Goodbye 2007, Welcome 2008

Well today is the last day of 2007 and something which will go into the past and can never be regained. It was not a bad year for me, pretty OK i guess since it was also a year which brought some changes and good luck in life and not at all depressing like 2006 which was really bad for me.

So many things to be remembered, so many things to cherish and love...Humm the past was both good and bad, but hoping and praying that the NEW YEAR of 2008 is going to be spectacular and also a year where major changes will happen and major decisions will be taken.

Of all the 27 years in my life, the best years for me were 2003 to 2005 which were spent in Chennai, in a wonderful college with spectacular friends. I did well both academically and socially; got to make good friends who i cherish, love and miss so much now and will always be a part of my life; had the 2 best years of my life and enjoyed it. Well what more can i ask for? I know that i can never get those days back even though i do keep wishing for it. But life goes on and the world moves on...

That were also the years that helped me know my fiancee more and helped grow a strong friendship and bond with him, and it was also 2 years filled with joy, happiness, tears and enjoyment. The years which i will always remember and keep in my heart and value because of the best friends i got in life.

2006 isn't worth mentioning as it was a depressing and tiresome and also sentimental year for me and am really glad that its over.

2007 gave me a good job in a place that i am really comfortable at and am really lucky to be at. And its also a year where some good and bad things happened, but still some major decisions for the future were taken too. 2007 also gave me a chance to connect with lots of long lost friends and made me value friendship a lot.

I am looking forward to 2008 with lots of hopes and hope that it will bring luck and that it will be a prosperous year for me an also for all those around me. I have also decided to take some resolutions which i hope that i will be able to stick to as its the first set of resolutions for me. I just hope that the future will bring lots of good luck and that all our dreams will come true. And i do hope that my major plans and decisions for 2008 will work out well.

I am thanking the good Lord for all the blessings that he has given and showered upon me in life, for the wonderful parents, a wonderful brother and also for a wonderful partner to share my life with.

"May all your dreams turn into reality and all your efforts into great achievements. May the New Year bring new hopes, new promises and new reasons to celebrate your presence in your lives.
May this New Year adorn your life with many beautiful things and sweet memories to cherish forever. And care of those whom the heart holds close, along with abundant joys and happiness, for you and your family. May all the dreams in your eyes, all the desires in your heart and all the hopes in your life blend together, to give you the most spectacular New Year ever."

"Wishing you life's best this New Year, Have a joyful & prosperous 2008"

So what is a Blog and howcome its the latest tool for PR?

Well what can i say about this. Even though i have been a blogger for more than an year, i still cant define it. I do know that there are many technical definitions for it like : "A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order", "A BLOG is a publication of personal thoughts, experiences, and web links. It is updated frequently and is usually a mixture of what is happening in a person's life and what is happening on the web or in the media. ..." etc etc... For me its just my own personal or private space where i can express my thoughts, feelings, opinions etc freely.

Until a few months back, i never got the chance to study various blogs and its importance and also only did this as part of my research work. But now i seem to be more involved in it as we are coming up with a Public Relations conference in February 2008 and the theme is "The New Trends In Communication". For this i had to first come up with the latest topics and tools related to PR and even had to find international speakers who are specialized in these areas.

Blogging seems to be working wonders for the PR area and its seems its easier for editors to go through many blogs to get articles and so on and that you can either boost or destroy an organisation through blogs. Well like any other area, blogs have their negatives and positives too and when misused can cause a lot of damage.

Well its true that i am going nuts over this one because technology seems to be progressing every second and i have to run unbearably fast to keep up (at least with the basics).And worst part is there are too many things to know. Anyway i did learn how important RSS feeds are today for PR and that there is some new device called "KINDLE" Amazon's new digital content reader which sold out within 5.5 hours upon its first release and that it could cause some kind of PR revolution.

Well who knew all this. As it is everything is a revolution by itself for me, so whats the difference if its KINDLE or RSS feeds or Online media rooms or blogging...As my research work continues for this particular magazine that we are coming up with for the PR conference, i find that there are plenty of topics and articles which are also opening up a new world of knowledge for me and i hope that it will help the organizations in Kuwait too.

