Voice India Kids

The other day I was lazily browsing through various TV channels to spot something interesting. In my quest to look for entertainment I suddenly paused and stopped from browsing any further. I was bowled over listening to these smart, confident kids who were singing songs of all genre almost effortlessly with a lot of panache and self-assurance. What I was seeing was simply amazing as these kids were prodigies in their own right and confidence, enthusiasm was hallmark of their singing. Not even once they showed any weaknesses while singing or when they were speaking to the judges. Their singing prowess belied their age and their stamp of authority while singing was an inspiration to many. One after the other they came, performed and won many a hearts. I was no exception. While I was enjoying their performances, I had gotten rid of the remote and was glued to the TV not wanting to miss any of the performances. These god gifted kids proved once again that there is no dearth of talent in India and it resides in every possible part of India from well to do to poor families. The most heartening part of this entire spectacle was the support these kids got from their families, friends, society, neighbors. Parents deserve a special mention for supporting their kids no matter what happens. It was a sight to behold when parents were jumping with joy like an excited kid seeing their kids being appreciated by the judges. Tears rolling down their cheeks and the sense of happiness was endearing. Their hard work, dedication, sacrifices, perseverance had borne fruit.

Voice India Muted?

By now I had decided I was not going to watch anything but these kids who singing their heart out. Many a times I had goose bumps when these champions sang something extra ordinary, out of this world. I knew that moment god had taken special time to make these wonder kids who were further molded by their parents and teachers. While I was enjoying the performances something struck me bad, and as a result I was compelled to write this article. A young girl named Menaz Khan took the center stage and gave her best, but unfortunately the judges were not impressed and she failed to qualify. Winning and Losing is part and parcel of life and one must take it in its stride but what made me feel queasy was her story, her losing was rather unfortunate due to circumstances around her. The unfortunate girl is from Ajmer Rajasthan and the society, neighborhood where she stays does not allow girls to sing, dance or practice other hobbies as this is against their religion. Her father narrated his predicament which brought tears to my eyes and many. The poor girl was not allowed to take singing classes and she learnt while listening to the radio or the mobile. Now, what on earth makes someone feel singing is blasphemous or against the religion and not allow the girl to follow her dreams, desires? In doing so the oppressors were thwarting her progress, her wishes and shattering her dreams even before they get wings. The silver lining to the cloud, is her father who fought against the religious diktats and is determined to go to any lengths to see his beloved daughter learn singing and chase her dreams. Hats off to this brave father and may god give him all the strength and success he and his daughter deserves.

Taare Zameen Par

What moved me was, on one side parents, families, neighborhoods were doing everything possible to see their kids shine and get to learn things which they like. They were not leaving a single stone unturned to see their dear ones strive to learn things they loved. They were doing everything possible in their capacity to motivate them, give them confidence, sacrifice their own desires to see their kids dreams fulfilled. Some families were from remotest place in India where there are no facilities where their kids could learn music. They had to daily drive them on bicycle for many kilometers to get in a music school or class, but they had no hard feelings and were ready to put in effort for their kids. For them their kid’s dreams, desires were everything. On the other hand a girl was not allowed to learn music as it was considered sacrilege, her every endeavor to make life worthwhile was being crushed by so called religious diktats and practices. Her dreams to sing were being choked by archaic thoughts and ideas. Her life was being trampled by some insensitive elements. Instead of supporting her wishes they were being crushed ruthlessly. This girl must be considering herself so unfortunate amongst the lot of happy, smiling kids of her age and this was unnerving for me. I hope god gives enough strength to her father so that he can defy all odds and give what is best to his doting daughter. I hope good sense would prevail and no kid is barred from chasing his or her dreams due to any reasons and more so because of religion.

Organ Donation A Noble Deed, But...

