Homosexuality In IT: Not So Happy And Gay
(Published in Techgoss. Written under the pseudonym Anna Martin)
It is the most contemporary face of modern-day India. They are the ones who made Friday dressing an every day affair. They made strolling into business meetings in Jeans and t-shirts a fashion statement. They banished, `Yes sirs and No Sirs’ from the office lexicon and made addressing the CEO’s and CFO’s by the first names sound so hip and happening. They were the first ones who had gyms and swimming pools and mini golf courses in their campuses. They made double figure salaries a thing of yore and made megabucks even before you could say `Dollars’. They made the world sit up straight and look into the so called `third world country’ and realize that India was no longer `Third World’. They ARE the young Turks of business India. The IT set, as they are known in local parlance –the most modern face of contemporary India.
But how prevailing are they? I was in a mood to scratch the surface. What it’s like to be a homosexual in the IT sector in the country?
“Well, they don’t nail you to a cross or burn you on a stake for being a gay or lesbian,” says 33 year old Mahesh, who left one of the biggest and India’s foremost IT Company to become a consultant. Mahesh has been in a steady relationship in the last few years. Though he is openly gay he made a conscious decision to not wear his sexuality on his sleeve at the workplace - his office. “Corporate environment in general is geared towards marriage and kids,” says Mahesh. So, where does that leave the homosexuals and lesbians? “Well, we always gets the short end of the stick when it comes to insurance and travel benefits, other perks and office get-togethers,” says Mahesh. He feels being a gay does affect career prospects as one goes up the career ladder. But more about that later.
“In a company like Infosys, the wife of the employee gets to travel with the husband, she can spend the day at the guest house etc,” says an employee who didn’t want to be identified. “But our partners are not allowed any such benefits.”
Mahesh did question his old management about the ethics of it all. “I was told that the company would have no problems implementing the rules if there was a law supporting same sex marriage. That is the stance they take.” Infact Mahesh clearly stated in his exit interview that the way the company dealt with diversity issues “bothered” him. “I told them that they were not being proactive about it. I mean, they can start small by organizing company events where our partners are invited too.” Mahesh however insists that some of the IT companies are “doing a lot to stop the negativity that the homosexuals usually have to deal with in an office environment but they are just not doing anything positive.”
Kiran Kumar, who works with the second largest IT Company in the country says, “There is a reluctance to deal with homosexuality. The attitude is I have no problems with it but I don’t want to deal with it.” How conducive is the working environment for homosexuals in the IT sector? “Simply put, Overt offence –No; Covert Offence –yes,” says Vinay a Sr.Manager in yet another large IT firm in South India. “I remember, when I came out, some of my friends in the group felt extremely uncomfortable for sometime, one guy even blushed red. It did take some time for them to get used to the notion that I was gay. Women are open to the idea, though. I guess they feel safe. I don’t understand why the men should feel threatened anyway.”
“There will always be that odd snide remark. Sniggering looks etc,” says Kiran Kumar. “It is not aimed at any one particular person. In fact, my colleagues don’t know that I am gay so they are very open about their gay-bashing. They make statements like, oh these guys are so weird, so abnormal….they are actually spoiling our culture, blah, blah, blah….But I am sure the minute they come to know that I am gay they wouldn’t make such remarks in front of me. But I would become conscious of the fact that they are still thinking such thoughts in their minds. That’s one of the reasons why I still haven’t come out with my colleagues.”
Mahesh feels there is no need to wear your sexuality on your sleeve, “I have reached a stage in my career where people don’t ask me anything about my sexuality or why I am not married etc.” But he also says that one’s sexual orientation comes into play and it matters at senior managerial levels. “Since much of the social interactions happen outside it does become difficult for a gay man. For example I cannot have my boyfriend hang around with Nandan Nilekeni’s (CEO of Infosys) wife, whereas if I were married then my wife could have hung around with her. As you progress in the career ladder, you begin to feel uncomfortable. Your superiors sometimes tend to feel fatherly and begin to take a personal interest in you. And when you cannot fulfill certain social obligations that are required of a Senior Manager then that puts you at a disadvantage over other managers.”