But what would be helpful is if any of you know anything new about PR, blogging, and all that stuff do send in information as this will help me a lot in providing the people out here with better information on such latest trends.

And the revolution for me is- I have started subscribing to so many RSS feeds that i don't get the time to check all this. But anyway i seem to be putting in more time and effort into at least going through many blogs and also do put in my comments.

Wow everything now seems to be revolutionizing PR and is a new tool for PR. Surprising Na? Full scale advertising and PR campaigns are now done via the Mobile Device --- The "Third Screen" and also through YouTube. Well what other developments can happen other than all this???

Am I A Feminist

You Are 73% Feminist

You are certainly a feminist - whether you know it or not. You believe in gender equality, at least most of the time. You also believe there are a few exceptions.

Are You a Feminist?

How Feminine Am I?

You Can Hang With the Guys and the Girls

You've struck a good balance between girlie and laid back. You can keep it casual but when you dress up, you are as girly as the next girl.

How Feminine Are You?

Kuwait Conference on Public Relations 2008

Kuwait Conference On Public Relations 2008

February 12 &13, 2008 – JW Marriott Hotel – Kuwait

The New Trends in Communications

Conference Overview:

Multaqa Media Group has the pleasure to welcome you to Kuwait Conference on Public Relations 2008 in association with IPRA – GC; International Public Relations Association – Gulf Chapter.

The Conference on Public Relations offers you a group of leading regional and international PR experts and practitioners that will put within your hands the latest thinking approaches to best practice professional public relations. The conference covers most of the latest trends and topics in Public Relations which will help every PR person and most organisations.

The conference sessions and workshops offers something for everyone. You have got to put what you've learned into practice with the help and guidance of experts in the field of PR. Valuable sessions and workshops will be addressed that will enhance your PR skills and avail you the chance to gain the expertise and meet the challenges of PR.

For more details please check: http://www.multaqagroup.com/

As the plot thickens!!!

Looks like things are going really out of control in Pakistan. Contradictory statements about Benazir Bhutto's death are creating lots of confusion and the riots just seem to be increasing. I kept switching channels and checked out a couple of newspapers and everywhere it's the same contradictory headings which are going to create huge problems for President Musharraf and his government.

Some of the scandalized headings are: "Islamabad accused of cover-up"; "Pakistan rejects foreign assistance in probe" etc. And the most shocking one is that Al-Qaeda denies having any link with the assassination. So now who is responsible? That is a million dollar question right? Pakistan government keeps telling its Al-Qaeda and Qaeda keeps denying it. Well in this case i do believe Qaeda because they usually take responsibility for many assassinations and if they are denying such a big incident then its true.

Well something will have to be done soon by the Pakistan government instead of trying to cover up things in front of the whole world, especially when many people saw the entry and exit bullet wounds in Benazir's head. So with so many witnesses for this, how can the government still deny that no bullets were found in Benazir's skull etc? How can they still stick to the fact that she died after hitting her head on the sunroof during the suicide attack? So what about the bullet wounds?

As I mentioned in my last blog, it is indeed true that post mortem was not done and that the body was buried in a big haste. Well I can understand the Muslim tradition of burying the body at the earliest, but in this case exception had to be done, at least by delaying the burial for few hours.

The comment from the coroner's office is that no one asked for postmortem to be done and so on!!! What an explanation!!! Well now things are getting all the more suspicious.

Let's wait and see if the mystery will be unraveled or if it will always remain a mystery.

Daughter of Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto

Charismatic, striking and politically sly, Benazir Bhutto who was reared amid the privileges of Pakistan's aristocracy and the ordeals of its turbulent politics was assassinated on Thursday while attending an election rally. It is indeed a sad news and a cruel end to democratic Islamic world's first woman prime minister.

