Pakistan: From Nabia's Point of View - (Part 3)

This series started out with my thoughts on Pakistan and it’s image propagated by media and Govt. I’ve been unhappy about how the country is depicted and the actual 'true' state.

Continuing on the question trail, of getting to know Pakistan and it’s people, this time I have Nabia joining me. Nabia fits the mould and yet she doesn’t, she a package of surprises. I’ve met Nabia just once in Chiang Mai but thanks to Facebook, I keep getting news of her. And things to do with her are fun, I tell you, every picture with her in it is packed with energy and joy.

Nabia Amin Lakhani

 

Nabia with her father in 2010

The only sister to three brothers, Nabia is the youngest in the family. She was born and brought up in Karachi but has lived in Islamabad for a couple of months and visits quite often too. She has also been to Balochistan, Murree, Lahore, and Quetta.
A graduate from Karachi university in arts, she has done the montessori course and has been working as a teacher for the last ten years. She is currently taking a break from teaching to concentrate on her upcoming wedding.

 

What do you think of Pakistan?

I love Pakistan Fatema. Yes there are issues here, but then these same issues are everywhere in the world. Only difference is that since everyone calls Pakistan a terrorist state and Muslims in Pakistan or anywhere else are known as terrorist, it gives the world a completely different look of this place.

I have lived here all my life, yes we are dealing with terrorism etc. but then who isn't? I have family members living abroad and they only watch news about Pakistan, so for them to even come down to Pakistan and experience it themselves is not an option because media exaggerates everything. Yes, we have been mugged, robbed, harassed, but then so many others have gone through the same Thing in their country as well!

It breaks my heart that Pakistan is seen as a place that one would never want to go to because they are afraid that they would get killed! I mean, come on!!! I'm glad with the article that Humans Of NY shared because he actually highlighted the good parts of this place I call home. When I was younger, I wanted to go away from Here, but now that I'm older and have seen some places myself, with my own eyes, I realize that every place is alike. Pakistan is no different.
 

 
What is your life like?

My life here is amazing, I'm independent, I can go anywhere I like, I can do what I like.

 

Would you label the country as backward, extremist, terrorist?

Backward, extremist ... No. I won't ever label Pakistan that way, because Pakistan has not pushed me to sit at home behind closed doors because I am a woman.

There are some maulvis who want women in burqas but then that's their view, and these people are usually the ones who give Islam a bad name.

I wish you would come down here once and experience it for yourself.

We wear what we want to, we do what we want to, we go and work wherever and however we want to. So how is this place backwards ?

An Old photo of Nabia's Parents.

When my brother went to India around 2 years ago , he had to go to the police station every morning and inform them about his plans for the day otherwise they would follow him and his friends everywhere .. Only because he was a Muslim from Pakistan. It's unfortunate that all this happens now, but believe me, I live here and I can tell you... Pakistan is not what the goras or anyone else portrays it to be.

Everyone should not be labelled the same just because of some lunatic who goes around killing people in the name of Islam. These people have given my country a bad name and I pray everyday for the betterment of this country.

It's the best! Believe me.
Been to America and when I came back, I was the happiest person.

 

How do you define normal? What do you think is a normal life? Do you lead a normal life?

Normal for me is what I've seen growing up ... Family, friends, home, work. And that's exactly the kind of life we have here. My life's very normal Shukar Alhumdolillah. We have the same kind of life here like anyone else has anywhere else in the world.
 

Badshahi Masjid in Lahore

 
Anything you’d like to add or say?

All I want to add is that everyone should come to Pakistan and see it with their own eyes and then make a judgement about this country.

And people should not restrict their visits to Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi only, they should go up north & any other places that that can visit and see how beautiful Pakistan really is. If you think Switzerland is beautiful :) then you really haven't seen Pakistan. It's gorgeous!

 

What is your image of India? What do you think of it and it’s people?

My image of India, hmm, the only thing that pops up in my head after reading your question is: " my brother from another mother" :) :) :) :)

I honestly feel that India and Pakistan are the same and I pray that we can be civil to each other, make friends with people in India and vice versa and invite them here. I feel we have SO much in common that it's not even funny.
When we watch Indian movies, we get an idea of what Indians are like or how things are in India, and it's all the same as Pakistan.
 
You can also read - Pakistan: As Shajee Sees It

Photo Credits: All photos have been taken and belong to Nabia Amin Lakhani.

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Pakistan: As Shajee Sees It -- (Part 2)

Shajee with his niece on Eid

Part 1: Getting to Know The Real Pakistan

In search of answers, wanting to know more about Pakistan and the life of people like you or me, (someone who has to make a living, has a family, has friends, lives a middle class life, etc.) I reached out to friends and I received info packed long answers. I’m sharing them as I got them, with a little intro and formatting though. :D

Ahmed Shajee Aijazi…

 

Shajee and his brothers when they were all in Pakistan for his wedding

I met Shajee some years ago in Chaing Mai where he was attending the Foundry Workshop. He came across as a soft-spoken quiet sort but hidden behind this demeanour was a strong passionate person. Shajee lives in Karachi with his family and is a photographer by profession.

 

What do you think of Pakistan?

Pakistan is a great place to live in some ways and not that great in others, as I would think is the case with every country. There are a lot of great people here who are working for the welfare of the country. People generally are very philanthropic and charitable. We have people like Abdul Sattar Edhi who's running the biggest ambulance service in the world and is a simple person, then we have the likes of Dr. Abdul Bari who runs an entirely free top-of-the-line hospital here for people who cannot afford good medical health. So, we have these great inspirational figures amongst us who inspire us on a daily basis, but overall, the thing that I would say makes Pakistan great is that the family life and overall family system of people is still intact, which seems to be decaying at other places.

Abdul Sattar Edhi who founded Edhi Foundation, the largest non-profit social welfare organisation in world.

Then in terms of Islamic scholarship, we have top notch Islamic scholars here in Pakistan and recently I came across a fact that the most hafiz of Quran produced in the world are also from Pakistan. Although this is one aspect that is distorted by a small minority to be used for their own purposes and agendas. But, I would say that there are other factors such as illiteracy, poverty and frustration with the ruling class, that play a role in this distortion as well.

 

What is your life like?

My life is pretty good, Alhamdulillah. We go to our work every morning, we spend the weekends with our families, go for picnics and other recreations. We don't really face all that many problems as one outside of Pakistan would think. And in the recent times, the situation has got much better with this new army chief who's cleaning up crime and terrorist outfits in a very good way, so things are definitely getting better then their predecessors.

Recently a bus tour of Karachi has started that gives you tours in a local bus as if you were a tourist. On the Tour with Frere Hall which is a British time building in the background.

 

Would you label the country as backward, extremist, terrorist?

I think it would be unfair to term the entire country to be that. Sure, there are people and groups who are like that, but the general population is not like that, at least in the cities. We have a diverse range of people who come with different mindsets and bring that to the public sphere.

 

Kemari Boat Basin @ Karachi

 
Is it really stressed on a day to day basis because of extremists and terrorism? Are Pakistani's living in fear constantly?

Not at all. Never have I left the house thinking I would be hit in a terrorist attack. And from previous years, its gotten much better now. These news are getting lesser and lesser every passing day.

