Any news channel nowadays is carrying a lot of stories on the H1N1 virus and the anchors demonstrating the technique of wearing a mask (....holding the edges between your thumb and index finger...pun intended for those who read instructions). Its become almost a scare to feel even a slight itch in the throat...did i smoke more than normal yesterday or God Forbid!!! :O. While it is saddening to hear about the deaths happening everywhere, nota bene wonders "What can one do in such a situation?" "How long can one keep wearing masks?". Long ago i was quarintined out of my 2 weeks before my +2 exams coz my younger brother got chicken pox. i returned after 10 days from my aunts place long after my brother recovered but the darn bug must have been waiting in ambush. Poof after two days and just a weekend away from the all important exams i see these blisters coming up and oh the misery and heart break of not getting to be a doctor coz i couldnt write exams well for over a week of chicken pox.
I had a theory then. Instead of panicking and running away to a sterile environment and coming back with absolutely no immunity thus contracting the virus, would it have been better if i had stayed on at home? Would the exposure to the lifecyle of chicken pox that my brother had over five odd days blessed me with immunity or a milder version of CP?? The question still haunts me.
Pan to the H1N1 scenario. While it is definitely a much more serious little bug, are we really serving its purpose by queueing out and thus creating crowded ecosystems and affecting all those who may just have a normal flu. Picture this. The H1N1 has just been coughed out from an infected person and look what it sees...scores of people lined up with their immunities already down with common flu! :)
Are we not letting nature take its own course by being overly panicky about the whole situation? Like in the closing credits of the movie "War of the Worlds" are we slowly trading our species' Right to Survive in the long run for a few additional cures in the short run? We still dont have a vaccine, the cures are not fully tested or effective yet, so shouldnt we just let this thingie burn itself out? Just a few vague thoughts at a vague hour with a vague mindset!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
National Language of India??
I was reading an article on Rediff about Anil Kumble being part of the commentary team in England for the T20 world cup. It was a nice article and as a genuine cricket fan i was incredibly pleased with the fact that one of the most dignified and respected cricketers of India will be part of the commentary team. As i scrolled down the comments section it was a different issue altogether!
One poor soul from Karnataka used the multilingual option of posting and posted a message in Kannada the native language of Anil Kumble. Then it started with someone presumably from the North starting off with a criticism of the fact that the Kannada language being used and the tit for tat abuses.
It pains me to think that even in this day and age people in India are not really facing language differences in a mature manner. The moment one linguistic group gets recognition the others fall all over them. Quite disgusting.
I have also read umpteen comments about how unfriendly Chennai is and how when someone speaks Hindi people do not understand blah blah blah...i have one question for these folks...if they were to travel to say a France or a Belgium wont they carry a small guide or book which translate oft used phrases in that particular language? Wonder where that sense or pride is gone when travelling to another part of the country??
By the way i scrolled through some documents are realized something. Can anyone tell which is the National Language of India. Before you jump out and shout Hindi! i am very sorry...its wrong. India does not have a National Language or has 22 National Languages depending on which way you look at it. Hindi is only One of the Official languages of the Union Government thats about it. Trust that kinda shows the wisdom of those who framed the constitution in the spirit of "Unity in Diversity". Wonder whats wrong with the following generations though!??
One poor soul from Karnataka used the multilingual option of posting and posted a message in Kannada the native language of Anil Kumble. Then it started with someone presumably from the North starting off with a criticism of the fact that the Kannada language being used and the tit for tat abuses.
It pains me to think that even in this day and age people in India are not really facing language differences in a mature manner. The moment one linguistic group gets recognition the others fall all over them. Quite disgusting.
I have also read umpteen comments about how unfriendly Chennai is and how when someone speaks Hindi people do not understand blah blah blah...i have one question for these folks...if they were to travel to say a France or a Belgium wont they carry a small guide or book which translate oft used phrases in that particular language? Wonder where that sense or pride is gone when travelling to another part of the country??
By the way i scrolled through some documents are realized something. Can anyone tell which is the National Language of India. Before you jump out and shout Hindi! i am very sorry...its wrong. India does not have a National Language or has 22 National Languages depending on which way you look at it. Hindi is only One of the Official languages of the Union Government thats about it. Trust that kinda shows the wisdom of those who framed the constitution in the spirit of "Unity in Diversity". Wonder whats wrong with the following generations though!??
Monday, June 1, 2009
Racist attacks in Australia and all that jazz!