Mahesh infact did have a manager who kept pestering him to get married. “`If you don’t people will think you are gay,’ he would say to me. Then he would add even if you are gay you should get married. It will help you get ahead in your career. He was a traditional person.” Finally, when Mahesh could bear it no more he informed the manager that he was gay. “After that there was less and less of social interaction with him. Career wise it is tough on some of us once we become managers. Our situation makes networking difficult. But if you are smart enough to obtain the title of `confirmed bachelors’ as some big honchos in the business have, then it is smooth sailing.”
Vinay feels that the problem lies in the fact that the companies don’t know how to deal with homosexuals. “IT companies have counselors to help their workforce. But even these counselors don’t know how to deal with homosexuality. The company doesn’t think of having a counselor who is trained to handle such situations.”
In his earlier office when Mahesh was going through some problems with his partner, his immediate boss was very understanding and encouraged him to see the office counselor. “She was a sweet lady and sensitive too, but she told me that she didn’t know how to deal with my problem.” That is some counseling.
To summarize Mahesh feels that gays can completely feel integrated into the system only when the companies take proactive action. “In the current situation there are two major pitfalls for a homosexual,” says Mahesh. “One, benefits of having a career in a big company gets affected if you are gay and secondly benefits of networking which helps in furthering your career get affected too.”
Large IT companies are in a position to make social changes and impact the society. Mahesh summarizes it succinctly, “IT companies can start by embracing and supporting diversity in a proactive manner.”
Techgoss note: Some names have been changed at the request of those interviewed.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Is Lesbianism a Western Concept?
PUBLISHED IN: THE TIMES OF INDIA
They are at it again. The self-appointed guardians of Indian culture are agitating against the controversial film on lesbianism, `Girlfriend’. They want the film banned because it “is not a reflection of Indian culture and that it (lesbianism) is a concept imported from the west”. If lesbianism is alien to Indian culture then how come it is mentioned in the 5000-year old Vedas?
The Vedas are said to be issued forth by Brahma and is largely considered to be origin of Indian culture, values and traditions. It consists of verses concerning civic virtues (Dharmashastra), politics (Brhaspati), property (Arthashastra) and sexuality (Kamashastra). According to the Vedas, hum beings are divided into male, female and tritiya-prakriti or third sex. Lesbians come under the latter category. Throughout the Vedas lesbians are known as svairini meaning independent or liberated woman. She is described as someone who lives alone or with another woman. In Vedic times she was allowed to engage in all means of livelihood including trade, government, entertainment and were readily accommodated in the ordinary society.
What is the situation now? Here is a sample: Leela Namdeo and Urmila Shrivastava, two police women with the 23rd battalion of Special Armed Forces dared to marry in a Hindu ceremony. They were expelled from their jobs because they were considered a “bad influence on others”. Gita Darji and Kishori Shah, two lesbian nurses in their mid-twenties who lived in a small town in Gujarat, unable to bear the persecution by family and society, hanged themselves. Between 1999-2000 Karalla reported nine suicides of lesbians. In the same year, two girls in the state of Orissa were beaten up by their families for wanting to stay together. The girls attempted suicide, one of them died. In Nagaland, cops raped a lesbian woman for five months apparently to cure her of her lesbianism.
In Vedic society, third gender citizens were neither persecuted nor denied basic rights. According to Dharma Shastra, adultery, rape and crime against women, violation of children was punished by death, but not homosexuality. Whereas in modern India, a man who throws acid on a woman can get out of prison (that is if he goes to prison in the first place) in less than five years; same is the case with child molesters; rapists and other diabolic people. But if you are a lesbian, or if you make a film (even a bad one) on lesbianism, hell freezes over.
What symbolizes Indian culture? Tolerance and acceptance or violence and bigotry? In Hinduism there are no accidents. Everything in nature has a purpose, and reason for existence. 5000 years ago people believed that the tritiya-prakritis played an integral role in the balance of both human society and nature. But, nowadays, people believe that they pollute the society.
The agitators say, “Films like this can corrupt tender minds. It is an assault against our Indian culture. We don’t wan tour children to watch such films.” I say you would be right in not allowing your child to watch `Girlfriend’ because it is a bad film and not because it deals with lesbianism. Most people do not even blink before dragging their children to watch films that include a mandatory rape scene, mind boggling violence, vulgar dance movements and awful double-meaning jokes. Won’t your children get affected? Do these movies reflect Indian culture? Why are we not agitating against these? Recently, I watched a film which opened with a scene that had absolutely no connection whatsoever with the storyline. The scene shows a college principal dressed in a woolen min skirt (if you know any principal in this country that dresses like that please do let me know). One of her students tug at her skirt and the apparel unravels. The principal is blissfully unaware of it all till her skirt disappears completely. The camera zooms in on her naked thunder-thighs. The students’ clap and laugh. So do the audience. According to Indian culture, guru or teacher is next only to God. Right? (The film was a super-duper hit).