Being in Karachi, we do fear muggings and thefts, but that's not the extremism and terrorism that you're talking about. This is simply street crimes, which happen to be a part of every big metropolitan city. But, that's also gotten better in the past year, as I said, since this Army chief came to his position, he's been taking bold steps to even remove these criminals. And this is only particular to Karachi. There isn't much of that in Lahore or Islamabad which are other metropolitan cities of the country.

Shajee and his wife at Swat, the town of Malala.

 

Or is all this talk of extremists and terrorism exaggerated stuff media feeds to the world?

Well, I think as HONY had put it, if there's only one spot in the newspaper to put for Pakistan, obviously the most violent one or the dreadful one is the one that's going to get published. So, yea, the media does exploit our image in the world. But, it's definitely not even close to what the media shows.

 

What is your image of India? What do you think of it and it’s people?

The image I have of India is a land of very diverse people with a rich history. Although the governments of both sides get tangled in politics that leave the two countries at each others' throats, but I don't think the common man on both sides is interested in this animosity. The common man when he comes together with similar Indians, connects with them and doesn't see them as much different and understands that they are a part of a similar human everyday struggle, that they go through. I definitely want to visit India and see all the places first-hand which we have only studied in history or seen in movies and interact with every-day Indians in the hope to find them similar to the every-day Pakistani.
 

More to come… :)

Part 1: Getting to Know The Real Pakistan


 

Photo Credits: All Photos by Ahmed Shajee Aijazi except - "Abdul Sattar Edhi" by Hussain - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons and "Kemari Boat Basin @ Karachi" by Faisal Saeed - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr Commons

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Getting to Know The Real Pakistan -- (Part 1)

Over the last couple of weeks I've come across one too many posts about how bad a place Pakistan is. It’s never bothered me before, but this time, somehow it rankles. Writing off a country as backward, extremist, terrorist, and what not just doesn’t sit well.

And this isn’t the first time, jokes and posts putting down Pakistan abound and I remember them since being a child. From the age when I started to comprehend the concept of countries, I remember being told Pakistan is a bad place, the subtle message being that I must hate Pakistan, for in it lies the proof of my being Indian.

This messaging was everywhere, in papers, on the TV, in people talk. And yet I remember the fun I had had when my Grand-Dad’s childhood friend visited from Karachi. (The friend had chosen to move at partition.) He hadn’t seemed different from us, his description of life didn’t seem unreasonable, and he had the same cute cuddliness my Granddad had. I had really liked that Pakistani.

Then came the phase of college, when being a Muslim seemed tough with bullies repeatedly telling me to go back to Pakistan, calling me a Pakistan-lover, and other names. Stories and media reports didn’t help as they painted a tainted picture of Pakistan and I found myself slipping further on the anti-Pakistan route. My intensified hatred became proof of being a true Indian.



The anti-Pakistan sentiment by itself might have been fine but this isn’t a feeling that limits itself to a country or place, it transfers to people too. With time I found myself starting to believe that Pakistanis were awful people and that the country was a terrible place to live.

That belief lasted until a few years ago, when I met some Pakistanis and they shook up my beliefs, shook them up really well actually. They were a mixed bunch in gender, lifestyle, dressing,… They wore skirts, spoke impeccable English and didn’t hide behind the burkha or beard. They were just as normal as we were. They didn’t seem traumatised, deprived, or curtailed like I had been made to believe.

As I got to know them better, it got clearer that we were not different as people. Our lives, lifestyles, cultures, terrain, mindsets and more were so similar. I found that I really liked these Pakistanis.



Through them I also got to know Pakistan better and I realised that it wasn’t the inhospitable crazy country I believed it to be. Looking at one part of Pakistan and saying the whole country in unliveable and full of terrorists, is like looking at the Naxalite areas of India and saying all of India is a wasteland filled with Naxalites.

Media and the Government have been sending out filtered messages for years and years now. Slowly and subtlety playing with our minds until we now blindly believe that Pakistan and Pakistanis are terrorists, heathens, bad people and such. This nonsensical belief and our idiotic hatred of everything Pakistan works for the Government as they churn more money for their pockets out of our psychosis.

How do they make money? Ever wondered how much our defence budgets are? How much is spent on weapons and bombs? How much money is silently sidelined in each defence deal? If peace existed, this budget would not exist! And this is just one example.




When I first started thinking about writing this piece, I shared a post by HONY on Facebook. The responses confirmed that I wasn’t the only one who had been taken in by this bullshit about Pakistan. There were so many people out there, just like me - educated, well read, articulate and intelligent folk - who didn’t see beyond the propaganda being disseminated.

I reached out to friends in Pakistan, I wanted to hear their story. I wanted to know what they thought of Pakistan? What was their life like? Did they consider their country backward, extremist, terrorist, and such? What was their image of their country? And most importantly what was their image of ours?

Their response was unexpected, it overwhelmed me, and floored me. Like us they give 'dil khol ke'. :) It was the responses that sparked the thought of sharing what they said and made this post a post in parts. After all a dialogue isn’t complete until, the both sides have spoken. :D

Part 2 - Pakistan: As Shajee Sees It :)

 

Photo Credits: hswajid, AllauddinYousafzai, HONY

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The Indian Muslim Taunts

***Note: Most of my life I have faced taunts for being a muslim. Some muslims are lucky they never get to hear these dialogues and comments, but most do. That said I have more non-muslim friends than muslim ones. And I think of myself as an Indian before Muslim. Human before Indian. Over time I have learned to ignore the taunts. But this piece was written in 2000 when I was in college and when the taunting was at it's ugliest.***

"They are all bloody Pakistan-living SOB's" was how someone I knew described Muslims. Why should we Muslims be treated this way? What have we done wrong? Where have we gone wrong? And tell me why should we love Pakistan when there are other Muslim countries that are much better off? We aren't the only minority; there are also the Christians. Why aren't they called America-loving people or something like that?

Most of the Muslims I know are anti-Pakistan, which is completely understandable, for first of all Pakistan is not the best Muslim country in each and every way, a much better choice would be Kuwait. Second all that Pakistan is doing is disgusting (I am sure even the Pakistanis are disgusted) and thirdly even though it is a Muslim country, it does not treat Muslims well. The few who are for Pakistan are so because they are pretty uneducated, they do not know the way Pakistan treats Muslims and to add to this the way they are treated by some people in India gives them the illusion of finding peace and acceptance in Pakistan.

Did u know that the people who decided to move to Pakistan at the time of partition are treated like outsiders there? They are called "Mujahids", they belong in Pakistan but still are not complete Pakistanis. They have lived there for 50 years but still cannot call it their home. And the Muslims in India have lived here for years and consider it their one and only home.

A lot of soldiers in the Indian army are Muslims and they never think twice, never put religion before nationality when they lay down their lives for India. In the recent Kargil war there were so many Indian soldiers who lost their lives, no one told them that hey you shouldn't give your life for this country. Why is it right to be Indian when there is trouble and a for-Pakistan otherwise?

So many of our film industry people are Muslims, why don't we have a prejudice when we like them? Why do the Khans have such a great fan following? Why do we hum all the songs of Muhammed Rafi and the like, they're Muslims afterall? And let's not forget some of the best lyricists are Muslims? And gazals, which are a favorite of so many people, has its origins somewhere in Islam.

Some of the best instrumentalists are Muslims, and Zakir Hussain and the others are proud to be Indians.

