Friday, 3 February 2012
Chain Mails
Have you ever come across, and I bet you would have definitely come across chain mails many times in your life.
In India, given its religious background , and a clamour for temple trusts of various Hindu Gods to top the lists and spread the word, there existed a campaign of sorts to get people to pray to the Deity at a particular temple.
As a child I remember a post card delivered to us by the postman which read:
‘In the name of Lord Venkateshwara, do NOT ignore this letter. ( Mind you this was a hand written post card!) .
This letter carries the blessings of the Lord, which will be bestowed upon you if you send this letter out to another ten people you know and give them the privilege of seeking the Lord’s Blessings. But mind you, DO NOT ignore this letter.
Mr. Ramesh, received this letter( post card being synonymous with letter), and threw it in a corner, completely disregarding it, with no respect for the lord whatsoever. In a weeks time, he lost his job. He soon realised his folly, and told his wife to search for the letter, rewrote it on ten other postcards and sent it to ten addresses from his address book. Within a fortnight he was employed again, within a bigger company and higher salary.
Mrs. Sharma, tore the letter and threw it away, within a week her son got pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital. She too realised her mistake and wrote down what she read from the letter and sent it out to 10 more people. He soon recovered and she is happy again.
So within the next three days, send this letter out to ten more people or be ready to face the consequences.’
Indians are very god fearing, or at least the earlier generation was much more than the current generation, Out of fear my poor gullible mother, rewrote 10 postcards and duly posted it within the ‘three day deadline’ lest my father be rendered jobless or me and my sister catch pneumonia!! and thanks to that we never faced those dreadful circumstances.
Its been many years since that letter and post moved on to email, the emails were the same, but more easily executed at the press of a ‘forward’ click.
But nowadays, it’s almost completely wiped out. No more mails about the Lords and their blessings. Maybe a stray mail, once on two years , but never more than that.
So much so that after years of pursuing a fulltime, permanent job, with no luck, I have decided to start the chain mail again. Which will read as follows:
‘ To whom it may concern,
My name is J. I have 5 years of experience..blahblah….
please find attached my CV, but mind you DO NOT ignore this mail.
Mr. X, read my CV and deleted it, within a week he lost his job.
Mr. Y, read the CV and said I didn’t match the job profile, he is now in hospital after a bad leg injury.
Mr. Z, read my CV and called me for an interview, He soon got a promotion,( Unfortunately I didn’t get the job but that’s beside the point!!).
So in case you don’t think you have a befitting role for me, send this CV to 15 more recruiters within the next two working days or be willing to face the consequences!!
Well, now lets see how many responses I get ! haha
In India, given its religious background , and a clamour for temple trusts of various Hindu Gods to top the lists and spread the word, there existed a campaign of sorts to get people to pray to the Deity at a particular temple.
As a child I remember a post card delivered to us by the postman which read:
‘In the name of Lord Venkateshwara, do NOT ignore this letter. ( Mind you this was a hand written post card!) .
This letter carries the blessings of the Lord, which will be bestowed upon you if you send this letter out to another ten people you know and give them the privilege of seeking the Lord’s Blessings. But mind you, DO NOT ignore this letter.
Mr. Ramesh, received this letter( post card being synonymous with letter), and threw it in a corner, completely disregarding it, with no respect for the lord whatsoever. In a weeks time, he lost his job. He soon realised his folly, and told his wife to search for the letter, rewrote it on ten other postcards and sent it to ten addresses from his address book. Within a fortnight he was employed again, within a bigger company and higher salary.
Mrs. Sharma, tore the letter and threw it away, within a week her son got pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital. She too realised her mistake and wrote down what she read from the letter and sent it out to 10 more people. He soon recovered and she is happy again.
So within the next three days, send this letter out to ten more people or be ready to face the consequences.’
