Revving the dEgReAtP 's Lifeometer !!!

History of Mathura's Mathur Chaturvedi.

2009-08-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

Mathura

Mathura is home to the Krishna Janamabhumi temple (birthplace of Lord Krishna).
Chaturvedis claim their presence in Mathura from the very foundation of the ancient city. As proof they point to the Mathura museum, where if you look at the sacrificial pillar (yupa) from the time of Raja Huviska (2nd Century AD) , upon which are inscribed the following words:

“In the 24th year of Vashishka on the 30th day of this month of summer, Dronal, son of Rudral, a Bharadvaj Mathur Samvedi Brahman, after making a twelve-night sacrifice, placed this sacrificial pillar here. “

Chaturvedis claim that Dronal, the mathur brahman mentioned in the inscription was their ancestor, and the sacrificial pillar is the material proof of their ancestry that grounds them in the soil of Mathura itself.

Jamuna

Chaturvedis further believe that they are “jamuna putras” or children of Goddess Jamuna. Jamuna is, among other things, one source of their livelihood, as well as of their constantly renewed purity from daily lustrations in her holy waters.

Sat Yug

Chaturvedis also find a mention in the following tale in Ramayana:

A local story about the rein of demon king Lavanasur goes thus : “ Madhu’s son was Lavanasur. He fought with the Chaturvedis because when his father died, he asked them to come and do shraddha for his father. But they refused as at that time Durvasa muni asked them for food, and they began serving him food. In anger at being left unattended, Lavanasur started attacking them. Seven Chaturvedis fled to Ayodhya and asked Lord Rama for help. He sent his younger brother Shatrughna who came to help the Chaturvedis, rid the land of demons and founded the city of Mathura. “

Dwapar Yug

In the dwapara yug, Krishna was born in Mathura but raised in dwaraka by foster parents. Krishna came to Mathura as a young biy to slay the demons of his uncle King Kansa. Chaturvedis claim that their ancestors assisted Krishna in purging Mathura of the tyranny of its demons (Kansa).

Kans Vadh ka Mela

In remembrance of this occasion, even to this day, every 10th day of the Kartik month (early November), there is an annual Kans Vadh ka Mela, a victory parade through the Chhatta bazaar section of the city. This is essentially a Chaturvedi festival in its entirety. It is an interesting ritual. A colourful putla of Kans , made out of decorated paper and garments over about a 2 stories high frame of cane is constructed. This is brought to Kansa Tila (a Chaturvedi hilltop garden, bagicha) in the evening, where 2 chosen young men dressed as Krishna and brother Balram approach the mountain, mounted on an elephant. At an appointed moment, Kans’s head is decapitated, impaled upon a staff, body destroyed and remains tossed over the hill. The victory procession begins across Chhatta Bazaar. Carrying aloft Kansa’s impaled head, as well as other symbolic loot from his castle, Chaturvedis gleefully dance around the hapless head and sing the following victory song (translation):

Ram was brave among Krishna and Baldev’s friends.
To madhupuri(Mathura) marched slayers of Kansa
And trembled with fear his relatives in the castle
Parading to thunder of lathi and dust-storm swirls
They hoist aloft the impotent mustache.
Incense and sandalwood perfume the walls
And fresh, green cowdung purifies courtyard floors,
Friends embrace and chant auspicious songs
Under victory canopy bedecked with elephant pearl and banana
Chajju dances with the looted bed.

Then before they come to Vishram Griha on jamuna’s banks, they halt at Kans Khar, where they lower kans’s head to the ground and pulverize it into confetti. Then they march to Vishram ghat, where Krishna and Balram, resting on the lap of a Chaturvedi elder, are fed and worshipped. Then they bath in the waters of Jamuna to purify themselves of the sin of having killed a human being.

The Kans ka vadh ceremony is a celebration as much as a performative narrative wherein the participants stand for their ancestor’s participation in the original events. It’s also a reminder to the non-Chaturvedi audience of the dominant presence of the clan, to be dealt with with caution, if not outright fear. It is this fear that keeps the yadavas at bay, who have tried to usurp the celebrations from the Chaturvedis.

More Association with Krishna

Another reference of Chaturvedi’s association with Krishna is in episode 10:32 from Bhagvata Purana where the story goes:

“Once Lord Krishna’s helpers Subal, Satok, Shridan and others felt very hungry. Lord Krishna sent them to the Mathurs for sustenance, A mathur Brahmin named Angiras was engaged in a ritual but for fear of breaking the vedic rules , he did not give them food even while knowing about the avatara form of Krishna. Only a Chaubey brahaman could do that! After the cowherds returned, Lord Krishna sent them to the Brahman women, who recognised Lord Krishna as a god beyond vedic rules. They brought many things and fed Krishna and his friends. Thus they brought home his blessings. “

It is said that Krishna promised from that day onwards that Chaturvedi women would be renowned for their fair-skinned beauty, as indeed they are today, and that the men will control the pilgrimage to Braj, as indeed they do today as well. It is said that on this day, Krishna bestowed upon the Brahmins the knowledge of all four Vedas and gave them their name – Chaturvedi or Chaubey.

The narrative until this point also hint at another characteristic of Chaubey identity: happy go lucky or mast even in adversity (an emotion claimed as saatvick in moral significance) , and as warriors on behalf of their holy city and its soil. They also are Krishna’s friends and ancient citizens of Mathura.

KalYug

In kalyug, muslim counquerers and invaders started raiding Mathura for its opulent temples and bejewelled Hindu idols (considered abominations). This started with Mahmud of ghazni (997-1030), and continued (albeit a small friendship with Akbar 1556-1605), until it hit its nadir with Auranzeb (1658-1707).

Akbar

There is an interesting tale from Akbar’s reign.
Chaubey’s are said to have started the Jajmani system (individual pilgrims as patrons) only over about 400 years ago. Earlier, money was put in a common dan-patra, and distributed equally to all by a headman. Akbar used to go to Agra from Delhi by boat and used to inquire about the activities of the Chaubey’s but nobody dared go near him and explain. However, one of them Ujgar Chaubey decided to travel by boat and meet Akbar. He told him of the history of the place. He explained the Dan Patr system. Akbar handed him a worthless broken or kanni kauri in his hand before Ujgar departed. When Ujgar cam back to land, he was asked to put Akbar’s donation in the dan-patra. But Ujgar said Akbar was a non-Hindu and the donation was not on the ghats, and decided to retain the same. He did not even reveal what he had earned. This started a quarrel and Ujgar had to flee. Akbar summoned Ujgar and asked him of the fight at the ghats. Ujgar replied, “this is our custom. In my fist is your honour and mine. If I show to the people this kanni kouri they’ll wonder what kind of worthless emperor makes such a donation. And you’d be dishonoured, which as my client, I cannot allow.” Akbar was pleased. He asked Ujgar for his wish. Ujgar asked for priesthood of the four Hindu sects and 52 kingdoms around Mathura. Akbar gave a royal decree in which this was done.
Since then, Chaubeys have had the authority of legal discourse and strategic assertion in their favour over other Brahmans, that continued through generations. The dominance of Braj by the Chaubey clan is a point of bitter acrimony with other Brahaman sects who have numerous funny stories cooked up to discredit the Chaubeys.

The royal pharmaan, is supposed to still exist with the priests of Mathura. The privileged claim as pilgrimage priests to Braj has in later years been ratified by and validated by judges in modern courts of Justice. As the story goes :
When the Muslims entered Mathura, Chaubeys receded to Tila Chuabeyana near Amresh Tila. They would then come only in the mornings and evenings to Vishram Ghat for the pilgrimage rituals. The Sanidhya Brahmans took opportunity and started monopolizing the ghats in the absence of Chaubey presence. When Muslim pressure died out in British times, the pilgrimage donations were divided between sanidhya Brahmans and Chaubeys. The formula for division turned sour and subsequently a case was referred to in the Allahabad high court. The chaubeys won on the basis of the papers and pharmaans as proof and the sanidhya Brahmans were phased out.

Vallabhacharya (Pushti Marg)

Another interesting story is that of the Chaubey association with saint Vallabhacharya. It begins with the saints arrival in Braj for a pilgrimage, but without a guide, he was unsuccessful in doing so. The saint then asked Jamunaji what he should do to have success. He was told to have a guru from the Chaubeys and get their blessings. After that, Vallabhacharya got blessings from Ujgar and was successful in his pilgrimage. Until this day, followers of Vallabhacharya (Pushti Marg) come to Ujgar’s descendants for blessings to begin pilgrimage.

Controversies

The Mathur Mandali in 1964 categorised Chaturvedis in the first and highest category among all Brahmans. There is controversy to this classification of Chaubeys, since they were classified as the third and last category of all Brahmans in the 1901 census of British India, which was widely contested at the time.

