Should u stil make Deepavali or Diwali a rich man's affair?!

Hindu Mythology claims that one of Lord Krishna’s wives, Satyabama killed the demon narakushura on a new moon night! Another story claims that the lord killed the demon himself! There’re at least a dozen other stories and events associated to the celebrations on the day of new moon that falls between mid-October and mid-November popularly called as DIWALI!

 Diwali is probably the most expensive, most widely celebrated and most stupid and useless festivals in the whole wide world! People spend hundreds of thousands to celebrate the death of naraksura by bursting crackers that create noise, air and land pollution, spend extravagantly on clothes and sweets like they’ve never bought clothes or eaten sweets before and go crazy like hell to already swarmed places and add to the traffic congestion! What a wasteful day when so much of the hard earned money goes to becoming just sheets of paper or a few calories! If u come to think about it, Diwali is a festival of the RICH and AFFLUENT! What about the millions of people in India who can hardly afford one square meal a day?! Do any of us think about them when we lavishly spend on crackers?! 

Celebrations are not sinful or bad! But do they have to be such a waste?! The money that we spend on stupid crackers could give education to an under privileged kid or a meal to an old person! There’re so many politicians who are far worse than narakushura and yet we think that the world’s worst devil is dead! How ignorant are we?! Maybe these customs were suited for the previous era! Times have changed and so have we!

i wouldn’t say no celebrations at all! Why not choose to celebrate diwali in a different way?! U have a day off from work anyways! Visit all your old friends and relatives with sweets! Spend quality time with the family! Visit an old age home or an orphanage or a hospital and spend time with people who need love, care and affection! Money can be spent in many ways to make others happy and make a little difference in their lives! And we needn’t spend big amounts! 

Even a small sweet box to the beggar in ur street corner would brighten the man’s day and face! After all, the joy of giving is inexplicable and money spent in making others happy is the best money spent! So go ahead! Instead of polluting our atmosphere and lighting fireworks, make at least a few people happy and the fireworks that you’d see out of the joy, happiness and gratitude that you give them would be far brighter and extremely beautiful than all the noisy fireworks in the world! HAPPY DIWALI to all!!! :D 

To-Let or Not To-Let - What drives IT?

IF you are a lower middle class resident of Chennai who does not own a house, you would understand the title without much elucidation!

But if you have been lucky enough that your father, grand-father of fore-fathers were native residents of Chennai, or who had flourished, or saved up tactfully, or earned well and managed to build a house or own a house in Chennai, it may be a bit difficult to EMPATHIZE with the pain and trauma of tenants like me who have always lived in rented houses in this beautiful yet bizarre city!


Chennai has always been called as the city that can give you anything and everything you want. You can dine in chennai for Rs.5000/- at the Taj, for Rs.500 at a not-so-expensive restaurant, for Rs.50 at an eatery closer to your house and even for Rs.5 at the roadside "kaiyenthi" bhavans! This has been the image that has been attributed to chennai for many years now! Doesn't that make you feel like chennai is a very SOCIALISTIC city that has got all sorts of people?! Well, it is indeed true to a large extent! The north, central and south chennai vary in every possible aspect!
The north has got the fishermen, the kuppams and the slums and the south has got posh residential areas where you can find all the aristocrats! this DIVIDE has prevailed in Chennai since eons and probably would always be there!


So it is not a big surprise if a house in Boat Club is rented out for a much higher price than a house in vyasarpadi!


But post liberalization and post the boom in the IT and BPO sectors in the past few decades, another shocking trend has also set in chennai!


A few years ago, owners of houses in Chennai used to treat bachelors like outcasts or outlaws! It used to be a herculean task for a group of bachelors or even a single guy to find a decent place to crash in. House owners used to very skeptical to rent out their houses to this group owing to fears, prejudices, judgments, perceptions and opinions of their own about them!I still remember Ads in the classifieds which used to read "bachelors please excuse.only families preferred"! The mansions in triplicane were the only abode to the bachelors in those days.


