tea gardens

tea gardens

Saturday, November 13, 2010

The Buzz words

Watch any news channel and you can be sure that some words are very dear to some news reporters.Some of them drag their words with much humming and hawing during that time.Me thinks the teleprompter is not working to well.Then there is the use of some words with no relevance.Some of them are as follows.
indeed
absolutely
on the other side
right
eer
these are just some of them,then one has to contend with the various accents,ranging from American Indian to some that are strange to ones ears.News channels are so funny to watch that they are now a great source of entertainment.For real news devoid of all the emotions and the rants of news readers.....i stay with the BBC....

Corruption and the media

The tv channels are full of corruption stories,there are hysterical news reporters to indignant ones who are judge and jury and have already sentensed many a corrupt person long before the courts can give a verdict.The newspapers are also full of such stories,and as for the general public,well some of us share the angst of the TV channels,others have decided to take a moderate view.
I for one am not sure what my reaction should be.Look at it from a day to day perspective of an ordinary individual like me.I have to pay off the garbage man to remove my garbage despite the fact that I pay taxes and he gets a salary.If I don't he doesn't pick up the garbage despite it being his job to do so....is this a bribe,is this corruption?.Then I need to pay off many people in the course of various chores in my life.But these are minor ones.The same newspapers and TV channels,will happily pay off the government in crores to get their licenses,will they then tell themselves that this is corruption and one should refrain from doing so.I doubt it,as it will mean that someone else got a license and business will suffer.Corporate India has funds ready in huge amounts to pay off the corrupt but they will be the first to claim that corruption has to be taken out of the system.Right now each of the political parties are trying to paint themselves as better than the rest but we all know that its a choice between a rock and a hard place.The BJP will claim to be against corruption but they are the most narrow minded and the most corrupt in more ways than one,the lady in madras sees an opportunity to fight her case in the coming elections,but have we all forgotten that there are ever so many cases against her.The prime minister gives a diplomatic answer and everyone is out to get him.Lets face it the man is clean and just because he refused to answer every silly question put to him by some journalist or the other,doesn't make him corrupt.While the media must report cases,they must also not resort to judgments,after all we do have a corrupt judicial system in place that will try and punish the corrupt people and the tv channels will then go on to a different story and continue paying off who ever has to be paid off while going hammer and tongs on how corrupt the system is.This is a national disease that we have now learnt to live with.It simply boils down to the fact that if we stand up to corruption ,we will have to suffer the consequences.The question rally is....how many of us have the guts to do that....when we are ready to act,we should talk then,until that time,this is just another news story that can get in more trps.....

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Its raining cats

Its raining cats....a cyclone has hit the city and early morning we woke up to gale winds and beautiful rain and cool weather (for those of us in this hot city this is paradise).My heart sang as i looked forward to a new day and endless possibilities but had not contended with the fact that some cats have been in action and the end result is that there were two kittens trying to snuggle up in the bonnet of my car.Terrified that I would cause their death the maid and i tried to get them out and after much shouting on her part they ventured out.I dashed off to do my shopping.Came back to find the most adorable kittens curled up on my doorstep.Now once again after six months my heart aches.I cant stand by and watch them without giving them a cuddle,they are irresistible.Then the poor things have to survive in the cold and i am dying to give them some hot milk.Unfortunately the husband wont have any of it.He doesn't like animals and wants us to not encourage them.Of course when you love animals there are many ways to work around the system.So while the husband took his afternoon nap and the mother kept watch over him,I sneaked out some milk.This happened twice.By the evening my constant updates on the kittens could have melted the hardest of hearts and the husband actually gave me a box to keep them warm.Surprise surprise....there are three and not two,where did the new one come from,who are the parents.I have no idea.Endless mewing and I have to investigate,only to find the staircase has a kitten on every landing.Now I am in a fix.I cant eat my dinner as guilt is eating me,I cant go out and feed them as the husband is lurking around and the mother is not happy at my so called indifference.I curse the cats who left their offspring at my doorstep,I beat myself up about my soft heart (i have tried to become hard hearted but its not easy).Just when it all gets too much my neighbour comes down with a bowl of food and the kittens follow.Thank god I say,the burden is shared.I go back to the first kitten who came my way and how my heart broke when I had to give him up for adoption I cant go through this again ...and i wonder what happened to me,I who have never cared too much for cats,just cant resist the kittens.I swear to keep away from animal planet....the animals are driving me nuts,but who can resist those beautiful eyes,those little bundles of fur....so another day of sneaking food