Auranzeb's Tyrrany and The Split

The Chaubey parivar, alas, has its own controversies. This is the so called Karua-Mitha divide in the community. These are names summarizing contesting narratives of identity, which are flet deeply, and contested bitterly because their significance involves honour.

Karue Meethe

The Karua (Bitter) is a trope for courage, bravery and truth while as the Mitha(Sweet) is a trope for cowardice, evasiveness and duplicity.

During the centuries of various Muslim invasions and atrocities in Mathura there were different migrations of Chaubeys to nearby villages, cities and states. Chabeys who refused to pay taxes for keeping their faith, rebelled against the tyranny of Auranzeb and fled to nearby hamlets in groups. From the Mathura chaubeys’ point of view, those who remained in the city are the true Karuas because they tasted the bitter fruit of persecution and fought for the preservation of their religion and its holy relics. They talk as though all who left Mathura under threat of Muslim persecution are Mitha who fled like cowards, Diluted their pure blood by intermarriages with other communities, and even took up polluting habits like smoking etc. Most Mitha Chaubeys date the Mitha’s flight to the reign of Auranzeb.

But, ask those who are referred to as Mithas by the Mathura Chaubeys, and it’s clear that this is an attempt to jumble nomenclature to regain some lost honour. As per the immigrant’s viewpoint:

“The immigrants are the Karuas, since karua means to speak straightforward the truth. In the time of Auranzeb, and the Chaubey rebel against his tyranny and jazia, some of his soldiers came and took some of our women during a marriage. Some of the chaubey men resisted and killed the soldiers. After this they were forced to flee Mathura. They did not want to become slaves to the muslims and to be affected by their teachings. They settled in the villages of Madhya Pradesh along the Chambal valley. Even today, we celebrate the victory over Mughals by marking a symbolic chalk figure on the ground (symbolising slain muslims), over which the celebratory dinner is held. Some other Chaubeys though, chose to make peace with Auranzeb, by accepting to pay Jazia tax”. The Chaubeys who stayed back in Mathura and chose to accept slavery of Islam in the name of jaziya are traditionally called Gulmata, or those who stayed in Mathura and converted to Islam, at least openly if not in their hearts. For this they were outcasted for centuries before being accepted back to the fold. Marriage relations were broken off. The immigrations resulted in a number of different subcommunities of Chaturvedis being established, all of whom intermarry within each other, but other than the socially ostracised Mithas . Morever, these Mathura Chaubeys seem to have been made grave diggers in Auranzebs rule, and continue to live in an area called Gol Para, burial ground for Mughal muslims.

Many immigrant chaturvedis became prosperous village agriculturists, and others became highly educated and well placed throughout North India. Some of them became Kulins, a name the Mathura chuabeys ascribe to all immigrants, particularly those with western style educations. “Kulin” means of noble ancestry, or educated , and is used in juxtaposition to the “Panda”, or pilgrimage priests. The immigrant Kulins have a common dislike of the profession of ritual mediator to God, the Pandas. The Pandas appear daily at vishram ghat and sunning the prilgrims for alms, and badgering them to use their ritual services. Or they go to the Mathura railway station and in search of old clients or gather new ones. This dependence on alms, and the modern description of a greedy pusillanimous Panda is demeaning to Kulins and most hate the profession, thereby creating more rift between the Kadwe and Mithe.

Criticisms

Due to their dominance of spiritual discourse in Braj Bhumi, non-Chaubey Brahmans, Sanidhya Brahamans, and Yadavs have many stories in an attempt to discredit the Chaturvedi clan. Ludicrous as they may sound, Some of them are :
 That the chaubeys are really Lodhi muslims who came as grave diggers with Akbar. Their children began to show pilgrims around, and slowly took over that profession and became hindus.
 They came as slaves to Babur from Chuaba , Afghanistan. Some of them are still called Gulamte, a plural of ghulam or slave.
 There is a part of Chuaba Para known as Taj Pura, which only muslims occupied, They were grave diggers to Akbar, and moved in.
 There was a war at Vishram ghat about 150 years ago where the Chabeys won and took the bahis of clients with them
 Chaubeys are not real Brahmans because they were not included in the categories of five northern and five southern castes recognised by Shankaracharya( ~728-820 AD). {Brahmans of Mathura and magadh were specifically excluded by the Shankaracharya because he had identified these castes for penance since they had diluted their purity by being inflenced by bhuddism}

References

Ref : Liberally referenced from Prof Yogesh Atal's "Emerging Social Science concerns"

Chaturvedi

2009-08-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

Definition

A Chaturvedi also (somewhat derogatively) known as Chaubey (from Sanskrit caturvedin from catur "four" and vedin "knowing", also caturvidya) is one who is a master of all four Vedas.[1]
It is also an Indian surname.

Ontology

A theory suggests that Indian surnames were traditionally derived or closely linked to professions at that time.
While Brahmins of all hues were considered to be learned men/priests/ educators, within Brahmins, those with the knowledge of 2 vedas[2] were called Dwivedi, a combination of Dwi(two in sanskrit)+vedi(from vedas, the ancient holy Hindu book). Similarly there are Trivedis (3 vedas[3]) and finally the Chaturvedis (all 4 vedas[4]).
A Chaturvedi, by virtue of his knowledge of the 4 holy vedas[5], was considered to be the most learned of all brahmins, and hence enjoyed a very high social status in ancient times. These high-priests were called on for large to very large religious rituals, apart from the daily rituals in the Krishna birthplace temple of Mathura,Uttar Pradesh.

Continuing with the theory of profession derived surnames, Within the larger Chaturvedi sect are sub-sects based on their role in a yagna/hawan (the traditional Vedic ritual of worship, devotion, prayer and praise). Example of such sub-sects are:
Pathak : Derived from sanskrit, it means those brahmins who "read" the hymns.
Mishra: Again a derivative from Sanskrit word "Mishrit", meaning all-rounder, these brahmins were equipped with the end-to-end ritual.
Pandey: Derived from "panda", these are the priests who'd make offerings to the Gods on behalf of the worshipers.
There are more sub-sects within the Chaturvedi clan (as with other Brahmin communities), based on such categorisation.
History and traditional categorizations

Originating from Mathura, Western Uttar Pradesh (Near Delhi), the Chaturvedi Community is small. It is said that there are about 4000 major families of Chaturvedi existing today (un-verified). Mathura is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna's and the association of the community with the deity is very strong.
A major categorisation within the Chaturvedi clan is the Meethe-Kadwe (or Sweet-Sour) divide, which is believed to be a result of the Medieval Mughal Indian history.
As per custom and stories passed on from generations, Mathura was the center of congregations of Hindu pilgrims from around the country, which did not go down well with the Mughal Muslim rulers- Shahjahan and Auranzeb, who took steps to repress the religious fervour around Braj Mandal (or the country of Lord Krishna) [6]. The Mughal emperor Auranzeb, a devout Muslim ruler and de-facto sultan of India, re-introduced the Jaziya tax, and made sure it was specifically enforced on the Hindu priests of Mathura, usually Chaturvedis. This is a tax that all non-muslims have to pay in order to continue with their non-muslim religious beliefs and lifestyles (example a Chaturvedi could retain their traditional thread -Janeu and brahminical ponytail - Choti by paying the tax), else they are faced with the option of conversion or death.
Now, a section of Chaturvedis chose to make peace with the mighty Mughal empire and continue with the ancestral priesthood of the Mathura Krishna temple. They chose to pay the tax and continued living in Mathura for generations. Another section was more rebellious and refused to accept overlordship of an invader. These sections chose to rebel in the face of a perceived unjust and foreign establishment. In the face of an organised onslaught by Auranzeb's forces to crush the rebellion, the rebels migrated and took shelter in the difficult hinterlands along river Chambal, where they settled in small hamlets (now villages like Jahangirpur, Holipura, Chandarpur, Mainpuri and many more in the Mathura-Agra belt). They continued their struggle against the Mughals, and therefore called the Khatta or "Sour" Chaturvedi, i.e. Chaturvedis who turned rebels.
Many times, the Mughals tried to attack these hamlets, either for subjugation or loot, and the rebels used to defend themselves by gurrella warfare. The attacks were pretty routine during marriage ceremonies, when the Mughals used to raid marriage parties for loot and to kidnap the Kafir women and bride, hence armed struggle was routine at such ceremonies. To this day, Chaturvedis have their marriage ceremonies late in the night, a custom at difference with other Brahmin groups. Also interesting is the custom called "mughal pasaarna" wherein a human figure with a chalk is made on the ground over which the marriage dinner is held. The chalk figure represents the quintessential mughal marauders who'd have to be braved and killed before the marriage dinner would be held over their bodies!! It's now just a mute custom and a reminder of the unfortunate large-scale organised violence that left the clan hugely scattered across the Mathura-Agra belt.
It is interesting to note that a similar classification exists in other sections of the populace like Marathas, who were engaged in similar gurrella warfare against the torturing Mughals.
Customs and traditions