Indians are very god fearing, or at least the earlier generation was much more than the current generation, Out of fear my poor gullible mother, rewrote 10 postcards and duly posted it within the ‘three day deadline’ lest my father be rendered jobless or me and my sister catch pneumonia!! and thanks to that we never faced those dreadful circumstances.
Its been many years since that letter and post moved on to email, the emails were the same, but more easily executed at the press of a ‘forward’ click.
But nowadays, it’s almost completely wiped out. No more mails about the Lords and their blessings. Maybe a stray mail, once on two years , but never more than that.
So much so that after years of pursuing a fulltime, permanent job, with no luck, I have decided to start the chain mail again. Which will read as follows:
‘ To whom it may concern,
My name is J. I have 5 years of experience..blahblah….
please find attached my CV, but mind you DO NOT ignore this mail.
Mr. X, read my CV and deleted it, within a week he lost his job.
Mr. Y, read the CV and said I didn’t match the job profile, he is now in hospital after a bad leg injury.
Mr. Z, read my CV and called me for an interview, He soon got a promotion,( Unfortunately I didn’t get the job but that’s beside the point!!).
So in case you don’t think you have a befitting role for me, send this CV to 15 more recruiters within the next two working days or be willing to face the consequences!!
Well, now lets see how many responses I get ! haha
Thursday, 5 January 2012
mindbullets.net
Just a website that was recommended to me by a friend. The website offers - on a daily basis, news from the future, yes the datelines for the snippets of news are from dates in the future. The site and these news bits get you thinking .. to quote the founder - Mr. Wolfgang Grulke - "In this warp speed world it is no longer enough to learn from experience. We must learn from the future".
Very nice thought-provoking website ...check it out and let me know what you think .
enjoy !
Very nice thought-provoking website ...check it out and let me know what you think .
enjoy !
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Boxing Day Sale
After my first Christmas in the UK, I was introduced to 'Boxing Day Sale' by friends at the Christmas party.
"You just should go", "it's an experience." they said.
"Even if you dont buy anything, you must go and see the crowds go mad". Well coming from India, watching, 'crowds go mad' was not particularly something I hadnt seen, but in a western country.. ..
So I decided to give it a try. I woke up at 5:30 am to make it to the 'Next' sale , supposedly one of the best 'Boxing Day Sale' shops.
While I waited in line, amongthe first ten, to get a good chance to buy something worthwhile, I was shocked when the time came to get in.
At 6 am the usher literally ushered us into the store, the crowd behind me was so eager to get in ,Ii didnt have to walk , the crowd took me in. This is exactly the same 'pushy' feeling one experiences in a mumbai local train, when he or she is stuck in the way of commuters who want to get off and he or she doesnt!
By the time I realised what was happening, I saw people almost tearing the clothes off the hangers and stuffing it into their shopping baskets. Beats me, how they got their hands on one. They gathered and collected and stuffed their bags and pockets and whatever else could accomodate store stuff, as though they were starved and were collecting food bags thrown from helicopters.
|Then they sprinted to get to the beeline of even faster shoppers who got there before them!
While I was being pushed and shoved and abused and even hit, by shoppers, I just didnt figure out how I thought I would be able to choose something, let alone buy anything thing no this crazy day!
No guesses for why the day is called boxing day ! That was the first and last time I ever shopped on Boxing day, not worth it, I say!
And now with people getting bolder and murdering to get a discount, I am totally off the boxing day sale. Anybody wanna say otherwise?
"You just should go", "it's an experience." they said.
"Even if you dont buy anything, you must go and see the crowds go mad". Well coming from India, watching, 'crowds go mad' was not particularly something I hadnt seen, but in a western country.. ..
So I decided to give it a try. I woke up at 5:30 am to make it to the 'Next' sale , supposedly one of the best 'Boxing Day Sale' shops.
While I waited in line, amongthe first ten, to get a good chance to buy something worthwhile, I was shocked when the time came to get in.