I was surprised to know that she attended both Harvard and Oxford and also the fact that she held many prestigious positions at oxford when she was a student there. She is remembered as "fiery and fun" by her friends there and they all say that her father's death changed her a lot.

Her end was very tragic and has caused chaos and riots in Pakistan. But a thing i don't understand is, when such a prominent figure was assassinated, how could they bury the body without doing a postmortem? Why create more confusion and chaos to the already tense situation? Also why so many contradictory statements like: "The Interior Ministry said Bhutto had not been shot, nor hit by shrapnel, but had been killed when the force of the explosion smashed her head against a lever on the sun-roof. Security officials had earlier said she was shot in the head and neck." So what exactly is the cause of her death and who did it?

Really confusing right? Well even though she criticised India in her her last statements at the last rally she attended just moments before her death, I still feel that its a huge tragedy and loss to the Bhutto family and Pakistan. She was the projected image of democracy in Pakistan and her family has met with such a tragic end. She was buried alongside her father, former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged in 1979 after being deposed by a military coup. Her two brothers, Murtaza and Shahnawaz, who both died in unexplained circumstances, are also buried in the mausoleum she herself had ordered to be built.

My condolences to her family and at the loss of such a well known lady.

Narendra Modi back in power

Narendar Modi is back in power in Gujarat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

humm would love to give longggg comments, but biting my tongue coz i mite blabber a lot..

only one comment.........TYPICALLY INDIA!!!!!

Taslima Nasreen literaly Chased all over India!!!

What a shame for India...Its unbelievable to know that this good author was practically chased and thrown out of many states and attacked by idiots. Well she wrote the truth and many people in the name of religion couldnt stand it. The worst part is that India is said to be growing in all areas and religion and its issues slowly starting to diminish , or it looked like it was...But all has been proved wrong!
The poor lady was not accepted in most states, and was not even given a hotel room to stay in. Such an ordeal she went through...And to know that Bengal which has the communist party ruling (who brag of not having religion and such issues) couldnt offer her a shelter until recently.
And ya the religious extremists have managed to make her withdraw many lines from her book. She now wants a peaceful life...

Wat can we say about such issues??Its really a shame that India doesnt seem to be growing in that area of religion.

Isnt Orkut both a blessing and a curse??

Well discovering orkut was great.And after one and half yrs of orkut, i seem to hav had enough of it.well cant say i am totaly tired of it, but still its a curse at times.Specially wen u have so many freaks out there waiting to get ur info and pics and do something with it and the number of fake id's on orkut is too much...The number of idiots who trouble the girls r high in number too...

anyone to disagree with this??well in this case i am 100% sure and have had too many experiances...I have actauuly had enough of friends requests from starngers and freaks and
finally i ended up writing - "I AM NOT HERE TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS. SO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT KNOW ME, PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME FRIEND REQUESTS OR ADD ME. (I will personally try and kill idiots who do that.)"

Atleast that seems to have had some eefect, plus my "no response" to messages from starngers are working a bit...Another major problem is idiots copying ur snaps and misusing and also using it to create fake ids in our names...something has to be done for more security i guess...

Well in one way it is good, coz u can get to meet long lost buddies after so many years and can keep in regular contact now..

Well everything seems to have its positive and negative aspects, but looks like the negative aspects seem to be on the rise everywhere!So orkut is sure a blessing and a CURSE!!!Well cant complain too much na, coz even i keep in touch with all my friends this way....

after soo long!!!

Well i seem to be trying to write after a long gap...wel wat to do, tried writing several times, never could complete anything....today i seem to be in the spirit for things...heheh..well thats a rare occasiion for me anyway...and nothing much seems to be happening in this boring country...anyway i am happy that i was able to overcome atleast a little bit of the wriers block or watever!!!

What is life?