The community is believed to encourage and practice a moderately ascetic or spartan ways of life. Chaturvedies are known to be largely vegetarians and look down uplon onion, garlic, eggs or meat.
Janeu ( also variedly called as Yagyopavit Sanskar or Theared ceremonies) is an important event (one among 16 sanskars) in the life of a Chaturvedi (like most other Brahmin sects in India).
Many Chaturvedi locals from Mathura claim that Birbal, a known courtier of Mughal emperor Akbar, was a Chaturvedi. Although none of have ever been proven, or attempted to be proven, there are many such interesting claims in the stories of local Chaturvedi community in Mathura.
Chaturvedi's have traditionally been intermarrying only from the community, but keeping with the times, today's generation has started marrying outside as well, despite staunch opposition from the older generation.
Emminent personalities

Makhan Lal Chaturvedi was a great poet in Hindi. Banarsi Das Chaturvedi, Barsane lal Chaturvedi, Dr. Vishnu Virat Chaturvedi are some of the other renowned poets and writers in Hindi literature.
They have a good public presence in many streams like politics, bureaucracy, scientists, and academics.

Saudi supports foreigner cap to thwart 'political voice'

2008-02-11T22:14:00.000-08:00

Saudi supports foreigner cap to thwart 'political voice'
by Lynne Roberts and AFP on Tuesday, 12 February 2008

A residency limit must be imposed on millions of foreign workers in the Gulf to prevent them from gaining a political voice in the region, said Saudi Arabia’s labour minister in remarks published on Monday.

"We do not want the day to come when we are forced to allow the (foreign) workers to be represented in our parliaments or municipal councils," Ghazi Al-Gosaibi told the Arabic-language economic daily Al-Eqtisadiah.

He said he feared that international pressure would in the future force states in the region to enfranchise expatriate workers.

Foreign workers make up about 13 million or 37% of the 35 million population in the six GCC states. They come mainly from the Asian sub-continent and are relied upon heavily to drive the booming economies of the oil-rich bloc.

Gosaibi did not specify how long expatriate workers should be allowed to work in the GCC.

Bahrain's Labour Minister Majeed Al-Alawi proposed a six-year residency cap last October, fearing expatriate workers were eroding the national character of states in the Gulf.

The plan was initially backed by the six GCC member states, but officials admitted in January it could be shelved after it sparked outrage among expatriate communities, and was widely criticised by businesses already struggling to retain staff.

In a related development, Al-Watan newspaper reported that a human rights group in Saudi Arabia expects the heavily-criticised sponsorship system for migrant workers to be abolished within three years.

"We carried out a comprehensive study which showed the current kifala (sponsorship) system to be invalid," the deputy president of the National Human Rights Society, Mifleh Al-Qahtani, told the paper.

He added that Gosaibi had encouraged his group to undertake the study.

The sponsorship system, a set of regulations that limits workers' movements and puts them at the mercy of their employers, is in place in the GCC states but has been decried by rights bodies as akin to slavery.

Under the system, employers have the right to terminate foreign staff and prevent them from seeking other jobs in the country unless they fulfill a set of tough conditions.

Bahrain's Alawi has called for the Gulf's sponsorship system to be abandoned, saying it left foreign workers at the mercy of the individuals or institutions which employ them.

He called for the host government to oversee visas and work permits to protect the rights of foreign workers.

Xpress: News | Driving school misplaces passport: Caught in a legal limbo

2008-02-11T07:10:00.000-08:00

Original newspaper article can be found here :
http://www.xpress4me.com/articles/08/02/06/20005657.html

By Faisal Masudi, Staff Reporter

in a legal limbo" src="http://www.xpress4me.com/images/08/02/07/legallimbo_4.jpg">
© XPRESS/Karen Dias

Jammed: Prasun Chaturvedi has decided not to take legal action against the driving school.

A business development manager from India has been living in legal limbo here ever since his driving school misplaced his passport. Prasun Chaturvedi, 29, had entrusted his passport to Galadari Motor Driving Centre (GMDC) last December, as part of the registration process there.

The driving school, however, lost the passport and, according to Chaturvedi, refused to take responsibility in writing until recently. "Having invested too much time and effort on this issue, I gave up on the follow-ups for the GMDC letter [of responsibility]," said Chaturvedi. "Their delayed response cost me a visit visa for my wife... I had to cancel all overseas work-related trips. Besides, I still don’t have a driver’s licence or even a residence visa in hand."

Nasser Yousuf, a manager at GMDC’s Al Qusais headquarters, denied that the school had refused to cooperate in locating the lost passport or to issue formal notices related to the mishap. "We were, and still are, ready to supply any documentation that will assist Prasun Chaturvedi in securing a new passport," Yousuf said.

While Chaturvedi has reported this to the Dubai Police and to the local Consulate General of India, he will not be taking any legal action against GMDC. "I’ve decided to leave it where it is," said Chaturvedi.

A lost passport has to be reported to authorities, including the immigration office, as well as the visa sponsor before a replacement can be issued inside the UAE, and this is only possible only after an official investigation.

Soldier never quits... so Boot up :)

2008-01-23T10:47:00.000-08:00

Emotions are a strange creature. they have a logic of their own.

I remember a short snippet from a long conversation with my wife earlier. When I missed the taste of some sort of corn in the mixed veg she had made, she seemed upset. I tried to cheer her up. I told her I was a dodo and so thick sometimes...and she said , she had made some major compromises in her life and this was just a minor one she can live with. Well, i let it pass, but i am understanding many meanings from this. I couldn't sleep the whole night...thinking. A snub. Live wit hit buddy. Happens.

Today morning, when I reflected on the helplessness of being in a strange land with no laws, the emotion which ran over me could not be much different from what my grandfather had been through when he jumped in the independence movement of India. Suddenly I connected to a raw emotion of a call for freedom , of respect that must've rung out a 70 years from today.

The pressure of missing your passport, and not being able to file an FIR for it immediately was hurting me. My most valuable document had been callously misplaced by some bastards and no one seemed to be in any hurry to even take cognizance. My ponsor had taken 5 days to sign a letter. Snub? oh cmmon man, take it like a man.

And just as i was contemplating leaving this place to one with some more civic liberty and legal standing,... my boss proposed one of the most interesting assignments of my life. A great learning opportunity. One that should not be blown away like that. I agreed. I was elated. I was to be present at a high level initial meeting to chalk out an agenda. And then in the telecon, my boss purposely forgot to mention me to the VP during the introduction rounds. All my elation vaporised. Snubbed again... it's just another day in my life.

And after the whole day of snubs and snub again...dinner was over.I was walking to the favorite spot on my couch in front of the TV. And my slipper snapped. Suddenly a great grief flowed over me. Everything was going wrong. Even my loyal slipper. Funny as it sounds, .... a disgruntled wife, a lost passport, an illegal status in a foreign country for no fault of yours, a residence in a country that confers NO legal status to you, a glorious snub in a profession horribly going wrong.... none of this had an effect as strongly on me as a snapped slipper strap. It was like the snap symbolized the clear break from a previous comparably happier times. Yes... old connections were snapping one by one. It was like a soldier losing his armaments one by one in a battlefield. perhaps old relations will desert too.

But a soldier never quits.... that's what has helped me in the toughest of times earlier, perhaps that's what will carry me through another day.

Expats angry at local-only Bahrain subsidies

2008-01-20T04:06:00.000-08:00

Ref : http://www.arabianbusiness.com/508619-racist-price-plan-rocks-bahrain

Expats angry at local-only Bahrain subsidies
by Joel Bowman on Sunday, 20 January 2008

DUEL PRICE: Expats at risk of paying more than nationals for basic goods as new proposal awaits approval in Bahrain.

Bahrain's proposed a duel price plan under which expatriates will be charged more than nationals for basic commodities has come under fire from rights activists and retailers, local newspapers reported on Sunday.

Earlier this month MPs backed a recommendation by parliament’s financial and economic affairs committee to subsidise food and other basic goods for nationals and exclude foreign workers from receiving any financial help to cope with rising inflation in the Gulf Arab state.

Indian Community Relief Fund general-secretary C.R.Nambiar labelling the proposals “racist”, while British ambassador Jamie Brown pointed out that many of the poorest people in the kingdom were foreigners, reported Bahrain's Gulf Daily News.

Abdulla Al Deerazi, of the Bahraini Human Rights Society, said the duel pricing plan as a violation of human rights, according to the newspaper.