Many of us in today’s world want to do something for the less privilege. We want to indulge ourselves in charities in some sort or the other and contribute to the society to which we belong. Many offer clothing, books, food, shelter to the deprived ones and contribute to the well-being and upliftment of the poor. Many, nowadays are extending this helping hand even further by pledging to donate their organs after their demise. This magnanimous gesture can give a new lease of life to many and bring in joy and hope amidst despair and despondency. What a noble deed indeed. Hats off to these brave, kind hearted Samaritans.

Organ Donation A Noble Cause

This is a story of many vociferous, do good people who decided to carry on their charity even after they were laid to rest. They all donated their organs so that the needy get a new life. They indeed had done a great service to the humankind when their organs were replanted into the bodies of people who needed them badly. Their families, society and many others lauded their noble gestures, spoke at length about their kindness and love for humanity sang peans in their memory. Equally, the recipients were indebted to these gentle souls who had brought happiness in their lives. For them the donors were heavenly sent messiahs, angels. They even recited their happiness and their experiences were published widely in newspaper, in digital media. Forums were held to propagate the importance of organ donation and the donors were extolled for their humaneness. These instances repaired the thoughts of many cynics who had lost faith in humanity and were skeptic when it came to good human nature. In short it restored faith in the minds of millions of people who were suffering from many maladies, and were desperate to reap the benefits of the largesse offered by the donors. It was such an inspiring story for all.

A Story Sans Happy Ending

Few years had gone by and there were news of deaths, medical complications, loss of eyesight, kidney failures and many cases of body dysfunctions. What startled many including me, was the cases observed were the same people who had received organ transplants few years back and it was no coincidence. What had happened? What went wrong? Who was to blame and many such questions were accosting the society. Media being a strong medium today were quick to jump at the apathy of today’s doctors, the negligence of the hospitals and the overall business that happens at the hospitals. Media personnel barged into the hospitals and carried out sting operations to show to the world the murky business carried out in the temple of gods on earth. Many NGOs arranged marches and shouted slogans against the doctors and the hospitals where these transplants were carried out. Some of the angry citizens pelted stones at the hospitals and even tried to attack the doctors for their inhuman approach in dealing with the gullible, helpless people. This story became a talk of the town with media stepping up the pressure. Criminal cases were filed against the doctors and the hospitals and investigation was underway.

The revelations made were baffling but not shocking. After detail investigations were done the police gave a clean chit to the doctors and hospitals where the transplants were done. If that was the case, who were at fault for the mishaps that happened? The police did not yet conclude on this query which stood in front of them unanswered. With more days gone by something came to the fore which sealed the case. All the donors were IT professionals. Now what someone’s profession had to do with the mishap when the donors were a respected white collared tribe? Now this would have been a genuine question for someone who is not aware of this tribe, but I being one of them I had got my answer. It was their fault and it was not their fault. Now let me explain this antithesis. It was not their fault in donating their organs, in fact it was one of the greatest deeds of their life but they should have thought before making this donation.

IT Prof A Doctor's Delight

Want To Be An IT Professional ?

IT professionals live a life in fast lane, late nights, insane hours of work, round the clock customer calls, sedentary life style with eyes glued to the computer screen for hours. The result is bad eating habits, excessive stress to name a few. To beat this stress, they take refuge in drinking and smoking, at times in excess and this makes them a doctor’s delight. Very less or no exercise make matters worse. An IT professional having spent more than 10 years in this environment is an abused body mired with many possible diseases in the form of bad eye sight and dry eye syndrome, damaged kidneys, liver, high blood pressure, mental stress, pain in almost every part of their body and much more. A recent article that I read thundered “IT professionals Wake Up”. The survey conducted was an eye opener for many in IT industry. More than 90% of people having heart attacks, High BP, depression, sexual problems, women unable to conceive, damaged eyes, Insomnia were from IT background. This is alarming to say the least. Two very apt acronyms namely DINKS (Double Income No Kids) and DINS (Double Income No Sex) are coined for IT professionals. They sound hilarious but are thought provoking.  Now just imagine people suffering from all these ailments resulting from decades of working in IT industry, donate their already overused and overworked organs, they are soon going to implode once in the recipient’s body. This is exactly what happened in case of the organ recipients, they got duped by the well-wishing donor’s overused organs. I won’t be surprised to see messages in hospitals reading “Donor’s with IT background need not donate their organs, they won’t be accepted”.