What is life exactly? Does anyone seem to have an answer for that??
For some people life seems to b so smooth and things always seem to be working positively for them while for others it seems to be going on moderatly and for others everything seems to be going wrong...
ya true that life is not "a bed of roses", "box of chocolates" blah blah blah...ya sure people can give all those dialogues till they face their own problems...ohh ya if u think abt such things intensly and deeply , 100% u will go crazy and get depressed etc...

best is have a round of drinks and go to sleepin peace...try and think of good things or rather dont think at all so that life will just pass on...

heheh i seems to be going crazier by the minute..well wat to do..after all life is never easy na!!!

Tire urself if u dont want to think abt the problems of life!!

Life always seems to pop out some problem or surprise at u and i feel the best way to not think abt anything is - tire urselfs out....Ohh ya after doing that, at the end of the day ur eyes will be sooo droopy that u wont have the strength to even have dinner!!!

Well i also seem to be doing that a lot lately. After getting back from work, i seem to be busy at home too and then i go out for walks which take and hour and by the time i get bac and rest, i feel soo tires and in the mornings i am not able to open my eyes..hehehe..that way i seem to have less time to think abt problems and dont sit around and cry like i used to and dont bitch abt not having anything to do or read....

Life seems to be so starnge na...god knows how the next generation is gonna turn out if this generation is so damn crazy!!!!

Taslima Nasreen Threatened!!!

This is really outrageous! I really cant belive it that muslim clerics in eastern India has issued a "death warrant" against the controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen if she does not leave India soon.

India is goin back to the Ice ages or what??whats happening to this country and its people as we are progressing? And even worse is the fact that anyone who kills her has been offered a cash award of 1,00,000 ($2,400) and other than this additional rewards will also be given it seems.

As it is, it was really shameful that she was attacked publicly when taking part in a function and now on top of it this too..People in India have to be really shameful about their behaviour and about the growing attacks based on religion.

i have really got to say that her writing is really good and she is only writing true facts based on problems she faced or true life incidents she knows about. Looks like many people dont want the truth to be out!!!

Pakistan: The 'poor' neighbor

This is yet another article from the Kuwait Times..plz check links to read the full article.Everything given below has been quoted from it.

Link: http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MjUzNDExODI0

"Sixty years after its birth, India faces a number of serious problems - not least the growing gap between rich and poor, the criminalisation of politics, and the flourishing Maoist and Naxalite groups that have recently proliferated in the east of the country. But Pakistan's problems are on a different scale; indeed, the country finds itself at a crossroads. As Jugnu Mohsin, the publisher of the Lahore-based Friday Times, put it recently, "After a period of relative quiet, for the first time in a decade, we are back to the old question: it is not just whither Pakistan, but will Pakistan survive?" On the country's 60th birthday, the answer is by no means clear?"

given below are parts of the article:

"On the ground, of course, the reality is different and first-time visitors to Pakistan are almost always surprised by the country's visible prosperity. There is far less poverty on show in Pakistan than in India, fewer beggars, and much less desperation. In many ways the infrastructure of Pakistan is much more advanced: there are better roads and airports, and more reliable electricity. Middle-class Pakistani houses are often bigger and better appointed than their equivalents in India. Moreover, the Pakistani economy is undergoing a construction and consumer boom similar to India's, with growth rates of 7 percent, and what is currently the fastest-rising stock market in Asia."

"Nevertheless, despite the economic boom, there are three serious problems that Pakistan will have to sort out if it is to continue to keep up with its giant neighbour - or indeed continue as a coherent state at all. One is the fundamental flaw in Pakistan's political system. Democracy has never thrived here, at least in part because landowning remains almost the only social base from which politicians can emerge. In general, the educated middle class - which in India seized control in 1947, emasculating the power of its landowners - is in Pakistan still largely excluded from the political process. As a result, in many of the more backward parts of Pakistan, the local feudal zamindar can expect his people to vote for his chosen candidate."

Sixty years after its birth, India faces a number of serious problems - not least the growing gap between rich and poor, the criminalisation of politics, and the flourishing Maoist and Naxalite groups that have recently proliferated in the east of the country. But Pakistan's problems are on a different scale; indeed, the country finds itself at a crossroads. As Jugnu Mohsin, the publisher of the Lahore-based Friday Times, put it recently, "After a period of relative quiet, for the first time in a decade, we are back to the old question: it is not just whither Pakistan, but will Pakistan survive?" On the country's 60th birthday, the answer is by no means clear?