Foreign workers make up about 38% of the nation’s 743,000 population, according to newswire Reuters, although the percentage of expatriates who contribute to the country's workforce is far higher.

Retailers said the proposals were impractical due to the difficulty discerning whether a customer was a Bahraini national and the logistics of implementing the system.

“A person who looks like an Arab can claim he is a Bahraini when he is actually from another Gulf country,” a spokesperson for the Universal Food Center said, quoted Gulf Daily News.

“Likewise, a person who doesn’t look like an Arab at all can claim he is a naturalised Bahraini."

A spokesperson for supermarket Mega Mart added: “For the computer, all customers are the same and maintaining two prices based on nationality is very difficult...."

The criticism comes as debate over the rights of expatriates heats up in Bahrain. In December the parliament approved plans to more than double the cost of work permits for foreign nationals.

Bahrain is also the author of the controversial six-year residency cap on unskilled expatriate workers, which it put forward at December's GCC summit in Doha. The proposal has yet to be approved.

MPs have defended the dual price plan, blaming soaring inflation and the higher cost of living for a rise in violent crime in the kingdom. MPs have voted to take the matter directly to prime minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa for further consideration.

Bahrain’s inflation stood at 3.2% in 2007, one of the lower rates in the Gulf. The state’s unemployment rate among nationals stands at 4%, with almost 20,000 Bahrainis jobless.

Unknown facets of the Dubai Law

2008-01-18T01:42:00.000-08:00

Having given my passport to Galadari Motor Driving Center (GMDC), I received a receipt for the same. Later, GMDC claimed to have lost my passport.

With the reciept in hand, I thought I was on a strong wicket...a sure proof of the negligence and incompetence of the organization... a good case to fix accountability and perhaps some just compensation. Right?

Wrong!! As per a friend's advice online, and I quote him verbatim:
Quote start

"
CAN you sue? Maybe.

First, are you a Muslim?

Dubai uses Shari'a, or Islamic law, and if you're a non-Muslim you have no standing in the law, and can't file suit on your own behalf. There are ways around this - if you have, for example, a Muslim employer he may be able to sue on your behalf.

Can you win? That's also dependant on the issue of if you're a Muslim. If you are not, then the receipt is virtually useless, as it can only be used as supporting evidence if conflicting verbal testimony is offered to the court.

Since testimony can only be offered by a Muslim man, if they say "He never gave us his passport" you can't show the receipt as evidence that you DID, unless someone first gives verbal testimony to hat - and if you're not Muslim it would need to be a Muslim man who actually saw you hand them your passport. THEN the receipt could be introduced as support as to who was telling the truth.

Even if you win, the recompensable damages are likely to be only the replacement fee that your Embassy charges you to issue a new Passport."

Quote End.

Remnants of the infamous slave trade laws of the deserts? I can just about imagine the laws that preceded modern civilizations:

- Slave cannot speak till master allows him to.
- Slave's utterings have no value.
- Slave's complaints to be ignored unless master's kith or kin corroborate it.
- Last of all, the master is always right!

Dubai Cares - except for the brown menials.

2008-01-18T01:39:00.000-08:00

I had enrolled for a driving license course with Galadari Motor Driving Centre (GMDC) at Bur Dubai, Dubai on 18th December 2007. The institute kept insisting on my original passport to be deposited to take the process further. Having verified from friends and contacts that this was indeed the standard procedure, I submitted my Indian passport on 30th December with GMDC, for file opening at RTA. A passport receipt was issued to me by the institute.

The driving institute is now refusing to give my passport back, claiming they can't locate it in their files/drawers.

What is shocking is the aftermath. The institute is callous and negligent but has no fear or qualms about issuing an official letter stating that they lost it. There are no efforts to trace the misplaced document as no one is interested to make unnecessary efforts for a brown expat...the time can be well spent on gaining more bookings from prospective customers and making more money for the organization! There are few mechanisms to protect the consumer and the powerful business house knows this.

Dubai Cares, did u say?

Of Propriety, Incompetence and Breach of trust.

2008-01-17T14:01:00.000-08:00

When I registered for the driving course I refused to part with my original passport, asking for alternatives. Having confirmed from friends and contacts, I understood that giving the original passport to the institute is indeed the standard procedure, such that they can open an RTA file for me... . From the 12th day of having paid my registration fees, ...I gave in. Deposited the passport, got a reciept in return.

After days of follow-up to get it back I know this:

Galadari Motor Driving Institute screwed my passport. Their staff is careless and negligent and part of a big corporate entity. They have no ethics and no fear.
The unfortunate Indian passport must still be in some drawer or file , but they are too lazy to search for it. The management asks for some more time... in good faith that some more search may succeed in finding the misplaced item , but the person who mans the desk has nothing to bother. No one is talking retribution you see.... the customer is soft and cooperating and doesn't look like any threat at all. Screw him, he thinks. Let's just give him a letter saying we lost the passport, and be easily let-off.

It'll be unfortunate if the management lets-off such gross negligence, ineptitude and carelessness. In the name of propriety, if nothing else, they should search themselves to see how irresponsible their organization has been. If not, then incompetence will have found another manifestation of institutionalization.

Passport Misplaced by Galadari Motor Driving Centre, Dubai

2008-01-14T22:25:00.000-08:00

For all those willing to go down the long and arduous road of acquiring a Dubai driving license, here's a word of caution, based on personal experience.

I had enrolled for a driving license course with Galadari Motor Driving Centre (henceforth called GMDC)on 18th December 2007. I had deposited my Indian passport with the Galadari Motor Driving centre at Meena Bazaar, Bur Dubai on 30th Dec 2007. I was assured that I can get it back in max 3-4 working days. Until the 7th of January, the Bur Dubai centre said the passport had not been received from the head office.

On Tuesday, 8th of January 9:28 PM , I received a call from GMDC Bur Dubai centre number, stating that my passport has arrived and I could collect it from the centre before 9:45 PM, closing time. I communicated that I would be able to collect it on the following day.

However, after the 3 day weekend (due to Hijri New Year), when I came to the centre on 12th January about 6:15 PM, the person in charge told me the passport had never arrived and I should come back later and check.

Again on 13th Jan , I got the same reply. On further questioning, the GMDC representative admitted he had no idea where the passport may be currently and he would question his courier if he may have some info. He also assured me that he had looked beneath desks and inside drawer niches, and that no effort had been spent to trace the missing document. So much for the institutes's priority in handling of important documents. Anyways, given that I had no other option, I gave him time to make his investigation by the End of the Day. At 9:15 PM, I received a call again , stating that the passport had indeed been received by the bur Dubai center on 8th January but has been misplaced, and nowhere to be found.

Moreover, Since 14th Jan has been declared a holiday, I'll have to wait till the end of 15th Jan to know whether my passport may or may not be found.Alarm bells started ringing in my ears.

In my dealing with the person manning the center and in a mail at the official mail-id advertised on their website, I communicated in no uncertain terms that In case there is no info by Tuesday 15th January 2008 by 7 PM, I would have to proceed to make complaints of the missing/misplaced passport with the Dubai police and the Indian embassy, as per required procedure.

Morning of 15th January about 10 AM: a call from the person in charge of the Bur Dubai desk - passport still not found and that i should please wait till 1 PM for further updates. She also admitted that passports are sometimes given to people without the requisite receipts, in the good faith that they represent the person they claim to represent , and she remembered 2 such recent cases!! With panic setting in , I called the GMDC helpdesk number and through a ph no given by them , was able to speak to a top management representative of GMDC - an Arabic gentleman I'd call Mr.K. Apparently Mr.K wasn't in the branch and asked me to wait till 1 PM as had been requested by the Bur Dubai branch by which time they’d try and locate the missing passport. I requested Mr. K to drop in a word to the Bur Dubai branch such that the importance of the matter wasn’t lost to anybody. Mr.K agreed to do the same.

Here I am 11:00 AM , trying to come to grips , and reflecting on the situation. Inshallah, the passport is still somewhere on the desk in the Bur Dubai office. If not, GMDC has made sure I face a situation not many would have faced before.Hopefully , they haven't handed out my passport to the wrong hands!

Pray for me, friends.

Update 1 3:00 PM :

I subsequently called for follow-ups many times between 12:00 PM and 12:25 PM, with either noone answering the ringing phone or phone line being busy. At 12:37 PM, a lady answered the phone and confirmed the passport was nowhere to be found and that they needed 1-2 more days to investigate the matter. She said person2 would make a round of all the branches in Dubai to see if he could trace out the passport. I communicated to her my concern for the missing passport and told her of my decision to contact a lawyer for his advice. Subsequently, I also spoke to Mr.K on his mobile phone at 12:42 PM who agreed with me that a missing passport is a sensitive issue and by all means I should report it to the Police as per procedure. He however asked for time until the End of the day to be absolutely sure about the missing passport and said he was in constant touch with Bur Dubai branch on this. He said GMDC was handling hundreds of passports everyday and he was surprised by this missing passport case. He also apologized for the inconvenience caused. As per Mr K’s request, and as per promised to him, I decided to wait until the end of business hours on 15th January before reporting the incident to the Dubai police or the Indian embassy.