There are so many great Muslims who are Indians and all of them put their country before their religion, and talking about people who have contributed towards the progress of India how can we forget Abdul Kalam who was the person behind India becoming a nuclear power. So it's plain dumb and stupid to say that Indian Muslims are more for Pakistan then India. And hey next time any of u want to say Muslims are not a part of India remember, Muslims also have had a major roll to play in making India what it is today.

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Let It Go...

‘Let It Go’ are words I have heard often, been told often. But letting go is one of the most difficult things for me to do. I tend to hold on to stuff, not physical stuff but rather emotional stuff, I mull and mull till I get to mopping. And at the end of it all, I’m mind-fucked.

Let me give you an example. This morning like most other mornings I found some stuff in the garden that didn’t belong there. Unlike other mornings though, today my neighbour was sitting out too. So, what do I do?

I call out to her holding out my hand filled with used elastic ripped off some clothes and ask her if it was hers. She promptly replies saying ‘no, not mine’. When I confront her saying it isn’t mine either, I get told that her two year old must have accidentally thrown it.

When told that he accidentally throws a lot of stuff everyday into my compound, I got told that I must adjust because she cannot teach her son not to do it. I tried explaining the risk of these things to my dogs but the only reply I got was that her kids were more important than my dogs, so I must adjust.

You can imagine how I was fuming. Gawd, thinking of it I’m still fuming. Che awoke up to all this and came and pulled me away saying it was a pointless exercise saying anything to her. In all my fuming, I knew what he was saying was true, yet I couldn’t unclench my fists.

I set off on my walks with the dogs and it took me 4 out of 5 rounds to get it out of my system. I knew talking to her was pointless but I was emotionally overwhelmed, and super pissed. It was only halfway through round four that the amusement showed up, and I started to laugh at her silliness and my own.

I’d wasted 4 precious walks over my neighbour and her silly son. You see now, what I meant about letting go. I find it difficult to do and this one was one of the better cases, one that resolved faster.

I need to learn to get over things fast, let go more easily and not hold on for long. Not doing this just tires me out so much more and faster. It leaves me feeling like a wet rumpled rag. I rationally understand all of this and yet find it difficult to implement it when required.

I’m been trying for a while now and yes, I’ve gotten better but it’s not good enough. I need to get better at this. How do you learn to let go quicker? Disassociate faster? Step away sooner? And not kill yourself and your day over trivial stuff?

Understanding this and getting to doing it will make me a better person. That’s the person I want to be, the one whose feathers aren’t ruffled easily. I want to be a stronger person, more self-involved than involved in all this other stuff.

I’m working at it and will keep pushing to get there. But if you know what I can do. Have advice. Tips. Self learned lessons. Please do share with me in comments. :)

Photo Credit: Cory Jensen

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Saturday Tirade: My Voice

I’ve been told I have a voice that is all my own, but I don’t seem to hear it when I write. I’ve been searching for my voice for a long time now.

I hear other people talk and long for their clarity of thought, I read writings, follow blogs and wish I had what they have. Somehow my writing doesn’t seem good enough. I keep feeling like I’m falling short.

And the hunt goes on. I’m constantly trying to find my voice. My niche. The essence of my blog. The truth of my writing. And it evades me, like a game of hide and seek, only I can’t seem to seek what’s hiding.

I started writing a long time back. In school I wrote a diary and kept it hidden. I have wacky dreams so in high school I started a new journal to track them. In college I wrote for a website. In the corporate world I dabbled with company newsletters.

Then I started this blog. Yep, I’ve been blogging for 10 years. I’ve also done some travel writing, some creative writing, some script writing, documentation and some other forms of writing I don’t even remember. And yet, I don’t always feel like a writer.

The other day as I was clicking around my hard disk I remembered my writing archives. I thought I used to write well, but reading what I wrote in the early 2000’s now, makes me want to laugh. Could I have been so simple, so naive, so green with words.

Looking back my writing seems to have come a long way. Yet I know there is a long way to go too. There is so much I must learn. Yes, there are a lot of ways to do this, and the list maybe endless. Just keep writing you say. Take a course. Read more. Follow other writers... and so on.

But I think aside from all this, I also need to start from the beginning. Or at least from the beginnings I have documented. I need to go back and revisit my old words. Read them, understand them, not change them and move forward.

It is with this in mind that I’m thinking of spending the next couple of weeks revisiting and posting my old words. I’m going to be sharing what I had written 10 to 15 years ago with my thoughts on them from now.

Do stop by and share your thoughts too. Do let me know how you think I could find my voice and make my writing better. And don’t miss out on having a good laugh at the writings of a young starry-eyed gullible girl. :)

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Saturday Tirade: India’s Daughter

After the BBC documentary India’s Daughter aired on 4th March, everywhere everyone seems to be talking about just that. It’s been 3 years since the incident happened in Delhi, or more like two years since it happened in December 2012 and the documentary has refreshed everyone’s memories.

I remember those days in 2013 when for months every media channel and every medium of communication was filled with talk of the case. And this week seems like it all over again. Not as much or as strong maybe yet it’s there again.

http://youtu.be/qUvlwmIfyx0

{Just in case this link stops working, here's another - https://vimeo.com/121374149}

The Govt. is fighting to shut everyone up, to ban the documentary and everyone else is raising their voices in protest. Some protesting against the Govt., asking for freedom of speech, stating democracy, some panning the documentary for showing India in bad light, some spewing anger at all that was said in the documentary,…

There are a lot of voices, views and opinions out there. It was all of this that brought the documentary to my attention and I went and watched it. I wanted to know what all the hullabaloo was all about.

The one hour long documentary by Leslee Udwin is nothing extraordinary in every way. The script and story isn’t new, the way the show is pieced together isn’t great and every quip and dialogue has been said enough times before this.

As a woman who was born and has lived all her life in India, I found nothing in the documentary. My blood didn’t boil, anger didn’t manifest, nothing happened. No, that’s not true, something did happen, I did laugh, the laugh of resignation, the laugh of sadness, the laugh of knowing that next week there will be a new sensation, a new talking point.

A lot of men in the video said the girl had it coming, a educated lawyer talked about women as flowers, flowers that can adorn a head or be thrown in the gutter. Another talked about burning his daughter alive if she stepped off the line. To them women were just objects, livestock, cattle. To them women are not equal in India.

And we will never be equal. At least not until women rise up and fight for their own. Until mothers, sisters and wives of rapists ask for justice, for their men to lynched so other men may learn a lesson and other women may become safe.

The plight of women in India or for that matter the world will not change until we women change. Until we stop toeing the line, following the rules. We need to get up and fight, fight the system, fight culture, fight society, fight rules, fight.

We need to start wearing what we want to, going out when we want to, doing what we want to. All of this without being scared of repercussions. The repercussions will come, men will push back, but we can have the world only if we push, only if we fight.

Fight not to be better or bigger but fight to be equal!

****There was one thing that stood out for me in the documentary and that was the parents. Jyoti Singh’s parents are just awesome, it takes a lot of courage to bring up your daughter the way they did, it also takes a lot of inner strength to watch your daughter die and still talk about it. F**K You Arnab for your nonsensical ideas of hiding rape behind a veil of Nirbhaya. Her name was Jyoti Singh and her name must be taken (shouted out actually) so we may remember her both for her courage and for how she was raped.****

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Saturday Tirade: Who Am I?