A more confident India

Plz check out this link and read this article too...
It portrays how much India has grown too inspite of all its problems.

Link: http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTA1NzY1Mjc1Ng==

These articles include a lot of things i wanted to say!

I realy liked this particluar article which came in today's Kuwait Times with the title "The Cult of the sex goddess". Sagrika Ghose has wrtten well about many of the problems that India and the women in India have even on celebrating its 60th independence.
I felt that it was well written as i was thinking about so many similar things and was waiting to write about it.

Plz check the link to read the article and do let me know ur comments.
Link: http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NzkyMDU3MDc1

Independence Day

Happy independence day to all u lovely Indians out there!

60 yrs of freedom huh! really great na? Vande Matharam!!!

Well that was the spirit for my country.60 yrs of freedom and still a long way to go.India sure is on its way to becoming a super power with a booming economy but yet seems to have the biggest issues too. I guess i shouldnt say too much on this particular day and instead should just count my blessings about having atleast this much freedom.
ohh ya i am grateful for the freedom that i enjoy, but i really do want India to rise out of its many growing problems and issues. For eg:- Female infanticide & feticide, the ever growing poverty, growing cases of HIV/AIDS, casteism, riots and killing based on religion etc etc etc.
I know that we cant eradicate such problems all together, but all indians have to work together for a lot of things and without working towars the common goal, we wont reach anywhere.

Anyway happy independence day again!

confusion!!!!

I seem to be between the devil and the deep sea now! I have this issue thats been bothering me from yesterday and i know it wont bother everyone, but it is bothering me!

The thing is i saw this ad in the paper for a job vacancy and would love to apply, but i am really scared if it will upset or cause issues for a friend who works there. Well many might think that i am being silly etc, but i happen to so sensitive and thats why it bothers me so much i guess.

Ya i do know there are vacancies there and thats why they put the ad, but i am still worried about upseting a good friend....

Ohh boy!! i do sound like a nut na?and i just wish that things were much simpler in life!!!

OOOhhhh boy!!!

dont know y...but i dont seem to find any topic to write about..humm well waqt kind of block is that???
until last week i was happy that i would be getting some time to myself..now that i have got it, it feels so sad and depreeesing..dont know y...

Check Out a Friend's Snaps and Do Vote!!!

Hey all u guys reading this blog, plz do check out the link i have given and sign up in that webite and vote for my friends snaps to stay in the contest...Well to be exact i will paste below his instructions:

My Dear Friends -Pls take 5 mins of your time and go this website - http://www.oktatabyebye.com/contest/contest-homepage.aspx this is a online travel community for travel enthusiasts and outdoor lovers. If you're interested in travel go thru their entire website - its pretty neat.Anyway, they've been running this "Travel Photography Contest" the past few days and the catch is that its a publicly polled contest (atleast to enter the first round). So, pls take a minute off and on the page linked above there's a column which says "Search photos by" - you can enter my first name and last name (Praveen Emmanuel) OR enter my "Display Name" below - ManuelFocus. This will immediately open the five pics i have posted on the site and all you have to do is select "This picture should stay in the contest" on the right-hand side and click "submit".

hey people do vote, coz his pics r really wonderful...

The mobile communications in Kuwait Suck!!!

Well I really can't help telling out the fact that mobile connection providers in Kuwait rob u blind. It's already unbelievable that they take incoming charge and on top of that they simply pull out money from prepaid cards…can you believe that? And who can you complain to regarding this? Absolutely no one and there doesn’t seem to be any solution for this. And I can say that it's true because I have gone through this several times and to be sure that its happening, one day I recharged my mobile with K.D. three and didn’t use the phone at all for a day. Next day I checked and my balance is only K.D one and two hundred Fils.
I went through the same experience yesterday. Recharged my phone and had a balance of K.D. Six and two hundred and fifty fils. I tried making an international call and cut the line as soon as the connection went to a voice mail. The duration of that was just 2 seconds and my balance is K.D. Three. Now what wonderful things should I say for this? Its so damn frustrating and the worse part is nothing can be done about it.

