was a snug fit – and not too early too, as the baby crowned within seconds!
In the past seven years of living here, I have heard many more tales of NHS ineptitude and am in complete agreement with the survey. I know the overworked staff are not to blame – well, not completely anyway. Much help is needed, fast.
Question is, will anything ever be done enough to alter the current state of affairs?
Ahhh those good ol’ days at Ethi, when getting on a 11-series bus meant you’d get groped for sure. Full frontal assault or a guy poking his hard on into your ass through layers of clothing – take your pick. On one memorable occasion, a kind soul decided to take a lesson in Biology and flash us his gonads. Shocked my non-stop-jabber mate into Mute mode for a whole day – something of a record.
What is it with guys and these sort of animal behaviour? Is it repressed sex, as some bright soul stated on a blog somewhere? They are not getting any and as self service isn’t quite as fulfilling, they decide to let themselves loose on the girls out there – is that it? I do not know the reasoning behind this, if at all there’s any, and chances are the red blooded males that get into the act are clueless as to what they are trying to achieve either.
What do they aim for? A grope? A feel? Ok now you’ve felt a girl up, got a nice buzz going – now what? Jump her? Rape her and get it off your system? What?
As far as I know, there’s no point in even going to the cops as they operate under the typical sentiment of ‘well, you are dressed in such a way I know you have boobs and other female apparatus, so you must’ve asked for it!’ There was even this case of some poor girl in Mumbai getting raped in the police station. So, where do we go from here?
This kind of behaviour is on the rise apparently – guys all over the country have decided the women are easy pickings and they can just cop a feel or worse any time of day or night. Why the hell will it stop, unless something happens to make them stop? These lecherous bastards have been doing it for years and as nothing has been done to stop them, they see no reason to stop at the juvenile level and are just graduating. And why ever not? What is there for them to fear?
I feel that when a day has come when a person has to rethink about indulging in the simplest of pleasures like going to the beach or for a solitary walk or any of the other innocent joys of life, then the time has come for a shake-down. Time for the fat cats in the so-called government to actually do the job they were ‘elected’ for – govern the bloody place and make sure there’s some sort of order. What kind of a country are they running where accompanied women can’t even welcome in the New Year without getting raped in the process?
Who was it that said “until the day a woman can go for a walk at midnight and return safe, we haven’t got true freedom”? Looks like we aren’t free yet.
Buried though I am, under masses of coursework and exam material, I still find to keep up with what my bloggy pals are upto – and do a random web trawl, while I am at it. And it was during one such sojourn that I came across this, admittedly old, article on Google. Made for a fascinating read (well, anything is fascinating when all you see around you is Interaction Design and sampling and pilot studies) – and I thought, being the kind, generous soul that I am, I shall share it with you. What a sweetheart, eh?
So, here it is, leddies and gents – decide for yourself: Is Google Evil? (cue maniacal laughter)
In the midst of my cramming, I tried to process the news of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Couldn’t. Too many questions in my mind to find a sensible strain of thought. Amrita, of course, has written a proper post on it.
When will we stop trying to find newer depths to sink into?
Read Destiny’s Daughter
I know I ‘declared’ a blog holiday but this post was prompted by my little man. The first thing he uttered when he woke up this morning was ‘Happy Boxing Day’, followed swiftly by the ubiquitous ‘what is Boxing Day?’
I was ashamed to admit I did not know. But the truth was, I hadn’t a clue. While I kidded ‘this is the day we box’ and proceeded to have a jokey ‘boxing’ session with him, the question remained in my mind. So we decided to make a game of it and played ‘Let’s Google For It!’. According to my trusty Google search, the day after Christmas Day is known as ‘Boxing Day’ in UK and the rest of the commonwealth because:
“it was the day when people would give a present or Christmas box to those who had worked for them throughout the year.” (Wikipedia)
The public and media figures try to figure out how
“Immigration is often highly politicized, and in some countries, a major political issue.” (Wikipedia)
Immigration, the uncontrolled nature of it and the resultant disappearance of traditional Britain, are topics that are discussed a lot in Britain today and the opinions are varied. Some feel that Britain needs its immigrants – the plumbers, nurses, doctors, IT professionals, all of whom form a vital part of today’s British economy – to progress whilst others blame them for taking over the country, making it unrecognizable. Amidst such contradictory views, how can one find middle ground? How can the diverse population of Britain integrate?
Britain has always attracted immigrants; since colonial times, a number of people from its various colonies have been making Britain their home. Though they come for different reasons, they all come in the hope that a new life in Britain will benefit it themselves and their loved ones.
But now, the nation is in danger of being overridden by its immigrants. The numbers flocking to its shores are increasing exponentially every year and the tiny island is slowly being filled to its brim. Or so feel the natives. Immigrants are blamed for the increase in population, spiralling property prices, rising cost of living and lost job opportunities, to name a few.