At 6 am the usher literally ushered us into the store, the crowd behind me was so eager to get in ,Ii didnt have to walk , the crowd took me in. This is exactly the same 'pushy' feeling one experiences in a mumbai local train, when he or she is stuck in the way of commuters who want to get off and he or she doesnt!
By the time I realised what was happening, I saw people almost tearing the clothes off the hangers and stuffing it into their shopping baskets. Beats me, how they got their hands on one. They gathered and collected and stuffed their bags and pockets and whatever else could accomodate store stuff, as though they were starved and were collecting food bags thrown from helicopters.
|Then they sprinted to get to the beeline of even faster shoppers who got there before them!
While I was being pushed and shoved and abused and even hit, by shoppers, I just didnt figure out how I thought I would be able to choose something, let alone buy anything thing no this crazy day!
No guesses for why the day is called boxing day ! That was the first and last time I ever shopped on Boxing day, not worth it, I say!
And now with people getting bolder and murdering to get a discount, I am totally off the boxing day sale. Anybody wanna say otherwise?
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
The College Interview ( my attempt at a short story)
"You need to appear extremely confident at interviews even if you are actually a nervous wreck", said my sister while I was leaving for an interview with a college that I dreamed being a part of. "Well", I thought, I bloody well give it my best shot, or am going to let this offer just slip through my hands. I really WANT this admission, badly, it's my dream college after all, I need it very badly, and actually I am desperate!
I don't want any and I mean any compromises on this one GOD, please I mean puhleeeeeeze don't let this go out of my hands. I swear I will do whatever you want, god puhleeze, gimme this one, I prayed and pleaded and begged.
As I neared the venue, I was actually quite nervous and was constantly reminded of my sister's words, so I straightened up, tucked my tummy in, took a deep breath and entered the college premises. As I stood in the elevator, I noticed three other rather nervous faces looking up and down and I thought, man they look terrible! hope I don't look like them.
As the elevator door opened, and before we could get out a girl rushed in sobbing, with her mom in tow, -"don't worry honey, its ok …." And the door shut. Gosh I thought, was the interview so tough that it actually made her cry?
Who knows what's in store for me?
As I waited in the hall, where a few others were seated, also waiting for their turn to be called, I struck a conversation with one boy, who seemed very confident, 'these people are simply so nervous and worried, big deal man, what's in an interview? Simply answer the questions sensibly and you are through! "Wow" I thought, if that's easy as it was, why are people sobbing and crying?
Any case, one more to go and then it was my turn, I the meanwhile I met someone who had been selected, 'well" she told me, they have asked me to collect some forms so I guess I am chosen, why would they ask me to otherwise. "Makes sense".
Then came the dreaded moment, "Jyoti"! The peon called, I entered the room trying to be as casual as possible and was so scared that they would hear my heart beating, nay pounding!
"Jyoti?" "Yes Jyoti," I replied meekly.
"Please sit". "Thank you"
There were three people on the panel, sitting with grim faces, as though there were swords hanging above their necks and would fall if they smiled.
Ok Jyoti, why don't you tell us something about yourself? Frankly after the first question I couldn't hear my self, I had drowned into some other world, I started giving them some dope on what I had studied earlier, what I had specialized in.
Suddenly they asked me, you have specialized in resource management, why a course in advertising then? Again I found myself giving them a perfect explanation and while I thought I was extremely stupid saying that, they were impressed, (which I realized later) "and what are your hobbies, what do you do in your free time? "
Now here was a catch, "say you are interested in SOMETHING ok, a man without hobbies is a big bore"; I could hear my sister's voice reverberating!!
While my mind was racing between cooking and reading, and I had settled on cooking to be on the safe side I spurted out "Err, well not that I get too much time to pursue them but I like reading in my past time" READING !!!!- I was shocked at my answer, but it was too late to rectify, why the hell did I say reading to a bunch of bookworms, or so they seemed to me! Gone, I have lost this admission, one question on any book other than Archie's Digest, Calvin and Hobbes or a Garfield and I am Done!!!