Life is so depressing!!!

Ohh damn...:( I had typed out a long article and the next minute it disappears. Well it does prove to me that life is indeed too depressing.
Humm well its not that I am too crazy or anything but it is so scary at this age when you do not know what you want in/from life. That makes it even more depressing, especially when I wonder what kind of a future is awaiting me. Well I am not sure this is what I want in life and being a typical Virgo woman, I am always too critical and unsatisfied about anything and everything. Everything around me seems to be depressing me and I feel that I want more out of life not just this! L
I hate the monotony of things and do crave for a little adventure now and then especially in this boring and dull country. I really do not know how people spend their spare time here! Nowhere to go or visit, or spend time and the most unbelievable and frustrating thing for an ardent reader like me is the fact that this country does not have an English library! Can you believe that? Well for me it is indeed unbelievable and if anyone who reads this knows of one do let me know.
These are all facts that sum up to be certain reasons for my depression. Another main fact is that I miss all my close friends and do not have any here. The time here, has made me understand more about the value of close friendships and how friends are indeed a necessary factor for having a happier life. It is indeed so relaxing to have good friends with whom you can share your problems, your happiness, share a good laugh and even have a shoulder to cry on and I indeed do thank God for the internet and chatting facilities. What would I have done without that too?
I was just talking about this depression thing to a friend today and we were like "ok looks like we should all go see a shrink"! Hehehe…:P . the funniest part is that both of us agreed that the shrink would need help after he/she is done with our session!!! :)
Ohh but this entire talk still does not change the fact that life is so depressing! :(

topic crisis!!!

Now i seem to be having a topic crisis...LOL wondering what to write about...well i certainly want to discuss about Orkut..(Will surely use it as my next topic.) and yipeee i got another topic...about how blogging, mailing, sms and chatting are destroying my english language....

"Hawally Monster" - caught!!!

After a long year of run and chase and catch and release, the rapist of Hawally was caught. The 27-year-old Egyptian bodybuilder was arrested at the airport while boarding a Jazeera flight to Luxor. The man is suspected of raping 18 kids, all of them under 10 years of age, in Hawally and two in Farwaniya. A pure case of pedophilia. The amazing thing, when he was caught at the airport, was that the cops knew his name and had been searching for him. Thank God he decided to fly for holidays back home. Otherwise maybe he would have been roaming and raping kids in Kuwait for God knows how many years to come.

3 of the victims identified the rapist in a line up and Security sources noted that right on entering the room, the suspect was amazed to see the children whom he looked at as if he knew. 'He had his mouth wide open by surprise which showed his broken tooth all raped children had described to the police', said the sources pointing out that all three children charged at the suspect the moment they saw him and started beating him but they were stopped by the detectives attending the lineup.On their part, watching the suspect helplessly without being able to avenge for themselves, the children broke down and started shedding tears of helplessness.

humm ....my only comment is thank the good Lord and it shows that the world is no longer a safe place; even for little kids! (Crimes against small children have been on the rise and the statistics are really shocking.)

A cute couple!

Ohh..doesnt Eva Longoria and Tony Parker look so cute in their wedding pics? Ya we can surely agree with the fact that it is the wedding of the year...heheheh..blows me away when i hear the cost of each item and her wedding gown is absolutely gorgeous.

Infact she was looking good in all the functions that took place and was looking so relaxed and gorgeous after their honeymoon...and ya extremely stunning in a short yellow dress when she appeared without Tony for the comming out party that Tom cruise, Katie, Will Smith and wife gave for the Beckhams!!!(well these couples were also looking stunning!)

How can stating certain facts be feminism?

well...i really have got to say that stating some true facts is not feminism.Just because i told out a few true things doesnt mean that people can term me as a feminist.