'Who am I' is a cliched question. Constantly being asked, forever flaunted, indiscriminately repeated and never resolved. I have tried to define myself way to many times now and words always fall short.

How does one define oneself? Why does one need to define oneself? Can one not be the undefined? The unlabelled? Vague and obscure like that tantalising island shrouded in mist?

And yet every time this question comes up I get lost in thought, sucked into another cycle of trials and attempts to answer the question. Not so much to the person asking the question, but to myself, to reason with and quieten the monster this question awakens.

'Who Am I’.

I know who I was and it is this knowing that causes conflict. I am not the same anymore, I have changed, evolved and what not. Like they say change is the constant and yet I am what I was, I am what I am and I am much more.

So, here’s another attempt at definition, a list of all I am, not OR but AND.
I am a…
- Human
- Girl
- Woman
- Daughter
- Sister
- Wife
- Doggie Mom
- Friend
- Writer
- Imagineer
- Bibliophile
- House Manager
- Crafter
- DIYer
- Jugaadist
- Hoarder
- Washerwoman
- Gardener
- Blogger
- Doggie Vassal
- Food Conjuror
- Poop Examiner
- Pee Appraiser
- Meat Sorter/Meat Box Maker
- Personal Doggie Exerciser
- Poop Collector
- Glorified Charwoman
- Grudging Chambermaid
- Reluctant Cook
- Happy Baker
- Biker
- Traveller
- Adventurer
………
………
………
And the list goes on.

I came up with these in 10ish minutes. I’d be a lot more if I had more time, I guess. :P

Who are You? Does the question haunt you too? How many of these are you too?

I’m constantly striving and working towards the day with I make peace with all I am, with who I am. I don’t know how this can be done, or ever if it is possible but for now I’d say it’s an uphill task and an uplifting journey. :D Have you found the answer? The secret to making peace with ‘Who Am I’?

****This post was inspired by and written for the #UseYouAnd activity on BlogAdda. Now here’s the compulsory text… "This post is a part of #UseYourAnd activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette Venus".****

Photo Credit: Chenthil Mohan

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The Saturday Tirade: My Dilemma on Bakri Eid

It's that time of the year again when I feel like I'm in a Nazi camp. After all these years, I'm still shaken and upset by the number of deaths on one day. It's Bakri Eid and I'm still struggling.

Some parts of the city are like cattle fairs running full steam. There are goats, sheep, cows and camels spread out and people haggling over them. The smell of cattle hits your nostrils way before you actually see the animals and then before you know it, you are passing through a sea of animals waiting for death. Over the years this smell of cattle has become the smell of death for me.

As a child of maybe ten or so I remember sneaking out to watching a sacrifice after being specifically instructed by my parents not to. I watched horror struck and ran back in shocked and terrified by what I had seen. It wasn't the death I think that scared me, it was the slow death, the struggle and the fact that someone would take a life so easily.

Some years later my parents went through the whole ritual of a sacrifice. They brought in a goat, fed and kept it for a year and then sacrificed it. I went through those emotions of horror again, only this time it was heightened by emotional attachment. That if I remember right, it was the last time my parents did a sacrifice at home. (Now they do it in other ways)

Fast forward to now. Over the last 4 years I've been feeding my dogs raw meat. What that means in that I go to the meat and chicken shop and buy the meat. I haven't watched a cow being slaughtered but I have watched tons of chicken being killed. After all these years I had thought that I had been toughened, that the slaughter wouldn't horrify me anymore.

But that ride through the cattle filled street shook me up. I was all teary eyed by the time I got to the end of the stretch. The thought of what awaited those animals filled me with pain and sorrow.

Let me get something straight: I am a non-vegetarian and I eat almost every kind of meat and all of this seeing and feeling is not going to make me a vegetarian. It's not the killing of a few goats or cows or chicken that has me upset. It's the sheer numbers that will be slaughtered on Eid that shakes me. The numbers will across a million easily across the world.

That's a million lives taken on one day. It's a mass murder. And most of this meat will be wasted, or put away into storage, it will not be consumed immediately. So we aren't killing for food but rather killing for religion, killing for what we believe in.

How is that different from what the Nazi's did or what the jihad groups and militant groups doing? Or does the fact that they are not human lives make it ok?

I don't have the answers and I'm still all jumbled and confused in my head and heart about Bakri Eid. I don't know, I just don't know whether to rejoice or drown in sorrow, I don't know...

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The Saturday Tirade: Why should You DIY on Social Media

I had intended to write on another topic this week but over the week I have spoken to a few entrepreneurs who called for social media gyan and they left me steaming at the ears, so here goes...

Everybody seems to be wanting success, they want to be 'the' brand online, they want tons of followers, an abundance of likes, loads of comments, uncountable leads, and of course an epidemic of guaranteed conversions. BUT, but they do NOT want to do the work.

Not wanting to do the hard work of networking, building a community and a presence online is all fine for a company or business with a lot of money. These rich guys can hire an agency to do the work. But it's not about the money, because it's more about hiring the right agency who will do the right job, and that does take money. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

But what happens when you are a start-up, a one man show or a small team with very little funds, how then do you find the funds for these agencies? How do you succeed online? How do you become 'the' brand?

I keep saying this to every business owner and entrepreneur I speak to
- only you know your business best, only you know the pulse of your product or service, only you know your customers heart, only you can be the best voice of your brand - and I haven't changed this stance in the 5 years I have been a social media consultant. This is my top reason for why you should manage your own social media. Especially when you are starting out.

Yes, I agree it's a fair bit of work but then so was your idea when you first started out in your business. Making the idea a reality took hard work, you wouldn't just have outsourced it and got someone else to do it, would you? Well, it's the same here, you're going to have to do the work to reap rewards.

And you don't have to do everything, be everywhere and all that. You can choose how much you want to do and where you want to do it. Choosing your networks well and managing your time on it efficiently will lead to great results over time - connections, relationships, and community. And these are real, and you know that for sure because you created them.

Where are the leads and money you say? These connections and relationships that you build slowly over time will create a community for you. And communities are great because over time they become your voice, they make the leads and sales happen.

Startup owners that I have spoken to are always looking to see how they can increase sales, but I don't find a lot of them doing things to build goodwill, connect and interact with people (notice I didn't say customers), or be themselves online. They are parts of groups but more of them have to do with entrepreneurship than their service or product.

Online marketing isn't very different from traditional marketing. It's just word-of-mouth and relationship marketing taken into the virtual world. The same old school rules apply. Don't do unto others what you don't want done to you. Build for the future, not for tomorrow and you'll be in a beautiful place.

Don't outsource. It isn't impossible to manage your own social media, just start small and be yourself. Also be consistent. And then just give it a little time. The magic will happen. And when it does I promise it will be worth it, and best of all you'll be enjoying yourself while doing it. Social is fun you know! ;)

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The Saturday Tirade: Kids vs Dogs

I have in the 5 odd years that I've had dogs been repeated told that kids and dogs are not the same, that I shouldn't compare someone's kids to my dogs, that dogs are not a replacement for kids, and the like.

Then the other day on an NPR Podcast of TED I heard these lines...
"Children today are economically useless and emotionally priceless"

It made me sit up, it couldn't have been put across more succinctly. A couple of decades ago couples had children and large numbers of them because it made economic sense. Children worked (the concept of child labour didn't exist) and paid for not only their keep but also supported the family and added to the kitty. When the parents got old, these same children continued to make economic sense by supporting and taking care of them.