Acceptance of lesbianism is an individual choice. But when it comes to discrimination against another human being because of their different sexual orientation or indulging in violence against them there is no choice. Bigotry should never be tolerated. DO not use Indian culture as an excuse for your intolerant and biased nature. In fact, it was Queen Victoria who refused to believe that homosexuality and lesbianism existed when it was accepted in India 5000 years ago. It was Lord Macaulay who formulated a law forbidding homosexuality and lesbianism. It is from this 140-year-old draconian law that our Sec 377 or IPC originates. Ironically, the law has been scrapped in England, but not in India. So stop saying that lesbianism is a western concept. That is just an excuse for the unsavory elements in the society to indulge in violence.
They are at it again. The self-appointed guardians of Indian culture are agitating against the controversial film on lesbianism, `Girlfriend’. They want the film banned because it “is not a reflection of Indian culture and that it (lesbianism) is a concept imported from the west”. If lesbianism is alien to Indian culture then how come it is mentioned in the 5000-year old Vedas?
The Vedas are said to be issued forth by Brahma and is largely considered to be origin of Indian culture, values and traditions. It consists of verses concerning civic virtues (Dharmashastra), politics (Brhaspati), property (Arthashastra) and sexuality (Kamashastra). According to the Vedas, hum beings are divided into male, female and tritiya-prakriti or third sex. Lesbians come under the latter category. Throughout the Vedas lesbians are known as svairini meaning independent or liberated woman. She is described as someone who lives alone or with another woman. In Vedic times she was allowed to engage in all means of livelihood including trade, government, entertainment and were readily accommodated in the ordinary society.
What is the situation now? Here is a sample: Leela Namdeo and Urmila Shrivastava, two police women with the 23rd battalion of Special Armed Forces dared to marry in a Hindu ceremony. They were expelled from their jobs because they were considered a “bad influence on others”. Gita Darji and Kishori Shah, two lesbian nurses in their mid-twenties who lived in a small town in Gujarat, unable to bear the persecution by family and society, hanged themselves. Between 1999-2000 Karalla reported nine suicides of lesbians. In the same year, two girls in the state of Orissa were beaten up by their families for wanting to stay together. The girls attempted suicide, one of them died. In Nagaland, cops raped a lesbian woman for five months apparently to cure her of her lesbianism.
In Vedic society, third gender citizens were neither persecuted nor denied basic rights. According to Dharma Shastra, adultery, rape and crime against women, violation of children was punished by death, but not homosexuality. Whereas in modern India, a man who throws acid on a woman can get out of prison (that is if he goes to prison in the first place) in less than five years; same is the case with child molesters; rapists and other diabolic people. But if you are a lesbian, or if you make a film (even a bad one) on lesbianism, hell freezes over.
What symbolizes Indian culture? Tolerance and acceptance or violence and bigotry? In Hinduism there are no accidents. Everything in nature has a purpose, and reason for existence. 5000 years ago people believed that the tritiya-prakritis played an integral role in the balance of both human society and nature. But, nowadays, people believe that they pollute the society.
The agitators say, “Films like this can corrupt tender minds. It is an assault against our Indian culture. We don’t wan tour children to watch such films.” I say you would be right in not allowing your child to watch `Girlfriend’ because it is a bad film and not because it deals with lesbianism. Most people do not even blink before dragging their children to watch films that include a mandatory rape scene, mind boggling violence, vulgar dance movements and awful double-meaning jokes. Won’t your children get affected? Do these movies reflect Indian culture? Why are we not agitating against these? Recently, I watched a film which opened with a scene that had absolutely no connection whatsoever with the storyline. The scene shows a college principal dressed in a woolen min skirt (if you know any principal in this country that dresses like that please do let me know). One of her students tug at her skirt and the apparel unravels. The principal is blissfully unaware of it all till her skirt disappears completely. The camera zooms in on her naked thunder-thighs. The students’ clap and laugh. So do the audience. According to Indian culture, guru or teacher is next only to God. Right? (The film was a super-duper hit).