If you check today's paper, then everyone can surely find a few articles that tell: "India police find 30 bags of baby bones." (and i really dont find it surprising that the bones belong to unborn and newborn girls.) The article also states that India loses an average of 7000 girls every day through abortions. Another newspaper states that "An international team of researchers estimated that up to 10 million female fetuses had been aborted in the past 10 years in India."

I had this argument with a friend yesterday and he tells that women face all these problems because they are weak and that God created men to be strong. He also went on to say that maybe just 20% of the women go through such problems and that it doesnt mean that its the case with majority of women.

well i really have got to say that i really cant agree with this fact and also do feel that its purely a chauvinistic comment and I also cant agree with the fact that God created problems. He is also worried that wen a non-indian reads this, he or she will feel that this is a huge problem in India. (Well typical Indian male comment that also when this is a huge problem in India). Another one of his striking comments was when we argued about the dowry problems in India. His comment was that girls dont have to know anything and that it is the men who have to make all the money for the dowry. Ok i guess that is true, but he then went on to say that girls have to say that no we cant pay the dowry and just stay at home even if they remain spinsters for the rest of their lives. (Ya try doing it, specially in the poor and bacword familes and also in north India!!!)

I just stated a few facts because they shocked me too and were indeed surprising. For those of us who dont face much problems, we feel that it is a rosy world out there and thats how we close our eyes to society's problems. We sure have to give awareness about so many things to the youngsters of todays world and have to make the world a better place to live in.

check these links: http://www.amritapuri.org/media/india/iexpress2000.php

www.ashanet.org/focusgroups/sanctuary/articles/ReportonTrafficking.pdf -

http://www.un.org.in/wii.htm

http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/Himalayas/DharamsalaMcLeodGunj/BuddhaPurnima.htm

Why are Arabs/Kuwaitis so discriminating? Are Arab parents neglecting to bring up their children with proper manners and humane feeling???

Well this has been a question, which has been on my mind for so long. As an Indian who was mostly raised in Kuwait, I have seen the open disgust and discrimination that most Arabs have for other nationalities.

Thanks to God and luckily I have had to endure very few or rare such incidents as I left after my schooling. However, being back in Kuwait after many years makes me feel good coz this has always been my second motherland and I am happy to see the way the country has progressed but at the same time, I feel so desperately sad at the deterioration of moral standards and manners of the youngsters etc. They seem to have no respect for their fellow human beings.

I got the chance to go through a lot of blogs today and understood that its just not me who feels this way, and that there are also so many Arabs too who agree with my line of thought.

It is true that many of the parents are indeed bringing up their kids as brats with no respect for their fellow human beings. This is more the case as most kids seem to be growing up with maids from whom they learn a lot of bad habits and parents rarely take notice of all this and do not bother to monitor or supervise their kids.

It was shocking to read so many articles in the papers recently about Arab children openly trying to molest many Asian women in the public buses. Can you believe that fellow passengers just kept staring and that none of them bothered to respond or help? The bus driver too looked upon all this and enjoyed the whole scenario.
Here is another incident - kids in a supermarket kept going and touching a woman's butt and the father of the kids looked on and laughed in an encouraging manner when he saw the woman's helplessness and look of disgust. What has the Arab world come to now? All the money and comfort seems to have gone to their head! Is this the way children should be brought up? What will be the condition of the next generation? I do believe that we have a scary scenario in our midst.

Being expatriates, many or most of us go through some kind of bad and discriminating incidents at some point in our life in the Arab world. This can be in the supermarkets or the government offices, police station, airport, when we go to renew our residence permit, traffic, ministry, infact where not! It is not at all surprising now. And another major problem is that we cannot respond or react to these problems because we are in a foreign land and have to live by their rules which they keep changing at the drop of a hat and also because the police mainly listen only to the Arab's part of the story and its they who have the influence.

Well I would love to go on and on about so many such incidents but then the things I might say will not sit well with many people. So why create havoc?