Fast forward a few decades to today; we don't have numerous numbers of children today (or most people don't). One reason you'd say is the population explosion but the other is that children don't make economic sense any more. Having kids is an expensive business, the cost of delivery, play-school, school, college, etc. makes most couples think twice about the number of children they want to have. A lot of them settle for just having one.

Children don't work anymore, they don't earn their keep. Instead parents spend tons of money on them in various ways like education, fashionable clothing, latest gadgets, etc. All of that money would still be fine, if it guaranteed ROI. But today most parents are planning for their retirement, they don't know if their children will take care of them when the time comes.

All parents and couples know this and yet they have a child or children. They spend substantial amounts of their time and money caring for the child. They don't do all of this for economic gain but rather for emotional satisfaction in various ways, whether it be the forwarding of their genes or meeting societal requirements.

So where am I going with this, why did I say all this, how does it tie in my starting lines; these are questions you might have after reading this but bear with me a while long as I talk now about my dogs.

I live on the out perimeter of the city, which means that I get to live in a larger independent house with a largish garden but I definitely don't live on a farm. My dogs (and I have 6) don't have to work for their food, they alert me to the one off snake or every passer-by but they don't have any really economic purpose in my life.

I spend a fair bit of time and money on the upbringing and welfare of my dogs, definitely less than schooling fees :D but still a large enough amount to make people sit up. I would give up almost anything, make just about any compromise when it comes to them.

Yet in all of this I know that my dogs are a bad investment plan. They are most likely to not outlive me; when they pass on they will unhinge me emotionally and will make my pockets a lot lighter before they are gone. And yet I have not one but six. Of course you may think I'm nuts but I think they make me a better person; my dogs make me complete.

Now if you look at what I said earlier...
"Children today are economically useless and emotionally priceless"
Replace 'children' with 'dogs' and tell me are my dogs any different from your kids? ;P

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C for Charlie, C for Celebration

C is for Celebration

The dictionary lists celebration as a noun, 'the action of celebrating an important day or event'.
The word originated in Latin from the verb celebrare or celeber, where celebr- meant ‘frequented or honoured’.

Some synonyms: commemoration, honour, salute, merrymaking, festivity

Celebrate Every Day

Yesterday morning Che and I got talking as we walked the dogs and he said something that struck a chord in me. Celebrate every day like it's your birthday he said.

That's a great idea, isn't it. If everyday was special I'd try to pack it in with things I enjoy doing. I'd look forward to the day and smile though it, so I thought why not. Why look at each day as just another day to be gone through, like it's a burden or a punishment.

That's how I look at most days. I wake up each day and groan at the thought of all the house work there is to be done. The never-ending list of chores, that has actually started to become never-ending. Everyday is just like the one before and I find myself a lot of times looking forward to the night, not because something special happens then but because I sigh with relief that the day is over. If it stopped there it'd be great but that relief is short-lived and before I know it, I'm making a list of things to do the next day and groaning again. :D

It's true my birthday is the one day I take an off day, put my feet up and do nothing. Now, when I say nothing I mean house and doggie work and it's nice not to have to do all that. But really most of the house work is just chores and I do enjoy the doggie work. Not so much the pee and poop collection but other than that I enjoy my time with the dogs. :)

So, this year I'd like to look beyond the chores, treat each day like my birthday and do something with it that I will remember. I want to learn to accept the chores, so I have fun doing them. Find ways to actually look forward to work rather than cringe like I do most days. Lately some of this cringing comes from my painful gassy problem, especially on bad days like today.

I woke up this morning in pain, it's day two of this bout. The plan for today was to vacuum, change sheet's, spray the house, sweep and mop but the pain I was in had me cringing at the though of the work. Yeah, some of that grimacing was from pain but some of it arose from my not letting go of the plan. I found myself feeling guilty about not doing the work, even though I was unable to do it. I felt terrible putting it off until tomorrow. That felt worse than the pain.

I need to learn to forgive myself, learn to let go, give myself some space and cut some slack without beating myself-up with guilt. Easier said than done. So, this year I'm going to try harder at doing that; at treating myself the way I treat others; nicely. :D

Birthday's Are For Everyone

Ok, enough of my sob stories and onto another reason I thought of the word celebrate. Last evening as I was reading a few blog posts I came across Vidya's post about her Mom's birthday - Mi. Her post is a heart warming one with lesson's I so need to learn. What it also did was remind me of a peculiar custom we have in our family.

In our family when it is someone's birthday, not only is the birthday girl or boy called but parent's, siblings, spouse and children also receive a call of congratulations or mubarakbadi. Birthday's don't belong just to one person, they belong to the family. Everyone celebrates!

Growing up I felt a varied set of emotions about this custom - from happiness to irritation. Today looking at it, I see it as something beautiful. Birthday's are a celebration, a celebration - of life, of the person and what that person means to everyone else. A person's birthday is an event to be celebrated by all who are a part of that person's life. After all if that person wasn't there, there would be a void, no?

So, Mubarak to all my family and friends out there on my birthday. Thank you for being a part of my life. Let's celebrate today and everyday! ;)

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The Orange Tiger with a Red Heart

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="382" caption="Photo Credit: Chenthil"][/caption]

She had seen that tattoo before! If only she could remember where. There was something very familiar about it and yet every time she thought she'd got it, it escaped out of her clutches. She felt like she was chasing an imp in a gnarled forest filled with hidden places and a drifting mist.

Goddamn Imp! - she thought as he gave her the slip again. Maybe looking at the tattoo more closely might reveal something she thought. Trying to manoeuver crookedly over the basin she tried to get closer to the mirror, peering over her shoulder she squinted at her shoulder in the mirror trying to see something she might have missed before.

Trying to ignore the pain in her neck and strain to her eyes she stared hard at the tattoo. It was a simple tattoo, nothing flashy about it. No intricate designs, symbology or mythological characters. It was just the outline of a tiger filled in orange colour holding out a heart coloured red. Something about the tiger looked familiar, like it was a part of her life, something she saw almost everyday.

'Gawd, first imps, now tigers, all this running around is tiring me out', with that thought she slowly slid to the floor and leaning back on the door she stared at the pot. 'Where did that black spot come from?' she tilted her head puzzled. 'Ah! The goobe had decided to change sides when putting out his cig it seemed'. One mystery solved her mind went back to the tiger while her eyes bored down on the spot willing it to disappear.

Orange tigers, where had she seen that. Tigers were supposed to be yellow, were they also mellow? Her mind went down a tangent, as she contemplated the poetry sprouting from her mind. Where did the mellow come from? Was the bathroom with its colours of orange and ivory that was brought out the word mellow. Was this bathroom mellow. Is this what mellow meant. So many words in her head that was just descriptions from a dictionary, now one had real meaning. But was this really mellow, could orange be mellow.

'Ah, orange.' She was thinking of something orange before going down the mellow road, what was it. Then it came to her, an orange tiger, there was only one orange tiger she knew - Hobbes. But what the hell was Hobbes doing on her back and that too holding a heart. Where was Calvin?

Knock, knock. 'Hey, you been in the loo a while, you alright?'

He he, talk of the devil. 'Yeah baby, all fine, just stoned.'

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

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Plastic: Burn It All Up!