Update 2 :

At 9:30 PM on 15th January, I visited the Bur Dubai center, wherein Abbas confirmed the passport has been lost. Abbas called up Mr K and confirmed that GMDC can give me a letter confirming that the passport was lost.

16th January 2008. Having known from last night that the passport was indeed not to be found, I finished my urgent work at office and by 3:00 PM had left for the GMDC HQ at Al Qusais. Being comparatively new in Dubai and not having a vehicle to take me around, coupled with the fact that half the Dubai roads were submerged in water, I reached the HQ at about 4 PM. Walking inside the gate I searched around for a person I could talk to. There in a cabin at a corner was the HR of GMDC. He showed me the way to the Manager’s office in another block in the same campus.

I walked into the GM’s office and was met by his secretary who confirmed that they and received my mail the other day. She said she had forwarded the same mail to the Manager, and I could speak to him, rather than the GM. The manager I met was Mr. N. He knew about my case. A printed copy of my mail was on his desk too. He advised me to restraint from a formal police complaint until Sunday, such that a last attempt at searching the passport could be made. It seemed Mr.N was completely misinformed as to the whereabouts of my passport, or maybe he was trying to reassure me …he tried to explain that the passport may still be with the RTA etc. I knew better than that, after having had so many visits and calls with the concerned people. Upon hearing my side of the story, Mr N made a call with Mr. K and spoke in Arabic. Finally, he asked me that I should wait until Saturday, such that a last ditch effort could be made to place the passport. I agreed and also noted down his phone number.

While coming out of the office ,I peeked back into the GM's office to see if I could speak to him and maybe get some more help. In any case, I thought, the more likelihood of tracing the passport, if at all. The secretary let me in. The GM was rude and not willing to speak at all. He asked me to go meet Mr.N or just get the hell out of there.When I told him that I had spoken to Mr.N already , he rudely said it wasn't his job to speak to me, and that I should do well to clear off. He almost made it clear that he cared peanuts if I had lost my passport or my life due to the negligence of his organization's staff!!

While returning from the HQ, I received a call from Abbas at 4:17 PM, informing me that he had had a word with Mr K and that I should let him know as to what actions need to be taken. I conveyed to Abbas my conversation with Mr N. Subsequently he confirmed this conversation with Mr. K on phone and again called me at 4:27 PM asking me to speak to Mr.K as well. I tried reaching Mr.K but his number was busy for a long time. After repeated attempts I let it rest for the day.

Update 3:

17th January: Had a talk with Mr.K around 10:30 Am. Everybody's reconciled with the loss of passport. In my discussions with the embassy and company lawyer, I know I'll need a letter from GMDC confirming they have lost the passport. Mr.K is willing to give it to me on Saturday. End of call.

How to tie a tie!!

2008-01-05T07:00:00.000-08:00

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The Dubai Experience. Part - 1

2007-10-14T06:47:00.000-07:00

Having been in Mumbai for my job, and having seen the swanky new malls and hyper markets mushrooming everywhere in India, I thought i wouldn't be a typical wide-eyed villager when I landed in an international city. Some of it was true, but then nothing prepared me for the razzmatazz of Dubai.
My first encounter with the city : the airport. Kilometers after kilometers of shining corridors, the unimaginable options of the duty-free supermarket, the walking conveyor belts and the waiting 4x4 model of a SUV i was too dazed to note, 12-lane roads, right-hand drive...everything was a novelty. The dream had been lived. Dubai, I had arrived.
Company provided acco in the heart of the Dubai's central business district was a world far away from the cramped bird-houses of Mumbai. New job , new role, new country, new experiences in store.
The next few months were that of exploration. Egged on by the shopping enthusiasm of my wife, we started to move out and live the shopping paradise that is Dubai. We went wherever we could afford to go and bought whatever we could afford to buy. There was buzz in the air. I was loving the adventure.

Today, 6 months have been through in Dubai. My residence has still not come through. An indication of how much I am wanted in the city... in fact how much any Asian is wanted in the city. Rampant racism, haughty indifference, censorship, and official gagging. If you are in a role which requires you to be in contact with people , you'd rather make sure the people are good.

I don't speak for the lots of others who live in the city...but for me personally, the Dubai effect is wearing off fast. The idea that an international stint would do wonders for my resume did not quite materialize. In dubai , the populace is compartmentalized. You belong to your respective compartments (and the perceptions are mentioned in the parentheses) - UAE national (Emirati), Western Expat (respected expats), other Arabs (wealthy expats) , Fillipinos ( at least belong to a "religion of the books") and the South-Asians (labourers and maids, mostly pagan savages who need to be formally hired since legal slavery is not appreciated by the respected Whites). In this feudal world the pecking is in that order! So if you belong to a lower class you dare not and will not aspire to move with the other. The expectations are clear. In a senior colleagues' words - "Gora plan karega, kala kaam karega". So the "international exposure" factor gets limited to talking to the friendly Pakistani driver and the odd Sri Lankan maid. Or the fillipino attendant at the hypermart.

"Oh fine", you might say. That exists even in India- ever since the states were formed on linguistic basis, you remain a 2nd class citizen anyway. A Hindi speaking migrant is anyways a scourge on the lands of the Dravidians, the Marathas, the Banglas etc. So what does it matter in UAE. At least you get to have a decent earn and a huge saving potential, what with no taxes!

Oh right! The taxes. Well, if you aren't an Emirati, or an Arab speaking entity (in which case you have good chances of being let off lightly), the fines and the "other" taxes like Salik (road tax) more than make up for the income tax. It doesn't matter how law abiding you are... there are fines for everything. Used a road - fine. Changed a lane- fine. Have a bottle in the boot- fine. Had a beer - fine. Stopped your car - fine. Alone on the beach - Fine. Tried explaining to the cop - Double fine. The services arguably are the worst in the world if you compare to the volume of fines. No parkings anywhere. No roads to run cars on... some have been planted with abhorrently high road taxes and yet no single road without the jams. Pay exorbitantly for the internet and remain censored from the world, cause big brother's put proxies. Anyways, since we adjust so much with the appalling conditions back in India, I might just as well adjust with these. At least you are happier here than back there.

Or are we. Having seen more malls and lights and glitter than i ever wish to see in my whole life, we went off to the nearby district of Al Ain in Abu dhabi. Considered to be the green capital of UAE , yet look closely and u'll see the sprinklers and the pipes that touch up this artificial valley. Huge investments have been made to buy water from the money derived from oil. Yet, Standing at the highest point of UAE (and possibly the gulf) , beyond the limits of man-made greenery, As far as you could see was deserts sand. Pristine and uninhabited. On all sides. And sitting there on the slopes, I missed my country. The greenery. the rain. The child like innocence of the people. Yes, the people. I miss them.

I miss the chatter and the sharing and the fun. Perhaps not in the cities but at home... or the college campus. To reach out. To say the hi's to the neighbor. To belong.

Wipro to recruit 15,000 at Bhubaneswar.

2007-08-08T00:53:00.000-07:00

Wipro to recruit 15,000 at Bhubaneswar

BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar August 06, 2007

Wipro Technologies plans to recruit 15,000 software professionls in itsproposed development centre at Bhubaneswar.

Besides, the company also proposed to set up a Global Training Centre (GTC) in Bhubaneswar.

Laxman Badiga, chief Information officer (CIO) of Wipro, met the Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik recently and discussed the progress of the development centre in Bhubaneswar. The company will have a 26 acre campus in the infocity-II and will have four blocks of building.

The design and architecture of the building has been finalized and the construction of the boundary wall has been completed. The construction of the centre is expected to be completed within next 18 months, sources said. Wipro is also looking for setting up a Global Training Centre in Orissa. The company officials have visited a couple of sites to select the location.

The government will take a view after the company intimates the location.

The proposed GTC will be in the pattern of the company's Global Training Centre located at Mysore.

The centre is expected to provide training facility to about 3000 persons. Further, the company has evinced interest to be associated with the development of International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Bhubaneswar.

The chief minister is reported to have discussed the concept of smart city with the Wipro team. Principal secretary to the chief minister B K Patnaik, secretary IT department S N Tripathy and head of the Bhubaneswar Development Centre Surya Mohanty were present during the discussion. After the completion of the Wipro Development Centre, there will be about 40,000 employees working within 200 acres of Infocity. This is expected to lead to severe pressure on the social and civil infrastructure in the IT hub.

Magnificent Contradictions.

