Privacy...

While wondering about Google and its playing with people's privacy, following thought came to my mind - "Does privacy promote immorality?". Let me start by giving a roadmap to this thought first.
Being social is the characteristic of human beings. We all live in a society, whether we need to or not will be left to one's own judgment. But in almost all cases we need to too. Having a solid credibility in place comes next. If one chooses to trade freely in the society, credibility goes a long way in making sure it happens in seamless fashion. And I mean trade of goods, services even ideas.
Credibility comes with having little or no dark secrets or dust beneath the rug etc. While there is no certain way someone can confirm one's credibility, almost all of us make sure we hide our secrets well or at least do our bit to justify. In any case, we want to slightly open our books to make sure we look good in the public. Sometimes this can get slightly out of hand and people go overboard with their image.
Privacy and the respect for it actually is a progeny of western individualistic school of thought. Obviously what I am doing in my own damn business, but with an emerging market economy everywhere, who knows it might hurt someone else's damn business. This is where the trick lies. Let us take an example -
Mr X is your normal office goer who (according to his friends) loves movies, books and is generally a homebound down-to-earth types person. Interesting in his own ways. Mr X though privately does a lot of sidey things over net like has a alias for sex chat etc. This part only he knows. Mr X has a girlfriend Ms Y. Y likes X for what she knows he is. One day this geeky friend of Y tells her that she found X chatting in lewd lingo over net. Busted!!! Ok now thats not that easy but you can imagine.

Where am I heading? well ok, I think privacy laws just make us more prone to being accountable to society. So if the person is not upright by himself, there is no way you can make him upright.
On the contrary, Indian society laid emphasis on slightly more non-privacy oriented model. This makes sure that each individual in the society keeps a tab on the other as far as morality is concerned.
So while Google is playing with our privacy, I think we are evolving towards a more open society, a society which while empowering an individual, also makes sure that none of his deeds go unwatched!

Good one..

On my Dad's shirt that I gifted him...

"The road to heaven might not be a road at all"... Amazing!!

Reward?

Our PM has declared relief package for farmers committing suicides in Vidarbha. He seems to be so moved by this one event that it even appeared in his Independence day speech. Quite a contrast that after declaring this package, the suicide didn't stop but actually increased. From a common man's perspective, this is contradictory. From an economic perspective not.

Come to think of it, aren't we providing an incentive for farmers to commit suicide by offering such packages. As such agriculture isn't a very lucrative business. Lack of infrastructure facilities, money and any governmental help, farmers are faced with so many adversities that there life resembles a saga of struggle against everything. Add to this the suicide package, and what we get is a recipe for disaster.

I cannot think of any solution, but I can definitely say that merely providing financial help is not help at all.

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for life" - Chinese proverb.

Here is praying for those deceased farmers, and wishing that things become better for hapless farmers of our nation.

If by Rudyard Kipling

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Rudyard Kipling

Train Journeys...

I like train journeys... Rather I love them... Its a good way to see how people react and you can have fun if you have a slightly amazing sense of humor.. :)
Will try to reminisce some exciting and intriguing incidents -

So here I was sitting with an elderly gentleman on side lower. He'd spread the berth like they do when someone wants to sleep.. So we are having a nice little chat about stations and stuff.. you know like "I think we will reach Blah station by blah time".. Now I happen to be hungry at the same time.. Ok, and I was doing another annoying thing which was to ask that person "Let me know if you want to sleep" (of course seeing the position of the berth and with all due respect to the age).. Coming to the hungry bit, I had a pack of biscuits with me. Now if you have seen the ads that Railways wants people to travel safe, almost all of them have a pack of "poisonous" biscuits in it. I offered the pack of biscuits to the person in front, and believe me he just left the seat... I mean totally left it... only to return when he found me in deep slumber... Ithink this is what might have happened -
Over enthu me --> Asking if he wants to sleep --> Seeing that he is awake offering biscuits!!
:-))

Another incident while travelling back to Hyd.. So I have got a free upgrade which I am totally unaware of, and so my seat is allocated to someone else. And like me there is another guy.. SO in toto there are 4 of us for 2 seats and there is other junta legally in their seats.. Since I had the right to sit on my seat I just grabbed it... the other person had to eat lunch so he grabbed the window seat... the guy s'posed to sit on window, sat besides the lunch eater.. Because of which the everyone shifted one place right... Let me show you a li'l diagram..
62 - my seat
62 - the other guy --> eating lunch at 58
59 - main guy -> shifted to 58
58 - main guy -> shifted to 57
57 - main guy -> rock steady on 57
61 - no one occupied
60 - another guy...
So for about 15 mins there were 4 guys on 3 seats and on my side 2 guys on 3 seats.. LOL.. and NO ONE even thought about 'adjusting' thinking that the other will do it....

Many more to come..