Last Saturday as I was leaving to go on my walk I saw a few men of the colony/area cleaning up the garbage. It was a real nice and heart-warming site to see people getting together and solving problems. Until now I haven't seen people do anything together. Here it's usually the 'every man to himself' rule that applies. Over the last couple of weeks the people have bonded over the dog issue and it seems the dogs have broken barriers between people. Finally maybe some good will be done in the colony. I only wish they would show some of this unity and vigour towards our apartment activities and issues too.

Anyway, the garbage outside our apartment had become an eye-sore. 'Become' nah its always been an eye-sore. Earlier we had a dustbin designed so dogs cant get at the garbage but people still threw their garbage outside the bin on the ground. We'd have stripped sanitary pads and torn diapers strewn all over the place. After all a pad and diaper are great playthings for dogs. :)

Then BBMP made segregation mandatory. Its another matter that our garbage collector doesn't keep waste segregated, all wastes are thrown into the same mix at the back of the van. We did a drive back then and also gave pamphlets so those who slept through the talk could read later. But its too much work for most people so segregation happens only in some houses. Some don't have time to put their garbage out for collection on time, so its simpler to walk out late at night and throw the garbage in the empty field where the old dustbin was. People would look at it everyday as the mound built but just walk away, then the maids were asked, even the BBMP guy was asked.  No one wanted the clean-up job.

So, its good to see people take actual action together rather then just have meetings and keep talking.

The men were gathering all leaves and waste into a heap and setting it alight. I stopped by to pass on a message about BBMP wanting to send a representative volunteer to speak to the despiser group and ask if I could help with the cleaning. As expected it became a heat discussion on the demand that dogs have to go. In our talk Mr.M also told me about how there was so much plastic and they had to collect so many dry leaves to burn them. I looked at him aghast... 'You burned the plastic?'. To which Mr.M shrugged and said, 'If you burn it along with the leaves, its not toxic. I know all about it.' Imagine... What do you say to someone who reasons like this. And while this conversation is happening there is a little toddler playing in the smoke along side Dad who's also standing in the discussion group.

So I figured I'll write about it after reading a little bit.

The fact sheet by WECF (Women in Europe for a Common Future) says

"How does home plasticwaste burning affect people’s health?
Most people who burn their plastic domestic waste do not realize how harmful this practice is to their health and to the environment. Current research indicates that backyard-burning of waste is far more harmful to our health than previously thought. It can increase the risk of heart disease, aggravate respiratory ailments such as asthma and emphysema, and cause rashes, nausea,or headaches, damages in the nervous system, kidney or liver, in the reproducti- ve and development system. The burning of polystyrene polymers - such as foam cups, meat trays, egg containers, yogurt and deli containers - releases styrene. Styrene gas can readily be absorbed through the skin and lungs. At high levels styrene vapor can damage the eyes and mucous membranes.Long term exposure to styrene can affect the central nervous system,causing headaches, fatigue, weakness, and depression. Not only these people who are burning the trash are exposed to these pollutants, but also their neighbours, children and families.

Dioxin emissions from plastic burning
The most dangerous emissions can be caused by burning plastics containing organoch- lor-based substances like PVC. When such plastics are burned, harmful quantities of dioxins, a group of highly toxic chemicals are emitted. Dioxins are the most toxic to the human organisms. They are carcinogenic and a hormone disruptor and persistent,
and they accumulate in our body-fat and thus mothers give it directly to their babies via the placenta. Dioxins also settle on crops and in our waterways where they eventu- ally wind up in our food, accumulate in our bodies and are passed on to our children."

Here are a few other sites with more info -
Project Green Bag - Plastic bags must never be burned
Plastic is Rubbish - Burning Bins
Daily Kos - Burning Plastic can Kill You

I always thought that burning leaves was fine, but the Breathe Campaign site says even burning leaves is bad! I didn't know that.

So now its confirmed, burning plastic is bad. So where then did Mr.M learn about this burning leaves and plastic recipe? And why the hell do parents not care about the health of their child? We all learned in school that burning plastic fumes are bad. So why don't we give a damn about our health? Its cancerous fumes we are talking about here. Why did no one else stop Mr.M from burning plastic? Mr.M is turning out to be a good brain-washing politician after all.

Is there a way I can complain about this? Any authority I can complain to? I hadn't recorded the conversation but I do have photos. It's not ok to burn plastic. They're putting me, my family and people at risk!

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War of The Dogs

"Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial."

There is a war brewing and I'd like to make my stand.

***Warning: Long and slightly ranty road ahead.***

There are two types of people in the area I live in. The prodoggers wo like stray dogs and the other the despisers who despise them. The first is a minority but even in that small group there are varying degrees of passion towards stay dogs. Some will go all the way in a fight, while others feed and treat the dogs well but avoid confrontation with the despisers.

Now the despisers are a special people but even they have the varying degrees of passion. There are some who are willing to try and live together with the dogs, then there are those who think there should be only three dogs per lane and others who love pedigree dogs but hate mongrels so want a dog free zone.

For the sake of anonymity and saving my ass (and the despicers faces) from lawsuits I'm not going to use names. But let me tell you a little about these people.

Ms.L moved in about a year ago and passionately took up the doggy care. She lives down my street and feeds the dogs twice a day. She started with four and now feeds 8 to 10. She's got so comfortable with them that the dogs allow her to medicate them and so she can keep them healthy. She has even vaccinated all of them. All the dogs she feeds have been neutered/spayed over time with the last one being done just a few days ago after she had weaned off her pups. Of course Ms.L also takes care of the pups and is actively looking for homes to adopt them.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Please Adopt Them!"][/caption]

She is fighting like crazy against the despisers who harass her quite a bit. The harassment is never one-on-one but rather a group of men who corner a women alone on the street. One time it even happened at night and some of the men were already down a few pegs. Drunk men and one woman - watta story!

The despisers is a big group that as a general rule avoids me, so I don't know all of them or all that's happening. But there is a Mr.B who is open to looking into ways to live and let live though doesn't think there is much hope in convincing others about it and hence rather support them than fight them. Then there's Mr.O, who in a short while will look quite 'O'. He has been kicking and hitting the dogs for a couple of years now but expects the dogs to treat him well. Mr.C is a professor but his education falls short when it comes to dogs. He is adamant about the dogs being taken away, he just doesn't want them here. Last but definitely not the least of our problems is Mr.M, who has 30 dalmatians in his home-town and loves them but hates mongrels. He believes as a race they should be exterminated. Sounds Nazi, no? And he's a full politician, putting his finger into everything, screaming and calling the MLA at the drop of a hat.

Then there's me. I have dogs of my own and love dogs - simple as that. When I moved to live here about 4 years ago, Che and I started feeding the dogs off and on. There was a dog with mange in the pack outside our apartment and one day we decided that she had to be caught and treated. I made a lot of calls but no one helped. Finally CUPA agreed to come and help as an exception though they don't have jurisdiction here. We caught a couple of dogs but I can tell you it was a hell of a run around.

Then Che and I put together a plan; we started feeding regularly and spending time with the dogs. Over a couple of months we managed to get the dogs comfortable and put collars on them. At this point Mr.M made entry and helped us contact Sarvodaya (he switches sides like a politician too). We worked out a method to leash the dogs before the van came in and got a big batch of 5-6 dogs neutered in one go. That took care of most of the dogs at my end of the lane outside the apartment.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="491" caption="Blue and Jumpy who live outside our apartment"][/caption]

We continued feeding but over time we started to notice that the dogs were getting too friendly with us and hence assuming everyone who lived in the apartment were friendly too. This led to them getting hit and chased more, people complaining and dogs becoming dependent on us. After speaking to a couple of dog behaviourists we came to the conclusion that we had to get rid of the dependency and stop being over friendly to solve the problem.