Acceptance of lesbianism is an individual choice. But when it comes to discrimination against another human being because of their different sexual orientation or indulging in violence against them there is no choice. Bigotry should never be tolerated. DO not use Indian culture as an excuse for your intolerant and biased nature. In fact, it was Queen Victoria who refused to believe that homosexuality and lesbianism existed when it was accepted in India 5000 years ago. It was Lord Macaulay who formulated a law forbidding homosexuality and lesbianism. It is from this 140-year-old draconian law that our Sec 377 or IPC originates. Ironically, the law has been scrapped in England, but not in India. So stop saying that lesbianism is a western concept. That is just an excuse for the unsavory elements in the society to indulge in violence.
Some angels make it down to earth and some don't
PUBLISHED IN: INDIAN EXPRESS
Once again the city is revisited by the sensational Shakeereh Khaleeli murder case. There are views and counterviews about what should be an appropriate punishment for the perpetrator of the crime, Shradananda. As a group of media people were talking about the case and the people involved in it the discussion veered towards the beginning of the end of the life of a once beautiful woman. One journalist who had followed the case right from the start, and who was privy to privileged information said, “It is so sad how Shakeereh’s desire to have a male child led her to trust Shradananda, who had promised her a son and then led her to her grave.”
Here was a fine-looking lady, hailing from a prominent family and married into an equally important family and who had apparently lacked nothing in life. Yet it appears that she yearned for a male offspring. So much so, she was willing to give up all that was important in her life (including her daughters) and her life itself to fulfill that one desire. Why?
From where do some people acquire this belief that life is incomplete without a male heir? You might argue that things have changed –and yes, it has, but still we are a country that kills its girl babies. And if you think this happens only in the villages, think again.
There is a prominent business family in this city known for their classiness, generosity and business acumen. Eons ago when their highly educated daughter-in-law gave birth to a first-born girl child the entire family rejoiced. After a year the she became pregnant again. When she discovered that she was going to have a girl child, she aborted the child. The following pregnancies (yes it was more than one!) met with the same fate until she conceived a `male’ progeny. Why?
Would she have been thrown out of the house for giving birth to a baby girl the second time or even the third time? Would she have been ill treated for not giving birth to a boy? Did they ever tell her, look beti, you make sure you give us a grandson the next time otherwise….”? “Oh no, my folks are wonderful people,” she had said. Then what made her do what she did? “I don’t know how to explain this, the words are not spoken, but somehow you feel there is an inherent meaning hanging in the air that says, `We are happy with a girl child but we would be happier with a boy at least the second time around’. It is almost like a hidden code of honor –that if you don’t have a male heir you are incomplete. Many women in this country can sense this unspoken decree -it is there in that look, that tone, that body movement that says –you have had a girl, again! Above all it is there in your head –I don’t know how it got there but the thought is there –that I would feel complete or done my duty as a wife and daughter-in-law if I had son. For me both my children are precious. My daughter is given equal importance. But I still know that my husband feels happy to have a son.”
This misplaced and perverted desire to have a son at any cost has been ingrained in the minds of some of our men and women that they believe no family can be complete without a son. The urban communities might not pay the nurse to strangle the girl child minutes after her birth a la in the villages. The educated people might not abuse the woman who has given birth to second or third baby girl. But they have their own urbane ways of expressing their displeasure or their prejudice. I was once talking to a young girl who told me that she wished to become an engineer. I asked, “Then why are you opting for literature in college?” And she said, “Oh, that’s because my older brother got into engineering two years ago. And my family does not want me to pursue engineering since it would increase their financial burden. They’d rather spend that money on my brother to complete his engineering, that’s why I decided to do literature.” All I could say was, “Why don’t you approach the banks for an education-loan?” I didn’t know how to answer the numerous unanswered questions burning within that young girl.
A journalist acquaintance of mine, oldest among two sisters, has a father who hasn’t uttered a word to either her mother or his two daughters in more than two and half decades? He stopped communicating with his family the minute his second daughter was born. He blames his wife for not giving him a son. He is currently, holding a high post in a bank. How do you explain such preposterous behavior amongst educated people? Who do you blame? The society, the family, the individual? All I know is it is up to the individual to set this wrong right –damn the society! There are many angels that come down from heaven, some don’t make it while some make it but are not treated like angels! And I strongly believe that all angels are girls. Call me a feminist if you want!