The above story is a figment of my WILD imagination and derived from the realities associated with an IT professional’s life and health.

WARNING: Please be aware of the donor’s profession before you say yes.

Jai Ho !!!!

Finally some respite for the British after all the gloom and doom of Brexit and England’s early exit from Euro 2016. The British have something to rejoice, thanks to Andy Murray, the Scot for bringing some solace to the beleaguered British public. In doing so he got rid of the monkey on his back of not winning the coveted grand slam trophies. Finally the wait was over when he defeated Milos Roanic of Canada in the Wimbledon 2016 final. His relief after the win was evident when he cried like a kid denied of things he desperately wanted. Roanic was a first timer at the Wimbledon finals and many would have wanted to script a win for him, but believe me, I would have lost faith in god if he would have won. The Brit with a lot of grit, was a runner up not once but eight times at the Grand Slam championships. He finishing runner up again would have not done any good to this talented player. “Mera number kab aayega”, Andy Murray must be thinking all these years. Finally with this Wimbledon win, “Sabar ka Phal Mitha Hota hai” has come good :).

Though I would confess, current players lack the X-factor as compared to the ones in nineties. Boris Becker, Mats Willander, Petr Korda, Steffi Graff, Miroslav Mecir, Goran Ivanisevic, Monica Seles, Stefan Edberg and so many others brought a lot of spice, and razzmatazz to the game and it was an absolute treat to watch them play with their on-field histrionics coupled with their prowess. Nevertheless a great win for Andy Murray and the Brits. “Hip Hip Murray”

Serena Macarena

The other deserving winner was Serena Williams, and in doing so she equaled the grand slam record of 22 titles held earlier by the very beautiful and elegant Steffney Maria Peter Graff (My all-time favorite). And what an occasion to level the record by beating a German Angelique Kerber. The runner up German could stop the juggernaut of Serena Williams which she has been unleashing on her opponents for long time now. Her powerful and intimidating personality with ferocious grit and insatiable hunger to win is simply unmatchable and the results are for everyone to see. With one milestone reached she would be definitely eyeing for the 24 grand slam title wins held by Margaret Court, and with age on her side and burning desire to succeed, the record would be in Serena’s grasp very soon. Congratulations to Serena for winning the Wimbledon 2016 crown. The icing on the cake was the doubles victory which she achieved with her sister Venus Williams. It’s raining awards for the Williams sisters. With Serena’s winning momentum, “stop me if you can” is written all over her face. “Here I come” is what Serena would be saying as the US open beckons the champion.

Euro 2016 Champions

Euro 2016 got an unlikely winner in Portugal. They defeated the much fancied and strong contenders France in a final which saw their talisman, maverick player Cristiano Ronaldo taken on a stretcher after barely few minutes of start of play, retired hurt. This was a big blow to the Portuguese team who strongly depend and revolve around a pivot called Ronaldo. This set back did not dampen their spirits and they came out all guns blazing at the French who had sensed a victory after Ronaldo’s exit. At times a spirited, highly motivated weaker team can land a knockout punch at their stronger opponent, and this was evident in that match. It is learnt that Ronaldo gave the team a pep talk during the half time that heightened the spirits of the Portuguese and they did not allow the French to breach their defenses. To add to the woes of the French, their various attempts at the Portuguese goal landed everywhere but the goal post, thus denying them a victory they were hungry for and may be which they deserved. The French football team popularly known as “Les Blues” had to swallow a bitter pill of defeat and would have to wait for the next Euro championship to redeem themselves till then the Portuguese can rejoice and make merry at their new found success.

With curtains for two major sporting events, in quick time has left me perplexed, yaar abhi main TV pe Kya dekhu???????? :)