We started feeding randomly (not every alternate day) when we got the mood. What happened was that after a few days the dogs went back to hunting rats and scavenging in the dustbins. This meant they weren't around standing and waiting for food and spread out when hunting. It was easier for non-doggy people as they didn't have to deal with a pack outside the gate. We also started distancing from the dogs. We stopped excessive play, we'd still give them a rub when going or coming in the gate but not too much. This over time led them to back away from people and their friendly overtures towards people stopped. This meant that they get hit with sticks and stones less as they stay away.

I love the dogs we have on our street and would do almost anything for them. Each one of the dogs here is amazing in behaviour and temperament (My Cuckoo's mother lives on our street and I see so much of her in Cuckoo). But a balance has to be met when it comes to strays. We doggy eccentrics go overboard in caring for them and forget that nature has meant them to be a certain way. Hunting and scavenging is their way of life. If asked they most probably enjoy it so is it right for us to mollycoddle them or make them dependant on us. We have to help and support them but we shouldn't be taking away their life skills or way of life on the street. They live full lives as strays, hunting, running and playing in the the little space they have after we have encroached with our fancy houses. We have to find a balance if we want to avoid human-dog conflict. That's my stand - to find a balance where the humans are not in constant conflict with the dogs and the dogs are healthy and safe.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="491" caption="My Cuckoo"][/caption]

This of course puts me in a weird place. The doggy party thinks I'm switching sides and the despisers see me as the enemy :D So while I belong nowhere, I guess I'll just continue doing what I can for the dogs as I watch the drama unfold.

And what a drama it is. Here's the lowdown until now - Earlier I said Ms.L was being harassed so we did some searching and found that we could apply for Govt. Issued cards that authorise us to feed the dogs. We've sent in our applications and are currently waiting for the cards. Ms.L filed a harassment complaint at the local police station to keep them posted on the abuse. And we continued our feeding and neutering drive.

A couple of weeks back Mr.M made calls to the MLA and such and pressurised BBMP to take the dogs away. The only ones the Sarvodaya van managed to catch and take were three timid ones (one was a mother with her pups) who were petrified and hence didn't run away when the van came. Ms.L then made some calls of her own and got to know that BBMP and Sarvodaya had no choice as some big shots had called them. However now that she had called they would observe the dogs for a few days and if they were not aggressive they would be sent back. At the end of the week the dogs were back and all were happy or at least all the of the non-despiser group. :) The dogs and the prodoggers had won round one.

This led to an accidental chat I had with them a few days later on the street. Mr.B I think understood what I was saying however Mr.C refused to budge from his stand that the dogs had to go. After a lot of trying and explaining, I gave up. Didn't look like they'd understand any time soon that the dogs were a part of our eco-system and can't be removed just like that. So I told them the process of filing a proper complaint with BBMP and warned them that if they tried anything underhand I'd file a case against them.

Last weekend the colony seem to descend for a meeting as one (this is they only thing I've seen the people unite over in the last 5 years) and 200 people signed a petition that was submitted to the BBMP. I didn't even know 200 families lived here, gawd where are all these people when we call for meetings over the garbage issue.

On Wednesday Mr.M along with two BBMP officials went to meet Ms.L. The officials told Ms.L that she should stop feeding the dogs but if she still wanted to feed them, she should feed them inside her compound and keep the dogs inside. They can't be put back on the street. Now Ms.L has two dogs of her own, she can't just adopt 8 dogs into her house. So, of course she told them she would do no such thing and if the dogs were a problem BBMP should take them away to the shelter. The BBMP guys baulked at the suggestion and promptly told her that they can't do that. However they would send a van the next day to pick up the mother and get her neutered.

Ms.L in the heat of the moment forgot to take names and designations of the BBMP officials but were they really from BBMP and the Canine Care division. I have my doubts because they didn't know anything about dogs, the Govt. Issued feeding cards and other stuff. Wonder who Mr.M pressurised to get someone from BBMP to turn up.

Anyway the van came yesterday morning and picked up the mother for neutering. In the evening they were back with the mother and a pup we had caught and sent earlier who had mange but had been treated and was now healthy. I was sceptical about the pup getting back as it's been over three months since she's been away and when we sent her she was just over 3 months old. But good news, she has settled in just fine. A few skirmishes still but mostly all good though it'll take a while I guess before she gets all friendly with us.

The despiser group as always are late to react and only came out of their homes as the van was leaving. But I must give credit for their show of fitness in times of their need. They chased the van down and caught up with it a street away. Ms.L and I went to investigate just in case the driver needed help. He had no need for our help; he must deal with people like this all the time. He listened to Mr.M and Mr.O scream and shout about how they weren't informed that the van was coming, etc. The van driver though calmly asked for their numbers, took them down and told Mr.M and Mr.O that he'd "inform" them next time and left.

The crowd of women onlookers(grudgingly: and a few men) and Mr.M and Mr.O formed a tight circle to discuss further plan of action while Ms.L and I slowly ambled back home. This is the way things stand as of now. No clue on what they'll do next but looks like round two goes to the prodoggers too - not only did they not take any dogs away but rather brought one back to add to our numbers :D

Like I said this is a fultu fun drama and I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Will keep you posted.

Have you got such drama in your area? Any suggestions for us on our next steps? Please do leave a comment if you support stay dogs. If not, do comment on that too. I'd love to hear your reasons for their extermination.

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Street Dogs in India – Is Culling the Answer?

Disclaimer: This piece may be all over the place as I’m a bit emotional. Dogs do that to me – always; humans – sometimes :P

A friend shared a petition on my Facebook stream today and the title got me interested.

Mayor, BBMP: Stop considering culling of street dogs in Bangalore

So I went to take a look and here are my thoughts on street dogs and culling.

This topic came up in our last building meeting too. Residents wanted the dogs removed from the colony. Really! How in the world do you remove street dogs from the streets of India? You could but they’ll come back: always – others if not the same ones!

We have to understand how dogs work in our environment. They are territorial just like us. We have plots of land all demarcated and registered so we can claim it as OURS. Well, they do the same, just without all the paperwork. Removing them just opens up an unclaimed piece of land that then gets grabbed by someone else.

The dogs got here first. If you ask around you realize that the first guy to buy land in your area saw dogs there when he bought it. They were there first and we claim the land is ours and they need to be removed?

Ok apart from the emotional stuff. Culling isn’t the answer to the street dog menace. Please note I don’t see them as a menace at all. They are helpful in a lot of ways, but the most important - they keep the area they live in free of crime.

I don't think culling will help at all. The numbers will drop for a bit and then just bounce back. It would be better for people to get more proactive and get the present dogs neutered. That way the numbers can be controlled and watched.

No point in constantly blaming the govt. either. We need to take action, if we don't do anything how can we expect anything of the govt. It’s like blaming the govt. when you didn't even take the time to vote.

I have neighbors who have unvaccinated pets at home. These are parents who vaccinated their kids but see no reason to do the same for their cats and dogs. Forget about how it will keep the dog/cat healthy, they don't even understand the risk they are putting their own kids into by having unvaccinated pets.