Once again the city is revisited by the sensational Shakeereh Khaleeli murder case. There are views and counterviews about what should be an appropriate punishment for the perpetrator of the crime, Shradananda. As a group of media people were talking about the case and the people involved in it the discussion veered towards the beginning of the end of the life of a once beautiful woman. One journalist who had followed the case right from the start, and who was privy to privileged information said, “It is so sad how Shakeereh’s desire to have a male child led her to trust Shradananda, who had promised her a son and then led her to her grave.”
Here was a fine-looking lady, hailing from a prominent family and married into an equally important family and who had apparently lacked nothing in life. Yet it appears that she yearned for a male offspring. So much so, she was willing to give up all that was important in her life (including her daughters) and her life itself to fulfill that one desire. Why?
From where do some people acquire this belief that life is incomplete without a male heir? You might argue that things have changed –and yes, it has, but still we are a country that kills its girl babies. And if you think this happens only in the villages, think again.
There is a prominent business family in this city known for their classiness, generosity and business acumen. Eons ago when their highly educated daughter-in-law gave birth to a first-born girl child the entire family rejoiced. After a year the she became pregnant again. When she discovered that she was going to have a girl child, she aborted the child. The following pregnancies (yes it was more than one!) met with the same fate until she conceived a `male’ progeny. Why?
Would she have been thrown out of the house for giving birth to a baby girl the second time or even the third time? Would she have been ill treated for not giving birth to a boy? Did they ever tell her, look beti, you make sure you give us a grandson the next time otherwise….”? “Oh no, my folks are wonderful people,” she had said. Then what made her do what she did? “I don’t know how to explain this, the words are not spoken, but somehow you feel there is an inherent meaning hanging in the air that says, `We are happy with a girl child but we would be happier with a boy at least the second time around’. It is almost like a hidden code of honor –that if you don’t have a male heir you are incomplete. Many women in this country can sense this unspoken decree -it is there in that look, that tone, that body movement that says –you have had a girl, again! Above all it is there in your head –I don’t know how it got there but the thought is there –that I would feel complete or done my duty as a wife and daughter-in-law if I had son. For me both my children are precious. My daughter is given equal importance. But I still know that my husband feels happy to have a son.”
This misplaced and perverted desire to have a son at any cost has been ingrained in the minds of some of our men and women that they believe no family can be complete without a son. The urban communities might not pay the nurse to strangle the girl child minutes after her birth a la in the villages. The educated people might not abuse the woman who has given birth to second or third baby girl. But they have their own urbane ways of expressing their displeasure or their prejudice. I was once talking to a young girl who told me that she wished to become an engineer. I asked, “Then why are you opting for literature in college?” And she said, “Oh, that’s because my older brother got into engineering two years ago. And my family does not want me to pursue engineering since it would increase their financial burden. They’d rather spend that money on my brother to complete his engineering, that’s why I decided to do literature.” All I could say was, “Why don’t you approach the banks for an education-loan?” I didn’t know how to answer the numerous unanswered questions burning within that young girl.
A journalist acquaintance of mine, oldest among two sisters, has a father who hasn’t uttered a word to either her mother or his two daughters in more than two and half decades? He stopped communicating with his family the minute his second daughter was born. He blames his wife for not giving him a son. He is currently, holding a high post in a bank. How do you explain such preposterous behavior amongst educated people? Who do you blame? The society, the family, the individual? All I know is it is up to the individual to set this wrong right –damn the society! There are many angels that come down from heaven, some don’t make it while some make it but are not treated like angels! And I strongly believe that all angels are girls. Call me a feminist if you want!
I'm not ok. R u nt ok 2?
PUBLICATION: INDIAN EXPRESS
Citizen’s Diary -2006
Here is a list of reasons why mobile phones should be wiped out from the face of this earth:
You can’t even pee in peace because the phone’s ringing and you `have’ to take that call –your mind is conditioned.
You can’t even pee in peace without the caller asking, `Where are you? Are you in the loo?” For heaven’s sake, what’s your problem yaar! Why don’t you just get on with it?