2007-07-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when you see someone , you forget all your worries of the world.
Sometimes , just when you feel on top of the world , you see that face , which speaks that little usual nasty thing , and all your joy in the world goes poof!

Just how long in this world do you keep pretending to smile at the one face you'd love to do without. But then can you really....and when you can't it is a strife in the innards.

Am I the only man of magnificent contradictions?

I have coined the "Mis-life".

2007-04-08T03:57:00.000-07:00

while cleaning up the room before taking off for another country , I was going through some old memorablia - those old fashioned scrapbooks of childhood , when we used to sign autographs for our friends to remember. I had one of those too. And there where questions on the pages for the person to answer. Most of the questions where answered in the youthful glee of optimism and humour , some genuine , others to cover up for the pain of parting.

yet the questions are more philosophical than that. "What is your most embarrassing moment?" , it asks. I don't truly remember what witty repertoires I must've signed on that question.But , maybe each moment of my self-discovery is more embarrassing than the previous.

"Do you have any regrets in life?" , it asks. I didn't then. I have a list now. Poignant with historical background of my life , I have to come to terms with all the mistakes I have made. Those were costly mistakes . Mistakes for which I continue to serve term. And maybe I always will.

It's a little odd that when for every trial there's a "mistrial" , when for every fire there's a "misfire" , but then there's no word to describe of what can be called my "mislife". A life that's gone horribly wrong. A life that was supposed to and could have been something totally different , had I not made mis-interventions when I shouldn't have , and failing to make them when I should have. Finding its way from one mistake to another, it's just been a myriad potential loss.
Yes. I do have regret now in life. And the chief one of them is the weakness of never being able to say "no" in the first place and then not being a graceful loser eventually.

Alas , the ordeal continues. The mis-life has become a habit. And regrets the faithful companion.

KArwan Guzar gaya

2007-03-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

Awesome! Poem by Gopal Das ‘Neeraj’ ji. Heard him live during a kavi sammelan. I am a fan since then.

Swapnjhhare phool se,
meet chubhhe shool se,
lut gaye shringaar sabhii baag ke babool se ;
aur hum khhade-khhade bahaar dekhte rahe |
kaarwaan guzar gayaa, gubaar dekhte rahe !

Neend bhi khulii na thii ki haay dhoop dhhal gayii,
paav jab talak uthein ki zindagii phisal gayii,
paatpaat jhhar gaye ki shaakhh-shaakhh jal gayii,
chaah to nikal sakii na, par umar nikal gayii,
geet ashk ban gaye,
chhand ho dafan gaye,
saath ke sabhi diye dhhuaa-dhhuaa pehan gaye,
aur hum jhhuke-jhhuke,
mod par ruke-ruke,
umr ke chadhhaav ka utaar dekhte rahe |
kaarwaan guzar gayaa, gubaar dekhte rahe !

Kya shabaab tha ki phool-phool pyaar kar uthhaa,
kya suroop thha ki dekhh aayinaa sihar uthha,
is taraf zameen aur aasmaan udhar uthha
thhaam kar jigar uthha ki jo milaa nazar uthha,
ek din magar yahaan,
aisii kuchh hawaan chalii,
lut gayii kalii-kalii ki ghhut gayii galii-galii,
aur hum lute-lute,
waqt se pite-pite,
saans ki sharaab ka khumaar dekhte rahe |
kaarwaan guzar gaya, gubaar dekhte rahe !

Haath the mile ki zulf chaand ki sanwaar doon,
honthh the khule ki har bahaar ko pukaar doon,
dard tha diyaa gayaa ki har dukhii ko pyaar doon,
aur saans yun ki swarg bhoomi par utaar doon,
ho sakaa na kuch magar,
shaam ban gayi sahar,
vah uthi lahar ki deh gaye kile bikhar-bikhar,
aur hum dare-dare,
neer nayan mein bhare,
odhkar kafan, pade mazaar dekhte rahe |
kaarwaan guzar gaya, gubaar dekhte rahe !

Maang bhar chali ki ek, jab nayi-nayi kiran,
dhholke dhumak uthhii, thhumak uthhe charan-charan,
shor mach gaya ki lo chalii dulhan, chalii dulhan,
gaanv sab umad padaa, behak uthe nayan-nayan,
par tabhii zehar bharii,
gaaz ek beh girii,
punchh gayaa sindhoor taar-taar hui choonri,
aur hum anjaan se,
door ke makaan se,
paalkii liye hue kahaar dekhte rahe |
kaarwaan guzar gaya, gubaar dekhte rahe !

The Nest is Empty.

2006-10-29T07:16:00.000-08:00

We were a family of 5 brothers and sisters...a large family some would say.
And then one by one all 3 sisters got married.
I had a job and had moved out to another city earlier. And then I got married.
And today , as I waved to my younger brother through the security check of the city airport , I realised that he was through the sevurity check after all , and now there was remote possibility that he would come back . He would take his flight after all. He had moved. To another phase in his life. And it has always been a finalisation of the thin border that seperates your life with your family of last 20 years and some more. The relations and bonding straddle this border strongly , but yet the line is always evident.

My younger brother today has crossed to a new phase in his life. And the family , as we knew it , now stands dismemebered for good. I feel happy for him and his enthusiasm and bubbling energy to meet his new life ... and yet a vast sadnness engulfs me today.

He was the last among the 5 of us to be at home with Mom and Dad , and now , even he has flown , for good. The nest now stands - Empty.

Bbye Bro and wish you a great life ahead. All te best and may the good lord always be by your side.

Omerta , Honour and Termination.

2006-09-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

There is this concept in Cicili that I got from one of Mario Puzo's book called Omerta. It's a code of silence practiced by the Mafia; a refusal to give evidence to the police about criminal activities that may have occured between them. To settle scores between themselves without the help of any third person. And there's also the concept of Honour and pride in the family name. When I read it I felt oneness with the concept.Almost 3 years ago when I started this blog , I wanted to speak to somebody... but I had a singular lack of good friends whom i could share my thoughts with.

I mean of course , i lived in a rented apartment with room mates and we would sometimes have some talk about career and stuff, in fact there had been instances when my room mates ould ask me for my advice , and we woould sometimes discuss one of our personla problems and try to help.But for me , I never got around to talking about myslef with any of them. I can share but only with others' problems . It's been that way for a long time now. Even back in Class X and later in CLass XII , I had some friends who would rely on my advice for some of thier very persona rolems. I kind of detested being Agony unc but well , it happened naturally. Guess , I was always cut out to be consultant :)

But when it came to my own problems , noone was good enough to be trusted. And it's been true even now. I dont know who to go to or talk to about my problems. Infact I kind of realise that for the rest of my life , I'm gonna be a loner who wouldnt open up to anyone. And coming upto this point , i can go no furthur ... for anything i say would be construed by different angles , and then there is the question of previledge , Honour and well Omerta.

i had started this blog some years ago to "share" my thoughts about things , which I couldnt very well do that time since I was skeptical of putting my thoughts in the public domain when I cannot even find a good friend for it. And I cannot pen down my thoughts today , cause that reason still stands.

And therefore folks , or whoever accidentally hits these pages ever.... I declare this blog to be terminated. And along with it a major ego of my Virtual Identity.
For it is destined that i suffer the burden of my silence , that there be no soul , no friend , no kith nor kin who be trusted to share my happiness or woes, and that I surrender myself to the stony boundaries of Omerta...for ever.

Good Bye people.Good By Blog.

Emotional Deprivation Disorder

2006-08-27T04:43:00.000-07:00

Emotional Deprivation Disorder

Emotional Deprivation Disorder was first discovered by Dutch psychiatrist Dr. Anna A. Terruwe in the 1950's and was called the Frustration Neurosis (De frustratie neurose in Dutch; Deprivation Neurosis when translated into the English language by her colleague, Dr. Conrad W. Baars).

Dr. Terruwe found that a person could exhibit symptoms of an anxiety disorder or repressive disorder when these symptoms, in fact, were not the result of repression, but rather the result of a lack of unconditional love in early life.
Emotional Deprivation Disorder is a syndrome which results from a lack of authentic affirmation and emotional strengthening in one's life. A person may have been criticized, ignored, neglected, abused, or emotionally rejected by primary caregivers early in life, resulting in that individual’s stunted emotional growth. Unaffirmed persons are incapable of developing into emotionally mature adults until they receive authentic affirmation from another person. Maturity is reached when there is a harmonious relationship between a person’s body, mind, emotions and spiritual soul under the guidance of their reason and will.1

Symptoms and Characteristics of Emotional Deprivation Disorder:

Please see Healing the Unaffirmed for a complete description of the symptoms of Emotional Deprivation Disorder as well as discussions on therapy and prevention of this disorder.