I also have seen people in my building go out of their way to kick the dogs. Kids obviously emulate their parents and chase the dogs with sticks into a corner. Then the parents complain that the dogs are a potential threat to their kids. Really? Are the dogs the threat? And all because the poor cornered dog had no other option since there was nowhere to run. Its sad to see how people treat dogs who are really sweet and friendly.

Che and I have spent time getting to know the dogs in our street. With help from another resident we got them neutered. We were sick of seeing dead/dying puppies and are so glad now to see NO puppies and healthier dogs. The number of dogs is in control – to some extent.

Recently there has been some rearrangement of dogs in our street. The aforementioned residents have been beating and chasing the dogs. That has led the pack to move away and new dogs have started to come in. The old pack found more peaceful human neighbours further up the street. It means a new round of neutering soon and more risk until then to aforementioned residents :P

Remember our constitution - by the people, for the people. BY comes first because WE can and should take action first. It isn’t difficult. Take responsibility. We feed and watch the dogs in our area. Street dogs are friendly by nature. They instinctually know that they need to co-exist with us (even if we don't). I’m not saying go give them a big hug but you could start by treating them nicely and maybe feeding them regularly. Dogs that eat well tend to stay healthy and healthy dogs are less likely to pick up infections like mange, etc. When the dogs trust you it will be easier to catch them and neuter them. It costs about Rs.300 or less to vaccinate a dog for the year. It’s worth the investment.

Culling isn’t the answer but taking a little time to get to know the dogs in our area and taking care of them may just solve our problems.

If you feel strongly against culling street dogs please stop by and sign the petition. :) Leave your thoughts about my thought too please :D

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For Our Lost Tree Shaded Roads

Had to step out today into the Bangalore from hell… It’s hot out there, not hot as hell, yet but we’re getting there.

I was born in Bangalore and brought up here. I’ve spent almost all of my life in this city that I love and I hate to see what’s happening to it. I remember the roads of my childhood, they had a canopy of trees and travelling on them was bliss. You didn’t feel the heat, the sun didn’t burn your skin and the hot wind didn’t take your breath away.

Today was terrible as I travelled across the city, I got a tan I don’t like, actually its more a burn than a tan – a dirty brown. The wind hitting me was hot; it felt like I’d opened the oven door in my face. There was no escape from the heat and a sprinkling of trees to hide under.

Oh yes, there are a lot of trees on the sides of the roads but we’ve knocked down the huge tall canopy offering trees for these stunted 10-15 foot monstrosities that offer no shade whatsoever. All in the name of still trying to be a green city!

So much has changed, yes we’ve developed and become a big city but is it really worth it as we strip away the real beauty and replace it with concrete. A city where the buildings reach out to the sky rather than the trees. Roads that make you feel like bread on the toaster conveyor belt, so what if this toaster can accommodate more bread.

I miss the Bangalore of my childhood, I loved that city to bits and just don’t know this one anymore. Don’t fit here in this furnace anymore and don’t know how long I’ll last before I’m charred!

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Three Ways to Get With The Blogging Program

I’ve been on a break from the blog in the last few weeks. What started with missing one blog post rolled on into missing many posts. Everyday I thought of writing and then told myself ‘Not right now, later’ and later never happened.

I felt guilty but it’s usually easy to convince yourself and let things slip. But blogging regularly is important. Every time you miss a post you lose readers and traffic – you lose a bit of your voice. I should have known better and I plead guilty.

So what am I going to do about it and how am I going to make sure I get with the program - here’s what I plan to do.

The Buddy System
This works and this post vouches for it. Find a friend to make yourself accountable to, tell him/her what you plan to do and give them the right to question you. Evading yourself is easy but it’s difficult to escape another’s queries. Being accountant helps you stick with the program.

Plan a Schedule
Plan the week out and decide what you will be posting each day. That will help you plan ahead. I think, thinking of what to write is one of the most difficult parts of blogging and a plan helps in this. When you know what you are going to write about, half the job is done. After that all you have to do is sit down and write.

Schedule Ahead
Publishing a post everyday does not mean writing it everyday. Yes, you want to write some posts on that day so you can share what is happening in your life. But if you are writing on a topic or doing a review, you can do this earlier and schedule it for publication. Then if you want to on the day you can add a paragraph of the latest news.

These are three things I intend to do to stay on track and blog regularly. What do you do to make sure your blog posts go out on time? Do you have any recommendations that will help me stick with the program?

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Routines and Patterns

The last week has been a quiet restful week with a lot of laziness. The fatigue caught up after we returned and I spent a lot of time with my feet up. Didn’t get all my blog posts out but did get a lot of reading done.

Saturday saw us getting really busy - the house getting cleaned and organised before the dogs came back. Oh yes the highlight of the week is the dogs are back! Life now falls back into a routine with the dogs causing sweet distraction.

The dogs aren’t really very demanding but they force us in to routines and patterns. I’m someone who doesn’t like routines and patterns, they bore me and I keep trying to escape them. But with the dogs I have to fit into some form of schedule.

Routine (Definition): A sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program. A set of customary and often mechanically performed procedures or activities.

The dogs have to be fed on time, which means the meat has to be taken out to thaw or kibble soaked on time. It isn’t a huge chore but it still is a to-do and I hate to-dos. (Don’t think anyone likes them :D) The dogs require certain things to be done regularly - food, check-up, pooper-scooper, exercise... Like I said it isn’t a lot but with them around things get done, it can’t be pushed to tomorrow.

I’ve had this internal to-do battle for a while now. I don’t like the routine but still try to stick with it. When I miss, I feel guilty - three dogs looking up at you saying 'where's my food?' - only makes you guiltier. That said I'm glad they bring routine to my life, I get a lot more done with them around.

I've seen that with kids too. Easy to skip a meal when its just you but try getting a kid to skip a meal and you'll bring the roof down. They live a timed life and force you into their timelines. In some obscure convoluted way its a good thing they bring order to chaos else you'd have a lot of lazy people like me. :D

But is lazy bad? After all we have but one life, why get so busy? Do you follow a routine? Do you like the routine? Need dogs or kids to enforce the routine?

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Its a downer day!

Some days are just not great. All is well with the world and there’s good things happening around you but there’s just something, a little niggly-wiggly something that makes the day not great.

Today is that kind of day for me. I just don’t feel on top of the world, more like the bottom of the hill. It a good day - sun shinning, clear skies, smiles and all that but there’s just something thats making me feel down. Its a downer day!

But I have a remedy for that :) I have this lovely dress that just makes me feel great. Its a little green-blue-yellow stripped dress I picked up a few years ago. I loved it the minute I saw it. It was meant for nine years olds but hey, why should that stop me. A little alteration and it fit me just fine.

I love its colours and twirly-ness. Wearing it just makes me feel like dancing so its perfect for a down day. Every time I start to sink the skirt swishes and makes me smile. The dress makes me feel like I’m twirling in the middle of a yellow field. (Guess thats my idea of simple pure joy). it doesn’t make the day a great one but it does make it better.

Its my getaway to my secret place. We all have those, right? Little things - photos, postcards, mementoes - things that take us away to that happy place. Do you have a getaway? Something to take you away for just a bit? Something that will smooth away all wrongs for just a bit? Make the world alright even if its just for a bit?

Photo Credit: Eye4Art

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