It brings out the beast in you. Especially when you are watching Saif and Vidya Balan playing the piano in Parineeta and suddenly the pot-bellied stranger’s mobile rings and he (who’s already usurped your armrest) says, `Ah baba, I am in the theatre, watching Parineeta…no, no you tell me, I am not busy at all…” BUT I AM. I am watching a movie and do you mind? You suddenly feel this urge to be Tom and Jerry and want to squish the pot-bellied stranger’s head right into the piano and watch the notes play on his head!
When your are ill your friends don’t send flowers but an sms -“Hw r u feelin?” Miserable, of course. Miffed at the impersonal attitude you don’t reply.
When your friends are ill, you don’t call but send an sms, “R u feelin ok?” And you feel miserable when they don’t reply.
You wish SMS hadn’t been invented at all, then you wouldn’t have made a fool of yourself by sending a loooong text msg proposal to that dishy guy who stole your heart only to receive a reply -`Sry, bt Im nt rdy. Bt tks anwy’. Face to face conversations always comes with in-built censorship based on common sense unlike text msgs. And you will instantly know that a guy who spells `Sorry’ as `Sry’ is just not worth the effort.
You have lost the art of communication, thanks to text messaging. You have been reduced to a mumbling Marlon Brando in God Father (at least he mumbled full sentences).
You realize you are getting on with age when it becomes increasingly difficult to decipher msgs like: Am, fln g8 or u r stpd or wtn 4u
You realize you are digressing when your written communications consist of words like rply, msg, tmrw, g8 mtng u…
During a busy day you take time off to wonder whether your burning auditory nerves has any connection to the news report that you read the previous day -`Constant use of mobile phones might cause cancer of the auditory nerves’.
At a lunch meeting you and your friend talk –not to each other though but to the little thingys that’s attached to your palms!
Your date spends more time looking at the mobile than at you –he’s waiting for that important call, you see!
The car in front of you is swaying and you think the guy at the wheel is having a heart attack. Not at all, he is simbly talking on his mobile, giving you a heart attack.
Above all I want mobiles to be banned because I am driven over the brink with Tom, Dick and Harry and Gita, Sita and Mita calling me constantly and harassing me to accept their free offers of credit cards, mobile cards, housing loans, car loans and other assorted loans! Don’t call me, unless you want to offer me George Clooney gift-wrapped!
For all the above reasons and more I want the mobile phones banished from this earth. But then I realize that the little silver box in my hand has also salvaged many situations in life. Like when my mother called me in the middle of the day, when I was miles away from home, to tell me that she wasn’t feeling “too well” and wanted to say “Good bye”. Thanks to my phone I was able to call for help quickly. Seeing my mobile in the car seat next to me gives me a strange sense of confidence and security especially when I am driving back home, alone in the middle of the night. It is at times like these that you realize that technology is a double-edged sword. You gain from it when it improves your quality of life and when you don’t allow yourself to be dictated by it. No other gadget has had people dancing to its tunes like the mobile phones. We have allowed ourselves to be ruled by it. It has made us more aggressive, insensitive, and impatient and above all ISOLATED! Think about it and you will realize how we have allowed ourselves to be isolated by a gadget that is meant to connect people! We have only ourselves to blame. Any one who is incapable of using technology responsibly has no right to use it at all.
Citizen’s Diary -2006
Here is a list of reasons why mobile phones should be wiped out from the face of this earth:
You can’t even pee in peace because the phone’s ringing and you `have’ to take that call –your mind is conditioned.
You can’t even pee in peace without the caller asking, `Where are you? Are you in the loo?” For heaven’s sake, what’s your problem yaar! Why don’t you just get on with it?
It brings out the beast in you. Especially when you are watching Saif and Vidya Balan playing the piano in Parineeta and suddenly the pot-bellied stranger’s mobile rings and he (who’s already usurped your armrest) says, `Ah baba, I am in the theatre, watching Parineeta…no, no you tell me, I am not busy at all…” BUT I AM. I am watching a movie and do you mind? You suddenly feel this urge to be Tom and Jerry and want to squish the pot-bellied stranger’s head right into the piano and watch the notes play on his head!
When your are ill your friends don’t send flowers but an sms -“Hw r u feelin?” Miserable, of course. Miffed at the impersonal attitude you don’t reply.
When your friends are ill, you don’t call but send an sms, “R u feelin ok?” And you feel miserable when they don’t reply.