The numbers
According to Office of National Statistics figures, by 2031, the population of UK would have undergone a massive increase to reach to 71 million, with ‘longer life expectancy’ and ‘increased levels of immigration’ cited as the two main reasons. With statistics like this thrown at them everyday, is it a wonder that the locals are panicking about their own situations and their cultural identity? What is to be done so that the native British and the immigrant population can co-exist peacefully, side by side?
A chance to ask the general public their feelings on this issue was provided by introducing this topic into Yoosk. Questions on integration, ethnicity and other communities’ way of life were thrown to the panel of interviewees and it made for an interesting discussion.
What does the panel feel?
“Education is the key,” says Manchester-based Asian News’ Editor, Shelina Begum, “and the media should lead the way”. She strongly feels that the media has fuelled this feeling of fear and unease in the minds of the locals by portraying immigrants in a negative light and it should now take a leading role in highlighting the positives immigration can bring.
Journalist Nick Ryan feels the politicians who “land cheap shots on one another” and thereby “play to the galley” need to shoulder part of the blame for the furore surrounding this sensitive issue. On the other hand, Gerard Batten, a Member of European Parliament with the UK Independence Party, feels that, “saying enough is enough to massive immigration” and adopting a hard stance to curtail further immigration is the way forward.
Whether it is the media, politicians or the mixture of the two that is the cause of the immigrant turmoil, the fact remains that unless something is done soon to defuse the current situation, it might very well blow up. Already, there are numerous reports of ethnic spats and interracial tension occurring in different parts of the country. The Internet is full of disgruntled ‘proper British’ who are displeased with the way their country is going and are looking for some radical action. Before the melting point is reached, a solution needs to be found for this extremely sensitive issue.
But what? How?
Shelina Begum has a simple, easy-fix solution: “make friends out of neighbours and the rest will come easily.” It could start with something as basic as inviting your neighbour over for “tea and samosa”. “Even if you don’t speak the same language, it is still a good way of making friends”.
Nick Ryan seconds this and adds: “instead of moaning and complaining, we should all of us get off our backsides; all of us speak to neighbours, churches, football squads, community clear up teams, etc, and all give something back for nothing.”
But before we get there, a new status quo must be reached, where new boundaries are drawn, new bridges built. “We need brave minds and bold vision, not reactionary platitudes about how ‘great’ we ‘used to be’”, says Ryan.
As the cliché goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Britain is not going to amalgamate as one the minute someone blows a whistle and yells “GO!” It takes time, effort and a lot of patience. Most of all, it needs the will – the will to forge new friendships, to break old beliefs and form a whole new path.
What do you do when you are bored and are randomly surfing the net? Search for your favourite TV shows, play some games, Stumble upon something? Well, why don't you log on to Free Rice, exercise your brain and donate some desperately needed Third World rice in the bargain?
All you need to do is test your vocabulary skills. Simple! For every question you get right, the organisation behind this effort donates 20 grains of rice. It used to be 10 but just a few days back, the count was doubled to 20 grains per correct answer. As you answer the questions correctly, the level becomes tougher. Every time you chose a wrong answer, you go down a level and get a question in that level. You can play as long as you want. But a piece of warning: it's addictive!
This site was begun on October 7, 2007 with 830 grains won on the first day. Yesterday a whopping 235,092,740 grains were won, bringing the total upto a mind boggling 5,541,225,910 – and counting!
So how does this work?
The grains you win are donated to the United Nations World Food Programme, the world's largest food aid agency, who work with thousands of organisations to reach this staple to the starving masses. You could also take it a step further and donate desperately needed cash. other vital items. Won't these make a better Christmas gift that a party gag?
While on the subject of alternate, humanitarian Christmas gifts, visit the Good Gifts site to learn how you can donate a cycle to poor children in India, donate books and things to open a library in Africa, modernize a hut in Rwanda – or you could even give someone the incomparable gift of sight. Other organisations like Oxfam have a special section named Oxfam Unwrapped, that gives one suggestions like building a bog, donating tools for farming, condoms and even the ultimate Christmas 'takeaway' – school dinners for 100 children at a paltry sum of just 6 pounds.
How cool is that? To be able to make a difference in someone's life at the touch of a button. There's no bigger high than knowing you have just made some nameless, faceless stranger happy by feeding them; knowing that one hundred poor children will have a full tummy this Christmas because you spared some change. My little boy just gave me the 6 quid from his money box. If he can, you sure can.
As you can see, I am not letting go of this topic! Thing is, I need to sound quite knowledgeable about it and I have just about a week’s time. Which is where you, my lovely blog readers come in. Please log onto my show on BlogTalkRadio and click on the appropriate button to speak to the host – me! All you need to do is tell your own immigration story. Location, your stance – nothing matters. You might be living in North Wales and might be from Eastern Europe and your neighbours couldn’t be nicer – ring and tell me. Or, if you are a Chinese living in Midwestern America and your white brethren are colder than Arctic ice, ring and tell me.
Whatever your immigration story is, I am willing to listen. So please pick up that phone and dial (001) (347) 996-3899
The date: December 10
The time: 2:00 PM GMT