The late 90's and 2000's saw a sea of change in this regard!


As the number of IT/BPO firms kept increasing in the city,the number of bachelors who came to work from rural areas and other cities and states started rising like the mercury levels of chennai during the month of may.

A good number of these youth come from well-to-do houses and are not required to support their families. So whatever they earn goes into their pockets as a whole! And most of the times, these youth stayed as a group! So, if a house owner charges Rs.20,000/- as rent for a three bedroom apartment and if 12 people stay in the apartment( 3 in each room and 3 in the hall), all that each one has to pay every month is roughly around 1600 which is piece of cake for a person who earns Rs.25000 per month!
Would a family that has a sole bread winner be able to afford a 3 bed room apartment at 20000?! Only if he earns twice as that much!!!

This has changed the tide! Now when i open the clasifieds, i see ads that read, "3 BHK,Car parking, 24 hrs water supply, closer to TCS and HCL,Wi-Fi,Rent Rs.20000.ONLY BACHELORS, IT OR MNC EMPLOYEES preferred"! BOOM!


I went through the classifieds of three national dailies and two local dailies last weekend and i was appalled to find similar ads in all papers that cover almost all of the rental column!
The IT services industry contributes a great amount to the GDP of the country, it has given employment to millions of youth in India, it has put India in a great spot in the global market and INDIA IS SHINING!!! All that said, what about the LOWER MIDDLE CLASS people like me?!even though i worked in that sector for  a year, i was never able to afford all the luxuries that the IT youth are generally attributed to be indulged in because of my family problems! that is a whole different story altogether!


But is this a good trend? probably the people who had been lucky enough to build or own houses or inherit houses from their whatever fathers are the ones who MINT money from this trend because they get double the amount from the bachelors what the would normally get from the families?!


Why isn't there a rent control department in India like in the US?! We want to ape the americans in everything starting from their food, culture, style to even their English! But we would never want to learn the good things from them!No house owner in chennai ever gives a receipt for the rent collected! there are absolutely no records!And they can increase the rents as and when they want at their discretion!


that is not all! there are many money-minded greedy landlords who impose millions of restrictions, charge you separately for after and electricity and apart from all that ask you MAINTENANCE!
We have been trying to find a new house as our present landlord has asked us to vacate!Apparently, he does not want FAMILIES in his house anymore! He is planning on redoing the house and renting it out to a bunch of bachelors!I am not against the fact that bachelors are given houses!After all, i have stayed with bachelors in other cities too! But,the bachelors coming from the other places should understand the realities of Chennai and think about the implications of their EXTRAVAGANT and MAGNANIMOUS spending spree!
A few years back, a house in Ambattur, Velachery,Avadi,OMR,Navalur, Sholingalanallur or any of the IT corridors would not have been lucrative to much! People thought that these areas are quite far from the city and the rent were very nominal! But NOW! these are the most happening avenues in Chennai and it's almost impossible to find a house at a low rent in these places!


I am nobody to judge whether this change is good or bad! But as a lower middle class boy who has always lived in rented houses, i am aggrieved!


Having lived in rented houses all my life, i made a promise to myself at a very young age that i would only marry and have kids after i own a house! that seems like such a funny and silly thing now!

The land prices in the city of Chennai have reached crores long since!And buying an apartment inside the city is like buying a piece of land in the moon!I may not buy a house before i get married but if i don't spend like a spendthrift, save wisely, work hard and toil like a dog, i MAY but a house before my kid gets married! But that's just WAY too much into the future!


MAYBE, i'd live all my life in rented houses! But that's not so bad! Aren't there millions in India who cannot even afford a roof on top of their heads?! I am sure my plight is far better than theirs! But, if the IT people and the landlords show some compassion to the lower middle class, i'd feel grateful! And if our Indian legislation EVER at least plans to come up with STRICT RENT CONTROL then i'd be the happiest person in the world!