You wish SMS hadn’t been invented at all, then you wouldn’t have made a fool of yourself by sending a loooong text msg proposal to that dishy guy who stole your heart only to receive a reply -`Sry, bt Im nt rdy. Bt tks anwy’. Face to face conversations always comes with in-built censorship based on common sense unlike text msgs. And you will instantly know that a guy who spells `Sorry’ as `Sry’ is just not worth the effort.
You have lost the art of communication, thanks to text messaging. You have been reduced to a mumbling Marlon Brando in God Father (at least he mumbled full sentences).
You realize you are getting on with age when it becomes increasingly difficult to decipher msgs like: Am, fln g8 or u r stpd or wtn 4u
You realize you are digressing when your written communications consist of words like rply, msg, tmrw, g8 mtng u…
During a busy day you take time off to wonder whether your burning auditory nerves has any connection to the news report that you read the previous day -`Constant use of mobile phones might cause cancer of the auditory nerves’.
At a lunch meeting you and your friend talk –not to each other though but to the little thingys that’s attached to your palms!
Your date spends more time looking at the mobile than at you –he’s waiting for that important call, you see!
The car in front of you is swaying and you think the guy at the wheel is having a heart attack. Not at all, he is simbly talking on his mobile, giving you a heart attack.
Above all I want mobiles to be banned because I am driven over the brink with Tom, Dick and Harry and Gita, Sita and Mita calling me constantly and harassing me to accept their free offers of credit cards, mobile cards, housing loans, car loans and other assorted loans! Don’t call me, unless you want to offer me George Clooney gift-wrapped!
For all the above reasons and more I want the mobile phones banished from this earth. But then I realize that the little silver box in my hand has also salvaged many situations in life. Like when my mother called me in the middle of the day, when I was miles away from home, to tell me that she wasn’t feeling “too well” and wanted to say “Good bye”. Thanks to my phone I was able to call for help quickly. Seeing my mobile in the car seat next to me gives me a strange sense of confidence and security especially when I am driving back home, alone in the middle of the night. It is at times like these that you realize that technology is a double-edged sword. You gain from it when it improves your quality of life and when you don’t allow yourself to be dictated by it. No other gadget has had people dancing to its tunes like the mobile phones. We have allowed ourselves to be ruled by it. It has made us more aggressive, insensitive, and impatient and above all ISOLATED! Think about it and you will realize how we have allowed ourselves to be isolated by a gadget that is meant to connect people! We have only ourselves to blame. Any one who is incapable of using technology responsibly has no right to use it at all.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Gimme back my old book store
I like to spend saturday afternoons in my favourite bookstore close to my house. There is a coffee shop attached to the bookstore. A few fancy wooden tables and chairs both on the inside and outside of the shop. Many a day I have enjoyed a tall glass of Vanilla milkshake or a cup of hot chocolate, sitting by the window and watch the world go by. It was a nice feeling to be surrounded by books. And if I felt like I would pick up a book from the shelf and browse through it as I sipped my coffee. I have thought to myself, `Ah, this is wonderful. Whoever came up with this idea should be lauded.' But now I am re-thinking. Is it a good idea afterall -to have a coffeeshop or a children's play area inside a bookstore? Me thinks, it is not. Especially after my experience this afternoon. Little kids turned into abnoxious brats running criss-cross inbetween the book shelves and screaming on top of their voices. There was a lady with a little kid perched on her hip, obviously wanting to buy something that would be of use to her tiny tot and which would turn him/her (i couldn't tell the difference) into Einstein. But she just couldn't decide what to buy. So she called someone, mentor of sorts i guess, and began reading out blurbs and pages and photo credits of the various books, over the phone and in the loudest, irritating voice as possible. "There are lots of pictures. Cats, dogs, elephants...but only few lines by each photograph. It is looking nice. But I don't think it is the right book for the child...." Then for godsake don't buy it. The back-n-forth went on for a long time. The lady was in no way perturbed by the stares and ugly looks that were directed her way by other people in the shop.Then there were a couple of giggly teenage lovers coochi-cooing in the loudest whisper possible....oh my God, give me back my old book stores where you could sit down or stand up and browse through books with no distractions and disturbances. The silence of the environment only added to the pleasure of being a book store. We have lost that eternal ingredient of a book store -silence- in these new age book stores. Awwwww!
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