Insufficiently Developed Emotional Life

Abnormal Rapport
o Incapable of establishing normal, mature contact with others
o Feels lonely and uncomfortable in social settings
o Capable of a willed rapport but not an emotional investment in relationships

Egocentric
o Childhood level of emotional development
o Feels like a child or and infant and others must focus their attention on the individual just as an adult would focus on a young child.
o Incapable of emotional surrender to a spouse

Reactions Around Others
o May be fearful in nature or courageous and energetic
o More fearful people tend to become discouraged or depressed
o More courageous and energetic persons can become more aggressive

Uncertainty & Insecurity

Fear or anxiety
o Can be in the form of a generalized anxiety
o Fear of hurting someone else’s feelings
o Fear of hurting others or contaminating them (e.g. with germs or a cold)
o Need for frequent reassurance

Feels incapable of coping with life
o Worry that they’ll be put in a situation they can’t handle
o Can be easily discouraged or depressed
o May pretend to be in control in order to mask inner feelings and fearfulness

Hesitation and Indecisiveness
o Difficulty in making decisions
o Easily changes mind

Oversensitivity
o Overly sensitive to the judgments of others, criticism or slights
o Easily hurt or embarrassed

Need to Please Others
o Pleases others in order to protect self from criticism or rejection and gain approval of others
o Easily taken advantage of or exploited
o Fear of asking for favors or services needed

Self-consciousness
o Worried about what other people think
o Self-doubt and need for reassurance

Helplessness
o Do not dare to say “no” for fear of rejection

Inferiority and Inadequacy

Feel Unloved
o Believe that no one could possibly love them
o Feel devoid of all feelings of love
o Believe they are incapable of loving others or God
o Suspicious of any token of affection – continually doubt sincerity of others

Physical Appearance
o May have feelings of inadequacy due to physical appearance

Feelings of Intellectual Incompetence
o May have difficult completing projects
o Repeated failure or fear of failure

Show Signs of Disintegration in New Circumstances
o Fear of new situations and challenges
o Difficulty coping with new job, landlord, moving, etc.

Sense Impairments
o Undeveloped or underdeveloped senses (touch, taste, sight, smell)
o Lack of order, disorganization
o Fatigue

Further symptoms found in some individuals with emotional deprivation disorder:

o Deep feelings of guilt
o Kleptomania
o Need to collect and hoard useless things
o Paranoid condition

The Cure? …Affirmation!

Affirmation: When one person is the source of unconditional love and emotional strengthening for another person. See also our page on Affirmation Therapy.
This syndrome and its related symptoms and therapy are discussed at length in Healing the Unaffirmed: Recognizing Emotional Deprivation Disorder.

1. Baars, Conrad W. & Anna A. Terruwe. Healing the Unaffirmed: Recognizing Emotional Deprivation Disorder. Rev. ed. Suzanne M. Baars and Bonnie N. Shayne (eds.) Staten Island, NY: ST PAULS/Alba House, 2002. Back to text

Attribute : Copyright © 2001 Suzanne M. Baars and Bonnie N. Shayne All rights reserved. Revised: 11/25/03.

Independence Day!!

2006-08-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

You bet I'm excited....it's never been better before.

Shouldn't we all line up ceremoniously and listen to those archaic songs of a bygone era... the "Mere vatan ke logon" by a bharat ratna who has taken upon herself the glorious task of not letting the crawling Mumbaiker insects a decent lifeline of a flyover , all because the aesthetics of her multi-crore bunglow would be hurt! Or salute the original spirit of the national anthem! After all , as they've said for centuries , Long live the King (George V)...the King is dead!

Well , to put things into perspective , i havent been feeling better for a long time now.Remember how large hearted we were when we gifted $25 Million cheque to Pakistan on July 11 , 2006 , the day Pakistan played that naughty little trick of its on the Mumbai local trains? Always depend on Pak to give us some funny ironies to laugh at.

And lest you think that the terrorists might have created a blip on the peace of those pieces of surving human filth in Mumbai , our dear Independent Goverment of India grandiously stated that very original and new thought-out line ... u know the refreshing one that goes " The piss process is irreversible". Oh how happy I became when I was reassured of the Pissiness and Pusillanimousness of the Union Govt.

Hey and the naughty fellows had planned out a surprise cracker game in the London skies the other day.Its a shame that Britons have no humour left at all.All that hard work for a surprise party was spoiled by thier jingoisitc goverment when they said they wouldnt allow any flying British limbs to add to the spectacle. Never mind , the US has assured us that the pranksters have India as a target as well , and our Union goverment ,leftist as it is , may the good lord be praised for that , has rightly (or left-ly??) rubbished these imperial designs to spoil the party . Not only have we junked the superior intelligence of western burguois agencies , we have responded by some return birthday gifts of our own :

1) With that bloody Neo Nazi Right Wing Hindu Fundamentalist law of POTA done away with , We will now soften up any hurdels that the misguided youth might face in the hazards of thier professions.
2) Eulogise them appropriately.
3) Ward off any objections to future entertainment.
4) And just in case you had any misgivings about our Psuedo-Secular Tolerance , and lest you accuse us of appeasing the Islamists terrorists selectively , we Cancel the anti-insurgency operations against ULFA and beam our Honourable CM of TN and his considered views on LTTE.
5) Since we do not have a 3rd cheek where the violence mongers might be able to hit us , we will renounce any law-and-order measures against Maoists , Islamist Terrorists , seperatists , leftists , and other such intellectuals , and strive to find a socio-economic solution to thier psychological motivations.
6) In the meantime we shall continue with the great Nehruvian policy of "Roll Over and play dead" and shall never let a reversal of the God-proclaimed irreversible piss process by pranks of some naughty boys who like blowing up people in trains, markets, planes, cinemas, buses, cars, buildings....

Aah the fruits of independence.

Bhubaneswar Infocity may become SEZ

2006-06-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

Business Standard Bureau / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar June 02, 2006

Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Orissa (IDCO) has decided to convert the existing Infocity in Bhubaneswar into a IT SEZ.

A decision to this effect was taken at a high level meeting chaired by L. N. Gupta, chairman-cum-managing director, IDCO recently.

The secretary of the IT department, S N Tripathy and the chief executive of the Orissa Computer Application Centre (OCAC) and director of IT, Vishal Dev, were present in the meeting which was also attended by representatives of MindTree and TCS.

The meeting discussed the concept and the implementation model for converting the Infocity into an information technology SEZ.

The proposed IT SEZ will spread over 200 acres and include a processing zone of 163 acres and non-processing zone of 37 acres.

The non-processing zone would include a golf course, electricity sub-station, roads and other utilities.

The IT SEZ will have minimum built-up area of one lakh square metres.

While IDCO will be the developer of the OT SEZ project, IT majors Wipro, TCS, MindTree and Hexaware will become anchor clients and co-developers through a special purpose vehicle (SPV).

The SEZ development will need some additional infrastructure works, the cost of which is estimated about Rs 9 crore.

The co-developer SPV will mobilise the fund to meet the cost of additional infrastructure works and look after operation and maintenance of common facilities of the SEZ.

Gupta said IDCO will submit the application for SEZ approval to the government soon.

The establishment of the IT SEZ is expected to lead to quicker commissioning of units by IT majors including several fiscal benefits, he added.

In yet another infrastructure development initiative, the state government has decided to establish a state-of-the-art International Convention Centre (ICC) at Bhubaneswar.

Accordingly, IDCO, the nodal agency for infrastructure development, has invited an expression of interest from reputed consultants or consortium of consultants for preparation of detailed project report and business plan of the proposed ICC at Bhubaneswar.

The project will address the fast-growing MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) segment and promote business tourism in the state. Already a patch of more than 30 acres of land has been identified at Mancherswar for development of the complex.

The project is planned to be developed through Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis and its estimated cost is pegged at Rs 200 crore.

Gupta said, the proposed ICC will provide one-stop solution for convention, conference and exhibition facilities for international and domestic events.

The convention centre will be equipped with modern facilities and the complex will include amenities like star hotels, shopping plaza and multiplexes.

The Goverment of India backstabs!

2006-05-25T00:40:00.000-07:00

"Believe in us.We'll keep your interests in mind", said Dr.Manmohan Singh , PM of India to the protesting students.Next day the goverment announced the 27% reservation for OBCs.

An entire student community , or rather those students who got into premier institutions through sheer hard work and not through the quota backdoor , were dumbfounded.There was much hope and respect for the educated and seemingly fair PM.How could he ? Is it that GoI refuses to understand the language of silent protests? Do we have to go on a warpath in a democracy just to be heard? Is there really a working democracy? And as happend in Mandal-1 , does anyone even care to listen , even if students start commiting protest sucides ? Is India commited to equality or should the meritorious just take refuge in a forign country where oppurtunities may still not be denied to them?