"Oh! That's nice, what kind of books interest you?" Again my mind raced between comics - nah that's for kids, novels - what kind? Mills and boons, nooooo that's too 'teen-age', I don't know a single author, non-fiction? What's that? Better still what's fiction?
"Serious books!" I replied, SERIOUS BOOKS? What the hell is that? Jyoti what are you doing? I wanted the ground to part immediately so I could bury myself in it.
" Hmm ok, which is the latest book that you have read or are reading?"
NOW WHAT you nincompoop? I asked myself, when an image of my sister sitting on the couch with a recent controversial book flashed before my eyes, I faintly remembered having read the gist at the back of the book.
Ok I thought, that's it; " I am currently reading 'Lajja' - the controversial book by Taslima Nasreen"
"Ah that famous book, what is it about?"
O Oh, guess I am not destined to get into this college.' " Err… its about the atrocities on Bangladeshi Women". I lied through my teeth, confidently nevertheless, and such was the confidence that I could have convinced the author herself that that was what her book was about.
"Ah, and how do you find the book?"
"Oh, it's very interesting, so far, well written, simple language, good, yeah it's good!" Well as long as I didn't have to comment on the contents…guess the last answer was good enough!
" Oh that's very good, so how different do you think is the status of and Indian woman vis-à-vis women in Bangladesh".
"Oh, going by the book, we are far ahead. Women in India are free to do what they want, have made it big in fields that are predominantly male".
"But that's just a small part, women in India's villages do not share the same lifestyle as a girl in the city"
"True, but even in the villages they are not powerless, most Indian villages have women in their panel of the panchayat (village Govt.), so on and so forth… blah blah."
Taslima Nasreens book had led us to women empowerment not only in India but far flung countries of the East and the Middle east and so on…
By the end of the interview I was very confident, in fact a little overconfident that I had made it!!!
" Please wait outside, you will be given a form to fill, with details of the fees etc…
" I could help but grin" " I thanked them profusely like as though they had admitted a dying me to an hospital!
"You got through? " A few nervous wrecks came up to me, as I shut the door behind me. "Yeah sure, no problem at all. The interview was quite a breeze; they have asked me to fill the forms".
"Wow, so lucky!" I heard in the background as I entered the elevator.
I reached home, and there as usual I saw my lazy sister sprawling on the couch with her book, 'Lajja'.
I dashed to the couch and grabbed the book from her; amidst her screams I read a review by a newspaper on the cover of the book.
'Lajja beautifully depicts the horror faced by many Hindu households in an Islamic country like Bangladesh, and especially at a time when the Moslem community was gunning for their throats, in the event of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, truly the work of a master"
I don't want any and I mean any compromises on this one GOD, please I mean puhleeeeeeze don't let this go out of my hands. I swear I will do whatever you want, god puhleeze, gimme this one, I prayed and pleaded and begged.
As I neared the venue, I was actually quite nervous and was constantly reminded of my sister's words, so I straightened up, tucked my tummy in, took a deep breath and entered the college premises. As I stood in the elevator, I noticed three other rather nervous faces looking up and down and I thought, man they look terrible! hope I don't look like them.
As the elevator door opened, and before we could get out a girl rushed in sobbing, with her mom in tow, -"don't worry honey, its ok …." And the door shut. Gosh I thought, was the interview so tough that it actually made her cry?
Who knows what's in store for me?
As I waited in the hall, where a few others were seated, also waiting for their turn to be called, I struck a conversation with one boy, who seemed very confident, 'these people are simply so nervous and worried, big deal man, what's in an interview? Simply answer the questions sensibly and you are through! "Wow" I thought, if that's easy as it was, why are people sobbing and crying?
Any case, one more to go and then it was my turn, I the meanwhile I met someone who had been selected, 'well" she told me, they have asked me to collect some forms so I guess I am chosen, why would they ask me to otherwise. "Makes sense".