Well atleast I am comforted by the fact that there are so many who agree with me on this as I have seen so many such related articles in both the newspapers and the blogs by Arabs, Indians, Americans etc etc.

India gets first female president

India got its first female president on July 21 in a victory hailed as a special moment in a country where discrimination against women is often deep-rooted and widespread. Pratibha Patil survived a bruising campaign against her to emerge victorious. Well I guess this is good news!!!
While India has had several women in positions of power – most notably Sonia Gandhi and her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, who was elected to the more powerful position of prime minister, women, still face rampant discrimination. Many Indian families regard daughters as a liability due to the tradition requiring a bride's family to pay the groom's family a large dowry of cash and gifts. Therefore, their education is often neglected and many do not get adequate medical treatment when ill. International groups estimate that some 10 million female fetuses have been aborted in the country over the last two decades.

It was indeed, so shocking for me to find so many details about rapes, molestation, female feticides, tortures and so on against women and the more shocking part was that nothing was being done. Even the media does not consider it news anymore unless they can make it into a big hype and expose the victim and her family. Eventually the public torments the victims and they make it look like her fault that she was raped or whatever.

Well I am not telling that the scenario is going to change very soon. Nevertheless, I feel that India is slowly moving forward. Well it does not hurt to be optimistic right…
Well I do hope and pray that India will become a better place for females to live in!!!

well this is not a feminist version or anything,just true facts that shocked me...i really dont understand why shuch a huge hype was created for this presidential election and for the first time ever,it was so politicised and lots of hidden agendas, vote leaks and what not!!! i just hope that all this has some value or whatever....

Where has destiny led me?

Thinking is what i seem to be doing lately.It doesn't seem to matter where i am; tucked away in a quiet corner,in the midst of a crowd or whether i am in the midst of a conversation. My good old mind seems to switch off and go into a world of its own. It pulls me into a kind of trance and makes me wonder about a lot of things...Now that might sound crazy to many of you, but all humans have a touch of insanity in them nah.....

My latest thoughts are about life and destiny. I seem to have this severe urge to question a lot of my decisions made in the past. Like most people many questions seem to be ....haunting (have to use that word i guess) me too. Well is this what i wanted in life? Did i achieve my goals and dreams? Why did i do many things that i regret today? The questions seem to be never ending!!!

I know that most people go through this same phase of questioning oneself and sit and wonder about what if---! And there are indeed many who are satisfied with the total outcome and many who regret every moment and decision that they have ever made. But can we really say that there is even one human being who is totally satisfied with everything they have done or got?

Well i seem to be on that track of wondering now. But i really am not able to decide whether this is what i wanted in life...Ya i do regret many decisions that i made, impulsive actions from my side etc. But it looks like i am blaming destiny for pushing me into this path.

By just looking around us, be it people we know or do not, or by just watching the world in general one thing i can surely say is i do believe that there is something called destiny and though we guide our destiny, we can never tell where it leads us or where it will finally bring us.

Ya sure we can keep fighting it and try our level best to work against it. But in the end does it really matter? Well i am not too sure about that part. Some people might say 'Yes' and others 'No' since it will differ from person to person and their point of view.

Well... will a person who has achieved most of his/her dreams in life say that destiny led them to it? Most of them will most likely say 'No' and might even go to the extend of saying "What is destiny? We have to work extra hard and fight for achieving things in life and went through a lot to reach here". Some might have the humbleness of saying that the good Lord helped them and guided them. Then when we go on to take the case of a beggar, will he say the same thing? He will only curse his fate.

We all can only hope and dream and pray about achieving things in life. Well ya i do believe now that you have got to pray too because experience has taught me so. It took me many years to have that understanding about God and somehow now i am wondering if God and destiny are different too. I really cant say anything for sure because when you take certain instances in life we can see that God would never have wanted that for us. But we being the selfish typical humans have to learn from mistakes and lessons and guide our destiny through the right path.

But still the question remains : Where will destiny lead you? Is it destiny that leads you?