If this is the attitude of the premier of the country's polity , just where do we take our voice? The students were numbed by this back-stabbing. Days of silent protests in the scorching summer heat wasn't enough for any Goverment official to make a visit to the students to know thier case.Obviously , this wasnt any Medha Patker , and there wasn't any development to be disrupted , so it didn't ,make political sense to listen to these students.

Who are these students anyway? they are just an enterprising lot who have worked hard , are the best brains of the country , have a good education based on thier merit and above all they belong to the lowest in the inverted caste hoerarchy that the goverment sanctions.Just not enough reason to reason with them. They don't constitute a sizable vote-bank.They are just India's future best , and India being a dalit and backward country cannot allow thier voices to be heard.

The Govt of India is all set to amend one of the Fundamental Rights to Equality, Article 15 which provides for: prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. A new Clause 5 is being introduced which explicitly provides for quotas.

In all fairness let's Just lend an ear to some of the quota votaries :

" Upper caste India has to carry its historic shame and guilt and lead the struggle to abolish the caste system permanently in India. Upper caste India must develop a social conscience that intentionally includes the Dalits and the OBCs in all spheres of power – economics, education, politics, science and spirituality – this will mean proportional representation. Upper caste India must embrace and entwine their lives, future and their bloodline with Dalit-Bahujan India for the sake of their own children’s future."
- Joseph D’Souza , http://www.josephdsouza.com/

"Merit is only an excuse to deny opportunities to the Dalits and the Tribals."
- BR Ambedkar.
"If there is no reservation in private sectors (private sectors in India are headed and owned by the fuedals by consolidating the wealth of the country through dubious means) keeping away the 30% of the Indians out of their functioning, these private sector lords will definitely grow as threat to the social harmony, democratic processes and disturb the social fabric of the nation that ultimately result in unrest in social life."
- F.H.Jakkappanavar , Dalit E-forum

"The IITs, like the peethas of Adi Shankara, are established in different parts of A-k-h-a-n-d Bharat - even Guwahati has one (though the Kaladi revivalist would not have reckoned with hindu colonialism in the northeastern belt). The brahmans zealously guard both these institutions. They would not have a dalit as Shankaracharya. 'Purity' has to be maintained. Nor do they want a dalit instructor at an IIT. 'Merit' cannot be compromised. The IITs are quite like the romanticised gurukulas/ vedic pathasalas where most nonbrahmans, women, dalits and adivasis were/are not allowed. Merit in this country gets reduced to clinging to something for centuries and denying the same to others. "
- Dalit Media Network, Chennai

" Even in respect of jobs for which recruitment is on merit, as measured in terms of specified qualifications, there may be justification for reverse discrimination resting on efficiency criteria alone. For example, a Black, Dalit, or woman student might find it easier to establish rapport with, and learn better from, a teacher of the same category. Further, such a person could serve as a role model, and inspire and motivate others of that category, helping to augment the pool of human resources. Moreover, enrolling a member of a minority group into the management can help to broaden the network of contacts, resulting in increased efficiency in respect of further recruitment and various other transactions. Affirmative action may be the only feasible way, initially, to breach the barriers either on account of prejudice or the narrow self-interest of a closed network. Another factor may be diversity, which could bring substantial benefit to the entire community. Thus selection based on 'merit' alone may be inefficient ... Clearly, the 'merit' criterion is not an inherently 'fair' basis of distribution of rewards, since it may depend less on effort and more on genetic and other factors over which the individual may have no control. That the merit criterion benefits the clever is, in itself, no reason to adopt it"
- Devanesan Nesiah , pg 288,study of affirmative action in the United States, India and Malaysia (Discrimination with Reason? 1997).

Well , I rest my case!

Rape of Education...thy name is Reservations!!

2006-05-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

Am I old enough in this world to live in nostalgia? Am I old enough that I should see history repeat itself in front of own eyes.
I distinctly remember the burning years of 1990-91 when VP Singh chose to raise the bandwagon of that trashable report called Mandal Commission.I was in class VIII then .
And I saw for the first time burning flesh of self-immolating fellow students , torched buildings and police vehicles being stoned , lathi charge , police firing , students trying to flee from rampaging and brutual PAC personnel assaults and tripping over pointed fences to thier deaths.

At the end of it all , Mandal commission was coolly implemented.And not a voice for all those bright students who'd lost thier lives in the protests.

It created a lasting impression on my mind...for the government is a dumb and mute entity , and it works only on the logic of cold-vote bank politics.Student protests may force a Sukarno off the throne or even the so-called British tyrrants to Quit-india , but in post-democracy India , students and that too from the forward sections will obviously not be heard.

Because in Nehru's India , being "forward" is a bad word."India Shining" is a shame and "Nationalism" a taboo.Nehru's India is backward , poor , begging for alms from the world and weeping in international scenes with a perennial sense of injured ego.We were to always be a weak kneed softy nation that couldnt stand up to its convictions and built its forign policy on the concept that we couldnt take sides and would stand in NAM and fall between stools. Our economy was niether communist nor Capitalist but a mixed bag. Our country was neither India nor Bharat.Our national song was not a patriotic "Vande Matram" but a George-V eugolising song from Robinda.Our flag couldnt contain the INA tiger but a Chakra symbolising the humbeled autocrat.In short we either didn't have the courage as a nation to take sides and when we ever did , we just wanted to prove our backwardness ... in thought , in actions and in policies. Nehru's India was destined to tryst with backwardness from the word "go".

As long as proponents of this Nehruism stay on in at the helm , as long as we continue to carry the schum of the past like Arjun Singh , Natwar Lal , and thier ilk , we shall continue to ruin the country in this race to be the most backward of em all! And the Mandalites wil rejoice at the fall of another country to thier fancies.

"Is your Relationship Broadband?"

2006-04-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

At times , it is so easy to fall into a conversation.It has happened to me before.While on a train . or on a long journey , sometimes you just keep going into the conversation without too much effort.It's almost like a broadband connection.Swift , Easy , and then before you know it you have accessed sites that you wouldnt normally on a Dial-up!

And yeah there are the Dial-ups.Straightjacket connections.You dial up but only to check mails.Maybe some news...Whatever. But you keep to the script.Since the connection is so painfully slow , you tend to do just those which are bare essentials.Some relations are like that.You talk with some people because it's necessary.Because it's expected.Maybe you even want to....but once you get to the Dial up connection , you realize that all you wanted to explore is after-all not so easy.And then you sit back , and think ... Do I have to waste my time on this...Do I have to look at the latest scores on this connection ? Can't I just check mail and close the connection and go watch TV...? Well, Sometimes relationships turn out that way.You wish they were deeper than they are,You try to hook on with all the intention that they should go much more than the superficial level...but alas , the bandwidth doesnt allow , the connection and frequencies just dont click...and you tend to close the connection till such time as is necessary.

As an illustration , Ever fallen in a situation where you called up a long-lost friend with all the eagerness of the good times shared loong back.And then after a while , you just don't know how the conversation is to continue.More so if your friend has always been a listener...and you suddenly realise a lack of energy , his innate propensity to be silent manifests itself in the form of a total lack of enthusiasm....maybe not real but just appearing to be so.

Well , in my lingo , your friend was a good website , but the connection between you and him was a dial-up.So however much you and him want to transfer data , it just doesnt work cause the bandwidth doesnt allow...and this could be because of a limiting factor from either side...in the freind's example it was your friends Server (or propensity) that limited the bandwidth.

That is why it's so important that people decide on long-term relationships only when they have assessed and convinced themselves that the bandwidth matches , that the connection can happen, that what you are looking to match is a round peg in a round hole.

I don't use my dial up any more...that's because I found a broadband of choice.Unfortunately Relationships do not allow that flexibility.

How the Stock Market Works - easy 4 step guide

2006-03-04T07:36:00.000-08:00

==> From a fwd from one of the yahoo grps <==
==> Fwd User-id anonymous , so credits to that anonymous :-) <==

This four step guide will give you the foundation you always wanted.
Learning the basics in handling stocks.

This guide will help anyone, interested in getting into the stocks
game. Once you follow through the guide, you will understand it's no
rocket science. Only thing is nobody ever try to explain it you from A to Z.
Start now, just have a look,

http://www.myjobhome.com/amex/

Step 1 - Basics
http://www.myjobhome.com/amex/Ameritrade-part1.htm

Step 2 - Initial Public Offerings
http://www.myjobhome.com/amex/Ameritrade-Part2.htm

Step 3 - Stock Market Players
http://www.myjobhome.com/amex/Ameritrade-Part3.htm

Step 4 - The Life of a Trade
http://www.myjobhome.com/amex/Ameritrade-Part4.htm

Cheers,
PC