Never having been to Australia and with no first hand experience of aussies to recount about, a million questions flooded my mind when following the recent bruhaha about the allegedly racist attacks on Indians down under:
a) Is Australia a racist country or just a country with a large number of extreme criminal assaults? Reading online papers i saw there are dozens of attacks, stabbing, shooting, etc reported everyday.
b) While ordinary Aussies may not be racist in general are they violent in general? Right from the Foster's beer ad to the way their cricketers behave, to the general reaction to anything they dont like with some punching this was a thought that came to my mind.
c) Do they know about their general violent nature at a personal level and arent necessarily proud about it? So they throw smoke screens like not visiting a country citing security reasons, generally being over defensive about racism, and counterattacking about race all the time.
d) Are Indians talking the racism thingie too far? What is racist- the attacks because the victims are Indian (I doubt this coz there are lot of other attacks as well)? or the recognition by appearance that a potential victim is Indian and hence easy prey?
e) Is recognizing an Indian for being an Indian, a Black for being a Black, or a Hispanic for being a HIspanic being racist?
f) Why should one Indian not speak to another in his native language or make eye contact with the locals? I was amazed at folks advising this as a means of avoiding attacked. Hello dont Indians have a life of pride? Assimilation doesnt mean forgoing identity!!
g) Were the Aussie police being insensitive and close minded or plain dumb when they started off on a physically pushing and dragging protestors knowing fully well that this could be a sensitive issue?
h) Biggest of all - Why the hell dont Indians have any Street Cred? Are they really that passive a race who are capable of violence against one another but step back when threatened with physical violence from another race?
i) Can the Indian government do anything at all? I doubt it coz we have a poor record of stopping violence at home and the kind of atrocities that happen in India.
j) I also read a lot of Aussie comments saying "Take it or leave it" "If you dont like us go home" blah blah. If you dont want other folks coming over then dont your government have the balls to say it aloud? Why advertise about travelling to Australia, Studying in Australia, and the like?
Hopefully all the mindless violence will come to an end and hopefully the peace marches will work.
a) Is Australia a racist country or just a country with a large number of extreme criminal assaults? Reading online papers i saw there are dozens of attacks, stabbing, shooting, etc reported everyday.
b) While ordinary Aussies may not be racist in general are they violent in general? Right from the Foster's beer ad to the way their cricketers behave, to the general reaction to anything they dont like with some punching this was a thought that came to my mind.
c) Do they know about their general violent nature at a personal level and arent necessarily proud about it? So they throw smoke screens like not visiting a country citing security reasons, generally being over defensive about racism, and counterattacking about race all the time.
d) Are Indians talking the racism thingie too far? What is racist- the attacks because the victims are Indian (I doubt this coz there are lot of other attacks as well)? or the recognition by appearance that a potential victim is Indian and hence easy prey?
e) Is recognizing an Indian for being an Indian, a Black for being a Black, or a Hispanic for being a HIspanic being racist?
f) Why should one Indian not speak to another in his native language or make eye contact with the locals? I was amazed at folks advising this as a means of avoiding attacked. Hello dont Indians have a life of pride? Assimilation doesnt mean forgoing identity!!
g) Were the Aussie police being insensitive and close minded or plain dumb when they started off on a physically pushing and dragging protestors knowing fully well that this could be a sensitive issue?
h) Biggest of all - Why the hell dont Indians have any Street Cred? Are they really that passive a race who are capable of violence against one another but step back when threatened with physical violence from another race?
i) Can the Indian government do anything at all? I doubt it coz we have a poor record of stopping violence at home and the kind of atrocities that happen in India.
j) I also read a lot of Aussie comments saying "Take it or leave it" "If you dont like us go home" blah blah. If you dont want other folks coming over then dont your government have the balls to say it aloud? Why advertise about travelling to Australia, Studying in Australia, and the like?
Hopefully all the mindless violence will come to an end and hopefully the peace marches will work.
First Entry
I keep reading a lot of news, articles, happenings across the world and have my own little opinion, quirky comments to make, questions to ask others, etc all the time. I wondered maybe it is time to start a blog around it. Well i am late..but better late than never No?!!
A quick description of the name i chose - Nota Bene (N.B.)! It is a Latin phrase that means Note Well , essentially a term for a rejoinder, a side note of the main article, used to draw the attention of a reader to a certain aspect or detail or a point to ponder about the main article. So there, under this name, i intend to Bene Nota about our world and whats happening in it from my own little private kaledioscope.
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