Then came the dreaded moment, "Jyoti"! The peon called, I entered the room trying to be as casual as possible and was so scared that they would hear my heart beating, nay pounding!
"Jyoti?" "Yes Jyoti," I replied meekly.
"Please sit". "Thank you"
There were three people on the panel, sitting with grim faces, as though there were swords hanging above their necks and would fall if they smiled.
Ok Jyoti, why don't you tell us something about yourself? Frankly after the first question I couldn't hear my self, I had drowned into some other world, I started giving them some dope on what I had studied earlier, what I had specialized in.
Suddenly they asked me, you have specialized in resource management, why a course in advertising then? Again I found myself giving them a perfect explanation and while I thought I was extremely stupid saying that, they were impressed, (which I realized later) "and what are your hobbies, what do you do in your free time? "
Now here was a catch, "say you are interested in SOMETHING ok, a man without hobbies is a big bore"; I could hear my sister's voice reverberating!!
While my mind was racing between cooking and reading, and I had settled on cooking to be on the safe side I spurted out "Err, well not that I get too much time to pursue them but I like reading in my past time" READING !!!!- I was shocked at my answer, but it was too late to rectify, why the hell did I say reading to a bunch of bookworms, or so they seemed to me! Gone, I have lost this admission, one question on any book other than Archie's Digest, Calvin and Hobbes or a Garfield and I am Done!!!
"Oh! That's nice, what kind of books interest you?" Again my mind raced between comics - nah that's for kids, novels - what kind? Mills and boons, nooooo that's too 'teen-age', I don't know a single author, non-fiction? What's that? Better still what's fiction?
"Serious books!" I replied, SERIOUS BOOKS? What the hell is that? Jyoti what are you doing? I wanted the ground to part immediately so I could bury myself in it.
" Hmm ok, which is the latest book that you have read or are reading?"
NOW WHAT you nincompoop? I asked myself, when an image of my sister sitting on the couch with a recent controversial book flashed before my eyes, I faintly remembered having read the gist at the back of the book.
Ok I thought, that's it; " I am currently reading 'Lajja' - the controversial book by Taslima Nasreen"
"Ah that famous book, what is it about?"
O Oh, guess I am not destined to get into this college.' " Err… its about the atrocities on Bangladeshi Women". I lied through my teeth, confidently nevertheless, and such was the confidence that I could have convinced the author herself that that was what her book was about.
"Ah, and how do you find the book?"
"Oh, it's very interesting, so far, well written, simple language, good, yeah it's good!" Well as long as I didn't have to comment on the contents…guess the last answer was good enough!
" Oh that's very good, so how different do you think is the status of and Indian woman vis-à-vis women in Bangladesh".
"Oh, going by the book, we are far ahead. Women in India are free to do what they want, have made it big in fields that are predominantly male".
"But that's just a small part, women in India's villages do not share the same lifestyle as a girl in the city"
"True, but even in the villages they are not powerless, most Indian villages have women in their panel of the panchayat (village Govt.), so on and so forth… blah blah."
Taslima Nasreens book had led us to women empowerment not only in India but far flung countries of the East and the Middle east and so on…
By the end of the interview I was very confident, in fact a little overconfident that I had made it!!!
" Please wait outside, you will be given a form to fill, with details of the fees etc…
" I could help but grin" " I thanked them profusely like as though they had admitted a dying me to an hospital!
"You got through? " A few nervous wrecks came up to me, as I shut the door behind me. "Yeah sure, no problem at all. The interview was quite a breeze; they have asked me to fill the forms".
"Wow, so lucky!" I heard in the background as I entered the elevator.
I reached home, and there as usual I saw my lazy sister sprawling on the couch with her book, 'Lajja'.
I dashed to the couch and grabbed the book from her; amidst her screams I read a review by a newspaper on the cover of the book.
'Lajja beautifully depicts the horror faced by many Hindu households in an Islamic country like Bangladesh, and especially at a time when the Moslem community was gunning for their throats, in the event of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, truly the work of a master"
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