For now, a TO-LET board that does not say "only bachelors" and a reasonable rent is all i am looking for!




P.S. the background and font color has an implicit grief, and a strong, hopeful yet helpless feeling to it!

Apathy,Indifference or Sheer Negligence

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see an old beggar woman? 

You probably think that she's been begging all her life;or you think that her children disowned her; or many of us living in this fast mechanical world who have absolutely no time to think about some battered old woman on the road would not even think anything, but I'm sure the lady would surely create a little sympathy in our hearts( if we still have one).In reality, most of us ignore these people, do not give any alms and just get on with our business because we feel, "there are so many of them in our country and i cannot give charity to all of them all the time". Well, i share your feelings too.

This incident happened about two years ago that has been pricking my conscience ever since.

It was a usual lazy Saturday when my dad made me to run to the State Bank of India in Annanagar to do some regular bank errands. There was an old midget woman dressed in rags. She was sobbing like a small hungry baby calling out to be lifted and fed. She cried so uncontrollably that it was a sight that could break even the coldest of cold hearts. She had a small utensil in front of her filled with coins. I understood that she was a beggar. I would have usually walked away minding my business, but on that day, i somehow could not.do that.


I walked up to her and by that time another beggar woman had approached the crying midget lady to comfort her.When we asked the old crying lady what had happened to upset her, she simply could not speak out.She spoke through tears and sobbing. She was not able to speak in sentences and we could only make out a few words out of her mumbling."hit","cheeks","that man","steal","assault".these were the only few words that we could make out from her gibberish.We took her water to drink to make her calm. She relaxed a bit and told us, rather told her friend( the other woman), what happened.


If i say that i was shocked,terrified,disgusted,outraged by what i heard, it'd only be an understatement.I was appalled to know that there are such men in the world. For a moment, i literally felt ashamed of being a man.


Apparently, the old lady was brutally hit, sexually and verbally abused by a man who also stole the money that she had accumulated as alms.


I had to run to the bank as they close by 12 on Saturdays.When i finished my work and came out, i saw that the old lady calmed down a little more.She was still gasping occasionally and was counting her money.And after she did, her eyes were lost somewhere.She watched a puppy play on he road and there was a smile on her face through the tears.That is when i realized that she still had a child in her.( Don't we all have a child in us always? ) But then she gasped again out of all the sobbing she had done.


I shed a tiny little tear and gave her five rupees.


After that i have visited the bank so many times.I never saw that old midget after that in my life. But i can never forget her innocent face. I can never forget her sobbing eyes that had so much pain and sorrow.I can never forget her beautiful smile that is worth a fortune. I can never forget the fact that an old woman was abused.And every time i think about her, my eyes well up.And every time, i see an old beggar woman, my heart goes for her and i cannot help but pray, "Oh god!Let nobody abuse her!".


There are so many NGO's that work towards rehabilitation of such people. I did not know much about those organizations back then.The next time you see an old lady begging, do not judge too much, do not use your brain a lot and do not be apathetic. After all, they are human beings who could not afford what we can.If you can help them, buy them food if you feel they would misuse the money. Or contact any of the NGO's that work towards rehabilitation in Chennai. IF you are TOO BUSY, don't think too much to give a rupee or two. I'm sure we spend hundreds and thousands on our footwear and apparel.A rupee or two from our pockets would not burn a hole in our wallets.And trust me, there's no better feeling that "GIVING"!


That incident changed a lot in my life and changed my outlook towards our economy and my life very differently.


We can all make a change!!Try to be socially responsible in the small way that you can within your means.


And quoting one of MJ's most popular songs here,


"There Are Ways To Get There
If You Care Enough For The Living
Make A Little Space ,Make A Better Place...

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying ,If You Care Enough For The Living
Make A Better PlaceFor You And For Me "


Do not be apathetic,indifferent and negligent about fellow human beings just because they live on the streets!They do not have a choice! You have a choice to not care or make a little change!


JAI HIND!